The ABCDEFG's

Herbert B Dow invented a key for indexing  30,000  of the names published in the Book Of Dow.  Robert P Dow adopted it.It seemed a good way to account for everyone at the time. This is the way it works: to each immigrant Dow a letter was given in order of date of arrival to America. The order is:

a. Henry Dow , from Ormsby to Watertown 1637

b. Thomas Dow, grantee of Newbury 1639

c. Samuel Dow, mariner of Hartford 1660

d. John Dow, of Piscataway by 1692

e._______, father of Lieuts John and James Dow, Philadelphia 1757 or before.

f. _______, father of John, Moses and William Dow, arrived NY about 1768.

g. _______, father of James Dow, presumably pioneer of Acadia after its conquest from the French.

From England to America covers the English roots Henry Dow.

A second letter is added for the second generation, so the 1stborn of Henry Dow immigrant is aa. A third letter is added to denote the third generation and so on.

The Book of Dow was finally published by Robert Piercy Dow and he gives dedications in the front cover which I will repeat here:

Edgar Randolph Dow who died Portland, Maine 1909, the Pioneer of Dow genealogy, whose letters of inquiry, from 1881 to 1908 amouted high into the thousands, whose life ambition was to publish this volume, who died without knowing that such was possible.

Herbert Beeman Dow of Woburn, Mass. who gave freely every item collected painstakingly in nearly forty years, a great Genealogical collection.

The Author, who has built upon their foundation, offers a grateful dedication to Edgar Randolph Dow & Herbert Beeman Dow.   ( Robert P. Dow)

I give thanks to Robert P Dow for his completion of this Book. And to my mother, without whom I'd not be connected to this interesting family.