Will of Nicholas Salisbury (1833) — Naming a Different Silas Salisbury
This is a completely different family line from the Silas Salisbury of Marathon, Cortland County you just had transcribed. This document is the Last Will and Testament of Nicholas Salisbury of Adams, Jefferson County, New York, and it names his son Silas T. (or F.) Salisbury as principal heir.
Document Details
Testator: Nicholas Salisbury of Adams, Jefferson County, NY
Will signed: August 15, 1833
Recorded: November 9, 1864 (a 31-year gap between signing and recording — worth noting for your research; suggests it wasn't recorded until after his actual death, likely decades later)
Recording clerk: [D.] Miller, Clerk
Nicholas Salisbury's Children (per the will)
Child Bequest
Seneca T. Salisbury (son) $1 — already received full share by prior agreement/ receipt
Edward Salisbury (son) $1 — same as above
Silas T./ F. Salisbury (son) The home farm (life estate) + rest of real estate + residue of personal estate
Lydia Smith (daughter, wife of Chauncey Smith) $60, payable in farm produce at set valuation rates
Abigail W. Rudd (daughter, wife of Benjamin Rudd) $1 — had already received her full portion previously
Sarah N. Brown (daughter, deceased) Her children collectively receive $60
Lucy L. Webb (daughter, wife of Walter Webb) $60 + bed/ bedding under bedstead + choice of a cow
The Silas T./ F. Salisbury Bequest — Detailed Terms
Nicholas gives Silas the farm he currently resides on, plus all remaining real estate, for Silas's natural life only, with remainder interests carefully laid out:
If Silas dies leaving a widow and child(ren): the widow gets use/ profits of one-half the farm for her natural life (or widowhood); remainder goes equally to the children
If Silas dies leaving children but no widow: farm goes directly to the children, share and share alike
If Silas dies leaving no children at all: the farm passes by NY intestacy law to Nicholas's heirs generally, but still subject to the widow's life estate in half, if there is a widow
Silas is also named residuary legatee of all personal property not otherwise disposed of.
Executors
Smith Salisbury (Nicholas's brother — Silas's uncle)
Walter Webb (son-in-law, husband of Lucy)
Witness/ Proof (top of page 318, from the prior deed context)
The Chaumont deed testimony above this will is unrelated — it's proof testimony for a separate 1856 deed involving Vincent LeRay de Chaumont's attorney, Patrick Somerville Stewart. Not connected to the Salisbury family.
Comments & Corrections