Jabez Snow

Biography

Jabez Snow arranged his estate around the continued support of his wife Elizabeth. His will of October 11, 1743 gave her one third of his personal property after debts and funeral expenses. It also allowed her to use the dwelling house, barn and orchard for as long as she remained his widow. Her right to use a third of the other lands and meadows lasted for her life. These were distinct conditions, carefully specified in the document.

Jabez was born in 1670, a son of the elder Jabez Snow and Elizabeth Smith. He married Elizabeth Treat. The will, preserved in Barnstable County’s probate records for Cape Cod, Massachusetts, calls him a yeoman and names three sons—Jabez, Silvanus and Samuel—and three daughters, Elisabeth Knowles, Tabitha Mayo and Phebe Smith.

The sons were to share the real estate equally, taking two thirds after his death and the remainder after their mother's interest ended. The daughters were to share the remaining personal estate. Jabez noted that the daughters had already received considerable gifts. His eldest son, also named Jabez, was appointed executor.

The document was made seven years before his death in 1750. Witnesses later testified to its execution when the younger Jabez presented it to the probate court. It records an arrangement for managing a house, farm buildings and productive land across the transition from one household to the next, while reserving support for Elizabeth.