| 25th December 1873 Last Will of Richard Carroll Husband of Julia McKenna | From records of Edouard-Jérémie Angers Record No. 960 Quebec Archives Online |
On this twenty fifth day of December in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy three, at the request of Richard Carroll of Boston in the County of Suffolk in the State of Massachusetts, one of the United States of America, formerly of St. Catherine of Valcartier in the District and Province of Quebec and now in the Parish of St. Sauveur of Quebec, Blacksmith, we, Edouard J. Angers in the presence of Jean Baptiste Hamel, Notaries Public duly commissioned and sworn in and for the Province of Quebec, Dominion of Canada, and residing in the said City of Quebec, went to the house and residence of the said Richard Carroll situated in the said Parish of St. Sauveur of Quebec, where being, we found the said Richard Carroll in a bed room of the said house, on St. Joseph Street, sick of body, but of disposing mind, memory, judgment, hearing and understanding as it appears to the undersigned Notaries by his demeanour, who did declare unto the said Notaries, that he was desirous of making his will, requesting the said Edouard J. Angers Notary in the presence of the said Jean Baptiste Hamel, his colleague, Notary, to reduce it into writing in manner following, that is to say:
Firstly: I recommend my soul to the Almighty God, praying him to have mercy upon me.
Secondly: I will, devise and ordain that all my just and lawful debts and funeral expenses be paid forthwith after my decease by my Testamentary executors hereinafter named.
Thirdly: I give, devise and bequeath unto Julia McKenna my wife all my Estate real and personal moveable and immoveable and of all kind and description and wherever they may be due owing and payable and wherever situated of which I may die possessed of, with the exception of a house number one hundred and ninety five, Ninth Street South Boston, because my intention is to give, devise and bequeath all the share and shares and pretensions that I may have and possess in the said building and dependencies to my brother John Carroll as hereinafter more fully explained.
Fourthly: I give, devise and bequeath unto my brother John Carroll the aforesaid property and dependencies situated in the said Ninth Street South Boston and known as the number one hundred and ninety five of the said Street; to have and to hold unto the said John Carroll his heirs and assigns the aforesaid property and all and every the share and shares therein that I may die possessed of in full and absolute property from the day of my deceased on the charge of providing for Ellen Carroll my mother as I should have done myself, if living.
Fifthly: As to a certain note dated at Boston the seventh September last, for four hundred and fifty dollars, payable to my order, and signed by James Carroll, my brother, it will become the property of my wife as aforesaid but it is my will and intention that my said brother shall have six years from the date of my decease to pay the said amount, and it will be at his option to pay it by installments every year or all in one payment at the end of the said six years.
Sixthly: And now as to the residue of all and every the property of which I may die possessed of, I give, devise and bequeath the same to the said Julia McKenna, my said wife, as provided in the third article of my said will.
To have and to hold unto the said Julia McKenna my said wife in full and absolute property from the day of the date of my decease, naming and appointing her the said Julia McKenna my universal residuary legatee of all and every the estate and properties I may die possessed of after fulfillment of the present will.
And to execute this my last will and testament I hereby name and appoint the said Julia McKenna, my said wife, my Testamentary Executrix, in whose hands I divest and dispossess myself of all my estate and properties according to Laws and Customs in the country.
And I revoke all other wills and codicils that I may have made before these presents hereby declaring this to be my last Will and Testament.
Thus done, passed and received in the said Parish of St. Sauveur by the said Edouard J. Angers, Notary in the actual presence of the said Jean Baptiste Hamel his confrere, Notary, on the day and month and year first aforesaid at six o’clock in the afternoon under the number nine hundred and sixty of the minutes of the said Notary Edouard J. Angers, Notary.
And the present will and Testament having been read to the said Richard Carroll by the said Edouard J. Angers, the said Jean Baptiste Hamel being present, the said testator did declare to understand the same and persist therein as being his last will and wishes, and hath signed his name and signature in the aforesaid presence of the said Notaries, who have signed these presents in his presence and in the presence of each of them after these presents has been read as aforesaid and in testimony of the premises.
Sixty seven words erased are null. Three marginal notes approved are good.
Richard Carroll, his signature;
J.J. Hamel, N.P., his signature;
E.J. Angers, N.P., his signature
Transcribed by Gerald Neville, June, 2011
Note by Patricia Balkcom: Richard died six days later at the 31 years. His 6 month son, Richard, had died 10 days earlier, so it is possible that they both had a contagious illness. Although they were living in Quebec City at the time of their deaths according to the will, they were both buried in Ste-Catherine-de-Jacques-Cartier. Richard was the son of the late James Carroll and Ellen Aylward.