Boaz Brown (abt. 1665 - 1711)

Born about 1665 in Concord, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Ancestors

Husband of Abiel (Unknown) Brown — married about 1685 in Stow, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony [uncertain]

Descendants

Died 26 Jan 1711 at about age 46 in Stow, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony

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Biography

Boaz Brown, son of Boaz Brown and Mary Winship, was born in Concord, Massachusetts in 1665.^[1]

Boaz served as a town officer in Stow from 1691 until he died in 1711. He was also town clerk and selectman there from 1705 to 1711.^[1]

Boaz married Abiel _____^[1] probably in Stow about 1685. They had children:

• Mary, born 1686, died young^[1]
• Deliverance, born 1692, named in his will^[1]
• Mercy, named in his will^[1]
• Ephraim, named in his will^[1]

Boaz died 26 January 1710/1 in Stow.^[2] Boaz left a will dated 61 January 1711 that was proved 26 March 1711,^[1] and an inventory was taken 16 February. In his will, he named the following family members: wife Abial (executor), children Mercy, Ephraim and Deliverance^[2]

Boaz, son of Boaz, predeceased his father. The will of his father, "Boaz Brown, sometime of Stow ... now an inhabitant of in Dedham", dated 14 October 1715 and proved 8 May 1724, listed the following family members: three grandchildren: Deliverance Brown, Mercy Heald and Ephraim Brown, surviving children of his son Boaz, dec'd; Boaz, Amos and Edward, children of son Edward, dec'd; granddaughters Mercy Wetherbee and Mary Brown, daughters of dec'd son Edward; grandson Nathan Stearns; his three surviving children: Thomas Brown, Mary Stearns and Mercy Everet. His son Thomas and his brother Thomas were to be co-executors, but by 29 November 1721, his brother Thomas was dead so he appointed Mr. William Wilson to act in Thomas' stead. Inventory was taken 27 May 1724. His widow Abigail was not named in his will, but she appears in probate documents.^[2]

The house generally known as the Boaz Brown house on Harvard Road is thought to have been built by Boaz Jr. about 1692. In a setting of open fields, handsome trees, and old stonewalls, it may be the second oldest existing house in Stow. There is a deed of lands from Stephen Hall, one of the first lotholders, to Boaz Brown. Tradition has given the house a date of 1690, which seems probable. Boaz is said to have kept a tavern here.^[3]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7} Brown, Keith F. "The Wives of Boaz Brown, Sr., of Concord, Stow, and Dedham, Massachusetts." in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Boston, MA: NEHGS, Vol. 140, Oct 1986, p. 317. AmericanAncestors.org($).
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} "Middlesex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1648-1871". NEHGS, 2014. #2966: 1-5. AmericanAncestors.org($)
3. ↑ From the "History of Stow" - Childs (not available online)