| 17th October 1895 Will of Mary Carroll Wife of James Sheehan | From records of Notary Edouard Antill Panet No. 4842 Transcribed from the Original Will at the Quebec Archives |
On the seventeenth day of October one thousand eight hundred and ninety five, at the special insistence and request of Dame Mary Carroll, wife of James Sheehan of the Parish of Sainte Catherine, Farmer, I, Édouard Antill Panet, the undersigned Notary Public duly commissioned and sworn in and residing and practising in the Parish of Saint Raymond in the Province of Quebec and Dominion of Canada, accompanied by James Cullen and Patrick Coughlin, both farmers, and both residing in the Parish of Sainte Catherine, witnesses required by law, and expressly demanded by the said Testatrix for the purpose of witnessing her last will, repaired to the residence in said Parish of Ste. Catherine of said Testatrix, and there finding her ill in bed but of sound and disposing mind, memory, judgment and understanding as it appeared unto us Notary and witnesses from her words and actions, yet knowing and considering the certainty of death and the uncertainty of the time thereof, and being desirous of regulating her worldly affairs whilst yet she hath the strength left to do so, hath named, dictated and nominated unto us said Notary in presence of said undersigned witnesses her last will and testament in the manner and form following:
1º I recommend my soul to Almighty God my Creator in the humble hope that he will receive the same to his favor.
2º I will and order that my body be committed to the grave to be buried in a manner suitable to my station in life and according to the rites and solemnities of the Holy Roman Catholic Church and faith of which I am a member with a funeral service sung over my remains and another funeral service at the end of the year with two high masses and twenty five low masses for the repose of my soul as soon as possible after my death.
3º I give, devise and bequeath to my daughter- in-law Mary Ellen Donohue, wife of John Sheehan, all my right title and interest in and to that certain lot of land situate, lying and being in the Parish of Sainte Catherine being Lot number seven of the Sixth Range of the Seigniory of Fossambault and containing two arpents of land in breadth by forty five arpents in depth, circumstances and dependencies, said lot now known and distinguished upon the official plan and book of reference for the County of Portneuf and Parish of Sainte Catherine as lot official number one hundred and seventy nine (No. 179) to be by her used, enjoyed and disposed of in full property and ownership from and after the moment of my decease as a mark of affection for the great care she has taken of me in sickness, willing and desiring that my said rights and interest in said lot of land be exempt from seizure for any debts contracted by herself or her husband.
4º I give, devise and bequeath unto my grandson James, son of John Sheehan and Mary Ellen Donohue, his wife, all my rights, title and interests in two lots of land situate in the said Parish of Sainte Catherine being lots numbers eight and nine of the Little Range of the Seigniory of Fossambault now known as lot number one hundred and seventy seven and one hundred and seventy eight (Nos. 177 & 178) of the cadastre for the Parish of Saint Catherine and County of Portneuf, with buildings thereon erected, & also all my rights, shares, interests and title in and to the whole of the moveable and immoveable effects, household furniture, goods, and chattels situate and being on the said three lots of land numbers seven, eight and nine of the Little Range subject to the usufruct, use and enjoyment thereof of my said son John Sheehan during the whole minority of my said grandson, said usufruct to be exempt from seizure for any debts contracted by my said son John.
5º I give, devise and bequeath unto my other grandson John, son of James Sheehan and Dame Catherine Maher, his wife, all my right, title and interests in and to the following immoveable properties:
-1- A lot of land situate, lying and being in the Parish of Sainte Catherine, being lot number four of the Little Range in the Seigniory of Fossambault and containing said lot two arpents of land in breadth by forty five arpents in depth, with the buildings thereon erected and now known as lot number one hundred and eighty two (No. 182) on the official plan and book of reference for the County of Portneuf and Parish of Sainte Catherine
-2- A lot of land situate in the said Parish of Sainte Catherine in the Little Range of the Seigniory of Fossambault containing three arpents of land in breadth by fifteen in depth also one and a quarter arpents of land in breadth by thirty arpents in depth to be taken and detached from a lot in the third concession of the Seigniory of Fossambault and now known upon the official plan and book of reference of the County of Portneuf and Parish of Ste. Catherine as lots numbers eighty two an four (82 & 84), also all my rights, shares, titles and interests in and to the whole of the moveable and immoveable effects, household furniture, goods and chattels situate and being on the said lot number four and now in use by my son James and subject to the use and usufruct and enjoyment thereof, during the whole minority of my said grandson John, said usufruct to be exempt from seizure for any debts contracted by my said son James.
I hereby nominate, constitute and appoint my two sons, John and James Sheehan of the Parish of Sainte Catherine, Farmers, Executors of this my present last will and testament wishing and desiring that their power and authority as such Executors continue beyond the day and year allowed by law and until such time as their two sons, James and John, shall have attained their age of majority.
I hereby revoke and repeal all other and former last wills and codicils by me heretofore made, wishing and desiring that the present alone be followed.
It was thus named, dictated and nominated unto us said Notary and witnesses by the said Testatrix of her own free will and accord, and the said Testatrix persisted hereinafter the reading thereof as fully to embody and contain her last will and intentions.
Thus done and passed at Sainte Catherine aforesaid in the residence of the said Testatrix on the day, month and year first above written, under the number four thousand eight hundred and forty two of the original deeds remaining of record in the office of the undersigned Notary.
In testimony whereof the said Testatrix declaring her inability to write or sign her name hath made her usual mark of a cross in the presence of the said undersigned Notary and witnesses who have each signed with and in the presence of the said Testatrix and in the presence of each other, these presents having been first duly read by the said Notary to said Testatrix in presence of said witnesses.
Mary Carroll, her mark;
James Cullen, his signature;
Patrick Coughlin, his signature,
E.A. Panet, N.P., his signature
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NOTE: James Sheehan and Mary Carroll were married in Ste-Catherine, County Portneuf on 13 April 1847.
John Sheehan (s/o James Sheehan and Mary Carroll) married Mary Ellen Donohue in St. Patrick’s Church, Quebec City on 14 April 1890.
James Sheehan (s/o James Sheehan and Mary Carroll) married Catherine Maher in Ste-Catherine on 1 September 1884.
Transcribed by Gerald Neville, 2011
Note by Patricia Balkcom: Mary died 5 years later on the 26th of May 1900 at the reported age of 81 years. The two grandsons mentioned were her oldest grandsons. Mary had seven children, six survived infancy, and the two mentioned in the will were her only sons.