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Thursday, June 08, 2017

52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS 2017 WEEK 16: ROGER CONANT OF SALEM, MA. PT2

I found a transcription of Roger Conant's will and estate inventory in a book, The Probate Records of Essex County, Massachusetts Vol III. It was presented at the Essex Court in Salem in 1679, and by that time the two of his children I am descended from had pre-deceased Roger.  8x great grandfather Lot Conant died in 1674, and 8x great grandmother Sarah (Conant) Leach had been dead for nearly twenty years:

Estate Of Roger Conant Of Salem.
"The Last will & testament of Roger Conant dated the first day of the first month 1677 I Roger Conant aged about eightie fiue yeares being of perfit understanding though weake & feeble in body doe heerby declare my will and minde wherein in the first place I doe bequeath my soule unto God that gaue it & my body to the graue in hope of a blessed Resurrection: & for my outward estate & goods I giue unto my Sonne Exercise one hundred & fortie acres of Land lyeing neere adjoyning unto the new towne of Dunstable as part of two hundred acres granted me by the Generall Court also I giue & bequeath unto him ten acres of Land next adjoyning unto his present homelot and land Lying by the side of william Dodgeses his land & butts one the land of Thomas Herrick: also I giue him two acres of marsh at the south End of the great pond by whenham or if my daughter Elizabeth Conant will Exchang to haue so much at the great marsh neere wenham: also I giue him my swamp at the head of the railes which is it undevided betwixt me and Benjamin Balch adjoyning unto william Dodgeses' swamp: also I giue him my portion of land Lying by Henry Haggats on wenham side: now out of this forementioned Land he is to paye seaven pound toward the discharge of such Legassis as I haue giuen & bequeathed according as is heere after set down More I giue unto my grand child John Conant sonne of Roger Conant ten acres of Land adjoyning to his twenty acres by the great ponds side he paying twenty pounds for the same towards the payment of legassis as after mentioned more I giue unto my grand child Joshua Conant seaventeen acres of Land Lying by the south side of the great marsh neer wenham and bounding unto the land of Peter woodbery: and the rest to returne to my Executor.

"Also I giue unto my daughter Sarah two acres of Land lying between the head of the railes & Isack Hull his ground as part of six acres twixt me and Benjamine Balch this to her and Ilher|| children also sixtie acres of Land out of my farm granted me by the generall Court neere the new town of Dunstable I giue and bequeath into the hands of Captain Roger Clap of the castle neer Dorchester for the use of a daughter of one MHi Pits deseased whose daughter now Liueth in Culli- ton a town in Devon in old England & is in lue for certaine goods sold for the said Mrii Pits in London and was there to be paid many yeares since but it is alleged was neuer paid and the foresaid Captaine Clap to giue a discharge as there atturny according as he is impowered and intrusted in theire behalfe further more as legassis I doe giue unto my sonne Lot his ten children twenty pounds to be equally devided to my daughter sarahs children to John fiue pound to the foure daughters fiue pound between them To my daughter Mary Dodge her self fiue pound and fiue pound to her fiue children equally devided To Exercise his children foure pound betwixt them To adonirum Veren three pound and to his sister Hannah twenty shillings and her two children each ten shillings. To my Cosen Mary Veren wife to Hellier Veren three pound as also three pound unto the daughters of my Cosen Jane Mason deceased to be devided amongst them including Loue Steeuens her children a share my wearing apparrill I giue and houshold impelments not otherwise disposed of and my gray horse and cattle to my sonne Exercise one sheep I giue to Rebacka Connant my grand child and one sheep to Mary Leech.

"And whereas there remains in my hands a certaine portion of cattle belonging unto on mr Dudeny in England and by him assigned unto his nephew Richard Conant valued at twenty fiue pounds and now left in the hands of my sonne Exercise Conant that there be a rendering up of such cattle or theire valuation mentioned unto the said Richard Conant upon seasonable demaund he giueing a full discharge for the same And further my will is that my sonne Exercise be my Executor to this my will and Testament and for further help in seeing these things performed I desire my sonne William Dodge and my grandchild John Conant senior to be overseears of the same. In witness whereof I haue heerunto sett my hand the day and yeare aboue written."

Roger (his R C mark) Conant (seal)
Witness: John Bennet, Benjamin Balch.
Proved in Salem court 25: 9m: 1679, by the witnesses.
Inventory of the estate of Roger Conant, taken Nov. 24, 1679, by John Rayment and William Rayment: 200 Acors of land, 60li.; Liing at Dunstable not improved mor land sould to Elizabeth Conant & not payd for, 40li.; mor land 10 acors, 20li.; land 10 Acors, 20li.; land 23 Acors, 59li.; 2 Acors of medow, 10li.; 2 Acors of land, 5li.; swampy land, 1Li.; more land, 1Li.; 2 cows and a hors, 10li.; more cattell, 15li.; 4 sheep, 1Li. 10s.; a bed & furnytur, 5li.; wareing closse and 1inin, 91i.; a Chest, trunck and box, 1Li.; other things, 1Li.; total, 2581i . 10s.
Attested in Salem court 28: 9m: 1679, by Exercise Conant, the executor.

pp335-337

The Probate Records of Essex County, Massachusetts: 1675-1681 (Google eBook) Vol.III1675-1681 Essex Institute Salem, Ma. 1920

4 comments:

Wendy Callahan said...

Hi Bill! I also descend from Roger through his son Lot, my 9th great-grandfather. I love wills - they're so full of information about the family. :)

Unknown said...

Hi, Bill and Wendy. I'm also a decendant of Roger Conant's through his son Lot.

Bill West said...

Hey cousin!

Unknown said...

:) What I find most interesting about Roger's will is the SEAL on it. It appears to be a SWAN, a Druids symbol meaning love and fidelity. You can view it here, along with a wealth of information tracing the family name to old Welsh royalty, as well as many legendary and mythic individuals in ancient Ireland (so precious - make sure to read the footnote on p.5): https://archive.org/details/historygenealogy00cona/page/n23. Further research suggests the family can be traced as far back to Dian Cecht, the grandfather of the god Lugh of the Tuatha De Danann.