MAHALA. She is my great-great grandmother. She was a brick wall in my family research for more than a quarter of a century — a woman without a known maiden name.

I have been searching for her for a very long time.

Tonight, I found her. Buried deep in Equity Court Records was the documentation I needed to knock down my brick wall.

I saw the name. Mahala.

A bell clanged loudly in my head. It slowly sank in that I was looking at a name I thought I would never find: the maiden name of Mahala. If not for her, I would not be here writing this today.

I felt stunned, and joyous, and relieved, and so many other emotions. I wanted the feelings to last; I wanted to savor my victory.

But most of all, I wanted to add her maiden name to my family tree.

I had seen Mahala’s maiden name once as McWhirter. I tried to contact the researcher who had put this information on-line. He had died and his notes were lost.

I tried to make Mahala “fit” within any Union County McWhirter family in early 1800 census records. I have McWhirter DNA swirling in my genetic code and it is logical that I am descended from this family. I consulted with a McWhirter researcher, but my Mahala did not seem to belong to a McWhirter family.

Mahala was born about 1821. She married my great-great grandfather, Thomas T. Foster (b. 1820), son of John M. Foster (b. 1788). She was the mother of my great grandmother Delilah Josephine Foster (b. 1860). She was the mother of two other daughters and a son. She died after the 1870 census was taken.

That is all I knew about Mahala.

What did I find and who was Mahala?

Joseph Fowler (1800-1852) was the son of Godfrey Fowler (1773-1850) and grandson of Henry Ellis Fowler (1746-1808).

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

1. Joseph Fowler and Delilah McWhirter had a daughter and a son, both born in the early 1820s.
2. Delilah McWhirter Fowler died in 1827. Did she die in childbirth?

These two facts are supported by two records:

• The 1830 Union County SC Census
• The 1831 Last Will and Testament of James McWhirter

The 1830 Union County SC Census for Joseph Fowler (who lived beside his father Godfrey Fowler) reveals the following:

• Male 30-39: Joseph Fowler (b. 1800)
• Female 15-19: Second wife Clarissa Foster (b. 1814)
• Female 5-9: (b. 1821)
• Male 5-9: (b. 1823)

The Last Will and Testament of James McWhirter was dated May 7, 1831. It was recorded Feb. 21, 1843 in Will Book B, Page 321, Box 28, Package 16.

James McWhirter mentioned his son-in-law Joseph Fowler twice in his will. He did not mention the name of his daughter Delilah who died in 1827, four years before the will was written.

James McWhirter mentioned “my two grandchildren by Joseph Fowler.”

Excepts from the Will of James McWhirter are below:

---

---

---

---

Godfrey Butler Fowler, son of Joseph Fowler and second wife Clarissa Foster, sent a letter with details of his Fowler family to Glenn Dora Fowler Arthur. She wrote a book — Annals of the Fowler Family — published in 1901. The letter was included in her book and gave us the names of the sons of Joseph Fowler:

• Hampton E. Fowler
• Adolphus J. Fowler
• John H. Fowler
• Godfrey B. Fowler
• Joseph Fowler

---

Godfrey Butler Fowler was the only living son by 1901. He had one living sister. Her name was not given but we know his sister was Cansady Fowler (1838-1904) who married William G. Holmes (1829–1899).

Census records indicate that there was a daughter born circa 1821-1825 to Joseph Fowler and first wife Delilah McWhirter. On my family tree, that daughter never had a name — first, middle, or last.

And then, I found this.

A document dated June 13, 1836.

At the Court of Equity, Joseph Fowler was seeking guardianship and control of the estate of two minors: Hampton Fowler and Mahala Fowler.

These were his two children with his first wife Delilah McWhirter.

Mahala Fowler, a fifteen-year-old, petitioned the court in 1836 stating she was entitled to property from her maternal grandfather after her mother’s passing in 1827. As there was no legal guardian to manage her inheritance, Mahala requested her father, Joseph Fowler, be appointed as her guardian. D. Wallace witnessed the filing, and Joseph Fowler agreed to accept the guardianship.

Dates:

• 1827 (year Mahala’s mother passed away)
• 13th June 1836 (date the petition was filed)

Names and Relationships:

• Mahala Fowler (petitioner; minor daughter, age 15)
• Joseph Fowler (father of Mahala; proposed guardian)
• Mahala’s maternal grandfather (deeded property to Mahala)
• Mahala’s mother (deceased, 1827)
• D. Wallace (witness to filing/affidavit)

---

In 1836, Joseph Fowler petitioned the court to be appointed guardian of his son, Hampton Fowler, who was under fourteen years old and entitled to property from his grandfather. At the time, there was no one legally authorized to manage this property for Hampton’s benefit. The court referred the matter to a commissioner to determine the suitability of Joseph Fowler as guardian and to assess the value of Hampton’s estate.

Dates:

• 13th June 1836 (date the petition was filed)

Names and Relationships:

• Joseph Fowler, father of Hampton Fowler and petitioner
• Hampton Fowler, minor son of Joseph Fowler and beneficiary
• (unnamed grandfather), granted property to Hampton Fowler
• Maria, (possible relative, relationship not clearly stated)
• D. Wallace, possibly a court official (filed the document)

---

---

---

I am related to the Henry Ellis Fowler family. DNA has proven that over and over. My shared DNA is stronger with the descendants of Godfrey Fowler, son of Henry Ellis Fowler. This is apparently through my descent from Godfrey’s son Joseph Fowler through his daughter Mahala Fowler.

Mahala named her daughter Delilah Josephine. The naming pattern was always there but I never saw it: Delilah Josephine was named after her grandmother, DELILAH McWhirter, and her grandfather JOSEPH Fowler.

Delilah Josephine Foster married Benjamin Franklin Mabry (1847-1925) and named one of her daughters Gladys Mahala (b. 1902).

The naming pattern is solid —Delila McWhirter > Mahala Fowler > Delilah Josephine Foster > Gladys Mahala Mabry.

The researcher who died before I found him knew, or at least suspected, that Mahala was connected to the McWhirter family.

Thomas T. Foster and Mahala Fowler had three daughters — Eliza, Alice, Delilah Josephine — and one son, Robert Foster.

Thomas T. Foster is found in 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, and 1900 census records.

Hindsight is 20/20. In the 1850 census of Union County, two adjacent households and another household nearby offer a significant clue:

• Household # 1321: Joseph Fowler –father of Mahala Fowler;
• Household # 1322: John M. Foster — father of Thomas T. Foster
• Household # 1329: Thomas T. Foster & Mahala Fowler

---

• Thomas T. Foster 32
• Mahala Foster 29
• Eliza Foster 8
• Robert Foster 4

---

• Thomas Foster 40
• Mahala Foster 38
• Robin Foster 14
• Alice Foster 3

---

• Thomas Foster 45
• Mahale Foster 40
• Alice Foster 12
• Josephine Foster 9

---

• Thomas T. Foster 58
• Mary C. Foster 45
• Alice G. Foster 20
• Josie D. Foster 18

---

• Thomas Foster 79
• Mary Foster 61

---

After Mahala’s death in the early 1870’s, Thomas T. Foster married Mary Catherine Gossett on December 29, 1872..

Mary Catherine Gossett (1835-1918) was the daughter of Moses Gossett (1803-1856) and Nancy White (1811-1872). Moses Gossett was convicted of slave stealing and he was hung on July 11, 1856.

Mary Catherine Gossett had first been married to Leonard Campbell and they had two daughters: Mary Jane (1856-1935 married to Samuel Harmon (1848-1900) and Emily (b. 1859).

Leonard Campbell died in the Union Army prison in Elmira, Chemung County, New York on March 28, 1865 near the end of the civil war.

Thomas T. Foster died September 28, 1903. He was buried at Gilead Baptist Church under a tree where his first wife Mahala had already been laid to rest. The graves are unmarked.

---

His second wife Mary Catherine Gossett would later join them in eternal rest in 1918.

---

Thomas T. Foster was known as both Thomas Foster and Thomas T. Foster. I found one instance of an unusual middle name — Boozer — for him in the obituary of his daughter Alice G. Foster Fowler Horne.

---

I know have a definite proven connection to Henry Ellis Fowler. I knew this to be true, but I did not know the exact path.

In my search for Mahala, I not only found her, but I also found myself. It is hard to explain, but I have a new sense of who I am.

One lesson learned in all of this: don’t give up! Your brick walls can be knocked down. It may take years and countless hours of research, but the answers you seek are buried in old documents, or in dusty attics, or on faded headstones in ancient graveyards.

Don’t. Give. Up.

The children of Thomas T. Foster and Mahala Fowler:

• Eliza Foster (b. 1842)
• Robert M. “Robin” Foster (1846-after 1900) m. Mary C Johnson (1851–1901)
  • Sarah Johnston (b.1861) “adopted daughter”
• Alice G. Foster (1856-1931) m. Rufus Fowler (b. 1861); m. Elias Ball Horne (1840-1930)
  • Herbert Fowler (1881-1951)
  • Lula Fowler (1883-1902)
  • Mamie Fowler (1885–1946)
  • Foster Elias Horne (1897–1970)
  • Myrtle Jesse Horne (1902–1979)
  • Brady Horn (1905–1917)
• Josephine Delilah Foster (1860-1935) m. Benjamin Franklin Mabry (1847–1925)
  • Florence Imogene Mabry (1882–1974)
  • Howard Mabry (1885–1946)
  • Viola Estelle Ola Mabry (1888–1959)
  • Robert Ney Mabry (1890–1952)
  • Guy Godfrey Mabry (1894–1953)
  • Vermelle Mabry (1896–1945)
  • Lois Ellen Mabry (1899–1984)
  • Gladys Mahala Mabry (1902–1982)
  • Wilma Mabry (1906–1981)