Person Page 839

He left a will in 1678The inventory of his portion of the estate at Hull included "books" valued at £8 18s. His widow's portion of the inventory included "1 trunk, one chest and books and other small things" valued at £2 5s. 10d.OFFICES: Deputy to the General Court for Hingham, 25 May 1636, 2 May 1638 [MBCR 1:174, 227]. Commissioner to end small causes in Hingham, 4 November 1646 [MBCR 2:166, 3:83].ESTATE: "The several parcels of land and meadow legally given unto Nicholas Baker by the town of Hingham": "for a houselot five acres of land," 18 September 1635; "for a planting lot two acres of land lying upon Pleasant Hill," 1635; "for a Great Lot sixteen acres of land, fourteen acres of it lying by Weymoth River ... the other two acres of it lying upon Squirrel Hill," 4 June 1636; "all that swamp ... at the end of his own lot and his brother Nathanaell's lot against the sea," no date; "an addition of planting land containing three acres lying partly against his own home lot and partly against the home lot of his brother Nathaneell Baker," no date; "for a small planting lot two acres of land lying by the fresh river," 20 November 1637; "whereas Nicholas Baker had one acre of meadow in Weymoth Meadow he hath exchanged it with the town for three swamp pieces of meadow," no date; and "one acre of salt marsh lying in Broad Cove Meadow," 1635 [ HiBOP 42]. In his will, dated 15 June 1678 and proved 29 October 1678, "Mr. Nicholas Baker, pastor of a Church of Christ at Scittuate," bequeathed "unto Grace my beloved wife, in the consideration of her singular and extraordinary love & faithfulness in the discharge of her duty unto me and my children, ... all that which was her own before marriage with me, everything only the Great Cyprus Chest which I give to her during her natural life only," also household goods and livestock for her maintenance, also "the one half of that my dwelling house which is in Hull ... with the full half of the orchard," stock, and gardens, and "all my homelot in Hull aforesaid, which lies upon the hill southwestward next adjoining to Thomas Jones his lot, together with that lot of salt meadow which lies in White Head meadows, and so much of the swamp at Allerton Hill as is or may be mowable, together with one lot upon Strawberry Hill, and one lot upon Sagamore Hill, one lot upon White Head, one lot upon Peducke's Island, and the one half of all my land upon any island belonging to Hull on which I have any land, together with one half of all common rights" during her natural life, also "all my estate of upland and meadow land ... in Hingham ... together with all the common rights ... during her natural life only," with provisions for the cutting of timber by the children; "also it is my will that my son Samuel shall pay unto my wife forty shillings in money per annum during her natural life in consideration of such lands as I shall put into his hands"; to "my eldest son Samuel I give the other part of my dwelling house ... and all my other lands ... before mentioned as given unto my wife during her natural life ... together with all the common rights both for wood and pasture belonging to one lot," also "after my wife her decease the other part of my said dwelling house ... before given unto my wife during her natural life, together with the other part of my land at Allerton Hill, and half all land and meadow, whether upon the main or upon the islands, and half the common right both for wood and pasture in the township of Hull," also "my first division of Conahasset lands in Hingham ... the half of my home lot next to Thomas Jones his lot excepted from these gifts," also "my home lot entirely which lies next to Thomas Jones his lot before given unto my wife ... together with the other half of all the land or meadow either on the islands or on the main, with the other half also of the common rights both of pasture and wood ... of my lands in Hull ... only," also "provided that my son Samuel pay ... unto my daughter Mary and my daughter Elizabeth ten pounds to each of them in silver money within one year after my wife's decease, or his entrance upon the above-given estate"; to "my son Nicholas ... all my estate in land and meadows, common right and whole estate in Hingham ... after my wife's decease ... excepting only the first division of Conihasset land before given unto my son Samuel, provided my son Nicholas pay ... unto my daughter Sarah ten pounds in silver money, and to my daughter Deborah ten pounds in silver money ... within one year after my wife's decease or his entrance upon the above given estate; but in case my son Nicholas should not live to come again then my mind and will is that all my estate in Hingham settled upon Nicholas ... do rest and settle upon my four daughters ... Mary, Elizabeth, Sarah and Deborah," and if this should come to pass then Samuel would be discharged from paying the legacies above mentioned to the daughters Mary and Elizabeth; "the land given me by a town vote in Scittuate ... unto my four daughters Mary, Elizabeth, Sarah and Deborah to be equally divided betwixt them"; to "my wife's grandchild Mary Webb after my wife's decease the Cyprus Chest"; to "my children sons and daughters by an equal division" "the brass andirons and the rest of my books not before disposed of"; to "my four daughters abovenamed by an equal division" "the rest of my moveables not before given"; "my wife" to pay "unto my grandchild Mercye Baker ten pounds"; "my beloved wife Grace executrix and my eldest son Samuell Baker as joint executor"; "my beloved brother Nathaniel Baker and my loving kinsman John Loren to be the overseers." In a nuncupative codicil Thomas Nicolls, aged about forty years, deposed on 29 October 1678 that "a little before Mr. Nicholas Baker of Scittuate died I was at his house and watched with him, and he called his son Samuell, and his wife, and said that it was his mind that his sons, Samuell and Nicholas, should have his wearing apparel, ... for he said that he had forgot to set it down in the will, but he said it was my real mind" [ PCPR 3:2:133-35]. The inventory of the estate of "Mr. Nicholas Baker," taken 28 August 1678, totalled £84 10s. 6d.; one part listed "[t]he goods in the parlor that were his wife's before she married him," and another part itemized "the estate of Mr. Nicholas Baker which was his proper goods before he married her." The wife's possessions included "one Ciprus Chest" worth £5 [PCPR 3:2:136-37]. The inventory of "the estate of Mr. Nicholas Baker of Scittuate ... deceased the 22cond of August 1678 lying in Hull in the County of Sussex [MDITsic] in New England," taken 8 October 1678, totalled £203 18s., of which £200 was real estate: "the home lot lying on the northeast hill ... with all the privileges," £115; and "the home lot lying on the southwest hill ... with all the privileges," £85 [PCPR 3:2:137]. On 11 October 1678, "all the lands and privileges of the late deceased Mr. Nicholas Baker, in Hingham are appraised at" £140 [PCPR 3:2:135]. The first of these three inventories was only for the property in Scituate, and, in typical Plymouth Colony style, did not list any real estate. The total for these three inventories was £428 8s. 6d., of which £340 was real estate.BIRTH: About 1610 (deposed on 2 June 1663 aged 53 years [PCPR 2:2:76]).DEATH: Scituate 22 or 29 August 1678 [PCPR 3:2:137; NEHGR 121:202]. (The inventory of Nathaniel Baker's estate at Hingham gives his date of death as 22 August, while Peter Hobart's journal says that he died on 29 August; neither gives his age at death, and no other contemporary record of his death has been found. Savage said that he died "22 Aug. 1678, aged 67" [Savage 1:67], but he does not state his source, and the age at death may simply be based on the deposition of 1663.)MARRIAGE: (1) By 1638 _____ _____. She died at Scituate on 23 April 1661 [NEHGR 121:112]. (2) 29 April 1662 Grace (_____) Dipple [Hingham Hist 2:17, citing an unknown source], who survived him. (Her daughter, Grace Dipple, married at Scituate on 16 April 1666 Joseph Webb of Boston.)CHILDREN: With first wife i SAMUEL, bp. Hingham 21 October 1638 [NEHGR 121:11]; m. (1) by 1664 Fear Robinson, daughter of ISAAC ROBINSON [ GMB 3:1593]; m. (2) Abigail (Lathrop) Huntington [ TAG 18:46]. ii MARY, bp. Hingham [blank] December 1640 [NEHGR 121:13]; m. Scituate 26 February 1661/2 Stephen Vinal. iii JOHN, bp. Hingham 6 November 1642 [NEHGR 121:15]; on 1 May 1678, administration was granted on the estate of "John Baker, mariner, late deceased in Boston," to "Samuel Baker his brother (in right of the widow and children left by said Baker and others concerned therein)" [ SPR 12:28]; the inventory of "John Baker son of Mr. Nicholas Baker who died April 19, 1678," was presented on 1 May 1678. (No records of a John Baker in Boston have been found which correspond with this man; his wife and children may perhaps be found in some other port, possibly in the Caribbean.) iv ELIZABETH, bp. Hingham 10 November 1644 [NEHGR 121:17]; m. Scituate 2 February 1664[/5] John Vinal. v NICHOLAS, b. probably at Hull, about 1646 [NEHGR 142:123]; m. by about 1687 Experience Collier, daughter of Thomas Collier (on 8 October 1695, administration was granted to "Jane Colyer of Hull" on the estate of "your son-in-law Nicholas Baker late of Boston" [SPR Case #2273, 13:680]; on 14 May 1696, "Jane Colyer widow administratrix" of the estate of "her son-in-law Nicholas Baker late of Boston, mariner," presented her account, which included "sickness and funeral charges of Experience Baker, widow of the deceased" [SPR Case #2273, 11:161]; on 19 May 1697, "Jane Collyer widow" was made guardian of "your granddaughters Jane Baker daughter of Nicholas Baker ... (being a minor about ten years of age) and Elizabeth Baker daughter of the said deceased (being a minor about seven years of age" [SPR 11:288-89].)