Sections in this issue:
1) Richard Gowan Operated Still In Rowan County, N. Carolina;
2) Miner Steele Gowin, 92 Writes Of His Life and Philosophy;
3) Dear Cousins.
All Gowen Manuscript Pages and Newsletters: https://goyengoinggowengoyneandgone.com/gowen-research-foundation-pages-and-info/
GOWEN RESEARCH FOUNDATION NEWSLETTER
Volume 4, No. 1 September 1992
1) Richard Gowan Operated Still
In Rowan County, N. Carolina
Richard Gowan was born in Pittsylvania County, Virginia
January 8, 1776, according to Edgar Gowan Lowrance, a greatgreat
grandson of Winston-Salem, North Caroloina. He was a
“colonial resident of Pittsylvania County,” according to a
statement made in 1885 by George Richard Gowan, a grandson
of Grants Pass, Oregon.
Richard Gowan was “bound out” in Pittsylvania County as an
orphan to Thomas Wilkerson in April 1787. “Richard Gowing”
was listed as “insolvent” in 1804 in adjoining Caswell County,
according to “Caswell County, North Carolina Will Books,
1777-1814” by Katherine Kerr Kendall and Mary Frances Kerr
Donaldson.
“Richard Gowin” was married July 4, 1807 to Mary “Polly”
Bennett, according to “Caswell County, North Carolina
Marriage Bonds, 1778-1868.” She was the daughter of
Thomas Bennett and Molly Bennett. Fourteen years earlier
“Sherwood Going” was married in Caswell County to Ruth Bennett
April 30, 1793, according to the Kendall volume.
“Richard Going” was listed as a taxpayer in the 1810 tax list of
Pittsylvania County April 10, 1810. He paid tax on one poll and
one horse. He owned no slaves, according to “A Supplement to
the 1810 Census of Virginia.”
“Richard Going “white male, 26-45” reappeared in the 1820
census of Pittsylvania County, page 49 as a farmer. He owned
three slaves, and was the head of a household of seven.
On January 8, 1819, “Richard Gowen of Pittsylvania County”
purchased 175 acres in Rowan County, North Carolina on
Buffalow Creek for $1,050. The land lay in adjoining Davie
County when it was created in 1836 from Rowan County,
according to Davie County Deed Book 26, page 21. On
February 17, 1824 “Richard Gowin” received Land Grant No.
326 for 200 acres “on Buffalow Creek, next to that of Andrew
Tucker, Thomas Oaks, et al.
In 1829 “Richard Goin” deeded 25 acres “in the estate of
Michael Hinkle, deceased” to Elizabeth Elliott for $10,
according to Rowan County Deed Book 30, page 638. “Richard
Goen” was referred to as an adjoining land owner on Buffalow
Creek in a deed written October 12, 1830, according to Rowan
County Deed Book 31, page 88.
Of Richard Gowan, George Richard Gowan stated, “For many
years he was overseer of a large plantation in his native state.
Subsequently removing to North Carolina, he purchased land,
and in addition to raising grain and tobacco was a distiller.”
On May 1, 1830 “Richard Gowin of Rowan County” purchased
“land which had belonged to Isaac Elliott, deceased & divided
among his legatees” for $175 from William Wyatt and wife
Elizabeth Wyatt, according to Rowan County Deed Book 9,
page 1032. On August 19, 1834 “Richard Goeing” conveyed to
his son “James Goeing,” “both of Rowan County” 98 acres on
Bryants Creek for $400, according to Rowan County Deed
Book 32, page 261. On January 17, 1835 “Richard Gowing”
gave a deed of trust in the purchase of “eight horses, 2 stills &
furnishings, 28 stands, and a wagon & harness,” according to
Davie County Deed Book 32, page 246.
“Richard Gowins” appeared as the head of a household in the
1840 census of Davie County, page 203. His son, “Major
Gowins” was also listed as the head of household, page 203.
“Richard Gowen” wrote his will November 14, 1844, and it was
recorded in Davie County Will Book 1, page 63. He bequeathed
“the home plantation to my wife Polly and after her death to my
son George.” His son, Richard A. Gowan was named executor.
Richard Gowan died December 16, 1844 at age 68 and was
buried in Olive Branch Methodist Church Cemetery in Davie
County, according to Edgar Gowan Lowrance. Mary “Polly”
Bennett Gowan died February 18, 1847 and was buried beside
her husband.
Children born to them include:
Thomas Dodd Gowan born May 16, 1810
Mary Gowan born in 1812
Martha W. Gowan born in 1814
Major Redul Wilson Gowan born January 8, 1816
Richard A. Gowans born about 1818
John Paxton Gowan born September 10, 1820
Ann B. Gowan born about 1823
Rachael Gowan born in 1826
George A. Gowan born about 1830
2) Miner Steele Gowin, 92 Writes
Of His Life and Philosophy
Miner Steele Gowin, son of Nathaniel Gowin and Sabra Midgett
Gowin, was born October 1, 1823 in Wilson County, Tennessee.
While a nonagenarian, he was asked by the secretary of the
Illinois State Historical Society to write an account of his life
and his philosophy. It was published in the “Journal of the
Illinois State Historical Society” in 1916.
Through the courtesy of Larry Austin May, a great-great
grandson of Salem, Ohio and a member of the Foundation, the
article written by Miner Steele Gowin was made available for
reprinting in the Newsletter.
“A Letter From a Venerable Member of the Illinois State
Historical Society
“To Jessie Palmer Weber,
Dear Lady:–
In an effort to comply with the request you made me last May,
when I called on you at your office in Springfield, Illinois, that I
write something of my experience and observations, to be
printed in the records of the Illinois Historical Society, I
herewith submit these lines.
My birthday will be October 1st, 1916, at which time I will be
93 years old. I am in fairly good health and strength, I think of
reasonable sound mind and memory; but I realize that the time
is soon to arrive when I shall surrender all earthly ties and
possessions.
First, I wish to declare my abiding faith and loyalty to the
foundation principles of our great and glorious government.
(Made sacred, and I hope secure for all time to come by the
shedding of so much precious blood.) The first is that all men
are created equal; and when I say men I mean men and women.
The second great principle is that all are equally entitled to life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and when I pledge
allegiance to that principle, I do not mean that it carries with it a
license for one man to encroach upon the rights or liberties of
his fellow-man; man’s liberties cease where the lawful rights of
his fellow-man begin.
I was born in Wilson County, Tennessee, near Lebanon, October
1st, 1823. I was brought by my father and mother,
Nathaniel Gowin and Sabry Gowin, by covered wagon and
oxteam in 1827 up through Kentucky, across the corner of Indiana
into the southeastern part of Illinois and then across the
sparsely settled region of south-central Illinois, until we reached
the country now known as Jersey County, Illinois.
Shifting from one locality to another small settlement, through
what is now Jersey County (then a part of Greene), I spent my
boyhood and young manhood days, sometimes on foot,
sometimes on horseback, sometimes in old-style farm wagons I
traveled over the unbroken ground where the city of Jerseyville
now stands. Many the furrow in the virgin soil I plowed, many
the tree I felled, many the rail I split, many the day a cradle I
swung to cut the golden grain.
In 1846 I was married to Nancy Beeman. To this union ten
children were born. Four of them died in early infancy and
childhood, six of them grew to manhood and womanhood as
follows: Stephen L. Gowin, now of Fulton, Missouri; Ellis M.
Gowin, drowned in 1901 near Buffalo, Missouri, at the age of
51 years; Nannie T. Gowin, now Mrs. Walter Grundy (a
widow), at Morrisonville, Illinois; Arnest E. Gowin, residing
now at Morrisonville, Illinois; Miner S. Gowin, now a resident
of McCune, Kansas, and Mary A. Gowin, now Mary A. Gorman
(a widow) of Muskogee, Oklahoma. In 1868 I moved with my
family to Montgomery County, Illinois.
In 1884 I moved with my wife to McCune, Kansas. In 1896 we
celebrated our fiftieth anniversary of wedded life. In 1900 my
wife died. She was buried at McCune. In 1903, I was married
to Louisa Campbell of Jerseyville, lived there one year, then we
moved to McCune. In 1916, my second wife died. She also
was buried at McCune.
I have voted at eighteen presidential elections, thirteen of those I
have voted for have been elected. If I live and have my health at
election time this fall, I shall vote for Charles E. Hughes for
president, and of course expect him to be elected.
While I have lived for a great many years in Kansas, there has
scarcely been a year when I did not return once or twice to
Illinois. I have always kept in close touch with her progress and
development and have personally known so many of her great
men and having been so closely related to and associated with
so very, very many of her so-called ordinary men and women, it
is inspiring to mingle with so great a people.
My advice to those beginning in life is, be industrious, be saving,
be honest, be temperate in all things, be true to yourself and
just to others, and above all else be true and loyal to your
government, be brave to meet the issues of the day as they arise
and be strong to battle ever for the right. MINER S. GOWIN.”
Nancy Beeman Gowin died January 31, 1900, and Miner Steele
Gowin died July 23, 1918. They were buried at McCune,
Kansas.
Ten children were born to them:
Harriet A. Gowin born in 1847
Stephen Lincoln Gowin born March 21, 1848
Ellis Miner Gowin born June 21, 1850
Talitha Gowin born about 1852
Colitha Gowin born about 1853
Nancy C. Gowin born March 14, 1854
Arnest Edgar Gowin born July 7, 1857
Orman Gile Gowin born December 27, 1859
Miner Steele Gowin, Jr. born about 1861
Mary Ann Gowin born August 23, 1865
3) Dear Cousins
I wish to appeal to the readers of the Foundation Newsletter
for their assistance in locating my Gowen parents. Having been
placed for adoption at 11 months old, I have no recollection of
them, and I do not know their first names. I was born in California
April 1, 1970. My brother, Thomas Gowen was born
September 17, 1969. We have two brothers, slightly older than
us, Kenneth Gowen and Phillip Gowen.
My adopted name is Matlock, and I was reared in Staton,
California. My adoptive parents have told me that shortly after I
came to the Matlock home, that my birth mother would park her
car in the neighborhood and sit, apparently hoping to catch a
glimpse of me. Fearing that it would be disruptive, they did not
invite her in. Afterward, she moved to Florida, we have learned.
My first search was to locate my three brothers, and it
was successful. Now, they join me in the search for our parents.
We would be grateful for any clue that anyone could provide.
Glen Gowen [Matlock], 14681 Adams, Apt. 3, Midway City,
CA, 92655, 714/379-0611.
==Dear Cousins==
Thanks for the print-out on the history of Lewis F. Gowens
[bc1817 KY]. I have passed your draft along to my father for
his input. I will try to get a revised draft back to you by month’s
end.
My wife and I attended the last National Genealogical Society
Conference in Jacksonville and enjoyed it immensely. We
expect to be in Texas in 1994 for the National Genealogical
Society-Gowen Research Foundation tandem event. My
schedule does not yet permit a “for sure” response. However, if
you have a “maybe” column, count us in. Carl E. Moore, Jr,
Box 2344, Chicago, IL, 60690.
==Dear Cousins==
I need help. Does anyone, anywhere have information on
Jeremiah Goen enumerated in 1800 as the head of a household
of 14 in Clarendon County, Sumter District, SC? Did Jeremiah
have a son, Jerry or is the Jerry referred to later, the same
Jeremiah? Glad to exchange data.
Also, I would like to publicly thank Virginia Easley De-
Marce of Arlington, VA for the much appreciated material she
sent me on my family. Mary B. Barr, Rt. 8, Box 148,
Florence, SC, 29501, 803/665-4935.
==Dear Cousins==
I am enclosing my fee as a new member in the Foundation.
I am searching for information on my ancestors who went by the
name of Goins/Gowens, in particular Stephen Goins who was
born in 1833 in IN[?] and resided in Michigan until
approximately 1910. Any assistance would be greatly
appreciated. Stephen L. Allen, 17655 Osbourne Ave, Chino
Hills, CA, 92789, 714/597-1473
==Dear Cousins==
I am a descendant of Richard Gowing/Gowin/-
Gowen/Gowan who was born January 8, 1776 in Pittsylvania
County, Virginia. He was “bound out” as an orphan to Thomas
Wilkerson there in April 1787. He was married July 4, 1807 in
adjoining Caswell County, North Carolina to Mary “Polly”
Bennett. They were the parents of Thomas Dodd Gowan, Mary
Gowan, Martha W. Gowan, Major Redul Wilson Gowan, Dr.
Richard A. Gowan, John Paxton Gowan, Ann B. Gowan, Rachel
Gowan and Rev. George A. Gowan of Georgia. He died in
Caswell County in 1844.
I am enclosing my membership for 1993 along with an ancestor
chart and family data chart for the Foundation Library.
Can anyone help me with the parents of Richard Gowan or any
information on his family? Edgar Gowan Lowrance, 742
Lynn Dee Drive, Winston-Salem, NC, 27106.
==Dear Cousins==
In a telephone conversation with Charles E. Blakley of
Burleson, TX I learned about the Foundation and the work you
are doing to gather the family history. My husband was W. E.
Goyne of Fairy, Texas, and his father came from Vicksburg, MS
after the close of the Civil War.
I wish to affiliate with the Foundation and have the benefit
of the Newsletter. Please send all details. I would be glad to
exchange Goyne family data with any member. Helena Goyne,
621 Meadowcrest, Crowley, TX, 76036.
Gowen Research Foundation
5708 Gary Avenue
Lubbock, Texas, 79413
Gowen Research Foundation Phone: 806/795-8758 or 795-
9694
5708 Gary Avenue E-mail: gowen@llano.net
Lubbock, Texas, 79413 Fax: 806/795-9694
Internet:
http://www.llano.net/gowen
___________________________________________________________
NOTE: The above information produced by the Gowen Research Foundation (GRF), and parts of the “Gowen Manuscript” they worked on producing. It has tons of information – much of it is correct, but be careful, some of it is not correct – so check their sources and logic. I’ve copied some of their information in the past researching my own family, only to find out there were some clear mistakes. So be sure to check the information to verify if it is right before citing the source and believing the person who researched it before was 100% correct. Most of the information I found there seems to be correct, but some is not.
Their website is: Internet: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~gowenrf
There does not seem to be anyone “manning the ship” at the Gowen Research Foundation, or Gowen Manuscript site any longer, and there is no way to contact anyone about any errors. The pages themselves don’t have a mechanism to leave a note for others to see any “new information” that you may have that shows when you find info that shows something is wrong, or when something has been verified.
Feel free to leave messages about any new information found, or errors in these pages, or information that has been verified that those who wrote these pages may not have known about.
Goyen Family Tree 