The Dow Family of New England

Henry Dow    (Generation 1, America)
son of Henry Dow and Elizabeth March/Marche (GC)
grandson of Christopher Marche and Frances AtFenne (GC)
Henry Dow came to this country from England in 1637 with his wife and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. After his first wife’s death he married Margaret Cole of Dedham, Massachusetts in 1641 and moved to Hampton, New Hampshire around 1643/1644. (NEG)

He was a Selectman and a Deputy to the Court. (GC)

Henry Dow was the immigrant ancestor to America, he was twenty-five and a farmer in Ormsby, England.  He had a little inheritance from his mother, more than enough to equip his holding of land.  Ormsby, England is not far from Runham.  Its parish register was copied in 1880 by Reverend R.S. Blofield, Rector.  In these records occurs three important items, which prove that Henry was born in 1606 of Runham is Henry of Ormsby and America.  It is clear that the brother Edward and Henry Dow were together as husbandmen in Ormsby, that each found a wife there, that the ties of Runham gradually were loosened as ties to Ormsby grew strong.  What happened to Edward we have not traced.  Of Henry Dow’s path, the account is fairly ample.  Of Joan Nudd we know but very little; not her maiden name.  She was twenty-three at her marriage and had a baby boy.  Her husband was Roger Nudd, son of John Nudd who died in Ormsby in 1629.  It is believed that Henry Dow and Roger Nudd were fellow farmers.  The Nudds were numerous in Norfolk, mostly in the Seaward Parish.  Vital records from that parish are not existent prior to 1671. 

Under what circumstances Henry and Joan Dow became dissenter is not known.  They were of the established Church in 1630.  There arose in Ormsby a great deal of dissatisfaction, religious and otherwise.  This crystallized into a determination of seven families to try the New World.   It was an arrangement planned long in advance and was consummated, on the same boat.  Hotten’s Original List gives all the families, who afterwards appear together in Hampton, New Hampshire (Page, Moulton, Marston) families intermarried with the Dow’s on numerous occasions with great frequency.  It has been asserted, with more or less cynicism that a desire to better ones material condition was the paramount reason for going to America, desire for religious freedom being very secondary.  In the Massachusetts Bay Colony all were of the persuasion which became Congregationalism, in contrast to that of the Plymouth Colony who notion of government became Presbyterianism.

Henry Dow of Ormsby, England married the widow of his friend, a year older than himself, took her baby boy and had three children of his own and was able to start with a servant.  This latter does not indicate affluence.  Passage to America was very costly.  Young men and women of good families gladly indentured themselves for a long term if the employer would pay their passage.  It was in this way that Margaret Cole, who became Henry Dow’s second wife came to Dedham, Massachusetts with the family of Mitchill/Mitchell Metcalfe.

From Henry Dow are descended nearly three-fifth of all the Dows in America.  The party landed in Boston after a long voyage, no details of which appear.  One child either died on voyage or on land before Watertown statistics began.  How and why Henry Dow parted from his companions we do not know.  All but he turned up in 1640 in Hampton, New Hampshire.   Henry proceeded almost at once to Watertown, Massachusetts, which was just being settled just five miles west of Boston, Massachusetts.  Presumably the selection of the place was influenced by the opportunity to become a grantee on equal terms, with allotments of free land.  No settler in those days had to buy land unless it was thought desirable to pay the Indians for title.  He remained seven years in Watertown, Massachusetts, a very inconspicuous citizen.  He was admitted a freeman on May 2, 1638, but held no office in his town.  In fact, the only mention of him in Watertown are in the land records and vital statistics.  He could have had free land in Hampton, New Hampshire in 1640, but decided not to accept it.  There is reason to think that he stayed in Watertown until the land boomed.  In a few years the settled place commanded a price at which the original settlers took profits and moved on to begin anew and clear forest lands.  We know that Henry Dow left Watertown, Massachusetts a moderate capitalist.

Henry Dow’s son, Joseph Dow was the first Dow to be born in America, whose posterity is the most numerous.  With the death of his older brother, the death of his mother at thirty-three, twice a wife, five times a mother, the birth of two new children following his father’s speedy remarriage.  We must not accuse Henry Dow of indelicacy.  In primitive New England life for a man without a wife’s help was harder indeed; for a woman without help from a husband even harder yet; for children without both parents almost unsupportable.  Margaret Cole had known Henry Dow in Ormsby, England, had come to America in 1639 with the Metcalfe Family and settled in Dedham, Massachusetts.  She was indentured, just as Ann Manning had been and was younger than Henry Dow.  In the First Church of Dedham, Margaret Cole, a maid servant, giving good satisfaction to the Church was received in March 1639.  Others from Ormsby were admitted to the Church around the same time.  Margaret survived her husband by sixteen years.  Her second marriage was to Richard Kimball of Ipswich, he was of Watertown, Massachusetts 1641-1644 and came then to know the Dows.

Henry Dow (Generation 1 – America)
b. October 6, 1605, County of Norfolk, England (GC)
    1606, Runham, County of Norfolk, England (DOW)
    @ 1608, Runham, County of Norfolk, England (NEG)
d. April 21, 1659, Hampton, Rockingham, New Hampshire (GC)
m. (1) JOANNE NUDD (NEG)
          December 1639, England (GC)
          February 11, 1631, Ormsby, England (NEG)
          Widow of Roger Nudd (NEG)
          b. @ 1605, England (GC)
              1607, Ormesby, Norfolk, England (OG)
          d. June 20, 1640, Watertown, Massachusetts (NEG)
              Buried: Watertown, Massachusetts (OG)

Children of Henry Dow and (1) Joanne Nudd:

Thomas Dow, b. @1631, England (GC)
Henry Dow, b. 1634, England (GC) married Hannah Page (OG)
James Dow, b. @1637, England (GC)
JOSEPH DOW (See: Generation 2)

      (2) MARGARET COLE (NEG)

           MARGARET COLE, WIDOW (OG)
           1641, Dedham, Massachusetts (NEG)
           b. 1610, Rattlesden, Suffolk, England (OG)
           d. March 1, 1675, Ipswich, Massachusetts (VR)
           m. (2) RICHARD KIMBALL of Ipswich, Massachusetts (NEG)
                     October 23, 1661, Ipswich, Massachusetts (OG)

                     m. (1)   URSULA SCOTT

                          daughter of Henry Scott and Martha Whallock (OG)

Children of Henry Dow and (2) Margaret Cole:

Daniel Dow, b. September 22, 1641, Watertown, Massachusetts (GC)
Mary Dow, b. September 14, 1643, Watertown, Massachusetts (GC)
Hannah Dow, b. @ 1645, Hampton, Rockingham, New Hampshire (GC)
Thomas Dow, b. April 28, 1653, Hampton, Rockingham, New Hampshire (GC)
Jeremiah Dow, b. September 6, 1657, Hampton, Rockingham, New Hampshire (GC)

Joseph Dow (Generation 2)

son of Henry Dow and (1) Joanne Nudd
Resided in Hampton, New Hampshire (M1700)
b.  March 20, 1639, Watertown, Massachusetts (GC)
d.  April 4, 1703, Hampton, Rockingham, New Hampshire (GC)
m. MARY SANBORN
     December 17, 1662, Hampton, New Hampshire (GC)
     daughter of William Sanborne and Mary Moulton Philbrick (GC)
     granddaughter of John Sanborne and Ann Bachiler (GC)
     granddaughter of John Molton and Anne Green (OG)
     b. July 19, 1645, Hampton, New Hampshire (GC)
     d. January 21, 1733, Hampton, Rockingham, New Hampshire (GC)

Children of Joseph Dow and Mary Sanborn/Samborne:

JOSEPH DOW (See: Generation 3)
John Dow, b. December 12, 1665, Hampton Falls, New Hampshire (GC)
Mary Dow, b. January 15, 1668, Hampton Falls, New Hampshire (GC)
James Dow, b. September 17, 1670, Hampton Falls, New Hampshire (GC)
Hannah Dow, b. August 7, 1674, Amesbury, Massachusetts (GC)
Henry Dow, b. November 7, 1674, Hampton Falls, New Hampshire (GC)
Jeremiah Dow, b. May 24, 1677, Hampton Falls, New Hampshire (GC)
Josiah Dow, b. July 22, 1679, Seabrook, New Hampshire (GC)
Thomas Dow, b. April 26, 1682, Hampton Falls, New Hampshire (GC)
Charity Dow, b. December 7, 1684, Hampton Falls, New Hampshire (GC)
Samuel Dow, b. April 4, 1687, Hampton Falls, New Hampshire (GC)
Aaron Dow, b. April 4, 1692, Hampton Falls, New Hampshire (GC)

Joseph Dow   (Generation 3)

son of Joseph Dow and Mary Sanborn/Samborne (GC)
b.  October 20, 1663, Seabrook, New Hampshire (GC)
d.  1735, South Hampton, Rockingham Co. New Hampshire (GC)
m. (1) MARY CHALLIS of Salisbury, Massachusetts (OG)
          May 25, 1687, Amesbury, Massachusetts (VR)
          daughter of Philip Watson Challis and Mary Sargent (SC)
          b. August 27, 1668, Salisbury, Massachusetts (GC)
          d. May 14, 1697 Massachusetts/New Hampshire (GC)

Children of Joseph Dow and (1) Mary Challis:

JOSEPH DOW (See: Generation 4)
John Dow, b. December 16, 1689,  Massachusetts/NH (GC)
James Dow, b. October 8, 1693, Salisbury, Massachusetts (VR)
Philip Dow, b. April 26, 1695, Salisbury, Massachusetts (VR)
Mary Dow, b. May 11, 1697, Salisbury, Massachusetts (VR)

      (2) HANNAH CHALLIS

           daughter of Philip Watson Challis and Mary Sargent (GC)
           b. September 20, 1675, Amesbury, Massachusetts (VR)
           d. 1751

Children of Joseph Dow and (2) Hannah Challis:

Elihu Dow, b. @ 1700, Seabrook, New Hampshire (GC)
Eilphaz Dow, b. @1702, Seabrook, New Hampshire (GC)
Amasa Dow, b. @1704, Seabrook, New Hampshire (GC)
Noah Dow, b. @ 1706, Seabrook, New Hampshire (GC)
Jesse Dow, b. @1708, Seabrook, New Hampshire (GC)
Zerviah Dow, b. @1710, Seabrook, New Hampshire (GC)
Bilbad Dow, b. @1712, Seabrook, New Hampshire (GC)
Judah Dow, b. @1714, Seabrook, New Hampshire (GC)

Joseph Dow   (Generation 4)

son of Joseph Dow and (1) Mary Challis
b.  February 3, 1688   Massachusetts or New Hampshire (GC)
d.  1738
m. MARY __________________  (GC)
     @ 1709, Salisbury, New Hampshire (GC)
      b. @1690  Massachusetts or New Hampshire (GC)
      d.

Children of Joseph Dow and Mary _______________:

Samuel Dow, b. 1710, Salisbury, Massachusetts (GC)
JOHN DOW (See: Generation 5)

John Dow   (Generation 5)

son of Joseph Dow and Mary ___________________
b.  1712, Amesbury, Massachusetts (GC)
d.
m. ___________________________
     b. @1715   Massachusetts or New Hampshire (GC)
     d.

Children of John Dow and ____________________:

Benjamin Dow, b. @ 1735, Epping, New Hampshire (GC)
James Dow, b. @1738, Epping, New Hampshire (GC)
John Dow, b. @1740, Epping, New Hampshire (GC)
NATHANIEL DOW, b. 1758, Epping, New Hampshire (GC)
          This Family can only be partially constructed due to the fragmented records of
          Epping, New Hampshire … John Dow may have married a second time, however,
          there are no marriage intentions shown. (GC)

Nathaniel Dow (Generation 6)

son of John Dow and _______________
b.  1758, Epping, New Hampshire (DOW)
d.  1846 (GC)
m. ESTHER GILMAN (DOW)
     August 8, 1782, Belmont, New Hampshire (GC)
     daughter of Peter Gilman and Elizabeth Bryant (GC)
     b. July 1, 1763, Kensington, New Hampshire (DOW)(GC)
     d. 1842, Walden, Vermont (OG)

Children of Nathaniel Dow and Esther Gilman:

Polly Dow, b. @1783, Gilmanton, New Hampshire (GC)
John Gilman Dow, b. June 15, 1785, Gilmanton, New Hampshire (GC)
Betsey Dow, b. 1788, Gilmanton, New Hampshire (GC)
Nathaniel B. Dow, 1790, Gilmanton, New Hampshire (GC)
ZEBULON DOW (See: Generation 7)
Hazen Dow, b. 1794, Gilmanton, New Hampshire (GC)
Porter Dow, b. 1801, Walden, Vermont (GC)
James Bell Dow, b. 1810, Walden, Vermont (GC)

Zebulon Dow (Generation 7)

son of Nathaniel Dow and Esther Gilman
Farmer, 1860 Census indicates residence at Walden, Caledonia, Vermont
b.  1793, Gilmanton, New Hampshire (GC)
d.
m. IRENE FLINT
     b. 1801, New Hampshire (GC
     d.

Children of Zebulon Dow and Irene Flint _____________:

JASON DOW (See: Generation 8)

Jason Dow (Generation 8)

Stage Driver, 1880 Census indicates residence at Greensboro, Vermont (GF)
After death of Jason Dow, children removed to Boston, Massachusetts (GF)
b.  September 11, 1820 (GF)
     @1821, Walden, Vermont (GC)
d.
m. MARTHA E. BEAN
     daughter of John Bean and Nancy Hill (GF) of Salisbury, Massachusetts (GF)
     May 14, 1845
     b. January 12, 1824
     d. August 23, 1901, Salisbury, Massachusetts

Children of Jason Dow and Martha E. Bean

Henry Dow, b. 1855, Walden, Vermont
Alton Frederick Dow, b. 1857, Walden Vermont
Ada Dow, b. 1860, Walden, Vermont
FREDERICK DOW (See: Generation 9)

Frederick Moses Dow (Generation 9)

on of Jason Dow and Martha E. Bean
Yardmaster, employed for 47 years for the Boston & Albany Railroad.  Member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers.
b. September 1868, Walden, Vermont
d. 1934, Worcester, Massachusetts
    Buried: Hope Cemetery, Worcester, Massachusetts
    m. MAY E. GORMAN
    b. November 1868, England
    d.

Children of Frederick Moses Dow and May E Gorman:

Creighton Dow, b. December 1892, Massachusetts
    m. Maria Gaboury
Mildred L. Dow, b. September 1894, Massachusetts
    m. Charles W. Simmons
GLADYS ADELLA DOW (See: Generation 10)

Gladys Adella Dow (Generation 10)

daughter of Frederick Moses Dow and May E. Gorman
b.  December 10, 1896, East Boston, Massachusetts (DC)
d.  July 19, 1969, Natick, Massachusetts (DC)
     Buried: Needham Cemetery, Nehoiden Street, Needham, Massachusetts
m. DONALD GALLUP POSSON
     May 27, 1919, Worcester, Massachusetts (MC)
     son of Ellis Chester Posson and Kittie Louise Gallup
    (SEE: The Posson Family of America - Gary Posson Glynn)
    (SEE: The Gallup Family of New England - Gary Posson Glynn)
     b. May 23, 1896, Wright, Schoharie County, New York (BC)
     d. June 18, 1982, Norwood, Massachusetts (DC)
        Buried: Needham Cemetery, Nehoiden Street, Needham, Massachusetts

Children of Donald Gallup Posson and Gladys Adella Dow:

Donald Lloyd Posson
Virginia L. Posson
Frederick Bruce Posson