Person:Joseph Hitchcock (6)

The Will of Joseph Hitchcock.

"In the Name of God Amen. I Joseph Hitchcock of Norwalk in the County of Fairfield and Colony of Connecticut in New England being of sound mind and memory Thanks be to God therefor calling to Mind the Mortality of my Body knowing it is appointed for all Men once to die do make and ordain this my Last Will and Testament.

And first of all I recommend my Soul to God who gave it & my Body to the Earth to he decently buried at ye Discretion of my Exec'rs Nothing doubting but I shall receive ye Same again by the Mighty Power og God at the General Resurrection; and as touching such Worldly Estate as it hath pleased God to bless me with in this life I give devise and Bequeath the same in ye following Manner & Form That is to say, Imprimis: I give and bequeath unto Jane Hitchcock, my beloved Wife, all that Estate Right Interest and Privilege which by a certain Agreement made by and between me and her before our Marriage together by way of Jointure I have granted covenanted and agreed she shall have ad enjoy of and in my Estate after my Decease and in the same manner as is therein & thereby secured to her which Jointure I do hereby ratify and confirm: And I also further give and bequeath to my sd wife the Use and Improvement of the South Chamber of my Dwelling House so long as she shall remain my widow with Liberty to pass and repass to ye same; and I also give and bequeath to my said Wife a full suit of Mourning to be delivered to her by my Exec'rs at my Decease, and I also give and bequeath to my sd Wife all my Hives of Bees & ye Bees & all that is in ye Hives all which is, and I do hereby give & order to her in Lien & in full of her Dower or Right of Dower in my Estate.

Item: I give and bequeath to my Son Joseph Hitchcock my Coat with Silver Buttons on it and all ye Buttons on and belonging to it: and also my Great Bible.

Item: I give and bequeath to each of my Daughter Sarah's children, viz. Joseph Banks Justus Banks Hannah Banks Sarah Banks and Rehekah Banks the Value of twenty shillings proclamation Money to be paid to each of them out of my estate.

Item : I give devise and bequeath all ye Rest Residue and Remainder of my Estate whatsoever and wheresoever unto my four children viz: Joseph Hitchcock John Hitchcock Saml Hitchcock and Sarah Johnson their Heirs and assigns in equal proportion save only that what I have above given the Children of my Daughter Sarah shall be paid or deducted out of their Mother's part or portion; and also what my Son Joseph and my Daughter Sarah aforesaid have respectively received in part of their Portion or toward their Settlement shall be accounted and reckoned to each of them as Part of their Share or Proportion so that with what they have recieved as aforesd they shall be in the whole equal with ye other two in this General Devise. And to prevent disputes I do hereby declare that what Joseph hath rceieved I recon and account to be the Value of fifteen pounds proclamation money: And what Sarah hath recd I account to be ye value of thirty pounds in like money.

Item: I give and grant uuto my faithful Servant, viz. my Negro Man Peter his Liberty Manumission and Freedom provided and it is on this condition that he shall procure good and sufficient security within three months after my decease to save and indemnify thereafter my Execrs & Heirs from all Cost Charge & Expense, of and toward his snpport and Subsistence during Life; but on failure of such security this Grant to him to be & remain Void and take no Effect.

Finally: I do hereby make constitute and appoint my trusted Friend Saml Fitch of Norwalk Esq. and my son Joseph Hitchcock and my son John Hitchcock Execrs of this my last Will and Testament and order that they be reasonably paid out of my Estate for their Service and Trouble in that Trust, ratifying this and no other to be my Last Will and Testament.

In Witness Whereof I have hereunto set my Hand and Seal this Seventh day of July in the 32d year of ye Reign of his Majesty King George ye 2d Annoque Domini one Thousand Seven Hundred and fifty Eight.

JOSEPH HITCHCOCK, (seal)

Signed sealed published and declared by Joseph Hitchcock the Testator to be his last will and testament in presence of

ISAAC ISAACS.
SAML BROWN.
THOS GRUMAN."^[2]

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4} Hitchcock, in Jacobus, Donald Lines. Families of Ancient New Haven. (Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Pub. Co., 1974)
   3:749.

   "Joseph (Hitchcock), b 23 July 1686 (New Haven Vital Records), bp 8 July 1688 (church record, First Congregational Society, New Haven), d 1758; res. Norwalk; …"

2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4} 4. Joseph³ Hitchcock, in Hitchcock, Mrs. Edward (Mary Lewis Judson), and Dwight W. (Dwight Whitney) Marsh. The Genealogy of the Hitchcock Family: Who are Descended from Matthias Hitchcock of East Haven, Conn., and Luke Hitchcock of Wethersfield, Conn. (Amherst, Mass.: Press of Carpenter & Morehouse, 1894)
   7-9.

   "4. Joseph³ Hitchcock (Eliakim², Matthias¹) son of Eliakim and Sarah (Merrick) Hitchcock, born July 23, 1686, in East Haven, Conn.; married, 1st, Rebecca _____, who died in 1750 and was buried in St. Paul's churchyard, Norwalk, where the headstone is still standing. He married, 2d, Jane _____, who survived him. He died 1758. He purchased land in Norwalk as early as 1710 and continued to acquire property there until his death. On New Haven records he is styled, Joseph Hitchcock of Norwalk, Blacksmith. His name (and that of his son Joseph, Jr.) appears on the records of the Episcopal church in Norwalk in 1742 and 1749, as making a handsome donation to the church. In 1750 Joseph, Sr., is distinctly credited 'by help rendered the parish by himself & team.' In 1749 Joseph, Jr., was one of a committee of three to superintend the furnishing of the church. In 1757 Joseph, Jr., was elected vestryman, and again in 1758. There is a blank in the recorded history of the church from 1760-1780 and the name does not appear again."