| 6th July 1888 Last Will of Margaret O’Neill Widow of Alexander Leonard | From records of Notary Philippe Huot, No. 9403 Quebec Archives Microfilm #4M01-5213 |
On this day, the sixth of July one thousand eight hundred and eighty eight, before the undersigned Notary Public for the Province of Quebec and the witnesses he hereinafter named, all residing at the City of Quebec, personally came and appeared Margaret O‛Neill of the Parish of St. Sauveur, widow of the late Alexander Leonard, in his life time of the same place, Butcher, who doth hereby make her last will and testament as follows, that is to say:
I wish and desire that my immoveable property now known under number eleven hundred and seventy six and eleven hundred and seventy seven of the Official Cadastral Plan of the Parish of St. Sauveur of Quebec (if not already sold by myself at the time of my death) be sold and converted into cash by my Testamentary Executor herein after named.
I give, devise and bequeath unto Thomas Moore, farmer, and Ann Cassin, his wife, my nephew and nieces my immoveable property known as lot number eleven hundred and eighty of the said Cadastral Plan, to be by them held and possessed in full & absolute property from the time of my death.
I give, devise and bequeath unto my nephew, John Martin, of Quebec, Butcher, as long as he lives, the interests of a capital sum of eight hundred dollars which shall be well secured by mortgage or otherwise by my Testamentary Executors, and at his death I give and bequeath the said sum of eight hundred dollars unto his daughter Mary Ann Sarah Martin, but should the said Mary Ann Sarah Martin die before her father, I then wish and order that the said sum of eight hundred dollars do revert and belong after the death of the said John Martin unto my sister Catherine O’Neill, wife of Garret Kindelan, to whom in that last case, I give and bequeath the same, expressly ordering that the said sum of eight hundred dollars be then paid unto the said Catherine O’Neill without the interference, authorization or control of her said husband who shall never be able to claim any part of the said sum in capital & interest by right of Communaté de biens or otherwise.
I give, devise & bequeath unto my grand niece Mary Ann Sarah Martin, issue of the marriage of the said John Martin with the late Sarah Racine, the sum of two hundred dollars to be paid to her at the age of twenty one years, but should my said niece die before attaining the age of twenty one years, I wish & desire that the said sum of two hundred dollars do revert & appertain unto my said sister Catherine O’Neill, wife of Garret Kindelan subject to the same conditions & restrictions as in the next & preceding item expressed.
I give, devise and bequeath unto my said sister Catherine O’Neill, wife of Garret Kindelan, subject to the conditions & restrictions set forth in the two next preceding items the sum of four hundred dollars, and the sum of one hundred dollars to each of her three daughters named Margaret Jane, Julia Ann, and Mary Elizabeth.
I give, devise & bequeath unto my sister Bridget O’Neill, widow of the late Thomas Cassin of Valcartier, the sum of four hundred dollars.
I give, devise and bequeath unto my sister Elizabeth O’Neill, widow of the late John Wilson of Ottawa, the sum of one hundred dollars.
I give, devise and bequeath the sum of one hundred dollars to my niece Mary Ann Martin, wife of James Barry, Farmer of St. Catherine.
I give, devise and bequeath a sum of one hundred dollars to each of my two grand nieces Sarah Anne Moore and Margaret P. Moore, daughters of Thomas Moore and Ann Cassin.
I give, devise and bequeath a sum of fifty dollars to each of my two nieces Catherine Martin and Margaret Martin, daughters of Francis Martin and Sarah O’Neill of Valcartier.
I give, devise and bequeath the sum of fifty dollars to my sister Sarah O’Neill, wife of Francis Martin.
I give, devise and bequeath a sum of fifty dollars to my niece Julia Cassin, daughter of my sister Bridget O’Neill, widow Thomas Cassin.
I give, devise and bequeath a sum of fifty dollars to each of my three grand nieces issue of the marriage of James Adams, Farmer of Valcartier, with Mary Wilson.
I give, devise and bequeath the sum of one hundred dollars to Jane Martin, wife of Thomas Manning, Farmer of Lorette.
I give, devise and bequeath the sum of one hundred dollars unto the Hospital of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of St. Sauveur.
I give, devise and bequeath the sum of fifty dollars to the Curate of the Parish of St. Gabriel of Valcartier to be by him used and employed in decorating the Catholic Church of the said parish.
I wish and ordain that a sum of forty dollars be used and employed by my Testamentary Executors herein after named in having masses said in Quebec for the repose of souls in purgatory and a further sum of twenty dollars in having also masses said for the same object in the Church of la Bonne Ste. Anne de Beaupré.
I wish and ordain that a sum of one hundred dollars be used, paid and employed by my Testamentary Executors aforesaid in having masses said for the repose of my soul.
And as to the residue of my estate real and personal, moveable and immoveable which I may die possessed of, all the above legacies being paid, I give, devise and bequeath the same unto y three nieces Margaret Jane, Julia Ann and Mary Elizabeth issue of the marriage of Garret Kindelan with my sister Catherine O’Neill, to have and to hold the same in full and absolute ownership and by equal shares between them subject to the payment of my funeral expenses and my other just debts in any due.
I hereby nominate and appoint my nephew Thomas Moore and my friend Theodore Tremblay of St. Sauveur, grain dealer, joint Executors of this my present last will and testament, hereby revoking all former wills and codicils at any time heretofore by me made and declaring the present to be my only true last will and testament hereby expressly ordering that the term of their executorship shall not be limited to the year and a day but last until the full and complete execution of this my present last will.
This last will received by Philippe Huot, Notary Public, in the presence of Louis Leclerc, his colleague, having been read over to the said Testatrix by the first named Notary in the presence of his said colleague, she declared to well understand the same and persisted in the same as containing her true last will and intentions.
Done and executed at the said Parish of St. Sauveur at the residence of the said Testatrix on the day and year first above written, under the number nine thousand four hundred four hundred and three of his record, in testimony whereof the said Testatrix hath signed with and in the presence of said Notaries who have also signed in the presence of said Testatrix and in the presence of each other, after the reading hereof according to law and after the observance of all the formalities required for the validity of wills.
Four marginal notes are good; sixteen words erased are null.
Margaret O’Neill, her signature;
L. Leclerc, N.P., his signature,
P. Huot, N.P., his signature
Transcribed by Gerald Neville, 2012
Note by Patricia Balkcom: Margaret and Alexander never had any children. Margaret died January 15, 1893, five years after writing this will. Although the church record states that she was 62 years, baptismal records would indicate that she was 65 years of age.