William Swift (1705-1748) of Sandwich, Mass., and His Wives Keziah Rider/Ryder and Abigail Burgess

William Swift was born 5 July 1705 at Sandwich on Cape Cod, the son of Jireh and Abigail (Gibbs) Swift.  [Sandwich VR 1:69] He was the fifth child and third boy in the family of 12 children. William and six of his siblings were baptized at Sandwich on 8 October 1710. [Sandwich VR 2:1374] Although his family continued as members of the church at Sandwich, they moved to Wareham, Plymouth County, so William spent at part of his childhood there. He is my 8th great-grandfather on my grandfather Arthur Washburn Ellis Davis’ side of the family and is a descendant of Mayflower passenger Richard Warren.

William married, first, Keziah Rider/Ryder about April 1733. The intentions of William Swift of Sandwich and Kezia Rider of Plymouth were published Plymouth 30 March 1733. [Plymouth VR 1:161] Keziah was born Plymouth 1 March 1713/4, the daughter of Samuel and Ann (Eldred) Rider. [Plymouth VRs in MD 12:11]

Keziah Rider was a minor when her father Samuel died and there was a June 1720 Plymouth Court of Common Pleas case concerning Samuel Rider Sr’s (Keziah’s grandfather) land. Benjamin Rider vs. “Keziah Rider, Ezekiel Rider, Samuel Rider, minor children of Samuel Rider Jr deceased, and grandchildren of Samuel Rider Sr, deceased,” partition…” lands [granted to plaintiff and his brother Samuel Rider Jr] lying in Common between the Plaintiff and the defendants…” [Lainhart] 

Keziah and William had two daughters born Sandwich:

1. Anne Swift born 18 January 1733/34 [Sandwich VR 1:118]; I believe she married Luke Tobey 30 August 1750 at Rochester, Plymouth County [Rochester VR 2:306]
2. Keziah born 22 January 1735/36 [Sandwich VR 1:118]; married Thomas Mitchell, Bridgewater, 6 Dec 1757 [Swift]

I descend from Anne whom I wrote about here.

Keziah (Rider) Swift died at just 22 years old. “Keziah Swift the Wife of William Swift Died March 23d Anno 1735/6.” [Sandwich VRs in MD 29:27] Perhaps her death was caused by complications from the birth of her daughter Keziah two months earlier.

About 1740 William married, second, Abigail Burgess. She was born as Abigail Burge on 29 June 1709 at Sandwich to Jacob and Mary (Hunt) Burge. [Sandwich VR 1:74] 

Abigail and William had four children born Sandwich, all recorded Sandwich VR 1:118:

3. Stephen born 5 June 1741; died before 2 October 1748 when William wrote his will 

4. Jacob born 16 October 1742; died before 2 October 1748 when William wrote his will 

5. Abigail born 24 April 1744; Abigail Swift Junr married Eliab Fish both of Sandwich 1 January 1764 [Sandwich VR 1:209]

6. Mary born 23 June 1746; married m. Josiah Ellis 20 October 1765 [Swift]

On 11 April 1744 William Swift of Sandwich, yeoman, was appointed guardian of his daughters Keziah and Ann Swift. [MD 44:2] I am not sure how to interpret this record. Perhaps the girls had been living with a relative since his first wife’s death and he decided to bring them back into his care or it was just a legal arrangement to ensure he would be financially responsible for them.

William is called yeoman in records and he served in the local militia as his inventory included arms and ammunition. He produced wool yarn and crops on his farm. 

William received a small bequest of five shillings in his father Jirah Swift of Wareham’s 29 March 1744 will which was probated 1 May 1749. [Plymouth County probate records 11:241] His father was well-off and left other larger bequests, including £200 to his widow and £5 each to his younger children and grandchildren. It would seem William and his siblings who also received small bequests had already received gifts of land or money from their father.

My unproven theory is that William was deeded his father Jireh’s Sandwich land in the Sagamore/Scusset area, especially plausible since Jireh was living in Wareham. Unfortunately most of the Barnstable County deeds from this time were destroyed in a fire. William’s older brothers Jabez and Zephaniah moved to Connecticut, so William was the eldest son to stay in Sandwich.

William Swift, yeoman, died at Sandwich between 2 October 1748 (date of will) and 20 December 1748 (will proved). He was 43 years old. 

It is clear from William’s probate records that he was sick at the end of his life. He writes in his will he was weak of body. It seems it was not a brief illness as the estate paid two doctors a combined £29. He left bequests to his two oldest daughters, Ann and Keziah, by his “former wife” Keziah. When they married or came of age they were to equally divide all the moveables that were part of his household when he was married to their mother. His widow Abigal was to inherit his real estate as long to use to support the children as long as she remained his widow. His younger daughters Abigal and Mary were to receive the rest of the moveable estate after their mother’s death. All four daughters were to equally divide his real estate and housing after Abigal’s death or the marriage/full age of the youngest daughter. His wife Abigal and brother Roland Swift were named co-executors. William signed his will which was witnessed by Ichabod Morton, Meribah Gibbs and Elisha Tupper. 

The will was presented for probate on 20 December 1748 on the oath of Elisha Tupper and Meribah Gibbs; Ichabod Morton made oath on 29 May 1749. 

Medad Tupper, Elisha Tupper and William Swift conducted an inventory of William Swift’s estate on 21 December 1748. It totaled £1,286 18 shillings, 8 pence, a considerable value at the time. It includes cash, arms and ammunition, spinning wheels, English and Indian corn, beans, flax, yarn, a canoe, 2 cows, 2 sheep, a swine. It also contained a value for the items given to his two oldest daughters as directed by his will. Real estate included homestead lands and salt meadows, building and well, woodlot at Herring River. The three men presented and made oath to the inventory on 27 April 1749. Executors Abigal Swift and Roland Swift made oath to the inventory on the same day. 

Abigal’s account of the estate included an allowance to her for expenses related to settling the estate, a payment to constable Silas Gifford, payments for the men that conducted the inventory, £7 to Doctor Thomas, £22 to Doctor Smith, and a few additional small debts. Abigal swore to the account 7 November 1749. 

William’s will, inventory and estate account are located in Barnstable County Probate Records 8:344-347.

I would expect Abigail would have remarried after William’s death but I yet to find a marriage record. 

Sources:

George Ernest Bowman, The Mayflower Descendant, “The Bowman File,” Vol 44, no. 2, page 170 (July 1994)

Lydia B. (Phinney) Brownson and Maclean McLean, NEHGS Register, Thomas 1 Gibbs of Sandwich, Mass. (Ca 1615-1693), 123:54

Ann Smith Lainhart, The Mayflower Descendant, “Genealogical Gleanings from Plymouth County Court Records,” 51:1:14

Eben Swift, Library of Cape Cod History and Genealogy, Pamphlet No. 15, ”William Swift and Descendants to the Sixth Generation," 1923

Prence Snow, 1707 to before 1758, of Harwich and Rochester, Massachusetts, and His Wife Mary Sturtevant

Prence Snow was born 26 December 1707 at Harwich, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, the son of Nicholas and Lydia (Shaw) Snow. [Harwich VR 1:9] He was a descendant of Constance (Hopkins) Snow and her father Stephen Hopkins, both Mayflower passengers, and Thomas Prence who was Governor of Plymouth Colony. Prence is my 7th great-grandfather on my grandfather Arthur Washburn Ellis Davis’ side of the family. His name is sometimes seen as Prince.

On 31 August 1727 “Prince Snow” married Mary Sturdevant (more commonly Sturtevant) at Rochester, Plymouth County. She was born 30 November 1708 at Plymouth, the daughter of Joseph and Anna (Jones) Sturtevant. [Plymouth VR 1:17] Mary is a descendant of Richard Warren of the Mayflower (Anna 4 Jones, Patience 3 Little, Anna 2 Warren, Richard 1 Warren]. 

Mary’s father Joseph Sturtevant died intestate in 1723. There is a long list of payments in an estate accounting including 16 shillings to Mary Sturtevant. [Probate Records 1717-1724 and 1854-1862 vol 4-4Q, State Archives Boston]

Mary and Prence had four children, all recorded Rochester: 

1. Mary born 30 October 1729 [Rochester VR 1:277], marriage intention Samuel Sherman 20 April 1749 [Rochester VR 2:284]
2. Hannah born 27 October 1731 [Rochester VR 1:275]; married Charles Brownen [Brownell] of Tiverton RI intentions 14 June 1752 [Rochester VR 2:282]
3. Joseph born 17 Jan 1733/4 [Rochester VR 1:276]; married Rachel Landers 20 January 1756 at Sandwich [Rochester VR 2:283]; died Rochester 31 August 1808 [Rochester VR 2:434]
4. Prince born 14 March 1735 [Rochester VR 1:278]; probably died by 1751 when not mentioned in his grandfather Nicholas Snow’s will. 

I descend from Joseph. I wrote about him here.

Apparently Prence abandoned his family, something highly unusual at that time. The 1751 will of Nicholas Snow mentions Joseph, Mary, and Hannah Snow, children of son Prence. He left one shilling to son Prence “for his leaving me and his family as he did.” [Shaw] Prince Snow may be the man of that name appearing on Kent County Delaware tax lists in 1738 and 1740. [Austin]

Mary died sometime after the 1735 birth of her youngest child, likely at Rochester. 

Prence died between 25 June 1751, when he is mentioned in his father’s will, and 22 February 1758, when he is referred to as the late Prence Snow in a conveyance signed by his children. [Austin] No probate record found for Prence in Plymouth County; I have not checked in Delaware. 

Sources:

John D. Austin, Mayflower Families Through Five Generations, Volume 6: Stephen Hopkins, 2001

NEHGS/AmericanAncestors.org, Mayflower Families Fifth Generation, Hopkins 6:154

Robert S. Wakefield, Mayflower Families Through Five Generations, Volume 18 Part one, Richard Warren, GSMD, 1999

Jonathan A. Shaw, NEHGS Register, “John Shaw of Plymouth Colony, Purchaser and Canal Builder,” 151:432 (1997)

Joseph Sturtevant (1666-1723) and His Wife Anna Jones of Plymouth, Massachusetts

Joseph Sturtevant was born 16 July 1666 at Plymouth, Massachusetts, the son of Samuel and Ann (—?—) Sturtevant. [Plymouth Colony Records 8:31] His last name is also seen as Sturdevant, Stirtevant, and a variety of other spellings. He is my 8th great-grandfather on my grandfather Arthur Washburn Ellis Davis’ side of the family.

“Joseph Stirtevant was married unto Annah Jones” at Plymouth on 5 December 1693. [Plymouth VR in MD 13:207] Anna was born Hingham, Plymouth County on 26 January 1667/8, the daughter of Joseph and Patience (Little) Jones. [Hingham VR 1:4] Anna was a descendant of Mayflower passenger Richard Warren.

On 20 April 1676, when Anna Jones was eight years old, Native Americans attacked the town of Hingham. Her family fled to a garrison house and their home was burned to the ground, along with those of four other families. One man who was out hunting was killed, but the town otherwise escaped bodily harm. [Bouve]

Anna and Joseph’s children, recorded Plymouth as children of Joseph Stirtevant [&] Anna his wife. [Plymouth VR 1:17]

1. Joseph born 4 September 1695 
2. David born 11 June 1697; m. Sarah Holmes 19 Nov 1723 at Plymouth [Plymouth VR 1:93]; had 8 children but 5 died under a year old; he died before 4 July 1771
3. Anna [recorded as Annah] born 20 April 1699; m. Richard Church 18 June 1720 at Plymouth and had five children at Scituate and Rochester
4. Jonathan born March 1702[?/03]; m. Esther Goodill 
5. Ephraim born 5 February 1704[?/05]; m Lydia Ring 17 December 1732 at Plympton; had 9 children; five died in childhood including three on same day; he died 12 January 1787 at North Yarmouth, Maine 
6. Mary Sturtevant born 3 November 1708; m. Prence Snow 31 August 1727 at Rochester; had four children; lived in Rochester

I descend from Mary.

Joseph was literate as his estate inventory included seven books.

Joseph received a bequest in his father Samuel Sturtivant of Plymouth’s 1 August 1669 will. He was to inherit the house and all his land and meadows with his brothers Samuel, James, and John after their mother’s decease. Samuel to have double share. If the child Samuel’s wife is carrying is a boy, they should divide equally with him as well. [MD 18:188]

On 19 September 1701 Robert Barrows deeded Plymouth land to Joseph Sturtevant. [NEHGR 166:121]

There are some Plymouth Colony court cases involving Joseph Sturtevant but I am not certain they all refer to this Joseph: 

• At Plymouth Court General Sessions in September 1704, Joseph Sturtevant complained that Nathaniel Southworth “sometime about the middle of the month of September Instant” broke the pound at Plymouth and took several his oxen which Sturtevant had impounded. Southworth bound in the sum of £10 to answer at the next court. [PCR 1:73]
• At the December 1704 Plymouth Court General Sessions, Joseph Sturtevant had bought a complaint against Lt Nathaniel Southworth at the September term. Defendant pleaded not guilty. “After evidence given” complaint committed to the jury who found for the defendant who did not have to pay his recognizance and fees. [PCR 1:75]
• At the Plymouth Court of Common Pleas March 1717/18, Isaac Little vs. Joseph Sturtevant. Withdrawn. 
• At the Plymouth Court of Common Pleas in March 1721/2, Elizabeth Conant, adm. (Middleborough) vs. Joseph Sturtevant (Plymouth). Not answered. No details provided. [PCR 5:94]

Joseph Sturtevant died at Plymouth before 25 October 1723, likely close to that date, when David Sturdevant was appointed administrator of the estate of his late father Joseph Sturdevant of Plymouth who died intestate. [Probate Records 1717-1724 and 1854-1862 vol 4-4Q, State Archives Boston] Joseph was 57 years old. 

The inventory of the estate of Joseph Sturdevant was taken at Plymouth on 28 October 1723 and totaled £239 2 shillings 9 pence. It was taken by John Dyer, John Foster and Charles Little. The items in the inventory indicate Joseph had a sizable farm. Real estate of 40 acres, a house and a barn was valued at £138. Various household and farming items are inventoried, as well as seven books, a spinning wheel, an ox, two cows, a calf, a horse, three swine, hay, barrels of cider, about 100 pumpkins, 90 cabbages, numerous bushels of rye, barley, apples, Indian corn, and turnips. A few items included were considered luxuries for the time: tablecloths, napkins and a wine glass. 

On 19 December 1723 John Dyer, John Foster & Charles Little made oath to the inventory. 

David Sturdevant made oath the inventory was true & perfect on 20 December 1723.

A final account by David Sturtevant of the estate of his “worthy Father” was dated 3 February 1728. It includes quite a long list of debts that total £265 15 0, more than the value of Joseph’s estate inventory. One expense was a license to sell land, which was likely necessary to pay all the people to whom Joseph owed money. Doctor Lebaron was owed £2 10 9, indicating Joseph had been sick. Some of the people the estate was in debt to were of Pilgrim families: Wrestling Brewster, Mrs. Sarah Warren, Consider Howland, Jacob Cooke, Andrew Alden. People with the Sturtevant surname who were paid money were John, Josiah, Ephraim, Nehemiah, Jonathan, Mary. Ephraim, Jonathan and Mary were likely Joseph’s children. 

Anna apparently predeceased her husband as she is not mentioned in his 25 Oct 1723 probate. 

Sources:

Robert S. Wakefield, Mayflower Families Through Five Generations, Richard Warren, Volume 18 Part One and Two, GSMD, 1999

Mayflower Descendant, “Plymouth Births, Marriages and Deeds” 2:78

Thomas T. Bouve, History of the Town of Hingham, Massachusetts, volume I, Part 1, 1893

George Lincoln et al, History of the Town of Hingham, Massachusetts, volume II, 1893

John Dexter (1668-1744) and his wife Sarah Clark

John Dexter was born in August 1668 at Barnstable on Cape Cod, then part of Plymouth Colony and now Barnstable County, the son of William and Sarah (Vincent) Dexter. [Barnstable VR in MD 4:223] I wrote about his parents here.He was a third generation mill owner; mill owners were typically important men in their community and made good livings.

About 1702 John Dexter married Sarah Clark at Rochester, Plymouth County. Sarah was the daughter of John and Sarah (Smith) Clark, born 21 August 1683 at Beverly, Essex County, Massachusetts. She was baptized in Beverly on 18 September 1686. [MA VR, Beverly, 1653-1892, p. 60 records birth and baptism] Her maiden name is also spelled Clarke. Although I have not found a marriage record, Sarah’s first name is revealed in John Dexter’s will and her death record; she is called Sarah Dexter in her father John Clark’s will.

John’s father William Dexter moved from Barnstable to Rochester, but later returned to Barnstable, leaving his sons John, James, Thomas, and Benjamin to run the family mills in Rochester. They lived in the Pine Island section of Rochester that later became Mattapoisett.  William’s daughter Mary also stayed in Rochester, his son Stephen stayed in Barnstable and his son Philip removed to Falmouth. [Warden] The Dexters built a sawmill and gristmill at a what became known as Dexter Dam on a stream on William’s farm. [Leonard]

On 9 May 1694 Stephen Dexter, Phillip Dexter, James Dexter, Thomas Dexter, John Dexter, Benjamin Dexter, and Moses Barlow [William’s son-in-law] mutually agreed “to abide contented & satisfied with ye settlement and disposition of ye Estate of our Honnored Father William Dexter” and they all signed the document. It gave a detailed account of William’s assets including land at Rochester and Scotten (Barnstable), housing at Barnstable, a pair of looms, husbandry tools, cattle, horses, and sheep. James, Thomas and John received the Rochester land, to be divided equally. The housing and land in Barnstable was to be divided between Stephen, Phillip and Benjamin, with the latter also receiving housing and was expected to give “sufficient security” for his mother who was to have use of the dwelling house and the livestock. Moses Barlow and his wife Mary [William’s daughter], were to receive all the bedding and household stuff after their mother’s decease. Benjamin was also to receive the looms and husbandry tools. [MD 23:64 and Barnstable County Probate records volume 1:100-101 at FamilySearch.org]

John was involved in multiple land transactions. He sold land to Samuel Arnold and John Hammond, in 1714 sold land to James Winslow, and in 1716 to Thomas Dexter, presumably his brother. [Warden]

Sarah and John had seven children, births recorded Rochester Vital Records: 

1. Gershom Dexter born 1 January 1703/4 [RVR 1:111]; m 1) Ruth Shrive, daughter of John and Mary (Soule) Shrive,  born 20 July 1715, of Portsmouth RI, married 14 January 1738/9 [Warden]; m 2) Mehitable Bolls 1 October 1755 [RVR 2:111]; had five children with Mehitable born Rochester 1756-1766 which is unusually late in his life [Warden]

2. Hannah Dexter born 6 November 1705 [RVR 1:111]; m James Steward 16 April 1730 [RVR 2:111]

3. Rest Dexter born 25 February 1708/9 [RVR 1:115]; died 17 January 1769 [RVR 2:376]

4. Dinah Dexter born 14 October 1711 [RVR 1:109]; m William Irish 16 November 1742 [RVR 2:109]; died after 1798

5. Fortunatus Dexter b 6 August 1715 [RVR 1:111]; died 5 December 1715 in 1st y. [RVR 2:374]

6. Mary Dexter b 3 August 1719 [RVR 1:114]; m. William Sherman 4 February 1734 [RVR 2:113]

7. John Dexter b. 16 December 1727 [RVR 1:112]; m. Sarah Handy 11 December 1746 in Sandwich [RVR 2:112]. Sarah died 15 October 1809 [Warden]; had 10 children born Rochester 1747-1767

I descend from Dinah whom I wrote about here.

 

So far I have not had much success finding information on John in town records. A John Dexter served as a Selectmen, but exact years not known so I do not sure if it was this John. Leonard did write that John and his brother Benjamin “figured prominently in the early town records.” 

In September 1711 Joseph Benson, John Dexter and Ichabod Burg entered a protest that new teacher Mrs. Jane Masshell “was not as the law directs,” meaning she lacked proper qualifications. 

Money was scarce in New England in 1720, so the state government created a £50,000 program to loan money to towns. In 1721 Rochester voted to act on the town’s part of a loan totaling £365. The sum was divided into 15 parts and townspeople drew lots to see who would receive a portion of the loan—John Dexter was selected. [Leonard]

In his 30 January 1726 will, John Clark of Rochester left his eldest daughter “Sarah Dexter ten pounds to be paid to her or her heirs by my son John Clarke his Heirs &c out of his part of Land.” [Plymouth County Probate Records Probate Records 1724-1731 vol 5-5T image 184 available on familysearch.org]

John Dexter wrote his will on 9 June 1744. [Massachusetts State Archives vol 9-9M, image 189, available on familysearch.org] He left the following bequests:

• Dearly beloved wife Sarah, “the whole improvement and income of my whole estate, both within doors and without, so long as she shall be my widow, and in case of her intermarriage to have her thirds of the income of my lands for one year, and this bequest not to hinder her and her son Gershom agreeing for her maintenance if they can agree otherwise.”
• “I give all my real estate, consisting of house and lands, to my sons, Gershom and John, to be equally divided between them after my wife shall have done with it, and it is to be to them and their heirs forever.” If either decide to sell they are to offer the land to their brother.  “And this I give them on condition that they shall pay out the legacies that I order them to pay to their sisters.”
• “I give to my daughter Mary fifteen acres of land out of my grants, to be hers forever, taken up as the grants will allow of.”
• I give to my three daughters, Hannah, Dinah and Mary, £5 each, to be paid in bills or movables within one year.
• I give to my daughter Rest £20 in bills of good credit, old tenor, and a liberty in my dwelling-house during her single life, with firewood and such conveniences for her as she and her mother may order.”

Son Gershom was named executor. John Dexter signed his will

John Dexter died at Rochester on 31 July 1744 in his 77th year. [Rochester VR 2:375] Note he was actually 75 years old.

The inventory of John Dexter of Rochester was taken 14 August 1744. [Massachusetts State Archives vol 9-9M, image 204] It was not totaled and did not itemize land but listed it as “Housing & Land & quarter of a saw mill” worth £1,100. It also included books, an old gun, sheeps wool, sole leather, 500 foot of “Refuge board,” 19 sheep, oxen, two cows, four young cattle, nine swine. It was taken by Jabez Hiller, Stephen Wing and Silas Briggs who swore to the inventory on 17 December 1744. Gershom Dexter made oath to the inventory on 19 December 1744. 

Sarah Dexter, widow of John, died 21 January 1755 at Rochester. [RVR 2:376]

Sources:

William A. Warden, Genealogy of the Dexter Family in America; Descendants of Thomas Dexter Together with the Record of Other Allied Families, 1905

Mary Hall Leonard, History of Mattapoisett and Old Rochester, 1907

Mark Snow (1628 to 1694) and his wives Anne Cooke and Jane Prence of Plymouth and Eastham, Massachusetts

Mark Snow was born 9 May 1628 at Plymouth, Massachusetts, the son of Nicholas and Constance (Hopkins) Snow. [Eastham/Orleans Vital Records p 65] Constance was a Mayflower passenger, as was her father Stephen Hopkins. I wrote about Mark's parents here.As a teenager he moved with his parents to the new settlement of Eastham on Cape Cod, then part of Plymouth Colony. They lived in the part of Eastham that would later become Orleans.

Mark Snow married, first, Anne Cooke at Eastham on 18 January 1654. [Eastham/Orleans VR p 65] She died Eastham 24 or 25 July 1656. [Eastham/Orleans VR p 65] She was the daughter of Josiah and Elizabeth (Ring) (Deane) Cooke.
Anne and Mark had one child:

1. Anna b 7 July 1656  [Eastham/Orelans VR p 65]; m Eldad Atwood 14 Feb 1683/4 at Eastham and had a large family; died before 7 July 1714 when administration of the estate of Anna and Eldad was granted to their son John Atwood; the 22 September 1673 will of Josiah Cooke Sr. mentions grandchild Anna Snow.

Mark Snow married, second, Jane Prence at Plymouth on 9 January 1660/61. [Eastham/Orleans VR p 65a] Jane was born 1 November 1637 at Duxbury, Massachusetts, the daughter of Thomas and Mary (Collier) Prence. [Mayflower Descendant 6:230] Thomas Prence served many important roles in Plymouth Colony including Governor. I wrote about Thomas Prence here.Mark and Mary are my 9th great-grandparents on my grandfather Arthur Washburn Ellis Davis’s side of the family.

Jane and Mark had eight children born Eastham [births recorded Eastham/Orleans VR p 65 as children of Mark Snow; marriages from Austin]:

2. Mary b 30 November 1661; married William Nickerson 22 January 1690/91 and had a large family; died between 1718-1721 [Austin]

3. Nicholas b 6 December 1663; m Lydia Shaw 4 April 1689 and had a large family; lived at Harwich and then Rochester; died between 1751-1754

4. Elizabeth b 9 May 1666; d Eastham 18 January 1675/6 [Eastham Orleans VR p 65]

5. Thomas b. 6 August 1668; m 1) Hannah Sears 8 February 1692/3; m 2) 2nd 30 Sept 1706 Lydia (Sears) Hamlin; had children by both wives; d. after 1 May 1737 when son was still called “Jr” in records 

6. Sarah b. 10 May 1671; mentioned in mother’s 1703 will; no further record

7. Prence/Prince b. 22 May 1674; married Hannah Storrs about 1698 and had a large family; died 7 July 1742

8 Elizabeth b 22 June 1676; d Eastham 22 March 1677/8 [Eastham/Orleans VR p 65a]

9. Hannah b 16 Sept 1679; not mentioned in mother’s 1703 will so likely died before then

I find it interesting that Jane and Mark had eight children, as did most of their children who married. I descend from Nicholas.

Mark Snow was on the 1643 list of men able to bear arms at Plymouth [NEHGR 4:256] and admitted a freeman at Eastham on 3 June 1657. As a member of one of Eastham’s founding families, it is not surprising Mark Snow was active in town government: [Austin, Pratt, Hawes]

• Selectman for 18 years
• Deputy to Plymouth Court for 6 years
• Constable
• Highway Surveyor
• Member of Town Council
• Town Clerk beginning in 1663 for 14 years, succeeding his father
• Captain of Eastham's Military Company in 1658
• Served on the Council of War
• Served on several juries and grand juries

In 1677 Mary Ingham of Scituate was tried for witchcraft, accused of causing Mehitable Woodworth to fall into violent fits and suffer great pains. Mark Snow was on the jury that found her not guilty. On the same day he was on the jury that tried three Indians, Timothy Jacked (alias Canjuncke), Nassamaquat and Pompacanshe, who were indicted for murdering John Knowles, John Tisdall Sr and Samuel Atkins. The first two were found “very suspicious of the murder charged on them” and the third “wee find nothing against him.”  The Indians were sent out of the country, including Atkins because he was a prisoner taken in war. [Records of New Plymouth 5:223-24]

He has been called “a man of large usefulness and influence.” [Alden] Mark often witnessed wills and took inventories. [See Plym Col Records 4: 176; 5:57, 92, 113, 144, 164, 195, 230, 257; 6:10, 35, 59, 84, 108, 129, 168, 186, 207, 242] 

Governor Thomas Prence, in his 13 March 1672/3 will, bequeathed to his daughter Jane, wife of Mark Snow, his silver tankard, and in a 28 March 1673 codicil left her a bed. She also was to receive 1/8 residue of his estate. [PCPR 3:1:58-9]

Mark received Harwich land, called Giles’ Great Lott, at his father's death in 1676, called Giles' "Great lott." [Paine]

On 25 February 1678 he and four others relinquished land on west side of Stoney Brook, Harwich, because of border disputes with Yarmouth. One of the agents that determined the East boundary line in 1682. [Austin]

He is named in his father Nicholas Snow's 14 November 1676 will, receiving land at Namskekitt where his house now stands and marsh and meadow and two-thirds of Giles’ Great Lot. To split the cattle and moveables upon his mother's death amongst all siblings. [Anderson]

Mark Snow, along with his mother Constant and brother John, were named administrators of his father Nicholas Snow’s estate on 6 March 1676/7. His father left him 20 acres of land at Namskaket (Orleans) where Nicholas’ house stood, two acres of meadow and all his broken marsh there, two-thirds of Giles’ Great Lott at Satucket (Brewster) lying next to the Indians’ ground. After Constant’s death, all of the children were to equally divide the farm animals and household items. [Plym Col Recs 5:220] [Hawes]

He died between 23 November 1694 (date of his will) and 9 January 1694/5 (date of inventory) at Eastham, so possibly in December 1694. He was 66 years old. He is probably buried at Cove Burying Ground in Orleans without a surviving stone.

Mark Snow of Eastham wrote his will on 23 November 1694; proved 16 January 1694/5. [Barnstable County Probate Records, 1:111] He remembered his sons Nicholas, Thomas and Prence, wife Jane (named sole executor), and grandchild Jonathan Snow. 

Bequests were as follows:

• To "my Son Nicolas a parcel of Land where his house Stands computed at twenty and Six Acres according to bounds Sett down in ye purchasers Book of Records with two acres of meadow Lying at ye head of Nameskekit according to Record as aforesd" also "one half of my Lott of Land Lying at Satuckitt between Jonathan Banges and ye Indian Bounds" also "one half of a parcel of meadow Lying in ye Township of yarmouth in a place Calleds blue meadow on ye South Side of ye Bass River"
• To "my Son Thomas Snow ye other half of my Lott where his house Stands on that Side next ye Indian Rainge and ye one half of my meadow in yarmouth in ye before Specified meadow "
• To "my Son Prince Snow after my wifes decease or widowhood my now dweling house and all ye Lands Adjoyning and fifteen acres of Land above ye Comon Roade according to bounds Specified in ye Record afore Sd" also "three Acres of meadow that Lyies below my now dwelling house according to Bounds Set down in ye before Specified Book of Records
• To "my Son Thomas Snow an Acre of Land at ye northernmost end of my Lott in ye old fields Comonly So Called and another Small division of Land Estimated at three quarters of an acre Lying in ye before Specified old fields at Satuckett between Ensign Bangs and Thomas Freeman 
• To "my Son Prince Snow ye Remainder of my Lott of Land in ye before Specified Indian fields after my wifes decease"
• To "my Sons Nicholas and Thomas my Lott of Land Containing three acres of Land according to Record Lying between John Freemans pasture and ye Common Road
• To "my Son Prince after my wifes decease an acre and an half of meadow Lying between James Cole and Stephen Hopkins in Nameskeket meadow according to bounds Specified in ye before Specified Records:"
• "All my Lands that Lye undevided after my wifes decease I give and bequeath to my three Sons Nicholas Thomas and Prince to be equally divided between them"
• To "my Loving wife Jane Snow all my whole personal Estate After my debts and Funeral Charges are paid
• To "my Son Prince Snow my muskit and Catusbox and Cutlas and one pistol"
• To "my Son Thomas Snow my Back Sword and one pistol :"
• To "my grand child Jonathan Snow my Carbine”

The witnesses were Samuel Knowles, Thomas Crosby, Jr., and Jonathan Sparrow. They made oath to the will on 16 January 1694/5, before Barnabas Lothrop, Judge of Probate. The will was recorded 9 April 1695.

On 9 January, 1694/5, Jonathan Bangs and Israel Cole took the inventory of Mark Snow’s estate. [Barnstable County Probate Record 1:111-112] It is lengthy but is not totaled. The copy on FamilySearch.org is faint in spots so all of these numbers may not be accurate. Real estate: "house and Land" £30; "four acres of Land" £4, 10s; "fifteen acres of Land" £6; "nine acres of Land" £8; ”twenty Six acres of Land" £11, 14s; "two acres meadow" £3; "thirty Acres of Land" £15; "four acres meadow" £4; "four acres and three quarters Land" £4, 10s. Livestock: two steers, three cows, two calves, one mare, one colt, and nine sheep. Various household items such as earthenware, pewter, looking glasses, and glass bottles. There are also carpenter’s tools, one Bible and other books, as well as Indian corn and rye. 

On 16 January, 1694/5, Jane Snow made oath to this inventory "of her husband Mark Snow deceased" before Barnabas Lothrop, Judge of Probate. The inventory was recorded on 10 April 1695. [BCPR 1:112]

His widow Jane Snow left Eastham as she was admitted to the church at Brewster in April 1701. [Austin]

Jane Snow of Harwich, widow, in her will of 21 Dec 1703, mentioned sons Nicholas, Thomas, and Prince, Anne Attwood, grandchild Jane Nickerson, grandchild Jane Snow, and my two” daughters Mary and Sarah. She named “Brother” Jonathan Sparrow as executor, he being married to her half-sister Hannah (Prence) Mayo. The executor’s account called her Jane Snow of Eastham and mentioned providing lodging for her from 26 October to end of May following. The will proved 2 July 1712. Inventory taken 28 June 1712.

Jane Snow “widow of Herwich” made her will on 21 December 1703 and left the following bequests: [BCPR 3:271] 

• To "my son Nicholas Snow my bason and your [sic: ewer] & a small brass kittle and one spit"
• To "my son Thomas Snow one Copper kittle"
• To "my son Prince Snow my Great Iron Kittle"
• All the children were to equally divided her cattle
• "I Give to to Anne Attwood a puter Wine Cup & a Dram Cup & a sucking bottle” [Anna is her step-daughter]
• "I Give my Cabinet unto my Grandchild Jane Nickerson” [daughter of Mary]
• "I Give my Little Trunk unto my Grandchild Jane Snow"
• "my will is that ye Rest of my movable Estate be eaquielly Divided betwixt my Two Daughters Mary and Sarah"
• "my will is that Debts and Funerall Charges be paid out of my stock of Cattle”

She named her son Nicholas Snow and brother [in-law] Jonat[han] Sparrow executors. The will was signed by the initials "J S" as her mark. The witnesses were Marcy Sparrow and Martha Cobb. 

I have not found a record of Jane’s death, but she died in Harwich at the end of May 1712, as an estate account by her son Nicholas states he was caring for her in his home there from October [1711] to the end of May [1712]. She still owned her home in Eastham—that is where the inventory took place. She was 74 years old.

On 2 July 1712, "Mercy Sparrow and Martha Late Martha Cob and Now Martha Knowles" made oath to Jane Snow’s will, and administration was granted to "Nicholas Snow Sone of ye Deceased one of ye Executors In ye Same Will Named (the other being Deceased).”

The inventory "of Jane Snow Widow Relict of Mark Snow of Harwich Deceased aprised at Eastham" on 28 June, 1712, by Nathaniel Freeman and Richard Godfree, "being appointed thereto by ye Executor.” No real estate is mentioned as her Mark Snow distributed that in his will, but there are various household items including one bedstead made with turned and carved work, a churn, spinning wheel, a looking glass, and one Bible and other books. Livestock included five sheep, one lamb, one swine, and one cow.  [BCPR 1:261-275]

On 2 July 1712, Nicholas Snow, executor of the will "of Jane Snow his Mother Late of Harwich Deceased" made oath to the inventory. On 23 September, 1712, an addition was made in an undated "accompt of Nicholas Snow Execuir of all and singuler ye Goods and Chattels of Mrs Jane Snow of Eastham his mother Deceased”: "House Room and providing firewood and Tendance for sd Deceased from ye 26th of october to ye Latter End of May following" £2; "Removing her houshold stuff and Goods from her own house to ye Sd Executors" £1; "Procuring a nurse in time of sickness & other Trouble" £3; "Plums shuger bisket Rum & other Distiled Lickurs used In her sickness" 7s., 6d. "Prince Snow In part of pay for a Cow" £1, 8s., 7d. This is interesting as it shows Jane died at the end of May, that she was living with her son Nicholas, that she had been ill and required a nurse, and that she was treated with plums and distilled liquor. 

I’m continually struck by how intertwined these early Plymouth and Cape families were. I also descend from Josiah Cooke, Thomas Prence and his first wife Patience Brewster who was the daughter of Mayflower passenger and church elder William Brewster, as well as Mary Collier’s sisters Sarah, Elizabeth, and Ruth. 

Sources:

John D. Austin, Mayflower Families Through Five Generations Volume 6: Stephen Hopkins, GSMD, 1995

Enoch Pratt, A Comprehensive History, Ecclesiastical and Civil, of Eastham, Wellfleet, and Orleans, County of Barnstable, Mass., from 1644-1844, 1844

Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins, 1995

James W. Hawes, Library of Cape Cod History & Genealogy, No. 34 “Nicholas 1 Snow of Eastham and Some of His Descendants," 1916

Eastham/Orleans Vital Records, “Births, Marriages, Deaths, Land Grants 1649-1722,” available on FamilySearch.org 

Simeon Deyo, History of Barnstable County, Massachusetts, 1890

Mrs. M.L.T. Alden, NEHGS Register, “The Snow Genealogy,” 47:83-86 (Jan. 1893)

Josiah Paine, History of Harwich, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, 1620-1800, 1937