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He served as a Sergeant in the militia and saw considerable Indianfighting. His farm was near those of his brothers Jeremiah and Henry,the three being parts of a single property owned by their father. Itwas he who first spied the Indians in the great raid of August 17,1703, and ran giving the alarm to the nearest blockhouse Per research of Bill Prokasy and entered on gencircles.com: Joseph3 Dow was a weaver and lived in that part of South Seabrook, adjacent to Salisbury, which has been called Byfield since theearliest times. Indeed, to get into Byfield or out of it by road, in oldentimes, one had to go through a corner of Salisbury, Massachusetts. At thetine the town-by-town list of ratable estates was made in the Province ofNew Hampshire in 1742, the Hampton Falls list (which would then haveincluded present-day Seabrook and was colloquially called the"District of South Hampton" for a short time, not to be confused withthe nearby town of South Hampton) contains a section entitled, "theinvoice of yt part of Salisbury Called byfield," once again pointingup the confusion over which side of the Province Line this area was on; Elihu, Eliphaz,Judah, Bildad and Noah all appear together on that list (manuscript, N.H. Division of Records Management and Archives, Concord). Joseph3 Dow was very active in land transactions, and bought and sold many parcels of land in his lifetime, and owned an interest in a sawand grist mill in Salisbury. Prior to his death he sold a number of piecesof land to his sons Amasa, Elihu, John and Eliphaz (Essex County Deeds, 43:250-251, 65:271-272, 67:52-53, and 66:254-255), and in other transactions speaks of some of his brothers. That he left an estate appaised at £787.8.0, including a dwelling house, about 70 acres of upland, and about nine acres of salt marsh, proves that he had not"sunk into obscurity" (The Book of Dow, 96). Administration of his estatewas granted to his oldest surviving son, John4, with sureties on his bondof administration being Jarvis Ring and his brother, James4 Dow. Theirfine signatures appear among the papers on file, as well as two notessigned by Joseph3 Dow in 1733 and filed as part of the estate. In addition,two examples of the autograph of Noah4 Dow, son of Joseph3 Dow, are in the file. All signatures show a strong, well educated hand. Joseph3 Dow is spoken of as "Mr Joseph Dow" in one place in the file. His son John,as administrator, complained that Joseph's Sons Eliphaz, Noah and Bildad were withholding a yoke of oxen, a cow, and a two-rod measuring chain from the estate. Noah appeared and swore that there was a pair of oxen and a cow belonging to his father when he died, but that he did notknow where they were. The outcome of the controversy is not clear from the probate file (Estate of Joseph Dow, Salisbury. Essex County Probate,No. 8220). It is clear from deeds that Joseph3 Dow lived in the area now known as South Seabrook, but formerly called Byfield. This seems to be wherehis father and mother, and at least some siblings, lived, too (EssexCounty Deeds, 13:151-152). And five of Joseph3' s sons carried on in the same place. The land inherited from Lt. Philip1 Watson-Challis and sold by Joseph3 and Hannah (Challis) Dow to John Challis, and later given byhim to Zerviah, Noah, Bildad and Judah in token of their having cared for their aged parents, is described as being near the road leading to the boiling spring, and bordering Dow's Farm. This last designation seemsto refer to what was frequently described as "Joseph Dow's GreatPasture." The land is located in the Gravelly Ridge Division, formerly socalled, adjacent to the state line, and accessible from the Collins Road which leads from Salisbury to South Seabrook. The road to the boiling springis now gone, but one can follow the railroad track in about half way tothe present Walton Road, and the boiling spring is on the west side of the track, between two railroad ties, the workmen not knowing a spring was there when the tracks were laid. At last reports, it still overflowsin the springtime and runs off into a brook. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - Sources Joseph was in young manhood sgt of militia and saw considerable Indianfighting. He made a rather brilliant marriage, --to Mary Callis (oneof 12 children), of Amesbury. Philip Challis came from England toIpswich 1637; received allotment of land in Salisbury 1640;representative to General Court 1662. Mary Challis readily joined theFriends and one of her brothers had preceded her. Joseph continuedQuaker after his 2nd marriage, altho laxly. Left a widower, Joseph Dow could not expect to make a second marriageas brilliantly as his first, for the Quaker colony was then holdingvery much aloof. Nevertheless, he was in the prime of manhood, ofpromise, and, as times went, of considerable property. That he sankinto obscurity is partly due to the surrender of his own ambition,partly to the Seabrook environment. Seabrook had few records of itsown and was becoming forgotten by the rest of the world. Joseph's 2ndmarriage and 2nd family were unknown until 1918, altho a number of Dowwere known, unplaced but near to him. A recent search of court recordsin Salem cleared up a mystery which has been the despair of Dowgenealogists for forty years. It is now known that Joseph lived in hisown home until his death in 1734. His farm was near those of hisbrothers Jeremiah and Henry, the three being parts of a singleproperty owned by their father. It was he who first spied the Indiansin the great raid of Aug 17, 1703, and ran giving the alarm to thenearest blockhouse. While this raid was engineered by the Frenchgovernment of Canada, it is worthy of note that Joseph's family didnot suffer from it. Perhaps this was due to Joseph's Indian wife. The second marriage took place between 1698 and 1703. It is a vaguetradition that Joseph Dow had disapproved and would not recognize thebride. However, Joseph Jr. soon received his full share ofinheritance. The bride was Hannah, a child taken from her Indianparents with full permission by a Seabrook Quaker family to be broughtup and educated as a Christian. Such were becoming quite customary,and as a rule the girls became valuable members of the community.This, however, is the only recorded mixed marriage in Seabrook. Hannahproved a good wife and mother; as widow Hannah Dow she appears on theHampton Falls tax books, paying on a small piece of real estate until1751. This date probably marks her death. Vague tradition has it thatshe had two daughters, besides the known four sons, and that adaughter was 1st born. It appears that (page 40 of Dow) AbrahamSanborn married Abigail Dow, daughter of Joseph. This may be error,and not Dow at all. If correct, she can only be a daughter of Joseph.The matter is too uncertain to appear in our letter key. The four sons, known always as individuals, altho unplaced, are provedby Salem court records, birthdates conjectured from various sources. Joseph managed to keep his full share of his inheritance, his estate,787 £ 8 s being about its equal. To him belongs the Seabrook record: dFeb 6, 1734-5, but earlier genealogists stumbled because no deathrecord had appeared for Joseph Dow (his son b. 1688), whose estate wasadministered in 1738, it being guessed that three years might haveintervened. Salem court records set the matter right. Joseph diedintestate and his son John applied promptly for letters ofadministration. By this time the children by the 1st marriage all hadhomes of their own. Administration was granted Feb 21, 1734-5, and theadministrator had trouble in making an inventory of the property, socomplaining to the court alleging that Noah, Eliphaz and Bildad werewithholding oxen and other personal property from the estate. This wasfollowed by a citation Mch 4, 1734-5, to Eliphaz, Noah and Bildad.Judah was not cited because he was not of age. The matter was speedilyadjusted. 4
Karl-Heinz
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