John Dailey’s will was written on 1 September 1753 and probated on 18 December 1753.
In it, he referred three times to his “live children John, Daniel, Martha, Mehitable and Miriam.” Vital records of Easton list these “live children” and their birth dates together in one heading for the children of John and Mary Daily. The will asks each of these children, named individually, to care for their mother ”who is weak of mind and body.” This provides firm documentation for the remarkable fact that Mary bore children over a period of twenty-nine years until she was 49. In a 1761 deed, Daniel, the last born, described land as “willed to me by my father John Daily of Easton.” The will also gives a long list of the lands owned by John, with instructions about their distribution to his children. John and Mary are buried in the Cynthia Drake Cemetery, Church St., Easton, where their grave markers document their birth and death dates.
