|
|
William BOWERS
(1820-Between 1845/1848) |
|
William BOWERS 2
- Born: 17 Oct 1820, Grainger County, Tennessee 3
- Marriage: Mary Ella NEEDHAM on 20 Jan 1842 in Grainger County, Tennessee 1
- Died: Between 1845 and 1848, Grainger County, Tennessee
 Research Notes:
William died sometime after the birth of son John on 24 Jul 1845, and the remarriage of wife Mary to John McNew in Aug 1848.
I have been told that Roy Bowers <royjaxbow@aol.com>, a descendant of Andrew Jackson Bowers who lives in Georgia, possesses an old letter which describes how and when William died. The unidentified writer of the letter purportedly states he read an article in a newspaper long ago, which stated William was killed by his Uncle Arwine on 9 Apr 1846. Certainly the date is plausible. Also, since John Bowers, William's uncle, was married to Chloe Arnwine, there is a family connection between the Bowers and the Arnwines of Grainger County.
Although I have not been able to locate the newspaper article in question, I did find an article which may bear on this matter. From 1979 to 1981, blurbs written by P. G. Fulkerson (1840-1929) about the early settlers in Claiborne Co., TN were published by his granddaughter, Katherine Dyer, in "The Tazewell-New Tazewell Observer." One of the articles, published 15 Aug 1979, concerned Daniel Arnwine, believed to be the father of Chloe Arnwine who married John Bowers, William's uncle. The article stated in part as follows: "Daniel had a brother by the name of Albartus who was an old bachelor and had money. He was known as Bart. Some parties pleased to kill him for his money. They were overheard and Bart notified. He made an image of a man and when they called he had his negro slave push this image into the doorway and opened the door. They fired and then Bart opened fire. He killed one of them who proved to be a near neighbor. The others left the country. This occurred about 1845." 4 5
William married Mary Ella NEEDHAM, daughter of John NEEDHAM and Polly BROCK, on 20 Jan 1842 in Grainger County, Tennessee.1 (Mary Ella NEEDHAM was born on 13 Apr 1826 in Grainger County, Tennessee 6 and died on 17 Sep 1906 in Lonoke County, Arkansas 7.)
Marriage Notes:
The marriage license was issued on 14 Jan 1842. They were married by Jessee F. Beeler, J. P. 1
|
Sources
1
Porter H. McCarty, Miss Lucille Renean and Mrs. Ellen H. Wilson, Compilers, Marriage Records 1838-1857, Grainger County, Tennessee, (The Historical Records Survey, 22 Feb 1939), FHL Film No. 024,657, Item 3, Page 58 of Record, Page 14 of Film.
2
Andrew Bowers Family Bible. The whereabouts or even continued existence of the Andrew Bowers Family Bible is unknown. However, there are two known transcriptions of the family information contained in the bible: first, a 1978 transcription by Ruth Bowers Dommestrup, at which time the bible was in the possession of Rector Bowers (William Rosecrans Bowers, Thomas Bowers, Andrew Bowers); and second, a transcription of unknown date and authorship that was obtained from collateral Howeth descendants and which contains the following note at the bottom of the transcription, "this is copied from the old record. the only one any of us knows of anywhere. this record is very fraile and looks to be written with pokeberry ink." The transcriptions are nearly identical, but do have differences: Ruth's has Grainger Co., TN as the place of marriage for Andrew and Katharine, while the Howeth version has nothing in that respect; Ruth's has daughter Katharine being born 6 Apr 1827, while the Howeth version spells her name Kathrine and has her date of birth as 16 Apr 1827; and Ruth's has son Andrew being born 9 Jun 1829, while the Howeth version adds his middle initial "J." and has the date of birth as 19 Jun 1829. Neither transcription provides places of birth nor dates of death. The dates for which this source is cited are from Ruth's transcription.
3
Andrew Bowers Family Bible.
4
E-mail from Sid Dewberry <DewberryS@aol.com>, dated 27 Sep 2001.
5
P. G. Fulkerson, The P. G. Fulkerson Papers, The Tazewell Observer, 1979-1981, Article on Daniel Arnwine, 15 Aug 1979. Articles from the P. G. Fulkerson Papers are available from Denny and Marla Brubaker <DennyBrub@aol.com> as part of the Claiborne Co., TN Pioneer Project.
6
John McNew Family Bible. The John McNew Family Bible is in the possession of Ellis Smith, who received it from his great grandmother Sallie Bradberry McNew. His postal address is 610 Coventry Court, Vacaville, CA 95688, and his e-mail address is TRae12@aol.com. The author is in possession of a color copy of the family pages.
7
John McNew Family Bible.
