Inventory of the Real and Personal Property of Henry Ackley, Chatham, Connecticut

June 27, 1814

Henry’s inventory was exhibited by his Widow Ruth Ackley and brother Nathaniel Ackley in Middletown, Connecticut Probate Court June 27, 1814. The estate’s total value was deemed to be worth $4,773.21. The three-page inventory listed and assessed his belongings.

As I read through the inventory, I could picture the appraisers David Clark, Samuel Brown and Franklin G. Comstock as they began their task. They started with 4^th Great Grandfather’s wardrobe examining his clothing, bedding and linens. They then entered the kitchen area pricing a kitchen table, ten chairs, various cooking utensils and assorted food preparation items. Perhaps the barn housed a secondhand cart, barrels, numerous tools and farming instruments. The livestock included cows, oxen, sheep, lambs and swine.

Henry Ackley held two notes against Enos Johnson for $100 each. Henry’s earlier dealings with Enos Johnson dated back to December 1811, when he sold him two pieces of land for $650.

Great Grandfather's lands appraised at $4,018.00 accounted for the bulk of his estate. He acquired land in the town of Chatham on nine occasions per the town of East Hampton deeds and later sold four of those parcels keeping 167 acres mentioned in the inventory:

   $ 325.00    Sillamen Lot - 13 acres @ $25.00 p/acre                

        65.00    East Champion Lot - 5 acres @ $13.00 p/acre          

      120.00    Kellogg Lot – 8 acres @ $15.00 p/acre                    

   1,408.00    Whitmore, Smith and Colley lots – 88 acres @ $16.00 p/acre                

   2,100.00    Home Lot with building together with 2/3 of the

           Champion barn said called 53 acres                           

 $4,018.00 

As customary, the Court allowed six months for Henry Ackley’s creditors to submit their claims to the administrators.

I haven’t yet transcribed the inventory but included images and hope you find time to read it.  

Source Citation

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.