Samuel Stow (1651) / Hope (Fletcher) Stow

Name: Samuel Stow

Birth: February 8, 1623, Biddenden, Kent, England (Parish Register; see "Genealogical Research in England: Stowe," by Elizabeth French, NEHGS Register, Vol. 70, October 1916, pg. 347-349)

Emigration: He arrived in Boston May 17, 1634 with his parents on the Elizabeth Bonaventure.(NEHGS Register, Vol. 70, p. 348) To Middletown by November 1652.(FFS)

Death: May 8, 1704, Middletown, Conn.(MVR)

Occupation & Public Service: Minister - founder and first pastor of the First Ecclesiastical Society in Middletown. In November, 1652, the town meeting was held at his house. "In 1668 he was chosen rate maker, and in 1679/80, the Townsmen were ordered 'to make Adres to Mr. Stow in order to being a Schoollmaster for the years insuing.'"(FFS)

Marriage: m. Hope Fletcher, May 8, 1649, Chelmsford, Mass. (b. 1624/25, England; d. before 1702, Middletown, Conn.) She was a daughter of William Fletcher, of Chelmsford, Mass. ("Genealogical Research in England: Stowe," by Elizabeth French, NEHGS Register, Vol. 70, October 1916, pg. 347-349)

Children: 8 children between 1650-1668.(MVR, BCVR, The Wetmore Family of America/Wetmore, 1861; Families of Ancient New Haven/Jacobus,1974) (See in-depth profile in Member Area for details.)

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The First Meeting House, Middletown, Conn. The engraving below by W.C. Butler was a fanciful illustration for David Field's Centennial Address published in 1853. In 1939 the image was used on the title page of The Log Cabin Myth by Harold R. Shurtleff. Surrounding the engraving are signatures of some of the first settlers as found on wills and deeds by Charles C. Adams in preparation of Middletown Upper Houses (1908).