Twenty years ago, my dad gave me a typewritten sheet listing two generations of his family on his mother and father’s sides. He said, “If you ever want to research this further, this is what I have.”
I filed it away thinking, “Right. Like I have the money and time to run around the country going through old record files and visiting cemeteries.” My parents had already traveled around Iowa and Illinois to get what they had.
I was cleaning out the old file the other day and found the paper. I thought, “Well...there is a lot online now. I’ll give it a shot.”
I found a free genealogy research site of the LDS church in Salt Lake, Utah, Family Search. They have one of the largest collection of records anywhere. Did I mention it’s free?
https:/www.familysearch.org
Pretty soon I found myself caught up in an incredible journey that I never expected, and was blown away by what I found. My search took me on a trip through time, across this country, and over the ocean. I learned a lot of interesting history in the process.
I’m only going to talk about my father’s paternal side of the family, the Stowells, although, the maternal side was interesting too.
I had gone back three generations, using what my dad gave me, when I discovered another valuable research tool, genealogy forum threads. You can goggle any family name and find others with that name doing research that could provide valuable information. You can find many DNA projects for family surnames in these threads.
Site for surname genealogy forums:
http://genforum.genealogy.com/
In this way, I discovered that William Henry Stowell had spent twenty years of his life traveling around this country and England, and wrote the genealogy Bible of the Stowell family. He tells of his research in the book and his unprecedented access to records in England not allowed to the public.
W.H.H. Stowell Genealogy book published in 1922. Copies can still be found in rare book stores.
full text of book online:
http://www.archive.org/...
Using William's book as a guide, (there was a full text online), I ended up tracing my father, Allen, all the way back to the first Stowell in America who came to Plymouth County, Massachusetts in 1635 at the age of ten, Samuel Stowell. It turned out my dad was a direct descendant, father to son, of Samuel Stowell.
The block quotes I use are from William Henry Stowell’s book, The Stowell Genealogy.
Although there were a few scattered families there prior to
that date, the real settlement of Hingham, Mass., occurred in 1635 when a large colony from Hingham, England, came over with the Rev. Peter Hobart among them as their pastor and organized the town naming it Hingham after their old English home.
This would make Samuel about ten years old at that time.
He may have been brought over by some relative on his mother's side, or by some friend of the family or as an orphan apprenticed to one of the immigrants. This was probably the case for his name does not appear on any of the ship's registers or in any of the Hingham records until his marriage in 1649 to Mary Farrow is recorded in Hobart 's Diary.
The Old Ship has been located on this Hingham knoll since 1681.
THE FIRST CHURCH, HINGHAM, MASS.
, ''THE OLD SHIP"
The above church was built in 1680, and is the oldest church building in America which has been continuously used for church purposes. The Hingham Church Society was formed in 1635,. and a church was then built which was used for 45 years, but proving too small the present church was erected. Since 1635 there have been but six pastors. (this was written in 1922)The average years of their service has been 49 and their average age at death 82. Samuel Stowell worshipped in both churches and his descendants still worship there.
THE STOWELL HOUSE, HINGHAM, MASS.
http://www.stowell.org/...
First Stowell home in the New World, Hingham, MA. One of the oldest houses in America. Samuel Stowell was the first Stowell inhabitant in the mid-1,600's, the start of 5 generations of ownership. The house was still standing in 1922 on Fort Hill Street in Hingham.
From WH’s book:
One of the oldest houses in America, on Fort Hill Street,
at the foot of the hill on which stood the old fort prior to King Philip 's War.
The streets were then mere grassy lanes without sidewalks.
The houses were of logs with thatched roofs and oiled paper
for windows. Here Samuel Stowell lived. Later, on the same
spot, over 250 years ago, the above house was built. It is still standing and has been occupied by at least five generations of Lue descendants of Samuel Stowell.
The original house burned around 1930. but one built in 1800, known as the Stowell House, is still there and currently for sale.
Many sons and grandsons of Samuel Stowell went on to Connecticut and New Hampshire, becoming founders of many towns and helping form the new states. They were also ardent patriots and fought in the Revolutionary War. John and father David Stowell were in the Battle of Bunker Hill (with other Stowells) and the march for Ticonderoga along with Nathaniel Stowell. There were many stories of the Revolution in WHH’s book.
WHH gives biographical stories and details throughout his book that tell parts of the remarkable history of this country. Here is one example:
The children of John and Mary (Stowell) King were pioneer settlers in that part of Massachusetts, then known as the Province, now as the state of Maine. They were prominent in shaping its destinies, were men of great energy and high character and covered a wide field of activity in both business and political affairs. Their remarkable versatility and commanding influence in shaping public opinion, both before and during the Revolution, and the prominence of their descendants in Legislative, Executive and Diplomatic positions in State and Nation has been universally recognized.
Rufus King, grandson of John and Mary Stowell King was a graduate of Harvard in 1777. Was Major and Aid on Staff of Gen. Glover in Rhode Island, 1778. Member of Mass. General Court from Newburyport 1783-84. Delegate from Mass. to the Continental Congress 1784. Member of Convention that framed the Constitution of the United States 1787. Member of Convention of Mass, which ratified the Constitiition of the United States 1788. Senator of U. S. from New York 1789-1796, 1813- 1819, 1820-1825. Appointed Minister to Great Britain by Washington 1796. Continued Minister to Great Britain under Adams and Jefferson until 1803. Was again Minister to Great Britain under J. Q. Adams 1825. Inflexibly opposed to slavery in the Union. Orator, Statesman, Patriot.
The writer remembers that some fifty years ago, being a
young man, he used to feel quite mystified and flattered at the marked cordiality shown him by Gen. King during their conversations. It was explained later when the subject turned to family history and Gen. King remarked, "You know the first King, the immigrant John, born in England, married Mary Stowell and our family have always regarded her as the mother of all the Kings in America and have held her in high esteem on account of her strong character and brilliant intellect and attribute to her the talents possessed by so many of her descendants. That is the reason I take such a warm interest in the Stowell family."
Doing goggle searches, I found many things named after the Stowells in these states. Libraries, streets, bridges, and lots of Stowells still living there.
Many of the Stowells were pioneers going west in the early migrations to Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, even California and Arizona, and were also some of the first Mormons going to Utah with Brigham Young. Many lived and died in Prophetstown Ill.
My gg grandfather Joseph Stowell was in the Civil War and,I found his record.
Israel Stowell built a Temperance house in Wisconsin in 1840, which is one of the last remaining temperance houses standing in America.
On August 2, 2010 Ed Chesko met with Delavan Historical Society and Save the Israel Stowell Temperance House officers and attorneys Dale Thorpe and Julie Nommenson and signed over the Israel Stowell Temperance House deed to the Delavan Historical Society.
http://www.facebook.com/...
Built in 1840 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Israel Stowell Temperance House originally served as a hotel and social club for the alcohol-abstaining residents of Delavan. The temperance movement did not last long in Wisconsin, yet the building proved adaptable to many functions including a town hall, stagecoach stop, bookstore, and ironically, a tavern. The significance of the Temperance House extends beyond Delavan to all of Wisconsin. This building is a deeply important building that tells an interesting story about the founding of the state and the deep philosophical divide that existed between the "wets" and the "drys." And with its conversion to a tavern early in its history, it is one of the oldest remaining tavern buildings in Wisconsin. It is a unique and rare survivor and the only known temperance house remaining in Wisconsin.
http://www.preservationnation.org/...
William Henry also traced the family to England, back to the first Stowell, Sir Adam, who came there in 1066 with William the Conqueror. We had a family manor, Cothelstone Manor, which is still standing and was in our family until 1792. Sir John lost the manor when he supported the royalists during the time of Cromwell and spent time in the Tower of London. He died penniless, but later Charles II restored Cothelstone, and some of the other of 75 manors the Stowells had, to the family.
Gerard in 1633 wrote: "The Manor of Cothelstone dates back to long before the Conquest of 1066, when a Saxon King and Queen are said to have been its founders. They secluded themselves within its walls in fulfillment of a vow taken at the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem. It has more the appearance of a cloister than a knightly castle such as the warrior, Sir Adam, might have desired."
"Cothelstone is a very remarkable place on account of its great antiquity, being one of the oldest homes in England, situated six miles from the Bristol Channel, in Quantock, County Somerset. It came into the possession of the Stawell family in 1066. At that time the manor consisted of a beautiful and extensive mansion with many buildings belonging to it and immediately clustered around it, including the Church, eleven farm houses and fifty-four cottages. This manor has been retained in the Stawell family in an unbroken line, from oldest son to oldest son, from 1066 down to the present time."
"On the summit is a round tower, nothing whatever being
known of its builder or the date of its erection. From it a magnificent view is obtained, said to be the most extensive in England."
The Stowells lost Cothelstone twice for failure to produce a male heir. The first time it was given to a female heir to be passed down through the male line. The second time they lost it for good.
Stowells have been buried in the church at Cothlestone since the 1300’s.
The founder of the family was the Norman knight Adam,
who came over with William the Conqueror in 1066 and his services were rewarded by giving him the manor called '*de Coveston or de Cothelstone" and the manor of "de Stawelle" in Moorlinch, County Somerset.
http://www.hha.org.uk/...
COTHELSTONE CHURCH, QUAXTOCK, England
The church is quite near the Manor House and was always
a part of it and the livings and advow sons belonged to the
Stowell family.
It is of great antiquity and contains old medallions of
ancient stained glass and monuments and tombs of the Stowell family dating back to 1300.
^Members of the Stowell family have worshipped here since
1066
,
There are places called Stowell in Somerset and in Gloucestershire, and a Stowell Park in Gloucestershire. There is also a Stowell Park in Wiltshire, near the village of West Stowell.
WH Stowell’s book included my father’s grandfather, who raised him, in the eighth generation. He made one mistake I found in the book, treating my greatgrandfather as a female child. His name was Bela. I am in the process of correcting this mistake with the person updating the book.
This is really an abbreviated version of all the history I found. William Stowell did most of the work for me, but I still downloaded and copied all the records, birth, marriage, census, that proved my dad’s lineage from the Family Search site.
I hope my story has excited some of you into doing family research if you have always wanted to. With so much online, it has never been easier. It could be a fun way to get your children involved with history. You never know what you will find.