WILLS
Rhode Island Wills
Deposition of Rebeca Woollsey
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Last Will and Testament of Rebecca Cornell
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Newport, Newport Co, RI
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HIST: Records of the General Court of Trials, Newport Court Book A, May 1673. Newport, Newport County, Rhode Island. Fiske, Jane Fletcher, transcriber. Rhode Island General Court of Trials 1671 - 1704. Boxford, Massachusetts. 1998. p. 31. [This deposition was taken 10 Apr 1673 at Flushing by Robert Coe, Justice of Peace.] The Deposition of Rebeca Woollsey is yt wn shee was last at Rhod-Island with Her Mother Mrs Rebeca Cornell falling in discourse one with Another, the Deponts Mother tould her Daughtour Woollsey that shee looked very poorly and the Depont told her Mother shee had cause soe to doe; her mother did Aske her why; the Depont told her Mother, yt shee had, had the smal pox, and yt shee was very much Afflicted and Troubled in mind, and yt shee was sometimes Perswaded to Drowne her selfe, and sometimes to stabb her selfe. Soe the Deponts Mother told her Daughter that shee must pray to God, and he would helpe Her. The Depont told Her Mother, shee did often call upon God, and he did here her, so wn the Depont had done with this Discorce, the Deponants Mother told her Daughter that shee had beene divers yeares possest with an evill spirit, and that shee was divers times Perswaded to make away with Her selfe, and yett the Lord was pleased from time to time to preserve her. The Depont told her Mother, that shee would tell her Brother Thomas of it, and her Mother charged her not to tell hime, soe shee did not tell hime: And further sayes not. ffloshin 10 Aprill 1673 – This Testimony taken before me Robert Coe Justice of Peace
And here is her mother's Will, made shortly before the mother was "murdered":
GENE: Delafield, John Ross. Delafield, the family history. Privately printed, 1945. 2 vols. "Edition limited to 200 copies, of which this is no. 84." A great work on Delafields, includes several others, including Halletts, Cornells, and Woolseys. various pages. This will was found in 1913 by Mr. Hickes, town clerk, in an old box in the cellar of the Town House at Portsmouth, Rhode Island, which contained a number of ancient documents (Rhode Island Hist. Soc. Col. Vol. XXI, no. 2, pp. 126-127, Apr 1928. A copy of the will follows: The last Will and Testament of Rebecca Cornell widow to the late Deceased Thomas Cornell of portsmouth at Rhoad Island in the Colony of Rhoad Island and providence plantation in New England in America Beinge heire and sole Executrixe unto the Estate of the aforsyd Thomas Cornell Deceased as by his last Will and Testament apeareth and now being weake of body but of perfitt memory doe Bequeth my Body unto the Earth from whence it came and my soule unto God that gave it. And I doe Commend all my children unto the gracious protection of the Lord Jesus Christ humbly intreatinge him of his grace to Replenish them with his whole spiritt soe as they may live in the fear of the Lord and unity of the spiritt all the daies of their lives. My Will and Desire is that all my Debts may be truly and justly paid where and to whom any is owinge; and what debts is owinge to me may be Reserved by my Executors hereafter named. I doe give and Bequeath unto my Eldist sonn Thomas all my ffarme lyinge on the West side of the aforesayd Rhoad Island and is betwenne the ffarme of Thomas Hazard and the ffarme of Joshua Coggeshall together with all the housinge thereon which said farme and housing is already in his posession and made over unto him by deed of gift Bearing Date the seventh day of July Ano 1663. The conditions of which sayd Deede is punctualy to performe and pay within five years after my Decease the sum of one hundred pounds starll. Viz twenty pounds per annum unto my Executors after named who are to dispose them unto my children as is hereafter exprest. And I doe give unto my sonn Thomas my greate silver boule which after his decease is to goe to his Eldist sonn then livinge if his sonn Thomas be dead otherwise it is to Returne undto him. I I doe give unto my son Thomas my great chest and a new Bench now standing in the new roome. And I doe give unto my daughter in law Elizabeth, wife of my sonn Thomas one suite of linin. And I doe give and Bequeath unto my second sonn Richard one fifth parte of a share of Land at Acushnett Acocksett - and the sum of tenn pounds to be paid him out of the aforementioned hundred pounds payable by my son Thomas. And I doe give and bequeath unto my third sonn William one fifth parte of a share of Land at Accoksett Acushnett - which sayd Land is already in his possession and made over unto him by deede of gift and I doe give unto my sonn William the sum of twenty pounds tenn pounds whereof is to be payd out of the aforesayd hundred and the other tenn pounds to be paid him out of my other estate. And I doe give unto my sonn William one silver drame cup. And I doe give and bequeath unto my fourthe sonn John one fifth part of a share of Land at Achusnett and Acocksett aforesayd which is already in his possession and made over unto him by deed of gift and the sum of tenn pounds to be payd unto him out of the aforesayd hundred pounds payable by son Thomas. And I doe give and bequeath unto my fifth sonn Samuell one fifth part of a share of the Land at the aforesayd Acushnett Acocksett - and the sum of tenn pounds to be payd unto him out of the aforesayd hundred pounds and I doe give and Bequeath unto my sixth sonn Joshua one fifth part of a share of land at Acushnett and Acocksett - and the sum of tenn pounds to be paid him out of the aforesayd hundred pounds payaable by my sonn Thomas. And I doe give and Bequeath unto my eldist Daughter Sarah the sum of Tenn pounds to be paid her out of the aforesaid hundred pounds and my great Bible my silver chaine and whistle. And I doe give and Bequeath unto my second Daughter Ann tenn acres of Land lyinge in the bounds of Portsmouth neere George Layton's mill and butts upon the land of her Husband Thomas and after the decease of herself and Husband the said Land is to go to her daughter Sarah. And I doe give unto my daughter Ann the sum of Tenn pounds to be paid out of the aforesaid hundred pounds. And I doe give and Bequeath unto my third daughter Rebecca one half of that neck of Land lyinge at the westward of which I have given my daughter Sarah the one half as aforesayd. I and I do give unto my daughter Rebecca the sum of tenn pounds to be paid out of the aforesayd hundred and my second best gilt spoone. And I doe give and bequeath unto my ffouerth daughter Elizabeth the sum of tenn pounds to be paid her out of the aforesayd hundred and one silver spoone and a silver wine cup. And I doe give unto my ffifth daughter Mary the sum of tenn pounds to be paid out of the aforesaid hundred pounds payable by my sonn Thomas. And I doe give and Bequeath unto my daughter mary my best gilt spoone my gold ringe and one silver wine cup; and I doe give and Bequeath all my weareing aparrill unto my ffower daugters, Viz: Ann Rebecca Elizabeth and Mary to be equally divided amongst them only in the divission my wedding petticoat is to go to my daughter Ann. And ffurther my will is that after my deceasse all the rest of my eEstate catle goods or chattils shall by my executors be equally divided to my children, viz: Richard, William, John, Samuell and Joshua, Sarah, Ann, Rebecca, Elizabeth and Mary and further (paper torn) children should departe out of this life before my escape, or before the payment (paper torn) of the deceased shall be equally divided amongst (paper torn) only it is provided that if the defunct (paper torn) is heire. And (paper torn)
"Fins. ffurther my will is that the forementioned one hundred pounds which my sonn Thomas is to pay after my decease shall be paid unto my Executors hereafter named whoe accordinge to the yearly income thereof are to make delivery of it unto any two of my children whose necessity most requires it and needs the aforementioned sums most for their support. Not consideringe age in the performance of this my will but the necessity of my children. And I do by these presents nominate constitute apoynt ordaine my trustee and well beloved ffreinds namely Mr. William Baulston and Mr. John Sanford both of them of the aforesaid town of portsmouth my whole and sole Executors to perform this my last Will and Testament in all ample respects whoe are to receive the estate into their hands and performe this my will in paying the aforementioned Legacies and I make equall divission of the overplus estate accordinge to this my last Will and Testament. And ffurther I doe hereby constitute and apoynt my trusty and Beloved ffriends Mr. James Barker of Newport and Mr. Phillip Sherman of (illegible) to be oversiers of this true execution of this my last Will and Testament and to asist the Executors therein. And I doe give and Bequeath unto the executors and to the oversiers to each of them one ewe lamb. And in confirmation and ratification of this my Last Will and Testament I have hereunto sett my hand and seale the second day of September in the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred and sixty-ffouer 1664." Rebecca R. C. Cornell (SEAL)
Signed and sealed in presence of Thomas Gould, Joseph Wise her mark.
GENE: Macy, Harry, Jr. "The Ancestry of William Underhill of Dorset, Vermont, and of Mary Bailey, His wife." Bulletin of the Underhill Society of America, Education and Publishing Fund. New York, 1984. p. 20.
The wife of Thomas Cornell, Rebecca, may have been a Briggs, since John Briggs of Portsmouth called her "sister," but as additional evidence of such a relationship has not been found the identification is considered doubtful.
Ruscoe. Mary (Bailey) Underhill's grandfather John Bailey was married in 1665 to Ruth Ruscoe, d/o William Ruscoe by his second wife, the widow Hester Musse. William came from Billericay, Essex, England, to Cambridge, Mass., in 1635, and subsequently lived at Hartford and Norwalk, Conn., and Jamaica, L. I.
For an account of him and his family see THE NEW ENGLAND HISTORICAL AND GENEALOGICAL REGISTER 71:113-5. In the series NEW YORK HISTORICAL MANUSCRIPTS: ENGLISH, the recently published volume RECORDS OF THE COURT OF ASSIZES FOR THE COLONY OF NEW YORK 1665-1682 (edited by Peter R. and Florence A. Christoph; Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1983) at page 119 shows an entry dated 5 Oct 1671 concerning an action for debt brought by [Justice] Thomas Lovelace against William Ruscoe, Samuel Ruscoe and John Bailey, to which Samuel Ruscoe responded "for himself his father and his brother-in-law," thus further establishing the line of desent described above.
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