Ten years ago, in 2015, I researched and wrote all I knew of Jasper Fowler, son of Ephraim. Thanks to a wonderful new research tool, my speculation of the names of his children has become documented fact. Even the identity of his unnamed wife has come to light.
What follows is my revised body of research integrated into my original work from a decade ago.
When Susan Fowler, daughter of Jasper, signed her name to a simple, legal document in 1849, I do not think that she could have ever imagined the sheer joy I would feel when my eyes fell upon that document one hundred and sixty-seven years later. Yet, she is part of my journey into the past. Even from her grave, she has helped me put another piece into the wonderful puzzle of my heritage.
Jasper Fowler was the oldest son of Ephraim Fowler and Nancy Moseley. He was born circa 1785 in Union County, and it was there that he died before 1850. The chart below is my theory of his family since the names of his wife and children were never recorded with him in a census record. I have found a few documents in the Union County, SC courthouse which help support, and even offer a little proof, of my theory and speculation.
In 1822, when Ephraim Fowler penned his last will and testament, he also sold 50 acres of land to his son Jasper. From this document, we learn that Jasper had already been living in the home on this land. Ephraim must have known that his death was imminent as his will was probated very shortly after he signed it.
Transcribed:
CHALLENGING RESEARCH
Jasper first appeared in the 1810 Union County census (age 16-25) with a wife and three young children.
There are two Jasper Fowler households in the 1820 Union County census. The enumeration of the households is almost identical. Was the Jasper Fowler family counted twice, or were there two Jasper Fowlers families in Union County?
It should be said that other families were counted twice in 1820. I am certain that this is what happened with the Jasper Fowler household. And if there were two, one of them disappeared by 1830, never to be seen again.
Jasper Fowler and family were recorded in the 1830 Union County census.
The last census record that Jasper Fowler is found is the 1840 Union County census. There is a very important clue in 1840. There were two persons labeled as idiotic in the Jasper Fowler household. This will be addressed a little later.
WHO WAS JASPER’S WIFE?
I found little information of the woman married to Jasper Fowler. I thought her name would be lost to us forever……until I ran across a document in the courthouse. This document was created in 1849 to protect the interests and property of Lois Johnson (1765-after 1850), the widow of William Herman Johnson (1760-1825).
The document is an agreement signed by and in this order:
- Jasper Fowler
- Z (Zachariah) Johnson
- William Gault
- WH Johnson
- Jordon Johnson
- John Gault
- Isaac Knox
- Lemuel Johnson
Transcribed:
WHO WAS THIS FAMILY JOHNSON?
Who was William Johnson? It is known he was in Union County SC by the early 1800s. It is known that he died there in 1825, and lies in a graveyard deep in the woods. Very little has been proven about his life before his arrival in Union County. “William Johnson” is a common name making documented research difficult.
A hint of the origins of William Johnson is contained within the pages of “The Heritage of Cherokee County Georgia 1831-1998.’ (published by the Cherokee County Heritage Book Committee and Don Mills, Inc.)
On page 350 of the volume, we find the following:
At face value, it sounds like the folklore that just about every family in America believes about their own beginnings in America: “Three brothers came to America from (England, Germany, Ireland —pick one –). One brother came down south, one went north, one went west and was never heard from again.”
Only this time, it may be true. Jordon Johnson, born in 1794, was a documented son of William Johnson and wife Lois.
Jordon Johnson moved from Union County, SC to Cherokee County, Georgia. He died in Georgia in 1872.
Jordon Johnson was buried at Lebanon Methodist Church Cemetery in Cherokee County. In addition to his dates of birth and death, his headstone informs that he was a “NATIVE OF IRELAND.”
Was William Johnson born in Ireland? Were his sons and daughters born there before he immigrated to America? So many questions need to be answered.
This Johnson family is at the top of my research radar. I am looking through the names of Irish immigrants from the late 1700s and early 1800s in hope of finding more information. Stay tuned.
MY ANALYSIS OF THE DOCUMENT
I remembered the name Lemuel Johnson from previous research, as he had married Catherine Fowler, daughter of John “The Hatter” Fowler.
I thought the document to be most interesting with a Fowler, a Knox, two Gaults, and four Johnsons signing it. I decided to find out who these men were and why they were appointed as legatees of the widow Lois Johnson.
I discovered that Zachariah Johnson, WH (William) Johnson, Jordon Johnson, and Lemuel Johnson were the sons of William H. and Lois Johnson.
I then discovered that William “Drummer” Gault had married Frances Johnson, daughter of William and Lois Johnson.
Isaac Knox married Mary Johnson, another daughter of William and Lois Johnson.
I only found the first name of John Gault’s wife, Elizabeth. Some family trees have her surname as Littlejohn, and some as unknown, but the fact that John Gault signed the document is solid circumstantial evidence that Elizabeth was a Johnson.
That only left Jasper Fowler to account for. Why did he sign this document, and why was his name first??
Logic tells me that Jasper Fowler was married to a daughter of William H. and Lois Johnson. I can think of no other reason why he would have been involved in this legal action.
Now, why the particular order of the signatures? I believe that it was due to the birth order of the children!
Jasper Fowler was born circa 1785, and the first census he appeared in was 1810. His wife, the Johnson daughter, was close to him in age, and was probably the oldest child of William and Lois.
Zachariah Johnson was born in 1789, making him the oldest son, and the second person to sign the document.
Frances Johnson was born circa 1790/1791. She and her husband William Gault were in the 1810 census, confirming that she was an older child of William and Lois. William Gault signed the document in the third place.
W.H. (William) Johnson was born circa 1791/1792, was recorded for the first time in a census in 1820, and was the fourth to sign the document.
Jordon Johnson, born 1794, recorded in the 1830 census for the first time, was the fifth person to sign.
John Gault, (a brother of William Gault) was born circa 1797. He was married to Elizabeth, born circa 1798. I have to believe that Elizabeth was a daughter of William and Lois Johnson. It is the only logical reason that John Gault was the sixth person to sign the document.
Isaac Knox, born 1797, was married to Mary Johnson, born 1801. They married young and were in the 1820 census. Isaac was the seventh signer of the document.
Lemuel Johnson, born in 1806 and the youngest of all the children, had the last signature on the document. He married Catherine Fowler (daughter of John “the Hatter” Fowler) and they were first recorded in the 1830 census.
Further evidence, although circumstantial, is the location of the Jasper Fowler household to the Johnson offspring and their spouses.
In 1830 through 1850, almost all of these Johnson, Fowler, Gault, and Knox families lived within spitting distance of each other. An exception is the John Gault family; they had moved to Georgia before 1850. (Lemuel Johnson was soon to follow.)
Now, let’s get back to 1840. On the same page of the census, heads of household, Jasper Fowler lived in the middle of the Johnson clan………
- Lemuel Fowler (son of Jasper or Lemuel K Fowler, son of Israel?)
- Rebekah Fowler (daughter of Jasper?)
- Jordon Johnson (brother of Jasper’s wife)
- Lemuel Johnson (brother of Jasper’s wife)
- Washington Fowler (son of John Fowler, son of Ephraim)
- Zachariah Johnson (brother of Jasper’s wife)
- Jasper Fowler
- William Fowler (Jasper’s son)
- William Gault (married to Frances Johnson, sister of Jasper’s wife)
- George W Gault (son of William and Frances Johnson Gault)
Not forgetting the two idiotic persons in the Jasper Fowler household of 1840, let’s take a look at what was going on in 1850……..
Heads of Household 1850: Fowlers & Johnsons & Gaults……Oh, My!
- Isaac Knox married to Mary Johnson (sister of Jasper’s wife)
- Zachariah Johnson (brother of Jasper’s wife)
- Lemuel Hames
- Lemuel Johnson (brother of Jasper’s wife) Lemuel was married to Catherine Fowler, daughter of John the Hatter.
- Jordon Johnson (brother of Jasper’s wife)
- John McWhirter and wife Mary Fowler, (daughter of Godfrey)
- Lemuel Fowler, Zachariah Fowler, Mary Fowler, Susan Fowler (I believe these all to be Jasper’s children; Zachariah and Mary are listed as idiotic)
- Washington Gault (son of William “Drummer”Gault and his wife Frances Johnson, (sister of Jasper’s wife). Knight Fowler, 11, was in the household
- Stephen Fowler (Jasper’s brother)
- William “Drummer”Gault and wife Frances Johnson, (sister of Jasper’s wife). James Fowler, 16, was in the household
- William Fowler and wife Nancy (William may have been the son of Ephraim’s son John)
- William Fowler and wife Charity & family (Jasper’s son and John’s daughter)
- William & Julia Sprouse (Julia was the daughter of Jasper’s brother Ellis Fowler)
- Thomas Fowler; his mother Nancy; wife Eleanor Hames, and his siblings (Thomas was the son of Jasper’s brother John Fowler)
- Sarah Fowler & son Henry Fowler (Sarah was the widow of Jasper’s brother Ellis Fowler)
- Edmund Hames
- Henry Wright & wife Cansadia Fowler (daughter of Jasper’s brother Stephen Fowler)
THE CHILDREN: SPECULATION AND FACT
When I first began this body of research in 2015, it was my belief that Jasper Fowler and his Johnson wife had six children — Zachariah, Rebekah, William, Lemuel, Mary, and Susan. Until I found the document below, my belief was mere speculation based on good circumstantial evidence.
A newly discovered document of 1853 confirmed that Jasper Fowler married a daughter of William Johnson. This document defined the names of five children of Jasper Fowler:
- Zachariah Fowler
- William J. Fowler
- Lemuel J. Fowler
- Mary Fowler
- Susan M. Fowler
There was another hidden gem in this document. A name was revealed that I had never seen in all of my many years of Fowler family research: George Waitus Fowler. He married Jasper’s daughter Susan in 1852.
My transcription of the document is below:
JASPER’S WIFE
I had searched for many years to discover the woman in the shadows, the woman whom Jasper Fowler married. The document above confirmed my theory that the wife of Jasper Fowler was a daughter of William Johnson.
But knowing for certain that she was a Johnson was not enough. I wanted to find her first name. The following two sentences were in my original post from ten years ago:
“My research into the Jasper Fowler family is ongoing. I am still hoping to find a document buried in the courthouse that will give me the name of his wife.”
And — finally — another wonderful discovery. The document had been drawn up in 1839, and recorded in 1840. It stated that although she was born out of wedlock, the sons and daughters of William Johnson accepted her as their sister and wanted her to share in the estate of their father.
When I saw her name on the document, I had to close the lid of my laptop. I got up, walked around, retrieved my reading glasses, walked in circles, composed myself, sat back down and opened the lid of my laptop.
I read slowly, absorbing every word, every line, every detail. Her name swirled, in circles, swirled in my mind. Her name floated in the air, leaving traces of two hundred years of her past rising from the grave into the gentle breeze.
Rebecca.
THE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF JASPER FOWLER
ZACHARIAH FOWLER
Zachariah Fowler was born about 1803, and was named after his uncle Zachariah Johnson. He is a “good fit” in the Jasper Fowler households of 1810, 1820, 1830, and 1840 as the oldest son.
The 1840 census lists 2 persons under the category of Insane and idiots at private charge. Zachariah was one of these persons. The other was his sister Mary.
Jasper Fowler and his wife were dead by 1850. Zachariah was in the 1850 household of his brother Lemuel Fowler, who was taking care of both idiotic siblings. This arrangement was formalized by the document of 1851 in which Lemuel was given the bulk of his father Jasper’s estate in return for the care and support of Zachariah and Mary.
I find no documents after 1851 that reveal the fate of Zachariah and his sister Mary. It is my intention to search the records of the South Carolina Lunatic Asylum, opened in 1828 on Bull Street in Columbia.
The South Carolina Lunatic Asylum in 1853. If Zachariah and Mary were sent there, it would have been around this year.
REBEKAH FOWLER
The 1840 Union County SC Census recorded Rebekah Fowler (age 30-30) as head of household with a young female (age 10-14). This information aligns perfectly with the female (age <10) whom I believe to have been a daughter of Jasper Fowler counted in the 1810 census of his household.
It is entirely circumstantial evidence. The 1840 household of Rebekah Fowler was surrounded by the households of Lemuel Fowler (although this may have been Lemuel K. Fowler, son of Israel Fowler), Jordon Johnson, Isaac Know, Lemuel Jonson, Zachariah Johnson, Jasper Fowler, and William J. Fowler.
More circumstantial evidence: the naming pattern. Was Rebekah Fowler named after her mother Rebecca Johnson, wife of Jasper Fowler?
I do not know for certain if this Rebekah Fowler of the 1840 census was a Jasper Fowler daughter. I have found no further evidence of this Rebekah, or of the young girl –her daughter? — in the 1840 home.
There was no mention of a daughter named Rebekah in the document of 1853 when Lemuel Fowler agreed to care for his idiotic siblings. Rebekah’s absence in the document is convincing circumstantial evidence of her death between 1840 and 1853 if she was a daughter of Jasper.
WILLIAM J. FOWLER
What did the “J” stand for in the name of William J. Fowler?
James, John, Jeremiah, Joseph, Jordan, Jackson, Jacob, Jesse, Joshua?
My best guess is either Jasper (after his father), or Johnson (after his mother’s maiden name).
William J. Fowler was born about 1810. He married his first cousin, Charity Fowler, born c. 1822, daughter of John Fowler.
There are ten known children of William and Charity — five sons and five daughters.
GREENBERRY FOWLER was born about 1837. He was in the 1850 household with his parents and siblings.
He was in in court in November 1859, and in the jail house in 1860.
He had a April 12, 1861 note payable to A.F. Haney listed as “desperate”– notes payable listed as “desperate” referred to debts that were considered worthless and impossible to collect.
Greenberry Fowler enlisted at Mt Tabor in Captain Sims‘ Company F of the 15th SC Infantry on September 16, 1861. His age was given as 23 years old. Civil War military records confirm his presence in his unit until April 1862.
I find no records after 1862. Was Greenberry Fowler killed on a battlefield, die in a military hospital, desert his military unit, or come home to live out the rest of his life in obscurity?
MARY FOWLER was born about 1838. Her sister MARTHA FOWLER was born in 1840. Both daughters were recorded in the 1850, 1860, and 1870 census records with their parents William J. and Charity Fowler.
Admittedly, I have not searched extensively for either of these woman. I do not know if they married late in life and lived in a household with the surname of a husband, or if they died after 1870.
SUSAN A. FOWLER was born in 1842. She was also in the 1850, 1860, and 1870 census records with her parents. Her father William J. Fowler had died before 1880, and Susan was in the 1880 household with her mother Charity Fowler.
Susan may have been the mother of Sallie Fowler (age 13) who was listed as a granddaughter of Charity Fowler.
REBECCA FOWLER, born about 1845, was in the 1850, 1860, and 1870 household with her parents. Her whereabouts after 1870 are unknown to me.
NEWTON FOWLER was born in 1849. I have only found his name in the 1850 census with William and Charity Fowler. His absence in the 1860 household is an indication that he died young.
CORDELIA FOWLER was born about 1855. She was in two census records with her parents, 1860 & 1870. She married Mr. James (Sun?) Wix (Wicks/Weeks). More research is needed. The family is found in 1880, but not found in 1900.
Cordelia Fowler and Mr. Wix had sons:
- Greenberry Henry Wix (1875–1941)
- William Weeks (1879–1955)
- Oscar Wix (1886–1964)
- Curtis Wix/Wicks (1892–1941)
JOHN FOWLER was born in 1858. He was in 1860 and 1870 census records with his parents; the 1880 census record with his mother Charity Fowler; the 1900 census record with his brother Jasper Fowler; and the 1930 census record in the County Home.1930 death certificate, brother Gillman was the informant
It will take yDNA testing to confirm my theory that John Fowler was the father of at least two of the children of Sarah Purchase Fowler (1860-1933).
- Nellie Caroline Fowler (1880–1956)
- Steadman William “Steady” Fowler (1882–1930)
Sarah Purchase Fowler was a descendant of Henry Ellis Fowler, thus a cousin of John Fowler.
JASPER (JOSEPH) FOWLER was born about 1859, in census records in 1860 and 1870 with his parents. He marrried Dulcieny “Sena” Jones (b. 1848) and they had sons William, James, and Thomas.
Jasper Fowler and his wife Dulcieny died after 1910.
GILLMAN FOWLER was born during the Civil War, in 1863. He was in the 1870 houshehold of his parents in 1870, with his widowed mother Charity Fowler in 1880, and alone in 1900.
He lived with an Ivey family in 1910. He was the informant on his brother John’s death certificate in 1930.
William J. Fowler agreed to take a lesser share of his father’s estate in return for having no responsibility of his siblings Zachariah and Mary. He received only 85 acres on which he already lived, while the bulk of his father’s estate went to his brother Lemuel. Youngest sister Susan was given a token share, reflecting her status as a woman with little or no rights.
The agriculture census of 1850 supports: William J. Fowler owned 35 acres of improved (farm) land, and 50 acres of unimproved land:
William J. Fowler lived in the middle of his Johnson kin.
William J. Fowler died after 1870. His widow Charity died after 1880.
LEMUEL J. FOWLER
Lemuel J. Fowler, born about 1815, may have been the most responsible son of Jasper Fowler and Rebecca Johnson. It appears that he put his life “on hold” to care for his two idiotic siblings Zachariah and Mary.
On April 4, 1853, the document giving Lemuel J. Fowler his father Jasper Fowler’s homeplace of 200 acres was recorded at the court house.
Although the document was signed in 1853, the 1850 census supports the fact that Lemuel Fowler had already begun the care of his siblings, Mary and Zachariah Fowler. The youngest sister Susan was in the home as well.
A free black man, Nat Kelly, was in the household. He and his parents, Samuel and Maria Kelly, often lived and worked on Fowler land. Caroline Hill’s presence in the home is a mystery to me at this time.
1850 Census:
On October 20, 1853, Lemuel J. Fowler sold the 200-acre tract known as the William Johnson place to Henry R. Johnson in Union District. The property adjoined lands owned by David Gallman, Mary White, Edward Gregory, and Zachariah Johnson.
Mary Jane Fowler, wife of Lemuel J. Fowler, formally relinquished her dower rights to the property on December 16, 1853.
The deed was officially recorded and acknowledged by local magistrate John P. McKissick on December 4, 1854.
Lemuel J. Fowler did not have a wife in the 1850 census; by 1853, he had a wife named Mary Jane.
Who was Mary Jane? She was Mary Jane Johnson (b. 1837), daughter of Jordon Johnson, thus a first cousin of her husband Lemuel J. Fowler. (Technically a half first cousin since Jordon Johnson and Rebecca Johnson were half siblings)
As discussed earlier, Jordon Johnson moved his family to Cherokee County, Georgia after 1850. Lemuel J. Fowler and his bride Mary Jane Johnson also picked up and moved home and hearth to Georgia.
I question the whereabouts of Zachariah and Mary after 1851. Did both siblings die? Were they sent to the asylum? Were they taken to Georgia with their caretaker brother? I have searched the archives of Cherokee County Georgia for the years 1850 to 1870, and I find no evidence of Zachariah and Mary Fowler.
I also question the intentions of Lemuel J. Fowler in assuming care of his idiotic siblings and seemingly abandoning them. Only 6 months after taking possession of his father’s estate, he sold it, married, and moved away.
There are several documents in Cherokee County, Georgia proving the presence of Lemuel J. Fowler during the mid to late 1850s.
A daughter was born in Georgia on July 18, 1855, and she was given the name Roseana. She would be the only child of Lemuel J. Fowler and Mary Jane Johnson.
Lemuel J. Fowler died in 1859 in Cherokee County, Georgia.
The 1860 Cherokee County Census has his widow Mary Fowler in the household of her brother William Johnson. His daughter Rosana Fowler was in the household of her grandfather Jordon Johnson.
Although his death occurred in 1859, the estate of Lemuel J. Fowler was not settled until 1873. His widow Mary Jane Johnson Fowler may have died before this year.
William Capp Scott (1846) married Roseana Fowler in 1871. He was granted Guardianship over his “orphan” wife in 1873.
He was her guardian, her husband … and her cousin.
William Capp Scott was born in Union County, SC. He was the son of Hezekiah Thomas Scott (1822–1904) and Mary Anne McWhirter (1822–1887).
Mary Anne McWhirter was the daughter of James Walton McWhirter (1800–1884) and Desina Fowler (1802–1840). Desina Fowler was the daughter of John Fowler “The Hatter” (d. 1833).
The image below of the woman on the right may be Roseana Fowler Scott.
The William Capers Scott family was in Georgia in the 1870s, Union County, South Carolina in 1880, Yell County Arkansas in 1900, and in Oklahoma by 1910.
Roseana Fowler and and William Capers Scott had twelve children. Nine named below:
- Lillian Leitha Scott (1875– before 1900)
- Laduska Lavina Scott (1877– before 1900)
- Minnie Lee Scott (1880–1936)
- Joseph Claud Scott (1884–1966)
- Jackson Dennis Scott (1886–1968)
- Lula Mae Scott (1889–1972)
- Sanford Scott (1891–1908)
- William Winfield Scott (1893–1907)
- Grace Mary Scott (1898–1988)
Roseana Fowler Scott died in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma in 1927. Her husband William Capers Scott died in 1924.
MARY FOWLER
Mary Fowler was born about 1821. She was the female (age 5-9) in the 1830 census, and the idiotic female (age 15-19) in 1840 census of the Jasper Fowler household. This is known because she was recorded as 29 years old and idiotic in the Lemuel Fowler home of 1850.
Mary was the second known child of Jasper Fowler and Rebecca Johnson who was labeled as idiotic.
Why were there two idiotic children in the household? Were there more who were born and did not survive? The span of time between the known firstborn child of Rebecca Johnson (Zachariah born in 1803) and the last child born to her (Susan born in 1827) was twenty-four years. By my calculations, only six children were born who survived during this period (Zachariah, Rebekah, William, Lemuel, Mary, and Susan).
It was typical of the era for women to give birth, on average, every two years. Many women had upwards of ten or more children. The gaps of several years between the births of the sons and daughters of Rebecca Fowler invite speculation. I would guess that there were several miscarriages, still born children, or infants who died after birth. This is my opinion and not supported by any facts.
Mary and her older brother Zachariah were described in legal documents as “wholly incapable of taking care of themselves or any property left to them.” Children were labeled “idiotic” in the 1800s due to a poor understanding of what is now known as intellectual or developmental disabilities. Heredity was often believed to be the cause of insanity and idiocy.
Regardless of the reasons, Mary and Zachariah were deemed idiotic and in the care of their family — in the household of their parents, and then in the household of their brother Lemuel after the deaths of Jasper and Rebecca.
Both Mary and Zachariah disappeared from records after 1851.
SUSAN M. FOWLER
Until today, Susan was the only child of Jasper that I had been able to document. I discovered a document in the Union County Courthouse from 1849, whereas Susan Fowler, daughter of Jasper Fowler, son of Ephraim Fowler sold her 1/8 portion of Ephraim’s estate that she had inherited from her father Jasper to William Bevis. Not only did I learn the name of one of Jasper’s children, I also learned from this document that her father Jasper had died by 1849.
Transcribed:
SUSAN FOWLER IN THE 1860 CENSUS
Susan Fowler’s household was enumerated on July 23, 1860 in Union County. Her seven-year-old son Danison Fowler had been born a year after her 1852 marriage to George Waitus Fowler and it must be assumed that he was the father of Danison. Her husband was not included in the household, and I have found no records of him other than the document of 1851.
THE DANISON DEILIMA
Before I learned of the marriage of Susan M. Fowler and George Waitus Fowler in 1851, I had speculated on possible fathers of her son Danison. I have chosen to leave these theories in this revision in the hopes that my work my help someone else researching any of the other sons named Danison in Union County.
Danison was somewhat of an unusual name in Union County families. In fact, I can only find four instances of the name in the county:
Danison Brown b. 1829 did, in fact, live near Susan Fowler in 1850. I did consider that perhaps he fathered Danison Fowler. After a little research, the possibility went out the window. This Danison Brown had moved to Walker County Georgia circa 1852. He and his wife had several children between 1853 to 1860, all born in Georgia or Mississippi. Danison Brown died in Mississippi in 1909. There is no evidence, real or circumstantial, that he ever moved back to Union County, South Carolina.
Danison Gadberry Brown b. 1849 lived with his parents and siblings in household number 939 in Union County in 1850. His father, born in 1822, was named Annanias Brown, and very likely a brother or close relative of the Danison Brown who moved to Georgia. Susan Fowler lived in household number 945 in Union County in 1850, only six households away from the Brown family. Was Annanis Brown the father of Danison Fowler? Annanis Brown and his family had moved to Sevier County, Tennessee by 1860. Census records indicate that he and his wife had a daughter born in 1853 in Tennessee. If so, it is likely that he was not the father of Danison Fowler.
Susan Fowler was not recorded in the 1880 census. Was she still living? I do not know. Danison Fowler was also not recorded in the 1880 census? Was he still living?
Absolutely.
Danison Fowler married his second cousin, Sarah Ann Johnson. Danison’s maternal grandmother was the sister of Sarah Ann’s paternal grandfather.
Danison Fowler > Susan Fowler > Rebecca Johnson > William Johnson
Sarah Ann Johnson > Henry Johnson > Zachariah Johnson > William Johnson
The Children of Danison Fowler and Sarah Ann Johnson
Danison Fowler’s name is found in only four documents: the 1860 census, the death certificate for his son, a delayed birth certificate for a daughter, and a court document.
In 1877, Danison Fowler was sentenced to four years in the penitentiary for horse stealing. This would explain the gap between the birth of his first child with Sarah Ann Johnson and the birth of the second one.
There is no date on the Application For Certificate of Birth for Mae Jane Fowler. There is a question mark on the form for the age of Danison Fowler at the time of his death. The form was filed in 1952. Mae Jane Fowler would have been 65 years old at the time and may not have remembered when her father died.
Sarah Ann Johnson married George W. Gault in 1895. Danison Fowler may have died before then, although I heard once that Danison deserted his family and went to live elsewhere.
FAMILY TIES: FOWLER AND BEVIS
I would like to step back for moment to examine the relationship between the Ephraim Fowler family and the William Bevis family. My reasons will become evident shortly.
Ephraim’s daughter Sarah Fowler married John Hames. Their daughter Zilla Hames was the second wife of William Bevis.
Ephraim’s son Jasper Fowler was the father of Susan Fowler, making Zilla Hames Bevis and Susan Fowler first cousins.
We know that all of Ephraim’s descendants sold their shares of Ephraim’s estate to William Bevis during the years 1846 to 1849.
(See my article “The Final Estate Settlement of Ephraim Fowler: Darkas, Mahala, Dorcas and Charlotte”) The Final Estate Settlement of EPHRAIM FOWLER
There was obviously a close relationship — a family relationship — between William Bevis and Ephraim Fowler’s children and grandchildren.
THE 1860 CENSUS REVISITED & THE SON OF A MILLER
A newborn son, only one-month old, was in the 1860 household of Susan Fowler. Note that the next door neighbor was a man named Thomas R. Miller.
I have seen the transcription of the William Bevis family bible. There is an entry that “B.F. Fowler (in pencil ‘Miller‘) was born July the 2nd, 1860″.
Who was this B.F. Fowler/Miller? He was the unnamed male infant, age one month in the Susan Fowler household of 1860. He was the son of Susan Fowler, daughter of Jasper. Was his father the Thomas R. Miller who lived next door to Susan Fowler in 1860?
Susan Fowler and her sons Danison Fowler and B.F. Fowler/Miller were not counted in the 1870 census. I can find no record of them. Perhaps Susan had died before 1870. Since her sons were still living and would have been seventeen and ten years of age, it is more likely that the census taker just overlooked them.
In 1880, William Bevis, now a widower three times, lived with his daughter Eliza Bevis McNease and her family. Benjamin Miller, aged 20, also lived in the household.
When one considers that Benjamin (Fowler) Miller’s date of birth was recorded in the Bevis family bible and that he was living with William Bevis in 1880, it becomes apparent that there was a very close tie.
Did Zilla Hames Bevis raise Benjamin along with her own children?
Benjamin F. Miller was a veterinarian. He was married twice and had two sons. I do not yet have a date of death for him but he died between 1930 and 1940.
Benjamin Miller married Sarah Ann Carter, and they had one son, Henry V. Miller, born in 1885. Ben and Sarah were still married in 1910, but there were no children in the household.
Although I have not found a date of death for Sarah, she must have died shortly after the 1910 census was taken. By 1920, Benjamin had married Elizabeth Wright Teague, a widow with three children, Newland, Grace, and Jesse. These children were sometimes recorded as Millers in documents even though their father was a Teague.
It must be mentioned that Grace Teague married James Clarence Fowler, a descendant of the Henry Ellis Fowler family.
Benjamin and his second wife Elizabeth had one son, John Calhoun Miller, born in 1914.
Jasper Fowler and Rebecca Johnson. Many of my questions of their lives have been answered. But I have many more. Who was Rebecca’s mother? When did the Johnson family sail from Ireland? What is Danison Fowler’s story, and who was his father, George Waitus Fowler? Why was Greenbury Fowler in jail? Are there descendants of this Fowler line willing to DNA test?
My work continues…..
- HENRY ELLIS FOWLER
- Ephraim Fowler
- JASPER FOWLER (1783-before 1850) m. REBECCA JOHNSON (1785-before 1850)
- Zachariah Fowler (1803- after 1850)
- Rebekah Fowler (b. 1809- after 1840)
- Daughter (c. 1827- after 1840)
- William J. Fowler (1810- after 1870) married Charity Fowler (1822– after 1880)
- Greenberry Fowler (1837 -after 1862)
- Mary Fowler (1838- after 1870)
- Martha Fowler (1840- after 1870)
- Susan A. Fowler (1842- after 1880)
- Sallie Fowler (1867-)
- Newton Fowler (1849- before 1860)
- Cordelia Fowler (1855- ) m. James/Sun (?) Wix
- Greenberry Henry Wix (1875- ) married Sara Angeline Tessner
- James O. Wix (1908-)
- Nancy Cordelia Wix (1911-)
- Geneva “Eva” Wix (1917-1990)
- William Weeks (1879–1955)
- Oscar Wix (1886–1964)
- Curtis Wicks (1896–1941
- Greenberry Henry Wix (1875- ) married Sara Angeline Tessner
- John Fowler (1858–1930)
- Jasper Fowler (1859- after 1910) m. Dulcieny Jones
- William Fowler
- James Fowler
- Thomas Fowler
- Gillman Fowler (1863– after 1930)
- Lemuel J. Fowler (1815- 1859) m. Mary Jane Johnson (1837-after 1860)
- Roseana Fowler (1855-1927) m. William Capp Scott (1846-1924)
- Lillian Leitha Scott (1875–1900)
- Laduska Lavina Scott (1877–1900)
- Minnie Lee Scott (1880–1936)
- Joseph Claud Scott (1884–1966)
- Jackson Dennis Scott (1886–1968)
- Lula Mae Scott Dye (1889–1972)
- Sanford Scott (1891–1908)
- William Winfield Scott (1893–1907)
- Grace Mary Scott (1898–1988)
- Roseana Fowler (1855-1927) m. William Capp Scott (1846-1924)
- JASPER FOWLER (1783-before 1850) m. REBECCA JOHNSON (1785-before 1850)
- Ephraim Fowler
- Mary Fowler (1821- after 1851)
- Susan Fowler (1827- after 1850) m. George Waitus Fowler; Thomas R. Miller
- Danison Fowler (1853- ) m. Sarah Ann Johnson
- Eugene Clarence Fowler (1875-1933) m. Perminer Gault (1875-1941)
- Lillie Mae Fowler (1898-1981) m. Paul James Fowler (1899-1981)
- Evelyn F Fowler (1923–2013)
- Helen Frances Fowler (1924–2014) m. Edwin Grady Garner (1908-1996)
- James Edwin Garner (1948–1968)
- Madge H. Fowler (1884-1951) m. Horrace H. Jones
- Ruby M. Jones (1913-)
- Harold H. Jones (1915-)
- Ralph E. Jones 1918-
- Mae Jane Fowler 1887-1961 m. Claude Guy Hill 1881-1955
- Jasper/Joseph Guy Hill 1906-1969
- Mary Aileen Hill 1912-1991
- Frances Martha Hill 1918-2012
- Kathryn Marion Hill 1920-1997
- Lillie Mae Fowler (1898-1981) m. Paul James Fowler (1899-1981)
- Eugene Clarence Fowler (1875-1933) m. Perminer Gault (1875-1941)
- Benjamin F. Miller 1860- m. Sarah Ann Carter b. 1859; m. Elizabeth Wright b. 1871
- Henry V Miller 1885–1905
- John Calhoun Miller 1914–
- Danison Fowler (1853- ) m. Sarah Ann Johnson
THE FOWLER FAMILIES OF UNION COUNTY, SC 