Person:Moses How (1)

Browse
Moses How
d.16 Feb 1751
m. 18 Sep 1685
  1. Elisha HowBef 1689 - 1753
  2. Daniel How1689 -
  3. Nehemiah HowAbt 1693 - 1747
  4. Moses How1695 - 1751
  5. Ebenezer HowAbt 1697 - 1724
  6. Micagah How1700 - 1740
m. 1718
  1. Samuel Howe1719 -
  2. Sarah How1722 -
  3. Estes How1725 -
  4. Eunice How1727 -
  5. Anne How1729 -
  6. Moses How1732 -
  7. Micajah How1732 -
  8. Elizabeth How1736 -
  9. Caroline How1738 -
  10. Elijah How1741 -
m. 9 Sep 1742
  1. Jonas How1743 -
Facts and Events
Name Moses How
Gender Male
Birth[1] 27 Aug 1695 Sudbury, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States
Marriage 1718 Sudbury, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United Statesto Eunice Rogers
Marriage 9 Sep 1742 Concord, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United Statesto Hannah _____
Alt Death? 16 Feb 1750 Rutland, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States
Death? 16 Feb 1751

Uncertainty

The information about Moses is reported as found in secondary sources, but that some of the data is uncertain, should not be forgotten. The notes added to some of the source citations point out some of the problems of basing work on secondary sources.

Moses's birth date seems to be reported everywhere as 27 Aug 1695 even though it is not to be found in the Sudbury VRs. It would be useful to discover how it is known, or indeed how his parentage was established, since none of the sources given any information about his father Samuel's will or probate, other than one reference to it dragging out, and 13 children. Of course, Moses' first son was named Samuel, and Moses' age at death, testify to the reasonableness of these items, but precise data requires precise evidence, not circumstantial clues. [For illustration only: Gershom How of Marlborough named a son Moses in 1724/25. Could this be naming a child after a brother? He was a son of Eleazer How of Marlborough. There is a gap in the births of Eleazer and Hannah's children (1694-1699) into which this Moses would fit perfectly.]

The death date is open to issues of interpretation. Of course, it is seen in secondary sources as 1749, 1750, and 1751, but whether it is 1749/1750 or 1750/1751 is open to question. The latter is most likely.

The identify of his first wife is not known as there is no marriage record. The name Eunice Rogers is found in the Howe Genealogies, immediately followed by the remark that her ancestry is unknown. So it is very unclear how her maiden name was arrived at. [For illustration only: both Moses and his son Samuel named sons Estes. This would be very typical if Eunice's maiden name was Estes.]

The identity of his second wife as Hannah Heald comes from the marriage record. Sources for the Heald family show her as the widow of Timothy Heald, whose maiden name is unknown, but who executed a deed giving her right in Timothy's estate to her children, just days before apparently marrying Moses How. Source:Parlin, Frank Edson. Parlin Genealogy, the Descendants of Nicolas Parlin of Cambridge, Mass shows her as the daughter of Gershom Heald and Hannah Parlin, b. 1701, as her only marriage. It is unclear what the Parlin Genealogy based its conclusion on, seeing as how, if they are right, they likely missed the entire first marriage. Are they both half-right? Source:Welch, Linda Margaret Farr. Families of Cavendish takes the middle road and identifies her as Hannah Parlin without providing parents or birthdate. Half of two rights makes a wrong?

David How, another of Samuel's sons, and Moses' purported brother, operated How's Tavern in Sudbury, later called the Red Horse Tavern, apparently the inspiration for Hawthorne's Tales of the Wayside Inn. I have yet to locate the under-identified book that supposedly gives information on Moses.

References
  1. Cutter, William Richard (ed.). Historic Homes and Places and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families of Middlesex County, Massachusetts. (New York, New York : Lewis Historical Pub. Co., 1908)
    Vol. 4, ;p. 1885.

    Moses Howe, "youngest son" of Samuel Howe and 2nd wife Sarah (Leavitt) Clapp, b. Sudbury 27 Aug 1695, d. Rutland 16 Feb 1749, m. Eunice ----.
    [Note: according to Howe Genealogies, he was not the youngest son.]

  2.   Cutter, William Richard. Genealogical and family history of the State of Connecticut: a record of the achievements of her people in the making of a commonwealth and the founding of a nation. (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1911)
    Vol. 2, Part 2, p. 1131.

    Moses Howe, s/o Samuel Howe, b. Rutland, d. 16 Feb 1749, m. (1) Eunice ---, m. (2) Hannah Heald of Concord.
    [Note: Elijah, b. 1741, is said to be the first child born in Rutland, but son Samuel's birth is recorded in Rutland in 1719, and of course, Elijah couldn't be first if Moses himself was born in Rutland as stated [but probably incorrectly since the death of Moses' father is found in Sudbury suggesting the family was living there].]

  3.   Rutland, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. Vital Records of Rutland, Massachusetts, to the end of the year 1849. (Worcester, Massachusetts: Franklin P. Rice, 1905)
    p. 233.

    HOW, Moses, [died] Feb. 16, 1750, in his 55th year.
    [One would expect this date to be 16 Feb 1750/51, but based on the secondary literature, it seems to commonly interpreted as 16 Feb 1749/50. He was age 54, making his birth 1695 or 1696.]

  4.   Howe, Daniel Wait, and revised/edited by Gilman Bigelow Howe. Howe Genealogies. (Boston, Mass.: New England Historical Genealogical Society (Printed by Record Publishing Company, Haverhill, Mass.), 1929)
    p. 22.

    Moses Howe [#15], s/o Samuel, b. Sudbury 27 Aug 1695, m. (1) abt 1718 Eunice Rogers, m. (2) 9 Sep 1742 Hannah Heald of Concord.

  5.   FROM FRANK A. WRIGHT
    FROM BROOKFIELD, WAS IN HARDWICK, THEN RUTLAND MASS.
    INFO. FROM BOOK ABOUT WAYSIDE INN