Wills of My Ancestors
Some people like to read books but I like to read wills. There is so much you can learn from a will. A will is a valuable piece of information to a genealogist. We can learn who a person's relatives are, where they lived, whether they owned anything of importance. Sometimes a will can tell us the relation the writer of the will to his/her children...I have seen wills where the writer has had 'the last word' (in other words, they disinherit someone and sometimes they explain why).
Most wills were only written once a person was sick or when they thought they might die. Some are short and some are lengthy. Most start out referring to God and the state of their mind and health. The oldest son is usually the one to inherit the majority of the estate. When you see 'to their heirs forever', back then they meant for the property or items to be past on to the family and helf forever.
I recently read and learned something new about a term used in many wills that just seemed to me to be odd. In most wills you will see that 'feather beds' are left to members of the family. Big deal....what's the value in a feather bed? Well, back in those days, a feather bed was a luxurious item. Not all families had them. It takes alot of chilcken and geese feathers to make a mattress and possibly alot of time. Not to mention that feathers create warmth and with nothing but a fireplace and wood burning stoves - a feather mattress would keep you warm at night. So you're thinking everyone had feather mattresses....nope... if you were not lucky enough to have one your bedding consists of hay, straw and/or leaves and what comes along with that stuff - bugs. (thus bed bugs?) So as you read your ancestor's wills - look how many times you will read about a feather mattress being given to members of the family. Now that's just the be...if it reads feather bed and furniture.. that would mean that it had a headboard, railings and possibly dresser or chest.
Most wills were only written once a person was sick or when they thought they might die. Some are short and some are lengthy. Most start out referring to God and the state of their mind and health. The oldest son is usually the one to inherit the majority of the estate. When you see 'to their heirs forever', back then they meant for the property or items to be past on to the family and helf forever.
I recently read and learned something new about a term used in many wills that just seemed to me to be odd. In most wills you will see that 'feather beds' are left to members of the family. Big deal....what's the value in a feather bed? Well, back in those days, a feather bed was a luxurious item. Not all families had them. It takes alot of chilcken and geese feathers to make a mattress and possibly alot of time. Not to mention that feathers create warmth and with nothing but a fireplace and wood burning stoves - a feather mattress would keep you warm at night. So you're thinking everyone had feather mattresses....nope... if you were not lucky enough to have one your bedding consists of hay, straw and/or leaves and what comes along with that stuff - bugs. (thus bed bugs?) So as you read your ancestor's wills - look how many times you will read about a feather mattress being given to members of the family. Now that's just the be...if it reads feather bed and furniture.. that would mean that it had a headboard, railings and possibly dresser or chest.