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.
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REFERENCES:
1 New England Hist. and Gen. Register,Vol. 10,
pp. 167-170.
2 Probably Tacitus.
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