52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS 2016 WEEK 13: MELVIN STOW

4x great grandfather Melvin Stow is one of my more aggravating ancestors in seeking information about him online. I know he was born on 6 Jul 1774 at Sherborn, Ma., that he married Ann Mayhew at Charlestown, Ma on 15 Jun 1805, and that he died in Newry, Me. on 6 Apr 1839. He had at least two daughters (one of whom is my 3x great grandmother Luce (Stow) Coburn) and probably one son. And that's all I know for sure.


I've found Melvin listed on the Maine Federal Censuses for 1810, 1820, and 1830. His brother Andrew Newell Stow appears on the same page as Melvin does on the 1820 and 1830 Census, so I believe Andrew followed him there. Both of them were among the early settlers of the Sunday River Valley area of western Maine, but Andrew seems to have been more of a prominent citizen than Melvin since it is Andrew, along with his family, who is mentioned more often in the town histories.

1810 Census for Newry, Maine.

1820 Census for Newry, Maine.

1830 Census for Newry, Maine.

And to add to the aggravation Melvin's wife Ann is another brick wall. I'm still trying to discover who her parents were.

I'll keep digging away on them both!