2002 – 01 Jan Newsletter – GRF

Sections in this issue:

1) JAMES E. GOWEN EMIGRATED FROM COUNTY DONEGAL, IRELAND TO INITIATE A GIANT PHILADELPHIA FINANCIAL DYNASTY;
2) CAVALRYMAN DRURY GOING RODE IN SOUTH CAROLINA IN REVOLUTIONARY GEN. FRANCIS MARION’S BRIGADE;
3) PSALMIST DAVID GOIN SUED TENNESSEE SCHOOL WHEN SON WAS EXPELLED ON BASIS OF COLOR;
4) LT. EDWARD H. GOWEN SERVED IN U. S. ARMY OPPOSIING CONFEDERATES DURING CIVIL WAR;
5) Dear Cousins.

All Gowen Manuscript Pages and Newsletters:   https://goyengoinggowengoyneandgone.com/gowen-research-foundation-pages-and-info/

Gowen Research Foundation
Electronic Newsletter

January 2002
Volume 5 No. 1

1)  JAMES E. GOWEN EMIGRATED FROM COUNTY DONEGAL, IRELAND TO INITIATE A GIANT PHILADELPHIA FINANCIAL DYNASTY

James E. Gowen, an Irish emigrant, landed in Philadelphia at
the age OF 15 and by enterprise and dedication, became eminent-
ly successful. He guided his nine children into successful
businesses and successful marriages. Each generation in turn,
built on the financial foundation laid down by James E. Gowen,
and an empire was created.

His descendants became bankers, lawyers, railroad presidents,
coal mine owners, steel mill owners, manufacturers, financiers,
career diplomats, politicians and philanthropists. Their mar-
riages were to some of the most successful “main line” fami-
lies in the Philadelphia social register including Innis, du
Pont, Disston, Firestone, Drexel, Coleman, Goodyear, and others.

The Gowen family of Philadelphia, generally admired and en-
vied, became financially the most successful branch of the fam-
ily in America.

It all started in the poverty-stricken community of Newton
Stewart in County Donegal, the northernmost county of Northern
Ireland. James E. Gowen was born there March 17, 1787, accord-
Ing to “Descendants of Grandpa Gowen,” author unknown. He em-
igrated to the United States in 1802, and upon his arrival in
Philadelphia, secured a job working for “Mr. McKane, Importer
of Portuguese Fine Wines.” Later he became a partner with Mc-
Kane, and upon the death of his employer, took over the business.

In 1815, while serving as best man at the wedding of his friend,
Mr. I. Thorp to Catherine Miller, he met his bride-to-be. When
teased by the bridesmaids for being “an old bachelor,” he put
his hand on the arm of the youngest sister of the bride, Mary
Miller, and declared, “I’m waiting for this little girl.” Four-
teen years later, they were married.

She was descended from Sebastian Mueller [later Miller] who,
with his brother Baltus Mueller came from Germany with Francis
Daniel Pastorius in 1683. Pastorius, a German lawyer, became a
religious leader and brought a colony of Quakers and Mennonites
to Pennsylvania, settling northwest of Philadelphia. He laid
out his settlement and named it Germantown, Pennsylvania. It
continues today as a section of Philadelphia.

Pastorius delivered a protest against Negro slavery in America at
the Yearly Meeting of the Friends, the first protest of its kind
by a colonial religious leader. Two hundred years later, the ab-
olitionist poet John Greenleaf Whittier made Pastorius’ address
the subject of his poem, “The Pennsylvania Pilgrim.” His preface
to the poem contained a translation of Pastorius’ Latin prologue
to the Germantown book of records.

It was at Germantown that the American colonists under George
Washington suffered one of their greatest defeats at the hands
of the British. On October 4, 1777 in the Revolutionary War
an abortive attack was launched by 11,000 American troops upon
9,000 British regulars under Gen. Sir William Howe who held the
town.

Not discouraged by his recent defeat in the Battle of Brandy-
wine Creek, Gen. Washington conceived of a daring and imagina-
tive plan to attack the city simultaneously from four different
directions. The surprise raid, executed at dawn on October 4,
1777, failed because it could not be coordinated and because of
a dense fog that shrouded the town. In the fog some of the Amer-
ican forces fired upon one of their own columns. Over 1,000
American casualties resulted, and Washington was forced to with-
draw toward Valley Forge, some 15 miles to the west.
in Washington

James E. Gowen was 42 when he was married in Germantown to “this
little girl,” Mary Miller, daughter of James Miller of Mt. Airy,
Pennsylvania. When whiskey became legalized in Philadelphia,
James E. Gowen declared that the business was no longer a proper
vocation for a gentleman and retired to farming at Mt. Airy, a
wealthy man. He became known as a foremost breeder of shorthorn
cattle.

John Gowen, “a brother to James Gowen,” was a candidate for Con-
gress in Pennsylvania about 1828. He died October 4, 1832, ac-
cording to the “National Genealogical Quarterly,” June 1964.
After his brother’s death, James E. Gowen became interested in
politics.

He became known for his Irish eloquence and was much sought after
for speaking engagements. His political rivals attributed his
popularity to the “blarney stone.” In an Irish anti-Jackson
meeting held in Philadelphia August 6, 1832, James E. Gowen and
“Mr. Haly” spoke on Irish eloquence.

James E. Gowen, “an Irish mechanic” whose politics irritated the
establishment, was nominated for Congress in 1834 in the First
Congressional District in Philadelphia, according to “Jacksonian
Heritage in Pennsylvania Politics” by Charles McColl Snyder.
James E. Gowen made a political speech in Philadelphia in 1837
which was printed and listed in the National Union Catalogue.
He was described as a “low Irish radical politician” in “Diary
of Sidney George Fisher, 1834-1871” edited by Nicholas B. Wain-
wright.

James E. Gowen “of Germantown. Pennsylvania” addressed the Lan-
caster County Agriculture Society at its annual meeting Janu-
ary 13, 1852, according to Library of Congress records [S523.
G72]. He delivered an address before the Mercer County Agricul-
ture Society at its annual meeting September 20, 1853. It was
printed in a 27-page booklet and is listed in the National Union
Catalogue.

James E. Gowen died in 1871 at the age of 84. Children born to
James E. Gowen and Mary Miller Gowen include:

Alfred Gowen born about 1831
James Emmet Gowen born in 1832
Ellen Gowen born in 1834
Franklin Benjamin Gowen born February 9, 1836
Mary Gowen born about 1837
Henry Gowen born about 1839
George Gowen born about 1842
Rebecca Gowen born about 1845
Emily Gowen born about 1850

Several individuals among his descendants, men and women, achie-
ved prominence:

James Emmet Gowen, son of James E. Gowen, became a prominent
railroad attorney. His brilliant defense of the Camden & Amboy
Railroad Company before the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in
January 1864 was printed and deposited in the Library of Con-
gress.

James Emmet Gowen joined his brother, Franklin Benjamin Gowen
as counsel for the defense for another railroad in the U. S.
Circuit Court at Trenton, New Jersey in November 1883. Their
246-page presentation was also deposited in the Congressional
Library.

Francis Innes Gowen, son of James Emmet Gowen, following in
the footsteps of his father and uncle, began to represent the
expanding railroad industry as legal counsel. Following the
panic of 1893, the Choctaw Coal & Railroad Company was reor-
ganized by its Philadelphia owners as Choctaw, Oklahoma and
Gulf Railroad with Francis Innes Gowen as president.

Prior to that time Francis Innes Gowen was appointed, along
with James W. Throckmorton, a former governor of Texas, as
receivers to operate the defunct CC&RC.

During the period of intense coal mining activity in eastern Ok-
lahoma the town of Gowen, Oklahoma was established January 13,
1894 and named for Francis Innes Gowen.

He was also counsel for the Lehigh Valley Railroad at Philadel-
phia. He was general solicitor for the Philadelphia & Reading
until 1912. In that year he was named general counsel for the
railroad and continued in that capacity until 1921.

He was a director of the Girard Trust Company and Midland Val-
ley Railroad Company. He was manager of Philadelphia Saving
Fund Society.

Alfred C. Harrison, his grandson, was married about 1937 to
Pauline du Pont. Their daughter, Alison was married to Frank
H. Goodyear.

James Emmet Gowen, son of Francis Innes Gowen, was married to
Sally Drexel Henry June 25, 1925. From 1930 to 1933 he was
vice-president of Philadelphia Saving Fund in Philadelphia.
He served as president from 1933 to 1939.

He was named director of Western Saving Fund Society, Penn Mu-
tual Insurance Company, Insurance Company of North America, In-
demnity Insurors, North American Alliance Insurance Company,
Philadelphia Fire & Marine Company, United Fireman’s Insurance
Company, Muskegon, Kansas, Oklahoma & Gulf Railway, Muskogee
County Mutual Assurance Company, The Pennsylvania Company,
Donaldson Iron Company, Westmoreland, Inc, Drexel Institute
of Technology, Baltimore & Wilmington Railway Company and Manor
Real Estate & Trust Company. He was president of Girard Trust
Company from 1939 to 1949 and president of Girard Trust-Corn
Exchange Bank in 1949.

Mariana Winder Gowen, great-granddaughter of James E. Gowen,
was married to George Dawson Coleman, president of Ebensburg
Coal Company. When he died about 1959, the “Lebanon Daily News”
carried an article on his probate:

“The widow and two sons of G. D. Coleman, late of Lebanon
and Philadelphia, banker-industrialist, will share his two
million dollar estate, it was disclosed by his will which
was filed for probate at Media yesterday.

He was chairman of the board of Ebensburg Coal Company and
Coleman, Inc, both Philadelphia firms, and had been chairman
of the board of the First National Bank of Lebanon since 1942.
Mrs. Coleman and her brother, James E. Gowen are named execu-
tors and trustees. The late G. Dawson Coleman was a son of
B. Dawson Coleman, banker and coal mine operator, who left an
estate of $5,000,000.”

Martha Winder Gowen Coleman died February 28, 1975. Her obitu-
ary in the “Lebanon Daily News” read:

“Mrs. G. Dawson Coleman, the former Mariana Winder Gowen,
and Philadelphia area civic leader, died Friday after a
long illness. She was a member of the board of the Home
of the Merciful Savior for Crippled Children in Philadel-
phia for 51 years. She was a former chairman of the board
of managers of the Church Farm School in Paoli; a former
life trustee of the Foxcroft School, Middleburg, Virginia
and board member of the old Women’s Hospital in West Phil-
adelphia. She was also a former chairman of the Devon
County Fair; a former board member of the Harriton Asso-
ciation, an historical restoration group and a former
board member of the YWCA in Philadelphia.”

Bertram Dawson Coleman, Jr, son of Mariana Winder Gowen
Coleman, served in the U.S. Navy during World War II as
commanding officer of a mine sweeper in the North Atlantic.
Later he was executive officer aboard the U.S.S. Fulham, a
destroyer in the South Pacific where he was awarded the
Bronze Star. He was married in 1949 to Patricia Disston.

He was president of Ebensburg Coal Company from 1950 to 1957.
From 1958 to 1965 he was a partner in Drexel & Company. In
1966, he became president of Drexel, Harriman, Ripley, Inc.
In 1971, he was chairman of Drexel, Firestone, Inc, retiring
in 1972. He was a director of Western Savings Bank of Phil-
adelphia, Griet Realty Trust, Rockower Bros, Inc. and Abitibi
Paper & Power Co, The Wyomissing Corp, Susan Thomas, Inc,
Greenfield Investment Realty Trust, the Philadelphia Museum
of Art, Home of the Merciful Savior and Agnes Irwin School.
He was a member of the Sons of the War of 1812.

Francis Innes Gowen Coleman, son of Mariana Winder Gowen Cole-
man, was a career diplomat with the U. S. State Department.
In 1976 he was vice-consul at Marseille, France.

Franklin Benjamin Gowen, son of James E. Gowen, in 1870 was
elected president of the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad,
for which he had been counsel since 1864. He was nominated
for the U.S. Senate January 14, 1875.

In December 1889 while in Washington, D. C. to appear before
the Interstate Commerce Commission in behalf of one of his
clients, he committed suicide in his room at a hotel, by
firing a bullet into his brain.

No satisfactory explanation could be found for his act, ac-
cording to Scribner’s “Dictionary of American Biography,”
Volume VII. “He was in good health, at the height of his
mental powers, well-to-do and enjoying the respect of his
contemporaries.”

His obituary appeared December 16, 1889 in the “Philadel-
phia Public Ledger,” the “Philadelphia North American,” and
the “Baltimore Sun.” In its edition of December 15, 1889 the
“New York Times” carried as its front page banner story an ac-
count of the suicide.

“Gowen, Ruler of the Reading–The Life of Franklin B. Gowen,
1836-1889” was published in 1947. Marvin W. Schegel was the
author of the 308-page book.

Morris Wickersham Gowen, grandson of James E. Gowen, in 1895
lived in Florence, Italy where he was posted in diplomatic
service.

Franklin Crosbie Gowen, son of Morris Wickersham Gowen, was
born there December 16, 1895. He became a foreign service of-
ficer with the U.S. State Department in 1925. He was appoin-
ted Vice Consul in Genoa, Italy in 1926. He was consul in
Rome from 1926 to 1930. He was consul in Naples in 1930 and
1931, and in Palermo in 1931. In 1932 he was transferred to
London where he remained for the next ten years.

He served as secretary of the London embassy from 1939 to
1941. He handled diplomatic relations with Poland, Norway,
Belgium, The Netherlands, and Yugoslavia, governments in ex-
ile in London during World War II.

In 1941 and 1942, he worked in European Affairs Section in
Washington. From 1942 to 1944, he was assistant to Myron C.
Taylor, personal representative of the president to Pope Pius,
a position he held for many years, according to “Who’s Who in
America.” He was a member of the Pennsylvania Society of the
Sons of the American Revolution.

 

2)  CAVALRYMAN DRURY GOING RODE IN SOUTH CAROLINA IN REVOLUTIONARY GEN. FRANCIS MARION’S BRIGADE

Drury Going, attracted by the daring exploits of Marion’s Bri-
gade, volunteered in 1781 to ride with Revolutionary Brig.-Gen.
Francis Marion in his slashing attacks on the British. Marion
had taken raw frontiersmen, trained them to be fearless riders
and expert marksmen and formed them into an efficient guerilla
force that became the pride of the Colonists’ southern campaign.

The “Swamp Fox” repeatedly led his rapid-deployment brigade in
daring raids against the superior British forces, exacted heavy
losses upon them and then escaped into the swamps where the Eng-
lish were unable follow. They had remarkable successes in bat-
tles at Georgetown, Ft. Watson, Ft. Motte and Eutaw Springs,
lifting the morale of the Americans who were generally being
defeated everywhere else. Their spectacular success in the Bat-
tle of Parker’s Ferry in 1782 resulted in a Congressional medal
for Marion’s men.

Drury Going was born in 1749 in Brunswick County, Virginia in
an area which later became Greensville County, according to
Mary Elizabeth Motley Beadles, a descendant and DAR Member
474911. His family removed to Camden District, in north cen-
tral South Carolina and settled in an area which later became
Union and Chester Counties. He was married there in 1767 at
age 18 to 17-year-old Sarah “Sallie” Baxter who was born about
1750 in Granville County [later Orange County, later Caswell
County], North Carolina.

He was mentioned as a landowner in a land grant to William Long
dated November 5, 1771. The description of Long’s land, “200
acres on Wateree Creek in Craven District,” mentioned that it
was bounded on the east by that of Drury Going. The grant also
mentioned that “the road to Rocky Mount crosses the northeast
corner,” suggesting that the road also crossed the property of
Drury Going.

Drury Going served as a private in a South Carolina militia
regiment commanded by Col. Winn during the Revolutionary War.
The regiment was under the overall command of Gen. Francis
Marion, the “Swamp Fox.” Indent No. 98, Book O was issued
January 26, 1785 to “Mr. Drury Goins, 18:6:8 3/4 Sterling for
militia duty in 1781 and 1782,” according to “Stub Entries to
Indents” edited by A. S. Salley, Jr, Secretary of the Histor-
ical Commission of South Carolina. Additionally, the indent
had earned interest in the amount of 1:16:5.

“Drury Goins” was a purchaser at the estate sale of Moses
Cherry in Camden District [later York County, South Carolina]
in 1783, according to York County probate records, Apartment
15, package 483.

On September 1, 1787 “Drury Gowing of Chester County” received
a deed to 319 acres” located on the south side of Broad River
from Merry McGuire, “Planter of Union County, South Carolina,”
according to Union County Deed Book A&B, page 469. Considera-
tion was “100 pounds current money.” In the body of the deed
the grantee’s name was also spelled “Gowen” and “Going.” The
land had been received by McGuire June 5, 1786 in a grant from
Gov. William Moultrie.

Drury Going received a deed July 8, 1788 to “land on the waters
of Turkey Creek” for 50 pounds, according to Chester County Deed
Book B, page 69. Job Going, a kinsman of Drury Going, was a wit-
ness to the transaction.

“Drury Going, being charged with having begotten an illegitimate
Infant on the Body of Sarah Golden came into court and Confessed
the fact, whereupon it is considered by the Court that they make
their fine by paying the sum of five pounds Proclamation Money,
and the said Goings acknowledged himself bound to pay the said
Sarah’s fine and all costs accruing, and that he is liable for
the maintenance of the said infant.” was the entry dated July 8,
1788 in Chester County Court Order Book A, page 358.

“On the motion of the Clerk, Ordered that all the money that
Drury Going was fined in for Bastardy is to be paid to him in
discount of what the county owes him,” read an entry dated Jan-
uary 8, 1790 in Chester County Order Book B, page 29.

William Gaston conveyed 200 acres “line [lying] on Mill Creek”
to Drury Going in 1789, according to Chester County Deed Book
B, page 73. Consideration was “3:14:4.” The land was part of
a tract granted to Gaston September 3, 1787.

The household of “Drury Goins” was enumerated in the 1790 cen-
sus of Chester County as “three white males over 16, three white
males under 16, four females and six slaves,” according to “Heads
of Families, South Carolina, 1790.”

Drury Going bought 350 acres of land in two tracts from Robert
Elliott and his wife, Jean January 14, 1791 for 1,000 pounds,
according to Chester County Deed Book B, page 553. Job Going
was again a witness to the transaction.

Drury Going deeded his Turkey Creek farm to his son-in-law Asa
Tindall October 11, 1791, according to Chester County Deed Book
B, page 541:

“For the love & affection I bear for my son-in-law Assa Tin-
dall and for his better support, I give, grant and convey
100 acres on a branch of Turkey Creek, the waters of Broad
River, originally granted to John Long June 6, 1785, adjoin-
ing James Kirkpatrick and Clayton Rogers, all other sides
vacant.
Drury [X] Going”

Shortly afterward, Drury Going sold the two tracts of land back
to Robert Elliott that he had purchased from him a year earlier,
according to Chester County Deed Book B, page 542. Witnesses:
Job Going, John Hill, Isaac Going, and consideration was again
£1,000.

Drury Going was appointed to serve as juror for the January 1793
term, according to an entry dated June 25, 1792 in Chester County
Order Book B, page 179.

On June 13, 1794 Drury Going corraled an estray, according to
Chester County Order Book 1795-1799, page 425. The entry read,
“Drury Going Tolls a Sorrell horse about 7 years old, paced
natural, Brand unknown, about 14 hands high, his hind feet
white, said Estray appraised to 8:0:0.”

Drury Going died February 22, 1796 “in the 47th year of his
age,” according to a letter written March 16, 1879 by Thomas
Baxter Going, his grandson. “He died on the road coming home
from Charleston with his wagon and team. He lacked three days
drive of reaching home when he died. He was hauled home and
buried at home.”

Administration of the estate of “Drewry Goings, Dcs’d was
granted to “Elijah Goings, Admr. and Sarah Goings, Admx.” in
July 1796, according to Chester County Court Order Book 1.
The citation was made public by having it read in a church as-
sembly:

“Be it remembered that I Joseph Brown was personally pres-
ent when Joseph Alexander, a minister of the Preysbyterian
[sic] Profession publickly read the within Citation at a
meeting held at Bullock’s Creek for the purpose of Publick
Worship.

Dated at Chester this 25th day of July 1796. J. A. Brown”

“Sarah Goyen” appeared as the head of a household in the 1810
census of Chester District, page 262. Sarah “Sallie” Baxter
Going wrote her will November 4, 1814:

“I, Sarah Going, being in a low state of helth, but sound
in mind and memory make this, my last will and testament.

I give to my daughter Mary Going one feather bed and furn-
iture, one cow named Harty and heifer, and I give to my
daughter Rebekah Going one feather bed and furniture which
my above daughters Mary and Rebekah claim, and I give to
my daughter Rebekah one cow named Liby and I give to my son
Thomas B. Going the tract of land or plantation where I,
Sarah Going now live containing One hundred and seven acres,
and it is my will and desire that my daughters Mary and Re-
bekah should live with my son Thomas on the said plantation
while [they] remain unmarid, and I give to my daughter Re-
bekah one woman’s Saddle and pine table, one big wheel, and
I give to my son Thomas Going one walnut table and one fea-
ther bed and furniture, one cow named Whiteface and a dun
cow I give to my daughter Mary.

All the rest of my property, my will is, to be sold and pay
all my just debts except one large trunk I give to my daugh-
ter Rebekah, and after paying my just debts to be equally
divided amongst my children.

And I do make my son Thomas B. Going sole Executor of my Es-
tate as witness my hand and seal in the year of our Lord one
Thousand eight hundred and fourteen, November 4th Day 1814.

Sarah [X] Going”

Sarah “Sallie” Baxter Going died in Union County April 22, 1820,
at age 69, according to the research of Linda Sue Betts Essary,
a descendant of Floyd, New Mexico. Her will was probated in the
June 1820 court session, according to Chester County Deed Book H,
page 9.

Children born to them include:

Martha Going born about 1768
Elijah Going born in 1770
Job Isaac Going born September 5, 1772
John Going born January 10. 1774
Isaac Going born April 28, 1775
James Going born in 1777
Mary Going born in 1779
Elizabeth Going born about 1781
Rebecca Going born about 1782
Thomas Baxter Going born in 1784
Sarah Baxter Going born April 3, 1786

In addition to the child of Sarah Golden, Linda Sue Betts Es-
sary discovered another possible child of Drury Going in
“South Carolina Magazine of Ancestral Research,” Volume 10.
The item read, “Marion District, SC, Minutes Book of the Ordi-
nary, 1806, Oct. 25, ‘Letters of Guardianship granted to Ann
Adams, guardian for Selander Strother, a minor aged about 14
years, late of Peedee, supposed daughter of Drura Gowings.'”

 

3)  PSALMIST DAVID GOIN SUED TENNESSEE SCHOOL WHEN SON WAS EXPELLED ON BASIS OF COLOR

Dodson Goin was listed as the head of a household in the 1880
census of Cannon County, Enumeration District 24, page 25,
Civil District 9, enumerated as:

“Goin, Dodson 36, born in TN
Erilday 35, born in TN
Noah 15, born in TN
William 13, born in TN
Psalmist 9, born in TN, son
Mahala 7, born in TN
Lotta 6, born in TN
De A. 1, born in TN, son”

The full name of the third son of Dodson Goin and Erilday Goin
was “Psalmist David Goin.” Later he would be known as “Sam D.
Goin.” He was born in Tennessee in January 1870. Sam D. Goin
was married about 1897 to Mary Clark, described as a “Caucas-
ian.” He filed suit in 1905 in Franklin County, Tennessee
seeking to have his son Harry E. Goins reinstated in school
from which he had been expelled for “being a Negro.”

In a deposition taken December 22, 1905 in Winchester, Tennes-
see Sam D. Goin advised that he would be “35 next month” and
that he was the father of Harry E. Goin who was born July 19,
1898. He stated that Harry E. Goin, his “oldest living child”
was enrolled in school in the Ninth Civil District of Franklin
County in July 1904 at age six. He was dismissed by the teach-
er, J. B. Smith on the suspicion of being a Negro.

Sam D. Goin testified that he was “Cherokee and Irish” and had
no Negro blood. He stated that he went to white schools in
Cannon and Wilson Counties. In the hearing Mary Clark Goin de-
posed that she was “born and raised” in Franklin County and
that she did not know if her husband had any Negro blood.”

Mrs. Erilday Goin, mother of Sam D. Goin, “age 73 [most like-
ly 60], testified that her son was a “little darker than white
people.” The deposition gives no hint as to the final result
of the hearing.

4)  LT. EDWARD H. GOWEN SERVED IN U. S. ARMY OPPOSIING CONFEDERATES DURING CIVIL WAR

Edward H. Gowen, son of John Jones Gowen and Amanda Malvina
East Gowen, was born in Nashville, Tennessee in 1839. From
1841 until 1844 his family lived in West, Mississippi. After
the death of his father, his mother brought her family back
to the home of her father, Edward H. East where he was enum-
erated in the 1850 census as a 10-year-old.

He was enumerated in the 1860 census of Davidson County as a
21-year-old teacher living in his mother’s household. He be-
came a second lieutenant in Gen. W. B. Stokes’ Fifth Tennessee
Cavalry Regiment, U.S.A. which was organized in Dekalb County,
Tennessee. Thus, he aligned himself against most of his Ten-
nessee cousins who fought under the “Bonnie Blue Flag.”

Following the Civil War, Edward H. Gowen was elected to the
Tennessee State Legislature, according to Dr. John Whittemore
Gowen, however no record of this service is found in the Ten-
nessee State Archives.

Charles Hays Gowen, son of John Jones Gowen and Amanda Malvina
East Gowen and brother of Edward H. Gowen, was born in West,
Mississippi in 1841. Following the death of his father in
Mississippi in 1843, his mother moved her family back to the
household of her father.

Charles Hays Gowen appeared in the household of his grandfather,
Edward H. East in Davidson County in the 1850 census as “Charles
H. Gowen, age 8, born in Mississippi.” In the census of 1860 he
appeared in the household of his mother as “C. H. Gowen, 19,
student, born in Tennessee.”

On December 5, 1870 “C. H. Gowen of Holmes County, Mississippi”
received a deed from O. S. Lee, sheriff, to 199 acres located in
the county. Consideration was $190, according to Holmes County
Deed Book T, page 391. In 1872 he was listed in the Nashville
city directory as “Charles H. Gowen, clerk in the Chancery of-
fice, boards at 152 North Cherry.” On February 8, 1878 “Charles
H. Gowen of Holmes County” received $1,213.52 for 142 acres from
William B. Burwell, according to Holmes County Deed Book 4, page
562.

Charles Hays Gowen and his mother appeared in the 1880 census of
Davidson County, Enumeration District 62, page 14, Civil Dis-
trict 2:

“Gowen, Haze 38, born in MS, father born in TN,
mother born in TN, farmer
Amanda M. 61, born in TN, father born in VA,
mother born in VA, widow
Adkins, Sarah 25, born in AL, father born in GA,
mother born in AL, married, servant
Mallie 8, born in TN, father born in TN,
mother born in AL
William H. 6, born in TN, father born in TN,
mother born in AL
Laura J. 4, born in TN, father born in TN,
mother born in AL
Hollice 1, born in TN, father born in TN,
mother born in AL
East, Oliver 30, born in TN, father born in TN,
mother born in TN, negro, servant,
farm laborer”

In 1881 he was listed as “Charles H. Gowen, salesman, 139 Church
Street, boards at 13 N. Vine,” according to the Nashville city
directory. Thomas E. McDonald maintained a grocery and his home
at 139 Church Street. In 1886 the directory carried two listings
for “Charles H. Gowen” and a third for “Hays Gowen.” One read
“Charles H. Gowen, Waller & Gowen, home 173 South Market.” The
second read, “Charles H. Gowen, salesman, 213 Church Street,
boards at 20 South Cherry.” The third read, “Hays Gowen [Waller
& Gowen], boards at 137 South Market.” In 1887 the directory re-
ported, “Charles H. Gowen, clerk, 213 Church Street, boards at 17
South Summer.” In the 1891 directory a listing appeared for
“Charles H. Gowen, livestock dealer, 137 South College, home 1063
South Market Street.”

Charles Hays Gowen was married June 11, 1891, at age 49, to Ger-
trude Whittemore at Micanopy, Florida in Alachua County. In 1893
they lived in Evinston, Florida. He died in Memphis, Mississippi
in 1909, at age 67. Later Gertrude Whittemore Gowen lived in Am-
herst, New Hampshire for three years and at Arlington, Massachu-
setts until 1911.

One son was born to them:

John Whittemore Gowen born September 5, 1893
For a $20 bill. . .

 

5)  Dear Cousins

I would like to hear from anyone who has any information on Wil-
liam Gowan [born 1800-1805] who was living in Appomattox County,
Virginia around 1850 thru 1860. His wife was Elizabeth Gowan.
Nearby was living Jordan Gowan & wife Betsey. I regard Jordan
Gowan as a brother of William.

Children born to William & Elizabeth include James, Martha, Jor-
dan, Judith A., Nancy, Frances, Mary, Alexander, Elizabeth and
twins Sarah and Eliza – according to 1850 census..

These families lived in Buckinghan County prior to the formation
of Appomattox in 1845.

Thanks to anyone who can give me any help on this family, I have
been trying to find more information on them for years without
any luck.

Barbara Goins Albright
albrights@planet-b.net
9912 Stardust Drive
Indianapolis, IN, 46229
317/898-5838

==Dear Cousins==

I’m looking for any info someone might have on my grandmother,
Frances Patricia Gowan. She was born October 12, 1917 in Jack-
son, Tennessee to James Roscoe Gowan and Murlene Marion Wood
Gowan. Her paternal grandparents were Robert and Etta Gowan.
Her maternal grandparents were Lonnie Wood and Addie Stubbs
Wood.

As far as I know, all of her immediate ancestors lived in the
Milan and Jackson area. I know some are buried in Milan, TN.
Frances Patrica Gowan died in Dallas, Texas in 1953.
Thanks.

B. McCask
bMcCask411@aol.com

==Dear Cousins==

Some of our members have told us that they prefer receiving a re-
minder when the Foundation Memberships expire. This note is to
remind you that all 2001 memberships expired December 31.

A membership is required to access the Foundation Manuscript and
“Melungia.” All other sections of the Electronic Library are open
to the public without charge.

If you are financially able to “move up a notch” on the Member-
ship Schedule in the blank below, please do so to keep the Foun-
dation operating in its 13th year.

If you have family members who are interested in preserving our
heritage, gift memberships in the Foundation are very appropriate.
The Foundation will send gift cards acknowledging your thought-
fulness, both to you and the recipients.

Sincerely,

Judd Burton
Members’ Keeper

==Dear Cousins==

I have Wesley Goins born in 1849, Anderson County, Kentucky died
1912 in Bullitt County, Kentucky. He was married to Elizabeth
Conder.

Elizabeth Goins born about 1871
Mary Ann Goins born about 1872
Katie Goins born about 1876
James D. Goins born October 21, 1877
Rosella Goins born about 1878
Thomas Goins born about 1881
James B. Goins born about 1884

I found Wesley living with Mary Ann Goins Brown and her husband
Ike Brown in 1910 Bullitt County Census. Any info greatly appre-
ciated,

Brenda Shaw Woods
kybrenda@aol.com
PO Box 1013
Mt. Washington, KY 40047

==Dear Cousins==

Anybody who is researching the family of John “Buck” Gowen of
Greenville District, South Carolina please contact me.

I am interested in his granddaughter, Letty Gowen, daughter of
William Gowen and Miriam Earle Gowen. My John C. Stewart, son
of Edward Stewart married a Letty _____? in Greenville about
1818 and moved to Carroll Colunty, Tennessee about 1830. Ed-
ward Stewart owned land in Greenville which was adjoining the
property of John “Buck” Gowen, Absolum Thompson, John Henson
and Stephen Dill.

I would love to learn more about Letty Gowen. I believe there
is a connection here.

James A. Stewart
Lakewood, CA.
jb4318@mediaone.net

==Dear Cousins==

The Virginia Genealogical Society will hold its annual Spring
Conference, “Neglected Sources: Unturned Stones,” on April 6,
2002 at the Library of Virginia in Richmond. Eight sessions
will be held, including two for beginning researchers. A box
lunch will be included for those who register before March 25,
2002 and vendors will be present offering a wide assortment of
genealogical books and materials. More details are available
at: http://www.vgs.org

 

___________________________________________________________

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.