Henry
Ackley, age 34 years, died unexpectedly April 24, 1814, in the town of Chatham,
Middlesex County, Connecticut. A sickness traveled throughout his neighborhood
claiming his life after a week’s illness. His wife and children mourned his
passing as well as his mother, father and siblings.
4th Great Grandfather Henry
had not yet prepared a written will leaving his widow Ruth (Purple) Ackley and
brother Nathaniel Ackley to settle his estate.
May
30, 1814
About a month after Henry’s death, Ruth
and Nathaniel petitioned the District Probate Court of Middletown, Connecticut
to be appointed his administrators.
The
bond was dated May 30, 1814 in the penal sum of $5,000. I’ve been told the $5,000
bond value correlated with the estimated value of the estate. The Widow Ackley and
Nathaniel were responsible for seeing an inventory be taken and exhibited in
Court by the last Monday in July 1814. They also needed to make an account of
Henry Ackley’s estate the following year by the last Monday in May 1815.
Ruth
Ackley, Nathaniel Ackley, and Sparrow Smith all signed the bond. However, Ruth
didn’t appear at the court proceedings. Her signature was witnessed by Eli
William and Ogden S. Ackley. (Ogden S. Ackley was Nathaniel’s son and Ruth’s
nephew by marriage.)
The Middletown Probate Court also appointed
David Clark, Samuel Brown and Franklin G. Comstock to appraise Henry's estate.
The
administrators have been appointed and now the appraisers will list and value
Henry’s estate. Google searches for David
Clark, Samuel Brown and Franklin G. Comstock reveal all were members of the Chatham
community.
Source
Probate Files Collection, Early to
1880; Author: Connecticut State
Library (Hartford, Connecticut); Probate Place: Hartford, Connecticut
Source
Information
Ancestry.com. Connecticut, Wills
and Probate Records, 1609-1999 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA:
Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.
Original data: Connecticut County,
District and Probate Courts.
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