Will of Sarah A. Losee

Amanuensis: "one who is employed to take dictation or copy manuscripts." (The American Heritage High School Dictionary).

In the name of God Amen

                                        I Sarah Ann Losee

of Yorktown County of Westchester N.Y. wife 

of Daniel W Losee being of sound and dis

posing mind and memory and consider

ing all uncertainty of this life do make

publish and declare this to be my last

Will and Testament as follows

First After All my lawful debts are paid 

I give to my sister Phoebe Emily Losee my

farm situated in Yorktown County of

Westchester N.Y. where I now reside. with

all the farming utensils and stock therein 

during her natural life. After her death 

to be given to her chldren share alike.

2d It is my will that my husband Daniel

W Losee have a home on said farm during

his life provided he remains single.

3rd It is my will that my sister Phoebe

Emily Losee pay to my sister Martha the sum

of Fifty ($50) dollars per year during her life

in the event of my sister Phoebe Emily's death

then the yearly sum of Fifty Dollars to cease.

4th I give to my niece Emma Jane Smith

one Feather bed and bedstead with bed

ding

5th I give to Schuyler S. Losee one Feather bed

and bedding

6th It is my will that my sister Phoebe Em

mily furnish the sum of Fifty ($50) Dollars 

to be expended on a head stone for my father

Isaac Losee

It is my will that my Executrix [take] the cash

[page break]

in Peekskill Bank to furnish pay funeral

expenses

I hereby appoint my sister Phoebe Emily

Losee of Yorktown Westchester county N.Y. herein

before mentioned to be Executrix of this my

last Will and Testament hereby revoking

all former wills by me made

In Witness whereof I have hereunto sub

scribed my name and affixed my seal 

the twenty seventh day of September in

the year of our Lord one thousand eight

hundred and seventy nine

Witnesses

George F. Ferris}              Sarah Ann Losee {seal}

George Morton

*******************************

The will of Sarah Ann Losee is an interesting read and one of the few I've found for my female relatives. After reading the will, I have formulated several hypotheses:

• In neither Sarah's or Daniel's will are any sons or daughters mentioned; everything is bequeathed to siblings or nieces and nephews. Therefore I am guessing that Sarah and Daniel had no children or their children died young;
• Since Sarah names her sister, Phoebe Emily Losee, and their father, Isaac Losee, I'm guessing their maiden name is the same as their married names, Losee;
• The Schuyler S. Losee mentioned is likely her nephew, who is enumerated with Phoebe and Samuel R. Losee on the 1870 census;
• and, Sarah's niece, Emma Jane Smith, is probably the Emma who is enumerated with Samuel and Phoebe on the 1870 census.

Amanuensis Monday #2

Amanuensis: "one who is employed to take dictation or copy manuscripts." (The American Heritage High School Dictionary).

The Will of Daniel W. Losee

Transcription:

In the Name of God, Amen, I, Daniel W. Losee 

of the Town of Cortlandt, County of Westchester
and State of New York being of sound mind
and memory and considering the uncertainty
of this frail and transitory life do therefore make
ordain publish and declare this to be my last
Will and Testament, that is to say:

First, After all my lawful debts are paid and
discharged I give and bequeath to my niece
Mariah Outhouse daughter of Jacob
Outhouse Five hundred Dollars ($500). One
Kane bottom Rocking chair and eight Kane
Chairs and one lot of china dishes.
Second. I give and bequeath to my nephew Jacob
L. Outhouse the sum [sic] of  Jacob Outhouse one
hundred dollars ($100) and my gold watch and
chain.
Third. I give and bequeath to my nephew War-
ren Outhouse the son of Jacob Outhouse One
hundred dollars ($100).
Fourth. I give and bequeath to my nephew Alonzo
C. Outhouse the son of Jacob Outhouse One
hundred dollars ($100)
Fifth. I give and bequeath to my niece Emily
Ann Lamb the wife of Jacob Lamb One hun-
drd dollars ($100).
Sixth. I give and bequeath to my niece Harriet
E. Ward the wife of Albert Ward One hundred
Dollars ($100).
Seventh. I give and bequeath to my niece Hetta
Outhouse wife of Joseph Outhouse One hun-
dred Dollars ($100).
Eighth. I give and bequeath to my niece Mary
Vrendenburg the wife of Clarence Vrendenburgh
One hundred Dollars ($100).
Ninth. I give and bequeath to my niece's daughter
Mabel Outhouse the daughter of Joseph and
Hetta Outhouse, one feather bed and bedding
and fifty-dollars ($50).
Tenth. I give and bequeath to my niece's daughter
Gracie Jordan the daughter of Clarence and Bell
Jordan my family bible and fifty-dollars ($50).
Likewise I make constitute and appoint Jacob
L. Outhouse and Joseph Outhouse to be my
executors of this my last Will and Testament hereby
revoking all former Wills by me made.
In Witness thereof I have hereunto subscribed
my name and affixed my seal the Twenty-first
day of August in the year of our Lord one
thousand and eight hundred and eighty-eight.
                [signed] Daniel W. Losee  {L.S.}
The above written instrument was subscribed by
the said Daniel W. losee in our presence and ac
knowledged by him to each of us and he at
the same time declared the above instrument so
subscribed to be his last Will and Testament and
we at his request have signed our names as
witnesses hereto in his presence and in the pres-
ence of each other and written opposite our names
our respective places of residence.
Reside in}  the Town of Cortlandt   [signed] E.W. Lounsbury
                   Town of Cortlandt         [signed] J. H. Jordan

Citation:

Westchester, New York, Wills, Will book 119, p. 27, Daniel W. Losee, 21 Aug 1888 (proved 27 May 1893); digital images, "New York, Probate Records, 1629-1971," FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 28 June 2013).  Search "Westchester" > "Wills 1893-1894 vol 119-120" > image 33. Image is a composite from pages 27-29 for the purpose of this blog.

Amanuensis Monday #1: Pension Deposition

One of the blog prompts from Geneabloggers is Amanuensis Monday. Just in case you are wondering what amanuensis means, according to The American Heritage High School Dictionary, it means "one who is employed to take dictation or copy manuscripts." Although I'm not employed to do so (my many hours of personal research are volunteer hours), in future posts, I will share and transcribe the various documents I've come across in my research.

In my last blog, I shared the 1850 Census of my 3rd great-grandfather, Abram Lamb. I mentioned that he had two sons, one of whom, William, died before having any children. Thanks to a friend, I have in my possession a copy of William's widow's Civil War pension application. In that file were several depositions; I've chosen one of them to transcribe.

Deposition of Hester Hamilton and Catharine Lamb, 18 Nov 1865, filed with Jane L. Lamb's widow's pension application no. 122,590 (abandoned); service of William B. Lamb (Pvt, Company E, 168th New York Infantry Volunteers, Civil War); digital images provided by Carmen Cross, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE], 23 Aug 2014, without citation of file, series or record group; typically such files appear in record group 15, National Archives, Washington D.C.

State of New York

County of Westchester} ss: On this 18 day of Nov. 1865 personally came

before me a notary Public in afor said county & State Hester Hamilton

and Catharine Lamb whom I certify to be respectable & entitled to 

credit who being duly sworn depose & say; that the Rev. Samuel

N. St. John whose name is signed to the within certificate of mar

riage has left the State of New York with his family & has gone

to some place unknown to deponents, that they believe there is no

church or other public record of said Marriage, that there is no

                                                           of whom said St. John was pastor

one in charge of the Reformed Dutch Church or ^ its records, & that 

efforts have been made to procure the affidavit of said St. 

John as to such marriage, which have failed. that the only 

eye witne[ss] of such marriage, was the wife of said St. John

who has left the state with him, that said Jane L Lamb 

& William Lamb deceased, never had any child or children

& that these deponents have known said Lamb & wife ever

since the date of said marriage as contained in said certif

icate & that they so lived together & cohabited together as man

& wife from that time until the time of his death, except 

while he was absent in the service; that they were generally

known & reputed to be man & wife & were so treated & regarded,

that these facts are personally known to these deponents

and that they have no interest in the prosecution of this claim.

                                              [signed] Hester Hamilton

                                              [signed] Catharine Lamb

Sworn & subscribed to before me the day & year aforesaid & I certify

that I have no interest in said claim & that the foregoing affidavit

was read & fully explained [to the] affiants before they signed the same.

                                               [signed] J.J. Clapp Notary Public

Before receiving this pension file, I didn't know anything about William except his approximate age. So how do I know this is the correct William Lamb? One of the names of the deponents, Catharine Lamb, happens to be the name of William's mother. Jane L. Hamilton appears on the 1850 census with her parents, Robert and Hester Hamilton, just a few households from the Lamb family. Then there is a deed of land transfer (which I will discuss in a later blog) which names Catharine Lamb as the widow of Abraham Lamb, and William Lamb, one of his sons and heirs at law, and wife Jane L. Lamb. I'll be sharing their marriage certificate as well as the land records in later blog posts.