| 14th March 1861 Will of Mary Murphy | From records of Notary Benjamin Lelievre No. 1150 Transcribed from Quebec Archives Microfilm #4M01-4420 |
On this day the fourteenth of March in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty one, I the undersigned Notary Public duly commissioned and sworn for Lower Canada residing in the District of Quebec at the request of Mary Murphy, Spinster, residing in the Seigniory of Saint Gabriel at a place called Valcartier, went to the residence of the said Mary Murphy situate and being at Valcartier aforesaid, where being in the presence of Thomas Brown and Daniel Loughren, farmers both residing at Valcartier aforesaid, witnesses called upon and present for the purposes hereof, the said witnesses signing with me the said Notary, found the said Mary Murphy attending to her household affairs, being in good health and sound of mind, memory, judgment and understanding as appeared to me the said Notary and to the above named and undersigned witnesses by her actions, discourse and words. And the said Mary Murphy considering the certainty of death and the uncertainty of the hour thereof doth make, publish, dictate and declare to Benjamin Lelièvre, the undersigned Notary, in the presence of the said above named and undersigned witnesses her last will and testament in manner following, that is to say:
The said Mary Murphy recommends her soul to Almighty God her Creator when it shall please him to dissolve her mortal body hoping for a free remission and pardon of her sins through the intercession of his Blessed Son, our Saviour.
The said Mary Murphy desires that her body be buried at the discretion of her Executors hereinafter named.
The said Mary Murphy directs that all her just and lawful debts be paid by her said Executors hereinafter named.
The said Mary Murphy doth give and bequeath unto Mary Ann Gibson, wife of Joseph Cake [Kack], the sum of thirty two dollars and unto Mary Ryan her servant maid the sum of twenty dollars which said sums to be paid by her Executors hereinafter named in six months after the decease of the said Mary Murphy; as to all her moveable and immoveable properties, sum and sums of money, notes of hand and obligations or otherwise, of which she is now possessed or may hereafter be possessed of and wherever the same may be found whether in Canada or elsewhere, the said Mary Murphy doth give and bequeath the same in full property unto the Roman Catholic Archiepiscopal Corporation of Quebec in trust for the Roman Catholic Church of Valcartier de Saint Gabriel.
The said Roman Catholic Church of Valcartier to have and to hold, use and enjoy, the said moveable and immoveable property, sum and sums of money, notes of hand and obligations or otherwise as aforesaid, of which she is now possessed of and may hereafter be possessed of, in full property and forever, from and after the day of the decease of the said Mary Murphy, such being her last will and intentions.
The said Mary Murphy hereby excluding from this her last will and testament all her relations, generally, such being her last will and intention.
And the said Mary Murphy doth hereby nominate and appoint as Executors of this her present last will and testament, the persons of Patrick Cassin and John Reynolds, Farmers, both of Valcartier aforesaid, whom she doth hereby request to render her this last act of kindness.
Thus done, made and dictated word for word by the said Mary Murphy to the said Benjamin Lelièvre in the presence of the said above named and undersigned witnesses at the residence of the said Mary Murphy situate as before mentioned, on the day and year first above written under the number one thousand one hundred and fifty, and the present last will and testament having been read and re-read to the said Mary Murphy, which she declared well to understand as being her last will and meaning. She hath persisted therein and hath signed with me the said Notary and the said above named and undersigned witnesses in faith and testimony of the premises.
Words struck out are null. Two marginal notes approved are good.
Mary Murphy, her signature;
Thomas Brown, his signature;
Daniel Loughren, his signature;
Benj. Lelièvre, N.P., his signature
Transcribed by Gerald Neville, 2011
Note by Patricia Balkcom: Although it is difficult to say for sure, I believe this Mary was the daughter of Denis Murphy and Mary Donnelly. The will states she was a spinster and there is this note in the St. Gabriel Catholic records in Valcartier: “…the body of Mary Murphy, spinster, of the said parish, daughter of the late Denis Murphy and of the late Catherine Donnelly of County Wexford, Ireland. Deceased on the 4th inst., aged about 73 years.” This burial was seven years after this will was written.