THE DOWS OF NEW BRUNSWICK

        The author of The Book of Dow, on pages 721 and 723, made these statement about New Brunswick Dows between his listing of bcdgdj and bcdgdk:   

        "One may easily realize that along the western border of New Brunswick over two-thirds of the population is closely akin with the posterity of Enoch Dow bcdgd.

        "In the great mass of unconnected Dow data in possession of the Author there were many originating from N.B.  Most of these have slowly been proven and placed in order, but some remain and are placed here, index key letters for convenience.  There have been almost no Dow immigrants to N.B. since 1800; all Dow in the Province seem either of the bcdgd line, bbbfa line or the g Dow family line spreading toward Me from Nova Scotia."

The bcdg Line

        The vast majority of Dows in New Brunswick, and by far the largest Dow line there were the descendants of David Dow, the bcdg line, the youngest son of Stephen Dow, bcd.  This large group of Dow's left New England before and during the American Revolution, were Pre-Loyalists, and they for the most part settled along the St. John River, primarily in Maugerville.  When the Maugerville settlement encountered bad economic times, many of this line returned to the United States.  Most of those who remained, however, moved further up the St. John River and settled, at least initially, primarily in the area of Canterbury, York County, NB.  This area of Canterbury was, and still is, generally known by the name Dow Settlement.   Eventually some moved even further up the River to the area around and north of Woodstock, also. 

        This Dow Settlement, in York County, and the many people with the Dow surname in that general area, both now and in the past, are a completely different line and group of Dows from those that our family is related to. 

       Illustrated elsewhere on this web are five pages of introductory material to the many pages in the book about the bcdg line.  It is in this section of the book that many of our more immediate ancestors are incorrectly located and coded.

The bbbfaa Line

        Our direct family, when it left the Oromoncto/Burton areas of Sunbury County and the Kingsclear area of York County, moved to a completely different place called Dow Settlement (later called East Brighton and today non-existent) in Brighton Parish of Carleton County, New Brunswick, just a few miles east of Lower Brighton which is on the St. John River just north of Woodstock.         

        It took many years of research subsequent to the publication of The Book of Dow before it became apparent that our direct family line of Dows (the bbbfaa line) was,  rather than part of the large bcdg line as has always been assumed, a separate group of Dows that came from New England (presumably Loyalists as were the bcdg line), settled in many of the same areas along the St. John River as did those of the bcdg line, and the majority of which remained in New Brunswick for several generations. 

        I say "presumed Loyalists", only because it is not entirely clear whether those of our direct line (bbbfaa) were motivated to emigrate from the Southport area of Maine primarily because of political loyalties or because of economic reasons.  Our direct line of Dows (bbbfaa) may have been more interested in building ships than supporting the King of England!

The g Line

        The author of The Book of Dow, on page 721, made these statement about the g line of New Brunswick Dows":

        "Following the conquest of Louisburg by the British and the expulsion of the French colonists from Acadia, strenuous attempts were made to recolonize the region, the immigrants being mostly Scotch, --- hence the very name, Nova Scotia.  Prior to 1750 there came one whose family spread into Maine prior to 1761.  He was then a man grown.  A vague family memory thinks his name might be Robert and he married a Miss Cook, but this may refer to his grandson.  Climatic differences were important between the Nova Scotian coast and that of eastern Maine, and the timber of the latter was much superior; hence a steady stream of migration.  Few of this family remained permanently in Nova Scotia.  From the time when facts replace vague family tradition, East Machias was the family headquarters.  Members went as pioneers to Caribou, Columbia, Cherryfield.  Still others went to Massachusetts, where employment was more easily secured.  Only one branch of the family has been traced and that due to the recovery of a family Bible."

Copyright © 2018 by Gerald Wayne Dow. All rights reserved.