Marrying Again and Giving My Children My Dower Interest in 1770

Probate records can often contain clues regarding subsequent marriages of surviving spouses.

This refusal of dower by Mary Crown in 1770 of Stowe, Massachusetts is a prime example.

Ephraim Puffer, Probate case packet 18232, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. Dower refusal of Mary Crown to estate of Ephraim Puffer, 9 April 1770.
Ephraim died in 1757 in Stowe, Mass.

Mary mentions that she has a dower interest in the estate of her first husband, Ephraim Puffer. The refusal also references her children (however they not named in this named in this document).

A complete reading of any probate record is always advised. From a genealogical standpoint, records where statements are completely handwritten can contain more extra details than those written on "fill in the blank forms. Reading the handwriting takes some practice.