Recently Deceased Cousins

Mary and Brian Rowlison posted a good question on the Rowlison Reunion Facebook page asking "...who has passed away since the 2007, Kewanee, Illinois Rowlison Reunion?" 

Expanding the criteria to "Descendants of James & Rhoda Rowlison" who have passed away since 2007 the list appears to be:

Darrel Francis Rowlison (James, Gustavus, Theodore, Harold) 10 Jan 1955 – 14 May 2010, South Carolina

Lovelle Dean Karnatz  (James, Maggie, Jessie) 3 May 1920 – 25 Jan 2011, buried in Ong, Nebraska

Rhodabelle Karnatz (James, Maggie, Jessie) 5 Jul 1921 – 30 Jul 2007, buried in Nelson, Nebraska

Kenneth James Cassell (James, Maggie, James) 4 Jun 1930 – 28 Dec 2011, buried in Quincy, Illinois

Donna Marie (Cassell) Slama (James, Maggie, Leonard) 11 Jul 1930 – 9 Oct 2008, Potomac, Maryland

Audrey Mae (Cassell) Romar (James, Maggie, Wayne) 23 Jun 1938 – 3 Aug 2012, Oakland, California

Donal Oscar Nelson (James, George, Hazel) 28 Apr 1929 – 6 Sep 2008, Orange, California

Janice LaVonne (Cassell) Bolton (James, Martha, Vernon) 21 Jun 1938 – 28 Oct 2010, Ellensburg, Washington

Loena Fern (Lambert) Mathews (James, Martha, Cleo) 8 Aug 1933 – 27 Jan 2012, Lincoln, Nebraska

Drew Lee Cassell (James, Martha, Marvin, Donald) 30 Dec 1990 – 19 Jan 2013, Nelson, Nebraska

George Louis Benner (James, Roy, Darlene) 18 Sep 1934 – 25 Oct 2011, Sun City West, Arizona

Richard Dwight Rowlison (James, Roy, Dwight) 13 Jan 1939 – 30 Oct 2009, Billings, Montana

Max Lavern Rowlison (James, Roy) 13 Nov 1919 – 20 Aug 2011, Bella Vista, Arkansas

Gene Kent Hess - spouse of Betty Roberts Rowlison (James, Roy) 8 Oct 1928 – 31 Aug 2009, Woodland, Washington

Martha Ann (Moore) Tompkins (James, Mabel, Marjorie) 13 Jun 1948 – 4 May 2010, Dahlonga, Georgia.

Please contact me with any corrections, additions, additional information - Jerry

Some old photos...

This would be a heckofa quiz.

In the fall of 1930, Rhoda Rowlison posed with these great grandchildren

Great Grandma Rowlison with great grand kids in the Fall of 1930

Back row, on the left:
Vaunden Ione Nelson (Rhoda, George A. Rowlison, Hazel Blanche (Rowlison) Nelson)

Back row, the two girls:
Rhodabelle (Karnatz) Lowry (Rhoda, Maggie (Rowlison) Cassell, Jessie (Cassell) Karnatz)
Margaret (Cassell) Hanson (Rhoda, Maggie, Harry Cassell)

Middle row, left to right:
Ruby (Karnatz) Lonsdale (Rhoda, Maggie, Jessie)
Ronnie Cassell (Rhoda, Maggie, Harry),
Great grandma Rhoda Rowlison with Kenneth Cassell on her lap (Rhoda, Maggie, James Cassell)
Ray Karnatz (Rhoda, Maggie, Jessie)
Ruth Cassell (Rhoda, Maggie, Harry) with Donal Nelson on her lap (Rhoda, George, Hazel)
Florine (Cassell) Jackson (Rhoda, Maggie, James).

Front Row l to r:
Lovelle Karnatz (Rhoda, Maggie, Jessie)
Robert Cassell (Rhoda, Maggie, Harry).

Ray Karnatz lives in Davenport, Nebraska; Florine Jackson is in Henderson, Nevada
__________________________________________

I do not have a date on this one:

From note on back of the photo: Left to Right:
Ethel Oakley in the front.
Merna Cassell in the background
Emma Rowlison in the background, partially hidden
John Rowlison in the front
Lena Rowlison arms folded
Roy Oakley in the background - (Roy lost a leg when young, resisted photos, note his crutch - he'd have not like that.
Andy Rowlison

O.K., we have "Aunt Ethel" (Rhoda's youngest) visiting her oldest brother Dolph's four youngest offspring with her husband Roy from Clay Center. Question: what is Merna Cassell doing in this photo? Apparently Ethel brought Martha Anna's youngest along for the trip.

For photo dating purposes John was born in 1918, Merna in 1919 though we don't see her well enough. So how old is John here? 16-20? The near car has rounded roof, etc. probably from late 30's. Perhaps someone can tell us what year Kansas had license plates like the one between Lena and Andy.

I'll say ........  1938 +/- 1
Next guess?

UPDATE:  The next guess came from our forensic detective, Larry Rowlison who used this website of past Kansas license plates  http://www.worldlicenceplates.com/jpglps/US_KSXX_GI4.jpg   to pinpoint the photo to 1940.

1940 it is.
_____________________________________________________________

Two pictures here, with a story.

David Cassell family portrait taken May 1911

This is David and Maggie's family in 1911. In the back row are Jessie, age 20; James, 19; Harry, 17 and Leonard 14. Gladys, age 9 is standing on the left. Leland, age 7 sitting in front of Gladys. Maggie was 43 at this time. The baby is Wayne, age 1 here. David was 45 and on our right is Arthur, age 4.

Nicknames were a thing here. James was always called Jim - not unusual. But, Leonard was "Bum" Leland was "Pete" Arthur was "Mike" and Wayne was "Brody" or more likely "Broady" pronounced "Broad - ee"

One year after this photo was taken, on May 22, 1912, Mildred, my Mother was born. Not too sure what to read into that. This portrait looks like something you'd take when you felt your family was all in attendance. 

As Mom got old enough to recognize her surroundings, this picture attracted her. She identified the baby as herself and as she tried to identify her brothers there  was always someone missing. When she finally learned that she was the one missing, she got real fussy about it.

Finally, on August 27, 1920 the David Cassell family reassembled to retake their family portrait, all present and accounted for.

David Cassell family, complete in 1920.

Harry, Bum, Jim and Jessie across the back. Pete, Gladys, MIke, Dad (David), MILDRED (at age 8, squeezed into the shot) Maggie and Broady.

The Hall Family Lines - England to New York to New Jersey and to Indiana

George Hall, the second fellow on this list was part of the British Army contingent that arrived in New Amsterdam aboard five ships and took over the town from the Dutch renaming it New York.

Thomas Hall married Geertje Janse Eltinge daughter of Jan and Jacomyntje Eltinge of the Dutch community in New Amsterdam. Much of the Eltinge family left New Amsterdam, now the British city of New York, for New Paltz to the north where they joined other Dutch families in a new location. Geertje dropped out of the extensive Eltinge family tree and was lost to that family until some Eltinge researches and I crossed paths 15 or so years ago and we reconnected this line into the Eltinge family.

The graves of the two Isaac Hall's and Eliza Jane are all in Jennings County, Indiana, worth a stop if you're in the neighborhood.

The Waltons

Here is the Walton family line back from Rhoda to two generations in England. I have some skepticism about the details on Robert & the first William.

Our immigrant was William Walton (1605-1668) the third fellow down on this list. We know quite a bit about him including something about his academic career at Cambridge University and is early postings in England as a preacher. William was the first preacher in Marblehead, Massachusetts leaving some tracks there as he bought and sold land and pursued his profession.

The later Waltons headed to New Hampshire and to Maine before extended Walton, Hutchinson and Jordan families headed west together eventually landing in southern Indiana in Jefferson County and some in Jennings County.

The Rowlison Family from 1680

Here is the family lineage that you've been waiting for - our Rowlison Line:

There is a decent consensus that our Rowlison immigrant was Aaron Charles Rolison (there are multiple spellings) who was born in England in 1680 and got himself to Perth Amboy in Middlesex County New Jersey by 1715 when he deeded a piece of land in Perth Amboy to his oldest son Charles. There is at least one family tree on FamilyTreeMaker's site that matches our information rather well except listing Aaron Charles Roleson as being born in Denmark and immigrating about 1789.

Several researchers (or more likely, those who copied info from a researcher) claim to have identified Aaron Charles Rowlison and his parents based on an October 31, 1680 baptismal record at St. Ann Blackfrier's church in London where Anthony Rollinson and wife Ann had son Charles Rollinson baptized. The date matches and the names are pretty close as these things go so it is a plausible connection though on based on a single piece of data. Anthony and Ann have not earned a place in my file of our ancestors. Watch this space, or spend some time on it yourself. Contact me for a coarse course to follow.

In any event, a fellow likely our ancestor showed up in New Jersey and he was listed as the "doorkeeper at the New Jersey Legislature in Perth Amboy in 1725." Perth Amboy is just across the Arthur Kill Waterway and the state line from Staten Island and is considered part of Metropolitan New York.

I guess we could say with a straight face that James Rowlison's great, great grandfather was "in" the New Jersey Legislature. But let's not. Maybe he was "Chief of Security" or something. Maybe he really was "the" doorkeeper and not just "a" doorkeeper. But he appears to have been our Rowlison guy.

This chart list four sons of Aaron Charles Rowlison; our ancestor is John born in 1725. The note at the bottom comes from a family tree of someone researching the oldest son, Charles and contains a bit about his family.

John Rowlison moved to Woodbridge, NJ before his son Aaron and our branch of the family moved to the hills of Rockbridge County. We have some information about the families of William and Nathaniel. Years ago I corresponded with a couple of descendants of Nathaniel.

This Aaron Rowlison (1762-1837) is the senior Aaron, James D's grandfather. The note identifies brothers Aaron and his brother as being mentioned in the Official Register of Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Revolutionary War. They are listed consecutively as Aaron Rowlison and William Rowlinson. We have more information on William, his unit and commander and his pension application. I have not found similar documentation on Aaron.

Note that "other spouses" are listed for Aaron and Elizabeth. Each had families with the other spouses.

Aaron the younger (b. 1809) is our ancestor, father of James Demetris Rowlison. The sister Martha was the wife of John Milton Chivington who warrants a post of his own.

Elizabeth McKnight's father came from Ayrshire, Scotland, her mother appears to have been born in Ireland.

This next chart is the family of the younger Aaron and Martha Ann Kinnear. It appears that they had both moved from Virginia homes to Lancaster in Jefferson County, Indiana near the Ohio River where they were married in 1836.

I told the story in the Kinnear family post about their graves - Martha is not buried with Aaron but is probably in an unmarked grave elsewhere in College Hill Cemetery.

Our guy, James Demetris Rowlison was the oldest of nine born to Aaron and Martha Ann (Kinnear) Rowlison between 1839 and about 1855. There were two boys followed by seven girls including twins in about 1853 (a bit of evidence puts their birth in '52).

The young lady of particular interest is Victoria Calidonia, a story I was taken by many years ago. She warrants her own post, her own website, maybe.

This is our Rowlison family line, along with the Walton's, our primary lines associated with our reunion group. I've tracked many of the descendant families from these siblings of our direct ancestors and they are covered in my ancestry.com file. Interested family members are invited to contact me for "guest" access to my file, no cost to examine these cousins of varying distance.

The Rowlison Women - 1908

This classic picture of Rhoda Rowlison and her six daughters was likely taken in or about 1908.

Assuming a 1908 date on this picture, we have: top row, left to right: Maggie Alice (Rowlison) Cassell (1868-1964, age 40 at the time of the photo; Myrtle Amy (Rowlison) Long (1879-1967) age 29; Martha Anna (Rowlison) Cassell (1877-1962) age 31; Minnie Alma (Rowlison) Carey (1872-1959) age 36. Bottom row: Ethel Althea (Rowlison) Oakley (1888-1984) age 20; Rhoda (Walton) Rowlison (1843-1932) age 65; and Mabel Alfretta (Rowlison) Calvert (1886-1950) age 22.

So, where was this picture taken? We don't have documentation for their whereabouts in 1908, but we do for 1910. The 1910 census places each of the seven as follows:

Rhoda - Hayes, Kansas
Maggie - Logan Township, Clay County Nebraska
Minnie - Hayes, Kansas
Martha - Edgar Township, Clay County, Nebraska
Myrtle - Bryant Township, Fillmore County, Nebraska
Mabel - Hayes, Kansas
Ethel - Hayes Kansas

A good guess would be that in response to some special occasion, the three sisters from the Edgar/Ong area of Clay County, Nebraska traveled to Hayes, Kansas to visit their mother and the family living there when they visited a Hayes, or other local photographer for this portrait. It was a good idea then; it remains a good, or great idea.

Would have been also good had Rhoda's five sons could have posed for such a portrait. Best guess, in 1908 Gustavus (Dolph) was in Sheridan County, Kansas; George in Thomas County (he would die in February, 1909), Charles in Saline County, Nebraska, James in Grand Island, Hall County, Nebraska and Roy in Clay County, Nebraska. It's likely there was never such a portrait of the boys in the family. Has anyone seen anything close?      

Our Connection to the Unpleasantries of 1692 in Salem Village, Massachusetts

Salem Village (now Danvers) Massachusetts underwent several months of ugly times in 1692 when several young girls began acting strangely in a manner interpreted by their elders as being possessed by the devil. Under questioning and perhaps prompting, the girls singled out a couple of dozen of their neighbors, nineteen of whom were executed, mostly by hanging but one "pressing."

A central figure in the episode was Ann Putnam, 12-year old daughter of Thomas and Ann Putnam. The episode was has been related in a number of books plus the Arthur Miller play, "The Crucible" and the ensuing movie. Ann Putnam, Jr.'s name was changed to Ruth in the movie to avoid confusion with her mother, also Ann.

We have a genealogical connection to Ann Putnam:

Our lines back to the Putnam immigrants, John and Priscilla and to their great, granddaugher Ann Putnam who
figured prominently in the accusations which led to the Salem Witch Trials in 1692.

Ann accused nineteen people, eleven of whom were hanged.

A brief biography of Ann Putnam, Jr. appears at   http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/asa_put.htm

Another decent synopsis of young Ann's role:  http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schooladventures/salemwitchtrials/people/putnam.html

Click the "+" sign on this one for the expanded essay about Ann.

http://salem.lib.virginia.edu/people?group.num=G07&mbio.num=mb32

Ashley Peldon, Hollywood's Ann Putnam,  Jr.,
called Ruth in the movie.

Theories abound about the circumstances of the entire episode and possible "causes" of the actions of the girls.

A somewhat far-out explanation which I especially enjoy concerns the storage of barley over the winter in Colonial Massachusetts. It seems that damp barley in reduced temperatures may, on occasion, spoil in a particular manner which produce small amounts of lysergic acid diethylamide, or as it became more commonly known in the recent past, LSD. This theory holds that the girls were on LSD trips.

Probably a better theory involves some in-fighting among the Putnam family. Thomas Putnam was the brother of our ancestor Nathaniel and the father of Thomas Putnam (Jr.) who was the husband of Ann Putnam and father of Ann Putnam (Jr.)  (don't worry about it, they weren't imaginative naming children.) Thomas the senior had several children by his first wife, yet another Ann, who died in 1666 and he soon remarried Mary Veren. Thomas and Mary had one son, Joseph born in 1669 who became something of favorite with Dad.

Old Thomas was one of the richest men in the countryside and chose to make his youngest son Joseph is main heir. This was not a popular move with the offspring from the first marriage.

Analysis of the accusers and the accused in the Salem Village witch episode finds that accusers tended to be family members and friends of the members of the first family of old Thomas Putnam and the accused were often somewhat affiliated with, neighbors of and friends of Joseph Putnam. The evidence isn't overwhelming but has provided sufficient material and credibility to generate a couple of books for authors.

Spoiler Alert: Another Genealogy Pitch: Would I have an interest in the Salem Witch Trials if I did not know about our genealogical connection? I may have had an interest but I doubt I'd have about 12 or 15 inches of a bookshelf devoted to material on the topic without the visceral feeling that comes with this special connection.

Similarly, I would not have been likely to give a biography of Robert the Bruce to a grandson if I had not been able to tell him at the same time that the first King of Scotland was his 32nd great, grandfather. It just adds to the story.