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‘Patriot to Passenger’: Revolutionary War Vet to Mayflower Passenger (part 2)

Melissa Berry
Illustration: patriot to passenger #2. Credit: Melissa Davenport Berry.

Introduction: In this article, Melissa Davenport Berry writes about more people whose ancestors were Revolutionary War patriots descended from Mayflower passengers. Melissa is a genealogist who has a website, americana-archives.com, and a Facebook group, New England Family Genealogy and History.

Today I continue my series on “Patriot to Passenger” following the research compiled by past Elder Historian General Muriel Cushing of the General Society of Mayflower Descendants (GSMD) known as the Patriot to Passenger Bridge Project. The project’s list is a continuous effort to publish the names of Revolutionary War Patriots who descend from Mayflower passengers or married into Mayflower lines.

Illustration: patriot to passenger. Credit: Melissa Davenport Berry.

The goal of this project is to build a bridge between lineage societies, more specifically Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), Sons of the American Revolution (SAR), and the General Society of Mayflower Descendants.

To recap: My last story covered descendants of Mayflower passengers John Alden and Priscilla Mullins, and Patriots Joseph Crane (1756-1841), Micah Stetson (1754-1838), and Samuel Denny (1731-1817). (See: Part 1.)

Now for more Patriots associated with Alden and Mullins.

Genisis of the DAR John Alden Chapter of Midland, Michigan

An article published in the Midland Daily News provides a history of the origin of the National Society of the DAR and, more specifically, the John Alden Chapter which is the focus of today’s blog article.

Midland Daily News (Midland, Michigan), 7 April 1999, page 9

This article reports:

October 11, 1890, is the official date of organization of the D.A.R. The society was incorporated Dec. 2, 1895, and received its charter from Congress on May 5, 1896. Eugenia Washington, Mary Desha, Ellen Hardin Walworth and Mary Lockwood officially were recognized as founders.

The photo in the upper left of the article is of Mrs. Herbert Henry (Grace) Dow. The photo caption reads:

This is Mrs. Herbert Henry (Grace) Dow as she appeared in the 25th anniversary program of the John Alden Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Mrs. Dow organized the first D.A.R. chapter in Midland in April of 1922 at the Dow home, The Pines, on West Main Street in the small but growing town of Midland, Mich. The chapter was named in honor of Dr. Dow’s ancestor, John Alden, who came to America on the Mayflower in 1620.

Mrs. Herbert Henry Dow (1869-1953) was born Grace Anna Ball in Midland to George Willard and Amelia Rebecca “Mamma” (Eaton) Ball. Here is a photo of Grace and Herbert taken the year of their wedding in 1892.

Photo: Grace and Herbert Dow, 1892. Credit: Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow Foundation.

As mentioned in the photo caption above, the name “John Alden Chapter” was chosen to honor Dr. Herbert Henry Dow, founder of the Dow Chemical Company of Midland and a direct descendant of Mayflower passengers John Alden and Pricilla Mullins.

Photo: Dr. Herbert Henry Dow. Credit: Williams Haynes Portrait Collection, Science History Institute, Philadelphia.

John Alden is said to be the first passenger of the Mayflower to set foot on Plymouth Rock in 1620. He was a ship carpenter by trade and a cooper for the Mayflower. John was also one of the Founders at the Plymouth Colony and the seventh signer of the Mayflower Compact.

Photo: John Alden historical marker. Credit: Historical Marker Data Base.

The plaque reads:

Site of the house where John Alden lived while in Plymouth. This stone erected by his descendants The Alden Kindred of America, 1930.

Alden and Mullins were made famous via Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s “The Courtship of Miles Standish.”

The line of descent for Herbert H. Dow was published in the Midland Daily News article, but I added dates and more genealogy:

Among Herbert’s Patriot ancestors is the Rev. Dr. Jonathan French, born in Braintree, Massachusetts, in 1740 and died in Andover, Massachusetts, in 1809.

As noted in Historical Sketches of Andover, Comprising the Present Towns of North Andover and Andover, the day after the Battle of Bunker Hill Rev. Dr. French wrote the following:

“Our houses of public worship were generally shut up. It was the case here. When the news of the battle reached us, the anxiety and distress of wives and children, of parents, of brothers, sisters, and friends was great. It was not known who were among the slain or living, the wounded or the well. It was thought justifiable for us who could to repair to the camp to know the circumstances, to join in the defense of the country and prevent the enemy from pushing the advantages they had gained, and to afford comfort and relief to our suffering brethren and friends.”

Rev. Dr. French “with surgical instruments, for he was a practical surgeon, and musket, for he was a trained soldier, and Bible, as became his profession, the Rev. Dr. French made his Sabbath day’s journey to the camp and rendered valuable aid there in ministering to the wounded and the dying.”

But wait… Herbert has a double lineage because Rev. Dr. French married his first cousin, Abigail Richards (1742-1821), daughter of Dr. Benjamin and Abigal (Thayer) Richards. The couple share grandparents Ephraim and Sarah (Bass) Thayer. Rev. Dr. French also has two brothers that made the Patriot to Passenger list:

Herbert and Grace Dow had seven children, leaving many descendants. This will come later in my “Mayflower Who’s Who” series.

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Note on the header image: patriot to passenger #2. Credit: Melissa Davenport Berry.

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