Genealogical research does not need to be limited to a collection of dates and places. In fact, I'd likely have never taken up the activity if that were so. The topic gets better as we flesh out those dates and places, ask the questions "When?" and "How?" and especially "Why?"
James and Rhoda Rowlison's migration from southern Indiana to western Kansas included a stop in Moulton, Iowa around 1876. Martha Anna was born there in January of 1877. The stop in Iowa followed a longer stay near Kirksville, Missouri about 35 miles south of Moulton.
It is worth researching and maybe speculating as to "Why?" did the Rowlisons decide to go to Kirksville and to Moulton.
There was a fellow named Robert J. Rowlison who seems to be the same fellow as a John L. Rowlison who shows up in the Kirksville census as early as 1860. He had come from Jennings County, Indiana. These could be two different guys but there is too much commonality to ignore.
I'm speculating that this was a son of Nathanial Rowlison and a cousin of James. John, or Robert Rowlison seems to have been in the Civil War as a corporal in the 2nd Missouri Cavalry - a Union unit. So the Rowlison name, common youth in Jennings or neighboring Jefferson Counties in Indiana and probably cousins leads us to speculate that James and Rhoda went to Kirksville because they knew of this Rowlison already living there.
Now to Moulton, Iowa. In 2007 after the reunion in Kewanee, Illinois, Rita and I went to Kirksville, Missouri and located the Rowlison farm there (earlier post here). We have the farm location from the ad that James put in the local paper when he put the place on the market. From Kirksville we drove the 35 miles north to Moulton, Iowa.
I do not have any clue as to where the Moulton farm may have been, but comparing the farmland at the two areas it is clear that the Iowa location was much better land for corn and other crops, at least it appears so today and was likely so in the 1870's. I speculated that during the several years that James and Rhoda lived in Kirksville, James would have had opportunity to scout the surrounding area and could have seen that there were better prospects around Moulton. I guessed he put the
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| The family of James and Sarah (Walton) Hays |
Today I stumbled upon the grave record for Sarah (Walton) Hays who was buried in the Moulton, Iowa cemetery in 1893 and was living in Moulton as early as 1870. Sarah and her husband James Hays had lived in Jefferson County, Indiana when they were younger. Sarah was the older sister of Isaiah Walton and Rhoda's aunt.
James Hays died in May, 1876 and was buried in Moulton. Rhoda had her sixth baby, Martha Anna in January, 1877 in Moulton.
I think we can safely say that James and Rhoda moved to Moulton because her aunt already lived there.
After the short stay at this farm the Rowlisons moved on west to Peru, Nebraska. I do not have any clues what that attraction may have been. But the next move was to the series of four farms around Edgar, Nebraska where they stayed several years. The first of those farms was the farm of Merritt Walton, Rhoda's older brother where they spent their first winter while Merritt and his family went to Missouri for the winter.
