1. FERDINAND ROWE was born July 6, 1806, in Onondaga County NY. He was twice married, but the name of his first wife is unknown. They lived in Brownville, Jefferson Co., NY in 1830 and in Lyme, Jefferson Co., NY in 1840-1850. He d. of "Old Age" Nov. 16, 1889 ae. 83 yr 4 mo 10 da.
He married (1)
(---)
He married (2)
POLLY (---) who was born May 1, 1799 in Montgomery Co., NY, one of
eight children. Polly died Mar. 13, 1886 ae 87 yr 10 mo 13 da. Both are buried
in the Dexter Cemetery, Brownville, NY.
Children, ROWE:
2 i WALTER ROWE married SUSAN AINOR MABIE, daughter of
AMOS and ANOR (FISHER) MABIE
3 ii GEORGE ROWE
4 iii HANNAH ROWE
5 iv CAROLINE ROWE
6 v OLIVE ROWE
7 vi LOUISA ROWE
2. WALTER ROWE (son of FERDINAND & POLLY (---) ROWE) was born June 20, 1829 in Brownville, Jefferson County, New York. He was the first son and in 1850 was living on his parents' farm in Lyme, Jefferson County, NY. On March 10, 1857, when Walter was 28, he had paid for and was granted a Patent to eighty acres of Public Land by the General Land Office of the United States at Ionia, MI. The legal description of where the land is located would make sense only to a Surveyor but is reasonable to presume it was the land Walter and Susan Rowe were farming in Solon Twp., Cedar Springs, Kent County, MI in 1860.
On Aug. 13, 1862 Walter enlisted as a Private in Company A of the Michigan Sixth Cavalry Regiment at Grand Rapids, MI, leaving Susan to care for their two small sons. The 6th Cavalry was part of the Michigan Brigade serving under General George Armstrong Custer. During a charge "at the Rebels while with his Co. and in action" on July 2, 1863 at the Battle of Hunterstown, near Gettysburg, PA Walter was wounded by a minnie-ball through the left shoulder. He also received "severe sabre cuts on the head causing serious derangement of the intellectual facilities", and a sabre stab wound in his back. He was given a medical discharge Sept. 28, 1863 from a Hospital in PA and was ‘mustered out of the Army with his unit in 1865 at Fort Leavenworth, KS. He was a farmer for the rest of his short life. Walter d. Dec. 25, 1873, age 43 yrs, 6 mo., 5 days. His death was "Accidental" on his Death Certificate. According to family legend he was out cutting firewood and a Christmas tree with his sons Nelson and Allen when a tree started falling on his horses. He was able to hold the tree up until the horses had been moved but he couldn’t get out from under the tree. It fell, killing him. Walter's grave is located in Solon Cemetery, MI
He married July 3, 1856
SUSAN AINOR MABIE who was born May 16, 1839 in Naples, Ontario Co.,
New York. Susan was the third daughter of AMOS & ANOR (FISHER) MABIE.
In the 1870 MI Census Susan’s parents Amos and Anor Mabie, their
son Nelson, his wife Catherine are all neighbors with Walter and Susan Rowe
and their children, Nelson and Allen, in Cedar Springs, Solon Twp., Kent
Co., MI.
In the 1880 MI Census Susan (Mabie) Rowe is listed as a widow and head of the household. Her two eldest sons, Nelson and Allen, and her fifteen year old dau. Effie Ainor were helping her run the farm. A son, Lewis M., b. 1878, is listed on this Census. There is no subsequent reference to this son after the 1880 Census.
Children, ROWE:
8 i NELSON ALBERT ROWE married (1) BLANCHE E. (COVEY) BLODGETT;
(2) SUSAN BARR
9 ii ALLEN LUSHAN ROWE married DORA HOLCOMB
10 iii EFFIE AINOR married EDGAR LEWIS WRIGHT
11 iv LILLY M. ROWE married HAMILTON V. MASON
12 v MARTHA E. ROWE married GEORGE W. PERRY
SUSAN married (2) 4 Jul 1882 at Solon Twp., Kent Co., MI.
LEWIS S. HANCOCK who was aged 62 while she was 43. He must have divorced his wife because in the Census of 1870 and 1880 Lewis was married and had children. He d. c. Aug., 1884.
In 1884, eleven years after the death of Walter Rowe, Susan and five of her children, Nelson A., Allen L., Effie, Lilly M. (Mason), and Martha M., filed a petition with the Kent Co., MI Clerk for his estate consisting of a farm valued at $300.
SUSAN married (3) 13 Jul 1886 in Reynolds, Montcalm Co, MI
SAMUEL HART, another Civil War veteran, age 62, of Croton Co., MI. They were married by a Justice of the Peace. Samuel Hart had been married to Eveline Hart who d. Aug. 8, 1882. Samuel and Eveline had at least one son, Martin N., b. 1850, whose wife was named Sylvia Hart. Samuel Hart had enlisted in the 6th Michigan Volunteer Cavalry Regiment, Company M, Capt. John Pratt Commanding, and served as a Private from Sept.3, 1862 until June 26, 1865. Walter Rowe had served in the same Regiment during the war. Another veteran of the Regiment was Lewis Edgar Wright, father-in-law of Effie Ainor Rowe, Walter's dau. Samuel spent the last six months of his service in the Janis Military Hospital in Baltimore, MD being treated for rheumatism and heart problems. In the 1900 MI Census Susan Rowe Hart, age 61, was living with her unmarried forty-one year old son, Allen Lushan Rowe, in Solon Township, Kent County, MI. The Census record shows she had been married to Samuel Hart six years earlier in 1894, but the marriage was on June 13, 1886. Samuel Hart was listed as an invalid in the Soldier's Home in Grand Rapids Twp., Kent Co., MI, age 78. His occupation had been "Carpenter & Joiner". He was brought home from the Soldier's Home to die Sept. 17, 1906.
Susan d. of arterio scleriosis March 23, 1927 in Grand Rapids, MI , where she was visiting a grand-daughter. Her age was 87 yrs 10 mos 7 das. A long-time resident of Solon Twp., Susan was bur. in Solon Cemetery, Solon Twp., Kent Co., MI.
8. NELSON ALBERT ROWE (son of WALTER & SUSAN (MABIE) ROWE) was born April, 1858 in Solon Twp., Kent Co., MI.
He married (1) April 11, 1881 in Cedar Springs, Kent Co., MI.
BLANCHE E. (COVEY) BLODGETT who was born Berry Co., MI. They were
divorced.
He married (2) Oct. 8, 1885 at Howard City, MI.
SUSANNAH BARR who was born Feb. 24, 1867 in Merango Co., PA. She
was the daughter of JACOB and SARAH (HERSTEIN) BARR. Her mother, born
in PA, died 1867 and her father, born in Germany, died six years later in
1874. After her parents' death Susan's Aunt Susan, born 1833 in PA, and
Uncle Dan Albright, born 1827 in PA, brought her to MI from PA. In 1900,
when Dan was 73, the Albrights were farming in Cedar Springs, MI and had
been married 47 years. Of their seven children only two were then living. A
son, William H., b. Nov., 1859 in PA, was divorced, living at home, and
working as a Laborer. A grandson, Essie, b. Jan., 1887, in MI, was also sharing
the home. He was probably William's son.
In 1900 the Nelson Rowe family lived in Solon Twp., Kent Co., MI. In November of 1909 Susannah Rowe left her husband Nelson because she said he was a wife-beater and a drunk. In her petition for divorce Susannah stated that for twenty years Nelson would come home drunk once or twice each week and would abuse her verbally and often physically. She filed for a divorce in 1911; it was granted Feb. 1912. She was given custody of her youngest daughter, Gladys. Her daughter Loa, then thirteen, had to quit school in the eighth grade to keep house for her father and care for the three younger children still at home.
In 1910 Nelson, then separated, and six of his children, ranging in age from 24 down to 3 years, were living with his dau. Myrtle and her husband, Joseph L. H. Seadorf in Kalkaska Co., MI. Both Nelson and Joseph were then working as Teamsters. Nelson d. Oct. 31,1936 a. 77 yr. 6 mo. 8 da. at Receiving Hospital, Grand Rapids, Kent Co., MI. Cause of Death was primarily Cerebral Thrombosis preceded by ten years of Arteriosclerosis. He was bur. in Solon Cemetery, Cedar Springs, MI on Nov. 3, 1936.
Children, ROWE:
14 i FRED W. ROWE married ELIZABETH FOWLER; divorced
15 ii MYRTLE MAE ROWE married JOSEPH L.H.M. SEADORF
16 iii AINOR FOSTAINA ROWE married (1) (---) ST CLAIR;
(2) MYRON SIMMONS
17 iv LOA ELIZABETH ROWE married WILLIAM LOUIS VINTON
18 v LEWIS ALFRED ROWE married (1) BESSIE (---);
(2) BEATRICE BURLESON;
(3) ALMA LOEW
19 vi LETTIE VIOLET ROWE married Rev. AUGUST C. DOEHRING
20 vii GLADYS PEARL ROWE married BEN BUSH
19. *Lettie Violet4, b. b. Oct. 24, 1901; m. Rev. August C. Doehring.
20. Gladys Pearl4, b. 1904; m. Ben Bush. d. 1960. Farm Solon Ctr., MI.
She married (2) Aug. 6, 1913 at Grand Rapids, MI
DAVID A. WHIPPLE, a Farmer. He was 52 years old, born in 1861 at
Courtland, MI and was living in Algoma Twp., Kent Co., MI when they married.
Susannah was 45 years old, a Domestic, and living in Enslie Twp., Kent Co.,
MI. David was the son of John and Purcella (Smith) Whipple.
In the 1920 Census David and Susannah were living in Algona Twp., Kent
Co., MI. He was 59 and she was 51. David d. 1934 a. 73.
Susannah d. Mar. 13, 1939 in the Kalamazoo State Hospital, Kalamazoo, MI
of "Broncho pneumonia secondary to influenza and chronic Myocardial
degeneration" a. 72 yrs 17 da. She is bur. in Rockford Cemetery, Kent
Co., MI.
David A. and Susannah (Barr) Rowe Whipple
c. 1934
For further information, contact:
Glen Vinton
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