American Centuries

Pocumtuck Valley
Memorial Association

American Centuries > Lessons > Curriculum: Everyday Life in a New England Town > The Will of Ebenezer Wells (1691-1758)

The Will of Ebenezer Wells (1691-1758)

Details

Author
Mary Gene Devlin, Bette Schmitt
Topic/Subject Area
Home Life, Household Items, Furniture; Family, Children, Marriage, Courtship; Religion, Church, Meetings & Revivals
Historical Era
Colonial settlement, 1620–1762
Grade Level
Elementary (K–5), Middle School (6–8)
Creation Date
2000
Last Revision Date
2024

Related items

About This Lesson

Summary and Objective

Unit Central Questions:

What do primary and secondary sources teach us about the characteristics of “everyday life” of individuals living in Deerfield at the four turns of the centuries? What do these characteristics reveal about changes in the town since its beginning as an English settlement?

Key Content Ideas Taught in this Lesson and Teacher Background

Wills are a good source of information about the past. For example, by looking closely at the one for Ebenezer Wells, we can learn something about his economic condition and what he valued most. We can also learn something about his family genealogy and the beliefs and expectations of the time and place in which he lived. 

For more information, read:
Teacher Background Essay: The Will of Ebenezer Wells

Intended Learning Outcomes

Understandings:

Students will understand that:

  1. A will is a good source of information about history. 
  2. It can tell us something about the economic condition of the deceased, the things valued, and his or her genealogy. 
  3. It may also provide information or clues about attitudes, beliefs, practices, and economic conditions of the time period and place in which the will was written.
Skills:

Students will be able to:

  1. Read and analyze the will.

Materials & Resources

Primary and Secondary Sources:
  1. Individual copies of Ebenezer Wells’s Will (two pages)
Other:
  1. Student notebooks

Teaching Plan

In Preparation for Teaching
  1. Make copies of Ebenezer Wells’s will.
  2. Read The Will of Ebenezer Wells
Activities
  1. Distribute copies of Ebenezer Wells’s will.
  2. Allow students time to read it. They might first try reading the original. They can resort to the transcription as needed.
  3. Ask a volunteer read the first paragraph, ending with 1757 (note: that is the year before his death).
  4. Read the second section to the students, noting its religious nature, and illustrating the importance of religion to the English settlers.
  5. Have the students work in pairs to list in their notebooks all of the items in the will that they can decipher or understand. They should title their list “Ebenezer Wells’s Will.”
  6. After sufficient time has passed, discuss unfamiliar words and parts of the will that are difficult to read. Make note of the large amount of his estate that he left to his nephew, Ebenezer, and the “Good Silver Tankard” which he left to the church (and which remained in the possession of the church until 1998). Discuss why students think Wells did these things. Discuss what women traditionally received in wills and what he left to his wife. Ask students to complete the lists in their notebooks.
  7. Discuss Ebenezer Wells’s economic condition when he wrote this will. Consider these questions:
Homework Assignment
  1. Using the list created in class, have students write a summary of Ebenezer Wells’s economic condition when he wrote his will.
  2. Instruct students to write a paragraph answering this question: What else does Ebenezer Wells’s will help us to learn about him? Make sure they include information about the things he valued, how he provided for his wife, and his feelings about his church and family. Provide extra credit if they can explain what the will teaches us about Deerfield at the time!
Assessment

Use the homework assignment.