Person:William Cantlebury (1)

Estate of William Cantlebury of Salem.

" 'whereas the lord our god hath appoynted his servants to set there houses in order, to the prayse of his name, the comfort of their owne soules and the peace of their famelyes. Therefore I Willyam Cantlebery of Salem though weake in body yet in perfect memory in obedience vnto christ my sauiour do commit my body to earth in its season: hopinge when christ who is my life shal appeare: to be brought agayne w^th him in glory.

'And for my outward estate I doe thus dispose thereof makinge this my last will & testament Inprimis, I giue vnto Beatrice my wife, my house and orchard, & the land lyinge betweene the land of Richard Leach & John Rowden: the which house and land I giue to her & to be at her dispose. Item: I giue vnto Beatrice my wife: all my moueable goods, all my Catle: both younge and old, & horse and mares All the which foresayed house and land: mouable goods and Catle I giue vnto her frely, & to be at her dispose: Prouided, that in case my wife should marry to another husband: my children be not deprived, of what my wife shal leaue at her decease. Item: I giue vnto my son John: the 3 quarters of the farme. I bought of mr George Corwine (the 20 acres excepted, that I disposed of to Job Swinnerton) only Inioyninge him, to pay as legacyes out of the same, twenty pounds to my Daughter Ruth, & twenty pounds to my Daughter Rebbecca & her children. Item: my will is in case my son John shal depart this life, or shal not come to take possession of the sayd farme, I giue vnto him, for that is my will that he shal come in person to take possession: or else: If he depart this life, or doe not come to take possession thereof I giue then the sayd farme bought of mr George Corwinne as aforesayd, vnto my daughter Ruth: Inioyninge her to pay as a legacy vnto my ║daughter║ Rebbeca, thirty pounds, & in case my daughter Ruth: shal by gods providence, be disposed of in marriage, the profit of the sayd farme shal be hers, vntil, my son John shal take possesson as aforesayd: the legacyes beinge payd, both the w^ch foresayd legacyes ar to be payd vpon the entry vpon the farme. Item I constitute & apoynt Beatrice my wife to be sole executrix of this my last wil and testament Item: I Constitute, and appoynt my lovinge ffreinde mr John Croade ouerseer of this my last wil and testament

' That this is my last wil & testament witnes my hand & seale Dated the 2^th of April 1661'

signum

Willyam O Cantlebery

Witness: John Porter, sen., Nathaniel ffelton.

Proved in Salem court 3 : 5: 1663 [July 3, 1663] by the witnesses. Essex Co. Quarterly Court Files, vol. 9, leaf 22.

Inventory taken June 25, 1663 by Thomas Gardner, sr., and Nathaniel Felton: … total 470li. 8s. Creditor: By Tho. Robins, 17li. 19s.; Richard Hutton, 2li. 5s.; widd. Flint, 2 li. 16s.; total 22li. 22s. Debtor: To Mr. George Corwinne, 11li. 11s. 8d.; Mr. Price, 1 li. 9 s. 2 d.; Mr. Browne, 30li.; Mr. Gardiner, 1 li. 2s.; John Marsh, 1 li. 9s. 10d.; Francis Lawes, 3s.; rent of the farme, 20 li. Essex Co. Quarterly Court Files, vo.. 9, leaf 23.

The court 28 : 4 : 1664 appointed Leift. Tho. Putnam and John Porter, sr., to lay out and bound, in conventient time, the thirds of a farm of William Cantlebury, deceased, according to the will and inventory, for the use of Bettrice the widow. Salem Quarterly Court Records, vol. 4, page 131."^[5]

Subsequent Court Action

"Wm. Canterburey, 4 mo., 1684. [This date comes from the petition below, being many years after the death of William.]

The will of William Canterburey, of Salem, neither dated or signed [Mr. Patch, the contributor, was apparently unaware that the will, executed some 23 years prior, was both signed and dated], mentions Bettrice, his wife, son John, daughter Ruth and Rebecca, Ruth not married, he appoints his wife, Bettrice, sole executor.

The Petition of Jeremiah Neale as attorney to Joseph Woodrow, mentions that said Joseph Woodrow is a grandson to William Canterbury, of Salem, deceased., mentions that Bettrice, widow of said William, died intestate, that Rebecca was the oldest daughter, and that shee is now dead and left two children, Joseph Woodrow and Mary, and that Ruth, the only now living daughter of sd William, is now in possession of all the estate, and this his (Joseph Woodrow's) sister Mary has already disposed of her interest in the estate to said Ruth, and prays that he the orphan may have his due, dated 29th of July, 1684. The court order that the petition be granted, and that the two children have half of the estate, 29 July 1684."^[6] NOTE: The language of this petition would indicate that the third child, John, never appeared to claim his portion of the estate as specified in his father's will.

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Perley, Sidney. The History of Salem, Massachusetts. (Salem, Massachusetts: Sidney Perley, 1924-1928)
   2:62.

   William Cantlebury was a yeoman; married Beatrice _____; died June 1, 1663; she married, secondly, Francis Plumer of Newbury, Nov. 29, 1665; children: 1. Rebecca, born about 1636; married Benjamin Woodrow in 1659; John, living in 1663; Ruth, married Thomas Small March 15, 1663-4.

2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} William Canterbury, in Savage, James. A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England: Showing Three Generations of Those Who Came Before May, 1692, on the Basis of Farmer's Register. (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co, 1860-1862)
   1:333.

   William (Canterbury), Lynn 1641, was after of Salem, and d. 1663, leav. wid. Beatrice, and ch. John, Ruth, and Rebecca. The wid. m. 29 Nov. 1665, Francis Plummer of Newbury, and d. Rebecca m. a Woodrow. This name is often Cantelberry, or Cantlebury.
   
   [Additions and Corrections] [Vol. 1, p. 511] [Vol. 1] Page 333, l. 8, bef 1663, ins. 1 June
   [Additions and Corrections] [Vol. 1, p. 511] [Vol. 1] Page 333, l. 9, aft. Rebecca, add, all, with the childr. of the latter, ment. in his will of 2 Apr. 1661.
   [Additions and Corrections] [Vol. 1, p. 511] [Vol. 1] Page 333, l.10, bef, m. ins. had.

3. ↑ Francis Plummer, in Anderson, Robert Charles. The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995).

   Although Francis Plummer died intestate, his last marriage contract, dated 25 November 1670, survives, giving details about the household goods Beatrice brought with her to the marriage. These items, her thirds, and the "new room and half the orchard,... and fire wood from the twenty acres near Little River, and the garden as it is now enclosed" were to be Beatrice's if Francis died first. If she died first, her property was to be "resigned up" to her heirs. If any debts were presented due from the estate of Beatrice's former husband, William Cantlebury, they were to be paid from her estate and not that of Francis [EPR 2:321-2].

4. ↑ Salem, Essex, Massachusetts, United States. Vital Records to the End of the year 1849. (Salem, Massachusetts: Essex Institute, 1916-1925)
   5:136.

   Cantlebury, Will[iam], [died] 1 : 4 m: 1663 [June 1, 1663] (court record, Essex Co. Quarterly Court).

5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3} Massachusetts, Probate Court (Essex County). The Probate Records of Essex County, Massachusetts. (Salem, Massachusetts: The Essex Institute, 1916, 1917, 1920)
   1:420-22.
6. ↑ "Abstracts from Wills, Inventories, &c., on File in the Office of Clerk of Courts, Salem, Mass.", in Historical collections of the Essex Institute. (Salem, Massachusetts: Published for the Essex Institute by H. Whipple)
   4:62.