52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Where There's a Will...

...in some cases, there are many more documents to find and unravel. So is the case of the will of my 3rd great-grandfather.

In 1882 my 3rd great-grandfather, James Dean, "sick in body but of sound and disposing mind," and my 3rd great-grandmother, Jane Irwin, summoned Joseph I. Mackie, Notary Public of Cookshire, Quebec, to their home for the purpose of making their wills¹.

Photo taken by Leslie Nutbrown while cataloging Eaton Cemetery, Eaton, Compton County, Quebec for interment.net.   Used with permission.

In both of these wills, James and Jane made the other their usufructuary legatee; the survivor would not actually inherit the property but it was theirs to use and enjoy for their lifetime, their heirs were their youngest sons, Samuel and Joseph.

At the time of James' death just a few months later, Joseph was living in California. We know this from oral family history, photos that were taken at photographers in California, a possible census record and from James' will².

Samuel, meanwhile, appears to have been living in Canada, but I haven't yet been able to locate him between 1871 when he was 15 and living in nearby Hatley with his brother John, and 1889 when he married Celia Amanda Clements in Montreal³.

Wills and other civil contracts for Quebec are found in the records of the notaries who created and registered them with local authorities. The digitization of this vast collection is not complete, so although I spent the last week searching for and transcribing all the records I could find pertaining to this branch of my tree, I have a feeling I haven't found everything.

In any case, it seems that after his marriage to Celia, Samuel wanted to take over the farm legally and either Jane did not want to live with the newlyweds or they did not want her to live with them. According to one of the notarial records I have found, a Deed of Donation wherein Jane gives the property to Samuel before her death, Jane agreed to move herself, her widowed daughter and three grandchildren into Celia's former home but only under some very specific conditions. This is an excerpt from my transcription of the document⁴.

     The present Donation is thus made to and in consideration of and subject to the hereafter mentioned obligations, charges, conditions and restrictions which the said Donee doth hereby promise, bind and oblige himself, his heirs and assigns to faithfully fulfill, perform, carry out and observe that is to say:
     To support and maintain the Donor for and during the remainder of her natural life, in a comfortable manner according to her means and station in life, in and by providing for and furnishing her with a good and wholesome livlihood, meat and drink, lodging and clothing, washing and mending, firewood cut-ready for use (and taken into her house or room) and the light, and all the other necessities of life; to take a good care of her whilst in health, and in sickness to procure her the Spiritual and Medical attendance and all such other attendance as her age and infirmaties shall require; to pay all the debts of the said Donor created up to this date and the bills of her sicknesses, attendance and care.
     To take the said Donor to and from Church and to and from visiting at any time that she shall call upon him to do so, except in the time of sowing, haying and harvesting.
     To pay the said Donor yearly, during her life-time, as and for spending money, the sum of Five Dollars, and the first payment whereof shall become due at the expiration of one year from date and then to continue every year thereafter at the same date to make said payment of Five Dollars.
     To pasture and winter for Dame Mary Jane Glenn (nee Dean) one cow for the term of three years from date free from charge.
     The above support and maintenance, attendance and care shall be furnished, and given at the house of Dame Celia A. Dean, which was built for Isaac Jordon for the widow of William Jordan, and which is situate on the part of the North one-hundred and twenty-five acres of the Lot number Eight in the South Rage of the said Township of Eaton.
     To give to the said Mary Jane Glenn and her three children, a home with the said Donor, for the term of three years from this date only the word "home" in this case means lodging only.
     And at the decease of the said Donor to have her buried in a Christian like manner, to pay her funeral expenses and for a grave stone and the inscription thereon.
     And for the security of the due fulfillment and carrying out of the said obligations, charges, and conditions, the said hereby donated property shall remain specially mortgaged and hypothecated to and in favor of the said Donor for the rest of her natural life and of the said Mary Jane Glenn and her children for the term of three years from date by privilege.

I don't know yet whether this was a document reflective of the times or reflective of the personalities and relationships in this family. It's one thing to legally transfer property to your son, it's another thing entirely to have to spell out or to feel you have to spell out that he will provide you with a wholesome livlihood and the means to keep warm, that he will take care of your medical needs, that he will get you to church and take you visiting, and that he will pasture and winter a cow belonging to his own sister, and that only for three years!

And what about brother Joseph? Well, according to the terms of James' and Jane's wills, he could only inherit his share if he came back home within three years of his father's death. If not, his share would transfer to another brother, Robert. It appears that Joseph never did return to Quebec, but as I said, there seem to be some contracts that I haven't yet found, so those answers will have to wait.

I hope to have the time one of these days to take a deeper dive into the Quebec notarial records of the time. I'm so curious to discover if there are any similar arrangements in other families and see what insights that might give me into my own ancestors.

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1. Quebec, Canada, Notarial Records, 1637-1935. Name: James Dean, Notarial Act Number: 3369. digital image, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed March 4, 2018, citing Fonds Cour Superieure. District judiciare de Saint-Francois. Code CN501. Greffes de notaires, 1815-1921. Bibliotheque et Archives nationales du Quebec, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.)

2. Photograph of Joseph Dean, date unknown but believed to be ca. 1881, taken in Jackson, Amador County, California, privately held by the author [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE], Rockville Centre, NY. From an album that passed from her mother believed to belong originally to Elizabeth Nimmo who was married to Joseph's brother, John Dean, the author's 2nd great-grandfather, also 1880 U.S Census, Township No. 3, County of Amador; California, population schedule p. 49, dwelling 23, family 24, Joseph Dean; digital image, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed March 3, 2018, citing NARA microfilm publication T9.) Not known if this is our Joseph but names in household and ages are consistent with known family and in the same county as the photograph. Also, James' will as cited above.

3. For Samuel's residence in 1871, 1871 Census of Canada, Subdistrict: Hatley, District: 141, Denombrements des Vivants [Enumeration of the Living], dwelling 187, family 191, John Dean household, digital image Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed March 2, 1018, citing Statistics Canada Fonds, Microfilm reels C-9888 to C-9975, C-9977 to C-10097, C-10344 to C-10388, C-10390 to C-10395, to C-10540 to C-10570. For Samuel and Celia's marriage, see Stanstead Quebec, Canada, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1968. M>Montreal>Methodist Saint James>1889 Image 13 of 21 Marriage of Dean and Clement.

4. Quebec, Canada, Notarial Records, 1637-1935. Name: Jane Dean, Notarial Act Number 7280, digital image, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed March 4, 2018, citing Fonds Cour Superieur. District judiciare de Saint-Francois. Code CN501. Greffes de notaires, 1815-1921. Biblioteque et Archives nationales du Quebec, Montreal, Quebec Canada.)

5. Photograph of Dean, Samuel and Clements, Celia, date unknown, privately held by the author [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE], Rockville Centre, NY. From an album that passed from her mother, believed to belong originally to Elizabeth Nimmo who was married to Samuel's brother, John Dean, the author's 2nd great-grandfather.