Arrived on the Elizabeth Bonaventure.

John Stowe emigrated in 1634 with his wife, and six children. The Roxbury Church records contain the notation, "“John Stow he arrived at New England the 17th of the 3rd month [May] anno 1634. He brought his wife & 6 children: Thomas, Elizabeth, John, Nathaniel, Samuel, Thankfull." He was made freeman 3 Sept 1634.

Source: http://www.dmarlin.com/hawley/downloads/docs/stowfamilyindepth.pdf

The following year (1634) the EB2 came over a second time with a Fleet of 7 ships out of 14 ships that came over that year.

" The ships names were; Clement and Job, Reformation, True Love, Elizabeth Bonaventure, Sea Flower, Planter, and Neptune. These ships bound for New England & now lying in the river of Thames, were held by order of the Privy Council on Febuary 22nd, until further order. On Febuary 28th they were released under bond of a hundred pounds to conform to certain 'articles'. It is probable that most of them came to Boston during the week of May 12-17 (1634) with store of passengers and cattle. Winthrop said they had enjoyed a short passage. Of the store of passengers less than a score is known."

Documentation for these voyages is in Planters of the Commonwealth by Charles E. Banks who in turn was quoting from; The Winthrop Journal pages 1, 102, 125, 127.

Source: http://www.lacolony.org/rs9.html

The ship that John Stowe, his wife, and his children arrived on is unknown, but it was recorded that they left England on 9 April and arrived in New England 17 May, 1634.

Find-a-Grave Memorial #104267032

Note: Some sources say that John died on October 26, 1643 in Roxbury, but the Pierpoint deed indicates that he died later. The John who died in 1643 probably was a man named John Stone and the record was misread as Stowe. Threllfall claims that the elder John died shortly before 1654, in Concord. The Old Hill Burying Ground has no records of anyone buried there that early, but all the other Stow burials in Concord are in that cemetery, so he was probably buried there.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

John "The Immigrant" Stowe"

John Stowe is the ancestor of the well-known Stowe family of New England. Baptized at Biddenden, England on January 14, 1581-2. He married Elizabeth Bigge, daughter of John Bigge and Rachel Martin on September 13, 1608 in Biddendent. John and his wife emigrated to New England in 1634, with their six children and his mother-in-law, Rachel Biggs. They left England on 9 April and arrived in New England 17 May, 1634.

Sources and Notes

John Stowe (1638), of Roxbury. The Roxbury Church Records, written by Rev. John Eliot, say, "John Stow, he arrived at N. E the 17th of the 3d month [May] ano 1634. he brought his wife & 6 children." The records mention his wife, "Elizabeth Stow, the wife of John Stow [1638], she was a very godly matron, a blessing not only to her family but to all the church & when she had lead a christian conversation a few years among us, She dyed & left a good savor behind her." He was admitted a freeman Sept. 3, 1634, and his wife died, or was buried, Aug. 21, 1638. He represented Roxbury at both sessions of the General Court held in 1639, and he died Oct. 26, 1643. He was granted one hundred acres of land in 1642, for writing [transcribing] the laws of the colony.
The church records doubtless refer to Mr. Stowe (1638) in the following, quoted from the Boston Record Commissioners' Report, Vol. VI., p. 171: "Month 8 day 26 [1643], Goodman Stone [Stowe], an old Kentish man dyed, he was not of the Church, yet on his sick bed some had some hopes of him."
John Pierpont married Thankful, daughter of John Stowe (1638), and bought, probably of the heirs, the Stowe homestead on Meeting-House Hill, as recorded in Roxbury I^and Records, p. 99. From this family sprung the Connecticut Pierponts: John Pierpont, poet and clergyman, and Edwards Pierpont, formerly minister to England. Sarah Pierpont, granddaughter of John and Thankful (Stowe) Pierpont, became the wife of the eminent Jonathan Edwards. Thomas Stowe, son of John Stowe (1638), joined the Artillery Company in 1638.
Thomas Stowe (1638), of Braintree, was the eldest son of John Stowe (1638), of Roxbury. He was born in England, and came to America with his parents in 1634. He married, Dec. 4, 1639, at Roxbury, Mary Griggs, and soon after removed to Concord, where he was admitted a freeman in 1653. He removed thence to Middleton about 1654. He died, probably, early in 1684, as the inventory of his estate was returned to the Probate Court, Feb. 23 of that year.

Source for above: History of the Military Company of the Massachusetts, now called, the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts:1637-1888, Volume 1 (Google eBook) by Oliver Ayer Roberts. A. Mudge & Son, 1895. Page 79

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http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/b/a/r/Tami-K-Barton/GENE...

John, baptized at Biddenden, January 14, 1581-2. Died probably at Concord, Mass., 1653; married at Biddeden, Sept. 13, 1608, Elizabeth Bigge, daughter of John and Rachel (Martin) Bigge of Cranbrooke, Kent, who was buried in Roxbury, Mass., Aug. 21, 1638. This John Stowe with his wife and six children emigrated to New England, arriving at Boston, according to the record of Rev. John Eliot, on the 17th of May 1634. He was admitted freeman Sept. 3, 1634, and was a proprietor at Roxbury, Representative to the General Court, two sessions, joined the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Co. Boston 1638, together with his son Thomas. He was early a teacher in the Roxbury Grammar school, and was granted eighty acres of land for transcribing the Roxbury public recors. The Pastor of the Church at Roxbury makes the following eulogistic entry in the redords: "The wife of John Stowe was buried August 21, 1638. She was a very godly matron, a blessing not only to her family but to all the Church and when she had led a Christian conversation a few years among us she died and left a good savor behind her."
From "Ancestry and Some of the Descendants of Capt. Stephen Stowe of Milford, Conn." collected by Nathan Stowe 1924 pg 4 & 5
"Founders of Patriots" John Stowe came on Elizabeth 1634. to Roxbury Ma. d. there in 26 Oct 1643.

John Stow, from Kent, Eng., 1634; returned to Eng., 1635, and back to America, 1636, bringing his four son, Thomas, John, Samuel and Stephen; settled at Roxbury, Mass.; m -------Biggs from "The Compendium of American Genealogy" First Families of America Vol IV pg 76

John Stowe (John, John), ...died at Roxbury 26 Oct. 1643 from English Origins of New England Families, Series 1, Vol., 1, (#181), "CD-ROM," 438.

                                   (The Stow Line)

     Stow or Stowe, as a surname, is of local origin, and refers to one of the parishes "pf Stow or Stowe," in England. The names derive from the Anglo-Saxon and Middle English stow, meaning "place." In the Hundred Rolls of 1273 are listed Baldwin de Stow, of County Cambridge, and Warin de Stowe, Fulk de Stow and Oda de Stow, of Country Lincoln.

     John Stow, of who further, is believed to have been a grandson of Thomas Stow (brother of John Stow, the famous antiquary, chronicler of the Kings f England, and surveyor of the city of London) and his wife Margaret, and a great-grandson of Thomas Stow (tallow chandler of St. Michaels Parish, Cornhill London) and his wife Elizabeth

Source for below is The New York genealogical and biographical record, Volume 44

In the ship Elizabeth which sailed 9 April and arrived in New England 17 May, 1634, bringing John Stow and his family, we also find his mother-in-law Rachel Biggs and, despite the fact that Mr. Waters in his Gleanings has given as much relating to the Bigge or Biggs familyf, no light has ever been thrown upon the maiden name of Rachel, so that it was with much satisfaction that, among the Bigge entries of marriages in St. Mildred's Church, Tenterden, Co. Kent, published in the same number of the Register, was found 1583—John Bigge of Cranbrooke and Rachel Martin of Lidde, 14 September. In the McDonoughHackstaff Genealogy it is stated that Rachel Bigg was born in or before 1579 and in view of the date of her marriage, it would appear that it was certainly before but, because of a mistake in the list of passengers on the Elizabeth, we cannot tell her age when she landed. In this list it is given as 6 , which may have been meant for 69 perhaps if she was about 17 when married.

Rachel Bigg made her will 17 November, 1646 and it was attested by Richard Peacocke, one of the witnesses, 30 June, 1647, her "sonne in law" John Stowe being Executor, so that Savage is in error in stating that John died in 1643. It would appear that he sold his land in Roxbury in 1648 and removed to Concord probably late in the year, as he made an Inventory of the estate of John Levins of Roxbury 30 August, 1648. He probably later removed to Middleton, Conn., and died there. His son Thomas went to Middleton in 1659 and Samuel removed there in 1652.

John, baptized at Biddenden, January 14, 1581-2. Died probably at Concord, Mass., 1653; married at Biddeden, Sept. 13, 1608, Elizabeth Bigge, daughter of John and Rachel (Martin) Bigge of Cranbrooke, Kent, who was buried in Roxbury, Mass., Aug. 21, 1638. This John Stowe with his wife and six children emigrated to New England, arriving at Boston, according to the record of Rev. John Eliot, on the 17th of May 1634. He was admitted freeman Sept. 3, 1634, and was a proprietor at Roxbury, Representative to the General Court, two sessions, joined the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Co. Boston 1638, together with his son Thomas. He was early a teacher in the Roxbury Grammar school, and was granted eighty acres of land for transcribing the Roxbury public recors. The Pastor of the Church at Roxbury makes the following eulogistic entry in the redords: "The wife of John Stowe was buried August 21, 1638. She was a very godly matron, a blessing not only to her family but to all the Church and when she had led a Christian conversation a few years among us she died and left a good savor behind her." From "Ancestry and Some of the Descendants of Capt. Stephen Stowe of Milford, Conn." collected by Nathan Stowe 1924 pg 4 & 5 "Founders of Patriots" John Stowe came on the ship "Elizabeth" 1634. to Roxbury Ma. d. there in 26 Oct 1643.

John Stow, from Kent, Eng., 1634; returned to Eng., 1635, and back to America, 1636, bringing his four son, Thomas, John, Samuel and Stephen; settled at Roxbury, Mass.; m -------Biggs from "The Compendium of American Genealogy" First Families of America Vol IV pg 76

John Stowe and Elizabeth (Bigge) Stowe, his wife, the emigrants to New England, had a second son and sixth child, John Stowe, baptized at Biddenden, co. Kent, 10 Oct. 1619, who emigrated with his parents to New England in 1634, and of whom it is said in the "Register" vol.710, p.348, that he "probably d.s.p. before Sept. 1653, when his brothers and sisters joined with their cousins,m the children of Patience (Bigge) Foster, in collecting the legacies left them by their uncles, Smalehope and John Bigge, in England." It is now possible to state that John Stowe died comparatively young and unmarried, at Croanbrook, between 28 Sept. and 2 Dec. 1643, aged 24. His will, mentioning relatives both in Kent and in New England, follows.

     The Will of John Stowe of Cranbrooke, co. Kent, clothier, 28 Sept. 1643. Sick and weak of body. All my goods and chattles which my uncle Hope Bigg gave to me, now in the possession of my father John Stowe now in New England, to my said father John Stowe. To my sisters Elizabeth and Thankfull, all that share of land due to me by the gift of my uncle John Bigg, situate in New Enlgand, which said land is of certain lands given by my said Uncle John Bigg to be equally divided between my brother Thomas, myself, my brothers Nathaniel and Samuel, and my cousin Hopestill Foster, and my said two sisters Elizabeth and Thankfull. To John Stowe, son of my brother Thomas Stowe, my share of land in Cranbrooke, Wittersam, and Lidd, given to me by my Uncle John Bigg, at his age of 21; meantime, Thomas Stowe, his father and my brother, to take the profits. If this John die before reaching the age of 21, the eldest John Sowe of any of my said brothers' sons to enjoy the land. My share of land given by my said Unlce John Stowe in Maidstone, Linton and Jorsmonden (to be divided as above), after the death of the widow of my said Uncle John Bigg, shall be divided between my brothers Thomas, Nathaniel and Samuel. To my cousin William Ayres, £5. To my aunt Elizabeth Watson, 20s. To my cousin Susan Smith, £5. To Daniel and Mary Batup, children of my cousin Thomas Batup, 20s. each. To my cousin William Boyse, 50s. To my cousin Mary Batup, wife of Thomas, 10s. My executor to take the profits of my lands in Old England to pay my debts, except my debts in New England. My debts in New England to be paid out of my lands there. I appoint my Uncle Peter Masters of Cranbrook executor, and give him £10. for his pains. My cousins Thomas Batup, William Boyse and William Ayres to be overseers. Witnesses, Andrew Putt ? and Nathaniel Jarrand. Proved, 2 Dec. 1643, by the executor named. 

"History of Roxbury" by Hon. E. Sterns

John Stowe of Roxbury, brought over his wife Elizabeth and six children born in England, in 1634. The came in the ship 'Elizabeth'. He came from Hawhurst, Kent, England, was made a freeman in 1634, Representative of Roxbury in 1639. In 1639 he owned 225 acres and had 21 persons in his family, owned 20 goats and 8 kids. Stern calls him 'an old Kentish Man'. 

More About JOHN STOWE:

Buried at: Unknown location

Fact 1: January 14, 1581/82, Baptized at Biddenden, County of Kent, England

Fact 2: April 9, 1634, passenger on 'Elizabeth', in one of John Winthrop's Companies

Fact 3: September 3, 1634, "freeman" at Boston; 1638 - member of the Anchient and Honerable Artillery Co.

Fact 7: May 17, 1634, Ship 'Elizabeth' arrived at Boston , Mass. With his wife and six children, he emigrated to New England, arriving there, according to Rev. John Eliot's statement on May 17, 1634. Rev. John Eliot calls him "an old Kentish man". His wife's mother, Rachel (Martin) Bigge, emigrated to New England in the Spring of 1635, together with another one of her daughters, Patience, and the latter's son, Hopestill Foster. 

Much of this information was learned after a call was issued for any lineal descendant of John Stowe, of Roxbury, Mass., to meet in Milford, Conn., pursuant to the organization of an association. Such a society was formed on January 07, 1869, and the name "Stow Association" was adopted. The association was to claim this legacy for the Stow descendants living in America.
The wills that were the subject of this investigation were that of Smallhope Bigg, clothier, of Cranbrooke, County of Kent, England, dated May 03, 1638, which names:
... "my sisters Patience Foster and Elizabeth Stow in New England. To Hopestill Foster, son of my sister - three hundred pounds. To Thomas and John, son of my sister Stow - two hundred pounds each. To Elizabeth Stow and the other three children (under age) of my said sister Stow"...
The will of John Bigg, of Maidstone, County of Kent, England, dated August 17, 1640 names:
..."My mother Bigg, my sister Foster, my brother Stowe, all these living in New England. Hopestill Foster, Thomas Stowe, John Stowe, Nathaniel Stowe, Samuel Stowe, my brother Stowe's two daughters, Elizabeth Stowe, Thankful Stowe"...
An instrument dated September 10, 1653, and recorded with Suffolk Deeds in England indicates that a dispute arose between the heirs of these estates, and the court was finally asked to settle their differences:
"Hopestill Foster of the one part and Thomas, Nathaniel and Samuel Stowe of the other part, all of New England, for the purpose of ending the "many & uncomfortable differences" which have arisen concerning the will of their deceased uncles Mr. Smallhope Bigg and Mr. John Bigg, both of the County of Kent in Old England, and which "have occasioned much trouble each to other p'tie & likewise uncongortable suits att Lawe," agree that each party shall "enjoy what they now enjoy namely Hopestill Foster or his assignes the one half of all those lands in Cranbrooke Withersham & Lidd which Mr. Smallhop Bigg gave unto Samuel Bigg his brothers Sonne & Thomas Stowe and his sonne John as heires to John Stowe his Unkle deceased nad Nathaniel and Samuel Stowe the other half of the said land and likewise quitely & peacably to enjoy the lands of Mr. John Bigg of 60 a yeare or hereabouts which he decided as by his will exp'sed unto Hopestill Foster 15 a yeare, John Stowe 15 a yeare, Thomas, Nathaniel & Samuel, ye remainder."
John's burial place is unknown, but since he died before the opening of the oldest burying ground in Concord, it is probable that he was buried on the property of his sons Thomas and Samuel, in Concord, near the Sudbury Line.
Investors in the Massachusetts Bay Company, who were called "freemen", could each year elect a governor, deputy-governor, and eighteen assistants. These officials were empowered to make laws for the colony, admit new members, and defend the colony against land and sea attack. John was twice elected to the General Court (Assembly) from Roxbury, and was evidently a man of affairs, for his name appears frequently in the settlement of estates, as debtor or creditor, and the first nine recorded deeds in Roxbury bear his name as a witness. His original homestead in "Rocksbury" was near the present NE corner of Cedar and Highland Streets, Roxbury district, Boston, Massachusetts, and was between "the lands of Alcock, Newell and Ruggles". This is between Roxbury Crossing and Eliot Square. In a list dated between 1634 and 1643, entitled "Note of ye estates and persons of ye inhabitants of Rocksbury", he is credited with 253 acres of land, 20 goats, 8 kids, and an estate of 2 pounds, 17 shillings, and 6 pence. This places him as the eighth largest landholder on the list.
In 1648 John Stow was the first teacher in the First Free School in Roxbury, with board being provided for "Father Stow and his son", the latter probably being Samuel Stow. John sold his property in Roxbury on June 20, 1648, to John Pierpont, who later married his daughter Thankful, and moved to Concord, Mass. In October 1648 he joined in a petition to the General Court for the division of 4000 acres allotted to Roxbury, where he signed for 253 acres.
*****

English Origins of American Colonists 

[p.101] CLUES FROM ENGLISH ARCHIVES 

CONTRIBUTORY TO AMERICAN GENEALOGY. 

BY J. HENRY LEA AND J. R. HUTCHINSON. 

English Origins of American Colonists, p.101

The fourteenth day of August, 1656, I WILLIAM BOYS of Cran-brooke in the county of Kent, clothier, being in some good measure of health, doe make and ordain this my last will. My bodie I will to be decently buried at the discretion of Joan my wife, whom I make sole executrix of this my will. I give and bequeath unto Sibylla Boys my eldest daughter £200 when she shall attain the age of eighteen years; to Mary Boys my daughter the like summe at her said age; and to my four sonnes John, Thomas, William and Joseph Boys £200 apiece of good English money at their severall ages of one and twenty years. As for my house and land in Cranbrooke, which now I inabite and which I lately purchased, viz, seven parts of eight parts thereof, I give the same unto Joan my wife during her naturall life and after her decease unto my four sonnes before named equally and to their heirs for ever. And if it shall happen that the other part should be desired to be sold, which now belongs unto John Slow sonne of Thomas Slow in New England, then my mind and will is that my wife shall purchase the same in behalf of my four sonnes, paying for it out of the portions before given them. If my said wife happen to marry again she shall give sufficient suritie to my brother Edmund Colvill of Maidstone for payment of my children's portions. Witnesses: none. Proved 24 Feb., 1656-7, by Joan Boys the relict and executrix. (P.C.C. RUTHEN, 72.) 

English Origins of American Colonists, p.101

The above will was printed by us in the RECORD of January, 1911, but is repeated here as it contains an evident error in the reference to John Slow son of Thomas Slow of New England, for attention to which we have to thank our esteemed correspondent Mr. Henry Wykoff Belknap of Salem, Mass., whose notes on the subject we have pleasure in printing herewith and whose contention that the name should be Stow is undoubtedly correct, as his reference to a note on this will in the New England REGISTER made by the careful hand of Mr. William S. Appleton* , goes to confirm his argument as well as the suspicion of Savage* that an error might exist in the American Records in these names. 

English Origins of American Colonists, p.101

A very careful rereading of the will at Somerset House has developed the fact that the names are exactly as heretofore printed, so that the error was evidently that of the registering clerk of the period, as is too often the case. Mr. Belknap's letter follows: 

English Origins of American Colonists, p.101

"The will refers to a house and land in Cranbrooke of which one eighth part belonged to John Slow sonne of Thomas Slow in [p.102] New England. In a note the contributors state that Thomas Slow was of Providence, R. I., and was admitted Freeman there in 1655, with a reference to Savage as authority. 

English Origins of American Colonists, p.102

Savage does make this statement but qualifies it by adding "if not Stowe." That his doubt was justified there can be little question and, so far as this will is concerned, a reference to it will be found in the New England Register, Vol. 53, page 301, in which the name is given as STOW.* 

English Origins of American Colonists, p.102

John Stow, according to the Rev. John Elliott's Record of Church Members, arrived in New England the 17th of the 3rd month anno 1634. He brought with him his wife and six children: Thomas, Elizabeth, John, Nathaniel, Samuel and Thankful. Elizabeth Stow, the wife of John Stow, she was a very godly matron, a blessing not only to her family but to all the church & when she had lead a Christian conversation a few years among us she dyed & left a good savor behind her. 

English Origins of American Colonists, p.102

Through the publication in the New England Register, page 58, January, 1912, we have the records of the Parish of All Saints Church, Biddenden, Co. Kent, between 1558 and 1638, so far as they relate to the family of BIGGE and among them is that of the marriage 1608 of John Stowe and Elizabeth Bigge 13 September. 

English Origins of American Colonists, p.102

In the ship Elizabeth which sailed 9 April and arrived in New England 17 May, 1634, bringing John Stow and his family, we also find his mother-in-law Rachel Biggs and, despite the fact that Mr. Waters in his GLEANINGS has given as much relating to the Bigge or Biggs family* , no light has ever been thrown upon the maiden name of Rachel, so that it was with much satisfaction that, among the Bigge entries of marriages in St. Mildred's Church, Tenterden, Co. Kent, published in the same number of the Register, was found 1583 — John Bigge of Cranbrooke and Rachel Martin of Lidde, 14 September. In the McDonough-Hackstaff Genealogy it is stated that Rachel Bigg was born in or before 1579 and in view of the date of her marriage, it would appear that it was certainly before but, because of a mistake in the list of passengers on the Elizabeth, we cannot tell her age when she landed. In this list it is given as 6, which may have been meant for 69 perhaps if she was about 17 when married. 

English Origins of American Colonists, p.102

Rachel Bigg made her will 17 November, 1646 and it was attested by Richard Peacocke, one of the witnesses, 30 June, 1647, her "sonne in law" John Stowe being Executor, so that Savage is in error in stating that John died in 1643. It would appear that he sold his land in Roxbury in 1648 and removed to Concord probably late in the year, as he made an Inventory of the estate of John Levins of Roxbury 30 August, 1648. He probably later removed to Middleton, Conn., and died there. His son Thomas went to Middleton in 1659 and Samuel removed there in 1652. HENRY W. BELKNAP." 

English Origins of American Colonists, p.102

Salem, Mass., Feb., 1912." [p.103] Our apologies are due alike to our correspondent and to our readers for the delay of over a year from the receipt of his letter and the laying of it, and the above corrections, before the public, a delay which has been in no manner the fault of the writers but due to matters entirely beyond their control.