John Varney is my great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather. I have posted a little but about his part of my genealogy in my discussion concerning his first wife at Who Was Kaziah Varney's Mother? I have yet to solve the mystery of who his first wife was, but I did find his Will which I include below in case someone else is searching for this family.
WILL OF JOHN VARNEY
[Will Book pp. 157-159, Dutchess County, New York]
And thereupon the last Will and Testament of John Varney deceased with the probate thereof were produced and are as follows, to wit –
I John Varney of the town of Dover, County of Dutchess and State of New York being in sound disposing mind and memory do think fit to make a distribution of my estate which shall remain at my decease in manner following, that is to say, First I do order and direct that all my just debts together with my funeral expanses be justly paid and satisfied out of my estate.
Next, I give to my wife Prissilla the one equal undivided half of all my household furniture one equal half of my dwelling house and one equal undivided half of all my remaining real and personal property to her heirs and assigns forever and the use and occupancy of the other half of the house during her life all which above legacies I give to her in sight and lieu of her dower.
Next, I give to my two daughters Sally Higby wife of Flemon Higby and to my daughter Keziah Cutler wife of Calvin Cutler the other equal undivided half of all my real and personal property to be equally divided between them their heirs and assigns forever and after the death of my wife that half of the house given to her during her life I give to my two daughters above named to be divided equally between them their heirs and assigns forever.
Now Therefore in order that this my last Will and Testament may be carried fully into effect I do hereby constitute and appoint my beloved wife Prissilla Varney my Executrix and John Wing and Calvin Cutler my Executors hereby authorizing and empowering them to do with and dispose of my property both real and personal in manner and form as aforesaid directed in this my last Will and Testament.
In Witness Whereof I have hereunto this my last Will and Testament set my hand and seal at Dover this ninth day of the fourth month in the year one thousand eight hundred and forty one hereby revoking all former wills by me made and ratifying this and none other to be my last Will and Testament.
Signed, sealed, published and declared by the said John Varney as for his last Will and Testament in the presence of us whose names are under written who did each of us subscribe our names as witnesses at his request and in his presence and in the presence of each other.
John Varney (L.S.)
Asahel H. Haviland. ) Town Dover,
Buel Giddings \ Dutchess County.
State of New York, Dutchess Surrogate Court In the Matter of proving the last Will and Testament of John Varney deceased .
Dutchess County
Showing posts with label Wills. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wills. Show all posts
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Help for Beginners
Some basic rules:
1)Start with yourself and go backwards generation by generation.
2)Find some way to keep track of your info. I use FamilyTreeMaker on the computer now, but started with a plain spiral notebook.
And here's one way to start the process:
First, ask questions of all living relatives. A good time for this is holiday gatherings, as one person might answer and another will add information. They might conflict, but take it all in. You never know when a clue will appear to the truth. Don't believe everything you hear. write it down and confirm it with a records or two.
See what kind of documents the immediate family has. You might see a gold mine appear before your eyes.
Go to the Town records, County Records, State records. Look in the indexs, remeber to find the sibilings of your main search, as they may als have info to help you. Sometimes sibilings will give you enough clues to find out more on your direct line. After the indexes, look at the actual records. Some records are missed when making an index. Some facts on the record are not in the index. Some records are not copied correctly in an index. Be open to the idea the name is spelled differently.
Make a timeline. Even if it is estimated dates, see if you can place your ancestor at specific times in specific places. This can give you clues on where to look next.
Go look at the census. Take the timeline and names of sibilings with you. Look in the census for family members. Don’t be taken in if the name is not spelled exactly right. Often they are misspelled. You may need to look in several neighboring towns to find the people you are looking for. the ages might be off by a yerar or two too.
Look in the land records. You now have family stories, vital records, your timeline, and census items to tell you where your ancestor was when. See if you can find a land record or city directory to tell you what they where doing where wnd when. Land records might describe people in terms of their family.
Look at wills. See if you can find patterns between land exchanges and when people died. Sometimes land is gifted from one genration to another. is this the case with your family? Who else is involved? How are they related?
Start asking new questions of family. Send out inquiries through the internet. Ask for information from others studying the same town/family. Read local histories…county and town. See if the town has a local library. Read the newpaper… do they have archived papers? Where? Can you get to them. Look for obits and wedding announcements.
Go to the cemeteries. Look for the plots. Who is buried around them? What church did they belong to? Are there GAR, DAR, mason, etc markers? What markers are there and what do they mean? Can you find the cemeteries records, which would tell you who paid for the plot… and the heirs if there are open spaces in the gravesite.
Keep a record of where you have looked… and for what.
Keep a record of what was found… and where
When you are stuck, start with the timeline… and look at the resources you’ve used.
Ask. Ask others where to go, what might be found, what do they think?
Good luck… and happy digging!
1)Start with yourself and go backwards generation by generation.
2)Find some way to keep track of your info. I use FamilyTreeMaker on the computer now, but started with a plain spiral notebook.
And here's one way to start the process:
First, ask questions of all living relatives. A good time for this is holiday gatherings, as one person might answer and another will add information. They might conflict, but take it all in. You never know when a clue will appear to the truth. Don't believe everything you hear. write it down and confirm it with a records or two.
See what kind of documents the immediate family has. You might see a gold mine appear before your eyes.
Go to the Town records, County Records, State records. Look in the indexs, remeber to find the sibilings of your main search, as they may als have info to help you. Sometimes sibilings will give you enough clues to find out more on your direct line. After the indexes, look at the actual records. Some records are missed when making an index. Some facts on the record are not in the index. Some records are not copied correctly in an index. Be open to the idea the name is spelled differently.
Make a timeline. Even if it is estimated dates, see if you can place your ancestor at specific times in specific places. This can give you clues on where to look next.
Go look at the census. Take the timeline and names of sibilings with you. Look in the census for family members. Don’t be taken in if the name is not spelled exactly right. Often they are misspelled. You may need to look in several neighboring towns to find the people you are looking for. the ages might be off by a yerar or two too.
Look in the land records. You now have family stories, vital records, your timeline, and census items to tell you where your ancestor was when. See if you can find a land record or city directory to tell you what they where doing where wnd when. Land records might describe people in terms of their family.
Look at wills. See if you can find patterns between land exchanges and when people died. Sometimes land is gifted from one genration to another. is this the case with your family? Who else is involved? How are they related?
Start asking new questions of family. Send out inquiries through the internet. Ask for information from others studying the same town/family. Read local histories…county and town. See if the town has a local library. Read the newpaper… do they have archived papers? Where? Can you get to them. Look for obits and wedding announcements.
Go to the cemeteries. Look for the plots. Who is buried around them? What church did they belong to? Are there GAR, DAR, mason, etc markers? What markers are there and what do they mean? Can you find the cemeteries records, which would tell you who paid for the plot… and the heirs if there are open spaces in the gravesite.
Keep a record of where you have looked… and for what.
Keep a record of what was found… and where
When you are stuck, start with the timeline… and look at the resources you’ve used.
Ask. Ask others where to go, what might be found, what do they think?
Good luck… and happy digging!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)