| Notes |
- From FindaGrave:
Elizabeth was born in Cranbrook, Kent, England and baptised at St. Dunstan's Church on November 1, 1590. She was the daughter of John Bigge and Rachel Martin. Her father was a clothier in Cranbrook. Elizabeth married at All Saints Church in Biddenden, Kent, on September 13, 1608, John Stowe. John was probably also a clothier.
John and Elizabeth had nine children, all born and baptised at Biddenden by 1629. The first three died young. The family, consisting of John, Elizabeth and their six surviving children, sailed for New England, arriving on May 17, 1634. They settled in Roxbury, where John became involved in the town government. Elizabeth's sister, Patience Foster, and their mother, Rachel Martin Bigge, both widows, sailed from England on April 17, 1635 and settled in Dorchester.
Elizabeth died in Roxbury and was buried on August 21, 1638, probably in the Eliot Burying Ground on Eustis Street. Rev. John Elliot wrote of her, "Elizabeth Stowe the wife of John Stowe, she was a very Godly matron, a blessing not only to her family but to all the church and when she had led a Christian conversation a few years among us, she dyed & left a good savor behind her." John outlived her and probably died shortly before 1654, in Concord.
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John Stow married in Biddenden, Kent, 13 September 1608 Elizabeth Bigg, baptized at Cranbrook, Kent, 1 November 1590, daughter of John and Rachel (Martin) Bigg. "Elizabeth the wife of John Stowe" was buried at Roxbury on 21 August 1638.
They had nine children: 2 unbaptized daughters, Elizabeth, Thomas, Elizabeth Archer, John, Nathaniel, Samuel, & Thankful Pierpont.
RACHEL (Martin) BIGG, widow of John Bigg and mother of Elizabeth (Bigg) Stow, sailed for New England in 1635. On the same ship was PATIENCE (Bigg) FOSTER, daughter of Rachel and sister of Elizabeth.
In 1852 Luther Metcalf Harris, in his genealogy of the family of MICHAEL METCALFE 1637, Dedham, stated that the immigrant's daughter married three times, to "Wm. Brignall," then to "Christopher Smith" (with apparent date of marriage of 2 August 1654), and finally to "[blank] Stow." This same claim has appeared in some form in many subsequent secondary sources, including the two leading treatments of the family of John Stow. In his will of 15 November 1664, Michael Metcalfe included bequests to "my daughter Stow" and "my daughter Stowe's eldest son which she had by her first husband, W[illia]m Brignall."
When Nathaniel Stow married his second wife at Concord on 20 August 1662, her name was given as "Martha Bignell." If she had been married to Christopher Smith between her marriages to Bignall and Stow, her name at marriage to the latter should have been Martha Smith. William Bignall (or Bicknall) died at Charlestown about June of 1659.
"Christopher Smith & Mary [or Martha] Metcalfe was married the 2 of the 6 month" 1654 at Dedham (the uncertainty as to the bride's given name is in the published vital records volume). Martha Metcalfe, daughter of the immigrant, was still married to William Bignall at this time. Michael Metcalfe, son of the immigrant, had died at Dedham on 25 March 1654, leaving his widow, Mary (Fairbanks) Metcalfe, available to marry Christopher Smith later in 1654. Martha Metcalfe, daughter of the immigrant, had only two husbands, William Bignall and Nathaniel Stow.
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Abt 1590 - 1638 (~ 47 years)
