Person:Philip Fowler (7)

Dr. Philip Fowler of Amesbury seems to be a oft-referenced person, but sources seem to do little more than name him as the husband of his wives, without giving any details about his origins (e.g., Source:Holman, Mary Lovering. Ancestry of Charles Stinson Pillsbury and John Sargent Pillsbury, p. 919). He does not seem to be mentioned in Source:Stickney, Matthew Adams. Fowler Family : A Genealogical Memoir of the Descendants of Philip and Mary Fowler, of Ipswich, Mass., Ten Generations,.

One of the few places that seems to describe the husband of Margaret Boynton and Abigail (--) Todd is a website that shows this Philip Fowler as the son of William Fowler and Hannah Dow, b. 1709, d. Newmarket 1767. But this website appears to have mixed together two different Philip Fowlers. There is a recorded birh in Amesbury for Philip, s/o William and Hannah, b. 1709, and this date matches well with the 1712 birth of Margaret Boynton. However, other facts may belong to a different person. Source:Herrick, Jedediah. Herrick Genealogy (1885 ed), says that the Philip who d. in Newmarket, NH, in 1767 "is reported to have fitted for Harv. coll., but did not enter" (i.e., would not have been called "Dr. Philip Fowler"). Further it says the Philip of Newmarket m. 1716 Susanna Jacob who lived until 1773 (i.e., he must have been born well before 1709 and married only once, i.e., to neither Margaret or Abigail). This is supported by Source:Fitts, James Hill. History of Newfields, New Hampshire, 1638-1911, which describes his will, dated 1754, proved 1767, mentioning wife; sons Philip, Jacob [i.e., the maiden name of his mother Susanna Jacob], Simonds [i.e.,the maiden name of Susanna Jacob's mother, Susanna Symonds]; daughters Elizabeth, Susanna, Judith and Mary [i.e., does not include Dinah, daughter of the Philip Fowler who married Abigail Todd]. So the Philip Fowler who d. Newmarket, NH, 1767 is not the correct Philip. Note: Source:Hoyt, David W. Old Families of Salisbury and Amesbury, Massachusetts, p. 164-5, says the son of Philip Fowler and Elizabeth Herrick, b. 1691, m. 1715 Susanna Jacob, but then proceeds to say that the son of William and Hannah, b. 1709, was the one who died in Newmarket in 1767. No marriages are given for the son of William, b. 1709. This erroneous data may have been the source that encouraged the website to make its error.

Source:Jewett, Amos Everett. Early Settlers of Rowley, Massachusetts (1933), in its coverage of Abner Todd, says that Abner's widow Abigail married Dr. Philip Fowler of Ipswich "as his third wife". They do not bother to identify the parents of Philip, nor the previous wives. If there were three, one must presume the first was to Deborah Russ, intentions published in Andover 1728. However, this marriage is before Philip Fowler, b. 1709, would have reached legal age.

We are left with a lot of doubts and few credible sources.