The family of William Snow 1707-1774

 This is the last in a series of family posts about the families of our Snow ancestors.  I've written of the immigrant Richard, his son John, John's son Zerubabbel, and now we come to Zerubabbel's son, William.  William was born in 1707 in Woburn, Massachusetts and died in 1774 in Lunenburg, Massachusetts, which is roughly 467 miles west of Woburn and a few miles south of the boundary with New Hampshire.  William moved to Lunenburg shortly after his marriage to Elizabeth Stevens, the daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth Tidd Stevens.  We don't know precisely why he chose to leave Woburn, where he had much family, but the usual reason was economic opportunity, particularly land to support a family.

William and Elizabeth had quite a large family to support.  They had perhaps as many as 11 children, and there was sorrow as well as joy in raising this family.  All of the children were born in Lunenburg, and most stayed close as they began their adult lives.  The first born, a son, is Silas, born in 1733. He was born almost three years after his parents' marriage in 1730, so it's possible that their had been a pregnancy or pregnancy before this.  Silas, however, is the first named hild.  He married Anna Farwell, the daughter of Daniel and Mary More Farwell.  Their children are Mary, Silas, Eunice, Daniel, Elizabeth, Polly, William, Benjamin, Anna, Phebe, Abigail, and Timothy.  (Some trees show Polly as being a nickname for Mary, and I am not sure that they are two different people but they seem to be of differing ages.)  Silas is a Revolutionary War veteran, and he died in 1807 in Lunenburg.  

Jemima was born next, in 1735.  She is a mystery.  I found records that she "renewed the covenant", probably meaning was accepted into adult membership in the local church, in 1755.  But in her later years, there are numerous records of various town members being paid for their care of Jemima, some for a few days and some for months at a time.  I haven't yet found an explanation as to why she was not cared for by family members, or why she needed care.  I've not been able to verify a death date for her, either, although some trees show it as 1805.  I would love to know more of her story, and to learn whether she was passed around through so many families because she was "a handful", or because she was so well-loved.  

Rebekah was born in 1737 and died in 1818 in Winchendon, Worcester, Massachusetts.  She married Eliphalet Goodridge or Goodrich, the son of Benjamin and Sarah Phelps Goodridge.  Their children are Sarah, Rebecca, Samuel, a second Rebecca, Elizabeth, Eliphalet, Ruth, and Sewell.  

Esther was born in 1739 and died in 1761 in Woburn, Massachusetts, of small pox.  She married Abijah Thompson, the son of Samuel and Ruth Wright Thompson., but no children were born to this couple.  She was just 21 at the time of her death.  

Joseph was born in 1741 and died in 1808, possibly in Putney, Windham County, Vermont, where he seems to have been visiting.  He lived much of his married life in Wilson, New Hampshire.  His wife is Joanna Jewett, the daughter of Thomas and Martha Hale Jewett.  Their children are Sally (Sarah), Joanna, Jacob, Martha, and David.  

The first of two sons named William was born in 1742 and died sometime before 1749.

Abigail is the next born, in 1743, and she is hard to trace.  She is said to have married Jacob Fox, and had a daughter named Anna, but I think this must be a different Abigail Snow because she would have been married at the age of 12 and bearing a child at 13 for this to be correct.  She does seem to have married Eliphalet Fox, but not until she was in her late 30s, if this is the same person.  Eliphalet died in Walpole, Cheshire, New Hampshire in 1811, and Abigail was still living then.  There are no children mentioned in his will, so either they had no children or any children had died before their father. 

A side note here: Lunenburg was attacked, apparently more than once, by members of the Abenaki tribe, in 1744 and 1745, and some residents were taken to Quebec.  We have no record that this involved any of the Snow family, but what a time of terror this must have been.  Perhaps this is why no children will born between 1743 and 1746.

Bette was born in 1746 and that is the last I know of her for certain.  Trees on line say she married Nehemiah Warren and died in 1819 in Fitchburg, which was a daughter town of Lunenburg.  However, I cannot verify either the marriage or the death with any on line records and I am not at all sure this is correct.  It needs to be proven or disproven, and if you can help, I'd appreciate it.

Lucy was born in 1748 and died in 1795 in Leominster, Worcester County, Massachusetts.  She married Josiah Whittemore, the son of John and Lydia Clough Whittemore.  Their children are William, John, Salmon, Mary, Lucy, Josiah, Levi, Cephas, Otis, and Betsy.  

Finally, there is William, born in 1752 and died in 1832 in Providence, Rhode Island. He was a Revolutionary War soldier, and he is the son who left home territory and spent much of his life in Rhode Island. I don't know whether his designation as "captain" is from his military service, or whether he was a mariner.   He was married in Providence to Susanna Barton, the daughter of Andrew and Rebecca Low Barton, who was already a widow.  Their children are John, David, Joseph, and James.  He later married Marcy (or Mercy, or Mary) Sprague, whom I have not been able to trace, although there is a possibility she was born a Colwell.  

There were certainly sorrows in the lives of William and Elizabeth.  They lost at least one young son, and a daughter in her early adulthood, and had the pain of whatever Jemima's problems might have been.  Yet, they saw sons step forward to fight for their new country, and they could take pride in that, and joy in their many grandchildren.