APPENDIX. THE following Wills, Inventories, Petitions, &c., of members of the Blake family, are copied from the various archives in which they are found recorded. The Petition of WILLIAM BLAKE, of Milton. He was son of William and Agnes Blake, of Dorchester, born in England in 1620, and died in Milton in 1703. "To the Hond Councell now Sitting in Boston. The Petition of Will: Blake Sen'. [1675] Humbly Sheweth. That whereas yo1 petitioner hath a Sone of his, namely, Will Blake jun', who was imprest & is now upon ye seruise of ye Contrey vnder ye Comaund of Capt Sam; Moseley: Now yor petitioner humbly desireth, that his Sone may be discharged from that seruise. Not but that both he & his, are freely willing to serue ye Cuntrey, to ye vttmost of their power; But his p'sent Request is Grounded vppon ye Reasons Following, first, because his s Sonne is but a youth of 18 years of age, & hath serued an Apprentise to ye trade of a shomaker, at Dedham, & had not bin at home a Moneth before he was Listed vppon ye Cuntreys seruise; But 2ly & Cheifely, because he hath bin Exer[c]ised wth bodily & Greiuous distempers, wch as ye doctors says yf he be not Carefully Loked after, to p'euent hime from taking of Colds, he will be in Great danger to Lose his Life. Notwithstanding, when he was Imprest he was both free & willing to serue ye Cuntrey; But since vppon tryall, Earnestly desires his Freedom, wherefore yor petition' desereth that yo' w'ships will be pleased to giue an ord for his discharge, and yor petitioner shall Euer pray, yor humble serut. WILLIAM BLAKE." Abstract of the Will of WILLIAM BLAKE, of Milton, the same person who previously petitioned for the release of his son, from the public service, on account of his being a youth, and "hath been exercised with bodily and grievous distempers." "The last Will & Testament of William Blake of Milton. I being now aged & weak of body, and know not the time of my disolution, which cannot be long, Yet through the mercy of God, of perfect memory & understanding, Do make this my last Will & Testament this twenty Second day of June 1703. After my just Debts and Funeral Expenses are paid, My Will is that my dear & loving Wife shall have Ten pounds good & lawfull money, to be paid unto her by my Executors, at the time mentioned in the agreement made at our marriage. Also Wife to have the use of the Chamber in the new End of my house, so long as she continue my Widow & dwell in the same & no longer, she shall not Lett or hire out the same, Also to have the wood that grows upon one acre of Land, between George Lyons and Deacon Sumner's, at the upper end of the Lott next the plaine. I give unto my Son Samuel Blake a piece of Land about One hundred acres, more or less, lying in Dorchester, near the house of Eben'. Billings. I give unto my two Sons Nathaniel Blake & Edward Blake all Lands whatever in Milton or Dorchester (except the 100 acres above,) and all my moveables, within doors and without, also Nathaniel & Edward to be Executors, & they shall pay unto my Daughters, in good pay, to my Dau. Ann Gilbert Five & twenty pounds, to Mary Willis, Twenty five pounds,-to Experience Carver, Fifteen pounds, and to Mehettable Briggs, Twenty pounds,Lieut. Sam'. Paul and John Blake to be overseers. Witness, WILLIAM BLAKE and a Seal. John Blake, Mary Sumner, Abigail Moree." "The Inventory of the Estate of William Blake dece'd, which was not disposed of before he made his Will, taken this 28th September, 1703. Whole amount of Real & personal Estate £343–6–0. Ebenezer Clap, Manasseh Tucker, Samuel Trescott." I find on the Dorchester Record of Births, the names of all the children of William Blake who are mentioned in the foregoing Will and Petition, except the last, viz., Mehettable; and as she was born after Milton was set off from Dorchester, and incorporated as a town, it is most probable her name is on the records in Milton. The son William, on whose account the foregoing petition was presented to the "Honrd Councell" in 1675, is not mentioned in the Will, in 1703; therefore I take it for granted that he died early, with his "grievous bodily distempers." The children of William Blake, of Milton. Dorchester Records say, "Susan, dau. of William Blake, d. May 4, 1676." She must also belong to the above family. Mr. Blake was Deputy to the General Court, a number of years, from Milton. The Will of EDWARD BLAKE, of Milton. He was third son of William and Agnes Blake, of Dorchester, born in England about 1625, and died in Milton 1692. "The last Will and Testament of Edward Blake of Milton, made this One and Thirtieth day of August One thousand Six hundred ninety and two. I Edward Blake being now weak in body, &c. &c. My Will is that in the first place, Funerall Expences and all just debts be discharged. Item. I give and bequeath my houseing and all my Land, that remaineth after Debts are discharged unto my Two Sons Jonathan Blake and Solomon Blake to be equally divided between them, but because my son Jonathan hath been a long time lame and now being in the use of means, for his healing, if it shall please God to bless means for a thorough Cure, then my will is that my Two Sons shall have equall shares in all my Houseing and Land, but in case my son Jonathan shall continue lame, after means used for his Cure, my Will is that my Son Jonathan shall have two third parts of my Land and Houseing, and my son Solomon, but one third part thereof. My Will is that all my moveable Estate, and my out Lands, shall be sold, for the discharge of Debts. And whereas there is a Legacie of 40 £. given to me by my Brother John Blake, as doth appear by his Will, I give to my Five Daughters, five pound a piece of that Legacie, viz. Mary Picher 5, Sarah Talley 5 £, Jane Kelton 5 £, Susanna Wales 5 £, Abigail Blake 5 £, and the remainder of s'd Legacie which is fifteen pounds, I give to my two Sons, Jonathan and Solomon to be equally divided between them. And I do constitute and ordain my Two Sons in Law, viz. Richard Talley & Nathaniel Wales, to be my Executors of this my last Will and Testament and do entreat my Loveing Brethren William Blake and James Blake to be my overseers, to see my Will performed. Witnesses EDWARD BLAKE and a Seal. "The Inventory of the late dece'd Edward Blake of Milton's Estate, taken this 3d of November 1692. "Inventory presented by Richard Talley & Nathaniel Wales and Sworn too Decr. 8, 1692." By the above Will, and what little I find on Dorchester Records, I infer that the children of Edward Blake were three sons and five daughters, and that his wife had deceased previously. Edward, b. Abigail, m. Obadiah Swift, Dec. 31, 1695. Dor. Records. Abigail died March 12, 1737, in her 73d year, and her husband died Jan. 20, 1747, in his 77th year, according to the grave-stones, which are in Dorchester burying-place. The Will of JOHN BLAKE, of Boston. He was fourth son of William and Agnes Blake, of Dorchester, born in England about 1626 or 27, and died in Boston in January or February, 1688-9. 66 In the name of God, Amen. I John Blake of Boston in New England, being weake of Body but of sound understanding and memory, praise be herefore given unto Almighty God, &c. &c. First. I will that all my lawfull or just debts and severall charges shall be paid and discharged. Item. I will that my Loveing Wife, Mary Blake, shall have the improvement and benefitt of all my Estate whatsoever, during her naturall life, in case she continues a widdow. Alsoe I give unto her my said wife two hundred pounds, which she shall have part in money and part in such goods, as she shall choose (of my moveable Estate) all which she shall have full power to dispose off at her death to whome she shall think meet. Alsoe, I leave with my said Wife one peice of meadow on Dorchester Neck, that in case she shall want she shall have power to sell. Otherwise She to give it among my own relations for which she shall thinke meet. My Will is that in Case my Wife shall be married againe that then my house and Lands in Boston shall fall into the hands of my Cosin hereafter named. My Will is that my Wife shall be full and sole Executrix of this my last Will. Item. I give unto my loving Brother William Blake & his Children, fourty pounds. Item. I give unto my Loveing Brother James Blake and his Children, James, Joseph and Elizabeth. Item. I give unto my Loveing Brother Edward Blake my two Lotts that are Laide out in Dorchester, One Containing fifteen Acres the other five Acres, with all my right in the Comonage of Dorchester aforesaid. Alsoe I give unto him and his Children fourty pounds more. Item. I give unto my loveing Cosin Bethia Shaw and her Children thirty pounds. Item. I give unto Hannah Walker, daughter of John Walker dec'd, five pounds. Item. I give unto my loveing Kinswoman Hannah Wiswell Wife of John Wiswell ten pounds, and my great Bible. All my houseing and Lands in Boston with all the priviledges thereunto appertaining I give and bequeathe unto my Loveing Cosin John Blake son of my Brother James Blake, out of which my Will is that he my said Cosin shall pay all my Legacies above given, excepting what I have given to my Wife which she shall have out of the moveables. My Will is that within twelve months and one day (my said Cosin shall pay all the Legacies aforesaid) after the decease of my loveing Wife soe long as aforesaid. Item. I give unto John Winthrop son of Waite Winthrop Esq. five pounds to be paid by my Cosin when the other shall be paid. And I desire my much honoured friends Waite Winthrop Esq. and Richard Wharton Esq. to see that this my will be duly observed. And I doe hereby revoake disanull and make void all former Wills and testaments by me heretofore made. In witness whereof I have hereunto sett my hand and Seale the tenth day of January A.D. One thousand Six hundred Eighty Eight or Nine. Witnessed by John Cole. JOHN BLAKE and a Seal. Presented by Mary Blake the Executrix and proved the 21st ffebruary, 1688-9." I have not found the Inventory of John Blake's Estate, but judging from the Will, it was large for those days. Probably he never had any children. He gives the most of his estate to his nephews and nieces. According to the fashion of the day he calls them "Cosens," which then meant a brother or a sister's son or daughter; as he says in his Will, "my loving Cosin John Blake, son of my Brother James Blake." Probably his sister Ann, who married Jacob Legare, was dead, as he makes no mention of her, but he names Bethia Shaw, who no doubt was Ann Legare's daughter, and Hannah Walker must have been daughter of Hannah Legare, and grand-daughter of Ann; her father, John Walker, being dead, and her mother, Hannah, in all probability married for second husband, John Wiswell. I think it must be so, or he would not have given Mrs. Wiswell ten pounds and his great Bible. The following is an abstract of Jacob Leager's Will. His wife was Anna Blake, daughter of William and Agnes Blake, born in England, about 1628 or 29. It seems by the Will that he had been married twice previously, but whether his second wife's chil |