Notes From My Grandmother | Rowley Lineage and Genealogy, Part 7

Somehow, much of my grandmother's hand written and (badly) typed notes and research wound up in my possession. Traveling from Chicago to Los Angeles and back to Chicago again. It sat, in the dark of my mother's closet, until my dad passed and my mom decided to begin her great purge. Knowing I had picked up the torch, the next generation to pursue the Greatest Hobby on Earth, the papers came to live with me. Unsure for many years on just what to do with them, I have decided to bring them out and share them with you - transcribed, of course - no one can read my grandmother's handwriting! But in her own words; mistakes, rambling sentences, and all. I think she will be pleased her work and her writing are once again out in the light.

Rowley Family Story con't ....

More on assorted Rowleys ~ bio, obituary

Mrs R C Rowley died in Brooks, Iowa, December 10th 1890 at the age of 72 years, 8 months, 24 days. Mother Rowley had been an invalid for many years, but always bore her sufferings with Christian fortitude and uncomplainingly. The last few days of her life she seemed entirely free from pain, complaining only of being "so tired" and died as if falling asleep. Her last words were "come, Jesus, come". A loving wife and mother, and a faithful Christian, she has gone to her glorious reward.

Rhoda A was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, March 4th 1818; was married to Rev R C Rowley at Green Castle, Indiana September 29, 1840, moving to Illinois in 1848; and to Brooks, Iowa, in 1876, where she died. To these parents were born five children, two sons and three daughters; three only now survive to mourn the loss of mother and truest friend.

Mrs Rowley had been a great sufferer for many years. Often during this time had her life been despaired of by physicians and friends, but heroic courage combined with Christian submission to the will of the Master, served to pilot her through these years of suffering until the final summons came.

Children -

• Flora Dell Rowley (Twining)
• Anna Elizabeth Rowley (Wilcox) June 26, 1845 - ? (194-)
• Marcellus Melville Rowley Feb 12th 1842 - Jan 1810 *  

*Married Drucilla Criss August 22nd 1862 (8 children) In August 1862 he enlisted in 83d Ill. Vol. Inf. as a member of Co. A. The following spring he was sent home on furlough on account of sickness and remained at home until the fore part of June, when he again reported to his company for duty. In Aug he was again taken sick and sent to the hospital and in the fall of 1863 was discharged from from the services on account of disability. He was a faithful member of the Presbyterian church and always took an active part in both Sunday school and Church work.

~~~~~0~0~0~~~~~

Mrs J L Twining dies 12/13/32.

Flora Dell Rowley was born in Peoria, Illinois, Nov 12, 1857, the daughter of a pioneer Presbyterian minster, Rev R C Rowley and his wife, Rhoda Ann. She spent all of her girlhood in Illinois, moving to Brooks, Iowa, when she was 18 years of age. She was married to Jesse L Twining on October 25, 1876, Mr and Mrs Twining making their home in Corning, Iowa, for fifty years. To this union were born four children; three daughters, Mrs I A Potwin of Des Moines, Iowa, with whom she has made her home for the past six years, Mrs E E Williams, deceased, and Mrs J E Hydeman of Piqua, Ohio, and one son, M C Twining of Des Moines. She is also survived by her husband, J L Twining, Des Moines, one sister, Mrs A E Wilcox, of Kansas City, nine grandchildren; also five great grandchildren; two nieces and three nephew.

Mrs Twining has often remarked that she had belonged to the Presbyterian church so long that she could not remember when she joined, going with her father as a very small child and sitting in a big chair in the pulpit beside him. Blessed with a wonderful mind she was always very active ans especially interested in young people. Mrs Twining was very active during middle life in church and club work, being blessed with a beautiful voice and musical talent, she took an active part in church music. A happy bright disposition endeared her to all who knew and loved her.

She passed away after three week's illness of pneumonia, at the home of her daughter, Mrs Potwin, in Des Moines, Tuesday, December 13, 1932, at 9:20 pm at the age of 75 years, 1 month, 1 day. Mrs Twining was the youngest child of a family of six. Her life was one long period of service. For years she looked after her invalid mother. Later she cared for Mr Twining's father and mother during the last years of their lives. She also cared for Father Rowley until his death in 1912. 

..........end..........

©2017 Anne Faulkner - AncestorArchaeology.net, All Rights Reserved. 

©1950-82 Elizabeth Twining Potwin Thomas - private collection

Finding Faulkner: Part Three | Minnesota Bound

It started, as good quests always do, with a family tale.

After the excitement of learning my 2nd and 3rd great grandfathers names died down, I set in to discover what I could of Lloyd Anson Faulkner's father Harry. My father's quest had ended there. He had not gone any further in his research, best I could tell.  My dad had had a photo of L. A. Faulkner, his grandfather,  hanging in his house - he looked eerily like my father as an older man. Perhaps that was some of the fascination for him in researching this man. The photo now hangs in my house and I, too, am fascinated. 

L.A. Faulkner, M.D. was born in Minnesota where he lived out his life. Starting there I began my hunt. To retell this tale I found it necessary to pull out all my old notes, memory tending to write things differently .... 

This was all so many years ago that my timeline might be off. I wish I had been writing this as I went along, but I never imagined the quest would take me through so many years, so many states, so many lives ......

I had enough information to do a basic Ancestry search. I knew L.A.'s wife was Anna and that he was born about 1862 somewhere in MN, living there all his life, he died in St Paul in 1933.  I immediately got returns for census records and was able to start building his family. There were 5 children born to them, my grandfather and his twin sister being the youngest. As the family began to build, other documents began to appear.  The Minnesota death index, the Minnesota marriage index and the Minnesota cemetery inscription index, which revealed not only where L. A. was buried, but confirmed the information I had been given about his parents names - including his mother's maiden name! 

"Par. Harrison and Jennie Whitford Faulkner".

I immediately emailed the cemetery and sent away for the death certificate.

While I was waiting I added  L.A.'s father Harrison and mother Jennie to my Ancestry tree and did some searching on the Minnesota Historical Society's website. I found Harrison's death certificate/date of death (which I had not know previously), and by adding that to his Ancestry profile I found  the Minnesota cemetery inscription index for him. The index revealed where he was buried and confirmed the information I had on the name of his father - with a bonus - the name of his mother!! And her maiden name!! (I was starting to really love Minnesota for their record system!)

"Harry-Harrison Faulkner. Sp. Jennie Whitford. Par. James & Jane McBride Faulkner. Mar. 1855. Born Goshen, Orange Co., N.Y." 

I emailed the cemetery and sent away for the death certificate.

I bided my time filling out the tree with spouses of siblings, children, anything Ancestry would give me. Remember, I had never had any relatives from this side of the family before. This was very exciting! From the cemetery inscription index (above) I learned that Harrison was born in New York. That would agree with the tale that started this quest, but how did he get to Minnesota? And why? Did he come with his parents? And where were his parents? There was one James Faulkner that I could find in Minnesota, and about a half dozen of them in Orange Co, New York. I needed more information.

I didn't have to wait long.

Both cemeteries responded quickly, and Maple Lawn, where Harrison is buried turned out to be a gold mine. Larry, the cemetery secretary and local historian went over and above. Typical Minnesotan congeniality! He went out of his way to dig up the obituary and funeral notice for Harrison Faulkner. And even sent me a vintage post card from the church where the funeral was held! Larry also introduced me to a database his friend John had put together. His friend John Dalby. The Dalby Database was a spectacular find for me at this point in my research.

But everything faded into the background as I read Harrison Faulkner's obituary:

OBITUARY OF THE LATE HARRISON FAULKNER

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Was of a family Distinguished for Being Early Settlers.

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"The late Harrison Faulkner, whose funeral took place in Faribault Wednesday afternoon, came of a family with some distinguished members. His great grandfather, who was of Scotch lineage, immigrated to what was in his time the colony of New York, early in the eighteenth century. James Faulkner, father of Harrison Faulkner, settled in Michigan 1833, on a tract of land where he spent the remainder of his days, near Grass Lake. He had been a colonel in the war of 1812, and was at one time in command of Staten Island, N.Y. before moving to Michigan.

Col. Faulkner lived for a time in Tennessee, and was owner of a large plantation, and of a good many slaves, but when he removed to Michigan he took only a few slaves with him, whom he freed soon after. They would not leave their old "massa." 

Harrison Faulkner was born in Goshen, Orange co., N.Y., in 1825. He studied medicine for two years, but gave up that profession. Working on a railroad, he was the first fireman on the Michigan central railroad. Then he went to the lead mines at Galena, Ill., and remained there a number of years. In 1855 Mr. Faulkner married Miss. Jennie Whitford, and in 1856 he came to Minnesota, being one of the first settlers of Faribault, as his grandfather had been one of the early settlers in New York, and his father one of the early settlers of Michigan.

Mr. Faulkner for a time followed the trade of carpenter in this city. He was a man of honest, upright character in all his dealings. he was well educated, as were all his brothers and a pleasing gentleman to converse with, having seen much, and observed and thought much about what he had seen. He will be missed not only by his family, but by the early settlers of the city.

Mr. Faulkner leaves three sons; Arthur E. of St. Paul; Dr. Lloyd A. of Lonsdale, and Louis N. of New York City. Louis Faulkner is a distinguished stone carver, having been an instructor of the Armour Industrial school in Chicago, and employed in work on some of the finest mansions in the east.

Harrison Faulkner was the last of his family - all his brothers and sisters having preceded him to the grave, at advanced ages."

Oh. My. Gosh.

In a matter of minutes I had gone from knowing zip about Harrison and his father James, to learning not only WHERE James lived, but that he was in the war of 1812, and a colonel at that! And I learned that Harrison had brothers and sisters - plural! There might just be other Faulkner descendants out there!

Insane happy dance ensued!

Looks like I'm off to Michigan ......

Field Notes: I Love It When A Plan Comes Together

In my last Field Notes I made the confession of my haste to win genealogy {again} and the embarrassing error of my ways. It happens. Even to the best of us.

If people never did silly things, nothing intelligent would ever get done. - Ludwig Wittgenstein

But today I would like to share with you how that plan ultimately came together, and I found more information in an afternoon of ease, that hours and hours of struggle.

Once I realized the error of my ways I was able to search intelligently. I was looking for my grandmother's marriage information and her death information. I knew when and where she died, but I did not have a death certificate or an obituary. I only knew a timeframe for her wedding and had no idea where, so that was a bit more of a challenge.

First stop: FamilySearch where I input the correct information and easily obtained an indexed record of her death certificate. (No photo) It didn't tell me anything I did not already know, but I found it. (No marriage information to be found, however)

On to cyberdriveillinois and the Illinois death certificates database. Entering her name and the county where she died (obtained from the indexed record on FamilySearch) I found the entry and was able to learn the official death certificate number. (Made a note to order a copy)

Next stop: my local library online remote access to the historical Chicago Tribune to search for an obituary. I entered my grandmother's name and the year of her death and received 97 results. Scrolling down to the obituary with the correct date, I opened it to learn of the church where her funeral was held. This was brand new information! And, to be quite honest, a little eerie for some reason - this was the first time I had ever laid eyes on it. It made her death all that more real. (Quick backstory, I never knew her, she died when my dad was 15 and my grandfather had already remarried by the time I arrived)

I need to say at this point, I tried the Chicago Tribune archives first with no success. After finding the obituary on the ProQuest site I was then able to return to the Tribune archives site and simply by adding yyyy/mm/dd after the url successfully found the paper, and the obituary, but I did need to "read" the paper to find the obituary section.

From her obituary I learned the church where her funeral was held, and on a hunch I googled it to get an email address. I sent an email inquiring after my grandmother, if she was a church member, and wondering if she may have been married or even baptized there. (Another aside: Before emailing, I checked the FamilySearch non-indexed database on this church, but it stopped a year short of when she might have gotten married - and there was no record of her baptism .....)

The following morning there was a reply to my email from the church pastor!

YES! She had been married there!

He gave me the date, the witnesses and the church where she had been baptized (gotta love the Catholic Church for their record keeping!) Her baptism record had been destroyed by fire, but there was an affidavit from her parents attesting to her baptism.

I FINALLY had an answer to the mystery of her marriage! And her baptism.

**Thorough researcher that I am, I went back to those non-indexed church records on FamilySearch and browsed the baptism records from the correct church - indeed there had been a fire, and the record books noted it! I was able to find her brother's baptism 5 years later, so I felt a bit of consolation.**

Happy ending to an afternoon of armchair research.

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links:

http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/databases/idphdeathindex.html

http://archives.chicagotribune.com/yyyy/mm/dd