Recovered Heirlooms

We recovered two important heirlooms of the Rowlison family during our 2013 Reunion in Hastings. Bev Frerichs had found a woman's black suit that she believed had belonged to Rhoda Rowlison. So many of her old photographs showed her in a black outfit - the same one.

Rhoda's outfit today and in a photo of her at the Oakley home in Clay Center in 1923.

The second important recovered heirloom for the Rowilson family had been lost for 34 years and was found again just four months ago.

Dalena Pote Peterman, one-time known as Princess by the Rowlison family, back again in the family. She was the Spark of the reunion with a story  that didn't just touch us, it melted us. Whatta super surprise that by itself puts this weekend in the lead for the Best Reunion Ever.

Dalena was lost to the Rowlison family as a result of a dangerous family situation, part of a story of a type we hear much too often. After foster homes she found an adoptive family where her life changed for the better. Thanks to her question in a brave Facebook posting four months ago and Sierra's response just minutes later Dalena was reconnected with our family after 34 years. 

May this be another change for the better for our cousin Dalena.

FRIDAY EVE opening dinner of the 2013 Rowlison Family Reunion in Hastings, Nebraska

Friday evening at Valentino's Pizza in Hastings. Valentino's was THE place for pizza in Lincoln during my college years - they began expanding shortly after that and a good Nebraska town isn't very good without one.

This one is owned/operated by Bev Frerichs's son - just keepin' it in the family...

Here's the Head Table, if you were facing in the right direction. Ron & Bernice there on the left of the table, Rita Johnson past them and then Glen & Bonnie Drohman. Carol Craft, Jean Hurst, Brian & Mary Rowlison on the right. Those are Margaret Karnatz family folks beyond and hidden.

Here is the Larry Rowlison clan with our Johnson's in the distance.

There in the middle are the local Hastings folks and in the foreground are the distance travelers, The fellow looking at the camera and his Grandpa is Master Phineas Emmitt Rowlison Cox, the guy who uses the name by choice, not by birth (Mom's choice anyhow) and a Buffalo, NY resident. Next to him are Jarod and Lindsay Long from Richmond, California and their Mom at the end of the table, Dad peeking in from the right. Margaret Karnatz and Kathy Fischer make this pic off there in the corner in the distance. The disembodied hand in the lower right corner is that of Jennifer Cox of Buffalo and the left ear of the youngest in the room, Aleister, Cox. We'll find better camera angles later...

There was room for more, wish you could have made it..

jj

Uncovering Family Secrets - John Milton Chivington

Col. John Milton Chivington

Genealogical research can lead to discovering important and well-known people back there on the distant branches of the family tree. But there should be some caution taken to prepare to find someone you might have just as well not wanted to know about.

Such was my discovery that the husband of my 2nd great grand aunt was John Milton Chivington.

Some of you Rowlison cousins have not heard of this fellow; others will think the name sounds somewhat familiar but can't quite place it; and others will have gasped a bit.

James Demetris Rowlison's aunt, the sister of the younger Aaron Rowlison was married to a one-time Methodist preacher who was commissioned by the Territory of Colorado and led a Colorado infantry unit in engagements against Confederate forces in the West. So far, so good.

Then in 1864, Colonel Chivington led a rag-tag army of Denver bar flies on a 100-day enlistment to fight Indians in southeast Colorado. Nearing the end of the 100 days of army life and with nothing to show for their efforts, the Colorado 3rd Infantry, early on the morning of November 29th attacked a peaceful village of mostly Northern Cheyenne Indians, mostly women, children and elderly killing a large and disputed number.

A consensus eventually developed that put the deaths in the village at about 140 of which 110 were women and children. The engagement was called the Battle of Sand Creek but that name became the Sand Creek Massacre or the Chivington Massacre.

The Park Service built a new visitor center on the site of the massacre in 2007. The web site for the site is:
http://www.nps.gov/sand/index.htm

Several books and web sites tell the story of this tragedy. You might as well start with wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sand_Creek_massacre

On a visit to the visitor center in 2011, I purchased a couple of books including a large-format, 300-page book titled The John Milton Chivington Record, June 2, 1813 - October 4, 1894.

The cover of the Chivington Record, a compilation of accounts and military records
concerning Chivington's military career

The Back page of the Chivington Record

Col. Chivington's particular brand of behavior didn't stop with massacres; he left a peculiar mark in his home life too. After James Rowlison's Aunt Martha died in 1867 and their son Thomas had died in 1866, John Chivington married his son's wife Sarah - his daughter-in-law.

This marriage was not looked on kindly by Sarah's family. Her parents had the following published in The New York Times on January 11, 1868: 

We, the undersigned, take this method to inform the public that the criminal act of John M. Chivington, in marrying our daughter, Mrs. Sarah A. Chivington, the widow of Thomas M. Chivington, was unknown to us, and a thing we very much regret.  Had the facts been made known to us of the intentions some measures would have been taken to prevent the consummation of so vile an outrage, even if violent measures were necessary.  Hoping that this may be a sufficient explanation, we remain,        JOHN B. LULL & ALMIRA LULL

The dating of these events is tight between the deaths of Martha and Thomas, the marriage between John and Sarah and the public notice by Sarah's parents.

The colonel remained true to form by soon abandoning Sarah.

A real Peach of a Guy.

The Nebraska Historical Society has a reprint of an article that tells the story of our fellow:  http://www.nebraskahistory.org/publish/publicat/history/full-text/NH2007Chivington.pdf

My initial look at the piece convinced me that I need to revisit it for further study. There were two interesting notes though. One described a meeting between John Chivington and his brother Lewis in Oregon, Missouri after twenty-five years. John recognized his brother; Lewis did not. Turns out Lewis was a solid sympathizer of the Confederacy and the institution of slavery and that's what they talked about. After Lewis caught on that he was talking to his brother, a solid Union man he warned John to get out of Missouri as his crowd.intended, "...to hang all of your class of preachers."

The other note indicates that a grandson of John M. Chivington named Thomas McKnight Chivington was the President of the American Association. I found this reference among others:  http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=266&dat=19110211&id=oPJEAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Q7cMAAAAIBAJ&pg=5030,2604113

Of further interest, that middle name of McKnight comes from this fellow's great grandmother, Elizabeth McKnight who was also James D. Rowlison's grandmother.

The following is posted here as a note a few people who appear in a "DNA Circle" on ancestry.com as having DNA connections to John Chivington's granddaughter Jessie Fremont Pollock, and in some cases, with DNA connections to our Rowlison family.

I discovered a new DNA Circle on ancestry.com which includes five of us connected to Jessie Fremont Pollock (1861-1904). She is my second cousin twice removed with common ancestors of Aaron Rowlison (1762-1837) and Elizabeth McKnight (1776-1837).

Jessie’s line to Aaron and Elizabeth is: Mother Sarah Ann Chivington (1844-1900),  her mother Martha L. Rowlison (who was married to likely the foulest individual in your tree also, John Milton Chivington – the lowlife responsible for the Sand Creek Massacre in southeast Colorado in 1864), Martha’s parents were Aaron and Elizabeth (McKnight) Rowlison mentioned above.

My line to our common ancestor is: myself, Jerrell R. (Jerry) Johnson, my mother Mildred L. Cassell, her mother Maggie A Rowlison, her father James Demetris Rowlison, his father Aaron Rowlison (1809-1875) brother of (Martha L. Rowlison) Chivington and their parents Aaron (1762-1837) and Elizabeth.

Our Rowlison immigrant Aaron Charles Rowlison (1680?-1745) likely came from England to New Jersey. There is shakey evidence that his parents may have been Anthony Rowlison and Anna Buntinge. Aaron and “Katarina” had at least four sons, Charles, Stephen, John and Nathaniel. John (1725-1776)  and Mary were the elder Aaron’s parents.

The elder Aaron Rowlison and the McKnights were in Rockbridge County, Virginia when the younger Aaron and Martha and their older brother George McKnight Rowlison were born.

This was the second marriage for both Aaron and Elizabeth; Aaron’s first wife was Margaret McConkey (d. 1807); Elizabeth’s first husband was John Chambers. Aaron had two sons and two daughters by the first marriage, Elizabeth had one daughter. Elizabeth’s daughter Jane Chambers later married one of Aaron’s sons, Nathaniel (have fun drawing those lines.)

My great grandparents, James Demetris Rowlison (Indiana 82^nd Infantry) and his bride Rhoda Walton made a multi-stop 20 year migration from Indiana through Missouri, Iowa, multiple Nebraska stops to Hoxie, Kansas. My grandmother Maggie stopped in Nebraska and married a Scot, David Cassell and some of are still in Clay County, Nebraska.

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.