GEORGE AND JONATHAN BARLOW/MATTHEW PERRY--Page 1

"We owe some naturall affection to all men, being with the same roots with us; we owe more naturall to some men, being with the same blood with us."
--Rev. John Wing

So begins a version of the Barlow genealogy. Descendants of Barlow/Wing marriages can surely appreciate that quote.

Many Sandwich, MA Quaker family histories contain reports about one thing or another that was done to their ancestor at the hand of George Barlow (William Allen was one victim.) In George's defense, we can say he was committed to his work.

He was sent down from Boston by the authorities there to try and quell the spread of Quakerism. The persecution suffered by the Quakers, usually delivered by George Barlow, did nothing to stifle them; some of George's own descendants married into Quaker families.

Simeon Deyo says,

"This marshal, George Barlow, would boast, that he would think what goods were most serviceable to the Quakers, and then he would take them away when he went to distrain for the fines. But now...grown exceedingly poor, he presumes to say he thought the Quakers would not let him want. And truly, it is said, they relieve his children, notwithstanding all the villainy that he hath shown unto those people."

The fines and persecution of the Quakers ended; George Barlow, who had been allowed to keep 10% of the fines, lost that income and became destitute. Members of the Society Of Friends did indeed come to the aid of his family when they needed it.

An anecdote concerning George Barlow comes from "The Narrow Land" by Elizabeth Reynard. She tells a story of an elderly, lonely George, down on his luck, hallucinating after a night of drink. He reminisces about his past experiences as an enforcer against Quakerism. The story enumerates many incidents, including his persecution of the Allen family.

One vision recalls how he had sought the detention of two fugitives he had apprehended (Christopher Holder and John Copeland). He brought them before the selectmen, since there was no magistrate available. The selectmen declined to take action, and Barlow locked them up in his own house. The story says George would have starved them, but his own wife Jane smuggled food to them and they actually got fatter. The tale ends with George, blinded with memories of his past transgressions, lost in a snowstorm, never seen alive again. He died in 1684. [George Barlow--Page 2]