In the Womack Fowler family bible, Tempe Fowler’s date of birth was recorded as September 23, 1810. She was the second child –the second daughter– born to Womack Fowler and Susannah Moseley. She was a granddaughter of Henry Ellis Fowler.

Tempe Fowler married James Gibson (1810-before 1850), son of Herod Gibson (1779-1869). They married in the mid 1820s and lived next door to her father, Womack Fowler, in 1830. Two daughters had been born to Mr. and Mrs. James Gibson prior to 1830.

Tempe Fowler and James Gibson had five daughters and one son whose names are known to me — daughters Melinda, Elizabeth, Lucinda, Hulda, and Adeline; son Stark Sims Gibson. There may have been other children born — there are gaps, some of several years, in between the births of the documented children.

There were no more children born to Tempe Fowler after 1844, and his absence from the 1850 census confirms that James Gibson was in his grave or had deserted his family.

Melinda Gibson (b. 1827) was the oldest daughter of Tempe Fowler and James Gibson. She married William Burgess (b. 1824). William Burgess and Melinda Gibson had five children born in South Carolina between the years 1846 to 1851. A son, Rufus, was born in Cocke County Tennessee in 1852. Melinda died during or shortly after childbirth. William Burgess married Winnie (her last name may have been Cureton) and a son, William, was born to them in 1860.

William Burgess may have been the son of Joseph Burgess (b. 1797) and his wife Percy (b. 1800). The Joseph Burgess family (Coleman Burgess, Martha Burgess, John Burgess and Asbury Burgess) had moved from South Carolina to Cocke County Tennessee and their relocation may have been the motivation for the William Burgess family to follow.

In 1850, forty-one year old Tempe Gibson was head of household with her four daughters and one son. (Daughter Melinda had already married William Burgess). Tempe lived near her father-in-law Herod Gibson, her brother-in-law John Gibson, and she was surrounded by the households of her uncle Godfrey Fowler, cousins Milligan Fowler, Thomas Gillman Fowler, and Coleman Fowler. Tempe Gibson was listed as a pauper.

Tempe Gibson was in the household of her daughter Elizabeth Gibson in 1860. Her daughters Hulda, Lucinda, and Adeline were there, as was son Starks. Elizabeth’s two year old daughter Suella Gibson was the only new addition.

Tempe Fowler Gibson died in 1863, during the Civil War. She would have been only 53 years old. Life had been hard for her, and the difficult times brought on by the war could have only made her life even more miserable. She was surrounded by family and one can hope that they helped her in her day to day struggles.

Womack Fowler died in 1849. After the death of Susannah Moseley Fowler in 1878, legal proceedings were begun to settle the Womack Fowler estate between many surviving heirs. It was mentioned in the document that Melinda Gibson had married a Burgess, that she had died before the war, and that her children’s ages, names and residence were unknown. It was perhaps known that the family had relocated to Cocke County, Tennessee, but no effort was made to include them in the estate settlement.

Tempe’s sister Marinda Lucinda Fowler (1816-1879) had married John D. Long (1811-1897), and any reference in the document stating that Lucinda Gibson was the wife of J.D. Long may have been due to the confusion of similar names. Marinda Lucinda Fowler Long died in 1879. Lucinda Gibson was a single woman in census years 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880. It is possible that she married John D. Long after 1880. I would have to conduct more research to followup on this idea.

Elizabeth “Lizzie” Gibson had a daughter: Suella Gibson b. 1858. Later shortened to Ella, her confusing death certificate lists Elizabeth Fowler as her mother and James Gibson as her father. Tempe Fowler Gibson was living when Suella was born. Elizabeth never married, died in 1876, and an illegitimate daughter would not be lawful issue.

Starks Sims Gibson had married Mattie Moseley and there was lawful issue born from this union: Robert Lee Gibson (1865-1928). Mattie died after the birth of this son. It would be many years before Starks Gibson married again, the second time to Margaret McDowell (1856–1934) and the birth of his daughter, Annie Gibson in 1891.

Tempe Fowler Gibson sold her interest in the estate to her brother James Hervey Fowler in 1863. It is stated that Tempe died in 1862. It is also stated that she died in 1863. She outlived her daughter Melinda Gibson Burgess, but she left five living adult children: Elizabeth, Lucinda, Hulda, Starks, and Adeline to carry on her legacy.

Excerpts from the Womack Fowler estate settlement below, and the descendants of Tempe Fowler Gibson as I know them:

• Tempa Fowler 1810-1863 m. James Gibson 1810–
  1. Melinda Gibson 1827–1852 m. William Burgess 1824
     • James Burgess 1846–
     • Nancy Burgess 1847–
     • Sarah Burgess 1848–
     • Caroline Burgess 1850–
     • Perry Burgess 1851–
     • Rufus Burgess 1852– m. Martha Wice
       • Benjamin Franklin Burgess 1888–1960
  2. Elizabeth “Lizzie” Gibson 1831–1876
     • Suella Gibson 1858-1929 m. Franklin Wallace Coleman 1828–1896
       • Wallace Herbert Coleman 1880–1925
       • Lillian Coleman 1883-1970 m. Lee Hart 1882–1938 (descendant of Henry Ellis Fowler)
         • Bessie Hart 1906–1973 m. Robert Trusdale Barker 1904–1989
           • Thornal Richard Barker 1927–2009
           • Jerry Truesdale Barker 1928–2002
           • Lee Coleman Barker 1937–2006
         • Leroy Hart 1908–1993 m. Arlevia Knight 1916–2003
         • Ruby Louella Hart 1911– 2001 m. John J. Dunn Jr.
         • Nellie Hart 1915–
         • Thomas Coleman Hart (1917-1944)
         • Kathryn Lyle Hart 1919-2010 m. Vernon Alton Robbins 1916–1991
         • Phillip Cornelius Hart 1921-2007
       • Gadberry Bennett Coleman 1888–1954 m. Bertha Amanda Neal 1887–1979
         • William Elzie Coleman 1911–1991 m. Grace Hicks 1908–1990
         • Gladys Beatrice Coleman 1912–1997 m. William Bunyon McCarty 1916–1977; m. Buford S. Chappell 1914–1984
         • Eddye Coleman 1913–
         • James Franklin Coleman 1914–1979 m. Virginia Maye Beamguard 1910–1982
         • Gadberry Bennett Coleman Jr 1918–1996 m. Maureen Stewart 1924–2004
         • Jack Wallace Coleman 1921–1991
       • Bessie Mildred Coleman 1889 m. Chalmers Frazier Hudson 1891–1933
         • Margaret Frazier Hudson 1911–1988
         • Frank Gibson Hudson 1913–
         • David Richard Hudson 1921–1976
         • Joseph Coleman Hudson 1928–2003
         • Charles L. Hudson
       • Nell Maude Coleman 1892–1972 m. George Franklin Younginer 1880–1939
         • James Franklin Younginer 1920–1982
         • Evelyn Elizabeth Younginer 1924–2005
         • Miriam Mildred Younginer 1926–1987
         • Betty Suder Younginer 1928–1997
       • Loucinda Coleman 1894–1982 m. Benjamin Gettys Parker 1890–1966
         • Benjamin Gettys Parker 1915–1971
         • Raimoth Loucinda Parker 1919–2003
  3. Lucinda Gibson 1834–after 1880
  4. Hulda Gibson 1840–after 1880
  5. Stark Sims Gibson 1841–1909 m. Martha “Mattie” Moseley; m. Margaret McDowell 1856–1934
     • Robert Lee Gibson 1865-1928 m. Jane Worthy 1866-1930 (descendant of Henry Ellis Fowler)
     • Annie Gibson 1891–1954 m. James Edgar Douglass 1891–1956
       • Anne Sims Douglass 1922–1977
       • Margaret Jeanette Douglass 1923–1924
       • Dorothy Douglass 1924–2009
       • James Edgar Douglass III 1926–1973
       • Carl Macie Douglass 1929–
       • David McDowell Douglass 1930–1978
       • Jimmie M Douglas 1935–
  6. Adaline M. Gibson 1844– after 1880 m. Damon P. Mosely 1838– after 1880 (descendant of Henry Ellis Fowler)
     • William E. Mosely 1871–
     • Daniel David Mosley 1874–1924 m. Sarah Catherine Killian 1888–1936
       • Damon Edney Mosley 1904–1974
       • Mamie Etta Mosley 1905–1975
       • Addie Elizabeth Mosley 1908–1997
       • Brady Lee Mosley 1910–1990
       • Willie Coy Mosley Sr 1912–1964
       • Myrtle Leona Mosley 1914–1963
       • Ethel Ruth Mosley 1917–1985
       • James Floyd Mosley 1920–1993
       • Ruby Lucille Mosley 1922–1986
     • Martha L. Mosely 1876–
     • Minnie Mosely 1878–
     • Starkey Mosley 1880–1941 m. Ola Mae Hart 1899–1984
       • Lula Mae Mosley 1920–1997
       • Willie Pressley Mosley 1922–2009
       • Marion Roscoe Mosley 1924–2012
       • Floyd Mosley 1927–1928
       • Edna Lucille Mosley 1929–1978
       • Johnnie Richard Mosley 1932–1953