Our LeBlanc family history began so long ago, when in about the mid 1600's a young man nineteen years of age left his native land of France to strike out on his own in a new place by the name of Acadie. This young man whose place of origin and whose family lineage in France remains unknown was named Daniel LeBlanc. It is estimated that Daniel may have sailed for Acadia about 1648/1649, marrying Françoise Gaudet Mercier in about 1650, presumably at Port-Royal, though no documents are available to prove either the exact date nor the exact place this auspicious moment took place. What is known is that D'Aulnay was still alive when they came to Acadia and he died shortly afterwards. However, between the Deportation and the French Revolution, many documents were destroyed that would have told us this story. Françoise was the widow of an unknown Mercier with a daughter Marie (who it has been said was often referred to as Marie LeBlanc). The early census records for Port-Royal also list Francoise' father Jean. The name of her mother has not been found to this day. In addition to her father Jean and Françoise, we also find her siblings Denis and Marie. Stephen White, Genealogist at Moncton University believes that there may have been other Gaudet siblings who have not yet been identified. However, it is known that those three were born in France. In later years, Jean Gaudet would marry Nicole Coleson and they would have a son named Jean. Many errors have been made attributing Nicole as having married Jean at a much earlier time but that isn't so - nor did she have any other children with him except for their son Jean. Jean Gaudet the father was advanced in years when he married Nicole. Daniel and Françoise had seven children consisting of 6 sons and 1 daughter. It is said that one son may well have become a navigator - this would have been Étienne. He sailed away at a young age and was never heard from again. Meanwhile, the other five sons married and had large families. Consequently, as Daniel and Françoise LeBlanc's grandchildren married, it was not long before the LeBlanc family was the largest in Acadia and it has remained the largest to come out of Acadia. Today, the LeBlanc name is as well recognized in the Maritimes as Smith is in the United States! This is what Stephen White (a LeBlanc descendant), Genealogist Moncton University Centre for Acadian Studies, states in his recently published Dictionnaire Généalogique des Familles Acadiennes: i. The place of origin and the ancestors of Daniel LeBlanc are unknown. Some have wanted to believe that Daniel descended from a noble family of Dauphiné, based on research by d'Entremont (J. Alfred LeBlanc - the Origins of the LeBlanc Family, "Footprints of the Exiled: A LeBlanc Family Newsletter", vol I, 1986, p. 7), but the family proposed (to René to Alphonse to Pierre) is a Blanc or deBlanc family, rather than LeBlanc (see MM. de La Chenaye-Desbois & Badier, "Dictionnaire de la noblesse, 3e édition, Paris, 1863, vol. III, p. 314-317). ii. The jointly-owned land mentioned below, leads us to believe that there existed a bond of some kind between Antoine Gougeon and his son-in-law Guillaume Blanchard on one side of the family and with Daniel LeBlanc on the other. The nature of the connection is yet unknown.
Daniel and Françoise had seven children consisting of 6 sons and 1 daughter. It is said that one son may well have become a navigator - this would have been Étienne. He sailed away at a young age and was never heard from again. Meanwhile, the other five sons married and had large families. Consequently, as Daniel and Françoise LeBlanc's grandchildren married, it was not long before the LeBlanc family was the largest in Acadia and it has remained the largest to come out of Acadia. Today, the LeBlanc name is as well recognized in the Maritimes as Smith is in the United States!
This is what Stephen White (a LeBlanc descendant), Genealogist Moncton University Centre for Acadian Studies, states in his recently published Dictionnaire Généalogique des Familles Acadiennes:
i. The place of origin and the ancestors of Daniel LeBlanc are unknown. Some have wanted to believe that Daniel descended from a noble family of Dauphiné, based on research by d'Entremont (J. Alfred LeBlanc - the Origins of the LeBlanc Family, "Footprints of the Exiled: A LeBlanc Family Newsletter", vol I, 1986, p. 7), but the family proposed (to René to Alphonse to Pierre) is a Blanc or deBlanc family, rather than LeBlanc (see MM. de La Chenaye-Desbois & Badier, "Dictionnaire de la noblesse, 3e édition, Paris, 1863, vol. III, p. 314-317). ii. The jointly-owned land mentioned below, leads us to believe that there existed a bond of some kind between Antoine Gougeon and his son-in-law Guillaume Blanchard on one side of the family and with Daniel LeBlanc on the other. The nature of the connection is yet unknown.
ii. The jointly-owned land mentioned below, leads us to believe that there existed a bond of some kind between Antoine Gougeon and his son-in-law Guillaume Blanchard on one side of the family and with Daniel LeBlanc on the other. The nature of the connection is yet unknown.
October 5, 1687: State of executed works in Acadia by Sir d'Aulnay; among those who made their mark: Daniel LeBlanc. Therefore, Daniel came to Acadia before the death of d'Aulnay in 1650 (ANF, Col, C11D, vo II, fol 85).
May 24, 1690: Daniel LeBlanc is one of six members of the Council demanded by Phips and responsible to maintain the peace and to render justice (BRH vol SVIII, p. 357).
August 1695: Daniel LeBlanc promises fidelity to the king of England at Port-Royal - "he made his mark" (Massachusetts Archive, Vol II, fol 540).
1734: Schedule of the Seignorial Rents payable yearly by the Inhabitants of Annapolis Royal...
The names of the Several Plantations:) 1. Paradis Terrestre 2. Do La Grave or Point LeChesne
The first Grantees:(24) 1. Daniel LeBlanc & Guillaume Blanchard (30) 2. Daniel LeBlanc and Antoine Goujon pay one Den par Arpent (per acre)
The Present Possessors: 1. John Prince and Pierre Godet 2. Guillaume Blanchard, Joseph LeBlanc and his brethren.
(GB, PRO, CO 217, vol VII, fol 90)
Port-Royal censuses of 1671 45a 1686 60a, 1693 66a. He was a farmer.
My family descends from André on my father's side, fourth son of Daniel LeBlanc and Françoise Gaudet. On my grandmother's side, (my father's mother, Odille Doiron) we also descend from Jacques, first son of Daniel and Françoise.
This is what Stephen White says about André in his notes: Death/burial record Grand-Pré Register for May 4/5, 1743 86a Present: Joseph Thériot and Pierre Doucet who signed
A. Godbout references: Dictionnaire des Acadiens, p 443
According to Stephen White, André settled in Grand-Pré which is where he died. At the time of his death, he was the last surviving child of the family of Daniel and Françoise Gaudet.
In the Census of 1693, André owns 8 horned cattle, 3 sheep, 5 pigs, almost 8 acres of cultivated land and 1 gun.
In 1701, he has 5 sons, 2 daughters, 8 horned cattle, 5 sheep, 8 pigs, 3 acres of land and 1 gun.
André and Marie Dugas had a total of 10 children. Their children would marry into the Bourgeois, Cormier, Boudrot, Doiron, Labauve, Granger and Flan families.
In his later years, Joseph-André went with his sons from this second marriage to Tédiche (Cape Bauld, New Brunswick), where he died on 28 December 1818.
From his first marriage, Joseph-André had 3 known children as well as 3 known from his second. Joseph-André and Marguerite Hébert's first son was Firmin. He was born Abt. 1746, married Ludivine Dupuis abt. 1771 in Memramcook. Ludivine was the daughter of Michel Dupuis and Marie-Josèphe Savoie. Firmin died 06 August 1827 at Petitcoudiac, St-Anselme. They had 11 children: Charles, Rosalie, Sylvain dit Sailor, Pierre, Anne dite Nannette, Jean dit Bis, Michel, Maximin, Marie, Joseph dit Têtu and Amand.
We often wonder how these early ancestors lived before, during and after the Deportation years that lasted from 1755 through 1763. We do know this: particular to the Acadians was the fact that instead of clearing what was called "upland" and settling in clusters, they preferred what has been called "ribbon development". This meant that they settled along the Bay of Fundy and the river banks flowing into it. Living in these places, the Acadians became quite adept at building dykes or "aboiteaux". They would build mud retaining walls to keep the sea from flooding low lying land and install large wooden boxes with a moveable slab inside the slough box closed with the pressure of the rising tide twice every 24 hours. This helped them to reclaim rich land that they could use for some of their crops. It worked very well for them.
When all is said and done, the Acadians lived quite simple lives. Archeological digs of a pre-1755 cellar revealed that large timbers were used for the frame of a one room house. The find also included a foundation of three to four stones high that had been made from local field stones. It would seem that the walls were probably made of wood of perhaps of the local clay mixed with marsh hay to strengthen it. One surface of the wall was covered with a white clay slip giving it a plaster-like surface.
During the long weeks of winter, Acadian women carded wool that had been sheared earlier in the year from the sheep. Animal pelts were tanned for clothing, footwear and harnesses. They also made their own soap and candles. In the spring when the sap was running, they made maple syrup and spruce beer.
So many documents were lost or destroyed during the Deportation and except for a few notarial records here and there that help us to piece the lives of ancestors together, we are really deprived in the knowledge of an in-depth look as to how our Ancestors lived, the land they owned, the commerce they conducted, their trade with other lands and finally, the land passed on to their children. Documents and recors spanning 150 years are lost and we may never know where some of our Ancestors came from in France nor we will get a glimpse of who they really were in some ways...
Anyhow, this is what we can determine about Joseph-André LeBlanc. As stated, Joseph-André was the son of Claude-André, grandson of André and great grandson of Daniel LeBlanc and Françoise Gaudet. His life spans a period of time when the Acadians enjoyed political, economic and social stability - from there to the destruction of everything as a result of the Deportation. It is doubtful that Joseph-André would not have experienced a great deal of tragedy beginning in 1755 as the father of children, the oldest who was 10-11 years old at this time was Firmin born of Joseph-André's first marriage to Marguerite Hébert. Their two other children were Joseph who married Marguerite Forest and Marguerite who married David Melanson.
Of their son Joseph, Placide Gaudet wrote that he and his wife died of a fatal illness in 1813 leaving four children. Placide gives their names as: Pierre, Emmanuel,, Jean and Marie. He also says that Emmanuel's son, Laurent, married Lucy Desbarres. Her grandfather was none other than JFW Desbarres, with whom the Acadians had so many problems over their land claims in the Petitcodiac region. Lucy's father was William Desbarres.
Joseph-André and his wife Marie dit Bidaque Doiron had 3 children named: Paul, François and Blandine. Paul married Marie Babin, François married Anastasie Bourgeois and no information is known about Blandine.
One of the early settlements is part of Westmorland County. Jacques Bourgeois settled there at the mouth of the Missaquash River on the border of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick (then all of Acadia), with two of his sons and two sons-in-law by the name of Antoine and René LeBlanc sons of Daniel and Françoise Gaudet who had married two of Jacques Bourgeois' daughters.
Others settled in the surrounding areas. The Petitcodiac River extended all the way up to what would become known as St-Anselme which is now in the Dieppe township. It was eventually called Ruisseau-des-Renards - or Fox Creek - when the railway opened a line to Saint-John. St-Anselme was a name change that happened quite a bit later.
Fort Beauséjour would become Fort Cumberland once surrendered to the British who overpowered the Acadians manning the fort. Joseph-André would become a prisoner there along with his new bride, Marie dit Bidaque Doiron and his children but not before he had spent some time hiding in the woods at the onset of the Deportation.
Some skirmishes happened during August or September of 1755 - at least one with British troops took place on both sides of the Peticodiac, 15 miles on the north side and 6 miles on the other side. Jerimiah Bancroft kept a diary and wrote that 250 homes and building, including the Chapel, were burned to the g round on November 2, 1755. One MikMac was killed and three Acadians had been wounded.
The Desbarres Papers show that Joseph-André and his family fled to the east side of the Memramcook River in 1755. With his first wife, Marguerite Hébert and their three children, the family fled to Cocagne. It is possible that Marguerite died here. Under the most austere and humanly incomprehensible of conditions, Joseph-André and his children reached Miramichi and survived a cruel winter.
In a letter written in 1757, Father LeGuerne, the missionary who accompanied the fleeing Acadians through Shédiac, Cocagne, Bouctouche and Richibouctou as they made their way to Miramichi said this: Hiding with the Acadians as a fugitive in the woods, we lived in fear and misery. Miramichi was a place of misery where these poor people died in great numbers last winter from starvation. Those who could not escape the terrible epidemic that befell these people, by their very hunger as they were starving, ate the leather off their shoes. Some even ate animal excrement in their hope to survive. (This is a translation that does not really bespeak the horror of the situation.)
During the winter of 1756-1757, the Acadians ate fish, salt cod and molasses but it was a terrible winter for these people seeking refuge from starvation and from the elements. It is said that about 600 died from starvation and from the epidemic that swept through this group of Acadians! After this, the survivors could not entertain the thought of remaining here one more season - with Joseph-André and his children a part of this group, they went to the Acadian colony on the St. John.
Joseph who was by now remarried, along with his children, was near Halifax (Bedford Basin) some time in 1759. He was captured and detained until he and his family were all sent as prisoners to Fort Beauséjour/Cumberland. The August 24th, 1763 census taken of all the Acadians following the Treaty of Paris of 1763 and sent to the Duke of Nivernois, lists this family among the 300 names of prisoners at this location. We find: Joseph, Marie, Firmin, Joseph, Marguerite, Paul, François and Blandine. Firmin, Joseph dit Jean-André LeBlanc and Marguerite were Joseph-André’s children from his first marriage. Blandine , Paul and François from his second. In 1763, Joseph’s children aged as follows: 17, 15, 7, 3, 1 and unknown. After the Treaty was signed, all Acadian prisoners were free to go where they would. Eventually, Joseph-André made his way with his family to Village des LeBlanc (this would become St-Anselme). At this location, Joseph found land where he settled with his four sons and one son-in-law that we know of and that has been recorded.
Before going to LeBlanc Village as stated above, Joseph was in Jolicoeur which was near Sackville in New Brunswick. It is not crystal clear how but it would seem that there he may well have been involved with a group of rebels consisting of English Americans and Acadians. Under the leadership of John Allan, this group sought its freedom from Great Britain. However, it seems that the factions also consisted in a group loyal to England and thus in the middle of all of this, Joseph’s home was burned and he then sought refuge with some of his relatives.
About 1771, Firmin LeBlanc married Ludivine Dupuis at Memramcook, New Brunswick. Ludivine was the daughter of Michel Dupuis and Marie-Josèphe Savoie. The children of Firmin and Ludivine Dupuis were:
1. Charles - all information unknown 2. Rosalie - married Raphaël Bourque on July 1, 1808. He was the son of Joseph and anne-Marie Forest. 3. Sylvain dit Sailor's birth date is unknown. On October 11, 1808 he married Ursule Bourg/Bourque daughter of Michel Bourg/Bourque and Ursule Forest at Memramcook. In 1808, he settled on land at Fox Creek near his brothers but was he was located closer to the creek. It is unclear why his dit name was Sailor though it wouldn't much of a stretch to assume he probably liked to sail the waters that surround New Brunswick - in the 1800's, there were also several wharves on his side of the Petitcodiac River. 4. Pierre was born in 1774 and married Anne Thibodeau abtout 1799. Anne was the daughter of Joseph-Isacc Thibodeau and Marie-Thècle Melanson. Pierre died on 22 February 1828 at the age of 54. They had 8 children. 5. Anne dite Nannette LeBlanc married François dit Saint-Doux LeBlanc about 1801. She was born Abt. 1778 François was born Abt. 1780, the son of Pierre-Victor dit Pierrotte LeBlanc and Martguerite Saulnier. Pierre-Victor was the son of René to Antoine to Daniel LeBlanc the first of this line to come to Acadia. Anne and François had 13 children. 6. Jean dit Bis was born Abt. 1779. He married Rosalie Bourque daughter of Micehl Bourg/Bourque and Ursule Forest about 1800. They had 9 children. 7. Michel was born abt 1781 and died 07 February 1863 at St-Anselme, Petitcoudiac, New Brunswick, Canada. He married Anne Babineau Abt. 1802. Anne was born Abt. 1782 and died 09 November 1834 at Memramcook. They had 10 children. A widower, Michel married a second time to Henriette Melanson about 1837. 8. Maximin was born about 1787 and died 14 April 1864 at St-Anselme. He married Judith Bourg/Bourque 13 November 1810 at Memramcook. She was the daughter of Pierre Bourque and Anne-Marie Bourgeois. Maximin settled on the first land grant his father had obtained and settled near his parents' home. Documents also show that Joseph, the youngest son settled on his father's second land grant. Pierre as well as Michel and Firmin also settled on that second parcel of land. 9. Marie was born Abt. 1793. No other information could be found on Marie. 10. Joseph dit Têtu LeBlanc was born Abt. 1794. He married Marie-Josèphe dite Chagrine Doiron about 1794. She was born 03 September 1775 and died 29 December 1866 at Cap-Pelé. She was the daughter of Pierre dit Pitre Doiron and Marguerite Léger. In Abt. 1801 she married Jean Downey. Joseph and Marie-Josèphe had a son named Pierre. 11. Amand was born Abt. 1795 and died 12 April 1881 at St-Anselme. He married Claire Gauvin 16 November 1818 at Memramcook. She was the daughter of Louis-Jérôme Gauvin and Louise Doiron. It is uncertain how many children they had at this time but this will be updated in the future.
2. Rosalie - married Raphaël Bourque on July 1, 1808. He was the son of Joseph and anne-Marie Forest.
3. Sylvain dit Sailor's birth date is unknown. On October 11, 1808 he married Ursule Bourg/Bourque daughter of Michel Bourg/Bourque and Ursule Forest at Memramcook. In 1808, he settled on land at Fox Creek near his brothers but was he was located closer to the creek.
It is unclear why his dit name was Sailor though it wouldn't much of a stretch to assume he probably liked to sail the waters that surround New Brunswick - in the 1800's, there were also several wharves on his side of the Petitcodiac River.
4. Pierre was born in 1774 and married Anne Thibodeau abtout 1799. Anne was the daughter of Joseph-Isacc Thibodeau and Marie-Thècle Melanson. Pierre died on 22 February 1828 at the age of 54. They had 8 children.
5. Anne dite Nannette LeBlanc married François dit Saint-Doux LeBlanc about 1801. She was born Abt. 1778 François was born Abt. 1780, the son of Pierre-Victor dit Pierrotte LeBlanc and Martguerite Saulnier. Pierre-Victor was the son of René to Antoine to Daniel LeBlanc the first of this line to come to Acadia. Anne and François had 13 children.
6. Jean dit Bis was born Abt. 1779. He married Rosalie Bourque daughter of Micehl Bourg/Bourque and Ursule Forest about 1800. They had 9 children.
7. Michel was born abt 1781 and died 07 February 1863 at St-Anselme, Petitcoudiac, New Brunswick, Canada. He married Anne Babineau Abt. 1802. Anne was born Abt. 1782 and died 09 November 1834 at Memramcook. They had 10 children.
A widower, Michel married a second time to Henriette Melanson about 1837.
8. Maximin was born about 1787 and died 14 April 1864 at St-Anselme. He married Judith Bourg/Bourque 13 November 1810 at Memramcook. She was the daughter of Pierre Bourque and Anne-Marie Bourgeois.
Maximin settled on the first land grant his father had obtained and settled near his parents' home. Documents also show that Joseph, the youngest son settled on his father's second land grant. Pierre as well as Michel and Firmin also settled on that second parcel of land.
9. Marie was born Abt. 1793. No other information could be found on Marie.
10. Joseph dit Têtu LeBlanc was born Abt. 1794. He married Marie-Josèphe dite Chagrine Doiron about 1794. She was born 03 September 1775 and died 29 December 1866 at Cap-Pelé. She was the daughter of Pierre dit Pitre Doiron and Marguerite Léger. In Abt. 1801 she married Jean Downey. Joseph and Marie-Josèphe had a son named Pierre.
11. Amand was born Abt. 1795 and died 12 April 1881 at St-Anselme. He married Claire Gauvin 16 November 1818 at Memramcook. She was the daughter of Louis-Jérôme Gauvin and Louise Doiron. It is uncertain how many children they had at this time but this will be updated in the future.
Obtaining land, let alone finding it, was a challenge at best. It was of prime importance to our ancestors - enough land so that, if possible, their sons and often sons-in-law could settle on various parcels of land belonging to the head or the patriarch of the family. Often, there was a great deal of inner fighting within some family units as they strove to get the best pieces of land they could.
Firmin Leblanc along with his father and others had petitioned for land early on. In a petition dated 1815, Firmin, his sons Peter (Pierre), John (Jean), Maximin, Michael (Michel) and Charles White (LeBlanc), Jr. were listed. In this petition to the President and Commander-in-Chief for the Province of New Brunswick for land, they all signed with an "X" - the petition reads as follows:
That your memorialist Firmin is sixty-nine years of age, his family at present consists of a wife and three children having had in the whole eleven children ... Peter LeBlanc Jun. is twenty; John is thirty, has a wife and five children; Maximin is twenty-six, has a wife and two children; Michael is twenty-eight, has a wife and four children; Charles Whjite Jun. is eighteen. That Firmin about thirty year ago did obtain from the administration of this Provicne a grant of two hundred acres of land at the LeBlanc Village so called situate on the east side of the Petitcodiac River which he settled and upon which he now lives, having built a house and barn and cleared about sixty acres of land and by the means he has been enabled to bring up a large family and John LeBlanc about fifteen years ago had a grant of two hundred acres at Tediche on the Gulf Shore which he exchanged with one Francis LeBlanc for some marsh on the Petitcodiac River on which two hundred acres a house and barn had been built and Peter, Michael and Maximin had Charles White Jun. have never had any land granted to them from government and beg leave to suggest that there is a tract of wilderness land lying between the Leblanc Village and the Scoudouc River which empties in the Gulf of St. Lasrence ... Firmin and John Leblanc therefor pray your honor will be pleased to grant unto them three hundred acres apiece of the aforementioned wilderness lands to assist them in making further provision for their families.
A 1789 deed conveyed 200 acres of land one hundred and seventy-eight of uplands and twenty-two of marshlands from Henry White (LeBlanc) to Firmin LeBlanc for 10 pounds. That land, located at Fox-Creek, meant that Firmin owned and worked more than 700 acres of land.
Registered on September 3, 1829, this document is an important find for Firmin descendants so that it is possible to know what he owned and how he divided his holdings at the end of his life. His will made provisions for his wife, Ludivine Dupuis who did survive him. It also provided for his daughter Marie. This will was registered at the Land Registry Office of the Government of New Brunswick. Firmin's will was very elaborate. His sons were to receive the homestead/land and Ludivine would be provided for comfortably with a house of her own.
Be it known to all men present that I, Fereman Leblanc of Dorchester in the Country of Westmorland and Province of New Brunswick, being of perfect mind and memory thanks to God calling into mind the mortality of my body and knowing it is appointed for all men over to die, do make and ordain this my last will and testament that is to say primarily and first of all I give and recommend to the earth to be buried in decent Christian manner at the discretion of my executors nothing doubting but at the general resurrection I shall ... the same again by the power of God and as touching out worldly estate as it has pleased God to bless me with in this life, I give, devise and dispose of the same in the manner and form following to wit -
Firstly, give and bequeath my sons Maximin and Ammon, the lot called the homestead that is the upland bounded on the south by John Charters and on the north by the land now in the possession of Michael Downing reserving moreover, if there is more land than I give to my other sons Peter, Michael, John and Sylvain, the said sons and heirs the difference in value at the valuation of them indifferently chosen the same, to be paid in neat stock at cash price within two years after my demise.
Secondly, I give and bequeath unto my son Sylvain, half the lot of land that I now possess that is the upland bounded on the south by land belonging unto the heirs of Augustus White and on the north by lands granted unto Charles White and bounded on the south by Rfox Creeek the said 1; and to be bounded - the depth of said lot thence turning north one half of the width thence until it meets the Fox Creek aforesaid.
Thirdly, I give and bequeath my two sons John and Michael, all the singular the residue of the said lot of upland last above mentioned that is the west side of Fox Creek and the other half lot on the east side of Fox Creek after my son Sylvain has his half lot before devised to be equally divided between the said Michael and John.
Fourthly, as I have already given a deed to my son Peter of five and one half chains in width of upland where he now resides I hereby devise to him his equal share of the homestead lot to recompense him and being equal to my other sons before mentioned. After Maximin and Ammon have had the land divided measured off to them, that is to say one fourth of the residue of the said uplands.
Fifthly, I give and devise to my two daughters Nanette and Rosalie, twenty-five pounds currency each to be paid to them by all my six sons equally payable in stock and the produce of the land at the end of two years after my demise.
Sixthly, I do give and devise unto my daughter Mary, a comfortable support of bed, board, washing, lodging houseroom and everything comfortable for her during her natural life the same to be furnished to her equally by my six sons before mentioned.
Seventhly, I do give and devise unto my beloved wife, should she survive me, a good and comfortable living of every kind necessary that she may want including a house to live in, if she wishes to live alone with some person to take care of her if she has not the full liberty to reside with any one of her children, the others that is the other sons, to contribute equally to her comfortable support.
Eighthly, I do give and devise unto my six sons, to be divided by them equally, all and singular marshlands, the marshlands dyked or undyked that I now own and possess in Dorchester both on Fox Creek on the front of the lower lot and all the marshlands directly or indirectly that I now own no matter when that came to me by grant or purchase.
Ninethly, I do hereby demise all and singular, myu stock and household furniture to be divided equally between my six sons reserving moreover my household furniture for the sole use and behoof of my son Ammon including my farming utensil.
Tenthly, I do hereby reserve the cultivated lands that my two sons Maximin and Ammon, have stumped and brought fit to plow from being valued in the appraisal before mentioned, that is to what they have made fir for the plough since they were of age on the lot called the homestead.
Eleventhly, I do ordain and order that the household furniture before mentioned shall be divided equally between my six sons, after my demise and the demise of my wife.
Twelfthly, I do here appoint my my six sons as executors.