| 30th June 1869 Last Will of Denis McCarthy Husband of Mary McCabe | Transcribed from Notary Records of Louis Panet Record #15,011 Quebec Archives Microfilm #4M01-5391 |
On the thirtieth day of June in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty nine at one o’clock afternoon, I the undersigned Notary for the Province of Quebec accompanied by the undersigned witnesses being commandé and requested by Denis McCarthy of the Parish of St. Catherine of Fossambault in the County of Portneuf, farmer, went to his house and residence in the fourth concession and then and there being , we found the said Denis McCarthy sick and weak in body but however of sound and perfect mind, memory and understanding who desired and requested us the said Notary and witnesses to receive and write down his last will and testament which he instantly made, published, dictated and named word for word unto us in manner following, viz.:
I commend my soul to Almighty God hoping for a free pardon and remission of all my sins through the merits of my Blessed Saviour Jesus Christ and as to my funeral masses and prayers I leave that to the discretion of my wife and executrix hereinafter named.
I give, devise and bequeath unto my wife Mary McCabe the full and absolute usufruct and enjoyment during her life of all the property moveable and immoveable which I may die possessed of – dispensing her of the obligation of making any inventory of my said property moveable or immoveable entirely trusting to her and leaving it to her discretion and as to the property moveable and immoveable which I may die possessed of at the time of my decease and of which my said wife shall have the enjoyment and usufruct as aforesaid, I will and direct that the same be divided after my said wife’s decease, equally between the children issue of my marriage with her with the understanding however that it will be lawful for my said wife, by will or any other legal instrument and in writing to give and put my son Denis in possession of the land circumstances and dependencies I now occupy and known as Lot No. Sixty Six in the Fourth Range of Fossambault provided always that the said Denis McCarthy, my said son, attends to his said mother during her life and diligently work for her, behave and demean himself to her satisfaction, in default hereof she will be at liberty to deprive him of this preference and leave him to divide with his brothers and sisters as provided for by my present will.
I appoint my said wife Mary McCabe sole executrix of this my present last will and testament revoking all other wills and codiclls that I may have made prior to the present.
It was thus made, dictated and named unto us the said Notary and witnesses by the said Denis McCarthy, the Testator; and the present, his last will and testament having been twice read over to the said Denis McCarthy by the said Notary in the presence of the undersigned witnesses, he declared that he heard and understood the same and persisted in the contents thereof as agreeable to his wishes and intention.
Done and passed in the Parish of St. Catherine of Fossambault, county of Portneuf, at the domicile aforesaid of the said Testator on the day and year above written under the number fifteen thousand & eleven of the repertory of the said Notary, in the presence of Owen Sullivan and Thomas Conway, both of the said Parish of St. Catherine, farmers, testamentary witnesses purposely called in for the effect and validity of these presents who have signed together with me the said Notary, the said Testator having declared that he could not sign on account of being too weak, when requested so to do after due reading of these presents as aforesaid,
Ten words erased are null and five marginal notes approved are good, and the word “the” between the word “of” and “land” in the sixteenth line of the page second is also good.
Owen Sullivan, his signature;
Thomas Conway, his signature;
L. Panet, Notary, his signature.
Transcribed by Gerald Neville July, 2011
Notes by Patricia Balkcom: Denis died two weeks later at the reported age of 49. Only one of his known seven living children is mentioned in his will and that is Denis – who is listed as owning land even though it appears in Census records that he is only about 15 years old when his father dies. It is also surprising because Denis was not the oldest son, but the 3rd son.