George Bower

He was a planter and an early settler at Scituate in the Plymouth Colony, where he was freeman 7 March 1637 and a town officer. By the spring of 1639 he had removed to Plymouth, and on 5 March 1639 was elected constable for the whole of that town, although he did not sell his lands at Scituate or buy at Plymouth until 1640. He purchased lands at Eele River from Governor Winslow, who reserved the right of repurchase in part in case he should himself decide to settle there. He soon received complaints for not allowing the passage of cattle, and a committee was appointed to lay out ways through his land where they would be least prejudicial to him. In 1640 "John Barnes and George Bower", Richard Knowles's nearlest neighbor and his father-in-law, were given charge of procuring timber for the new Colony jail. In January 1642 a dozen or more Plymouth men contracted for building a barque on shares, a sixteenth part each to Mr. William Bradford, John Atwood, George Bower, Edward Bangs, and others. But George Bower soon removed to Cambridge, apparently for the education of his sons. On 31 May 1652 he was called before teh Court for voting when not a freeman of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. In his will, dated 8 November and proved 30 December 1656, he did not mention his daughter Ruth, but bequeathed to his wife, his sons Benanuel, John and Jerathmeeel, and his young daughters Patience and Silence. [From NEGHR 79:288 (The Knowles Family of Eastham)] ---- The parish registers of Braithwell, co. York, Eng., contain the record of teh marriage, 9 Feb 1614/5 of George Bower and Barbara Smyth; and the marriage license, as given in "Paver's Marriage Licenses", under the year 1614 (Yorkshire Archaelogical Journal, 13:379) reads: "George Bower, of Manby, (dioc. Lincoln), and Barbara Smith, of Braythwell -- at Braythwell." [Knowles Genealogy p. 10] Searches for baptismal records for Bowers children were unsuccessful [ibid]