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…

I had to see his grave. So, one winter day not so long ago, I made my way to Browns Chapel Baptist Church Cemetery in Pacolet Mills, SC. It's not a large cemetery and I found the Fowler headstones easily. I know he is one of mine, but conclusive proof still eludes me. Was he…

In Union County, South Carolina, there were two women named Zillah Hames. This is about the Zillah Hames the younger, niece of the other. Zillah Hames (b. 1812) was the daughter of John M. Hames (1791–1862) and Sarah "Sallie" Fowler (1790–1870). She was undoubtedly named after her aunt -- her father's sister -- Zilla Hames…

Her importance as a local historian cannot be overstated. She was an artist, a sculptor, a prolific writer, a modern woman in an antiquated time. She was Sarah Adeline Sims. Addie Sims was born on October 6, 1828 on the south side of Grindal Shoals on the Pacolet River in Union County, South Carolina. Her…

Zilla Hames is my great great great grandmother. She was born in 1793, the daughter of William Hames (1759–1823) and Elizabeth Moseley (1763–1850). Her Hames family is the Charles Hames/Catherine Krugg line from Germany to Virginia to Union County, SC; her Moseley family is the John Moseley/Ann Williams line from European and British Isles beginnings…

"William Fowler, son of Godfrey. died a young man; he was a school-teacher and surveyor." Godfrey B. Fowler from letter written to Glenn Dora Fowler William Fowler was the son of Godfrey Fowler (1773- 1850) and Nannie Kelly (1775 -1857). He was the next to youngest son in a family of six (or seven) sons.…

In the mid-1800s, the Burton and the Ellis families of Abbeville County, SC were almost inseparable. So much, that Toliver Joseph Burton named his oldest son Robert Ellis Burton, and his second son, Ira O. Burton, named his son Walter Ellis Burton. Why? I think I know the answer: First, let me inform you that…

"I have heard that Lieutenant Ellis had a brother Reuben, and I know my father had a cousin Reuben called 'Little Reuben'." From a letter written by Godfrey B. Fowler My dad -- 82 years old -- can remember talking to his grandfather, Thomas Gillman Fowler, who was born in 1858. Thomas Gillman Fowler lived…

Although I am seven years late to the game, I have decided to take the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge started by Amy Johnson Crow in 2014. The goal is to write about one ancestor every week. I have chosen Hepsibah Sawyer to begin my year's long journey because I like her name. In…