Source: Essex County Probate, Mass.

Note: There are six separate documents here of various dates, including a Codicil to the original will.

---The first is the original will dated Aug 4, 1853. One of the witnesses is Harriette Beecher Stowe. Her husband, Calvin E. Stowe, also a witness, was associated with Andover Theological Seminary where Leonard Woods was professor of theology until he resigned in 1846. The third witness is Eliza T. Stowe, probably the same Eliza T. who is their daughter. She would have been only about 18 at the time of the signing of this will.

--- The Codicil is dated July 19, 1854. The book and manuscripts listed refer to History of Andover Theological Seminary. Leonard Woods was working on this until his death. The purpose of the Codicil, in part, was to place his son of the same name, Rev. Leonard Woods in charge of completing this book. This was not how it ended however. There were eventually more papers filed by family members to the court which I have not found yet. These place his grandson, Rev. George Stewart Baker, in charge of the final editing of the book.

--- The third document listed is the probate dated Sept 12, 1854. His son of same name , Rev. Leonard Woods, president of Bowdoin College is executor.

--- The fourth document is Inventory dated the second Tuesday of December, 1854.

---The fifth is Personal Estate.

---The sixth is Real Estate.

I Leonard Woods of Andover in the County of Essex & Commonwealth of Massachusetts, do make this my Last Will & Testament, in the following manner, to wit:

1. It is my Will that my Executor herein after named shall pay all my just debts & funeral charges.

2. I hereby give & bequeath to my dearly beloved wife Lucia, all that part of the furniture in the house which belongs to me, & is not otherwise disposed of - the other part of the furniture being her own property according to our marriage contract.

3. In addition to the above, I give & bequeath to the said Lucia, my dear & faithful wife, one half of all my estate, real & personal, to be for her own use & benefit.

4. It is my will, that my wife shall add to the above named bequest two thousand dollars of her own property, & shall with the assistance of my Executor, vest the whole amount thus constituted, in safe & productive funds, & that she shall keep an exact record, in an account book, of all the investments thus made; & it is moreover my will that she, the said Lucia, shall, according to her own discretion receive & use the income of the funds above specified, - but that she shall not, during her natural life, expend any part of the principal, or capital fund thus vested, unless it shall be necessary for her own comfortable support.

5. To pevent the possibility of mistake, I hereby confirm to the said Lucia, my wife, all the estate, real & personal, which she was possessed of before our marriage, & which it was my choice to secure to her by a legal contract.

6. I give & bequest to each of the following Societies, the sum of one hundred dollars, namely to the American ??? Society, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, the Massachusetts Missionary Society (for the purpose of Home Missions), the American Tract Society, the Doctrinal Tract & Book Society, the Colonization Society, & the American Education Society. With all these Societies I have been long connected, & I make the above mentioned small bequests to them as a token of my cordial attachment to them, & my devout desire for their prosperity in all times to come.

7. It is my will that the residue of my estate, real & personal, be divided equally among my children, - (except as directed otherwise in the memorandum attached to this will) - namely, Samuel, Mary, wife of Rev. T. M. Smith D.D., Leonard, Daniel, Abbie, wife of Dr. Salter, Margarette, wife of Rev. E. A. Lawrence, Harriette, wife of Rev. A.R. Baker, & Sophia, wife of Rev. William B. Hayden. And it is my will, that Elizabeth, the only surviving child of my son Joseph, deceased, shall have an equal share with each of my surviving children. - and it is my hope, that the small sums, given to charita. objects in the preceding article, - besides promoting in a small degree the good of those benevolent societies, will prove a greater blessing to my chuildren, than if given to them.

8. I hereby bequeath to my dear sons, Joseph G.- William J. - & Leonard W. Ives, a set of my works in 5 vols. to each, the same works having been previously given to Malcolm & Edward Ives.

9. It is my will that my Executor shall conform to the Memorandum which may be attached to this will, as though it were included in this Instrument.

10. I hereby appoint my beloved son Leonard Woods to be the Executor of this my last Will & Testament, and if he shall in any way be prevented from undertaking & executing the office, it is my will that the Rev. A. R. Baker shall be Executor in his stead.

11. It is my will that my Executor may so arrange matters, as to aid the necessity of any inventory of my estate, & any auction of my goods.

12. It is my will, that there shall be no inscription on the stone which may be placed by my grave, except the following namely, Rev Leonard Woods D.D., Born in Princeton, Mass. June 19, 1774, graduated at Harvard College, 1796 - ordained as a minister of the gospel at West Newbury in 1798 - inaugurated as Abbot Professor of Christian Theology in 1808 - resigned the office in 1846 - died _ _ _ aged _.

In witness whereof I hereunto set my hand & seal this fourth day of August, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred & fifty three.

Leonard Woods [ his signature]

Signed, sealed & declared to be his last Will & Testament in presence of us who in his presence & in presence of each other hereunto subscribe our names as Witnesses.

C. E. Stowe [ his signature]

Harriette B Stowe [ her signature]

Eliza T. Stowe [ her signature]

A Codicil to be added to, & to be taken as a part of the Last Will & Testament of me Leonard Woods of Andover, in County of Essex & Commonwealth of Massachusetts Doctor of Divinity ___ Whereas I the said Leonard Woods have made & duly executed my Last Will & Testament bearing date of August fourth one thousand eight hundred & fifty three; I do hereby declare this present writing to be a Codicil to my said Will & Testament, I direct the same to be annexed thereto & taken as a part thereof.

In the first place if my decease shall take place before the publication of my History of the Seminary is completed, my will is that the manuscripts & documents pertaining thereto shall pass into the hands of my son Leonard, & that he shall publish the History as I have prepared it, only making such corrections as he shall see to be called for in order to complete the plan which I have laid out & which I have nearly finished.

Secondly. My will is that the said History shall be the sole property of Mrs. Lucia I. Woods, my dear wife, & my son Leonard, & I bequeath the same to them, in addition, to what I have already bequeathed to them, in the aforesaid will, in equal parts to each, & my will is that all the profits of the work shall be divided equally between them, - this being but a small expression of the gratitude I owe them, for the invaluable assistance they have afforded me in preparing the work for publication.

Thirdly. It is my will that all my manuscript letters & all other papers, except what my wife Lucia shall wish for, shall pass into the hands of my son Leonard, who is to be my Executor. And I hereby enjoin it upon him, that no part of them shall ever be published, except such sermons as I shall enclose in a wrapper marking them as prepared for publication.

Fourthly. Having in my will, above mentioned, bequeathed to my son Samuel an equal portion of my estate with my other children, I do now direct that the said equal portion shall be given to his son Leonard, & I hereby bequeath the same to him; & it is my will that my son Samuel, shall be a Trustee for the said Leonard his son, & shall receive the said equal portion of my estate for the said Leonard his son, & shall hold & use it as Trustee according to his own discretion, till the said Leonard his son shall be of age. And if my son Samuel should decease before that time, my will is that his wife Mary, my daughter in law, shall be Trustee for her son Leonard with like powers as above given to the said Samuel.

Fifthly. I hereby direct that the portion of my estate, which falls to my son Daniel, according to my will above referred to, shall be held by my son Leonard, as Trustee, who shall appropriate the same to the benefit of the said Daniel & his family, according as he the said Leonard shall judge proper, after consulting with said Daniel or his wife Elizabeth.

In witness whereof I hereunto set my hand & seal this nineteenth day of July in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred & fifty four.

Leonard Woods [his signature]

Signed, sealed & declared to be a Codicil of my Last Will & Testament, in presence of us who in his presence, & in presence of each other hereunto subscribe our names as witnesses.

Abm J.Gould

W. F. Draper

Wm. H. Foster

To the Honorable Nathaniel S. Howe Esquire, Judge of Probate for the county of Essex.

Humbly shew Leonard Woods of Brunswick in the County of Cumberland and State of Maine President of Bowdoin College doctor in divinity, that he is named and appointed executor of the last will and testament of Leonard Woods late of Andover in said county, Doctor in Divinity deceased; who at the time of making the same , was of full age, and of sane mind, and last dwelt in said county, and lately, viz. August 24th A.D. 1854 died, leaving estate to be administered; whereby it appertains to your petitioner to administer said estate according to said will, he having a legal right to accept of his said trust. Wherupon the said executor herewith present the same to your honor, to be approved, allowed and recorded, as the law directs; and prays that administration of said estate according thereto, may be granted and committed to him agreeably to the law in such cases made and provided.

Dated at Lawrence the twelfth day of September A.D. 1854.

Leonard Woods [ his signature] by Saml. Farrar atty

COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS. Essex, ss. At a Court of Probate, holden at Haverhill in and for said county, on the third Tuesday in October, A.D. 1854. The instrument hereto annexed, having been duly presented for probate as the last will and testament of Leonard Woods, late of Andover in said county, doctor in divinity, deceased, and it being made to appear that notice has been given according to order to all persons interested, and that there is no objection to the probate of either, Harriette B. Stowe and Eliza T. Stowe, two of the witnesses to the former, and Warren F. Draper, one of the witnesses to the latter of said instruments subscribed, being present, make oath, each as to the instrument to which his or her name is subscribed as a witness, that they saw the said Leonard Woods, the testator sign and seal the said instruments, and heard him declare the former to be his last will and testament, and the latter to be a codicil thereto and part and parcel of his last will and testament, and that they subscribed their names as witnesses to the execution thereof, in presence of said testator, viz. said Harriette B. Stowe and Eliza T. Stowe with Calvin E. Stowe to the former, and said Warren F. Draper with Abraham I. Gould and William H. Foster to the latter, and that said testator was, to the best of their discerning, of sound and disposing mind, at the time of executing each of said instruments.

It is thereupon considered and decreed by the court here, that the said instruments be approved, allowed and recorded, as the last will and testament of the before named deceased, and that they have full force and effect as such, agreeably to the laws of the commonwealth aforesaid, in such cases made and provided; and that the execution of said last will and testament, and the administration of he estate of said deceased according thereo, be granted and committed to

Leonard Woods [ his signature],

the executor therein named, he giving bond according to law, for the faithful discharge of his said trust.

N. S. Howe [ his signature] JUDGE OF PROBATE.

To the Honorable N. S. Howe - esquire, Judge of Probate for the county of Essex

Pursuant to a warrant from your honor, we, the subscribers, the committee therein named, having been first sworn, have made the following

INVENTORY AND APPRAISEMENT OF THE ESTATE OF Leonard Woods - late of Andover in said County, doctor in divinity, deceased, testate as shown to us by the Executor

Amount of REAL ESTATE, as by schedule A, on file herewith, $50.- Amount of PERSONAL ESTATE, as by schedule B, on file herewith, $7,514.

Brought forward. Amount of real estate, ................................. $----50.

Amount of personal estate, .......................... $7, 514.

TOTAL, ...$7, 564.

Dated at Andover this eleventh day of December A.D. 1854

Leonard Woods, exr. [his signature]

Saml. Farrar [his signature]-- }COMMITTEE I.

Samuel Merrill [ his signature]-- }COMMITTEE I.

Alvin Farley. [his signature] --}COMMITTEE I.

ESSEX, ss. At a Court of Probate, holden at Lawrence in and for said County, on the second Tuesday in December, A.D. 1854.

Leonard Woods, executor, [his signature] presents the foregoing, and makes oath, that it contains a true and perfect inventory of the estate of Leonard Woods, late of Andover in said County, doctor in divinity, deceased, - testate, so far as has come to his hands or knowledge, and that, if anything further shall hereafter appear, he will cause it to be of record herewith in the probate office: It is thereupon decreed that the same be accepted, allowed and recorded.

N.S. Howe [his signature] JUDGE OF PROBATE.

ESTATE OF Leonard Woods late of Andover in the County of Essex Doctor of Divinity___

Schedule B. PERSONAL ESTATE.

Wearing apparel........................................................................................... $ 150.

Watch .............................................................................................................. 50.

Household Furniture including Portrait, & Umbrella ......................................... 400.

Library ........................................................................................................... 200.

Copy-right & Stereotype Plates of Dr. Woods' work ....................................3,000.

Fourteen Shares of Rutland Rail Road Stock ..................................................... 14.

Ten Shares of Boston & Maine Road Stock ................................................. 1,000.

Ten Shares of Eastern Rail Road Stock ........................................................... 500.

Eight hundred dollars in Ogdensburgh Rail Road Bonds ................................... 400.

Seven Shares in the Bank of Commerce Boston .............................................. 700.

Two Shares in the Andover Bank .................................................................... 200.

Three Shares in the Haverhill Bridge ................................................................ 500.

Eben Gibson's Promisory Note ....................................................................... 400.

_________________________________________________________ $ 7, 514.

Estate of Leonard Woods late of Andover in the County of Essex Doctor of Divinity_____

Schedule A. REAL ESTATE.

Peat Meadow in the West Parish of Andover ................................... $ 50.__

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