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RICHARD KNOWLES (say 1613–aft. 1670)
RUTH BOWERS (say 1616–after 1656), daughter of George Bowers and Barbara Smith
Richard Knowles was born say 1613. His origins are unknown He married Ruth Bowers on 25 August 1639. [1, 1: 128–9] He probably died soon after 7 June 1670, when he abruptly disappears from the records.
Ruth Bower was the daughter of George and Barbara Bower and the sister of Reverend John Bower. [2] She was born say 1616. She died after 28 September 1656.
Richard was a ship master of Plymouth and Eastham. [2]
Richard Knowles was presented to the court and acquitted on 2 January 1637 for bringing a boat from Greens Harbor on the Lord's day. [1, 1: 74–75]
Richard was granted a garden place next to John Barne's on 7 January 1638/9. [1, 1: 108–9] He was granted a parcel of meadow at the head of George Bowers' land by Eel River on 5 May 1640. [1, 1: 152]
He was presented on 1 December 1640 for denying the passage of cattle on the highway; Edward Bangs [his daughter-in-law's father] was the witness. [1, 2: 5]
Richard is in the Plymouth section of the 1643 list of those men between 16 and 60 able to bear arms in Plymouth Colony. [3]
The wife of Richard Knowles of Plymouth was presented on 7 October 1651 for retailing strong waters contrary to orders and was fined. [1, 2: 173–4]
When Plymouth heard the news about the conflict between England and Holland it made preparations for its defense and two barques were pressed. On 3 May 1653 the court ordered that one would be one sailed by Richard Knowles and he was to be the master. [1, 3: 30]
Richard was on a 20 September 1667 coroner's enquest that found that Daniel Doane's child accidentally drowned when it fell into a well. He was on a 5 March 1667/8 coroner's enquest that fund that John Smalley's child died of the cold when it got lost in the forest. [1, 4: 169, 177]
Richard was a surveyor of highways on 1 June 1669 and 7 June 1670 in Eastham. [1, 5: 19, 37]
Children of Richard Knowles and Ruth Bower:
i. John Knowles died on 3 June 1675. He married Apphia Bangs.
ii. Mary Knowles was born in Plymouth. She married Ephraim Doane on 5 February 1667/8.
iii. James Knowles was born on 17 November 1648 in Boston. [2] He died before 10 October 1678. [2]
iv. Ruth Knowles was born in Plymouth. [2] She died on 28 August 1714 in Eastham. [2] She married Joseph Collins on 20 March 1671/2 in Eastham. [2] He died in 1723/4. [2] He married second Sarah (Pike) Strout, the widow of Christopher Strout of Provincetown. [2] She died in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. [2]
v. Samuel Knowles was born on 17 September 1651 in Plymouth. [2] He died on 19 June 1737. [2] He married Mercy Freeman in December 1679 in Eastham. [2]
vi. Mehitable Knowles was born on 20 May 1653, probably in Eastham. She married George Brown.
vii. Barbara Knowles was born on 28 September 1656 in Eastham. [2] She died on 23 February 1714/5 in Eastham. [2] She married Thomas Mayo on 13 June 1677 in Eastham. [2]
References:
1. 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).
2. Charles Thornton Libby, “The Knowles Family of Eastham, Mass.,” New England Historical and Genealogical Register 79 (1925): 286–97.
3. Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, "List of Those Able to Bear Arms in the Colony of New Plymouth 1643," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 4 (1873): 254.
©a. buiter
07-Sep-2023