The Will of Peter LEMARE (LAMAR) of Virginia and Maryland
Submitted by Sonya Neal Murphree.

In the Name of God, Amen. That whereas I Peter Lemare, of this County Calvert and province of Maryland, planter, being very sick and weak of body but in good and sound perfect sense and memory, do here make my last will and testament renouncing all other wills before this present item. 

I give and bequeath my Soul into the hands of Almighty God who gave it to me, trusting in and through the merits of Jesus Christ to have free pardon of all My Sins and to have a Joyful Resurrection at the last Day and what worldly estate it hath pleased God to bestow upon me I give and bequeath as followeth.

 That after my funeral expenses and debts that my moveable estate shall be counted and that it shall be equally divided amongst my loving wife Frances Lemare and my three daughters as namely Ann Lemare, Mary Lemare and Margaret Lemare and that they shall have their equal portion at the age of sixteen years or on the day of their marriage. 
I also give and bequeath to my loving wife, the Plantation whereon I now live during her natural life and after her decease to be equally divided amongst my three daughters before named, my daughter Margaret shall have the first choice. 

I also give and bequeath unto my grandchild Peter O'Neill that plantation with all the land on the Western side of that branch whereon now Joseph Edwards lives --- and that he shall possess and enjoy the same when he shall attain to the age of one and twenty years, and also that my son-in-law Jo O'Neill shall possess the said plantation as soon as Joseph Edward's lease is expired and that he shall enjoy the same till the said Peter O'Neill shall come to the age aforesaid. 

And further do I appoint my good and loveing friends Jo Davis and Joseph Edwards to be my trustees and to execute according to this my last wish and testament. So committing all to the Almighty God I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my seal this 9th day of October 1693.
 

The Will of Peter Lamar is the basis of the first three generations of our  O'Neal ancestry. As you can see, Peter names his son in law and grandson in the will, giving us a three generation snapshot of our family history in 1693.

It's interesting to see how the interpretation of  this document has changed over the years. The first person who came across this document somehow came to the conclusion that Jo married Peter's daughter, Ann. How he arrived at this conclusion I'm not sure, but for many years it was believed by numerous researchers, myself included, that Ann was indeed Jo's wife.

If you read Peter's will carefully, you will find that Ann was not married to Jo.  See the following excerpts from Peter's will: ...that my moveable estate.....shall be equally divided.... and my three daughters as namely Ann Lemare, Mary Lemare and Margaret Lemare and that they shall have their equal portion at the age of sixteen years or on the day of their marriage. .......(Note that Peter states here that his daughters Ann, Mary and Margaret are not yet 16 years old or married.) 

Then you will find the following passage: . .. I also give.....unto my grandchild Peter O'Neill that plantation.....whereon now Joseph Edwards lives --- and that he shall possess and enjoy the same when he shall attain to the age of one and twenty years,.... Jo O'Neill shall possess the said plantation..... till the said Peter O'Neill shall come to the age aforesaid. ....