John Fowler (abt. 1739 - abt. 1808)

Born about 1739 in Bladen, Province of North Carolina

Ancestors

Husband of Hannah (Sutton) Fowler — married 1765 in Duplin, North Carolina

Descendants

Died about 1808 at about age 69 in Sampson, North Carolina, United States [uncertain]

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John Fowler resided in the Southern Colonies in North America before 1776. Join: US Southern Colonies Project Discuss: southern_colonies

Biography

John Fowler was a North Carolina colonist.

Early History of His Father

This John Fowler appears to be the son of another John Fowler, although some of the facts could apply to either generation of John, about whom a few facts can be established:^[1]

• John Fowler was a Private in the Bladen Foot regiment 1754-5, The French and Indian Wars.
• Clerk of the Sessions Court (The Cape Fear Route); a role his brother, Daniel Fowler, also took up, and who was granted land in Duplin (and later) Sampson County, again in 1753
• In 1774, a John Fowler received a Colonial land grant on the Mill Prong of Raft Swamp, west of Lumberton, land which he sold in 1785 to Samuel Crouch.
• In a 1781 @ 200 acres west of the South River, John Fowler, Planter, deeded land to Chrisopher Sutton.
• At some point, the region between Smith's Crossroads and Murphytown was called Fowler's Landing, on the Bladen side (near the 1781 site).^[1]

Birth in Bladen County

John Fowler was born about 1739 in Bladen County, (southeastern) North Carolina.^[1]

Marriage and Children

About the children of John Fowler and Hannah (Sutton) Fowler, daughter of Christopher Sutton (1724-1790) of Perquimans, who married about 1765:^[1]

1. Samuel Fowler (1766-1812) - Fowler (1989, p. 59-61)]: John and his wife Hannah Sutton are named as the parents of Samuel Fowler on a FindAGrave (1788) memorial (please see Research Notes). Samuel had married Mary and moved to Caldwell County, Kentucky by 1810. His son, Samuel Fowler Jr married Jane (Bratton) Fowler (born 1797) and they were present in the Trigg County (redistricted) census of 1820^[1]
2. Elizabeth Fowler (born 1768), who married Thomas Frazier 21 Dec 1786; about 1850 her husband had died and she moved to live near siblings Hardy Fowler and Martha Fowler in Weakley County, Tennessee. She is recorded in the 1860 census as 90 and as Elizabeth Fowler.
3. William Fowler (born 1771-about 1817), wife Elizabeth
4. James Fowler (born 1774), moved to Tennessee by 1806
5. Beamon Fowler (born 1782), who married Mary (born 1799), moved to Trigg County about 1820
6. Martha Fowler (born 1784), present in the 1850 and 1860 census in Weakley County, died unmarried
7. Hardy Fowler (born 1788), present in the 1850 and 1860 census in Weakley County, died unmarried

A possible John Fowler marriage record in North Carolina is unhelpful, as no additional detail is provided to identify the family constellation. The FamilySearch record has not been matched.^[2]

One of the earliest census record places John Fowler in Little Coharie, Sampson County in 1790.^[3] That same decade, John bought in 1792 100 acres from Jeremiah Bullard between Little Coharie and South River.^[1]

John was identified as a cooper in that 1792 land transaction; furthermore, the witness on this transaction was John's son-in-law, Thomas Frazier, husband of Elizabeth (Fowler) Frazier.^[1]

Frazier (1989, p. 60) also reports that the Sampson County matched 1800 census record,^[4] is consistent with John and Hannah being together and alive then, but not after that.^[1] as compared against the known variables and predictable household size between these reports can be reasonably sorted out to confirm that we have the correct John Fowler at least between 1790 and 1800.

It is worth repeating that John Fowler also had a cousin, John Fowler Sr. (1747-1844), who lived in the same multi-county region, during the same period, who also had military servicer. Fowler (1989) has done extensive analysis of census, land, tax, family and identifiable errors that other trees have perpetuated (including DAR records) that previously made it difficult to place John correctly.^[1] This was also at a time when records lacked detail or other anchor data, such as naming who else was part of a household in a census, but at least 1790 and 1800 had sufficient age cohort counts by gender to match the expected household.

Some other Census and Tax List Records

• In the 1784 tax list, John Fowler was living as an adjacent neighbor to Hannah and her brother John Sutton

FamilySearch and Ancestry hints produce the following hits on census data.

• 1780: John Fowler in N Hanover or Duplin in Bladen County, North Carolina: U.S. Census Reconstructed Records, 1660-1820: John Fowler, Residence: 1780 N Han, Duplin, Bladen County, North Carolina, United States Ancestry Record 2234 #28445. Unconfirmed match.

Military Record

• Several US Revolutionary War records match on the name John Fowler: we do also know that his cousin was military. Some of the North Carolina matches on John Fowler, for example, cite Wilmington, New Hanover service, Hillsborough, Orange, service, but mostly, no county is specified in the plethora of records. Fowler (1989, p. 61) does cite a Treasury and Comptroller Record that clearly point to John's American Revolutionary War service, however.

Research Notes

• Previously, a precision birth date of 12 Dec 1730 in Bath County, Province of North Carolina was entered, but no source matches with this. The present date is from an accepted source that has done careful analysis to distinguish this John Fowler from his cousin, and is cited.^[1]
• A Find A Grave: Memorial #25227479 names son of John Fowler and Hannah Sutton, Samuel Fowler (1788-1864), placing Samuel's birth in Sampson County, North Carolina. On Samuel's memorial, it shows that he was the son of John Fowler and Hannah (Sutton) Fowler. The discrepancy may be corrected on FindAGrave to reoncile with the cogent reporting in the Fowler (1989, p. 61) text. A reasonable person can grasp the two Samuels being in the John Fowler household through some of the census records, and the age makes the most sense for the memorial to belong to John's grandson, not his son of the same name. The FindAGrave "biography" clearly has skipped a generation, and the memorial is about John's grandson, son of Samuel (born 1766).
• Matched records on Ancestry suggest that he could have been the son of John and Mary Jane (Rollins) Fowler, but these are in fact the very same tree error that can be found on DAR, etc.^[1]
• A precise marriage date was given, but no record has emerged yet to support that. A precise death year was given, but no record has emerged to support that.
• Lastly, a SAR index record apparently belongs to yet a third person of the same name, as it fits neither with this John, nor his cousin: John Fowler: US Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970: Military, John Fowler: Birth, 1730, Death: 1780, Civil: 4 May 1942 Ancestry Record 2204 #1257201.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10} Fowler, Richard Gildart. A history of the Fowler family of southeastern North Carolina. 1989, p. 60. Norman, Oklahoma & Salt Lake City, Utah: Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah.
2. ↑ North Carolina, Marriage Index, 1741-2004: John Fowler, Marriage: North Carolina Ancestry Record 8909 #2669364.
3. ↑ 1790: United States Federal Census: John Fowler, Residence: Sampson, North Carolina, United States Ancestry Record 5058 #197623 may or may not be the same record as this 1790 Sampson, North Carolina: "United States Census, 1790," database with images, FamilySearch: accessed 15 Feb 2019, John Fowler, Sampson, North Carolina, United States; citing p. 127, NARA microfilm publication M637, (Washington DC: National Archives and Records Administration), roll 7; FHL microfilm 568,147. However, it appears that this "John Fowler" is presently matched/attached to John Fowler Sr (1747, Taylors Bridge, Duplin-1845, Troy, Pike, Alabama) cousin of the same name, in error (note that his cousin is on record as being in South Carolina for this census).
4. ↑ 1800: United States Federal Census: John Fowler, Residence: Fayetteville, Sampson, North Carolina Ancestry Record 7590 #340982 "matches" to a FamilySearch record "United States Census, 1800," database with images, FamilySearch: accessed 15 Feb 2019, John Fowler, Fayetteville, Sampson, North Carolina, United States; citing p. 532, NARA microfilm publication M32, (Washington DC: National Archives and Records Administration), roll 32; FHL microfilm 337,908.

Acknowledgments

• WikiTree profile Fowler-2097 created through the import of Carroll-Dabney-Simons-Wells Fa.ged on 8 Oct 2012 by Janet Dabney.