| 20th April 1835 Last Will of Edward Sweeney Husband of Rose Brougham | From Register of Holographic Wills, Testaments and Codicils, No. 170 Quebec Archives |
On this twentieth day of April one thousand eight hundred and thirty five, before us the undersigned Curate of St. Catherine and Missionary of Valcartier was present Edward Sweeney born in the Parish of Monasterevin, County of Kildare, Ireland and now residing in the Settlement of Valcartier, who being sick but at the same time enjoying his perfect senses and reason as it appeared to me and to the undersigned witnesses, has declared to me his desire of making his last will and testament; and has consequently dictated to me the following articles viz.:
1º He desires that he will die in the communion of the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Roman church.
2º He bequeaths his soul to the most holy and adorable Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost hoping that God will receive it in his great mercy and forgive him his sins.
3º He leaves his body to the earth from whence it was taken, and hopes that his family will give him a Christian burial.
4º He leaves to his wife, Rose Broughal [Brougham], the use of all his cattle, except one horse, and likewise all his house furniture until her death hoping that his sons, or any of them will take proper care of their mother but if she finds herself not well treated she will be at liberty to live with whomever she may please and in that case the chattels will be equally divided between his two sons, Bernard and John Sweeney and he binds them to give and pay to her yearly the sum of six pounds currency each one half as long as she lives.
5º He leaves and bequeaths to his two sons Bernard and John Sweeney his Lot of land situated in the fifth concession of Valcartier, Seigniory St. Gabriel, to each of them one half, but his son Bernard will have the liberty to take his choice of either of the said halves, and likewise he shall have the new house which is nearly to be raised and the present old house for a barn under condition that he will help his brother John when required to build twelve feet in addition to the little house and raise the whole two feet higher.
6º He reserves on his Lot one acre upon which the buildings are erected to belong to his two said sons in common (en communauté) so that they may have no difference about the site of these buildings.
7º He leaves and bequeaths exclusively to his son Bernard the grey horse, harness, cart and camisole in full property.
8º He leaves and bequeaths to his sons Bernard and John Sweeney his said Lot of land under the following conditions: That neither of them will have the liberty to sell his part to any stranger without the free consent of the other, but if he wishes to leave the place, he will offer and give it up to the remaining brother at a yearly rent or at a fair price according to the advice and judgment of any three decent men known by them.
9º He leaves and bequeaths to his daughter Mary the sum of seven pounds currency and to his daughter Rose the sum of ten pounds currency and to his daughter Ellen the sum of seven pounds currency to be paid at the time of their marriage in three equal installments in equal proportion by the two brothers, or if they do not marry and wish not to live together in the family they will be paid by installments as aforesaid.
10º If any of his afore named children do behave badly according to the judgment of the officiating Priest of this Parish and of the present witnesses Ferdinand Murphy and Michael Mooney, his will is that they or any of them be deprived of all and every thing left to them by this his will, and their part shall be divided among his dutiful children.
This he has declared to me to be his last will and testament after having been now read according to law (lu et relu) in presence of Ferdinand Murphy and Michael Mooney present and who have signed with us.
Done and passed in the dwelling house of the said Edward Sweeney on the day aforesaid and have signed with us.
P.S. The said testator Edward Sweeney has further declared that his will is that he leaves nothing to any of his other children Patrick and James except one shilling British to be paid by his son Bernard when deceased.
Edward Sweeney, his signature
Ferdinad Murphy, his signature
Michael Mooney, his signature
H. Paisley, Priest, his signature
Transcribed by Gerald Neville, May, 2011
Notes by Patricia Balkcom: Edward died 3 months later, on the 12th of July, at the age of about 56. Since this was not an advanced age, it might be assumed that he had a chronic illness such as tuberculosis. This is one of the few wills that we have found that actually mention the place of birth in Ireland. Edward had 4 sons and 4 daughters. Three of the daughters are named in the will – a fourth daughter, Catherine, is not. She married before the will was written, so Edward may have felt that she was “taken care of”. It is not known why he specifically mentioned Patrick and James as not being heirs.