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Probatum
coram ven[erabi]li viro Thoma Eden legum doctoreSurrogato etc. primo die mensis Julij anno domini 1631 iurato
Thomae Packer senioris armigeri unius executorum etc. Cui etc. de
bene etc. iurato Reservata potestate similem Commissionem faciendi
Samueli Saltonstalli militi alteri executori cum venerit eandem
petiturus.
(Proved before the venerable Thomas Eden, Doctor of Laws, Surrogate,
etc., the first day of July in the year of our Lord 1631, on the
oath of Thomas Packer, Sr., armiger, one of the executors, etc., who
etc., has sworn [to carry out his duty] properly, etc.; the power being
reserved to grant a similar commission to Samuel Saltonstall, knight,
the other executor, whenever he shall come to request it.)
1. The transcription here follows the conventions of spelling and punctuation used
throughout this edition, with the exception only of the use of brackets here and there to
show the expansion of a word. A few legal abbreviations have been expanded silently.
See also, Philip L. Barbour, "A Note on the Discovery of the Original Will of Captain
John Smith: With a Verbatim Transcription," William and Mary Quarterly, 3d Ser., XXV
(1968), 625–628.
2. As early as 1603, Thomas Packer had been seeking "the fourth reversion of a
clerk of the Privy Seal." He must have been at least ten years older than John Smith.
3. Sir Samuel Saltonstall was the eldest son of Sir Richard, lord mayor of London
from 1597 to 1598, and father of Charles and Wye Saltonstall. He was also a cousin of the
Richard S. Saltonstall who became a member and assistant in the Massachusetts Bay
Company at its inception. See the Biographical Directory.
5. John Smith's brother Francis was about one year and ten months younger than
John. Beyond this, nothing is known about him.
7. The explanation for this odd amount is that it was equivalent to 10 marks, a unit
of weight often applied to currency in the 17th century. One mark equaled two-thirds of
a pound.
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