Richard Snow, of Woburn

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Snow-873

Richard Snow was born in 1607 in Hartland, Devonshire, England to William Snow [uncertain] and Elizabeth (De Tossberry) Snow [uncertain]. He married Annis (Barrat) Snow in 1638 in Barbados. He is the father of John Snow, James Snow, Daniel Snow, Samuel Snow and Zachariah Snow. He died on 5 May 1677 in Woburn, Middlesex County, Massachusetts

Profile last modified 4 Jan 2018 | Created 1 Jun 2011

Genealogical Problem

Richard Snow and his wife, Annis/Avis/Ann, settled at Woburn, Massachusetts perhaps as late as 1645 when they are first of record there. He has been identified as the Richard Snow christened at Barnstaple, Devonshire 21 Dec 1608, son of Patrick and Marie (Sweete) Snow; AND as the Richard Snow christened at Hartland, Devonshire 24 Jun 1607, son of William and Elizabeth (de Tosberry) Snow.

Is either of these correct?

Richard emigrated to Barbados aboard the Expedition, aged 28, from Gravesend, Kent 20 Nov 1635. Annis/Avis/Ann immigrated to Barbados as Annis Barrat, aged 20, in 1635. Annis/Avis/Ann would have emigrated as Annis/Avis/Ann Snow, rather than Annis/Avis/Ann Barrat, if they had been married at this time.

There is said to be a record in the International Genealogical Index (IGI) of Richard Snow and Annis Barritt marrying at Bristol, London, England 20 Nov 1635. I cannot now find this record (can you help me find it?). The IGI was compiled from very many sources of varying quality from transcriptions of primary sources like parish registers to user submitted information. For three reasons this appears to be a user submitted record by a careless researcher. The location, Bristol, London, England, is non-sensical. The date, 20 Nov 1635, is the same as the date Richard was enrolled to emigrate at Gravesend, Kent. It wasn't possible to travel from Bristol, or even London, to Gravesend in the same day. And, of course, as already shown, if Annis/Avis/Ann had been married when she immigrated, she would have been named Snow.[1]

The suggestion that Richard and Annis/Avis/Ann married at Woburn, Massachusetts comes from Clarence A. Torrey, New England Marriages Prior to 1700, (Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing, 2004). An understanding of how Torrey compiled this information reveals that he was not suggesting that this couple actually married at Woburn, rather that he found evidence that they were living as a couple in Woburn.

John and James Snow, the two eldest children of Richard and Annis/Avis/Ann, are usually said to have been born c.1640 and c.1642, though they both could have been a year or two younger. Some researchers have the birth of John at Woburn 16 Sep 1638. Woburn was first settled in 1640, so even if John was born in 1638, it was certainly not at Woburn. Woburn's vital records begin in 1641, and are thought to be fairly complete. If the family had been at Woburn before 1645, one would expect that the births of John and James would have been recorded. As no record of their births anywhere in Massachusetts has ever come to light, it's likely the family emigrated from Barbados c.1644 with their infant sons.

All of this suggests that Richard and Annis/Avis/Ann married at Barbados, perhaps as late as c.1640.

None of this suggests that Richard Snow of Woburn or his wife, Annis/Avis/Ann Barrat, had any connection with Devonshire whatsoever. In fact, it's hard to think of a scenario in which a man from Devonshire would emigrated on a ship leaving from Gravesend, a port used by Londoners. Neverthess, he was aged 28 at the time, and that gives him a lot of time to have moved around.

The given names of the suggested parents for Richard Snow of Woburn are Patrick and Marie, and William and Elizabeth. If either of these couples were, in fact, the parents of Richard Snow of Woburn, one would expect some of these names to appear amongst the descendants of Richard and Annis/Avis/Ann. They don't, though they had two granddaughters named Mary.

I don't see any evidence that either Patrick and Marie (Sweete) Snow of Barnstaple, Devonshire, or William and Elizabeth (de Tosberry) Snow of Harltand, Devonshire were related in any way to Richard Snow of Woburn.

I remain eager for any information that will illuminate this problem.

— Kimball G. Everingham Everingham-7 09:15, 4 April 2014 (EDT)

Was Richard Snow of 1635 later in Woburn MA?

• Owen N. Wilcox, History of the Family of Benjamin Snow who is a Descendant of Richard Snow of Woburn, Massachusetts, (Cleveland, Ohio: Gates Legal Publishing, 1907). Repository: New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Mass.

Bound between pages 6 and 7 of the copy of this work at the NEHGS is a page that reads:

CORRECTION NOTE. "The reader will note that on page seven of this book appears the statement that Richard Snow of Woburn died in 1711, and that consequently he could hardly have been one and the same with Richard Snow of the ship "Expedition". My authority for the date of the death of Richard Snow of Woburn was Sewall's History of Woburn. This date was evidently an error, for Richard died, as I have since learned, on May 5, 1677, leaving a will dated 30 (11) i.e. Nov 30, 1676 [kge: shouldn't this be Jan 30, 1676/7?], and which was probated June 19, 1677. By this instrument he bequeathed property to his wife Ann, and sons, John, James, Samuel and Zachary."

"This information effectually removes all the haze and uncertainty respecting Richard Snow's years that appear in this Volume, and the identity of Richard Snow of Woburn with the Richard Snow of the ship "Expedition" becomes not only possible, but quite probable. The compiler hopes that this explanatory note will overcome any false impression which he may have unwittingly created by his printed words, and he feels sure that it will add considerably to the genealogical value of the book."

An Alternate View

Richard Snow, born in 1607 or 1608 in Devon, sailed for the New World in November 1635 on the ship "Expedition" from Gravesend, Kent, and was sent to Barbados. It is probable that he there met and married Annis Avis (called "Annie") Barrat who arrived in Barbados also in 1635.[2]

Controversy exists about the exact birth date and parents of Richard Snow. There are two current candidates: a Richard Snow born June 24, 1607 and another born December 21, 1608.[3] One Richard Snow is said to be the son of Patrick Snow and Elizabeth de Tossberry (or alternately Patrick's first wife: Marie Sweete ).[4] This Richard Snow was born December 21, 1608, in Barnstaple, Devonshire, England. The other Richard Snow was born June 24, 1607, in Hartland, Devonshire,[5] but to William Snow and his wife, Elizabeth de Tossberry. As William and Patrick have been identified as brothers, this makes the two Richard Snows first cousins, therefore of the same patrilineal line. Their common grand-father is Richard Snow, married to Alice Mersthell (aka Musthill). See note #1 for newly-found information that may indicate the Richard Snow of Barnstaple, England, may NOT be the one who emigrated in 1635 to Barbados.

Richard and Annis must have decided they preferred to raise their family in New England because they left Barbados between 1636 and 1640. If they married in 1638, in Barbados, this explains the oft-cited September 16, 1638, birth date for their first son, John Snow, [but in Massachusetts - an easy error to make]. And they may have renewed their marriage vows in New England if proper records of the first marriage had not been preserved... It is highly unlikely they would have been admitted to the colony with a "bastard" son.

It should be noted that the IGI (Int'l Genealogical Index) records a marriage between Richard SNOW and Annis BARRITT in Bristol, London, [sic] England, in November 1635. As Annis was identified as being from the same village as Richard Snow, they may have married before embarking together on the "Expedition".[6]

All of this data, much of it from original sources, supports that Richard Snow, born 1607, was from Devonshire and emigrated first to Barbados and then to Massachusetts between 1635-1640.[7]

Birth

Date: ABT 1607 Place: England Note: as he said, he was aged 28 years when he left London in 1635[8][9] Christening

Date: 21 DEC 1608 Place: Barnstable, Devonshire[10] Immigration

Date: 1636 Place: Barbados Note: from Gravesend, Kent 20 Nov 1635 on the "Expedition"[11][12] Residence

Date: 1645 Place: Woburn, Middlesex County, Massachusetts[13][14] Family

Husband: Richard Snow Wife: Avis UNKNOWN Child: James Snow Child: John Snow Child: Daniel Snow Child: Samuel Snow Child: Zachariah Snow Marriage: [15] Husband: Richard Snow Wife: Richard Snow Event: Same?[16] Death

Date: 05 MAY 1677 Place: Woburn, Middlesex County, Massachusetts Note: Sewall's History of Woburn and derivative sources say 9 Nov 1711[17][18][19][20] Will

Date: 30 JAN 1676/77 Place: Woburn, Middlesex County, Massachusetts Note: some sources misinterpret 30 (11) 1676 as 30 Nov 1676[21][22] Probate

Date: 19 JUN 1677[23][24] Sources

Source: S288 Ezra S. Stearns, History of Plymouth, New Hampshire, 2 vols., (Cambridge, Mass.: University Press, 1906) Snow, Nora Emma. The Snow-Estes Ancestry (Hillburn, New York, 1939) Page 1-5 Source: S332 Owen N. Wilcox, History of the Family of Benjamin Snow who is a Descendant of Richard Snow of Woburn, Massachusetts, (Cleveland, Ohio: Gates Legal Publishing, 1907). Repository: New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Mass. Source: S334 Mary Lovering Holman, Ancestry of Colonel John Harrington Stevens and his Wife Frances Helen Miller, 2 vols., (Concord, N.H.: privately printed at the Rumford Press, 1948–1953) "834 to 1993, ancestors and descendants of Frank H. and Ella Mae Snow : eight generations in America," Author: Snow, Darold V. (Darold Vernon), 1935- . From Richard Snow + Avis Barrat line. Online, see: https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/results?count=20&query=%2Bs... - https://dcms.lds.org/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE1147252 Source: S861 George Burwell Snow, "The Richard Snow Family", (Long Beach, Calif., typescript, c.1923). Repository: Family History Library Call Number: 929.273Sn61sg & 2055208/22. Source: S97 George Oakes Jaquith and Georgetta Jaquith Walker, The Jaquith Family in America, (Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1982) Source: S98 Gilman DuBois Frost, Dr. Gilman Frost's Genealogical Records of Hanover, New Hampshire, 15 microfilm reels, (Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1972) Source: S1389 Mary Lynch Young, Descendants of Josiah Bull, Jr. (1738-1813) of Dutchess County, N.Y. and His Ancestry (Josiah3, John2, Isaac1), (Baltimore, Maryland: Gateway Press, 1992-1997). Repository: Sutro Library, San Francisco. Call Number: CS71.B935 1992. Source: S861 George Burwell Snow, "The Richard Snow Family", (Long Beach, Calif., typescript, c.1923). Repository: Family History Library Call Number: 929.273Sn61sg & 2055208/22. Footnotes

↑ Note by Chet Snow: I was the source of this information, seen in passing while researching Richard & Annis Snow earlier this year (April 2014). Unfortunately, I cannot find the exact reference (drat!) now. It may have been withdrawn. On: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V5VL-JY4 - there is a marriage reference for a "Nathannel Snow" who married a "Ruth Morkcom" in Barnstaple, Devon, England, on May 21, 1673. In the marriage record, according to the IGI, a "Richard Snow" is named as father of the groom. If accurate, this would suggest that the Richard Snow of Barnstaple is NOT the Richard Snow who emigrated to Barbados and then New England in 1635 as how would he then have a son living in Barnstaple, England, in 1673? See below for an alternate Richard Snow, who may be correct. Added Nov. 30, 2014 ↑ Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s; Author: Gale Research Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2009. Original data - Filby, P. William, ed. Note: Place: Barbados; Year: 1635; Page Number: 141. Note: http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=sse&db=pili354&h=634153&ti=0&indiv=t... Note: Text: Birth date: abt 1615; Birth place: Arrival date: 1635; Arrival place: Barbados ↑ NOTE: Virtually all "birth" dates from such old records are christening/baptism dates, the only date recorded. Unless one wants an astrology forecast, the few days' difference is negligible. ↑ See: http://boards.ancestry.com/thread.aspx?mv=flat&m=538&p=localities.b... - for a brief genealogy of this family. NOTE by Chet Snow: Controversy exists over whether Elizabeth married Patrick Snow or William Snow in 1606; only further research of the local records in Hartland, Devon will resolve this. Research at "FamilySearch.org" has failed to turn up any record of Snow marriages in Hartland. See also: http://boards.ancestry.com/thread.aspx?mv=flat&m=538&p=localities.b... ↑ Hartland is a small village just 22 miles west of Barnstaple. ↑ ANNIS AVIS AVIS BARRAT - International Genealogical Index / BI - Gender: Female Birth: 1616 Of, Barnstaple, Devon, England -Death: After 1677 - ANNIS BARRITT - International Genealogical Index / BI - Spouse: RICHARD SNOW - Marriage: 20 NOV 1635 Bristol, London, England. NOTE: This record, cited in April 2014, from a rootsweb.com family tree apparently no longer exists. Note the location was "Bristol, London" - these are at opposite ends of England with London being much closer to Gravesend. ↑ Added by Chet Snow, April 3, 2014. Revised November 30, 2014. ↑ Source: #S332 Page: 6-8 ↑ Source: #S861 ↑ Source: #S1389 ↑ Source: #S332 Page: 6-8 ↑ Source: #S861 Page: 1 ↑ Source: #S332 Page: 6-8 ↑ Source: #S288 Page: 2:644-645 ↑ Source: #S97 Page: 1-5 ↑ Source: #S861 Page: 1 ↑ Source: #S288 Page: 2:644-645 ↑ Snow: Page 1-5 ↑ Source: #S332 Page: 6-8 ↑ Source: #S861 Page: 1 ↑ Source: #S332 Page: 6-8 ↑ Source: #S861 Page: 4-5 ↑ Source: #S332 Page: 6-8 ↑ Source: #S861 Page: 1

Richard Snow died at Woburn on or before May 5, 1677, having made his will on January 30, 1676.

Richard Snow came to New World in 1635 on the "Expedition" at 28 years old. Early settler of Woburn, Mass. Emigrant ancestor,, arriving in Woburn, MA before 1647.

Family

before September 8, 1645, he had brought to the town his wife Avis** as well as their two older sons, John and James,

The children of Richard and Avis(---) Snow, the last three born at Woburn, were:

1. John, see following.
2. James, born about. 1642; died not later than 1711, probably at Lancaster; married by 1670-1, and had sic children; removed 1704 to Lancaster.
3. Daniel, born February 4, 1645; died July 18, 1646.
4. Samuel, born May 28, 1647; died June 15, 1686; married 1st by 1669 Sarah Wildon [SIC: Wilson] (John) and Hannah (James?) who died June 15, 1686; married 2 August 9, 1686, Sarah Parker called daughter of John and Joanna Parker of Cambridge.
5. Zachariah, born March 29, 1649; died at Woburn April 14, 1711.

origins

As to the origin of this family in England, nothing has been proved, but suggestion has been made that possibly a man named Richard Snow who was born in the parish of Barnstaple in col. Devon, England, in 1608, may have been he; and possibly one of this name, aged twenty-eight who on November 20, 1635, received "license to go beyond the seas" along with two hundred and five other men, embarking on the "Expedition" for the Barbadoes, may have been our ancestor. It is well known that frequently emigrants who sailed for the Barbadoes presently continued their journey to New England, and it is a fact that on the "Expedition" there sailed also one William Greene, and that our own Richard Snow and our William Greene both appeared early at Woburn and that members of their families intermarried. These fellow voyagers may have been our ancestors.

• * This name has frequently, but erroneously, been printed as "Annis".

Some notes on Richard Snow and his family: Richard Snow was from Barnstable, England, the Parish Register having Richard Snow, son of Patrick Snow, baptized December 21, 1608€™ (though Nora Snow raises questions in her 1939 book, suggesting that Patrick might have been Richard€™s grandfather). Richard embarked on the expedition of Mr. Peter Blackler to the Barbados when he was 28 years old (20 November 1635). He was examined by the minister of the town of Gravesend regarding his conforming to the beliefs of the Church of England prior to his sailing. Sometime after his 28th year, he courted and married Avis (Ann, Anis?), last name unknown (though some references have conjectured that her last name was "Barratt")

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biography

From http://miller-aanderson.blogspot.com/2011/06/richard-snow-1608-1677...

There is no slightest hint of a derogatory nature found relative to Richard or to his family, but on the other hand there is almost nothing of any sort recorded of his life. He evidently took no part in official or public life; no proof is seen of church membership or of the acquirement of freemanship—indeed the vital records even fail to show his death - yet indirect proof is found that he was neither an irreligious nor a careless man, and be careful attention much information about his character may be deduced. As to his religious views, it must be recounted that the General Court had ruled that when a town lacked a pastor they must not allow preaching by a lay brother without going through the procedure of getting the opinion and approval of the elders of four nearby churches, or the permission of the County Court. This was especially hampering to sparsely settled communities; and in the earliest days of Woburn itself, they tried for about two years before they got their pastor, The Rev. Thomas Carter, who was so well liked. But the Woburn men felt, as to the principle of the matter, that in any given town the church organization which had examined and accepted its own members was in a better position to judge of their qualifications than any outsiders would be. So, though the inhibition did not pertain to these men of Woburn since they already had a pastor, they had the courage of their convictions to a sufficient extent to prepare, impersonally, a very lengthy petition to the General Court, couched in the most deferential terms, but explaining how their opinions differed from the decision of the court. Twenty-nine Woburn men signed that petition on August 30, 1653, and Richard Snow was one of them. It required real moral fibre, and a courage of high degree to put one’s name to what amounted to a formal criticism of the highest court in the land, for principle’s sake alone, and Richard possessed those qualities. Incidentally, this petition for a rescinding of the earlier ruling was not granted, but the document itself has been referred to ever since as the "Woburn Memorial for Christian Liberty" and its signers are called "the bold petitioners."

sources

• - Richard Snow was a passenger on the Expedition which left London for America in 1635.- Genealogical Dictionary of New England Settlers, Vol. 4, p. 138: "Richard Snow, Woburn, had Daniel, born 4 February 1645, died soon; Samuel, 28 May 1647; and Zechariah, 29 March 1649."
• Pioneers of Massachusetts: "Richard Snow, Woburn, proprietor 1645. Children Daniel born February 4, 1644-5, died July 18, 1646, Samuel born May 28, 1647, Zachariah born March 29, 1649. He died 5 May, 1677. Will dated 30 (11) 1676, probate 19 June, 1677, bequests to wife Annis and sons John, James, Samuel and Zachary. Genealogy in Reg. XLVII, 81."
• Genealogical Notices of the Earliest Inhabitants of Woburn and Their Families The History of Woburn, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, from the grant of its territory to Charlestown, in 1640, to the year 1860, Sewall, Samuel, 1785-1868. - "Richard Snow was the earliest inhabitant of Woburn bearing his name. He was taxed there in the Rate for the Country, assessed 8 September 1645, which was the first tax in Woburn on Record. In 1647/8 land was granted him by the town. He bought, November 19, 1656, a house and 20 acres of land of George Farley, one of the original inhabitants of Woburn, then recently removed to Billerica and in the general distribution of common lands and timber, made in 1668, he had a due proportion assigned him in the "fifth Eighth." He seems to have been an industrious, striving husbandman, and to have maintained a respectable rank in society, but not being ambitious of honor and distinction, he never attained to any considerable office either in the church or town. He died November 9, *1711. (Torrey has p.691-692: Richard Snow who died *1677 and wife Anis or Avis; Woburn. Also: Daniel Snow and 1st wife Rachel Jones who died 1715 aged 36; was married August 5, 1696; Woburn. James Smith (born 1642; died ?) and Sarah Jaquith; Woburn. John Smith who died 1706 and Mary Green; Woburn/Lexington. John Smith, 1668-1735 and wife Sarah Stevens married February 13, 1693 or 1694; Woburn/Chelmsford. Samuel Smith (1647-*1717) and 1st wife, Sarah Wilson who died 1686 or 1688; Woburn. Samuel Smith (1647-1717) and 2nd wife, Sarah Parker (1660-1695) married August 9, 1686; Woburn. Samuel Snow, (1670-?) Abigail Jones (1675-?); Woburn to Ashford, Connecticut. Zerubbabel Smith (1672-1733) and Jemima Cutler who died 1734, married September 22, 1697; Woburn. end Torrey). Besides John and James Snow, sons apparently his, born before he came to Woburn to reside, he had born to him afterwards: Daniel born February 4, 1644/5 died July 18, 1646. Samuel born May 28, 1647. Zechariah born March 29, 1649 - was wounded in the Swamp or Narragansett fight with the Indians December 19, 1675 and died April 14, 1711. His (Zechariah's) homestead in Wyman Lane was sold after his death, July 1711, to Benjamin Wyman, a tanner.

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"Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVL9-MCBB : 13 June 2023), Richard Snow, ; Burial, Woburn, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States of America, First Burial Ground; citing record ID 83703495, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.

Born between 1605 and 1608 near Barnstaple, Devon, England, he was an early settler of Woburn, Middlesex, MA. The date of birth may be a christening date. Husband of Avis (Barat) Snow. He married Avis about 1639 (likely in Massachusetts). Avis and his son, Zachariah, were executor and executrix of his estate in his will. Father of John Snow, James Snow Sr., Daniel Snow, Samuel Snow, and Zachariah Snow. Requiescat in pace

                                       Born between 1605 and 1608 near Barnstaple, Devon, England, he was an early settler of Woburn, Middlesex, MA. The date of birth may be a christening date. Husband of Avis (Barat) Snow. He married Avis about 1639 (likely in Massachusetts). Avis and his son, Zachariah, were executor and executrix of his estate in his will. Father of John Snow, James Snow Sr., Daniel Snow, Samuel Snow, and Zachariah Snow.  Requiescat in pace

                                               Gravesite Details

                           Gravestone missing (2005). Snow, Nora E. "Snow-Estes Ancestry, Volume I: The Snow Family." Hillburn, NY: Snow, 1939. Added to database by a descendant.