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GEORGE BOWERS (say 1589–1656)
BARBARA SMITH (say 1592–1644)
George Bowers (Bower) was born say 1589. He died between 8 November and 30 December 1656, probably in Cambridge. George is probably the George of Manby, Lincolnshire who married Barbara Smyth of Braithwell, Yorkshire on 9 February 1614/5 in Braithwell. [1] George married second Elizabeth Worthington on 15 April 1649 in Cambridge. [2] She married next Henry Bowtell on 25 June 1657 in Cambridge. [2]
Barbara was born say 1592. She died on 25 March 1644 in Cambridge. [2]
George settled in Scituate. [2] George was on a 7 March 1636/7 list of freemen in Plymouth colony. He took the freeman's oath on 7 June 1637. [3, 1: 53, 60]
He later moved to Plymouth. He was on a grand inquiry jury on 5 June 1638. He was chosen constable for Plymouth on 6 March 1638/9. He and John Barnes were charged with bringing the timber and frame for a prison on 3 March 1639/40. [3, 1, 87, 116, 142]
George had frequent small skirmishes with the authorities and others. He was presented for leaving no passage through his ground on 2 January 1637/8 and for putting his fence so close to the bank that a cart could not pass on 1 June 1641. The court referred his dispute with George Bonum to arbitration on 5 January 1640/1. He was presented for defamation of the government on 2 March 1640/1 and fined for defaming Assistant Mr. John Browne on 1 June 1641. [3, 1: 75; 2: 6, 11, 18]
George later moved to Cambridge. [2]
George wrote his will on 8 November 1656; it was proved on 30 December 1656. He did not mention Ruth, who may have already received her portion. He mentioned his wife, his sons Benanuel, John, and Jerathmeel, and his young daughters Patience and Silence. [2]
Children of George Bowers and Barbara Smythe: Order uncertain
i. Ruth Bowers was born say 1616. She died after 28 September 1656. She married Richard Knowles.
ii. Matthew Bowers died on 30 January 1644/5 in Cambridge. [2]
iii. Benanuel Bowers was born about 1617. He married Elizabeth Dunster on 9 December 1653 in Cambridge. [2]
Benanuel deposed that he was 60 in 1677. [4]
Benanuel was a Quaker who suffered fines and imprisonment for his beliefs. [5] Elizabeth was the niece of the first president of Harvard. [5]
Benanuel sent his four eldest daughters to Philadelphia to be educated. One of them was the Quaker preacher and author Bathsheba Bowers. [2]
iv. Reverend John Bowers was born before 1625 in England. [2] He died on 14 June 1687 in Branford. [1] He married first Rebecca Gregson, the daughter of Thomas and Jane Gregson. [1] He married second Bridget, the daughter of Anthony Thompson, of New Haven. [1] She married second William Hoadley. [8]
John graduated from Harvard College in 1649. [1] He was a schoolmaster at Plymouth and later—from 1653 to 1660—at New Haven. [1] He preached at Branford from 1667 to 1672/3. [1]
iv. Patience Bowers married Humphrey Bradshaw of Cambridge before 1653. [1][3] She died on 17 February 1669. [7]
v. Silence Bowers was born say 1633, based on her marriage date. She died on 9 November 1677. [1] She married first Elnathan Dunckley of Dedham on 14 December 1656 in Dedham. [1][9] She married second as his third wife Nicholas Rockett (Rockwood) on 25 May 1675 in Medfield. [1]
Children of George Bowers and Elizabeth Worthington:
vi. Captain Jerathmeel Bowers was born on 2 May 1650 in Cambridge. [1] He died on 23 April 1724, age 78[!], according to his gravestone in Cambridge. [1] He married Elizabeth ___ by 1674 in Billerica. [ddd] She died on 4 March 1721, age 76, according to her gravestone in Chelmsford. [1]
References:
1. Charles Thornton Libby, "Knowles Family," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 79 (1925): 288, fn.; 80 (1926), Addendum II, p. 278.
2. William B. Trask, "Early Records of Boston," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 8 (1854): 345.
3. Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, Records of Plymouth Colony: Court Orders, vol. 1, 1633–1640, vol. 2, 1641–1651, vol. 3, 1651–1661, vol. 4, 1661–1668, vol. 5, 1668–1678, vol. 6, 1678–1691 (Boston: William White, 1855, 1866).
4. Helen Richardson Kluegel, Duncklee and Allied Families, book 7 (Kaneohe, HI: n.p., 1987), 12–16.
6. George Valentine Massey, "Priscilla Kitchen, Quakeress of Salem, Mass.," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 106 (1952): 41.
7. Mary Isabella Gozzaldi, History of Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1630–1877, with a Genealogical Register by Lucius R. Paige (Cambridge: Cambridge Historical Society, 1930).
8. "New England Marriages to 1700," digitized books, AmericanAncestors, originally published as Clarence Almon Torrey, New England Marriages Prior to 1700 (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015), vol. 1: 181.
9. “The Record of Births, Marriages and Deaths, and Intentions of Marriage, in the Town of Dedham: 1635-1845,” database with images. Ancestry.com, book 1, image 135.
©a. buiter
07-Sep-2023