WILL: John Wilson; Beekmantown, Clinton Co., NY Submitted by Janette Ramos, October 1997. ****************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may not be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. ****************************************************************** transcribed from the original court document, preserving spelling, punctuation, & syntax, by Janette Wilson Ramos, 8/23/97 Will of John Wilson Be it remembered that on the fourteenth day of October one thousand Eight Hundred and sixty five James M. Fulton the Executor named in the last will and testament of John Wilson late of Beekmantown in the County of Clinton deceased appeared in open Court before the Surrogate of the county of Clinton and made application to have the said will, which related to both real and personal Estate from and on which application the Surrogate did ascertain by satisfactory evidence who were the heirs and next of kin of said deceased and their respective places of residence & that said deceased left no widows him surviving, and the said Surrogate did thereupon issue a citation in due form of law directed to the said heirs and next of kin stating their names and their respective places of residence requiring them to appear before the said Surrogate at his office in the Court House in the Village of Plattsburgh on the Eleventh day of December then next to allow the probate of the said will And afterwards to wit on the said Eleventh day of December the said Executor having appeared and proof of the publication of said citation not being secured the proceedings in relation to the probate of said will was moved forward to the Eighteenth of the same month on which last __________________ day satisfactory evidence was provided and presented to the said Surrogate of the place of said citation in the mode prescribed by law, And on the same day the said Executor having appeared in support of the said will, and no one appearing to oppose such proceedings were their upon had that afterwards on the said Eighteenth day of December One thousand Eight Hundred and sixty five the said Surrogate took the proof of the said will herein after set forth and upon the said last __________________ day he did adjudge the said will to be a valid will of real and personal Estate and the proofs thereof to be sufficient which said last will and testament and proofs are as follows that is to say: (page 2) Will The last Will and Testament of John Willson of Beekmantown in the County of Clinton and State of New York: Considering the uncertainty of this mortal life and being of Sound mind, Blessed be Almighty God for the same, do make and publish this my last Will and Testament in manner and form following - That is to say First - I, as my son Thomas is and will always be unable to support himself, I design first that he Thomas Willson my Son shall first have his support from my real estate and personal property all that he may need during his natural life. And Secondly I wish to give my beloved Daughters Mary Ann Willson and Elizabeth Rebecka Willson each from my Real Estate or personal should there be the amount left after the death of my son Thomas Willson the sum of Three Hundred Dollars to be paid my Daughters Mary Ann Willson and Elizabeth Rebecka Willson And the ballance of my property after paying all my debts to be equally divided between my surviving Sons sho bear the following names James Willson John Willson Jr. Arthur Willson And lastly I do hereby appoint James M. Fulton my Sole Executor of this my last Will and Testament, hereby revoking all former Wills by me made In witness whereof I have hereunto Set my Hand and Seal this 27th day of December 1860. his John X Willson mark (signed) The above instrument consisting of one Sheet was now here Subscribed by John Willson the Testator in the presence of each of us and was at the same time declared by him to be his last will and testament and we at his request Sign our names hereto as attesting witnesses David R. Parsons (signed) residing in Beekmantown in the County of Clinton James M. Fulton (signed) residing in Beekmantown in the County of Clinton (page 3) Proofs Surrogate's Court Clinton County N. Y. In the matter of Proving the } last Will and Testament } Examination of Witnesses Sworn of } and examined before Peter S. Palmer John Wilson deceased } Surrogate of Clinton County Clinton County Ss David R. Parsons and James M. Fulton of Beekmantown in said County being first sworn in open Court on their oath do depose and say that they are subscribing witnesses to the last Will and Testament of John Willson late of the town of Beekmantown in the County of Clinton deceased And these deponents further say that the said deceased did in the presence of these deponents subscribe his name at the end of the instrument, which is now shown to these deponents and offered for probate and purporting to be the last Will and Testament of said deceased and shich bears date on the 27th day of December One Thousand Eight Hundred and Sixty. That the said deceased at the time of subscribing his name to the said instrument did declare the same to be his last Will and Testament that these deponents did thereon subscribe their names at the end of said instrument as attesting witnesses to the execution thereof at the request of said deceased and in his presence and in the presence of each other. That the said deceased at the time of subscribing his name was a citizen of the United States upwards of the age of twenty one years. That he appeared to be of sound mind memory and understanding and was not under restraint to the knowledge and belief of these deponents. David R. Parsons (signed) James M. Fulton (signed) Sworn subscribed and taken this 18thday of December 1865 Before me in Open Court Peter S. Palmer - Surrogate (signed) (page 4) Clinton County Ss In appearing upon the proofs duly taken in respect to the last will and testament of John Wilson late of Beekmantown deceased, that the said will was duly executed, that the said John Wilson at the time he executed the same was in all respects competent to devise real estate and not under any restraint; the said last will and testament and the said proofs and examinations are hereby recorded signed and certified by me pursuant to the provinces of the Revised Statutes this Eighteenth day of December One thousand Eight Hundred and Sixty five Peter S. Palmer (signed) Surrogate