WILL: Beals E. Litchfield; Ellicottville, Cattaraugus co., NY surname: LITCHFIELD, Davie, Blood, French, Harrison, Litchfield, Northrup, Reynolds submitted by Lois Kortering (lekort @ comcast.net) ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.org/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.org/ny/nyfiles.htm Submitted Date: December 19, 2003, 5:10 am This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/nyfiles/ File size: 10.0 Kb ************************************************ Source: Sampubco photocopy Cattaraugus co NY Vol. No. 15, Pg. 133. Written: March 17 1893 Recorded: March 2 1896 The Last Will and Testament (Hand-written) of Beals E. LITCHFIELD, of the Town of Ellicottville County of Cattaraugus and State of New York, I, Beals E. LITCHFIELD, of Ellicottville, New York, do make ordain, publish, and declare this to be my last Will and Testament, in manner and form following , that is to say: - First: - After all my lawful debts are fully paid and discharged, I give , devise (sic) and bequeath to my wife Lucinda LITCHFIELD the sum of Three Thousand Dollars. Second: - I give, devise (sic) and bequeath to my said wife, Lucinda LITCHFIELD the use of all the remainder of my property, both real and personal, during the term of her natural life. Third: - I give, devise, and bequeath to my nephew, John E. FRENCH, subject to my said wife's life estate therein, the farm of three hundred acres, upon which I now reside, in the Town of Ellicottville, to have and to hold the same, in fee simple to him and his heirs forever. Also al cows or other stock and tolls of all description that shall belong to my estate, on the farm, at the decease of my said wife. Fourth: - all the residue and remainder of my estate, which shall remain after the payment of the above legacies, I give, devise and bequeath to the following named persons to be divided between them eaqual (sic), share and share alike, after the decease of my said wife, viz: To my niece, Hattie FRENCH, wife of John E. FRENCH, one share; To Charles Miller FRENCH, son of John & Hattie FRENCH, one share; To Arthur Miller FRENCH, sons of John and Hattie FRENCH, one share; To Beals Ensign L. FRENCH (Litchfield is his second middle name,), son of John and Hattie FRENCH, one share. Fifth: - I hereby give my executors, hereafter named, full power to sell, grant and convoy any real estate that I may own at the time of my decease, wherever such sale shall be deemed necessary or proper by them with the exception of the real estate herein Willed to the said John E. FRENCH. Likewise, I make constitute and appoint my wife, Lucinda LITCHFIELD and my nephew, John E. FRENCH to be the executrix and executor of this, my last Will and Testament and I hereby revoke all former Wills by me made. In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name and affixed my seal the 17th day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ninety-three. B.E. LITCHFIELD - S. B.E.L. S (i.e., signed and sealed by B.E.L. - Transcriber) The foregoing instrument was at the date thereof subscribed by Beals E. LITCHFIELD the testator therein named in the presence of us and each of us. He at the time of making such subscription acknowledged that he executed the same, and declared the said instrument, so subscribed, by him, to be his last Will and Testament. Whereupon, we, at his request and in his presence, and in the presence of each other, do here subscribe as witnesses thereto. M. REYNOLDS, residing at Ellicottville, NY John REYNOLDS, residing at Ellicottville, NY At a Surrogate's Court, held in and for the County of Cattaraugus, at the Surrogate's Office in Salamanca on the Second day of March A.D. 1896 Present, Carey D. DAVIE,' Surrogate IN THE MATTER OF PROVING THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF Beals E. LITCHFIELD, deceased. On the 30th day of December A.C. 189_ (sic, year not written or faded) Lucinda LITCHFIELD and John E. FRENCH, the executors named in a certain instrument in writing, purporting to be the Last Will and Testament of Beals E. LITCHFIELD late of the Town of Ellicottville in said county, deceased, applied in this Court to have the said instrument, which relates to real and personal estate, proved as he Last Will and Testament of the said deceased; and thereupon the Surrogate of said County did ascertain by satisfactory evidence the facts required by law, and did issue a Citation in due form of law, directed to the proper *persons, by their respective names, and stating their places of residence, requiring them to appear before him at his office in Salamanca in said County, on the 2nd day of March A.D. 1896 to attend the probate of the said instrument. And afterwards, to-wit: on the day and place last aforesaid, due proof by affidavit was produced and filed in said Court, of the service of the said Citation in the mode prescribed by law, and the said applicants) appeared in person and by C.D. NORTHRUP, their Atty. And Effie BLOOD and Laura BLOOD, infant heirs-at-law and next of kin of said deceased appearing by W.K. HARRISON, Atty. Duly appointed their special Guardian, for this purpose or persons appearing, such proceedings were thereupon aferwards had on the said 2nd day of March A.D. 1896 that the said Surrogate took the proof in support of the said instrument as follows: Surrogate's Court, County of Cattaraugus, S.S. Michael REYNOLDS John REYNOLDS IN THE MATTER OF PROVING THE WILL OF Beals E. LITCHFIELD, Deceased, of the Town of Ellicottville in the County of Cattaraugus aforesaid, being duly sworn, do depose and say that they are the subscribing witnesses to the Last Will and Testament of Beals E. LITCHFIELD late of the Town of Ellicottville in the County of Cattaraugus aforesaid, deceased. And the deponent B further say that the said Beals E. LITCHFIELD the said testator did, in the presence of these deponents subscribe his name at the end of the instrument which is now shown and exhibited to these deponents which purports to be the Last Will and Testament of the said Beals E. LITCHFIELD and which bears date on the sevententh (sic) day of March in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ninety-three. And these deponents further say that the said testator did, at the said time of subscribing his name as aforesaid, at the end of said Will, declare the said instrument so subscribed and now exhibited to be his Last Will and Testament; and these deponents did thereupon subscribe their names at the end of said Will, as attesting witnesses thereto, in the presence and at the request of the said testtor. And these deponents further say that at the said time when the said testator subscribed his name to the said Last Will as aforesaid, and at the time of these deponents subscribing their names as attesting witnesses thereto as aforesaid, the said testator was of sound mind and memory, of full age to execute a will, and was not under any restraint. And that the said Will now appears in all respects as when so executed, without any alteration whatsoever. Michael REYNOLDS John REYNOLDS Subscribed and sworn, this 2nd day of March 1896, before me. Carey D. DAVIE, Surrogate of Cattaraugus County. IN THE SAME MATTER: On reading and filing due proof of the service of the citation issued in this matter, and upon due proof of the execution of the paper propounded as the Last Will and Testament of Beals E. LITCHFIELD late of the Town of Ellicottville in said County, deceased, bearing date the 17th day of March 1893 the petitioner appearing in person by E.D. NORTHRUP, their attorney and none of the heirs at law and next of kin appearing in person, and except Effie BLOOD and Laura BLOOD Infants, heirs, at law and next of kin of said deceased, appearing by W. K. HARRISON Attorney at law their Special Guardian, duly appointed for such purposes, and it appearing by such proof that the said will was duly executed, the testator at the time of executing the same, was of full age for making a will, was of sound mind and memory, and not under restraint, and in all respects competent to devise real estate, and the probate thereof not having been contested; It is ordered, adjudged and decreed that the said paper purporting to be the Last Will and Testament of the said Beals E. LITCHFIELD deceased, was duly executed to pass real and personal estate, and that the same with the proofs thereof be recorded and admitted to probate as a Will of real and personal estate. WITNESS, Carey D. DAVIE Surrogate, and seal of the Court the day and year first above written. Carey D. DAVIE, Surrogate. STATE OF NEW YORK, Cattaraugus County, Surrogate's Office. Recorded the preceding Last Will and Testament of Beals E. LITCHFIELD late of said County, deceased, as a Will of real and personal estate, together with the proofs taken in the Surrogate's Court of Cattaraugus County, which record is hereby signed and certified by me, pursuant to the provisions of the Revised Statutes this 2nd day of March A.D. 1896. Carey D. DAVIE, Surrogate. Notes by Transcriber: *Beals E. LITCHFIELD's given name was Ensign Beals LITCHFIELD, but in his autobiography entitled Forty Years Intercourse with the Denizens of the Spirit Spheres and Inspirational Poems, published in 1893, Ellicottville, New York by the Press of F.H. & W.A. WHITE, Jamestown, N.Y., after telling about his parents, his grand-parents, and naming his ten siblings he writes: Their eleventh was a son whom they named Ensign Beals in honor of his father and grandmother, and those sacred names I am still happy to say are my own, although when I commenced doing business I commenced writing my name Beals Ensign for convenience (I was familiarly known by the name of Beals), and, as I have thus signed my name for more than fifty years, I am now known as B.E. LITCHFIELD. Transcribed from SAMPUBCO copy by Lois Emorene (GRIFFES) KORTERING lekort@comcast.net 16 December 2003 4th-great-granddaughter of Elisha LITCHFIELD and Delight BEALS 3rd-great-granddaughter of Ensign LITCHFIELD and Molly HAYDEN 2nd-great-granddaughter of Orson Mitchel GRIFFES and Laura LITCHFIELD Additional Comments: At the end of the will I explained that the testator's real given name was Ensign Beals. Then, I quoted him in his 1893 autobiography, explaining that he was known as Beals Ensign.