Some DWDWRA members descend from a couple named Samuel and Sarah (Howland) Dawes. This couple and their descendants do not appear in our genealogy database because the connection is unclear, although it is likely that they are related to this Dawes family. Our database starts with the work of Henry W. Holland who was a descendant of William "who rode." He published a book called William Dawes and his Ride with Paul Revere in 1878. This book is available on Google Books. He included a genealogy of the family starting with the immigrant William Dawes b. 1620 who arrived from England in 1635. Samuel and Sarah (Howland) Dawes appear in the appendix to the genealogy (see page 98) because, though Henry felt they were probably connected, he didn't know how.

In Nahum Mitchell's History of the Early Settlement of Bridgewater, in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, published in 1840, there is some information on various early Dawes families on pages 145 and 146. I was able to view this book on www.ancestry.com. It mentions first Samuel Dawes and his wife Sarah Howland and their children, then goes on to the family of Jonathan and Lois Dawes and notes that Jonathan was "brother of Samuel perhaps." This Jonathan was the son of Jonathan and Hannah (Morse) Dawes, and the elder Jonathan was the son of William Dawes, the immigrant who came in 1635 and founded the family that included William "who rode."

William Richard Cutter's Historic Homes and Places and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Volume II, was published in 1908. I viewed this book on www.archive.org. On page 695, Cutter listed the children of Jonathan and Hannah (Morse) Dawes. He included both Jonathan, born January 11, 1691, whose wife was Lois, and Samuel, "probably twin of Jonathan," whose wife was Sarah Howland. The book states that Samuel "went to East Bridgewater with his brother Jonathan (see Mitchell's Bridgewater History)." In short, Cutter took Mitchell's statement that Samuel and Jonathan were "perhaps" brothers, and listed them as brothers, and likely twins, without indicating that there was no evidence to back this up. Numerous genealogies on the Internet now show Samuel Dawes, husband of Sarah Howland, as the son of Jonathan and Hannah (Morse), apparently because of Cutter's book.

The LDS website, www.familysearch.org, has a transcription of a birth record for Jonathan Dawes, born on April 11, 1691 to Jonathan and Hannah Dawes in Boston. The source film number is 592866, which contains Boston births from 1630 to 1799. There is, however, no record there for a birth of Samuel to the same parents. This does not mean that Samuel could not have been their son, but it leaves us with nothing to indicate that he was. It does seem fairly certain that Samuel could not have been Jonathan's twin. According to Cutter, Samuel Dawes bought land in Bridgewater in 1714. Presumably he must have been at least 21 and likely older at that point. The LDS site has several possibilities for a Samuel Dawes born before about 1693, but none of them had parents named Jonathan and Hannah Dawes.

We welcome descendants of Samuel and Sarah (Howland) Dawes as members of DWDWRA. We would very much appreciate hearing about any historical record that sheds light on Samuel's parentage. Please contact Caren Secord at caren.secord"AT"yahoo.ca.