WILL:
Will of William Cheney - April 30, 1667
[Suffolk Probate #458, proved July 30, 1667]
Being sick in body, & of perfect understanding & memory according to my measure, I make this my last will & testament. My will is, that my deare & afflicted wife, Margaret Cheiney, be carfully & sufficiently provided for during the time of her life, & to that end my will is, that she have all the rents & proffitts yearely, & every years, during the afresayd tearms, of all my houses, lands, & orchards, that I die possessed of, wither in Roxbury, Boston, or els where, except such part of my lands or estate which I shall here after in this my will dispose of to my children or otherwise, which estate bequeathed by me unto my sayad wife, it is my will, that she enter upon & be possessed of immediately after my decease (to witt) the present cropp upon all the land & the use of all my household stuffe & goods, my debtts & funerall expenses being in the first place with all convenient speed fully discharged; & for my wifes more comfortable being, my desire is, that one of my executors may live in my house in Roxbury, with her, to injoy the housing & lands by the yeare which I have as is aforesayd given unto my wife, upon such equall termes as my other executor & overseers shall agree with him for, but in case both my executors see cause to refuse to accept of this motion in answer to my desire herein, then my will is, that it be let outt by my executors & overseers to the best advantage for my wife comfortable maintenance. When all my debts & Legacies are discharged out of my stock & husbandry utensills, as cartts, plows & such like, what remaines of my stock afterwards, my will is, it be let out or disposed of for my wifes use by my executors, with the advice of my overseers; And my will is, that all my moveables be for my wifes use during her life, except what is before disposed. And in case what is above expressed be not sufficient for the comfortable maintenance of my wife, then my will is, that the house at Boston be sold & improved for her further & better supply. I bequeath unto my sonne, John Cheiney, all that land both Aeirable & pasture lying on the east side of the great lotts, being with in the great lotts, being twenty accres, more or lesse, being nowe in the possession of the sayd John.
Allso, I give to my sayd sonne, a percell of meadow in the fresh meades being two accres, be the same more or lesse, as it lyeth on the south of a ditch made to dreine the sayd meadow. Also I give unto him one accre of salt marsh, be it more or lesse, as it lyeth bounded with a creeke next the marsh of John Bowles, formerly Isaack Heaths. Also I give unto him eitht accres of land, mor or lesse, lying neare the house of William Hopkinns, All & every of these percells of lands my will is, that my sayd sonne John, be possessed of immediately after my decease. I give to my sonne, William Cheiney, all my land lying in Medfield, lately in the possession of my sayd sonne, upon thiscondition or promise, that he & his wife, Deborah, be reconsiled & live together in Meedfield or ells where to the satisfaction of John Wiswall, of Boston, & Deacon Parke of Roxbury, but not in Providence or that Jurisdiction; provided allso, that what either my selfe or Deacon William Parke have allready payd, or doe stand ingaged for unto the Court in his behalfe, be first repayd & fully discharged by him, his heirs, or assignes; but otherwise, if my sayd sonne neglect or refuse to accept it with these provisoes, then my will is, that twenty pounds be payd to John Wiswall of Boston, out of my estate. To sonne, Joseph Cheiney, £60 (to witt) my land lying in the third devission, being thirty seaven accres, more or lesse, & twenty pounds to be payd to my sayd sonne, Joseph, out of my stock. My will is, that my three daughters (to witt) Ellin, Margret & mehitobell, have each of them £10 payd to them out of my stock. After my wifes decease, my will is, first that all my houses & lands in Roxbury undisposed of
before by this will, I doe give unto two sonnes of my eldest sonne, Thomas Cheiney (to witt) his sonne, Thomas, & his sonne, William to be improved for their beniffitt by ther father untill they are 21 years old, then to be injoyed by them. What remaines of my estate after my wifes decease wither in stock or otherwise, in housing or lands (in any other towne) or estate in any kind undisposed of by this my will, My will is, that one halfe of it be given to my sonne, Joseph Cheiney, & for the other halfe thereof, my will is, that it be Devided into four equall parts, & so dispose of it to my sonne, John Cheiney, & to my three aforesayd daughters, to each of them an equall portion thereof. I make my two sonnes, Thomas Cheiney & Thomas Hasting, the executors of this my will, requesting my friends Mr. John Eliot, Deacon William Parke, & Edward Denison to be overseers. Aprill the last, sixty seaven.
Witnesse, William X Cheiney
John Newell, Samuell Scarborow
