Sections in this issue:
1) DR. KEVIN JONES, BIOLOGIST OF UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA AT WISE REPORTS ON TWO YEARS OF MELUNGEON DNA RESEARCH AT FOURTH UNION;
2) ANGEVINE WESLEY GOWEN OF YORK VILLAGE, MAINE LABELED A GENIUS BY FAMILY AND FRIENDS;
3) DON LEE GOWEN OF DECATUR, ALABAMA DEVELOPING A LIBRARY OF BOOKS WRITTEN ONLY BY GOWEN AUTHORS;
4) HERBERT HENRY GOWEN;
5) Dear Cousins.
All Gowen Manuscript Pages and Newsletters: https://goyengoinggowengoyneandgone.com/gowen-research-foundation-pages-and-info/
GOWEN RESEARCH FOUNDATION
NEWSLETTER
Vol. 5, No. 6 June 2002
1) DR. KEVIN JONES, BIOLOGIST OF UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA AT WISE REPORTS ON TWO YEARS OF MELUNGEON DNA RESEARCH AT FOURTH UNION
By N. Brent Kennedy, Ph.D.
Editorial Boardmember
bkennedy@chartertn.com
The long-awaited DNA results are in and as many of us have maintained, the Melungeons are indeed a mixture of all races and many ethnic groups. The DNA samples in this study represent the oldest, most established Melungeon male and female lines in the Hancock County, Tennessee community, and the Wise County, Virginia community. Extensive genealogies for these two populations – and those sampled – are known and documented. Respected members of each community assisted in the collection of the samples, and
these samples can be examined separately (by community) and compared against one another.
In addition to Native American [approximately 5% of the sample], African [approximately 5%] and European [approximately 83% of the sample, but representing Europeans from north to south], the study also showed approximately 7% of the samples matching populations in Turkey, Syria and northern India. In other words, the surviving genes from Middle Eastern and East Indian ancestors are in equal proportion to those of Native Americans and Africans.
My gut feeling is that the original, seventeenth-century percent-ages of all three groups [i.e., African, Native American, and Middle Eastern/East Indian] were higher than what we’re seeing today. Time, admixture, and out-movement of some of our darker cousins into other minority groups have likely lowered the genetic traces of their earlier presence. But enough of them were there to still be traceable among the Melungeons of today. The
long discounted Mediterranean and Middle Eastern heritages are irrefutably there.
Very importantly, this study is only a sampling. It’s impossible to get to every single bonafied Melungeon descendant. Consequently, all this – or any other – DNA study can do is confirm heritages – it cannot dismiss them. But via the genetic sequences found, it can give us a hint at the ethnic make-up of the earliest Melungeons. In this regard, I am still keeping an open mind regarding the theories that are out there. Four hundred years has allowed a great deal of time for population admixture, and each family has its own distinct cultural and ethnic legacy.
The original people referred to as Melungeons may have been Africans, or East Indians, or Native Americans, or Turks, or Gypsies or Portuguese or whatever. Not one of us knows with absolute certainty. What we do know is that very early on these various populations combined into one people known as Melungeons.
As those who attended Fourth Union heard, from both Dr. Jones and Dr. Morris, this finding is incredibly important from a healthcare standpoint alone. Native Americans, Europeans, and African Americans can – and do – carry Middle Eastern and Mediterranean diseases. It takes very few individuals in a founding population to have a dramatic impact
on a gene pool. African Americans and Native Americans can – and do – have Familial Mediterranean Fever. White Americans can – and do – have Sickle Cell Anemia. Having the genetic and genealogical data to explain why it is critical to improving health-care.
The study also underscores another important aspect of the origins debate: nearly all theories are correct to some extent. The only ones wrong are those that have been exclusive in their premise. The long-standing academic position that Melungeons are a
“tri-racial isolate” consisting of strictly northern Europeans, strictly West Africans, and Native Americans is incorrect. Those unwilling to add any other ethnic group to the mix have been wrong. This is what I stated in my book and have maintained for years: we are mixed and highly inclusive, and that inclusiveness includes Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and East Indian.
We should also keep in mind that these non Native-American ethnic groups could have arrived in a myriad of ways, and likely did. I have never been wed to any theory of arrival – what I have been wed to is, simply, arrival. Santa Elena and its outlying forts continue to help explain how some of these people – and their genes – might have gotten here. There were Gypsies and Conversos [e.g., Jews, Arabs, Berbers, East Indians, Turks, Moors, Africans, etc.) at Santa Elena who, even as “good Catholic Spaniards” and “good Catholic Portuguese” would have carried their ancestral genes from their ancestral homelands.
The finding of Turkish genes (both male and female lines) in the Melungeon population seems to indicate full families, so Santa Elena remains an origin possibility for some of the Melungeon ancestors. There were no women with Drake’s Turks, and the Turks themselves weren’t sending families here, as far as I know. The British, however, were doing so. Turkish and Armenian families were documentably present in Jamestown, serving the English colonists as indentured servants and artisans. Whatever the case,
historians are best equipped to determine how the genes arrived.
Finally, East Indians were brought to these shores in significant numbers from the early 1600s on and Romany [Gypsies] are also well documented in Virginia and the Carolinas during the same time period. There was, simply said, no shortage of the people necessary to provide the genetic proof to back up the Melungeon claims of origin.
I don’t yet know my full family DNA results but when I do I, and hopefully others, will share the information in an effort to help solve the roles specific families have played in the Melungeon odyssey. But I do know one sequence and this single piece of information is enlightening. My Mitochondrial DNA, which I inherited from my mother, matches the Siddis of India. The dark-skinned Siddis likely originated from what today is Ethiopia, Eritrea, or Somalia – sub-Saharan, east Africa.
They were transported to India in a variety of ways, most not so pleasant, and formed a major component of what became known as the Untouchable Caste. Their lives, and the life of my ancestral Mother – must have been horribly difficult. But she survived long
enough to have at least one daughter and that daughter did like-wise. And generation after generation this original Ethiopian girl’s DNA was passed along until, in 1950, it came to me.
How my particular East Indian ancestor made her way to America remains unclear. It may have been as the wife of a sixteenth-century New World Portuguese settler [the sixteenth-century Portuguese soldiers married northern Indian women by the thousands].
Or she may have been the spouse of a seventeenth-century British ex-patriot, or an East Indian female sent to the Caribbean as an indentured servant. Still again, she may have arrived on these shores as a Rom (or so-called, Gypsy) girl.
Many Romany share the Siddi mitochondria and the Romany-related surnames that follow this particular mitochondrial line in my family [Mullins, Bennett, Rose, etc.] would seem supportive of a Romany origin. Regardless of her mode of arrival to the New World, what is clear is that she – and her genes – did indeed make their way here. My Mother and I are living proof of this woman’s legacy. All this to say that had a young, sub-Saharan east African girl never lived, never been transported to India, and never had a daughter of her own, I wouldn’t be here.
So, what is the meaning of all this? For me, I can sum it up this way:
While I am likely – and proudly – of northern European heritage, I am also of Siddi heritage. And I am equally kin to the Scotsman tilling his field outside Glasgow, the Chickahominy Indian fighting to keep tribal pride alive, and the various east Africans at one another’s throats in Somalia. The Israelis and Palestinians dealing out death on a daily basis, the Appalachian blue grass banjo picker, the Indian and Pakistani soldiers staring one another down in Kashmir, and – yes – the down-beaten Untouchable in the poorest ghettos of southern India are also family.
All are literally, not just figuratively, my people. Genocide in the Balkans, earthquakes in Turkey, riots in Argentina, and repressive regimes in Afghanistan are no longer faraway occurrences of little consequence. In every tragedy on this Earth, a relative is suffering. And this leads me to a deeper understanding of just what the Melungeon story really means, and the transition that I must make.
We in Appalachia are known for our powerful storytelling tradition. Beginning today we have the opportunity to tell the most important story in our history – the story of the Oneness of Mankind and how this Oneness is exemplified in the Appalachian heart-land. The irony that we in Appalachia and those whose roots lie in these mountains – long considered the lowest of the low – could play a role in World ethnic harmony is staggering in its implications. But it’s not a pipe dream. We can send a powerful message to all people everywhere, that:
No place, no region, no human being is too small, too remote, or too insignificant to justify dismissal. We are all of the same flesh and each of us matters.
From this point on, our mission lies in spreading this message beyond these mountains. And we need to start at the earliest levels of teaching – our elementary schools – well before the seeds of racism and hate have been sown.
Beginning this week, I commit myself to this mission. The time has come for me to leave the historical and origins research, further DNA analysis, and other academic pursuits to those more qualified. My task was to be a catalyst – an instigator. Fourteen years ago, very few people cared about the Melungeons or any other mixed race population for that matter. That deeply bothered me, as I felt that these various populations deserved more attention from academia and, indeed, had played a far larger role in building this nation than they’d ever been given credit for. Placing them all into a box labeled “tri-racial isolate” and closing the lid seemed a grave injustice. I wrote my book to force the acknowledgement of our multi-racial communities and, in a sense, to help bring them out of the closet in which academia had shoved them. I believe I’ve contributed to an increased awareness and, hopefully, an increased pride. The level of interest and the sheer volume of books and articles being written today is enormous compared to the late 1980s and early 1990s. This was my dream and I am now confident that this interest will not dissipate.
There are a myriad of talented researchers exploring a variety of Melungeon related issues. Dozens of younger scholars are joining the older established writers and researchers in the search for Melungeon origins and the meaning of that search. Over the past decade, people like Jack Goins, Manuel Mira, Eloy Gallegos, James Nickens, Pat Elder, Mike Nassau, Wayne Winkler, Tim Hashaw, Carroll and Betty Goyne, and Virginia DeMarce have added substantial knowledge to what we might soon begin calling “Melungeon Studies.”
Each of these individuals deserves our gratitude and our praise. My long-standing hope has been, and continues to be, that all those researching this important topic can somehow pull together. That we acknowledge our differing opinions on historical matters,
but that we come to recognize our shared commitment to [1] caring for these people and their culture, and [2] abhorring racism in any form. These shared commitments far outweigh the debate over who showed up first, where the name came from, or what color
John Doe might have been. Perhaps my greatest disappointment over the years has rested in the inability or unwillingness of what should have been fellow travelers on a very bumpy road to travel together. It’s not too late.
I’ve done all that I can do for those who came before us. From this point on, I plan on devoting my efforts to making this Earth a better place for the living. If I’ve learned anything in this nearly fifteen-year journey, it’s the sobering reality that human prejudice exists everywhere – even within the very groups that have been the target of such prejudice.
The heated debates over who can – or cannot be – a Melungeon are reminiscent of the earlier debates over who can – or cannot be -white. I know we don’t intend it to be this way, but this is what invariably happens when we humans insist on categorizing and refining human ethnicity. It’s this same mindset that, when carried to an extreme, results in prejudice, ethnic cleansing and, ultimately, genocide.
“Race” is cultural, not genetic. I’ve been accused time and again of “diluting” Melungeon ethnicity to the point of blurring the boundaries and, in the words of one critic, “making them related to everybody.” This is precisely what I intended to do and the DNA study results have supported this contention. That’s the underlying beauty of this story, and to miss that point is symptomatic of the too narrow focus that inevitably leads to ethnic
tensions.
And so, what energy and time I have will be expended in bringing people together wherever and whenever I can. In teaching and engaging in projects that can impact how human beings – and especially our children – view their fellow human beings. That we
are not just figuratively – but literally – one human family.
From Africa and India, to Turkey, Portugal, and the United States of America, we are one race. Where I can make a difference in helping others to understand this, I will. Where I cannot, I’ll try.
And I pledge to live by our Melungeon creed, “One People, All Colors.”
I thank God for an amazing fourteen years of Chapter One and, God-willing, at least that many more for Chapter Two.
2) ANGEVINE WESLEY GOWEN OF YORK VILLAGE, MAINE LABELED A GENIUS BY FAMILY AND FRIENDS
Prepared from Research Developed
By Margaret Pearson Tate
Angevine Wesley Gowen was born August 30, 1869 in York Village,
Maine in a house on Gorges Neck, named for Sir Ferdinando Gorges,
a member of the Plymouth Company. The site was surveyed for Sir
Ferdinando, “the Lord Proprietor of the Province of Mayne” Novem-
ber 11, 1641.
The house that he was born in and later died in was on the home
lot of his maternal ancestor, Thomas Moulton. The house was
built in 1714 on the York River by Joseph Moulton, son of Jere-
miah Moulton and grandson of Thomas Moulton, according to John D.
Bardwell, area historian. Jeremiah Moulton purchased the proper-
ty from the estate in 1684 for 20 pounds. The house still stands–
288 years later.
Angevine Wesley Gowen was a rare man, born with an innate ability
to be successful at any project that he undertook. Although his
schooling ended at age 16, he developed the skills to become a
civil engineer and bridge-builder. As a young man he rebuilt
Scotland Bridge in York Village, Maine where he was born.
He served a rod-and-chain apprenticeship in 1890 under Samuel W.
Junkins, surveyor, and in a short time eclipsed his mentor as a
surveyor and mapmaker, adding magnetic declination to the skill.
Beginning with his surveying instruments, he became an ardent as-
tronomer and later built his own telescope.
When the art of photography began to develop, he plunged enthusi-
astically into the field. Many of his photographs of the York
area made on glass negatives still survive.
His fame as a musical prodigy developed early. At age 9, al-
though he never had a lesson and could not read music, he joined
the town’s brass band. The band met for practice at “Fielding”
in the loft of the shop of Capt. Timothy Young on Cider Hill.
The band, composed of John Mitchell Moulton, trumpet; George
Everett Moulton, bass horn, John Picott of Kittery, “tenor horn”
and Charles Young who played the “alto horn,” quickly made room
for the talented youngster with the coronet. He became a soloist
for the band when it played for “town suppers” and “political
speakings.”
Later Angevine bought a violin for $3.50 from Oliver Jenness, a
neighbor. He worked for 50c a day at odd jobs until he had the
necessary cash. Then he marched proudly into his home and start-
ed to play. Initially his fiddle screeching caused his Aunt Ju-
lia to send him to the barn to practice. There he played to the
cows, day after day, and when he emerged, he had mastered, en-
tirely by ear, “The Irish Washerwoman.” Jenness was amazed when
Angevine played “Pop Goes the Weasel,” for him, inserting diffi-
cult pizzicato with great skill. When he realized the limita-
tions of his cheap violin, Angevine went into the woods, selected
some hardwood stocks and made his own violin, one that possessed
vibrant deep rich tones.
He was equally adept at other skills. He was a woodsman, carpen-
ter, farmer, taxidermist, notary public, artist, fisherman, game
warden, detective and boat-builder, according to John D. Bardwell,
area historian.
Angevine Wesley Gowen became interested in his ancestry and began
to do family history research on the Gowen, Moulton and other
early down east families. His eighth-generation grandfather was
William Alexander Gowen, the Scottish prisoner of war who was
captured by the English in the Battle of Dunbar in 1650. Oliver
Cromwell ordered him deported to Massachusetts Bay Colony bound
to seven years labor. The historical research brought him in
touch with Col. Charles Edward Banks with whom he collaborated
in writing “History of York, Maine.”
He had maintained a journal through his lifetime which he called
“Cider Hill Annals.” His ancestors did not escape scrutiny and
Angevine “painted” them as he saw them in his diary. Of his
eighth-generation grandfather, he wrote:
“Jeremiah Moulton was a land grabber evidently and maybe some
of his deals in real estate would not stand up to the “light
of day” any better than his attempt on October 3, 1693 to sell
rum without a license. The court records show that he was
fined 10 pounds and put under bond of 50 pounds to keep the
peace ‘for threatening to shoot with a gun in his hands, a
constable and a justice of the peace.’ His son, Abel Moulton
was fined January 5, 1696-7 for ‘abusive speech.’ Abel Moul-
ton was stolen by the Canadian Abenaki Indians who often
raided settlers in Maine. He was never returned and was sup-
posedly drowned. Old Jeremiah Moulton was always buying the
‘piece of land next door’ until he became a very large land-
owner.”
The literary skills of Angevine Wesley Gowen attracted the in-
terest of Mrs. Catharine McCook Knox, a literary agent of Wash-
ington, D.C. who recognized his genius. Thus began a fast
friendship that lasted a lifetime.
Angevine Wesley Gowen was a master boat-builder and once men-
tioned to Mrs. Knox the difficulty he had in building and launch-
ing a sloop he constructed. She persisted that he should write
an account of this endeavor, but he declined on account of his
impending blindness that was beginning to take a toll on his ac-
tivities. He replied to her inquiry October 26, 1934:
“Dear Mrs. Knox,
I received your letter of inquiry this a.m. and am writing
in my willow chair by the end of the table as usual. A poor
light shines in which I fear will cut this letter short, at
least for now. I will do my best however in the few minutes
that I am allowed to write.
Now about the boat, the “Winnie,” named after my boyhood
friend Winn Campbell whose grave I visited many years after-
ward at Georgetown, Maine while on detective duty for the
State. All this I have told you before. The boat was a 24-
foot sloop, of 8-foot beam. It was built in what is now Mr.
Emery’s shop and occupied about the whole of the inside of
it when onlited, for the shop was only 14’x24.’ However,
Frank Plaisted and I got her into the cradle and hauled her
with his oxen down to the creek and launched her. However,
my diary will tell more about that than I can now recall.
Aunt Julia lived in the house, while I built my boat in the
shop annexed. And many a goody or wedge of pie or a pinch
of black snuff she gave me. She was 80 then and always made
me promise to bury her when she died, a promise that I re-
ligiously kept. I have many pictures of her and the small
home that Milan prepared for her.
Of course, you have recognized Frank P. as the one who helped
me launch my boat and to hoist the old Cider Hill Flag the
year before. I could tell much more, but eyesight sternly
forbids. I often shudder when I think of climbing those rot-
ten flagpoles and reeving the lines through the blocks for
the flag. I, who now with difficulty climb a chair to re-
place an electric light bulb!
Also I shudder to think of my first boat ride in my new “Win-
nie” with a load of a dozen excited, gleeful children and
women, including Aunt Julia. The boat was not half bal-
lasted, and a sudden squall would have meant catastrophe.
But skillful seamanship brought us all back safe and sound,
and in fact, thus I have traversed the Great North [Woods]
with canoe and paddle and sailed the briney deep in a 200-
ton brigantine through some hard storms. I have yet to wet
a stocking, and truly, my angel of good luck must have been
constantly with me. Yet, I may drown in the first mug of
beer I drink.
It is now 1:00 p.m, and the sky is fast becoming overcast
and dark again, so that I do not see a single word I am
writing, but write mechanically, as it were, or more by
instinct. So, good luck.
With kindest regards, I am, as ever,
A. W. Gowen”
On February 7, 1935, shortly before his death, he wrote again to
Mrs. Knox:
“I am so blind now at this time of the year, 15 degrees below
zero here today. I have lost another relative, Willie Gowen,
oldest son of Harry Gowen, died February 4 in Dover, N.H,
leaving a little family, funeral today. I am too sick to go,
and also on that account I am revising my will, and relative
to my diaries, I am fixing it so you will have full access to
them until your work is done. I have failed much since Xmas,
and if you will write date of diary and subject thereof, as in
case of “Miss Taylor,” I can get someone to look it up, and I
can dictate it more fully. We have very deep snow and much
cold weather. I use only one door now to get out. The rest
are all banked nearly to the eaves.
Regards,
A. W. Gowen”
Angevine Wesley Gowen, was the elder son of John Wesley Gowen and
Hannah Jane Gerry Gowen. His mother died in 1878 and his father
in 1880. He was brought up by his aunt, Miss Julia M. Gowen with
whom he resided until her death in 1930, as well as with his un-
cle Joseph Gowen.
His great-grandfather Nathan Gowen was married to Jerusha Moul-
ton, and the Cider Hill property passed into the Gowen family’s
possession.
Standing on the boundary line of the Gowen-Moulton farm on Cider
Hill was a gigantic ancient white oak tree. The tree, which An-
gevine named “Boundary Oak” had been referred to in deeds that
conveyed land in that area since 1641. He used it frequently as
a landmark in his surveys.
Angevine may have been the only man in the deed records of Maine
who conveyed a tree to a legatee. His will devised that “Bound-
ary Oak and the circle of land beneath it” be deeded to Maine
Historical Society in Portland. A deed was prepared accordingly,
but lay forgotten until 50 years later when Bradley Moulton, an
attorney of Cape Meddick discovered the record. He, a descend-
ant of Thomas Moulton and a Gowen relative, pointed out the dis=
covery to the surprised Maine Historical Society.
The organization transferred the property to Improvement Society
of York who handed the stewardship off to Old York Historical
Society. Subsequently O.Y.H.S. received a deed to the entire
20-acre farm site. The will also provided that access be main-
tained to the family graveyard on the property. Some of the
graves there pre-date 1700.
Following his death, Katherine McCook Knox wrote a tribute to
his life and accomplishments which was published in “Old York
Transcript” September 3, 1937.
“Written on the 23rd of August at York Village, Maine
By Katharine McCook Knox
Rain, pushing straight down through the long dark pine need-
les, rain quivering slantwise in grey slashes across the
white birch. Rain, rain and just the kind of day on which
I loved to sit and talk to “Angie” at Cider Hill. Surely
if it had been last summer, I would have been off bright and
early to visit him. I would have found him at the end of
Gowen Lane, waiting quietly in his “willow chair” by the kit-
chen window. With his well-modeled head bent slightly for-
ward, he would be listening, listening.
Although from nearby, my car looked to him “blue and misty,
shining like a ghost,” he never mistook the sound of its
motor or the turn of its tires as it rolled down the hill.
His failing sight intensified the keenness of his hearing,
and all his visitors were likewise summed up.
As I would enter, he would rise, his strong sensitive fin-
gers would unclasp from his gnarled walking-stick, and he
would make me welcome.
Hours of talk we would have, Angevine Wesley Gowen–farmer
boy, taxidermist, artist, woodsman, carpenter, boat-builder,
bridge-builder, surveyor, engineer–fantastic it sounds, but
true nevertheless. He was as efficient as he was versatile.
A devoted son, brother and nephew who bravely nursed his fam-
ily through piercing illnesses and never shirked a day’s work.
But “Angie” died this past winter. Sixty-nine he would have
been on this coming 30th of August. Last summer on his birth-
day we had a party, and he told me quite happily that his “in-
terview with death” was near.
Native wit and shrewdness coupled with tenderness and an almost
fierce independence of judgment gave his conversation never a
dull lapse. Cider Hill 13 and a little red school house at
Spruce Creek, Kittery were his two “Universities.” At the age
of 16, he ceased schooling. How interested he would have been
this summer in following up the history and correct restoration
of the old York school house which probably opened its rough-
hewn door in the year 1747. His life as he told it to me was
vivid, and Cider Hill and all its “folks” became a spreading
world.”
==O==
Katharine McCook Knox [1897-1942] was descended from the “Fight-
ing McCooks of Ohio,” according to “Who Was Who in American,
1897-1942.” The father, 9 sons and 5 cousins were all officers
in the Civil War.
3) DON LEE GOWEN OF DECATUR, ALABAMA DEVELOPING A LIBRARY OF BOOKS WRITTEN ONLY BY GOWEN AUTHORS
Don Lee Gowen, charter member of the Foundation and a family his-
tory researcher for many years, wrote recently of Gowen Library
in which every book was written by a Gowen family member. He
wrote”
BY DON LEE GOWEN
Editorial Boardmember
1310 Cantwell Avenue SW dlgowen@aol.com
Decatur, Alabama, 35601
“A number of years back, I started collecting Civil War books
to go with my Civil War print collection–and got off into
some Gowen books to see what kind of authors our family had
produced. Attached is a listing of my collection I have de-
veloped over a period [the ones I have and the ones I still
look for.] It will be interesting to see if other members
can come up with other authors and editions.”
GOWEN BOOK COLLECTION
This book collection combines all known Gowen authors by Title
rather than author name. Books identified with an * have yet
to be acquired.
A History of Indian Literature; Herbert H. Gowen – (1931) *
A Precursor of Perry, or The Story of Takano Nagahide; Herbert
H. Gowen – (1928) *
An Outline of the History of China. With a Thorough Account of
the Republican Era Interpreted In It’s Historical Perspective;
Herbert H. Gowen (and Josef W. Hall), 1926 edition (original
edition in two volumes – 1913/1917), Hardback, 527 Pages; D.
Appleton and Company, N. Y.
An Outline of the History of Japan; Herbert H. Gowen – Profes-
sor of Oriental Languages and Literature at the University of
Washington, 1927 1st Edition, Hardback, 458 Pages; D. Appleton
& Company, N. Y.
Asia, A Short History From the Earliest Times to the Present Day;
Herbert H. Gowen, 1927 edition (1926), Hardback, 436 Pages –
Fold Out Map; Little, Brown and Company, Boston (two copies)
Christ and Collossee; Herbert H. Gowen – (1922) *
Dark Moon of March; Emmett Gowen, 1927 edition, Paperback –
Dell Books, copyright to Bobbs-Merrill Company – Indianapolis,
Ind., 228 Pages; Dell Publishing Company, N. Y.
Five Foreigners in Japan; Herbert H. Gowen – (1937) *
Gowan-Morley; Phillip Alan Gowan – (1975) *
Gowen: 1680 – 1980; Frank Maxwell Gowen (1980) *
Gowen Family Genealogy; Yvonne Margaret Gowen (1986) *
Hawaiian Idylls of Love and Death; Herbert H. Gowen – (1907) *
History of Religion; Herbert H. Gowen, 1934 1st Edition, Hard-
back, 698 Pages; Society For Promoting Christian Knowledge,
Northumberland Ave., Edinburg, Scotland
Old Hell; Emmett Gowen, 1937 edition, Paperback, 177 Pages;
Modern Age Books, N. Y.
Prisoner of War Journal, Lt. William Bradford Gowen, C.S.A
(1866) *
Mediations on the Last Seven Words; Herbert H. Gowen – (1911) *
Memoirs of James M. Gowin, First Atomic Veteran; James M. Gowin
(1990) *
Mountain Born; Emmett Gowen, 1932 edition, Hardback, 307 Pages;
The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Indianapolis, Ind.
Paradise of the Pacific; Herbert H. Gowen – (1892) *
Pioneer Work in British Columbia; Herbert H. Gowen – (1899) *
The Book of the Seven Blessings; Herbert H. Gowen – (1917) *
The Brass Face; Emmett Gowen *
The Days of His Coming; Herbert H. Gowen – (1907) *
The Joys of Fishing; Emmett Gowen, 1961 1st Edition, Hardback,
191 Pages; Rand McNally & Company, N. Y.
The Journal of Kenko; Herbert H. Gowen – (1927) *
The Kingdom of Man; Herbert H. Gowen – (1893) *
The Little Grey Lamb and Other Poems; Herbert H. Gowen – (1929) *
The Napoleon of the Pacific; Herbert H. Gowen – (1919) *
The Psalms or Book of Praises; Herbert H. Gowen – (1929) *
The Revelation of St. John the Devine; Rev. Herbert H. Gowen,
1910 1st Edition, Hardback, 267 Pages; Skeffington & Son,
Strand, Suffolk, England
The Revelation of Things That Are; Herbert H. Gowen – (1907) *
The Sword In The Mountains; Alice Gowan, 1910 1st Edition –
2nd Printing, Hardback, 455 Pages; Grossett & Dunlap, N. Y.
(Civil War)
The Universal Faith; Herbert H. Gowen – (1926) *
Temperantia; Herbert H. Gowen, 1891 1st Edition, Hardback,
79 Pages; Skeffington & Son, Strand, Suffolk, England
Sonnet Stories from the Chinese; Herbert H. Gowen – (1920) *
Sonnets for the Sundays; Herbert H. Gowen – (1917) *
Stella Duce; Herbert H. Gowen – (1911) *
Sun and Moon; Vincent H. Gowen, 1927 1st Edition, Hardback,
340 Pages; Little-Brown & Company, Boston (Son of Herbert
H. Gowen)
Village By the Yangtze: Imperial and Communist China and A
Village Mission School Caught In The Web of Change and
Espionage”; Vincent H. Gowen, 1975 1st Edition, Hardback,
373 Pages; Douglas-West Publishers, Inc., Los Angeles
Zophiel: or The Bride of Seven; Maria del Occidente (Maria
Gowen Brooks), edited by Zadel Barnes Gustafson, 1879 1st
Edition, Hardback, 261 Page; Lee & Shepard, Boston
****************************************************************
4) HERBERT HENRY GOWEN
Herbert Henry Gowen, son of Henry Cobb Gowen and Mary Fuller
Gowen was born at Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, May 19, 1864. He
received his B. A. degree from St. Augustine College, Canterbury,
in 1886. He later attended Oxford University and Cambridge Uni-
versity. He was made deacon in the Anglican church in 1988.
Within the year, he went to Hawaii as missionary to the Chinese
community at Honolulu. Among his students there was Sun Yat-Sen,
later premier of China. Herbert Henry Gowen was fluent in ten
languages.
He was also curate of the Anglican cathedral in Honolulu and in
that capacity served as chaplain to King Kalakaua of Hawaii and
his successor, Queen Lilioukaiani, having been earlier ordained
a priest. Herbert remained in Hawaii until 1890, when he re-
turned to England and became curate of St. Nicholas Church, Yar-
mouth, serving until 1892.
On January 7, 1892, he was married there to Annie Kate Green,
daughter of George E. Green. Henry was rector of St. Barnabas
Church, New Westminister, British Columbia from 1892 to 1896.
He was placed in charge of Trinity Parish, Seattle, Washington
in 1897 and became a citizen of the United States about 1900.
He spoke and read in English, Latin, Greek, French, Spanish,
Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, Sanskrit and Hebrew, according to
“National Cyclopaedia of American Biography.” He received a
D.D. degree from Whitman College, Walla Walla, Washington in
1912.
In 1916, he was placed in charge of St. Barnabas Church in Seat-
tle where he had the oversight of Japanese missions. He was
professor of oriental languages at the University of Washington
from 1906 to 1945 and was professor emeritus there afterwards.
He was President of Washington State Philosophical Society.
He was a fellow of the Royal Geological Society of London. He
was a fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society and an honorary fel-
low of St. Augustine’s College of Canterbury. A Phi Beta Kappa,
he was a member of the Royal Society of Arts and a member of
the American Oriental Society. He was awarded Chevalier of
Crown of Italy in 1928. He was a member of the Third Class
Order of Sacred Treasure of Japan in 1929. He was an Episco-
palian minister in Seattle in 1930, retiring from the pulpit
in 1945. He died in Seattle November 6, 1960.
Children born to Herbert Henry Gowen and Annie Kate Green Gowen
include:
Vincent Herbert Gowen born in 1893
Lancelot Edward Gowen born about 1895
Felicia Joyce Gowen born about 1898
Rupert George Gowen born about 1901
Sylvia Mary Gowen born about 1905
5) Dear Cousins
I have started doing research on my family name of Goyan. I be-
lieve my ggggf Francis Goyan was born in St. Agnes,Cornwall and
came to the U.S. in 1840 with brothers John, James, and William.
I also believe that the parents of John, Francis, and James were
John Goyne/Goyen and Mary Ann Mitchell. My ggggf was a founder
of Placerville California, arriving in about 1855. He became
known as Frank Goyan.
I do not see my family name listed amongst all the Gowen spell-
ings. I have found confirmed family members listed as Goyne,
Goyen, Gowan, Goian, and possibly Goan. Do you think anyone in
your group would have information on Goyan?
Pamela Goyan Kittler
kittler@pacbell.net
==Dear Cousins==
In the book by Mike K. Williams “Marriages of Pittsylvania Coun-
ty, VA 1831-1861” page 29. William H. Gowen to Martha J, Owen on
March 26, 1846. P/B Thomas Owen, Surety by James W. McHaney, mar-
ried by Rev. Joel Hubbard.
I would like to contact anyone you know who is descended from
this William & Martha [Owen] Gowen family, so as to add as much
as possible, of this family, to my files. Anyone who is descend-
ed from this couple will be very interested in my website at:
http://www.norman.runyon.com. I have not added Martha Jane to
that site, yet, but I will do so pending verification of her par-
ntage.
Thank you very much for your help!
Norman L. Runyon
Dowagiac, MI
norman@runyon.com
==Dear Cousins==
Greetings from Down Under. I came across your Gowen Research
Foundation Home Page by accident. As you can see we share the
same surname and probably have some common ancestors from the
dim dark past in England/Scotland.
I don’t know of any direct links with the US Gowens but my fam-
ily links are direct from England. My great,great,great grand-
father, John Gowen, was a marine on the ship “Sirius”, which was
the main vessel in the First Fleet from England that brought the
English/Irish/Scot convicts who settled in Australia in 1788.
He spent some time after that working on Norfolk Island, a penal
colony off the east coast, then came back to Sydney. He had many
children and his ancestors are throughout the eastern coast of
Australia now.
I myself live in Canberra, the capital of Australia, and work at
the Australian National University. I am still researching the
family but have to get some information from the links back in
England.
Regards,
Neal Gowen
29 Greenough Circuit Kaleen ACT 2617
Australia
ph 0411 016 585
nealg@ozemail.com.au
==Dear Cousins==
I’m trying to find the family of the wife of James McGowen b1803
living in Hendricks County, IN 1830-40 possibly 50, then moved
to Boone County, IN by 1860. She was Mary Ann [Hays?] bc1805.
On the 1830 census there were several Hays families living around
James and Mary Ann McGowen. Does anyone have Mary Ann’s maiden
name?
James and Mary Ann had at least seven children that I am sure of,
from census records, but I only know the names of three:
Daniel McGowen bc1832 in Franklin County, KY
Susannah McGowen b1837 KY, m. James Smith
Edna Ann McGowen b1841 Hendricks County, IN
m. George Baldwin
Mary Ann McGowen died before 1848 in Indiana[?]. James McGowen
was remarried to Rhonda Goleaner. Five more children were born
to them:
James F. McGowen
Mary E. McGowen m. Dickerson
Josephine McGowen m. Moore
Benjamin McGowen
McCager [Micajah?] McGowen
This family seemed to move back and forth between Kentucky and
and Indiana quite frequently. Family lore is that James died
in Louisville, Kentucky.
Daniel McGowen changed his name to Daniel Gowen, and McCager [Mi-
cajah] McGowen changed his name to McCager [Micajah] Goins.
I would like to find the parents of James McGowen as well as the
parents of Mary Ann McGowen. I would like to exchange informa-
tion with anyone who is connected to this line.
Thanks,
N. J. Skinner White
in Michigan
vwhite0901@aol.com
==Dear Cousins==
I would like to request the help of the Forum in obtaining more
information about great-great-grandparents, Jefferson Davis Goyne
and Lenis Angelina “Angie” Honeycutt of Bosque County and Hamil-
ton County, Texas.
I am having difficulty finding any info on Angie Honeycutt Goyne.
There is a grave in the Fairy Cemetery in Fairy, Texas in Hamil-
ton County with “Mrs. J.D. Goyne” on it with the correct birth &
death dates for her, but I cannot locate even where she died.
I went to the Hamilton County Genealogical Society a few months
ago, but they have nothing on this family. The Goynes are on the
1880 Bosque County census. I would appreciate any suggestions
you may have to add to the narrative below:
“Jefferson Davis Goyne, son of John R. Goyne and Elizabeth Byars
Goyne, was born December 8, 1852, according to the family bible.
He was married December 16, 1875 in Lamar County, Texas to Lenis
Angelina “Angie” Honeycutt who was born in Arkansas February 17,
1858.
He appeared in the 1880 census of northwest Bosque County, page
365B at age 27. His mother-in-law, Mrs. M. E. Wall, was recorded
with the family.
They were living Bosque County, Texas in 1895. “Mrs. J. D. Goyne”
died December 15, 1929 and was buried in the Fairy Cemetery in
Hamilton County. After her death, Jefferson Davis Goyne removed
to Albany, Texas to live with a daughter, Minnie Pearlee Goyne
Loader. He died in 1935 and was buried in Albany.
Children born to them include:
Allie Goyne born about 1876
John Mayzee Goyne born in May 1879
Minnie Pearle Goyne born March 16, 1885
Stella Cora Goyne born in June 1887
Thomas William Goyne born in June 1891
Lillie Mae Goyne born in September 1894
[infant] born about 1898
___________________________________________________________
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 