During the holiday season, family visits often make genealogy a popular topic. Wills are excellent sources of genealogical information about names of descendants and personal possessions, such as land.
This is the official legal copy of the will of James Loper of East Hampton, written and signed on May 4, 1785. Loper died some five years after signing this will, on Jan. 21, 1790. The will, which is part of the Isaac Edwards Deed Collection donated by Bess Rattray, is the perfect example of how one will can give genealogists a lot of material to work with.
Town records show that Loper married Phebe Jones on Sept. 8, 1725, yet in his will he names his wife as Mary. This suggests that he remarried later in his life. He gave Mary the use of their house and adjoining land, one-eighth part of his share of land in Montauk, and his share of the “New Mill” at the eastern end of “Amagansett Street,” “so long as she remain my widow.”
That phrasing indicated that if Mary remarried, she would lose her lifetime rights to the use of James Loper’s land and estate. He bequeathed his eldest son, Daniel, full ownership of another house and some land. Daniel’s brother Amos received their father’s land in “North West Swamp” as well as the sum of 20 pounds.
The younger Loper sons, James, William, and Abraham, each received 5 shillings. And Loper included his grandchildren, leaving his granddaughter Phebe 5 shillings. His three grandsons, Jeremy, Daniel, and Henry, all received equal rights to his estate and shares of land, which they were to receive after they reached maturity at 21 years of age and Loper’s wife died.
James Loper appointed his wife and Isaac Edwards as executors of his will. Nathaniel Hand, Nathan Miller, and Elizabeth Hand witnessed the signing of his will before Thomas Thredwell, a surrogate of Suffolk County who served as such from 1787 to 1791.
Mayra Scanlon is a librarian and archivist in the East Hampton Library’s Long Island Collection.
