John Hollis of Weymouth, MA (ca1640-ca1701)

vital records sources
go to Elizabeth Priest's page

John's mark made on his will

A disturbing snippet of John and Elizabeth's life is revealed in the Suffolk County, Massachusetts, court records. Both were charged with "killing other folks sheep in a felonious way" at the 24 April 1677 session of the court. Elizabeth was additionally charged with beating her sister Hannah Rust to the point of endangering her life. They had tried to run away when the constable came to get them to go to court. John's sentence was to be whipped twenty times and to pay the constable's and court's fees. Elizabeth was to be whipped twenty times in Boston and then ten times in Weymouth two weeks later and to pay her court fees.1
John died between 12 December 1700, when he wrote his will, and 9 January 1700/1, when it was probated.2 The following is John's will (with corrected spelling and punctuation):

I, John Hollis, Senior, of the Town of Weymouth in New England, being weak of body but of a competent understanding and of a disposing mind, do make this my last will & testement in manner & form as followeth: firstly, committing my soul to God that gave me it & my body to the Earth by a decent burial, and as for my worldly estate after my just debts paid & my funerall expenses discharged

Imprimis, I do give & bequeath unto my son John Hollis ten shillings to be paid by my executor after the decease of my wife

2ly, I give & bequeath unto my son Samuel Hollis all my lands & housing in Weymouth forever after the decease of my wife Elizabeth Hollis

3ly, I give & bequeath unto my daughter Elizabeth Hollis five shillings to be paid by my executors after the decease of my wife

4ly I give & bequeath unto my daughter Hannah Hollis all my moveable estate after the decease of my wife

5ly My will is that my beloved wife shall have all my estate real & personal during her natural life for her comfortable subsistance

I do constitute & appoint my beloved wife together with my son Samuel to be joint executors to see this my last will performed. I appoint my loving friend John Burrell to be my overseer together with my loving friend Joseph Green, making void all former wills & publishing this to be my last will & testament. In witness whereunto I set my hand & seal the twelfth day of December in the year one thousand seven hundred

The mark and seal of John Hollis Senior

In presence of us

Joseph Green
Jon Burrell
the mark of Zachariah Gurney

When the will was brought in by widow Elizabeth to be proved, the probate judge noted that Samuel was underage, which would prevent him from being a part of the process. He probably wasn't much underage, and his father may have thought he had a bit longer to live. He died within a month of writing his will.

children of John Hollis and Elizabeth Priest:3

i. John, b. 28 March 1663/64
ii. Thomas, b. 7 Jan. 1666/7
iii. Elizabeth, b. 18 Nov. 1669
iv. Hannah, b. abt. 1672
v. Mercy, b. 5 Feb. 1674/5
vi. Samuel, b. aft. 9 Jan. 1679/80 (he was underage when his father's will was probated on 9 Jan. 1700/1)

vital records sources:

1. "Records of the Suffolk County Court, 1671-1680," part 2, in Publications of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, vol. 30 (Boston, MA: Colonial Society of Massachusetts, 1933), 808.
2. Suffolk, MA, probate case 2627.
3. Vital records of Weymouth, Massachusetts, to the year 1850, vol. 1 - births (Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1910).