Constance (Hopkins) Snow
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Constance (Hopkins) Snow (bef. 1606 - abt. 1677)

Constance Snow formerly Hopkins
Born before in Hursley, Hampshire, Englandmap
Ancestors ancestors
Wife of — married before 22 May 1627 in Plymouth Colony, New Englandmap
Descendants descendants
Died about after about age 71 in Eastham, Barnstable, Plymouth Colony, New Englandmap
Profile last modified | Created 23 Dec 2008
This page has been accessed 46,861 times.
The Mayflower.
Constance (Hopkins) Snow was a passenger on the Mayflower.
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As a young girl of 14 years, Constance Hopkins arrived in Plymouth on the Mayflower with her well-known father, Stephen Hopkins, her brother Giles, half sister Damaris, stepmother Elizabeth Fisher Hopkins, and infant half brother, Oceanus, [1] [2] who was born aboard the Mayflower.

Contents

Biography

Baptism and Childhood

"Constancia Hopkins", the daughter and eldest child of Stephen Hopkins and his first wife, Mary Kent, was baptized 11 May 1606 at Hursley, Hampshire, England. Her baptism is noted in the Hampshire parish register:

"[1606] undecimo die Maij Constancia filia Steph Hopkyns fuit baptizata [11th day of May, 1606, Constance daughter of Steph[en] Hopkins was baptized]" [3]

Her younger brother, Giles, was born in 1607.[4]

Their father, a world-traveler and adventurer, left his family in the care of their maternal grandmother, "the widow Kent," in Hursley, [citation needed?] while he traveled to Jamestown, Colony of Virginia, and was shipwrecked in Bermuda for over a year. Shortly thereafter his first wife, Mary Kent, died and he married Elizabeth Fisher in 1617. [5]

In 1620 the family embarked on the "Mayflower," landing at Plymouth in New England in November.

Marriage

Constance married the honorable Nicholas Snow, sometime before 22 May 1627. [6]

Nicholas had arrived in Plymouth on the Anne in 1623.

The Snows moved from Plymouth to Nauset, on Cape Cod, in 1643. The town was renamed "Eastham" and Nicholas was one of its founders. On the Cape (in Barnstable County), Nicholas served as surveyor, constable and selectman. He was a carpenter and also ran a family farm with the help of his sons and daughters.

The inventory of Nicholas’ estate, taken at the time of his death, included carpenter’s tools and books. [7]

Children

Governor Bradford wrote between 6 March and 3 April 1651 that `Constanta is also married, and hath 12 children, all of them living and one of them married.'

Children: all born in Plymouth or in Eastham:
  1. Mark Snow, b. 9 May 1628;[8][9] m(1) 18 Jan 1654 Ann Cooke;[9][10] m(2) 9 Jan 1660 Jane Prence;[9][10] d. bef. 9 Jan 1695[9][10]
  2. Mary Snow b. c1630;[9][11] m. bef. Apr 1651 Thomas Paine;[9][11] d. 28 Apr 1704[9][11]
  3. Sarah Snow b. c1632;[9][12] m. 24 Feb 1655 William Walker;[9][12] d. aft. 25 Oct 1703[13]
  4. Joseph Snow b. c1634;[9][14] m. 1670 Mary (Unknown);[9][14] d. 3 Jan 1723[9][14]
  5. Stephen Snow b. c1636;[9][15] m(1) 28 Oct 1663 Susanna Deane;[9][15] m(2) 9 Apr 1701 Mary Cottle;[9][15] d. 3 Jan 1723[9][15]
  6. John B. Snow b. c1638;[9][16] m. 19 Sep 1667 Mary Smalley;[9][16] bef. Apr 1692[9][16]
  7. Elizabeth Snow b. c1640;[9] [17] m. 13 Dec 1665 Thomas Rogers;[9][17] d. 16 Jun 1678[9][17]
  8. Jabez Snow b. 1642;[18][17] m. bef. 6 Sep 1670 Elizabeth Smith;[18][17] d. 27 Dec 1690[18][17]
  9. Ruth Snow b. c1644;[18][19] m. 10 Dec 1666 John Cole;[18][19] d. 27 Jan 1717[18][19]
  10. (child) traditionally "Constance Snow" b. ca. 1646
  11. (child) traditionally "Hannah Snow" b. ca. 1648
  12. (child) No name [Samuel ?] b. ca. 1650 in Eastham

If Governor Bradford's 1651 account of 12 living children is accurate, Constance's last 3 children may have been sons who predeceased their father Nicholas Snow, without issue, and thus were not mentioned in his will; or they may have been daughters. Like many others at the time, Nicholas Snow did not specifically name his daughters in his will, only his wife and his living sons.

Josiah Paine, town clerk and historian of Harwich, wrote that Nicholas and Constance Snow had a daughter named for her mother (i.e., Constance) who was the first wife of Daniel Doane of Eastham. Daniel Doane was born most-likely in Plymouth ca. 1636; died in Eastham 20 Dec. 1712 in his 76th year. He had the following children: Joseph, Israel, Daniel, Nathaniel, Constant (twin son) & Constanta (twin daughter), Rebecca, Abigail, Ruth and Hepzibah. Daniel's first wife, by tradition Constance Snow, was undoubtedly the mother of all of these children, except Hepzibah.

Deaths of Nicholas and Constance

The will of Nicholas Snow of Eastham, dated 14 Nov. 1676 and proved 5 March 1677, left livestock and household goods to his wife Constanta (?) for life use. Letters of administration were granted to Constanta, Mark and John Snow on 6 March 1677. A lengthy inventory, including many cooper's and carpenter's tools, was sworn to by widow Constant Snow on 22 March 1677.

Constance (Hopkins) Snow died about 15 October 1677 in Eastham, a few months after Nicholas' death in March. Most believe that Constance is buried at the Cove Burying Ground, in Eastham, where a monument is erected to her and the Snow family. [20]

From the Early Vital Records of Barnstable County, Massachusetts: "Constant Snow which was the Wife of Nicholas Snow died about the Midle of october in the year 1677." [21]

The Pilgrim Society displays one artifact that is attributed to Constance Hopkins. It is a beaver hat, made in England, c.1615-1640. Steeple crowned hats, usually with a decorative band, were popular for both men and women in the early 17th century. Beaver fur, imported into England from the colonies, was processed into felt to make hats.[22]

Research Notes

On 18 Jun 1621, Edward Doty and Edward Leister, the two indentured servants of Constance's father, Stephen Hopkins, fought a duel with swords and daggers which became the Colony's first and only duel. [23][24][25][26]

A history of the Doty family recounts that in the spring of 1621 Edward Doty and Edward Lester both began courting Constance and fought the duel to win her hand. [27]

The duel was not connected to Constance in the four sources for the story shown above.

Sources

  1. Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation 1952
  2. http://mayflowerhistory.com/hopkins-constance/ Caleb Johnson website
  3. Johnson, Caleb H. Here Shall I Die Ashore : Stephen Hopkins, Bermuda Castaway, Jamestown Survivor, and Mayflower Pilgrim .Xlibris Corporation (2007,) p. 148 (citing Hursley parish records ).
  4. Great Migration Begins - Immigrants to New England 1620-1633. Robert Charles Anderson . New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, MA, 1995
  5. Miner Descent
  6. Bowman, George Ernest. Mayflower Descendant: Plymouth Colony Division of Cattle in 1627, Vol. I (Broderbund's Family Archive CD #203 Publication: Jul 1899) p. 151, citing PCR 1:50-57
  7. the Pilgrim Hall Museum.
  8. Mayflower Descendants: a Quarterly Magazine of Pilgrim Genealogy and History. Boston: Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants, vol 7 (1905), p. 14, the birth of Mark.
  9. 9.00 9.01 9.02 9.03 9.04 9.05 9.06 9.07 9.08 9.09 9.10 9.11 9.12 9.13 9.14 9.15 9.16 9.17 9.18 9.19 9.20 9.21 Roser, Susan E. Mayflower Increasings for Three Generations. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co. (1989,1991,1994) p. 77.
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 Austin, John D. Mayflower Families Through Five Generations. Vol. 6, Stephen Hopkins. Plymouth, Massachusetts.: General Society of Mayflower Descendants (2001) p. 12
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 Austin, John D. Mayflower Families Through Five Generations. Plymouth, MA: General Society of Mayflower Descendants (2001), vol. 6 Stephen Hopkins, pp. 13-14.
  12. 12.0 12.1 Austin, John D. Mayflower Families Through Five Generations. Vol. 6, Stephen Hopkins. Plymouth, Massachusetts.: General Society of Mayflower Descendants (2001) p. 14-15.
  13. Barnstable County Probate Records, Vol. 2:159-161 Will, letters Admin., and inventory William Walker, Eastham, 1703.
  14. 14.0 14.1 14.2 Austin, John D. Mayflower Families Through Five Generations. Vol. 6, Stephen Hopkins. Plymouth, Massachusetts.: General Society of Mayflower Descendants (2001) p. 15.
  15. 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 Austin, John D. Mayflower Families Through Five Generations. Vol. 6, Stephen Hopkins. Plymouth, Massachusetts.: General Society of Mayflower Descendants (2001) p. 16.
  16. 16.0 16.1 16.2 Austin, John D. Mayflower Families Through Five Generations. Vol. 6, Stephen Hopkins. Plymouth, Massachusetts.: General Society of Mayflower Descendants (2001) p. 17.
  17. 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 17.5 Austin, John D. Mayflower Families Through Five Generations. Vol. 6, Stephen Hopkins. Plymouth, Massachusetts.: General Society of Mayflower Descendants (2001) p. 19
  18. 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 18.4 18.5 Roser, Susan E. Mayflower Increasings for Three Generations. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co. (1989,1991,1994) p. 78
  19. 19.0 19.1 19.2 Austin, John D. Mayflower Families Through Five Generations. Vol. 6, Stephen Hopkins. Plymouth, Massachusetts.: General Society of Mayflower Descendants (2001) p. 20-21.
  20. Find A Grave Memorial# 8634 - Constance Hopkins Snow
  21. Early Vital Records of Barnstable Co., MA to about 1850 Eastham Vital Records & Cemetery Inscriptions (CD: Search & Research, Wheat Ridge, CO, 1997) Eastham VRs, p. 40
  22. the Pilgrim Hall Museum.
  23. Anderson, Robert Charles. The Pilgrim Migration: Immigrants to Plymouth Colony 1620-1633. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2004). pp 177-182. also available as: Mayflower American Ancestors.org Edward Doty : accessed 7 Sep 2019;
  24. Prince, Thomas. A chronological history of New-England in the form of annals : being a summary and exact account of the most material transactions and occurrences relating to this country, in the order of time wherein they happened, from the discovery by Capt. Gosnold in 1602, to the arrival of Governor Belcher, in 1730 : with an introduction, containing a brief epitome of ... events abroad, from the creation, including ... the gradual discoveries of America, and the progress of the Reformation to the discovery of New-England (Boston : N.E., Printed by Kneeland & Green for S. Gerrish, 1736)Link on Archive.org, 1826 reprint, pp. 191-2.
  25. Caleb Johnson's Mayflower History - Edward Doty
  26. Abbott, John Stevens Cabot, Miles Standish, Captain of the Pilgrims (Dodd, Mead and company, 1898), pp. 129-130. (Link on Archive.org.)
  27. Brown, Katherine Jane Parker. Parker pathways: some ancestors and descendants of James Parker and Anna Doty. 1986. Genoa, Illinois. KJP Brown (publisher). Page 505, in the chapter on Edward Doty. At Archive.org See her sources at the end of the chapter.
See Also:
  • The American Genealogist. Demorest, GA. vol. 14, p. 229.
  • Ames, Azel. The Mayflower and Her Log. Boston: Houghton Mifflin & Co. (1907), available here.
  • Anderson, Robert Charles. The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633. Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historic Genealogical Society (1995), vol. 3, pp. 1701-1704.
  • Austin, John D. Mayflower Families Through Five Generations. Vol. 6, Stephen Hopkins. Plymouth, Massachusetts.: General Society of Mayflower Descendants (2001) pp. 5, 7-8, 12-21.
  • Banks , Charles E. The English Ancestry and Homes of the Pilgrim Fathers. NY (1919); repr. Baltimore (1962, 1968, 1976, 1980), p. 160. .
  • Bradford's List of Mayflower Passengers. Mayflower Descendants: a Quarterly Magazine of Pilgrim Genealogy and History. Boston: Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants, vol. 1 (1899), p. 10, 14.
  • Bradford, William. History of Plymouth Plantation. Massachusetts Historical Society (1856), p. 448 "8. Mr. Steven Hopkins, & Elizabeth, his wife, and 2. children, caled Giles, and Constanta, a doughter, both by a former wife; and 2. more by this wife, caled Damaris & Oceanus; the last was borne at sea; and 2. servants, called Edward Doty and Edward Litster." " p. 452 (5.)Mr Hopkins and his wife are now both dead, but they lived above 20. years in this place, and had one sone and 4. doughters borne here. Ther sone became a seaman, & dyed at Barbadoes; one daughter dyed here, and 2. are maried; one of them hath 2. children; & one is yet to mary. So their increase which still survive are 5. (4.) But his 4. some Giles is maried, and hath 4. children. (12.) His doughter Constanta is also maried, and hath 12. children, all of them living, and one of them maried.
  • Death records for Constance and Nicholas recorded in Eastham Vital Records. Mayflower Descendants: a Quarterly Magazine of Pilgrim Genealogy and History. Boston: Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants, vol. 6 (1904) p. 203.
  • Doane, Alfred A. The Doane Family: Deacon John Doane of Plymouth. Boston (1902), vol. 1, pp. 26-30; Vestal, NY (1975), vol. 2, p. 2. both volumes available here.
  • Ferris, Mary W. Dawes. Gates Ancestral Lines: A Memorial Volume Containing the American Ancestry of Rufus R. Dawes. Milwaukee: privately printed (1943), vol. 1.
  • Freeman, Frederick. The History of Cape Cod: The Annals of The Thirteen Towns of Barnstable County, Boston: Geo. C. Band & Avery and Cornhill (1858), vols. 1 and 2.
  • Genealogical Journal. Salt Lake City, UT: Utah Genealogical Association, vol. 13, pp. 153, 176.
  • Genealogies of the Mayflower Families.NEHGR. Baltimore, MD (1985), vol. 2, pp.79-80; vol. 3, pp. 348-51.
  • Lowell, D.O.S. A Munsey-Hopkins Genealogy, Being the Ancestry of Andrew Chauncey Munsey and Mary Jane Meritt Hopkins. Boston: private printing (1920), available online.
  • Savage, James. A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England, Showing Three Generations of Those Who Came Before May 1692. Boston (1860-62); repr North Scituate (1899), Baltimore, MD (1969), vol. 4, pp.138, 149.
  • Shurtleff, Nathaniel B. and David Pulsifer. Records of the Colony of New Plymouth in New England. Boston: William White (1855). vol. 1: pp. 4, 10, 27, 31, 44, 52, 87-8, 141, 151, 155; vol. 2: pp. 115, 123, 125, 154; vol. 3: pp. 9, 33; vol. 4: p.15; vol. 5: pp. 35, 57-8, 92, 144, 164, 220, 278; vol. 7: pp. 7-8, 16-17, 20, 23, 34-5.
  • Smith, Leonard H. (compiler). Cape Cod History of Local History and Genealogy: A Facsimile Edition of 108 Pamphlets Published in the Early 20th Century Baltimore MD: Genealogical Publishing Co (1992). This compilation names Hannah & Rebecca as the 2 "missing" children for Nicholas & Constance Snow. Other genealogy sources state that Samuel Snow, who died as an infant, was the "Unnamed Infant Snow" mentioned in 1651 by Governor Bradford.
  • Stratton, Eugene Aubrey Plymouth Colony, Its History and People 1620-1691. Salt Lake City, UT (1986), pp. 307, 354.
  • Torrey, Clarence Almon. New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Baltimore, MD (1985), p. 692.




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Comments: 17

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Am thinking to edit the bio text according to Bobbie Hall's suggestion in the comments below:
"I think Constance is ready for a re-write to create a more cohesive, well-sourced biography based on *her* life instead of her husband's and father's lives . . ."
posted by J. West
edited by J. West
I welcome your updates, J. Thanks for the offer!
posted by Bobbie (Madison) Hall
Hopkins-16629 and Hopkins-5 appear to represent the same person because: Obvious duplicate. A previous proposed merge had been rejected for some unknown reason.
posted by Jerry Corkins
[Comment Deleted]
posted by Christine (DiBartolomeo) Rosset
deleted by Christine (DiBartolomeo) Rosset
Hi Christine, I believe what you are looking to do is remove yourself from the trusted list of these people. You can do that yourself. At the top of the page click on the "Privacy" tab scroll down to where it says "Remove yourself". It's a big "green" box. Click on that and you will be removed from the watchlist.
posted by Anne B
This biography gives two different death dates for Constance Hopkins Snow. I could find no source reference to support a death date of 25 November 1677, as is written here "Constance (Hopkins) Snow died on 25 November 1677 in Eastham, Plymouth Colony, and is buried in the Cove Burying Ground, Eastham, Cape Cod, near her late husband". I have seen several instances of a different death date, mid-October 1677. There is a source listed to which this death date is attributed. Does anyone know about the earlier death date? I want to make sure I have it correct in my records. She is my 10th great grandmother.
posted by Lindy (Hull) Stuart
Thanks for pointing out this discrepancy, cousin Lindy. I have altered the death date to state "about 15 October 1677" as that is what the contemporary records state. This profile has been re-written and added to many times over the last 10 years and I do not know when the date of 25 Nov 1677 was added but the generally "accepted" date is 15 October 1677. She is my 8th great-grandmother.
posted by Chet Snow
Hopkins-12845 and Hopkins-5 appear to represent the same person because: Same info. Please merge
posted by S (Hill) Willson
Hopkins-12832 appears to be the same person
I am going to be updating this profile on behalf of the Mayflower Project's Hopkins family team, in particular making sure the sources are correctly formatted and linked to online pages whenever possible. If anyone knows of additional information or sources which should be included, please message me or post here. Thanks!

Jen

posted by Jen (Stevens) Hutton
Hi Jen,

I think Constance is ready for a re-write to create a more cohesive, well-sourced biography based on *her* life instead of her husband's and father's lives. If you're up to it, I encourage you to do so.

posted by Bobbie (Madison) Hall
Challenge accepted! However, I will be sourcing all of the children first.
posted by Jen (Stevens) Hutton
Constance' mother was Mary Unknown Hopkins, not Constance Dudley, unless some new evidence has been found. If that is the case, please share it here. Otherwise, DO NOT add Contance to Stepehn as a wife or Contance as a mother.
posted by Abby (Brown) Glann
Wow Abby - great job updating the merges on this page. It looks fabulous from where it was last week. Thanks, Bill
posted by Bill Jennings