Nathaniel Mowry
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THE DESCENDANTS NATHANIEL MOWRY, OF RHODE ISLAND. Bv WILLIAM A. MOWRY, i\. 1\1., JIEIIBKR OF :rHR ~KW F:NGLA~'"D HISTORIC, GENEAL()Gll'AL SOCU."TY; lfEXBER OF TBE Rut•Dlt lSLA:SI> Hli.TOIUCAL SOC'IETY ; HOSORARl" llHIB£R OJo' THE :S. ff. ASTIQCARJA:S SOCIETl"; AND CORRESPO:SDJSG llEXBF.R 01'' TH& OREGON PIONEER ASD HISTOiUt"AL S<iC'1£TY. PROVIDENCE: SIDNEY S. RIDER, PUBLISHER. 1878. " Who ,io unmindful or his birth, home, and country as not to det1ire to know from whence be came, who hi:i anct>Sto~ Wt're, what they have done, and to inquire what he is doing for the welfare ol' his tt'llow-man ! and who dOt's not ret!'l a pride in tracing his d~ceot through a long line of noble ance!'ltONI, hi:i heart 1,:lowing with ft'n·or to emulate tht!' examples of the lllui:1trious men ! ., - Hos. }(ARSJULL P. WILDER, Ph. D. " A desire to be cherished in the regru-d,i of our ab~nt rri,:mdi<, and to live in their memories when we shall be numbered among the dead, is one or tht: most common and powerful senti m1::nts ot our nature. It is not a weakness of onr nature, but a heaven-born instinct. He only is willing that all remembrance or him~lf :ihould be cut otf, who is con11eiou:1 that his memory can bring no bl~ng to him:lt'lf or otbeni. To all bt."Sid~ it i:i a sweet and animating assuranCEI> Btrengt.bening in life and con!'(oling in death, tbut tltey shall not t"ntirely pass away from the world or loved and familiar thin'-"!(, but that their memory shall i,,-un·ive and flourish still." REV. c. H. WmntLEL. COPYIUGHT. Wrr,r.r.u1 .A. l\lOWRY. PREFACE. OsE of the hopeful signs of the times is found in the interest, which is of late becoming more general and wide-spread, in questions per taining to genealogical inquiry. These questions are now taking firm hold of the popular mind. Good fruits have already been produced by the publication within the last few yea.rs of many excellent family histories. This increase· of interest in our ancestors has also been specially appa.rent in the publication of many valuable town and other local l1istories. These books will hereafte1· fur11ish important aid to future his torians, when 11istory shall have been reduced to a science, and his torical studies sl1all have taken their true place in educational systems and private study. The writer has for more than twenty years had an earnest desire to know something of his ancestors. He has for many years been con vinced of the sterling worth, the indomitable energy, and the manly virtues manifested by the earlier generations of the l\lowry family in New England. About six years ago he found, in the first volume of the Providence P1·obate Records, the will of Nathaniel .Mowry. This led to a careful perusal of the records of wills, deeds, births~ marriages, and deaths, and other matters preserved in the to,·vn records of Providence and Smithfield. The fact was soon established bevond. doubt that. two brothers, John and Nathaniel Mowry. were among the earliest set tlers of Northern Rhode Island. and the first ancestors of our race in this country. }"'or nearly six years tl1e writer has labored diligently to secure a record of Nathaniel :rt!owry's descendants, which should 4 THE l\lOWRY FAMILY. be reasonably free from errors, and as full as it could well be made. Although it is not complete or perfect, and perhaps never could be. it is believed to be sufficiently full and reliable to warrant its publi cation. It has been the aim of the author to exercise all possible cau tion 1 and put nothing in the record which does not appear to be con firmed by reliable authority. Where any doubt exists, it is indicated by a question-mark, or in some other way. Yet it is hardly possible to obtain information from so many differ ent sources, much of which has been copied five or six. times, "';t11out falling into some errors. The author will thank any one who discov ers such errors to communicate them to him, in order that, should the subject be pursued further, or any additional account be published iu the future, the errors may not be pepetuated. Only those who have beel). engaged in similar service can appreciate the vast labor required to prepare a record of f amilics long since passed a,""ay, and of families now living, but widely scattered. The writer, can only claim an honest purpose, much painstaking, and great labor in the preparation of the work. For the assistance kindly rendered by many hands he is duly grate ful. He desires to make special mention of aid received from the following persons: first of all, his thanks are due to Erastus Richard son, Esq., author of the history of \Yoonsocket, for much aid and many kindly suggestions; to Ephraim Sayles, Esq., and Benjamin W. Mowry, Esq., of Smithfield, for valuable papers loaned; to Burrill R. Mowry, Esq., of Smithfield, for invaluable aid from time to time con cerning many families, accurately 1·emembered by him through a long period of many years; to Herbert E. Morey, ~sq., of Boston, Mass., for many papers furnished, which have proved to be of much assistance· in tracing the history of many families; to Mrs. :Mary Elizabeth Mas ters, of Greenwich, N. Y., for much of the family history of the descendants of John Mowry, son of Natllaniel; to Elisha C. :Mowry, Esq., of Providence, Nelson Mowry, Esq., of Wilbraham, l\Iass., and Mrs. Lydia C. Wells, of Charleston, S. C., for excellent sketches fur nished; .to many others, though unnamed here, yet remembered with gratitude, for kind assistance and encouraging words. He desires • to express his high appreeiation of the liberality of those who have generously contributed of their means to help defray the necessary PREFACE. 5 •expense of publishing the work, without whose aid its publication could never have ~een accomplisl1ed. He would also make deserved mention of important assistance rendered, during summer vacations and winter evenings, in copying, collating, and adjusting papers, reading copy, correcting proof, and making the indexes, by his son, Arthur May Mowry. The author takes this occasion to thank many subscribers for kind words and friendly notices of his book, recently published, entitled "RICHARD MOWRY; His Ances~ors and his De.~cendants"; which embraces in its earlier pages the same matter as in this book, but the latter part gives the descendants of Richard only, with a very full biog raphy of that worthy man, by his grandson, Richard D. Mowry, Esq., of San Francisco, Cal. In giving dates, no changes are made, but whether Old Style or New Style, they are all given as they were found. It may be proper to say to the general reader, that the Old Style continued in England and her colonies till 1752 ; that under the Old Style the new year began March 25; but that for many years before, in events occurring between Jan. I and !Iarcb 25, both years were frequently named, since most of the other nations of Europe had al ready adopted the :New Style, wl1ich began the year on the first of January. Also, when the style was changed by Act of Parliament in 1752, ele-ren days were dropped from the calendar, so that the tllird of September became thefourteentl,. To illustrate: Richard Mowry was born Feb. 11, 1748. 0. S., which would be Feb. 22, 1749, N. S. Yet we might find it in the old family Bible, Feb. 11, 174...,~9. The book is now sent out to the family, as the author's contribution towards rescuing from oblivion and preserving for posterity the rec ord of our ancestors, many of whom lived noble lives in the early his tory of these colonies. He l1opes it will prove reasonably satisfactory to the families, and that cl1arity will be shown towards its errors of commission and of omission. , ery respectfully, WILLIAlI A. 1\10\VRY. ELMWOOD, PROVIDESCE, Sept. 21. 18,8. CONTENTS. PAGE lNTRODCCTION 9 CHAPTER I. THE FIRST GKXERATIOS 29 CHAPTER II. THE SECOSD GEXERATION • 30 CHAPTER III. THE THIRD GEXERA.TION 55 CHAPTER IV. THE FOURTH GEX.EHA.TION • 66 CHAPTER Y. TUE FIFTH GENERATION 113 CHAPTER VI. TIIE SIXTH GENERATION CHAPTER VII. THE SEVENTH GENERATION 252 CHAPTER VIII. THE EIGHTH GENERATION . 301 ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS . 319 INDEX 327 INTRODUCTION. F&oM the records of real estate in the Town- of Provi dence, it appears that among the earliest, if not the earliest $ettlers in Northern Rhode Island, were Eow ARD INMAN, and JOHN MOWRY. Soon after these men had established themselves, we find STEPHEN .A.RNOLD and NA.THANIEL MowRY with them. Their first settlement was on Sayles's Hill, so called in modern times. The precise time, when they came to Rhode Island, is not known. Nor is it clear whether Edward and John came together or separately. It is surmised, however, that they both came here from the Massachusetts Bay Colony, where they had probably spent some time, prior to making their permanent settlement within the limits of this State. There is but little doubt that this is the John Mowry who came over from London in the ship Blessing in 1635, aged 19. H so, it is now unknown where he was dur ing the period that followed his landing 'in the Bay Colony, until we find him in Rhode Island.