I Peter BULKELY minister of the Word, being now in the Seventy six yeare of my age, & ready to go the way of all flesh, do make this my last Will, & testament as followeth, first I do herby testife unto all that I do dy in the fayth of that Coctrine, which I have here preached in Concord, among my hearers, testifying & sealing the same with this my last confession, that it is the saveing truth of God, and therefore do humbly desire of God, that those who have opposed & gaine sayed may in time bethink themselves, & repent, that they may find mercy with the Lord in that behalfe, even thesame mercy as I desire unto myne owne soul, desireing also that though I have manifested much weakness in my dispensacion, yet the hearers would labor to express the poewr of what they have received so that both I and they may rejoice together in the day of Christ. Now as touching my worldly estate which is now very little in comparison of what it was, when I came first to this place, I do dispose thereof as followeth. first I do give unto my sonne Edward BULKELY, (to whom i did at the time of his mariage give such a portion as I was then able to give) if he continue and stay in this land, these books, following hereafter to be set downe in a schedule afexed to this my will, or if he should remove from this Country to England then (instead of ye books before expressed ingen'all and to pe particularly named in the Schedule I give unto him five pounds of English money to be paid him there in England by my Sonne John. Item, I do give unto my daughter in law, the widow of my Sonne Thomas deceased, the vallue of one kow, to be payd unto her by my Executor hereafter named, only with this exception, that if her nececessity do require the same to be payd unto her while I am liveing, then that so given in my life tine, shall be instead of the other here before named, to be payd by my Executor, and my Executor to be discharged of that legasy. Item I do give to my Sonne Elizur, either the fare which is now used by Widow GLOBE, & her sonne Thomas GLOBE adjoining to Mrs. FLENTS farme, or my mill here in the Towne, or the hundred acres of land be the same more or less, which lyes at the nerrer end of the great meadow, & together with this land I do give him also twenty acres of meadow liing towards the further end of the great meadow, beyond the poynt of upland, which shooles down into the meadow, towards the River, one of these three, namelyeither the farme, or the mill or the hundred acres of land with the twenty acres of meadow, I do hereby give unto my said Sonne Eleezur but which of the three to settle upon him, I do not at present resolve, but I leave the consideracion thereof to my Executor & overseers of this my last will hereafter named desireing them to let him have that which will be most usefull & profitable to him when he is fit to make use thereof. Item I do give & bequath to my Sonne peter, the next in vallew of these three things before named, so that when Elieurs portion is sett out, then the next in worth to be for Peter, and the third of the three to remayne to those that shall inheritt mine house in which I do now live. Item I do give to my Sonne John, Mr. Cartwright upon the Rhemish testament & Willetts Sinopsis. Item to my Sonne Joseph, Mr. Hildersham upon the one & fiftieth psalme, and ye History of the Councell of Trent in English, and Cornelius Tacitry[?]2 in English, & Mr. Bolton on Gen. 6: concerning a Christian walking with God. Item I do bequeath to my Lord Oliver St. JOHN Lord Cheif Justice of the Common pleas, my great English Bible in folio which hath the lettersof his name (O & G.) upon the cover of it; intreating him to accept this small token of my due love which I owe unto him, and as a testimony of my thankfull acknowledgement, of his kindness and bounty towards me, his liberality, having been a great help & support unto me in these my later times & many Straytes. Item I do give unto my cousin Mr. Samuel HAUGH Dr. Twisse in folio, against the Arminians. Item I do give to my Daughter Dorothy, the hundred & fifty pounds of English money which I have in England, in the hands of myh Sonne John, the most part thereof came to me and my wife by the death of one of my wives sisters, I mencion here £150, be the same more or less,---and though I supposeit is some what more, but what it is in just and exact ammount I do not know, but whatsoever it is. to my daughter Dorothy I give it, which being lesser then to suffice for her suteable disposall in marriage, I do therefore desire my wife when God shall take her to himselfe, to add something more to the said 150£, as God shall enable her, and in the meane time I will that if my Sonne John do make any profit thereof, that then not only the said 150£, be it more of less, but the profit of it also, shall be reserved to the increase of my daughters portion. The rest of my Estate unbequeathed before, whether moveables or unmoveables, as namely my house, land whether granted me first by the Towne of bought by money from others, cattle or money, or household stuffe, or plate or whatsoever, I do give unto my dear wife, and her heirs by me begotten, giving her power, hereby to dispose by sale or otherwise to her benefitt of any part of the lands I have in the Towne (except before bequeathed & given) to her owne benefitt as her need shall require. And in case any of my children before named by me in this my will, to whom I have bequeathed the legacies named, should prove disobedient to their mother, of otherwise vitious & wicket (which God of his mercy prevent) then I will the legacy before bequeathed to any of them so proveing disobedient & wicked shall be wholly in the power of my said wife their mother, to deale with them therein, as shee herselfe in christian wisedome shall think meet either to give them their legacy, or to keep it to hereselfe, and my will further is that if any of the three children before named, Eliezer, Peter, or Dorothy, should dy before thir legacyes be paid them, that then the legacy of the deceased shall go to the other two surviveing, if my wife do not stand in need of it, but if shee do stand in need thereof, for her neccessary mainetenance, then she shall have power to take it to herselfe. It may perhaps be expected that I shouldbequeath something to the Publique use of the Countrey, which practice I wish were more observed then it is by those that of ability. But were my estate better then nowitis, I suppose I may be therein excused, in regard, of what I have done formerly in the beginning of these plantations, wherein what I have done, some few do know, but I will gere be spareing therein. this only I know and may say, that which I did than was an help to the weake beginning, which then were, more then what was then done, id not thinke God requiresof me now, considering my wasted estate, which I have here consumed, haveing little to leave to the children what God hath given me, and to my pretious wife whose unfeigned piety: and singular grace of God shineing in her, doth deserve more then I can do for her. Her & her children by me, I do now leave to the goodness, and mercifull providence & care of God, my mercifull father in Christ Jesus, beseeching him that as he hath given them to mee so he would take them again as a gift from my hands, woneing them as his wone, being a father to the fatherlesse, and a Judge unto the widow: to defend her case in case any should go about to do her wrong. And of this my will & testiment, I do make my loving wife ine only Executrix, desireing my loveing Brethren, Robert MERRIAM & Luke POTTER,the faythfull Deacons of our Church & William HUNT & Timothy WHEELER to be overseers of this my will, and to assist my said wife in any thing wherein shee shall stand in need of their help, giving to Robert MERRIAM Mr. Rutherfords treatise upon the woman of Canaan, to Luke POTTER Mr. Rutherfords Upon the dying of Christ, on Jno 12 to Wm HUNT Mr. Cooper on the 8th Chapter to Romans, & to Timothy WHEELER Mr. Dike on Jeremiah 17th concerning the deceitfulness of mans heart, which, small toakens though they be unanswerable, to the care or paynes they may meet with upon these occasions, yet my hope and confidence is that they will aford there helpe herin, more out of concience towards God, then out of respect of reward form man. And to this my last will & Testiment, I have set my hand and seal, this fourteenth day of Aprill in the year one thousand six hundred fifty eight. 1658, By me Peter BULKELEY & a seal and 17th febr. in the same year.

An addition to this my will added Jan 13, 1658. Be it known also, that as a part of my will now written, I do add this manely that whereas I have agreed for a sixteenth part of the mill and for a like sixtenth part in the Iron Works which is now in frameing, I do give all my interest in both these unto my beloved wife.

Peter Bulkely Jan. 13: 1658
A request to the overseers of this my will & testiment, These I do earnestly intreat not to suffer any material or substantiall point of my Will to be alterec or changed,on any pretence whatsoever, especially, if it do concernmy deare wife, whose interest & welfare I do chiefely respect so that be the pretence either coulor of law or mater of conscience, yetI desie them to maintain the substance of my Will as I have set it downe, as being that I have herein discharged my duty to each one , so farrew as my weake decaied estate will beare in Witness whereof I have subscribed my name this 26th of febr. 1658

By me Peter Bulkely
Witness hereof,
John Joanes, The names of the books which I bequeath to my
Thomas Bateman, Sonne Edward
Thomas Browne. 1: I give him all Piscatiors Commentaries
on the bible.
2: Dr. Willett on Exod. & Levitt. on Sam. 1, 1, & on Daniell.
3: Tarnovious in 2 Vollums upon prophetas minores.
4: Dr. Owen, against the Arminians in 4, °
5: I give him one part of the English anotations upon the bible, the other
part ot be to my Son Gershom these my two Sons shall divide the books
betweenthemselves and if they desire to have the whol, they may join
together in buying the whole and then they may divide those two as they
have done these of mine, & so each of them may have the whold work.
6: Mr Aynsworth notes upon the 5 books of Moses & upon the psalmes.
Item whereas I above bequeathed the vellew of one kow to my daughter in
law the Widow of my Sonne Thomas, I do herby discharge mine Executor
of that legacy, I having already diaposed the vallew expressedto her use
and benefit. Peter Bulkely.

The witnesses above written gave upon oath th the truth of this will, the
20th of the 4th mo. 1659 Before me Simon Willard.
Entered and Recorded June 21, 1659.
By Thomas Danforth Recorder.

 REFERENCES:

2 Probably Tacitus.