There are many misconceptions out there in “family research land” about William Fowler married to Rhoda.

I browse through the many on-line Fowler family trees and see that my fellow Fowler researchers are confused. I was too, once.

For a long time, I believed that this William was the son of Godfrey Fowler and Nannie Kelly. New found documents and a little logical thought finally put me on the right path to discovering the truth.

I do not yet know the parents of this William, but I do know that…

• William Fowler married to Rhoda was NOT the son of Henry Ellis Fowler and Catherine Puckett!
• William Fowler married to Rhoda was NOT the son of Godfrey Fowler and Nannie Kelly!
• William Fowler married to Rhoda was NOT the son of Womack Fowler and Susannah Moseley!

William Fowler married to Rhoda MAY have been the son of John Fowler “the Elder” (d. 1818) and Fannie.

I will wander into theory and speculation of the parentage of William Fowler married to Rhoda. I will also offer proof and documentation.

It is impossible that he was a son of Henry Ellis Fowler, Godfrey Fowler, or Womack Fowler.

William Fowler, son of Henry Ellis Fowler and Catherine Puckett

The Last Will and Testament of Henry Ellis Fowler confirms he and Catherine Puckett had a son named William Fowler.

I have not documented the date of birth for William Fowler. His Last Will and Testament is proof of his death after February 10, 1812 and before March 17, 1812. Those are the dates he signed his will and the date it was recorded.(Probate Records, Box 7, Packages 9)

In his will, William Fowler did not mention a wife or children. He left his estate to Polly and Delinda Burgess, the two daughters of Sarah Burgess.

If Polly and Delinda died without heirs, the estate would go William’s brothers Mark Fowler and Wymac Fowler.

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William Fowler, son of Henry Ellis Fowler, died in 1812. I think it is safe to say with great certainty that he was not the William Fowler married to Rhoda.

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William Fowler, son of Godfrey Fowler and Nannie Kelly

In 1822, Thomas Gillman Fowler signed a document. It stated that he would maintain the life necessities of his parents, Godfrey and Nannie, until their deaths.

He would also support his two younger brothers —William Fowler and Coleman Fowler –until they reached the age of twenty-one.

William Fowler, son of Godfrey Fowler and Nannie Kelly was born circa 1813.

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The document of 1822 proves William Fowler, son of Godfrey, was under the age of twenty-one. William, in fact, was about 9 years of age in 1822.

William Fowler (b. 1795) married to Rhoda would have been 27 in 1822. He and Rhoda may have had their first child in 1820, and certainly had begun their family by 1824.

The age difference is far too great between William Fowler (son of Godfrey & Nannie) and William Fowler married to Rhoda. These two Williams were not one and the same.

In 1900, the Honorable Godfrey Butler Fowler wrote this about his uncle: “William Fowler, son of Godfrey, died a young man. He was a teacher and a surveyor.”

Thus, I state with full confidence that William Fowler married to Rhoda was not William Fowler, son of Godfrey.

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William Fowler, son of Womack Fowler and Susannah Moseley

William Fowler, son of Womack, was born on December 17, 1812.

The date of his birth was recorded in the Fowler family Bible. William married Martha LNU and they appeared in two Union County, SC census records together, 1850 and 1860.

William and Martha had no children together as per an estate settlement document of 1879. The document stated that William had died in 1872. His widow Martha was to inherit her husband’s share of the Womack and Susannah Moseley Fowler estate.

William Fowler did leave a Last Will and Testament which can be found in the Columbia, SC State Archives.  Part of his estate was left to his only child. This child was a son born out of wedlock, Morgan Reaves. His mother was Millie Reaves.  Millie married William Pierce and had no more children.

The birth date obtained from the Bible, and the information contained within the 1879 estate settlement document are proof that William Fowler, son of Womack was not the William Fowler married to Rhoda. 

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William Fowler married to Rhoda and their family in 1850

The Descendants of William Fowler married to Rhoda

William Fowler (1795-before 1860) m. Rhoda (1798-after 1870)

1. Polly Fowler (b. 1820) (not documented as a daughter)
2. Simeon Fowler (1824– m. after 1880) m. Jane Hodge (1826–1870)
   1. Susan Fowler (1854– after 1880) m. James Gassaway Millwood (b. 1859) (Susan may have been a daughter of Ellis Fowler and stepdaughter of Simeon)
      1. Millage Millwood (b.1872)
      2. James H. Millwood (b. 1877)
   2. Elias John Fowler (1856– aft 1880) (John may have been a son of Ellis Fowler and stepson of Simeon)
   3. Samuel Fowler (1860–after 1890)  m. Lucy Cook (1870-1914)
      1. John Glover Fowler (1885–1939) m. Elizabeth Kerr ( b. 1881)
      2. May Fowler (b. 1885)
      3. Annie J Fowler (b. 1888)
      4. Elizabeth Lizzie Fowler (b. 1891)
   4. Franklin Fowler (1861–1913) m Nannie Cook (b. 1874)
      1. Clarence Fowler (b. 1897)
      2. Marie Fowler (b. 1900)
      3. Mark Fowler (1903-1976) m. Irene Mitchell (1909–1956)
         1. William Hubert Fowler (1926–1944)
         2. J G Fowler (1927–1991) m. Betty Lou Sparks (1930-2019)
         3. Elizabeth C Fowler (1929–1999) m. John Robert Osment
         4. Janie Harriet Fowler (1933–2002) m. Ralph Tucker (1930-1988)
         5. Tommie Frank Fowler (1939–2008)
         6. Daughter Fowler
      4. Bertha Fowler (1904-1993) m. Jeff Campbell (1902-1967)
      5. Boyd Fowler (1912-1984) m. Gracie Alice Robinson
   5. Elma Fowler (1866–1925) m. John Hill (1854–1915)
      1. James Hill (b. 1884) (adopted son)
      2. Janie Hill (1884–1924)
      3. Willie Tate Hill (1886–1962) m. Katie Catherine Aiken (1889–1944)
         1. Marie Hill (1906–1978)
         2. Earline (Lena) Hill (1909–1937)
         3. Leroy Hill (1915–1983)
         4. Clarence Tate Hill (1917–1950)
         5. Vernelle Hill (1920–2002)
      4. Charlie Simms Hill (1887–1958)
      5. Elzie Arthur Hill (1896–1962)
      6. Clara Hill (1898–1910)
      7. Walter George Hill (1901–1957)
      8. Lizzie Hill (1902–1980)
      9. Bessie Hill (b. 1909)
3. Samuel Fowler (1829–1880) m. unknown
   1. William Henry Fowler (1875–1960)
4. James Fowler (1832–1862) m. Caroline Hodge (1830–1912) (daughter of John Jackson Hodge and Martha Patsey Fowler)
   1. Desdamona Fowler (1854–1887) m. John A. Mize (1853–1912)
      1. Charles Frederick Mize Sr. (b. 1873)
      2. Nettie Mize 1(876–1911)
      3. John Mize (b. 1877)
      4. Monroe Mimms Mize (1883–1945)
      5. Albert Horace Mize (b.1885)
      6. Virginia James (May) Mize (1885–1955)
      7. Mattie Mize (1887–1962)
   2. William Edward Fowler (1856– 1894) m. Amanda Jones (1859–1889)
      1. James Washington Fowler (1877–1951) m. Monnie Hunter (1885–1949)
         1. Lillian May Fowler (b. 1913)
         2. John F Fowler (b. 1918)
         3. Annie L Fowler (1919– 1996) m. Charles Trogee Green (1919-1990)
         4. Eunice Elizabeth Fowler (1921-1982) m. Nick Brown; m. Macon Monroe Holliday (1924-2007)
      2. Sallie Fowler (b. 1879)
      3. John Riley Fowler (1883– 1951) m. Eugenia Camilla McGee )1886–1912)
         1. Lillian Kathleen Fowler (1906–1978) m. George Thedford Watkins (1901–1963)
            1. Nora Watkins (b. 1925)
            2. Betty Jo Watkins (1927– 1988) m. Charles Barden (1927-1978)
            3. Thomas Watkins (b. 1939)
   3. James Monroe Fowler (1858–1931) m. Julia Cook (1852–1945)
      1. James Monroe Fowler (1876–1961) m. Mary Etta Burgess (1886–1943)
         1. Jane Fowler (b.1900)
         2. Maggie Fowler (b. 1901)
         3. Nolan John Henry Fowler (1904–1986) m. Mae Lipsey
         4. Aulean Fowler (b. 1906)
         5. Ernest S Fowler (1907–1961) m. Bessie Dorman (1910–1996)
            1.  Evelyn Fowler (1928-1971)
            2. Thelma Margaret Fowler (1930–1996)
            3. James William Fowler (1932–2005)
         6. Wallace Erbie Fowler (1911-2018) and Lincie E Henderson (1910–1933); m. Ida Inman (1912–1970)
            1. Furman Lester Henderson (1929-2018) m. Sara Crocker (1931-2009)
               1. Lester Gene Henderson (1959-1959)
               2. Anthony Furman Henderson (1961-2021)
            2. Carole Blanche Fowler (1934–1995)
            3. Son Fowler (b. 1939)
         7. Camilla Fowler (b. 1914)
         8. Theron William Fowler (1921–1993) m. Doris Ada Gregory
         9. Mozelle Fowler (b. 1923)
      2. Minnie Fowler (1881–1962)
      3. Forest Eldred Fowler (1884–1926)
      4. Marvin McAddam Fowler (1889–1927)
   4. Kansaby Fowler (b. 1860)
5. Pamela Fowler (b. 1837)
6. Edith “Edy” Fowler (b. 1841) m. Felix Parham Fowler (b. 1829)(son of Womack Fowler)
   1. Rhoda Fowler (b.1856)
   2. William Fowler (b. 1859)
   3. Rufus Fowler (b. 1861) m. Alice G. Foster (1856–1931)
      1. Herbert Fowler (1881–1951) m. Ramoth Willard; m. Annie Dessie Horn (b. 1892)
         1. Jennings Rufus Fowler (1903–1967)
         2. Nellie Fowler (1908–1908)
         3. Ruth Fowler (b. 1911)
         4. Pauline Fowler (b. 1912)
         5. Eugene “Buck” Fowler (b. 1912- 1997)
         6. Herbert Blease Fowler (1915–1988)
         7. Daisy Belle Fowler Buice (1917–1968)
         8. Alice Fowler (1920-2013)
         9. Mammie (1922-2020)
         10. Nathaniel Stadden Fowler (1924-1977)
         11. Hoyt Earl Fowler (1927–1993)
      2. Lula Fowler (1883–1902)
      3. Marnie Fowler (b. 1885)

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Who Were The Parents of William Fowler Married to Rhoda??

Finding the names of William’s parents is not as easy as finding the names of the ones who were not his parents. Everything from here to the end of the article is theory and speculation. Good theory and speculation, but not proof. I am hoping that yDNA testing will bring truth to light in the very near future.

It is my theory that Willliam Fowler married to Rhoda was the son of John Fowler (d. 1818) and Fannie. I have come to this conclusion by the these research techniques:

• the process of eliminating the possible Fowler heads of households who had sons around the time William was born……1795;
• positions on census records;
• the names of the sons in the Last Will and Testament of John Fowler (d. 1818).

so much more to come soon……..