James Burns Gowen, son of William Gowen, Jr. and Jamima Burns Gowen was born November 22, 1785 near Lynchburg, Virginia, according to his son-in-law William Floyd "interviewed in the summer of 1904 in his 84th year" by Charles E. Gowen, a grandson who kept a journal of events in pioneer Tennessee.  Harold Ora Gowen, a great-great-grandson of Tarpon Springs, Florida states that James Burns Gowen was the son of William Gowen, Jr.  His mother was a "cousin of the Scotch poet Robert Burns," according to a letter written August 26, 1959 by Thomas Kenneth Gowen, Jr, a descendant of Fullerton, California.  She is believed to have moved into the household of a brother after the slaying. 

 

Robert Burns was born January 25, 1759 in Ayrshire, Scotland, traditional home of the Gowen family.  He was the eldest son of William Burness of Kincardineshire who died in 1784.  Gilbert Burns, a brother of Robert Burns died July 21, 1796 at age 37.

 

After the slaying of their father James Burns Gowen and his brother William Davis Gowen were "bound out" to an uncle.  It is believed that the Burns family removed to middle Tennessee about 1800.  Shortly after arrival in Williamson County, James Burns Gowen was set free at age 16 to make his own way.  Shortly afterward, he contracted to split rails in payment for a pony.  Just when he had piled up enough rails to settle his ac­count, the pony died.

 

James Burns Gowen was married February 19, 1808 to Annie Price who was born June 22, 1788 to Matthew Price and Eliz­abeth Eskridge Price.  Matthew Price was born in Halifax County, Virginia and had married Elizabeth Eskridge in Caswell County, North Carolina in 1786.  The Eskridge fam­ily were guardians of Gen. George Washington's mother, ac­cording to Nancy Waddle, Eskridge family historian of Okla­homa City.  Matthew Price and Elizabeth Eskridge Price were buried in the "Old Price Graveyard," near County Line, Tennessee.

 

The young couple moved in 1809 to Bedford County, Ten­nessee.  Bedford County was organized in 1808 from land taken from Rutherford County. There he built a log cabin "near the county line," the first residence in the county [later Moore County.]  One hundred fifty-one years later only a chimney mound remained near the second home to mark the site of this log cabin at the headwaters of Mulberry Creek.  One of their first possessions was a cast iron washpot bought in Nashville "when the town had one store," according to a son, Joseph F. Gowen. 

 

Tillie Gowen Morrow, a daughter received an old chest from her father.  These chest was presented to James Burns Gowen by a grateful cabinetmaker in Williamson County for his part in recovering the cabinetmaker's stolen horses from the Indians.

 

On August 29, 1811 James Burns Gowen and Matthew Price were appointed to a committee to layout a road from Fayet­teville, Tennessee to County Line, near the home of James Burns Gowen.  On December 5, 1811 he was sued by William V. Higgins.  Higgins did not appear on the court date, and the suit was dropped.

 

James Burns Gowen volunteered to fight with Gen. Andrew Jackson on every occasion that the Tennessee militia took to the field.  Following the massacre at Ft. Mimms, Alabama by the Creek Indians, Jackson, a Nashville lawyer, called for volunteers to rendezvous at Fayetteville, Tennessee.  James Burns Gowen and a couple of his Mulberry Creek neighbors by the names of Davey Crockett and Sam Houston joined up September 24, 1813 in Capt. William Locke's company with about 2,000 other Tennesseeans.  Jackson arrived October 7 to take command, his arm still in a sling from a wound he re­ceived a month earlier in a pistol duel at Nashville.

 

He ordered the militia into Alabama to teach the Creeks, then allied with the British, a lesson.  They headed south, travers­ing a primeval territory with no roads and no bridges.  James Burns Gowen recalled how he used his saddle to swim across the Tennessee River.  James Harvey Gowen, a son, retained the saddle for many years later as a momento.  They took on the Creeks, the Seminoles and the Baton Rouge [Red Sticks] and defeated them decisively at Tallushatchee and Talledega.  Concerning the Battle of Tallushatchee, Crockett related:

 

"We shot them like dogs as they retreated.  Some backed into their lodge, and we set it on fire.  We burned it with 46 war­riors inside.  The next morning we found roasted potatoes in the cellar under the lodge.  We ate them be­cause we were hungry as wolves even though the oil of the Indians we burned had run down on them, and they looked like they had been stewed with bear meat."

 

Jackson called his Tennesseeans together in the following spring to finish the job.  On March 28, 1814, the Creeks were finally crushed in the Battle of Horseshoe Bend.  James Burns Gowen related that in the battle, while he was squat­ting down behind a tree, an Indian spied him and fired his musket.  The ball glanced off the tree, showering powdered bark into his face.  While blinded, Gowen raised his gun and fired.  When his eyes cleared, he found to his surprise, "another good In­dian" lying on the ground before him.

 

From Alabama the campaign moved to Pensacola to engage the British.  When they learned that the main objective of the British was New Orleans, they marched overland to Louisiana, arriving in time to participate in the battle January 8, 1815 where the Americans overwhelmingly defeated the British.  The "Eighth of January," a ballad reciting the ex­ploits of the Ameri­cans under Jackson in the last battle of the war, was a favorite of James Burns Gowen thereafter.

 

Ezekial Alexander stated that he fought with Davey Crockett and James Burns Gowen in the Battle of Horseshoe Bend and the Battle of New Orleans, according to the research of Sarah L. Hollingsworth, a descendant of Ezekiel Alexander and Winna Gowan Alexander of South Bend, Indiana in 1998.  Winna Gowan Alexander was the daughter of Isaac Gowan and Cleta Gowan.  This is the first indication that James Burns Gowen fought in the Battle of New Orleans.

 

Richard Eastman, electronic newsletter editor wrote August 15, 1999:

 

"Historians have long believed that Andrew Jackson slowly died of mercury and lead poisoning from two bullets in his body and the 19th-century medications he took for intestinal problems. One hundred fifty-four years after his death, two strands of the seventh president's hair appear to have proven otherwise.  Researchers have now concluded that Old Hickory died of kidney failure at age 78.

 

The researchers analyzed hair clipped from Jackson in 1815 and 1839 and preserved at The Hermitage, his Tennessee plantation.  While the mercury and lead levels found in the hair samples were 'significantly elevated,' they were not toxic, said Dr. Ludwig M. Deppisch, a pathologist with Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine and Forum Health.  The research is published in last Wednesday's edition of the "Journal of the American Medical Association."

 

The researchers believe that Jackson's elevated mercury level was caused by the calomel and that much of the lead came from two bullets, one lodged near his heart and the other in his shoulder.

 

Jackson was shot near the heart during an 1806 duel with Charles Dickinson but managed to get off a fatal shot.  The duel began as an argument over a horse race and escalated when Dickinson insulted Jackson's wife, Rachel.  Jackson was also shot in the shoulder during an 1813 fight in downtown Nashville with Jesse Benton and his brother Thomas Hart Benton, who went on to become a senator from Missouri.  That bullet was removed in 1832, but the 1806 bullet remained in Jackson's body until his death.

 

Jackson, who served from 1829-37, was among the sickest of all presidents.  Many of his symptoms were consistent with mercury and lead poisoning, including excessive salivation, rapid tooth loss, colic, diarrhea, hand tremors, irritability, mood swings and paranoia.  Some historians believed Jackson's frequent ingestion  of calomel [mercurous chloride] and sugar of lead [lead acetate]--medicines he took for intestinal ailments --caused the symptoms and led to his death."

 

James Burns Gowen lived as a neighbor to Davey Crockett for about 20 years, according to William Floyd, son-in-law to James Burns Gowen.  He described Crockett as an "itchy-footed sort of fellow who went bear hunting with a knife, bagged a covey of wild turkey with a single shot, went Indian hunting with Andrew Jackson and finally got himself elected to Congress."

 

When his constituents failed to re-elect him to represent them in Congress, he bade them farewell with, "You all can go to hell--I'm going to Texas!"  Thus Col. Davey Crockett moved from middle Tennessee to immortality when he joined the small band of defenders in 1836 in the besieged Alamo, shrine of Texas independence.  According to Floyd, Davey Crockett lived on the east prong of Mulberry Creek about a mile from County Line.  Billie Crockett, brother of Davey, also lived on this water course.

 

Davey Crockett cleared a farm in the 24th Civil District of the county that was later owned by George Gowen, grandson of James Burns Gowen.  It was here on the summit of "Hungry Hill" as Crockett referred to it, wrestling with the sassafras that Crockett and his first wife, Polly Findly Crock­ett spent the happiest moments of their lives.  In the summer of 1815 Polly Findly Crockett died, leaving her husband with three small children.  He was remarried to Elizabeth Patton in the spring of 1816.  She was a widow whose husband had been killed in the Creek War.  She was a woman of good family who owned an excellent farm and $800 dollars in gold, and this marriage con­siderable improved his status in life.  Earlier Davey Crockett had taken out a marriage license in Jefferson County, Tennessee October 21, 1805 for a wedding with Margaret Elder.  How­ever, she declined, and the license was never returned to the courthouse.

 

On July 6, 1814 James Burns Gowen sold 24 acres on East Mulberry Creek to Dessie Griffis for $25, according to Lin­coln County Deed Book C-1, page 109.  The land came from the "Matthew Price Survey."  Matthew Price, his father-in-law, was an early settler in Bedford [later Lincoln] County.  J. Floyd, George Price and Alexander Norman were witnesses to the deed.

 

On July 4, 1816 James Burns Gowen completed a permanent home--so permanent that it was still standing in 1992.  In 1904, it was remodeled and enlarged.  In 1960 the residence was de­clared a historical landmark by the State of Ten­nessee.  At that time the home was occupied by Miss Grace Mullins, a grand­daughter of the builder.  The old spring house located across the road from the residence was erected nearly a century and a half earlier.

 

James Burns Gowen was enumerated as the head of a house­hold of six in the 1820 census of Lincoln County, page 33: 

 

    "Gowen, James B.   white male   26-45

                           white female 26-45

                           white male   16-26

                           white female 10-16

                           white female   0-10

                           white female   0-10"

 

Nearby was the household of Matthew Price:

 

    "Price, Matthew      white male   over 45

                           white female over 45

                           white female 16-26"

 

On April 22, 1822 James Burns Gowen and John Broadway were summoned for jury duty, according to Lincoln County court minutes.

 

James Burns Gowen appeared in "War of 1812, Index to Pen­sioners."  For his services he received three bounty land war­rants from the federal government.  On August 9, 1826 he re­ceived Grant No. 2782 for 50 acres in Bedford County, ac­cording to Land Book 5 in the Tennessee State Land Office. On November 5, 1831 he received an additional 50 acres, accord­ing to Book 13.  He also received Grant No. 15944 for "eight acres and 90 poles," according to Book 19.  Bounty Land War­rant No. 52212 for 80 acres was issued to him in 1850 and was later cancelled before issuance.  In its place James Burns Gowen received Warrant No. 95253 for 40 acres.  In 1855 he received Warrant 76235 for 120 acres.

 

Nine members composed the family of James Burns Gowen in the 1830 census:

 

    "Gowen, James B.   white male   40-50

                           white female 40-50

                           white male   20-30

                           white male   15-20

                           white female 15-20

                           white female 10-15

                           white male     5-10

                           white female   5-10

                           white male     0-5"

 

Annie Price Gowen died October 28, 1839 and was probably buried in the "old Price graveyard" located nearby on her fa­ther's farm.  Nine children were born to them.

 

The household in the 1840 census, page 96:

 

    Gowen, James B.        white male   50-60

                           white male   15-20

                           white female 15-20

                           white male   10-15"

                           negro female    24-36

                           negro female    10-24

                           negro male     0-10"

 

Five members of the household were engaged in agriculture.  The family of Matthew Price was recorded in an ad­joining household.

 

Shortly afterward James Burns Gowen swapped a slave named Nat Berry for Ishmael, the husband of Rachel, to re­unite the slave family.  In the trade he received "$200 to boot," according to William Floyd.  Ishmael was buried at County Line, and Rachel was buried at Flat Creek.  Five children, John, Jane, Ben, Dan and Dicey were born to them.

 

James Burns Gowen, at age 56, was remarried April 28, 1841 to Lucy Emory, age 23, a sister to his daughter-in-law.  His land grant record states that they were married April 8, 1841 in Franklin County, Tennessee. They were enumerated in the 1850 census of Bedford County, 24th Civil District as House­hold 28-28, page 255:

 

    "Gowen,  James B.  65, born in Virginia, farmer

               Lucy        32, born in Tennessee, wife

               Thomas   22, born in Tennessee, son

               Ann       8, born in Tennessee, daughter

               Tempa       6, born in Tennessee, daughter

               James        2, born in Tennessee, son

               Isabell 8/12, born in Tennessee, daughter

    Gowen,   Matthew  36, born in Tennessee, son, widower

               James      14, born in Tennessee, grandson

               Mary         4, born in TN, granddaughter"

 

Living nearby in the 1850 census was the household of William Russell which included two unidentified Gowan children.  Harmonston Gowan, age 13 and Mary Gowan, age 10 were enumerated. 

 

The 1860 enumeration of his household reported 10 mem­bers of the family, continuing in Civil District 24:

 

    "Gowen,  James B. 77, born in Virginia, farmer

               Lucy        40, born in Tennessee, wife

               Polly        13, born in Tennessee

               James      12, born in Tennessee

               Matilda 11, born in Tennessee

               Isom        10, born in Tennessee

               Joseph       8, born in Tennessee

               Franklin     7, born in Tennessee

               Frances     4, born in Tennessee

               Kate       1, born in Tennessee"

 

The 1870 enumeration of the family showed seven individu­als in Household 41-41:

 

    "Gowen,  James B.      84, born in Virginia, farmer,

                                  $4,300 real estate, $1,100

                                  personal property

               Lucy           51, born in Tennessee

               Isom B.       18, born in Tennessee

               Joseph F.        15, born in Tennessee

               Lucy H.       19, born in Tennessee

               Laura C.      11, born in Tennessee

               Benjamin E.   7, born in Tennessee"

 

Lucy H. Gowen in the above enumeration is unidentified.  An unidentified Joseph J. Gowen appeared two households away from that of James Burns Gowen in Household 43-43:

 

    "Gowen, Joseph J. 52, born in Tennessee, $100 in

                              personal property, illiterate

           William        25, born in Tennessee, illiterate

           Mary H.         3, born in Tennessee

           Minnie W.     2, born in Tennessee"

 

James Burns Gowen received a military pension of $8 per month and received three land grants for his service, ac­cording to Buford William Gowen, a descendant.  He owned five farms in Bedford County during his lifetime.  Lucy Emory Gowen died September 14, 1878. 

 

James Burns Gowen died May 14, 1880 at his home.  The "Lynchburg Sentinel" carried a 21-inch obituary in its May 21, 1880 edition.  "The Lynch­burg Falcon" reprinted the obituary some 21 years later in its July 26, 1901 edition.  It was reprinted September 1, 1958 "at the request of George Grady Clark of Taft, California, one of three sur­viving grandsons."  The obituary, written by his grandson Rev. George E. Gowen, read:

 

"Died on the head waters of Mulberry in the southern part of Bedford County, James B. Gowen, aged 94 years and six months.  He was the oldest citizen in the county, and it is very rarely that a man lives to the ex­tremely great age that he attained.

 

Born in the state of Virginia in the year 1786, and be­ing brought up in the hardy custom of those times, be­coming inured to the trials and hardships incident to that era, doubtless had much to do in shaping his re­markable constitution that has held up against age so long.

 

In conjunction with several others he left the Old Do­minion in the early part of the century, turned his eyes to the great hunting grounds of the West; and after suffer­ing considerably from exposure, he finally reached the fertile lands of Middle Tennessee, camp­ing upon the banks of the Harpeth River.  Here he spent the following year in hunting and trapping, after which he removed to Bedford County.  Following an Indian trail, he passed over the present site of Shel­byville, killing a deer about where the Courthouse now stands.  Going 10 miles fur­ther south he entered a large tract of land at 12 1/2c per acre, living upon the same tract up to the time of his death.  Here in the year 1810, he built the first house that was ever reared on Mulberry, the same remaining until a year ago when it was torn down.

 

In the year 1812 he joined a company of volunteers and served in the Creek War, being engaged in the three principal battles, namely Tallashatchie, Tal­ladega and Thohopeka.  In the latter engagement he had a hand-to-hand contest with an Indian, in which engagement the redskin was made to bite the dust.  He has ever regretted this affair, notwithstanding it was done strictly in self defense.

 

He was personally acquainted with Old Hickory and was many times brought in personal contact with the old hero.  In remuneration for these services he has drawn a pension ever since the passage of the pension act.

 

In their hunting days he and Davy Crockett were boon companions and many times they have pulled bones to­gether from roasted bear ribs, seated over their camp­fires, with no other covering save the branches of some forest oak and no other companions except their trusty rifles and faithful dogs.

 

He was doubtless with Davy when the latter per­formed his great feat of splitting a limb with his only bullet and thereby catching so many turkeys by their toes.

 

They have in common with each other shouldered up the fruits of a heavy day's hunting, consisting of some two or three deer and small game, and with the march of conquerors--lords of the forest, as they were--car­ried their more than glittering trophies home to their little cabins, snugly ensconced between surrounding hills, to receive the smiles and caresses of their brave wives and hardy, robust children.  Truly these were his golden days.

 

He was a great sportsman in his time and kept up his regular fishing days until a few weeks before his death.

 

Full of humor, a great joker, a good neighbor, always charitable and for the above characteristics he was uni­versally loved and revered by all who knew him.  On ac­count of this extremely great age, being, as he was the oldest pioneer, Uncle Jimmie was look up to bey all his neighbors.

 

With childish delight he loved to dwell upon the scenes of by-gone years, and how his frank counte­nance would rekindle and fairly beam with delight while relating his old hunting tales and incidents to a group of his grand and great-grandchildren, crouching about his knee.  And with what eagerness they would listen to some Indian narrative of his younger days.

 

He was one of those "hardy few" that we should ever cherish in our memories who braves the dangers of the wilderness; who contested hand to hand with the red man, following up the winding trail of the Indian, and through them opening up the great highways of civi­lization through which one continued stream of immi­gration has ever poured into this rich and fertile county.  He lived to see his fourth generation, and while some of his contemporaries were stricken down in the springtime of life, some when their c had stopped from the zenith of his meridian, while he was permitted to live out in peace his natural existence, and to see the sun gradually sink behind the horizon.

 

His once iron, but now lifeless, form gently rests be­neath the boughs of a giant cedar on his farm, the ten­der plant of which he nourished in its infancy, and has care­fully watched it for the last seventy years, looking for­ward to the time when it should shelter his last resting place.

                   A Grandson, Rev. George Gowen"

 

Don Lee Gowen, a descendant of James Burns Gowen of De­catur, Alabama, wrote February 20, 1995 an account of how he discovered the Gowen Family Cemetery which had been lost and unkept for many years:

 

"My wife thinks I was born lightheaded because l fre­quent grave­yards, wherever I am, rain or shine. For the past 30 years I have traced my family tree, met some in­teresting folks, and learned a lot about life.  Old grave­yards provide a lot of insight into life and history about the people who have gone before.  I have rev­erence for these places, for there too shall I be one of these days.

 

In tracing the life of my fifth-generation grandfather, James Burns Gowen of Tennessee, I came across a trib­ute to him at his death published in the "Lynchburg Sentinel" dated May 21, 1880.  It was an excellent arti­cle written by the Rev. George Gowen, a grandson and friend of old Jack Daniels of nearby Lynchburg.  What was striking in the tribute was the reference to his final resting place:

 

"His once iron but now lifeless form, gently rests be­neath the boughs of a giant cedar, on his farm where he and David Crockett hunted, the tender plant of which he nourished in its infancy, and has carefully watched it for the last seventy years, looking forward to the time when it should shelter his last resting place".

 

I had to find his grave and the giant cedar that sheltered it!  For the next seven years, I came up empty.  My search of the records in records of the surrounding county seats and libraries revealed nothing of the Gowen Cemetery.  The State of Tennessee had no records that would help.

 

My decision was to hit the road and search every piece of land in the general area.  My weekends were spent contacting residents in the hollows and farms north of Lynchburg.  On a cold, dark,  dreary Sunday afternoon, I had reached the end of a hollow and contacted the last household on the road.  The owner knew nothing of the century-old cemetery. 

 

A tremendous storm came up, and the deluge prevented my leaving.  For two hours we discussed the area, but no clue about the graveyard and the giant cedar tree emerged.  The lady, true to Tennessee hospitality, pro­vided a fine dinner during the storm.  Finally when the rain abated, I took my leave of the friendly household and started back out of the hollow, defeated again.

 

On the way out I passed an unlikely  homestead which previ­ously had no one home.  As I passed the house, I notice a young man walking to the barn in the light rain. "No," I said to myself, "It is too late, go on home; he is not old enough to know any­thing about the people who lived and died here over 100 years ago."  But, the Gowens have this thing about persistence--even in lost causes.  I stopped the car and caught up with him and without any optimism asked, "You wouldn't know any­thing about an old Gowen Cemetery around here, would you?"

 

'Sure,' he said, 'It's up there on top of that hill behind the barn.   But it's too muddy to climb up after all this rain.'"

 

The hallowed ground for which I had searched, for so long was right there--and I had come too far to stop now.  I insisted that I had to go up, and he produced a couple of slickers from the barn and accompanied me slipping and sliding to the crest.

 

As dark set in, the young man accompanied me to the top of the hill in the rain with the lighting continuing to crackle.  As we reached the summit, a rainbow suddenly appeared.  It seemed to end just at the top of the rise where the graveyard was situated in some cedar trees.  The cemetery had been neglected for years and was completely tangled with undergrowth, but I had to be­gin the search.  I found Gowen markers, lots of them, but where was the cedar tree of James Burns Gowen.. Fi­nally I found a stump about 30" across, and at its foot was the marker of "James Gowen, Pvt. Tennessee Vols, War of 1812, Died: May 14, 1880.  Hello, great-grand­father!  You have not been forgotten!  I never give up!  Your great-grandson is here!

 

The giant cedar tree?  It was a victim of crass commer­cialism.  The tree had been cut many years before to make cedar pencils at the factory in Shelbyville, Ten­nessee.

 

James Burns Gowen, born at Lynchburg. Virginia, died at Lynchburg, Tennessee May 14, 1880, is the most fa­mous indi­vidual buried in the Gowen Family Cemetery, but there are many other graves, some marked and some unmarked.  The lo­cation is 4½ miles north of Lynch­burg, Tennessee on the Wise­man Road between Ander­son Hollow and Bedford Hollow--in God's Country.

 

Other family members resting there whose graves are marked include:

 

Individual              Birth              Death        

James J. Gowen          Dec 29, 1847           Feb 4, 1922    

    Son of James Burns Gowen

Permelia E. Gowen         Jul 24, 1843         Jun 15, 1934    Wife

Albert Parks Gowen           Nov 26, 1879          Aug 17, 1956   Son

Eleanor M. Wiseman           Nov. 1790               Mar 3, 1891 100 yrs.

James Stone            Sep 5, 1799         June 27, 1876

Margaret Stone           Nov 19, 1804          Oct 8, 1882

Sarah Gowen Baxter           Sept 20, 1849          Nov 28, 1882

    Dau. of William P. Gowen

Mattie Baxter              Jan 24, 1874        Jun 7, 1875  daughter

Billie Gowan               Apr 6, 1872         May 12, 1874

    Son of L. Watson Gowan

L. Watson Gowan          Oct 30, 1847           Nov 12, 1923

    Son of William P. Gowen

Rebecca N. Gowan            Mar 25, 1846           Feb 29, 1876  

    Wife of L. Watson Gowan

Earnest L. Driver         May 2, 1878        Mar 12, 1882

    Son of T. N. Driver

Ora Gowen [twin]           Apr 29, 1890           Apr 6, 1892

Ola Gowen [twin]           Apr 29, 1890           Jun 29, 1990

B. F. Bedford             Mar 10, 1828           Oct 25, 1902

    Husband of Nancy G. Bedford  

Nancy Bedford               Oct ‑‑, 1839        Aug 22, 1885

    Dau. of Matthew P. Gowen

Lucy Beatrice Bedford        Aug 26, 1874          Oct 17, 1878

Sydney Pauline Jane Bedford  Dec 12, 1887           Feb 20, 1870

    [dates reversed?]

T. R. Cunningham          Jul 3, 1858           Feb. 14, 1880

William Floyd             Feb. 13, 1820          Jul 11, 1905

Sallie Gowen Floyd            May 22, 1823          Oct. 25, 1889

    Dau. of James Burns Gowen

 

Many unmarked graves also occupy the Gowen Ceme­tery.  Miss Grace Mullins who occupied the old home of James Burns Gowen in 1960 wrote that Matthew Price Gowen, son of James Burns Gowen who was born May 14, 1814. died May 2, 1861 at the age of 47 and was buried in an unmarked grave in the Gowen Family Cemetery.  Matthew Price Gowen was married in Lin­coln County October 27, 1850 to Laoma Mullins, his second wife.  The assistance of all researchers and fam­ily members is requested in the identification of other individuals buried here in unmarked graves."

 

Children born to James Burns Gowen and Annie Price Gowen include:

 

    Elizabeth Gowen             born December 11, 1808

    Shadrach Gowen            born February 2, 1810

    Harriet Gowen            born November 13, 1811

    Matthew Price Gowen     born May 14, 1814

    Annie Gowen                  born December 26, 1817

    Sarah R. Gowen             born May 22, 1823

    William Price Gowen      born November 22, 1824

    Thomas Richard Gowen     born September 17, 1828

 

Children born to James Burns Gowen and Lucy Emory Gowen include:

 

    Annie Gowen [second]       born February 26, 1842

    Temperance Gowen            born February 4, 1844

    James Harvey Gowen      born December 28, 1847

    Matilda Isbell Gowen      born April 12, 1850

    Isham Burns Gowen           born May 8, 1852

    Joseph F. Gowen               born October 22, 1854

    Franklin Gowen              born in 1855

    Frances Gowen              born November 29, 1856

    Laura Katherine Gowen       born May 28, 1858

    Benjamin Emory Gowen     born March 14, 1860

 

Elizabeth Gowen, oldest child of James Burns Gowen and An­nie Price Gowen, was born December 11, 1808 in Bedford County.  Mildred Evelyn Royal Ayres, a descendant shows the date of birth as December 16, 1808 in Williamson County.  She was married about 1828 to Daniel Brown who was born in Georgia September 3, 1814 to James J. Brown and Nancy M. Brown.  He died December 25, 1852 in Lin­coln County, and she died there March 28, 1879, according to the bible of Elbert Franklin Brown, her son.

 

Each child of Daniel Brown and Elizabeth Gowen Brown was named after one of her brothers and sisters:

 

    James Brown                  born about 1830

    Ann Brown                 born about 1833

    Elbert Franklin Brown     born February 14, 1835

    Isom Brown                   born about 1836

    William Brown                born about 1837

    Harriett Brown                born about 1839

    Sarah Brown                   born about 1842

 

James Brown, son of Daniel Brown and Elizabeth Gowen Brown, was born in Lincoln County about 1830.  He was mar­ried about 1850 to Frances "Fannie" Welch.  He died about three years later. 

 

Children born to James Brown and Frances "Fannie" Welch Brown include:

 

    William Brown            born about 1851

    Ella Brown                  born about 1853

 

William Brown, son of James Brown and Frances "Fannie" Welch Brown, was born about 1851.  A son, William Brown, Jr. was born to him September 28, 1870. 

 

William Brown, Jr, son of William Brown, was born Septem­ber 28, 1870 in Franklin County, Tennessee.  He was married November 17, 1889 to Tacie Ervin who was born February 11, 1872 at Lynchburg.  William Brown, Jr. died August 1, 1954 at Tullahoma, Tennessee.  She died there August 3, 1960.

 

Children born to them include:

 

    Eva Brown                         born about 1891

    Floy Brown                        born April 23, 1893

    Margie Brown                     born about 1894

    James Brown                          born about 1896

    Lillie Brown                        born about 1898

    Kathryn Brown                       born about 1900

    Mamie Brown                     born about 1903

    Ella Brown                         born about 1906

 

Eva Brown, daughter of William Brown, Jr. and Tacie Ervin Brown, was born about 1891.  She died unmarried.

 

Floy Brown, daughter of William Brown, Jr. and Tacie Ervin Brown, was born April 23, 1893 at Lynchburg.  On Septem­ber 24, 1921 she was married to Robert Lynn Jakoway who was born at Trenton, Georgia.  He died July 26, 1960.

 

Children born to them include:

 

    Nancy Ward Jakoway         born November 2, 1923

    Margie Jakoway                  born about 1925

    Sid Jakoway                       born about 1928

 

Nancy Ward Jakoway, daughter of Robert Lynn Jakoway and Floy Brown Jakoway, was born November 2, 1923 at Lynch­burg.  She was married April 6, 1946 to Charles C. Waddle.  In 1947 and in 1989 they lived at Oklahoma City.  During that pe­riod she did outstanding work as a historian of the Es­kridge and Brown families.  She died in 1990. 

 

Children born to them include:

 

    Charles C. Waddle, Jr.            born August 24, 1947

    Elizabeth Diane Waddle      born June 20, 1953

 

Charles C. Waddle, Jr, son of Charles C. Waddle and Nancy Ward Jakoway Waddle, was born in Oklahoma City .  He was a veteran of military service in Viet Nam.

 

Elizabeth Diane Waddle, daughter of Charles C. Waddle and Nancy Ward Jakoway Waddle, was born June 20, 1953 in Ok­lahoma City and died nine days later.

 

Margie Brown, daughter of William Brown, Jr. and Tacie Ervin Brown, was born about 1894.  She was married about 1912 to Billie Driver.

 

James Brown, son of William Brown, Jr. and Tacie Ervin Brown, was born about 1896.

 

Lillie Brown, daughter of William Brown, Jr. and Tacie Ervin Brown, was born about 1898.  She was married about 1918 to Floyd Tipps.  Children born to them include:

 

    Josephine Tipps                     born about 1920

    Jean Tipps                             born about 1922

    Billie Tipps                         born about 1924

    Bobbie Tipps                         born about 1927