

William Dowden Jr.
Honor Code SignatorySigned 19 Oct 2021 | 31,560 contributions | 455 thank-yous | 7,537 connections
D > Dowden > William Dowden Jr.
Categories: Texas Veterans, Vietnam War | Blackwell Name Study | Collins Name Study | Moore Name Study | Small Business Owners | Restaurateurs | 2nd Armored Division, United States Army | Vinh Long Province, Vietnam | Fort Bragg, North Carolina | Fort Carson, Colorado Springs, Colorado | Fort Hood, Texas | Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army) | Vietnam Service Medal | National Defense Service Medal | Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal | Armed Forces Reserve Medal | Illinois Army National Guard | Army Commendation Medal | Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal | University of Colorado Colorado Springs | Southern Illinois University Carbondale | Jefferson County, Texas | Polk County, Texas | New Netherland Settlers Project | Bronze Star Medal | Southern Pioneers Project Member
section has been reviewed and approved by an assigned Mentor from the "Mentor Project ", so thanks for sharing your opinion, but also note that I only Post Acknowledgments for those contributors who have expressly offered to share their photographs.
If I were going to upload photos from Find a Grave (which I would not do in most cases), I would acknowledge the contributor like this:
https://www.wikitree.com/photo/jpg/Duke-5955-1?title=Image:Duke-5955-1.jpg&action=edit#comment_8218298
edited by Jonathan Duke
edited by Alexis Woods
edited by William Dowden Jr.
This is the time for the annual check in with members of the Military and War Project. Have you been active during the last six months in the Military and War Project? Note that it is a requirement to respond to the Military and War Project Check-ins. Please respond to this message by clicking the reply button below this message, to post your answer. I look forward to hearing from you..
Many thanks,
Mary, Project Coordinator, Military & War
Yes, I have been active with the Military and War Project as I continue to discover soldier ancestors. For example, I discovered Private Abraham Whinery served in the War of 1812 in the West Tennessee Militia. It seems there is another Abraham Whinery who reached the rank of General, but I have not made a connection to that man yet.
I sent you a Private Message last night regarding mentoring.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Stuart ~ Mentor
Yes, Kathy said I should expect a new Mentor. Bill
The subject line is "WikiTree Mentoring."
Stuart
I'm just letting you know I sent you a private message. I look forward to hearing from you!
Thanks,
Kathy Zipperer, Mentor
I'm just alerting you that I sent you a private message a couple of days ago. If you can't find it, please let me know and I'm happy to resend it. You can contact me by private message or by replying to this message. I look forward to hearing from you!
Kind regards, Gillian
Gillian
Thanks for having a Big Heart and taking responsibility for Orphaned Profiles. You will want to read this After Adopting Orphans as it explains the special attention adopted profiles will sometimes need from their profile managers. You may also want to go through the new member help on How to manage your Watchlist.
Jamie
Natalie, Categorization member
Thanks for your help, Margaret, Categorization project volunteer
Thanks, Margaret, Categorization project
complete the category creation, or remove the red category from your profile.
Thanks for your help, regards, Margaret, categorization project volunteer.
Thanks, Natalie, Categorization
Thanks for your help, regards, Margaret, Catwegorization project volunteer.
Thanks, Natalie, Categorization project
Many thanks,
Mary~ Project Coordinator, Military and War Project
I have been active for the last six momths, earning a "1000 contributions badge for each of those months. More specifically, I have been focusing on sourcing my veteran ancestors for every war that we have served. Military headstones in all cemeteries receive priority. Thanks for checking in. Keep serving! Bill
Thanks again..
Mary
Please refer to Natalie Trott's comment below. You have just added a cemetery category that does not yet exist, to 2 profiles. This adds a red link in the category section on the profile. Also, the name of the category may be incorrect, see Natalie's note on using the county in cemetery categories. You are expected to continue and complete the creation of the new category. If you don't want to create the category, please use the function to request a new category, now found on any profile in edit mode, under "How to add Categories", but please do not just leave the red link on the profile.
These cemetery categories that have not been finalised and may have incorrect names, have been added to a maintenance category, waiting for someone to research them and finish their creation. This means until then, they are not in the cemetery structure, so other members are unable to find and utilise them. See the most recent one you added.
Thank you for your help, regards, Margaret, Categorization project volunteer
Most US cemeteries use category naming as [Category:XXX Cemetery, City/Town, State]] WITHOUT using the county name. There are cases in which the county name is used, but they are specific (such as when there are two communities in the state with the same name). Please remember this when you are creating cemetery categories. Also, you should finish setting up the category after you add it and see a red link at the bottom of the profile page. See this page:https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Cemetery_Categorization and the sections:Add the New Category and Create the Category Content. THANK YOU. Natalie, Categorization project member
1850
The historic depth of my paternal lines is much deeper than the maternal lines. For example, my maternal grandfather, Harvey Chester Reeves was only twelve years older than my father, William Thomas Dowden, Sr.. Also, because my father was much further down the birth order than my mother and I, and because my paternal grandmother was my paternal grandfather's second wife, that pushed the paternal great-grandparents, Thomas Dowden and his second wife, Nicey Moore back to the benchmark of mid-nineteenth century, 1850.
Nicey Moore in 1850 is still living with her parents "on the farm" in Covington County, Alabama; she is reported as being 22 years old. Thomas Dowden in 1850 has already begun his family with his first wife "Louisa" but she apparently passes away possibly in early 1858 or late 1857, possibly because of an issue with the birth of her last son, Edward Pinkney Dowden. Nicey's parents, Petty Green Moore and Nancy Ann Blackwell leave their farm in Covington Alabama where they lived in 1850, move to Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana where Perry acquires some land, and where Nicey meets and marries Thomas Dowden. They have not been discovered in the 1860 United States Census, but by 1870, the survivors from the turbulent 1860's are living in Texas.
The other two great-grandparents on my paternal side are William James Johnson and his wife, Mary Elizabeth Capps. William James "Bill" Johnson was born about 1841, so he was still very young in 1850, living with his parents in South Carolina. Mary Elizabeth Capps was not born until 1854, after her father, Elcanah Capps had already served with the United States Army in the Mexican War. Later, Elcanah Capps served with the Confederate States Army as well, so when the younger veteran, William James Johnson, moved to Polk County, Texas after the war, and the two veterans became neighbors, William James took the opportunity to court and to marry the older man's daughter.
On the maternal side of the family, the great-grandparents' parents were not born in Texas, but came as soon as they could. Christopher Lorenzo Reeves was not yet born in 1850, he was born November 29, 1853 in Calcacieu Parish, Louisiana. The biography of Lucy Hayes written by Charles Alcock provides some background information which I am planning to provide sources for as I find them.
Christopher L. Reeves married Sophia Brown and moved to Jasper County, Texas; they later moved further west to Hardin County, Texas, near Silsbee, Texas to raise my maternal grandfather's siblings. So, neither of these two maternal great-grandparents were born as early as 1850, nor were they born in Texas. The second pair of maternal great-grandparents: John Boyd McMinn and Mary Ann Grammer were not born even by 1860. Mary Ann Grammer, according to the United States Census for Lynchburg, Lincoln County, Tennessee was born in Tennessee, in August of that year. In the next census, 1880, the family has already moved to Cherokee County, Texas, and Mary Ann has reached the age of 9. Her future husband, John Boyd McMinn, is also not an early settler, but his father, Robert Wood Henry McMinn is already in Cherokee County,Texas in the 1850 Census. RWH McMinn, in 1850, is married to his first wife, Rebecca Johnson; like other first wives, a second wife is needed to continue raising the children, so RWH marries his second wife, Martha Jane Boyd who pears my great grandfather, [[McMinn-44 | John Boyd McMinn].
So, this comment has covered the great-grandparents back to the year 1850 whichi actually before some of them were born. It is late now, so I will let this comment end here. In the next comment, I will begin discussing the 16 great-great-grandparents, all of whom have been identified and posted to Wikitree.
edited by William Dowden Jr.
= 2000 = Both my parents, William Thomas Dowden Sr. and Violet Ruth Reeves Dowden died before the year 2000.
= 1950 = In the year 1950, the year Dowden-595 is in the first grade, both my maternal grandparents, Harvey Chester Reeves and Zeffa Robena McMinn are still alive. My paternal grandmother, Leeoria Johnson Dowden lives until February 1962, but my paternal grandfather, John Steven Dowden, passed back in 1932.
= 1900 = Of my eight great-grandparents, four lived past the year 1900 into the Twentieth Century: Mary Elizabeth Capps, Christopher L. Reeves, Sophia Elizabeth Brown, and Mary Ann "Mollie" Grammer
The other four great-grandparents either passed away at an early age, or were burdened by hard living: Thomas Dowden , Nicey Moore William James Johnson and John Boyd McMinn.
I will continue these comments in the near future, but I will begin with the 1850 benchmark.
edited by William Dowden Jr.
Thanks for having a Big Heart and adopting Orphan Profiles. You will want to read this After adopting orphans FAQ to understand what to do next and it explains the special attention those profiles need.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask!
David
Many thanks, Margaret, Categorization project volunteer.
Thanks for your feedback. Dowden-595
Natalie, Categorization Project member
I sent you a private message yesterday regarding the Cemeterist Project, but in case you didn't get it, I thought I'd try to connect here.
Thank you for sharing the photos you have for the Bluewater Cemetery. You've done a nice job. I wondered if you were interested in joining the WikiTree Cemeterist project. If you are, please have a look at our project page at: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Project:Cemeterist. I think your work would be an asset to the project.
If you have any questions about the project, please let me know.
Regards,
Robin Shaules
Seems we are 17th cousins, 1x removed. Hey, cousins are cousins.
Welcome to WikiTree and the Texas Project. I work mostly on the Wales Project home of my ancestors before America.
Stuart
Thanks for your message. I added links to pages I found for the two cemeteries you sent to me. They are not Categories yet. The reason you did not see them earlier is the page was created a couple years ago.
Thank you for your interest in Polk County, Texas
Mary ~ Project Coordinator - Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Jamestown, Southern Colonies and wars.
Congratulations on certifying to work on pre-1700 profiles!
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Primary sources should always be added to pre-1700 profiles at the time they are created. If you don't have a source for a pre-1700 profile, it would be best to ask for help in the G2G forum before creating the profile.
These profiles for deep ancestors are shared by many, and collaborating on them works best if we all follow the guidelines in the certification quiz.
Best wishes for your research
Maureen ~ WikiTree Pre-1700 Greeter
We are so happy you decided to upgrade to the Family Member level.
Please visit our tutorial pages to learn how to use WikiTree: How To Use WikiTree. They will save you time, energy, and frustration as you add your family profiles.
Exploring the site is the best way to learn. One way to do that is to check out the drop-down menus on the top right side of your profile page. Finding a known ancestor and collaborating with the profile manager is another great way to start.
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