Mary Donahue MERRITT (1826-1907)

 

Family Links Spouses/Children: Thomas BOWERS William Coleman BOWERS James Andrew BOWERS Mary Donahue MERRITT 2 Born: 12 Nov 1826, Grainger County, Tennessee 2 Marriage: Thomas BOWERS on 28 Jan 1866 in Grainger County, Tennessee 1 Died: 27 Oct 1907, Grainger County, Tennessee 2 Mary married Thomas BOWERS, son of Andrew BOWERS (Jr.) and Katherine HOWETH, on 28 Jan 1866 in Grainger County, Tennessee.2 (Thomas BOWERS was born on 24 Mar 1835 in Grainger County, Tennessee 3.)

1 Family Records of Ruth Bowers Dommestrup. Ruth's line of descent is Ulysses Simpson Grant Bowers, James Andrew Bowers, Thomas Bowers, and Andrew Bowers. Her postal address is 830 Frankfort Court, Frankfort, IN 46041; her telephone number is 765-659-9349; and her e-mail address is dommestrup@geetel.net. My cousin, George Johnston, and I are indebted to Ruth for making a call to George in 1996, inquiring whether our Arizona Bowers might be descended from the John Bowers of Grainger Co., TN, and then proceeding to introduce us to the rest of the family by sharing the fruits of her considerable research.

2 Family Records of Ruth Bowers Dommestrup.

3 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.