In a message dated 98-03-25 08:11:32 EST, you write:
<<
<< I give to my son William
Cain one shilling sterling. I give to my son James Cain one shilling
sterling. I give to my dtr. Frances Norrell one shilling
sterling. I give to my drt. Hannah Caudle one shiling sterling. I give to
my drt. Peggy Cain one shilling sterling. I give to my son
Randel Cain my maner house and plantation containing 100 acres and two
feather and furniture, two iron potts and hooks, one large
and other small, four head horses, my sorrel riding horse, five
head of cows. >>
Can anyone shed any light on why one shilling would be left to all children
but one, and that one (usually male) was left so much? I've seen this in
several old wills, but don't understand the custom.
Any ideas??
>
There are many possible reasons for such a will. In some jurisdictions, at
some times, it has been legally impossible to disinherit a child. If you did
not leave them something, the will could be overturned. This approach also can
be used to demonstrate that the decedent was of sound mind when he drafted the
will: he knew who his children, his natural heirs, were and chose not to give
them anything of substance. Ino ther wordds, it shows that he did not simply
forget them. Yet a third possibility is that the decedent had made gifts
during his lifetime in lieu of a bequest in the will. I don't really know
whether the practice of dowry was ever really established in the U.S., but
gifts to daughters on their marriages might account for a few of these
bequests. Of course, there is also the possibility that he siomply didn't
care for the rest of the children and chose to show it in this fashion - it
happens often enough today!
J Hamilton
Descendant of Daniel Kane, Who Froze In The Snow In Minnesota In 1870.