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Who Was Jane Bee?

Thomas Snow of Harwich married Jane Bee of Eastham at Eastham, Massachusetts on October 12, 1762. I can find no other mention of this woman in the official records for Cape Cod. Who was she, and what became of her?

I have identified two men named Thomas Snow who lived at Harwich during that time:

  1. Thomas Snow, sometimes referred to as Thomas Snow, jr. This man, the son of Nathaniel Snow and Thankful Gage, was born November 19, 1735 and baptized November 23 at the Brewster church. On January 31, 1760, he married Hannah Lincoln at Harwich. The Brewster church has records of five children born to Thomas Snow, jr. and Hannah—Lucy (1760), Edward (1763), Bethiah, (1765), Hannah (1769), and Priscilla (1771). A cemetery marker at the old burying ground in Brewster records the deaths of Capt. Thomas Rogers Snow, son of Nathaniel and Thankful, (d. 1790 in Barbados) and his wife Hannah Snow (d. 1817).
  2. Thomas Snow, RW soldier. This man, son of Thomas Snow and Rachel Nickerson, both of Harwich, was born a few years earlier. Some sources say 1730, others say 1734. He, along with several siblings, was baptized at Harwich on July 17, 1737. He married first Rebecca Snow in 1752 and second Jane Magne/Mague. He had at least three children, including Gideon and Lydia. In 1777, the family moved to Maine where he lived until his death in 1825.

So where does Jane Bee fit into this picture? The Mayflower Families Fifth Generation Descendants, 1700-1880 claims that Jane Bee was the second wife of Thomas Snow, jr., above.

I cannot understand this. If Hannah Lincoln married Thomas in 1760, had several children with him, and outlived him, it seems odd to claim he married another woman, Jane Bee, two years after his first marriage. Who was this Jane, and what became of her?

I looked at many records from Eastham, her purported residence, this week. I found nothing else about her. No birth or baptism records for Jane Bee, no death record or cemetery marker for Jane Snow. No birth registrations or baptisms for any children of Thomas and Jane Snow.

There was a Bee family in Eastham at the time Jane would have been born. John Bee married Marcy Harris, and they had three daughters, Rebecca, Martha, and Marcy. I found no mention of a daughter Jane although this seems a likely family for her. A family tree on Ancestry.com has placed her in this family with no sources or further information.

I am stumped. Who was Jane Bee, and was her husband Thomas the same man described above as Thomas jr.?

My husband/tech advisor has a theory. Thomas Snow, jr. was a bigamist! Until I can come up with a better explanation for this situation, his idea is as good as any.

 

 

One Response to “Who Was Jane Bee?”

  • Rico Leffanta:

    Jane Bee did not marry Thomas w/ Hannah, but Thomas w/Rebeca. Thomas w/Rebeca had two daughters, Bette 15.VI.1752, and Eunice 10.VIII.1754. Thomas married Jane Bee 12.X.1762. Most trees exclude Bette & Eunice, but add others as children of Thomas and Jane Magne (?) but where is the evidence of a marriage to Jane Magne? Although these trees list children born in Harwich, none of them are listed in Harwich records! Of course, Jane Bee could have died in Eastham, and Thomas went on to marry a Jane Magne but when? where? familysearch lists a number of their children who, upon research, were children of other Snows, so search for documentation! Aloha! Rico

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