John Snow Jr. (1668 - 1735)

Born 13 May 1668 in Woburn, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay, New England

Ancestors

Husband of Sarah (Stevens) Snow — married 13 Feb 1693 in Woburn, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay

Descendants

Died 21 Mar 1735 at age 66 in Hudson, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, New England

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Chet Snow [send private message]

Biography

John Snow, Jr. was the eldest child and first son of John Snow and Mary Green. Although his parents were both from Massachusetts Bay Colony, all four of his grandparents were born in England and emigrated to the New World in the 1630s. His paternal grandparents were Richard Snow and Avis (Annie) Barrat Snow. John Jr. was born May 13, 1668 in Woburn, Middlesex County, Massachusetts.^[1] He was joined by four more brothers and two sisters before he was 20 years old.

John Snow grew up in Woburn on the Snow family farm. The Snows encouraged literacy among their sons and John eventually won a commission from the British Army's colonial forces. The rank of Ensign was the lowest commissioned officer rank and its duties often included carrying the company's standard into battle. John was too young to have taken part in "King Philip's War" in December 1675 against hostile Indian tribes but he no doubt listened with awe to his uncle Zechariah Snow's accounts of participating in the "Great Swamp Battle" in which a force of 1,135 English colonials under Major Josiah Winslow destroyed the Indians' home camp, near present-day Narraganset, Rhode Island, killing over 700 warriors (and loosing 80 of their own), forcing the rest of the band to flee beyond the borders of the Massachusetts colonies.^[2]

In February 1693, at 24 years old, he married Sarah Stevens (aka Stephens) from nearby Chelmsford, Massachusetts. She was the daughter of another Army ensign: Ensign John Stevens and Elizabeth Hildreth, both born in Massachusetts. The young couple settled in Woburn and Sarah had their first child, Elizabeth, on March 18, 1695. Elizabeth, who died June 24, 1698, was followed by Joseph (b. May 6, 1697) and Mary (b. Aug. 13, 1699), all three births recorded in Woburn MA.^[3]

In 1700 John and Sarah moved their growing family to Chelmsford (she may have inherited property there) MA. Their last three children's births were registered there between 1701-11, as follows: Elesabeth (b. Oct. 6, 1701 & d. April 30, 1705), Hannah (b. Jan. 20, 1704), and Jonathan (b. Sept. 2, 1711). ^[4]

Sometime after 1711 John Snow moved once again, this time to Dunstable, Massachusetts, in the north. He was active in town life there and his son, Joseph, who also won an Army commission (as Lieutenant), was active in Massachusetts colonial politics in the 1730s.^[5] In 1733 when Nottingham MA became a separate town, the first Town Meeting was held in Ensign John Snow's home. This is how it is described:

A three day festival held in June, 1933, commemorated the 200th anniversary of Hudson from the time it emerged as Nottingham, Massachusetts, and [later] separated from the Province of Massachusetts. The first charter, granted by the Assembly of Massachusetts January 4, 1733, established its identity as a separate town. The first Town Meeting was held at the home of Ensign John Snow on May 1, 1733 subsequent to an order from the General Court of Massachusetts that it should be held three months after the charter was granted.^[6]

John Snow died in Nottingham (later Hudson NH) 21 March 1735 at age 68.^[7] His grave is the oldest one still identifiable in the Hudson NH Cemetery.^[8]

Children

Child: Elizabeth Snow

Child: Hannah Snow

Child: Jonathan Snow

Child: Elizabeth Snow

Child: Joseph Snow

Child: Mary Snow

Death

Date: 21 MAR 1735

Place: Hudson, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire^[9]

Note: His age at death (68 years, 4 months and 3 days) suggests he died 16 September 1736^[10]

Burial

Place: a small burial ground near his former residence, Hudson, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire.^[11]

Sources

1. ↑ https://ma-vitalrecords.org/MA/Middlesex/Woburn/Images/Woburn_B243.shtml pg. 243
2. ↑ http://archive.org/stream/historyoffamilyo00wilc/historyoffamilyo00wilc_djvu.txt - pp. 9-12
3. ↑ https://ma-vitalrecords.org/MA/Middlesex/Woburn/Images/Woburn_B243.shtml
4. ↑ https://ma-vitalrecords.org/MA/Middlesex/Chelmsford/Images/Chelmsford_B140.shtml
5. ↑ Stearns, Ezra S. History of Plymouth, New Hampshire. 2 vols. Cambridge, Mass.: University Press, 1906.
6. ↑ "Town in Transition, Hudson NH," by the Hudson History Comm., Hudson Historical Society, Inc,. 1977, Phoenix Publishing, Canaan, NH, p. 71; cited on Ens John Snow (1668-1735) on Find A Grave: Memorial #67033025 Retrieved 21 January, 2018.
7. ↑ "New Hampshire Death Records, 1654-1947," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FSLR-7XZ : 23 February 2021), John Snow, 21 Mar 1735; citing Nottingham, Bureau Vital Records and Health Statistics, Concord; FHL microfilm 1,001,108.
8. ↑ Ens John Snow (1668-1735) on Find A Grave: Memorial #67033025 Retrieved 21 January, 2018.
9. ↑ NOTE by Chet Snow, Nov. 8, 2014: John G. Snow's property was located in Dunstable, Massachusetts, during most of his lifetime, right on the New Hampshire border. It was part of the original 17th Century Dunstable Land Grant. In January 1733, Dunstable MA was renamed Nottingham, Massachusetts. In 1741 the border was re-surveyed and part of Nottingham MA, including the Snow household, became West Nottingham, New Hampshire. Finally, in 1830, West Nottingham NH was renamed Hudson NH. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudson,_New_Hampshire
10. ↑ NOTE by Chet Snow, Nov. 8, 2014: The Woburn MA vital records are published online. On pg. 243, they list, "SNOW: John, son of John, b. May 13, 1668," proving John Snow's birth date. See: https://ma-vitalrecords.org/MA/Middlesex/Woburn/Images/Woburn_B243.shtml
11. ↑ Memorial: Find a Grave (has image)
    Find A Grave: Memorial #67033025 (accessed 15 February 2023)
    Memorial page for Ens John Snow (13 May 1668-28 Mar 1735), citing Ford Cemetery, Hudson, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, USA; Maintained by K. C. Mellem (contributor 47424941).

• History of Plymouth, New Hampshire, Format: 2 vols. Abbreviation: Hist. of Plymouth (1906) Author: Stearns, Ezra S. Publication: University Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1906

• The Snow-Estes AncestryDDFormat: 2 vols. Abbreviation: Snow-Estes Anc. Author: Snow, Nora E. Publication: the author, Hillburn, N.Y., 1939

• History of the Family of Benjamin Snow who is a Descendant of Richard Snow of Woburn, Massachusetts Abbreviation: Fam. of Benjamin Snow Author: Wilcox, Owen N. Publication: Gates Legal Publishing, Cleveland, Ohio, 1907

• Ancestry of Colonel John Harrington Stevens and his Wife Frances Helen Miller, Format: 2 vols. Abbreviation: Stevens Miller Ancestry Author: Holman, Mary Lovering Publication: privately printed at the Rumford Press, Concord, N.H., 1948–1953

• The Richard Snow Family, Informant Address: Long Beach, Calif., Format:typescript Abbreviation: Richard Snow Family Author: Snow, George Burwell Publication: c.1923

• Dr. Gilman Frost's Genealogical Records of Hanover, New Hampshire,Format: 15 microfilm reels Abbreviation: Dr. Frost's Gen. Recs. of Hanover Author: Frost, Gilman DuBois Publication: Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1972

• Massachusetts Vital Records. Woburn Record of Births, p. 243. https://ma-vitalrecords.org/MA/Middlesex/Woburn/Images/Woburn_B243.shtml

• Massachusetts Vital Records. Woburn Record of Marriages, p. 259. https://ma-vitalrecords.org/MA/Middlesex/Woburn/Images/Woburn_M259.shtml

• http://www.myheritage.com/names/carter_greene - gives John Snow's mother's birth and death data AND those of her parents. Surname was more often spelled "Green" but both spellings co-existed in the 1600s.

• Woburn Records of Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Marriage Intentions, from 1640 to 1900 (Woburn, Mass., 1890) Vol. 1 Births, Page 243