MYSTERIES

RICHARD FOWLER SENIOR
Richard Fowler Sr. was born in Brownsville, Pennsylvania. He was married to Miss Elizabeth Baker, who was born in Virginia on the 10th of March, 1798. He was married twice. His first wife gave birth to two children, as follows:

Rachel Fowler, born March 13th, 1810;

John Fowler, born July 25th, 1812.

(This is our John and sister, Rachel.)

From his second wife the following were born, viz:

Mary Fowler, February 4th, 1815;

William B. Fowler, July 15th, 1816;

Verlinda Fowler, June 15th, 1818;
Joseph Fowler, August 2nd, 1821;

Frances Fowler, October 11th, 1823;

Jacob Fowler, December 22nd, 1825;

Thomas H. Fowler, April 17th 1828;
Richard Fowler, July 30th, 1830;

Ann E. Fowler, January 4th, 1833;
Susannah Fowler, September 17th, 1835.

(So Richard was married again when John was only 3 and Rachel was only 5 years old. What happened to John's mother?

These are the Fowlers whose children may still be in West Virginia today !)

Richard and Elizabeth are dead-- the former's death occurred on the 13th of July, 1856, and the latter's on the 18th of December, 1872. Our subject engaged in farming for a livelihood.

Richard died only a few months before John took our family to Wisconsin in the covered wagon.

Here is the biography of Richard's son with Elizabeth. He kept the family farm after his parents died and John took our family west.

What happened? Why did John leave? What happened to Rachel?

RICHARD FOWLER JUNIOR: (Half-brother to our John.)

Richard Fowler Jr. was born in now Hancock County, West Virginia, July 30, 1830. He married Miss Martha A. Peterson, daughter of Conrad Peterson, in 1859, who bore him nine children, three sons and six daughters. They settled on the farm where they are now living. His father, Richard Fowler Sr., deceased, settled and made the first improvements on said farm. He has followed farming as his vocation during life.

MYSTERY: Who was John Fowler's mother, Richard's first wife? How could we found out what happened to John's only sister, Rachel? Could we possibly find photographs of anyone in the family?

CLUES: The biography of Richard Fowler, SR., noted above says he was married twice and that he had 2 children from his first marriage, Rachel and John. Who was their mother?

EARLY BROOKE COUNTY MARRIAGES:

In 1808, there are seven certificates of marriage returned, and in1809, five certificates are returned, and in addition, a list of fifty-two certificates is returned by Rev. Joseph Doddridge, ranging in dates from 1799 to 1809.

The careless and loose manner in which these records are kept, is shown in the fact that many of them have no dates, and many times, but one of the names, as in this list of fifty-two marriages, certified to by the Rev.

They are:

1809, John Hulford and --- Caxton---1809---Fowler and---Atkinson,

---Samuel Galloway and Nancy--- ---Lazier and ---Gorsuch.

So it is difficult to tell from the records, exactly who were married, or when.

ANOTHER MARRIAGE RECORD FROM BROOKE COUNTY, VIRGINIA, 1797 TO 1899 FROM WVA GEN WEB:

The following marriages were taken from microfilmed vital records:

Fowler, R. & Parky, Mary 01-29-1807

Fowler, ? & Atkins, N? ------1802

(Could one of the 2 ladies above be John and Rachel Fowler's mother?)

Fowler, R. & Baker, Elizabeth 04-21-1814

(We know this is Richard's 2nd wife. They had 10 kids, names listed above.)

Allison, James & Fowler, Mary 01-05-1844
(This could be Mary from Richard's second family and more strongly connects the Allisons and Fowlers through another generation?)

MYSTERY: Who were the parents of Sarah Allison Fowler, wife of our John?

CLUE: Sarah Fowler Joslin, Sarah's daughter, writes in the Fowler Pamphlet that her Allison grandfather would have been 100 years old on the day he was buried.

James Allison settled in 1780.

JONATHAN ALLISON

Jonathan Allison was born in Maryland, on the 14th of June, 1777; brought to now Hancock County, locating in Grant District, in about 1780, by his father, James Allison, who was of English extraction, and settling upon the land owned by Jonathan Allison.

His [James ]first improvement was the erection of a round log house, 18x20, in which he lived for a number of years, and reared a family of children, all of whom are dead. He lived until he reached his hundredth year.

Our subject [Jonathan] was married to Miss Sarah Harmon, a lady of German descent. Their union resulted in eleven children--Charles, Samuel, James, Ross, Nancy, Sarah, [our Sarah Allison Fowler], Jonathan, Elizabeth, Mary, Daniel and Christina. Daniel, Christina and Ross are deceased.

Soon after the marriage of Jonathan A., he settled upon the old home farm, remaining there engaged in tilling the ground until his death, which occurred June 3, 1873, aged ninety-six years.

He served in the War of 1812; filled the office of Sheriff for
several years; served as constable for about thirty years, and at the age of ninety-one years took the census of the county.

So Sarah's siblings were: Charles, Samuel, James,
Ross, Nancy, Jonathan, Elizabeth, Mary, Daniel and Christina.
We could try to find their families who may still be in Hancock County ! Someday, we might even find a picture of Sarah !

EARLY FLATS GRAVEYARD

James Allison born March 30, 1744, died March 27, 1844

(100 years old on the day he was buried. I think this is our Sarah Allison Fowler's grandfather.)

Jonathan Allison born 1776, died 1872 (This is her father.)

Where in Fairview or Hancock County did the Fowlers and Allisons live? What is the Early Flats Graveyard? How can we be sure of our Allisons?

Stay Tuned: We have exciting news about finding Allison cousins who have traced the Hancock County Allisons all the way back to 1638. They have also uncovered an error in the record of the birthdate for James Allison, Sarah's grandpa.