John (1) COWLES

                   8th ggf of Gordon Fisher
"JOHN COWLES, one tradition says, came from the westof England to
Massachusetts as early was 1634-5; another that he came from the west of
England and probably stopped in Hartford, Conn., but did not becomea
proprietor; another that he came from the north of England (Wales), and
another that he came to Hartford among the first settlers between 1634
and 1639.  ... (P) He probably came from Gloucestershire, where the
Cowles family were more numerous than in any other part of England at
that time, but a limited search of the records there and elsewhere in
England by the College of Arms and a search by the compiler of the
printed Englaidh records available, have failed to locate the place from
whence he came or to trace his ancestry.  (P) His name appears as Coll,
Colles, Cole, Coles, Coal, Coale, Coales and Coalles in the early records
and for the first time as Cowles in the record of acourt held at
Hartford in 1659, at which he was a juror and again in two similar
records and as appraiser of an estate in 1662-3.  It appears as Cowles in
his own will and that of his wife Hannah, in the Farmington land records
in 1666, in the record of his son John's marriage in 1668 and in that of
hisown death at Hatfield, Mass., Sept. 1675.  It was the common belief
of the genealogists of the last century that he changed his name from
Cole to Cowles in order to distinguish his family from that of another
John Cole of the sametown, and some went so far as to say that he
originated the name Cowles and that all who bore it were his
descendants.  But none of this is true for the reason that he signed his
name by mark and could not have changed its spelling, that the name
Cowles is an ancient one in England, antedating 1553, and that there are
several Cowles families in America who are not his descendants.However
there is good reason to believe that the name Cowles was derived from
that of Cole at some time prior to 1553 when it first appears of record
inseveral counties in England almost simultaneously. ... If all of these
families were descended from the same Cowles ancestor he must have lived
at a muchearlier period, but the probabilities are that each family
derived its nameindependently from that of Cole.  In the early records
the Cowles family usually appears in the same neighborhood as the Cole
family and sometimes the name of the same person is spelt first one way
and then the other.  ..... (P) The Cowles family are found in Cheshire as
early as 1606, but none in Warwickshire, from the few available records.
However, they probably resided there also as they were numerous in the
adjacent county of Gloucester from 1553, butless numerous in
Worcestershire from 1575, and is reason to believe that Daniel Clark [of
Windsor CT, Colonial Secretary who came to America from near Kenilworth,
Warwickshire, England in 1630] knew the family of John Cowles in England
and the correct spelling of his name. .....
"John Cowles served as member of a jury at a Particular Court held at
Hartford, Dec. 30, 1662, for the trial of Nathaniel Greensmith and his
wife, Rebecca [DIRECT ANCESTOR, SEE UNDER HER NAME], charged with
witchcraft, and as member of another jusry at a Particular Court held at
Hartford, January 6, 1662/3, for the trial of Mary Barnes of Farmington,
Conn., and Elizabeth Seager, both charged with witchcraft.(See Cpnn.
Colony Probate Records, II: 182,184, in Office Secretary of State;Hist.
First Church of Hartford; Colonial Hist. of Hartford; Manwaring's Digest,
I: 121; Mass. Hist. Collections, VIII: 466, in all of which his name
appears as John Cowles.)  (P) He was an appraiser, Feb. 11, 1662/3 of the
estate of Nathaniel Greensmith, who was executed at Hartford, January 25,
1662/3.Inventory signed, "The mark X of John Cowles: (original on file,
Conn. StateLibrary and photostat copy of signature herewith