Henrietta Frances (Kingsmill) Rowe (1851 - 1918)

Born 1 Aug 1851 in Ireland

Ancestors

Wife of James A Rowe — married 12 Oct 1875 in Chicago, Cook, Illinois, United States

Died 27 Feb 1918 at age 66 in Evanston, Illinois, USA

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Biography

This profile is part of the Kingsmill Name Study.

Henrietta Frances Kingsmill, the daughter of William (a builder of Freshford Rd) and Sarah Kingsmill was born on 1 Aug 1851 and baptised the next day at St Canice Church of Ireland in Kilkenny with her twin sister Adelaide Harriet.^[1]

The following text comes from "Our heritage : a story of twenty families" by Howard Morrison Rowe (Publisher: San Diego : H.M. Rowe and C.T. Rowe, ©1995):

Our grandmother Henrietta Frances Kingsmill was born in Kilkenny, Ireland on August 1, 1852, according to an entry made by her husband in the family Bible he purchased soon after their marriage. The same date appears on her Certificate of Death, attested by her son. We have no verification that she was born in Ayresfield Cottage, described earlier in this chapter, but her son believed that to be the case. We are reasonably sure that Henrietta was the seventh daughter and probably the youngest child of William and Sarah. Howard Francis Rowe claimed that his mother was the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter, but the reader will understand that we have been unable to substantiate Sarah Smallhorn's share in such a claim.

The early years of our grandmother's life can only be inferred from the few known facts concerning the Kingsmill family. As the youngest child, she would have had only a minor part in the events that preceded her parents' decision to emigrate to Chicago, and was probably not more than eight years old when she last saw her father. The separation that occurred when her siblings left the family home singly or in groups over the next few years must have made a deep impression on her. It seems certain that she made the long journey with her mother; the year was 1864, according to later census records, bringing her to the shore of Lake Michigan at age eleven or twelve. Although she is not listed with the family members residing at 136 Michigan Street in the period 1865-67, it would have been unusual to include the names of children of her age in a directory publication. No record of her schooling has come to us.

Henrietta was nineteen when her mother died, and most likely living at that time and thereafter with an older sister or brother; unmarried young ladies generally helped in a household and awaited a husband, rather than seeking employment. It would be interesting to know how and where she met James Alexander Rowe her future husband; likely not at church, since she had been raised in the Church of Ireland, while he came from a devout Methodist family. Among our books is a volume of "The Poetical Works of William Cowper, Esq.," published in 1872 and inscribed: "To Miss H. F. Kingsmill —with the best wishes Of her friend —J. A. Rowe — August 1, 1873." An inscribed prayer book was his gift to her at Christmas 1874.

A Certificate of Marriage in our possession affirms that Henrietta and James were married on October 12, 1875^[2] at 1010 West Jackson Street in the City of Chicago according to the rites of the Protestant Episcopal Church by Luther Pardee, minister of Calvary Church. Among the four witnesses to the ceremony was Elizabeth Greenhood; possibly this was Anna Kingsmill Greenhood's daughter, who would have been not more than thirteen at the time; or it could have been a sister of Jacob Greenhood, otherwise unknown to us.

Another witness at the wedding (and evidently representing the family in giving away the bride) was Thomas A. Kingsmill, who was living at the same Jackson Street address in 1675, as we have written earlier in this chapter.

Henrietta Francis Rowe died at Evanston, Illinois on 27 Feb 1918. ^[3]

Sources

1. ↑ Baptism Transcription on RootsIreland
2. ↑ "Illinois, Cook County Marriages, 1871-1920", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N769-R44 : 10 March 2018), James A. Rowe and Henrietta F. Kingsmill, 12 Oct 1875.
3. ↑ "Illinois Deaths and Stillbirths, 1916-1947," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N36W-R8G : 8 March 2018), Henrietti Francis Rowe, 27 Feb 1918; Public Board of Health, Archives, Springfield; FHL microfilm 1,543,826.

• "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MXNY-BN8 : 22 August 2017), Henrietta F Rowe in household of James A Rowe, Chicago, Cook, Illinois, United States; citing enumeration district ED 124, sheet 381A, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), FHL microfilm 1,254,194.
• "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MS7X-YML : accessed 13 July 2020), Henriett F Rowe in household of James A Rowe, Evanston Township Evanston city Ward 4, Cook, Illinois, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 1158, sheet 11B, family 194, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,240,292.
• "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MKH2-5C6 : accessed 13 July 2020), Henerietta E Rowe in household of James A Rowe, Evanston Ward 4, Cook, Illinois, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 103, sheet 15A, family 321, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 240; FHL microfilm 1,374,253.