Albany Township, Berks County PA
Written Nov 14th 1780 ; Recorded August 23th 1783
Heirs: Gluck
Others: Kistler, Reinhartt, Apple
In the Name of God the Father, the Son, & the Holy Ghost Amen
I John Gluck in Albany Township Berks County in the State of Pennsylvania am Very sick & Weak in my Body, But yet of a Sound Understanding, Thanks be to God Who hath given it me in mind the Mortality of my Body & knowing that it is appointed for all Men once to die, Make & ordain this my Last will & Testament, that is to say, Especially and first of All I give & Recommend my Soul into the Hands of Almighty God who gave the same & My Body I Recommend to be buried in the Earth in a Decent & Christian Like manner agreeable to the good opinion of the Executors. Nothing doubting but at the general Resurrection I shall Receive the same again, through the Mighty Power of God & as touching such worldly Estate Where With it hath pleased God to bless me in this Life. I give bequeath & Sign over of the same in manner following
In the first place, Shall after my Decease, all my Personal Estate be set down in a Neat Inventory & in a Usual Manner be brought in through my Executors. And then Shall my Loving Wife Magdalena have the Plantation on which I at the present Life for her use & Benefit as Long as she lives With All other my Personal Estate, Which I have not through this present writing bequeathed to my Children, for her use as long as she lives. Yet upon this Condition, that after her death Or if she should Incline to give over said plantation before her decease, two of my Youngest Sons the said plantation till to a line runs between said plantation & my other plantation On Which my Son Daniel Gluck Lives Which Line Runs Down the round hill accross the Road Towards the Spring & my Son Daniel must fall back with the Line on the Spring slanthing up Until to the fence, That the water in not kept up or hindered from those Living on my Place Also Shall the said plantation be given over unto my said two Youngest Sons & Shall one Like the other have An Equal Right & Claiming there of. To the single & only use of my two Youngest sons, Who Shall take Possession of said plantation, Their Heirs of Assigns for Ever. And Which of Said two Youngest Sons should first Intermarry Shall build himself a House on said place between the Roads opposite to George Kistlers place & my Wife Magdalena shall with one of my Eldest sons divide the place to the two youngest Sons according to their good opinion & making the line Immediately & my Wife Madgdalena shall have the Right to live in the old house or in the New one, As also in the House of Daniel Glucks in which She chooses the best as Long as She Lives & the two youngest Sons Shall be true & upright to their Mother in all Justifiable things till to their age of Twenty one years. Further Shall all my sons have When they Intermarry, for a House gift, one Horse, one Cow and two Sheep, of my own, for his own property & that my wife Madgdalena has the Right to Inclose in which said Houses she will, her Lumber Victuals & Drink, In which House she Lives in Where She Will & to put the Cattle & Fother Where She Pleases.
Secondly I give & bequeath to my son Daniel Gluck my other Plantation Aforementioned On Which he now Lives, Which adjoining to the first mentioned Plantation & the aforenamed Division Line & as the same is further run out. Situate in Albany Township Together With all the Buildings, Improvements Rights and Property HeirRights and Conveyances & What also belongs thereto, to him the said Daniel Gluck his Heirs or Assigns for Ever. Yet with this Exception that if the son Daniel Gluck should die Without Manly Issue, So Shall the said Plantation fall back to again my Sons yet Living to their Own Property. Upon the Condition that they shall pay unto the remaining Daughters of Said Daniel Gluck One hundred Pounds Lawful Money of Pennsylvania, If he Leaves no Daughters, so shall the said one hundred Pounds be Equally Divided in Equal Shares among all my then Living Sons.
Thirdly, I give & bequeath to my son Henry Gluck my Plantation Lying in said Township, part of the Proprietary Mannor Land, Together With all my Right and property What I have to Claim thereon To the benefit of said Henry Gluck his Heirs and Assigns for Ever. But if he should die Without Manly Heirs, So Shall the Last Mentioned Plantation fall back again to my Living sons to them as Heirs & to their own Property Yet upon this Condition that they Shall pay to the Remaining Daughters of said Henry Gluck One hundred Pounds Lawful Money of Pennsylvania, If he Leaves no Daughters So Shall that Last Mentioned one hundred pounds be divided in Equal shares among my then Living sons. & Also Shall it be kept with my two youngest sons with the first of all Mentioned Plantation after my Wife Magdalena giving over the same or after her Decease the same as mentioned heretofore to be kept With Daniel & Henry Gluck in the second & third Article & then shall each of my Sons Wifes, if it should Please God to put them into a Widow situation, So shall they have full Right to continue in form one or the other of said Plantations With the children (but not without Heirs) until the Children are of age. But as a Widow or when such one should Intermarry So She or Shall not Remain on the Place or on the Plantation.
Fourthly Shall my two sons Namely Daniel & Henry Gluck help my two youngest sons Namely Frederick & Peter Gluck on the first mentioned Plantation to make for my wife Magdalena the first and second Crop grass at proper time Mow dry & to help take it to its usual place, Also to hawl the Dung in the garden & in the Field, Where she thinks fit to have the same. The garden they shall also Till & plant With one another, and in Case she being too weak to gather her Cattle, so shall they also do the same for her, and take the Milk from the Cows & bring the same Clean to its proper place. The aforementioned four brothers shall also be Obligated to Attend and Wait on their Mother as my aforementioned Wife Magdalena in Time of Sickness & when she comes to be kept close in Bed usually and uprightly so as becommeth a Right Christian, & to my wife Magdalena her maintainance Shall each of my two sons named Daniel & Henry Gluck give her yearly & every year as Long as she Lives, 10 bushels of Rye & 5 bushels Wheat & 3 bushels buckwheat as also one hundred pounds Salt pork & also each of the two aforementioned thirty weight of Beef when one of them kills but all taken thereto must be good and fit for sale. The grain they must haul to the mill & deliver the meal to the dwelling place. Each of them shall also give Deliver to her yearly & every year one peck of Salt, a quarter pound Pepper a pound of all spice, 50 good eggs & each of them six yards of flaxen linen & two yards of Toe linen shall give her yearly & every year as Long as she Lives. I Except the half of the Cabbage garden on my son Daniel Glucks place for my wife Magdalena but my son must dung and plant the same & then my wife has the half of the Vegetables & that as Long as she Lives & Henry Gluck must give to my wife Magdalena yearly 50 head of Cabbage, Also shall each of the two give to my wife Magdalena every year six bushel of Potatoes & as many turnups if the plant any & Daniel Gluck must make as many Shoes from his Leather for my wife as she Wants & each of the aforesaid brethren shall give his mother yearly two quarts of oyl, and each of them a half bushel of Indian Corn. Also Shall each of the aforesaid two sons Henry & Daniel Gluck pay to my wife Magdalena every year as Long as she lives four pounds Lawful Money & not let my wife Want in fire wood, hawl the same to her dwelling place, Cut small the same fit for the fire & When my Wife Magdalena will ride to Church or else where so shall the said two sons give her a horse at all times without hinderance. I also except for my wife on my Son Daniel's Glucks place every year the fruit in the Orchard on the foremost hill being inside or outside the fence, but my Daniel must keep her in good fence without doing any damage to She has also Liberty to gather apples on said place for her to eat which she chooses & that as Long as she Lives. The aforesaid two brethren Henry & Daniel must make her the Cyder & put it in the Cellar where she will have it & each of them must fother her a Cow as well as his own Cattle & that so well Summer & Winter & Let them feed with their own Cattle in the Meadows & fields & each of the two shall also Fother for her two Sheep as their own and on the place where she Lives they shall help her to keep the fence in good order as Long as She keeps the place in her Hands. & Shall dung & plant till her a garden as much Land as she chooses for her Benefit & to my son Philip I give & bequeath all my Smith Tools for his own property to him his Heirs & assigns, but with this Exception that it Shall be kept the same as with the aforementioned Improvements, That if he dies without manly Heirs it shall fall back to my Living Sons. But all Smith Work my wife Magdalena shall want done , Philip Gluck shall do it for her Gratis. She finding the Iron, and as Long as my wife Magdalena has the first mentioned place in Possession & has Together the Horses & Horned Cattle, shall have the right to put the Cattle to feed on the manner Land as also on Daniel Glucks Land Without any hinderence & in Case the Mother has my said plantation in Possession & will have her yearly Maintaniance, So it is here put Stedfast, that the herein named Children Named Henry & Daniel Gluck are obligated to give her her things every year And if it Shall please the Lord Commander of Life & Death to take from this World my Loving wife Magdalena so shall they have her buried in a Christian & Honest Manner. I John Gluck order & command that my wife Magdalena Shall keep in Pledge All Right and property of the three mentioned Plantations So that she receive her Mantainance truly & all what they have promised their Mother here in this my Last will & Testament to perform truly & I John Gluck Make & order my said Wife Magdalena & my two Eldest sons named George and Philip Gluck to the only my Executors of this my Last Will & Testament making Void & Recall All Wills & Testaments & bequeaths through me heretofore made but Acknowledging this & no other to be my Last Will & Testament, Intestimony Whereof I having put hereto my own Hand & Seal the 14th day of November in the year of our Lord one Thousand Seven hundred & Eighty.
Signed sealed Declared in our presence
Johannes Gluck
Who in his presence & each of us have signed our names hereunto
John Reinhartt
Jonas Apple
A true Translation of the German Original
Registers Office at Reading in Berks County August the 23th 1783 then personally appeared John Reinhart one of the Subscribing Witnesses to the above written will and upon his Solemn oath on the holy evangelists of Almighty God did depose and say that he together with Jonas Apple the other evedance were present and saw and Heard John Gluck the Testator therein Named Sign, Seal, pronounce Publish & Declare the above writing to be his last Will & Testament and that at the time of Doing Whereof he was of Sound mind , memory and understanding as he verily believes, and that he the said Deponant was present and saw Jonas Apple the other Witness Subscribe his name thereto and the name of John Reinhard are of the said Deponants own proper hand writing Subscribed thereto as a witness in the presence of the said Jonas Apple at the request and in the presence of the said testator
Coram me Henry Christ register
Several days afterwords appeared Jonas Apple the other Subscribing witness to the above Written will & upon his oath did answer all the questions necessary as above mentioned
Coram me Henry Christ register
Submitted by Mary Alice.
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