John
Doty passed Jan. 27, 1857 when 66 years old. 3rd Great Grandfather
left a widow, 8 living children and a 125 acre farm in Wawayanda, Orange Co.,
New York.
His
widow, Dolly, resided on the farm with 3 unmarried adult children--John,
Albert and Arminda. I don’t know if the eldest son, Jefferson, was living at
home when his father died. His was a carpenter living in Port Jervis, New York
in 1855. No doubt the Doty brothers kept the farm running.
Life
goes on. Bills must be paid and Great Grandfather didn’t prepare a will. Great
Grandmother needed take over the farm’s finances. Dolly and William E. Mapes
petitioned Orange County, New York Surrogate Court Feb. 16, 1857 to be
appointed Administratrix and Administrator of John Doty’s estate.
.jpg "Letter of Administration for John Doty's estate")
Orange County, New
York Surrogate Court
Administrations
Liber I, page 239
Surrogate
Judge Jno. C. McConnell granted the Letter of Administration to Dolly and
William E. Mapes. The petition identified William as a friend but he was also
Dolly’s son-in-law.
The
day’s proceedings were recorded in Court Minute Book, Vol. F, pages 83-84. A
transcription follows the images.
.jpg "Orange County, NY Court Minute Book, Vol. F, page 83")
Page 83 (bottom of
page)
.jpg "Orange Co., NY Surrogate Court Minute Book Vol. F, page 84")
Page 84 (top of page)
Surrogate’s Court –
At a Surrogate court held at the
Surrogate’s office in the village of
Goshen in and for
In the County of Orange, on the sixteenth
day of
February one thousand eight hundred &
fifty seven
Present, John C.
McConnell, Surrogate
in the matter of the
administration
of the goods,
chattels & credits
of
John Doty deceased
On reading and filing
the petition of Dolly Doty, the widow of John Doty, late of the town of
Wawayanda in the county of Orange, deceased, on the [___?___] day of February
1857 praying that Letters of Administration of the goods, chattels and credits
of the said deceased be granted to her and William E. Mapes; and this on
reading and filing the bond of the said Dolly Doty & William E. Mapes,
executed by them with two competent sureties pursuant to the statute; and this
court being satisfied that the said Dolly Doty and William E. Mapes are in all
respects competent to act as the administrators of the goods, chattels &
credits of the said deceased; it is ordered that the prayer of said petition be
granted and that Letters of administration of the goods, chattels & credits
of said deceased issue to the said Dolly Doty & William E. Mapes in pursuance
thereof – And it is further ordered, on the application of Dolly Doty and
William E. Mapes for the appointment of two disinterested persons to estimate
and appraise the personal estate of said deceased, that said Joseph Davis and
David Hoyt be such appraisers.
In
administration proceedings, it was customary for a bond to be posted by 2 or 3
individuals guaranteeing the administrators perform their duties. The court
minutes refer to a ‘bond executed by two competent sureties’ but I don’t know
their names.
Another
trip to Orange County Surrogate Court will hopefully reveal more details about
the administration proceedings.
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