Martha Jane Johnson. Born December 12, 1856. Died January 8, 1934. Martha Jane Johnson is the center of the mystery which surrounds her three children born before her 1883 marriage to Wright Fowler. Who was Martha Jane Johnson? She was the daughter of William Johnson and Mary Carothers.(or Weathers). She was the wife of Wright…

Henry Ellis Fowler (d. 1808) was the great grandfather of Mahala Rebecca Worthy. Henry Ellis Fowler was the grandfather of her husband, Walter Gaines Fowler. Husband and wife were first cousins once removed. This was only one of many marriages between “kissing cousins” in Union County, South Carolina in the 1800s. It was an accepted practice, being both…

I have had this Confederate money in my possession since 1968. I did not know the historical significance of the bills when they fell into my hands. I took them to my seventh grade history class in 1971 and the teacher passed them around to all of my classmates. I did not go out of…

His grave lay undisturbed for one hundred and fifty-seven years. The headstone marking the final resting place of Lemuel Holter Fowler was buried in the ground -- not as deeply as the bones over which it stood guard -- but deep enough that it had perhaps been unseen by decades of descendants. Lemuel Fowler John…

Samuel Hodge lived a long life. It is thought that he was born in Ireland before his family immigrated to the Americas. Born in Ireland, or born in 1766 in Reading, York County, Pennsylvania, he made his way south to Union County, South Carolina and settled on the Pacolet River near Grindal Shoals. He was…

Walter Gaines Fowler was born in Union County, South Carolina, the youngest of three sons of Big Mark Fowler (1780-1853) and Elizabeth Moseley ((1782-1883). In 1850, Walter Fowler resided in the household with his father, mother, sisters, and several nephews. His older brother Ellis Fowler and his family lived next door. It is possible that…

After four years of bloody battles, the loss of hundreds of thousands of fathers, brothers, sons, and the maiming of countless more, the American Civil War finally came to an end. General Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox on April 8, 1865, and, as the news spread throughout the south, confederate soldiers began slowly making…

Alpha Ethel Fowler was born on September 18, 1868 near Jonesville, South Carolina. She was twice descended from Henry Ellis Fowler. Her father was Walter Gaines Fowler (1828-1870), youngest son of Big Mark Fowler (1780-1853) and Elizabeth Moseley (1782-1882). Mark Fowler was a son of Henry Ellis Fowler (1746-1808). Alpha's mother was Mahala Rebecca "Becky"…

The tale of murder, death, marriage, and family ties began simply; but as it so often happens while researching my Fowler family, I stumbled upon long, interwoven pathways into another, that of the Coleman family. Two Coleman family tragedies -- a murder and a death by lightning -- were linked to my family; thus, the…