I do hereby give and bequeath
Having read entirely too many wills during my brief stint as a paralegal working in an oil and gas related law firm, I've wondered about wills and who had what rights in Colonial America. I have read some of the wills of our family's ancestors and thought about writing a post about them ,but I never saved any of the reproductions. Until now. Fortunately, John Choate, who may have testified at a with trial in colonial Massachusetts, made out a will in 1691, and a reproduction is attached to his entry in Family Search. He begins by stating that he is sick in body but of sound mind, kind of a standard opening for a will. I have noticed several wills in which the writer noted that he was in poor health -- and I say "he" because so far I have only read wills by men, not uncommon because married women had limited rights to property that pretty much obviated the need to make a will. The reference to the writer's health seems to indicate that poor health provides the imp...