Zachariah Prickett, Sr Will/Inventory - Pt 1

The Will and Inventory of Zachariah Prickett, Sr.

There are two versions of the recorded will of Zachariah Prickett/Prickitt. One is a mid-1800 era handwritten transcription of the original will, the abstract of which is found at page 375 of New Jersey's Calendar of Wills, which states:

"1727-8 Feb. 28. Pricket, Zachariah, of Northampton, Burlington Co., husbandman; will of.Wife Elliphé.Children --John, Zachariah, Hannah, wife of Philipp Quigley, Elizabeth, wife of John Peacock, Jacob; cousin John Pricket. Real and personal estate. Executor--son Jacob. Witnesses--William Hews, Robert Hill, John Burr. Proved March 14, 1727-8. Liber 2, p. 502.
1728 April 30. Inventory of the personal estate, ?217.1.4; made by Richard Eayre and Benjamin More."

The above abstract references the 1800-era transcription, not the actual recorded will.The 1800 era transcript calls Zachariah's wife "Elisha" and Phillip Quigley as Quickley.Further, the 1800-era transcription contains numerous errors of the actual words in the original will.Perhaps most important is on its face the abstract considers Zachariah's wife to have been French in nativity due to the inclusion of an accent mark above the letter "e".This is in and of itself a transcription error of the actual will document.

The entire original will, complete with original wording, original wax seal impression, affirmation of the executor and subsequent inventory is found in Burlington Co, NJ will records, microfilm roll 123 at Vol. 4, pages 1761-1765, at the New Jersey State Archives in Trenton.This descendant recently obtained an enlarged microfilmed copy in person directly from the archives.

According to the 1887 George F. Peacock manuscript of the "History of the Peacock Family", the marriage certificate of Zachariah's daughter Elizabeth to John Peacock, written on parchment, states Elizabeth was the daughter of "Zachariah Prickitt and Alethia his wife."G.F. Peacock used the spelling Prickitt in his manuscript most likely based on the overwhelming use of that spelling that began with the 1870 federal census of Burlington County, NJ, particularly in Medford Township where the Peacock's originally settled.Prior to this census, the family name is spelled Pricket or Prickett.It is found as either Pricket, Prickett and sometimes Pritchett in earlier records.This descendant of Zachariah has been unable to obtain a copy of the aforementioned Peacock manuscript or the purported marriage certificate to independently confirm the written name is in fact "Alethia."Yet, assuming that it is a factual interpretation of the original document, this descendant would suggest that Zachariah had two separate wives, only one of which was likely the mother of his known children.

In February 1728 Zachariah's wife is written as "Elliphi" in the original will, with the last letter definitely an "i" with a corresponding dot.It is not an "e" with an French accent mark since the letter "e" in the will is both old-fashioned and very distinctive, bearing no resemblance whatsoever to the letter "i".However, the written name contains the potential old fashioned double "l" (as in Samuell).Further, the "p" in the foregoing does not appear to be the old-fashioned double "s" since in translation the name would become a very unwieldy "Ellisshi".As written in the will, "Elliphi" was probably the endearing form of the more formal Elipha or Ellipha.

On 20 December 1733 in Northampton Township, Thomas Bishop of Northampton was issued a license to marry "Elipha Prickett".There is only one known Prickett family in Burlington Co, NJ in 1728 that could possibly have had a daughter named Elipha old enough to be of marrying age in December 1733 - Zachariah and Elliphi (---) Prickett.Yet, there is no daughter named Elipha or Ellipha in Zachariah's will of 1728.Hence, by all reasonable interpretation the Elipha Prickett who in December 1733 married Thomas Bishop Sr. was one and the same as the widow of Zachariah Prickett.In effect, Elipha married the then 68-year old father-in-law of Elipha's oldest step-son, Jacob Prickett, three months after Jacob married Thomas Bishop Sr.'s daughter Hannah.Unfortunately, Elipha (---) Prickett Bishop was herself deceased by 14 April 1741, the date on which Thomas Bishop Sr. wrote his will mentioning neither a wife by name nor providing any provision for a wife in his will.Yet, in the same 1741 will of Thomas Bishop Sr., daughter Hannah is called Hannah Prickett, and his son-in-law Jacob Prickett was appointed one of two executors of the estate.

Below is this descendant's transcription of the actual written will, including the actual spelling.This will includes Zachariah's very pronounced mark of "P", much larger than portrayed in this transcription (it is five lines high).The format is the characteristic continuous paragraph with dashes, which has been reformatted for modern reading.Due to the written clarity of the will versus his signature by mark, Zachariah did not pen his own will.However, since there are no cross-outs or interlaced corrections in the will text, it would seem reasonable to assume that the name of Zachariah's wife was not a casual phonetic interpretation by the will writer.

(Cont'd Part 2)