Page images
PDF
EPUB

III. JOSEPH PREBLE (19-1), grandson of Abraham and Judith. Born 1691; married, 1st, Bethiah Payne, who died May 19, 1724; and 2d, Anna Payne, who died Nov. 11, 1725, daughters of Thomas Payne of Newcastle. He died April 25, 1732.

His will, dated April 24, the day before his death, was proved, approved and allowed May 10, 1732. He appointed his wife Ann his executrix, and his trusty friends Samuel Came and Joseph Moody, Esqs., and Samuel Millbury, to be overseers, to counsell and advise his executrix. The following is a copy of his will:

En the name of God, Amen. I Joseph Pribble of York in the County of York in the Province of the Massachusetts Bay in New England, being sick of body but as yet, Blessed be God, of sound mind and memory, do make this my last Will and Testament in manner following. First and above all I commit my soul into the hands of God my Maker and Redeemer, and my body to the Earth to be decently burried by my Executrix hereafter mentioned, and then as to my Worldly Estate which a bountiful God has graciously given me, I dispose of it in manner following,

Imprimis. I give and bequeath unto my loving and faithful wife Ann Prible one third part of my Personall Estate forever, and the improvement of one third part of my Real Estate during her natural life, she acquitting all Interest in that two hundred pounds heretofore given to my five children which I had by my former wife.

Item. I give and bequeath unto my five Elder children, viz., Hannah, Mary, Nehemiah, Elizabeth and Bithiah two hundred pounds, equally to be divided among them, and to be forthwith paid out of my Bonds, and to be improved for their best advantage by the advise of my Overseers hereafter named, and to be delivered to them at the time of marriage or sooner as my s Overseers shall think best.

Item. I give and bequeath unto my eldest son Nehemiah a full double portion of my whole estate not herein before disposed of, to be taken in land as the estate shall be appraised by three Indeferent men to be appointed by my overseers. Fifty acres of his s double portion to be set of to him when he shall come to be of the age of twenty one years, and to lye on the Southwest side of my homestead adjoining Mr. Stone's land, to begin at the end next the sea thirty poles in breadth, and so to run back the same breadth till fifty acres be compleated, to be then appraised as afores".

Item. I give and bequeath unto my son Joseph Preble one full portion or share and an half share of all my Estate to be taken in lands and to be sett of to him when he shall come of the age of 21 years.

Item. I will and bequeath unto each of my Daughters one full share or equall portion of my estate, twenty pounds thereof to be paid to each of them by my Executrix at ye age of Eighteen years or time of marriage, and the residue when my youngest child if a son shall be of the age of 21 years, and if a daughter of the age of eighteen years.

Item. My will is that all my children be brought up out of my Estate, the Sons till they come to ye age of twenty one years, and the Daughters to the age of eighteen years or time of marriage.

Item. It is my will that if the child with which my wife now goeth should be a son, he shall have an equall share with my son Joseph, that is one full share and an half of my estate to be taken in lands when he comes of age as aforesa.

Item. It is my will that if either of my sons shall se cause to sell his land herein bequeathed or any part thereof, his Brother or Bretherin shall have the refusall at the price that three Indeferent men shall then value it at, but they shall sell to no other Person whatso

ever.

Item. It is my will that my sons shall have liberty to take that part of land to be allotted to their Sisters which shall be most convenient to them Respectively, they paying to their Sisters within three years what the same shall be appraised at when the rest of my Estate is appraised as aforesaid, but if my sons shall refuse to purchase the same as aforesaid, then their Sisters shall dispose of the same as they

see cause.

Item. It is my will that all the lands herein bequeathed to my sons as aforesaid, or that shall be sold one to the other as afores, shall desend to the heirs mail of their bodys lawfully begotten for ever, and in failure of Heirs male, then to equally divided among the Females lawfully begotten as afores".

=

Item. It is my will that my well beloved wife Ann Prible be, and I do hereby appoint her to be the sole Executrix of this my last will and Testament.

Item. I do hereby nominate and appoint my Trusty friends Sam1 Came and Joseph Moody Esq" and Mr. Sam' Milbury to be the Overseers to councell and advise my Executrix with respect to the execution of this my last Will and Testament, and to end all deferences that may arise relating to the true intent and meaning of this my last Will and Testament, and any clause or article therein, and if either of my s Overseers should Dye, then I do desire and empower the two survivors to appoint another in his stead, and the determination of the said Overseers, or any two of them, I do hereby order to be a final end of ye sd disputes relating to the premises.

Lastly. I do hereby revoke any former will by me made. I do hereunto set my hand and seal April 24th, 1732.

Signed, Sealed, Published, pronounced and declared by Joseph Preble above named as his last Will and Testament. The words Yeoman, my, forthwith, whole, before, equall to each of, on the first page, and on this page the words or, Bretherin, respectively, to be, shall, or that shall be sold by one to y° other as afores, interlined, and five whole lines on this page obliterated before signing in presence of us,

JOHN SAYWARD,

ABILL GOODWIN,

JOSEPH PREBLE,

L. S.

SAM'L BLACK,

JOHN MILBURY.

The foregoing Will was presented by Ann Preble and approved by the Hon. John Wheelwright, Judge of Probate, May 10th, 1732.

Recorded in Vol. 4, pages 113-14,

By CHARLES FROST, Register.

His estate was valued at £2613 15 6 a large estate for those days. He appears to have been a mercantile man, as on the inventory there is a sloop valued at £60; half of another, £170; money at interest, £72 11.; outstanding bonds, £698 15; besides other considerable dues, and 200 cords of wood on the bank.

The posthumous child provided for in the will was born on the 18th of June following his father's death, was named Timothy, and died in 1735, when three years old.

By his two wives he had nine children, viz.: By his first wife Bethiah:

1. Hannah,

2. Mary,

3. Nehemiah,

[blocks in formation]

b. March 16, 1718; m. Sarah Howard of Marblehead, Dec. 29, 1739.

4. Elizabeth,

5. Bethiah,

b. Dec. 23, 1719; m. Samuel Donnell, 1740.

b. Feb. 8, 1723; m. Geo. Ingraham, Feb. 8, 1739.

By his second wife Anna he had

6. Miriam,

7. Joseph,

8. Anna,

9. Timothy,

b. Dec. 21, 1726; m. Joseph Parsons.

b. April 10, 1728; d. Sept. 28, 1735, aged 7 years. b. Jan. 15, 1730.

b. June 18, 1732; d. 1735, aged 3 years.

Of all these, Nehemiah was the only son who arrived at maturity and married, and I can find no record of his having had children. . Of the daughters, Mrs. Cole had three sons and six daughters. Mrs. Donnell had four sons and one daughter. Mrs. Ingraham had two daughters, and Mrs. Parsons nine sons and three daughters.

There are no known living descendants of Joseph Preble (4-3) of the name of Preble, and his line may be said to be run out.

II. STEPHEN PREBLE (5-4),

THIRD SON OF ABRAHAM AND JUDITH.

Stephen Preble, third son of the common ancestor, resided in York. The date of his birth is not recorded, but he must have been born about 1645 or '46. He died about 1695 or '96. He married Rachel, daughter of John Main, who survived him and married Joseph Carlisle in 1697, and had children by the latter. In 1714 she administered upon Stephen Preble's estate. In her account she charges for bringing up the children, viz.: Rachel, 3 years; Jemima, 4 years; Stephen, 7 years. The words of the decree of the Judge in the settlement of her account for the bringing up of the children are

"York ss. July 6, 1714. Rachel Preble, Administratrix on the estate of the aforesaid Stephen Preble, and Joseph Carlisle her present husband, personally appeared, &c.

The inventory was made full in 1724, and again in 1727, for the purpose of dividing among the heirs. Among the articles in the Inventory was a "punch bole," "a pair of snow shoes," a "negrc girl," "sum boards," &c.

From the birth of Stephen by the first marriage, Jan. 18, 1693, tc the settling of accounts, July, 1714, is 21 years, the proper time to settle them when the youngest child had arrived at age.

Children of STEPHEN PREBLE (5-4) and RACHEL Main, III. Grandchildren of ABRAHAM and JUDITH.

20-1. Rachel, b. Feb. 28, 1688; mar. Nathaniel Preble (24-2). 21-2. Jemima, b. March 6, 1691; mar. Eleazer Rhodes, of Dorchester, Mass.

22-3. Stephen, b. Jan. 15, 1693; mar. Hannah Weare, dau. of Joseph Weare, of York.

IV. The Children of Stephen Preble (22-3) and Hannah Weare:

1. Stephen, b. May 23, 1724, and died an infant.

2. Hannah, b. April 29, 1725. 3. Lydia, May 14, 1727.

4. Stephen, b. July 1, 1729. 5. Peter, Jan. 26, 1730; m. Abigai Pettes.

6. Phebe, b. Oct. 10, 1736.

Of these Peter, known as Preble "of Longsands," was the only one who married and continued the name in his descendants. Peter mar Abigail Pettes, Aug. 25, 1770, and had eight children, between 1771 and 1787, viz. :

[blocks in formation]

5. Obadiah, b. 1779.

6. Kadmeil, b. 1781.

7. Francis, b. 1784.

8. Lavinia, b. 1787; m. Timothy Donnel.

Francis, b. Sept. 10, 1784, grandson of Peter, was living in York i 1850, and had a brother living in Weld, Franklin Co., Maine, an another brother in Massachusetts. These are all the known livin descendants of this branch of the common ancestors bearing the nam of Preble.

II. NATHANIEL PREBLE (6-5),

FOURTH SON OF ABRAHAM AND JUDITH.

Nathaniel Preble, fourth son of the common ancestor, was born, and baptized in the Second Church, in Scituate, 1648, while his mother was on a visit to her relatives there. He was a farmer, and but little else is known concerning him. From the recorded birth of his son Abraham in York, 1673, it is evident he was married when 23 or 24 years of age, but his wife's name and the date of their marriage has not come down to us. Nor is the date of his death known.

23-1. Abraham, b. 1673.

24-2. Nathaniel, b.; m. Rachel Preble (20-1), d. of Stephen (5-4). They lived in Salem, as appears by a deed dated March 19, 1719.

25-3. Joshua, b. ; m.

"Dec. 2, 1713. Nath'l Preble and Joshua Preble, sons of Nath'l Preble, deceased," convey "to their eldest brother, Abraham Preble, Jun.," their interest in the estate of their said father. (See York Co. Records, at Alfred, vol. xii. p. 63.)

III. ABRAHAM PREBLE (23-1), son of Nathaniel Preble (6-5) and and grandson of Abraham and Judith.

[ocr errors]

Abraham (23-1), son of Nathaniel (6-5), was born 1673, and after the death of his uncle "the great" Abraham, in 1714 (whose daughter Mary (11-1) was his fourth wife), he succeeded to his uncle's influence and honors, as is shown by this inscription on the head-stone over his grave in York:

"Here lies buried ye body of Mr. Abrm Preble Esq' and Capt" in ye town and judge in y County of York, he served his country in other various posts and at ye time of his death, which was on March 14, 1723, in ye 50th year of his age, he sustained no less than nine offices of honor and public trust for the town, county and province."

There is extant no regular record of the choice of Town officers for York until 1701, when Abraham Preble was Town Clerk. The whole of page 469, Vol. I., of the York Records is filled with marriages by Abraham Preble, recorded in his hand writing.

In 1715, John Wheelwright of Wells, Sir William Pepperrell of Kittery, and Abraham Preble of York, were appointed Judges of the Court of Common Pleas. He was the THIRD JUDGE Abraham Preble.

Abraham Preble, Nov. 14, 1718, conveyed to Jonathan Preble, of York, millwright, his interest in real estate in North Yarmouth, formerly owned by John Cousens, "which now doeth of right unto the said Abraham Preble as he now stands related unto the estate of Mary Sayward, dec viz., in the first place by marrying with Sussana Sayward, a grandchild of ye said Mrs. Sayward, and after Dec", by marrying with Mary Preble another grandchild of sd Mrs. Sayward, also

« PreviousContinue »