American AcornsWhat the probate dockets tell us about the Oake family, 1721 to 1795
Probate courts kept a docket, a one-line summary of each case: who was named guardian or administrator, who stood surety, what the inventory came to. For the Oake family of Westborough and Bolton the dockets are often the only record of a guardianship or an estate, and they say less than a reader hopes. This page lists every docket and file entry the research log carries for the family, with the case number, the year and what the entry says in its own words. A docket gives a case summary, not the petition, the inventory or the heirs' relationships, and apart from Jonathan's 1732 guardianship, which calls him "son of Nathaniel Oak late of Westborough," none of the entries below says how the people named were related.
| Case | Person | Year | What the entry says |
|---|---|---|---|
| Middlesex 16185, 16186 | Nathaniel Oake, Westborough | 1721-22 | Inventory of Nathaniel's estate, £835 15s; a guardian's bond for eight children (frames 766-782 of film 007553698). |
| Worcester record book, vol. 1, pp. 58-59 | Jonathan Oak, minor, Westborough | 1732 | "I Jonathan Oak a minor aged about fifteen years son of Nathaniel Oak late of Westborough ... do put and constitute Jonathan Forbush ... to be my Guardian," August 11, 1732. |
| Worcester 44121 | Jonathan Forbush | 1732 | Guardianship, surety William Ward. |
| Worcester 44108 | George Oaks, Westborough | 1734 | "1734 Nov. 7 Jonathan Forbush appointed Guardian minor. Bond £300 Nahum Ward, surety." |
| Worcester 20319 | Capt. John Fay | 1747/8 | Bond of administrator James Fay of Hardwick, £500, surety Benjamin Fay; inventory £741 12s 5d old tenor plus £57 9s 1d in "desperate" debts, no land; names no widow, heirs or Oake. |
| Worcester 44119 | John Oak, Westborough | 1752 | "Susannah Oak appointed Administratrix. Oct. 18 Bond £400 Samuel Allen & George Oak, sureties." Inventory real £314 2s 8d, personal £82 5s 6d; account allowed November 6, 1754; balance of £18 19s 6d allowed June 24, 1757. |
| Worcester 44112, 44122, 44127 | Hanah, Levina and Nathaniell Oak | 1752 | Guardianships by Susannah Oak on November 3, 1752, surety Thomas Billing. For Nathaniell, in 1766, a new guardian with Nathaniel Oak and Jonathan Oak as sureties. |
| Worcester 44138 | William Oaks, Winchendon | 1774-77 | Warrant of appraisal on October 26, 1774; "Relief Oak appointed Administratrix" (bond May 6, 1777). A line reading "Widow May 6" is a dated clerk's note, not a surname. |
| Middlesex 10644, 10645, 10696 | Benjamin Hastings and Mary Hastings, Watertown | 1756-73 | Will proved September 27, 1756, executors Mary and Simon Hastings; a separate 1759 administration by Simon Hastings; will of Mary Hastings probated February 9, 1773. No parentage or children given, and nothing on Capt. Benjamin Hastings of Bolton. |
| Worcester 44134, 44137 | Thankful and Vasti Oak | 1771 | George as guardian, surety Moses Maynard. |
| Worcester 44123 | Lydia Oak, Northborough | 1771 | A partition. No relationship stated. |
| Worcester 44100 | Beriah Oaks, Bolton | 1781-95 | "1781 Tabathy Oak appointed Administratrix. Feb. 28 Bond £1000 Jesse Walcutt & Oliver Barrett Jr., sureties." Account balance of £69 16s 0½d allowed April 1, 1783; partition warrant October 6, 1795; distribution to heirs ordered, with receipts of Elizabeth Oak, Asa Oak, John Oaks, and of guardians for minor heirs. |
| Worcester 44101, 44103 | Minors Beriah and Eunice Oaks; Daniel and Phebe Oaks | 1795 | Guardianships on October 6, 1795: Bezaleel Hale Jr. for Beriah and Eunice, Elnathan Polley for Daniel and Phebe. |
| Worcester 44133 | Tabitha Oaks, Bolton | 1820 | "Beriah Oaks appointed Administratrix" (the feminine form is probably the clerk's formula; the Beriah named is probably the son born in 1781). |
What the dockets add
- George was a minor in 1734 under the same guardian as his brother Jonathan in 1732. In 1752 he was surety for his brother John's widow. The family of John and Susanna is told in John Oake and Susanna Allen of Westborough.
- William Oaks of Winchendon died before October 26, 1774, and his widow was Relief; the name matches the Bolton marriage of William and Releaf Whetcomb in 1752, which points to the William baptized at Westborough in 1728 and not the William who died in 1723. Likely
- Beriah's estate was opened in 1781, and its distribution in 1795 names minor heirs. The register's death in 1782 and probate on February 28, 1783 do not match the docket. See Nathaniel Oake Jr. and Kezia.
- Capt. Benjamin Hastings of Bolton does not appear among the Middlesex Hastings entries; they belong to a Watertown family. See the Hastings story.
What the dockets do not say
None of these entries names a ship, an English place or an earlier home for Nathaniel Oake, and apart from Jonathan's 1732 guardianship none states a relationship between the people named. The petitions and inventories behind the dockets, and the probate record books, are the next step; John Fay's file cites record books, Vol. 2 pp. 666-669 and Vol. 216 p. 285, for the widow's allowance.