“My father’s name was Joseph. He moved to Texas in 1852 and died the same year, and was buried at Rusk Court House, Cherokee County. I was then about twelve years old. My mother moved back to South Carolina the same year.” ~~ Godfrey Butler Fowler

Joseph Fowler was born in Union County, SC in 1800, the third son born to Godfrey Fowler (1773-1850) and Nannie Kelly (1775-1857). Godfrey Fowler was the son of Henry Ellis Fowler (1746-1808).

Joseph Fowler married Delilah McWhirter (b. 1802) circa 1820. Delilah was the daughter of James McWhirter (1760–1842) and Winifred Hames (1762–1828).

Delilah gave birth to daughter Mahala Fowler in 1821. Son Hampton O. Fowler was born August 22, 1823. There would be no more children with Delilah. She died in 1827. Did she die in childbirth?

After the death of Delilah, Joseph Fowler married Clarissa Foster (born c. 1814). This marriage took place before 1830.

Clarissa Foster was the daughter of Nathaniel Foster (1793– before 1860). (These Fosters married into both the Hames family and the Fowler family).

In 1830, Joseph Fowler lived in the household beside his father Godfrey Fowler. In addition to Joseph and his 15 to 19 year old wife Clarissa, there were two children in the household: son Hampton (aged5 to 9), and daughter Mahala (age 5 to 9).

Clarissa was a young wife and was raising the children of Joseph and Delilah. She would soon have children of her own.

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In 1831, James R. McWhirter, father of Delilah McWhirter Fowler, penned his Last Will and Testament. He mentioned his son-in-law, Joseph Fowler The two children of Delilah and Joseph were also mentioned in the will, not by their names but as “my two grandchildren by Joseph Fowler”. Delilah was not mentioned at all; she had died in 1827.

“I have given to my son-in-law Joseph Fowler, one bed and bed clothing at $10, one cow and calf at $10, making the whole amount against Fowler $20. Else it is my will that my two grandchildren by Joseph Fowler should receive their part and to remain in the guardians possession until they come of age or marry and then their guardians to pay them equal.”  ~~ The Last Will and Testament of James McWhirter ~~ 7th May 1831

More children had been born in the decade 1830 to 1840. The two older children were the son and daughter of Delilah; the younger four were the children of Clarissa.

• Joseph Fowler (40 to 49)
• Clarissa McWhirter Fowler (20 to 29)
• Hampton O. Fowler (20 to 29)
• Mahala Fowler (15 to 19)
• Adolphus J. Fowler (15 to 19)
• Joseph Fowler (5 to 9)
• Cansady Fowler (5 to 9)
• Godfrey Butler Fowler (< 5)

Son John Hudson Fowler was the last child to be born to Joseph and Clarissa Foster Fowler. He was born in 1846. The large gap (nine years) in-between Godfrey Butler Fowler and John Hudson Fowler sends my mind racing. There are several reasons that could explain this, but I shall refrain from going into wild speculation.

The 1850 census reflects 50 year old Joseph, 36 year old Clarissa, 26 year old Hampton, 15 year old Cansady, 12 year old Godfrey, and 3 year old John.

Sons Adolphus and Joseph were not in the household, and I have had zero luck in finding them in subsequent years.

Glenn Dora Fowler Arthur published her book The Annals of the Fowler Family in 1901. She was descended from John Fowler the First who immigrated from England to Virginia in the 1600s. This is the family from which the Union County South Carolina Henry Ellis Fowler family descends.

Before writing her book, Mrs. Arthur contacted Fowler descendants from all over the south, midwest, and southwest for family information. Godfrey Butler Fowler, son of Joseph and Clarissa, wrote a letter to Mrs. Arthur in 1900

The Godfrey B. Fowler letter is a treasure. From his letter, we learn that the Joseph Fowler family headed west to Texas in 1852. It is certain that Joseph, Clarissa, and son Godfrey traveled to Texas, as they were mentioned in the letter. It is almost certain that young John would have gone on the trip, and likely that seventeen year old Cansady as well.

I have to wonder what motivated this family to leave their South Carolina home and move to Texas? Did other families travel with them? It was no easy task to move a family — hearth and home — 900 miles across unknown lands. Whatever their reasons, they undertook the long, hard journey.

Godfrey B. Fowler stated in his letter that his father Joseph died the same year, 1852. Clarissa Fowler buried her husband in Texas, and began the long, hard journey back to South Carolina. A great sadness and an unwelcoming despair must have hung over the family every step of the way home.

Joseph Fowler was buried at “the Rusk Courthouse, Cherokee County” and I searched for his grave.

I did not find a grave for him, and there is some uncertainty as to the exact location.

Cherokee County Texas was founded in 1846. There is a “court house” in the town of Rusk, Cherokee County, Texas, but the nearest graveyard is 0.7 miles away. There is no record of Joseph Fowler in this graveyard, the Cedar Hill Cemetery, but it is possible that he was buried with no engraved headstone.

The Rusk Court House in Cherokee County fits the “name” description, no doubt. It is also possible that there was another graveyard near the court house that is not longer marked.

maps from google.com/maps

Now for the confusing part. RUSK County is next to Cherokee County. Rusk County was founded in 1843. Henderson is the county seat. There is a real court house there. In fact, there have been four court houses built on the same spot beginning with the log court house built in 1843, another in 1850, a third in 1878/79, and the one still standing today in 1928.

And…….. there is a graveyard. Right. Beside. The. Court. House.

It is the Old City Cemetery. There is no marker for Joseph Fowler, but there are headstones with no names or dates. If he lies there, his grave is lost to us.

maps from google.com/maps

There is a Fowler buried there. The Reverend Littleton Fowler (1841-1917). Son of THE Reverend Littleton Fowler(1802-1846) who brought religion to Texas and who accomplished so much in a life cut too short. Close relative of Glenn Dora Fowler Arthur. Distant relative of Joseph Fowler.

So where was Joseph Fowler buried?

Court House, town of Rusk, Cherokee County, Texas with a graveyard almost a mile away?

~~ OR~~

Rusk Court House, town of Henderson, Rusk County, Texas with a graveyard only a stone’s throw away?

What follows are the descendants of Joseph Fowler and wives Delilah McWhirter and Clarissa Foster —

Joseph Fowler (1800-1852) m. Delilah McWhirter (1802-bef 1830); m. Clarissa Foster (1814- aft 1870)

• Mahala Fowler (1821-aft 1870) m. Thomas T. Foster (1820-1904)
  • Eliza Foster
  • Alice Foster
  • Delilah Josephine Foster
  • Robert Foster
• Hampton O. Fowler (1823-) m. Amanda Permelia Bailey (1835-1902)
  • Octavis F. Fowler (1856-1932) m. William P. Willis (1840-); m James Pinkney Holland (1852-1895)
    • Laura Holland (1878-1950)
    • Frances Holland (1880-)
    • Charles Adolphus Holland (1887-1985)
  • Gasena Fowler (1859-1910) m. Charles Jamison Fowler (1856-1915)
    • Whiteford Hoyle Fowler (1878-1961)
    • Hattie Fowler (1879-1941)
    • Myrtle Nannie Fowler (1892-1977)
  • Hagar Hortense Fowler (1861-1942) m. Andrew Walker Thompson McBride (1855-1929)
    • Ida McBride (1867
    • Kimuel Franklin McBride (1874-1934)
    • Clara Eugenia McBride (1879-1976)
    • Luna Venora McBride (1891-1962)
    • Boyd Hampton McBride (1890-1952)
    • Nannie Amanda McBride (1891-1962)
    • Bertie Louise McBride ((1893-1984)
    • Thomas Clifford McBride (1895-1962)
    • Joseph Bernard McBride (1897-1962)
    • Bessie McBride (1899-1977)
    • Evie Irene McBride (1901-1951)
  • Joseph James Fowler (1863-1958) m. Julie Jane Reaves (1864-1916)
    • Daniel Fowler (1886-)
    • Doris Edison Fowler (1888-1967)
    • Brady Hampton Fowler (1893-1969)
    • General Harley Fowler (1896-1969)
    • Cyrus Barham Fowler (1899-1972)
    • Joseph Bryan Fowler (1903-1980)
    • Marie Fowler (1907-1999)
  • Agnes “Aggie” Fowler (1868-1949) m. George Washington Warren (1852-1903); m. C. Jasper Harris (1854-1919); m. Alexander Jerome Harrison (1852-1925)
    • Amanda Warren (1893-1972)
    • Dane Warren (1894-1986)
    • James Dewey Warren (1899-1923)
    • Ella Ruth Warren (1904-)
  • Nancy “Nannie” Kelly Fowler (1869-1917)
  • Facima Fowler (1873-)
  • Hillard Sewial Fowler (1875-1960) m. Bessie Warren (1879-1954)
    • George Hampton Fowler (1899-1981)
    • Ella Fowler (1907-1982)
    • Mary Ruth Fowler (1909-1999)
  • Martin McLane Fowler (1889-)
• Adolphus J. Fowler (1833-)
• Godfrey Butler Fowler (1837-1906) m. Louisa Jane Mitchell (1844-1921)
  • Nathan Steadman Fowler (1867-1924)
• Cansady Fowler (1838-1904) m. William G. Holmes (1829–1899)
  • Margaret Ann Holmes (1867–1910)
  • Joseph Zephaniah Holmes (1870–1934)
  • Mary Adeline “Addie” Holmes (1871–1953)
  • Luther Davenport Holmes (1875–1944)
  • Adolphus Gaston Holmes (1876–1944)
  • Benjamin Franklin Holmes (1877–1944)
• Joseph Fowler (1839-)
• John Hudson Fowler (1845-1892) m. Martha B Scott (1856–)
  • William Arthur Fowler (1875–1933)
  • Mary “Minnie” Clarissa Fowler (1878–1946)
  • Imogene Fowler (1881–1946)