| 20th January 1872 Last Will of Reverend John O’Grady | From the records of Notary Edward George Cannon Record # 7028 (8687) Quebec Archives Microfilm #4M01-1577 |
On the twentieth day of January in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy two, before us the undersigned Notaries Public residing in the City of Quebec personally came, appeared and was present The Reverend John O’Grady heretofore Parish Priest of the Parish of St. Catherine’s of Fossambault and now residing in the Parish of St. Foye, near the said City of Quebec.
Who being in weak bodily health but of sound mind and understanding as to us appeared by his manner & conversation, hath requested of us the said Notaries to receive and reduce into writing this his last will & testament which we the said Notaries have taken down as dictated to us by the said Reverend John O’Grady as follows, that is to say:
The said testator doth hereby recommend his soul unto Almighty God hoping for a free pardon and remission of all his sins through the merits of our Saviour Jesus Christ.
The said testator wills and directs that his interment and the measures thereof shall be according to the discretion of his executor hereinafter named.
That after all his just and lawful debts shall have been paid and satisfied, with which he hereby doth charge his executor, that the number of two hundred masses be said for the repose of the soul of the said testator as soon as possible after his decease.
The said testator doth hereby give, devise an bequeath unto his brother Thomas O’Grady of the Parish of Tintern in the County of Wexford, Ireland, the sum of eight hundred pounds current money of Canada to be to him once paid and satisfied.
The said testator both hereby give, devise and bequeath unto Sarah O’Grady of the City of Philadelphia in the United States of America, widow of the late John Harrison, in his lifetime of the same place, boot & shoemaker, the sum of two hundred pounds said currency to be to her once paid and satisfied.
The said testator doth hereby give, devise and bequeath unto the children issue of the marriage of his late brother James O’Grady in his life time of the Township of Frampton and of Ann Lawlor his wife, to wit: Eliza, John, Margaret, Bridget, Andrew, Ann, James, and Mary O’Grady, the sum of one hundred pounds currency each payable to them severally and respectively when and so soon as they shall have attained the age of majority, and to the girls when they shall have attained the age of majority or have been provided for by marriage, and the interest to accrue on the said several sums amounting to eight hundred pounds which said capital will remain in the hands and under the management of the executor hereinafter named, will be payable yearly to the said children respectively.
The said testator doth hereby give, devise and bequeath unto Bridget Welsh his cousin and housekeeper now residing with the said testator, wife of Edward Dunphy, now absent from this Province, the use and usufruct during her lifetime of the sum of five hundred pounds currency of shares in the National Bank of the City of Quebec, which will remain in trust in the said Bank during the lifetime of the said Bridget Welsh.
And after he death the said sum of five hundred pounds currency of Bank Stock shall and will be paid and distributed in manner following, that is to say:
1º To his said sister Sarah O’Grady widow of the said late John Harrison the sum of one hundred pounds currency.
2º To the St. Bridget Asylum Association of Quebec, the sum of one hundred pounds currency.
3º To the Propagation of the Faith, the sum of one hundred pounds currency.
4º To the poor of the Congregation of the Catholics of Quebec speaking the English language, the sum of twenty five pounds currency.
5º To the Sisters of Charity of the City of Quebec the sum of twenty five pounds currency.
6º To the Convent of the Good Shepherd of Quebec, the sum of twenty five pounds.
7º To the Fabrique of the Parish of St. Catherine of Fossambault, the sum of twenty five pounds.
8º To the Fabrique of the Parish of St. Sylvestre, the sum of twenty five pounds currency.
9º To his Grace the Archbishop of Quebec for the College of St. Ann, the sum of twenty five pounds currency.
10º To the Curé of the Parish of St. Edouard de Frampton the sum of fifteen pounds for the poor of the said parish.
11º To the Fabrique of the Parish of Drummondville the sum of ten pounds currency.
12º To the Caisse Ecclesiastique of St. Michel in the Diocese of Quebec the sum of ten pounds currency.
13º To the Reverend Michael Dowling now residing in the Parish of St. Sylvestre the sum of fifteen pounds.
And as to the sum of three hundred pounds now due to the said testator by the Corporation of the Archeveché of Quebec, the said testator doth hereby order & direct that the interest on that sum shall be paid to the estate and succession of the said testator during the life time of Bridget Welsh his universal legatee hereinafter named and after her death, the sum of one hundred pounds will be paid by the said Atcheveché to the Seminary of Quebec, and the remaining two hundred will belong & become the property of the said Archeveché.
And as to the rest and residue of his property real & personal, moveable & immoveable, the said testator doth hereby give, devise and bequeath unto the said Bridget Welsh, wife of the said Edward Dunphy, the use and usufruct thereof for and during her natural life, instituting her, his universal legatee to use and enjoy the same in usufruct as aforesaid subject to the payment by the said Bridget Welsh to Margaret Driscoll now residing with the said testator and in lieu of all wages to the day of his decease, the sum of twenty five pounds currency, and payable to her so soon as she shall have attained the age of majority with interest thereon from the day of the decease of the said testator payable annually.
The usufruct & enjoyment hereby given & bequeathed as aforesaid to the said Bridget Welsh, as well as the enjoyment & usufruct of the Bank Stock as aforesaid, being given to the said Bridget Welsh but the said testator à titre de rente et pension alimentaire and shall not be seizable for the debts of her said husband.
And the execution of the present will and testament, the said testator doth hereby nominate and appoint the Reverend Bernard McGauran of the said City of Quebec, Rector of the Catholics of Quebec speaking the English language in favor of whom the said testator doth hereby deseize & divest himself of all his property for the ends hereof, with power to the said Executor to continue and retain the charge of Executor of this present will over and above the time required by law and as long as occasion shall require.
And in order to recompense the said Executor for his service and trouble the said testator doth hereby give and bequeath unto him the sum of twenty five pounds currency.
Hereby revoking all other wills, codicils & testaments that he may have made prior to the present to which alone he doth adhere as containing his true last intention and last will.
Thus done and dictated, published & declared, by the said testator for and as his will and testament to Edward George Cannon one of the undersigned Notaries and in the presence of Mtre. Louis Leclerc our confrere Notary in the sitting room of the said testator at his house and residence at St. Foye aforesaid on the day and year first above written, under the number seven thousand and twenty eight at the hour of seven o’clock in the evening.
In faith and testimony whereof the said testator hath to these presents first only read, set and subscribed his name and signature in the presence of us the said Notaries also hereunto subscribing.
Words erased are null.
John O’Grady, Priest, his signature;
L. Leclerc, N.P., his signature;
E.G. Cannon, N.P., his signature
[Translated and transcribed by Gerry Neville]
Notes by Patricia Balkcom: Father Grady died a couple of weeks later on February 8th in St. Foy.