Dear Descendant, Here's Number Two

Hi Descendant,

I know I promised you five ancestors that I'd like to meet and the reasons why. So, here goes. I'm going to pick number two from the list on my last post (you can find it here in case you didn't bookmark it).

Let me start by saying that number 2, Richard "Dick" Stowers (1796-1875)  may or may not be kin. Before you let yourself think it, he's not a brick wall. I can find his siblings (at least some of them) and his parents. Coleman Asberry is my foam wall.  I call it foam because I don't think it will take much to come crashing through it if you or I can just find the records.  The connections are linked by very good circumstantial evidence.  I am able to trace Dick, as he was known locally, back to Ann Asbury (1750- ) and Samuel Stowers (1740-1786) of the Revolution (the one for Independence from England) and beyond.  Ann and Samuel Stowers were his grandparents.

Ann is an interesting find. Folks researching her on Ancestry.com can't decide if she's named Ann, Anna, or Susannah or the one that really cracks me up, Anna Susannah.  Nothing like being decisive.  I'm surprised that if Ann is her name she would have a sister named Anne. This second Ann  (1753-1810) married Robert Lyne/Lynn/ Lynne. Maybe someday I'll figure it out and maybe you will have to do that. All I know is that I'm interested in Anna/Susannah/Whatever Her Name Really Is because she was Dick Stowers grandmother. Proven. It's a fact. Take it to the bank. Of her siblings, I can place Thomas, Frances (female known as "Franky") and the descendants of Joseph Asbury in Pendleton, Bourbon, and Harrison Counties. Our dear grandfather, Coleman (1780-1859) was also living near and with some of those folks and their descendants who lived in Pendleton County. He interacted with them by having them as witnesses on important paperwork, borrowing money from them, and more. Again, all circumstantial, I understand but I hope you agree, compelling. Heck, Grandpa is likely living with Dick in the 1840 census. Look at it and see what you think.  On this basis, I say Dick Stowers is related somehow.  My personal opinion, worth nothing, is that Coleman's father is Joseph and his mother the first wife that history has forgotten. See what you think.

Anyway, here goes why Dick Stowers is a relative that I'm interested in talking with. (If you can't read one of the documents, just click on it. I checked it out and they can easily be read.)

Dick Stowers

1780-1859

Richard Stowers was born in Loudon County, Virgina on 14 Aug 1796. As far as my "proven" research goes, he is at least the second child in his family. His brother, William, was born in 1790.  With an age gap like that, I suspect that Dick was more like a third or fourth child but, to date, I've not proven it.  His parents were William Stowers and Amelia Smith, daughter of Temple and Lydia Lane Smith.   Amelia died about 1817.  

I stumbled on this little bit in the Dance Family file of E.E. Barton at the Pendleton County Library and I have questions. 

This is what I used as evidence for Coleman Asberry living with him in the 1840 census (and of course, the Census itself.).  I want to know why Grandpa Coleman was living with him and when he came there to live exactly. I suspect he went there after the death of the second wife but I don't know just when she died. Maybe Dick could tell me that and maybe he could tell me if she died of cholera as stated in the Barton file on the Asbury/ Asberry families. I want to know when and why he left, as well.  He was living with LaFayette Jones at the time of his death. A court case (more like a family brawl) indicated that Coleman "knew he couldn't live with any of his children". So just how did he wind up at the Jones' home? I also want to know if Coleman was acting as his overseer? Did this "farming" that he was doing with Dick really mean that the slaves were farming and Coleman was making sure it was done and Dick was telling them what to do? Or did they work alongside the slaves, as some claimed to have done?

Then, I want to know ALL about this house of his. This article appeared in the Falmouth Outlook on 26 Aug 1927.

I want to know just how much corn got shucked in that hall. I want to know if that was common practice or if most people shucked corn in a barn.  Seems messy to me.  I also want to know how many people attended dances there. 12 x 33 feet doesn't really seem like a lot of room for a bunch of dancing people.  I really like that he was described in this article. Would he agree with that description? Everything I've seen, except this article, says he was born in Virginia. I'd like him to set that straight even though I think my sources are pretty darned good on this matter.  According to William Stowers' (his father) will, Dick got a buck and so did his brothers. His deceased brother, Samuel, received a buck to be divided among his children. Even back then, I bet they could spend that in one place! This article indicates that Dick inherited this land.  From the Dance paper, it can be inferred that he was living on the land as a child. I suspect he acquired the land when his father moved to Missouri sometime around 1836.  I want him to clear that up. It seems a bit murky to me. I doubt he bought it from the estate with that buck he got. So did he buy it from his father and just when did it become his?

 And speaking of 1836, I want to know why Dick bought land in Missouri, three parcels within a few days at that.  I'm just curious about this. I don't find anything indicating that he ever lived there not even for a short time. Was it an investment? Did he buy it for someone else? If he'd satisfy my curiosity, I wouldn't have to go to Missouri or hire someone to research this. 

I would also ask him why he didn't remarry after his wife's death.  They were only married ten years when she died.  She never lived in that grand house.  His oldest child, David, was only eight years old when his mother died. I didn't find Dick or his children in the KY Census in 1830 and I didn't find them in Missouri in 1830. Where was he? Were the children with him? The boys were with him in 1840 but Mary, his only daughter, wasn't and she was only 13 years old.  Where was she? The obituary for his son, William, indicates that William was educated at Oxford. Is this so? If so, when did William attend? What was William's handicap? I know it was a bum leg but just what was wrong with it?  Was it from an accident or from birth? 

I really am dying to know why he joined the Know Nothing Party.  He has some explaining to do there. I wonder if he liked politics a little bit or a whole lot. I'd ask him that as well. Besides this, he was selected as a delegate to the state convention, as a member of the Democratic party. I suspect he like politics. But why the Know Nothings? Why?

 Louisville Daily Courier, Louisville, KY 30 May 1855

Now comes the issue of slavery. Dick owned slaves. Most, if not all, of the pre-Civil War Census, his household is outnumbered by his slaves. I would like to ask him if he ever feared an uprising and why or why not.  I want to know if there were patrollers in the area and if so, I'd ask him to name them. I'm curious about that and can't find anything regarding patrollers around here. Did the constables perform this duty? I would also ask if any of his slaves ran away and if so, did he try to get them back.  I found this transcription of a record in which he emancipated his slave, Samuel, and posted a $1,000 bond in doing so. I'd like to know why he emancipated Samuel and if he emancipated others.  I'm particularly interested if he lost any slaves while he was at Camp Chase early in the Civil War. What was it like after the Civil War? Was the community divided? What was his relationship with his former slaves after the War?  How many of his former slaves stayed in the area? How many stayed on with him?  I want to know what the goal was of the Border Slave State Conference, if it even happened, if it did happen what did they accomplish, and what he believed they should have accomplished. From the rest of the article, they opposed neutrality. I get that. What I want to know was if they discussed the slavery issue and what to do about it.

Louisville Daily Courier, Louisville, KY 19 Apr 1861

I would also ask Dick what Camp Chase was like. I've not confirmed his presence there. I saw it in the Barton papers but after reading the article above, I'm sure he was. It stops just short of calling him a Southern sympathizer. I would like to know how he got his taxes paid while he was there. Who handled his money?  His federal taxes were paid every year.  Did he take the Oath? I read somewhere that he stayed there the entire war. Is this so? I want to ask him about his son, David. David fought in the Confederate Army and was wounded. He came home and about ten years later, he died from something relating to his injury. I'd like to know more about that injury. His record doesn't say. 

Then I'd like to ask him about the 1870 Census. In his household were his son, William, three grandsons, his half-brother & his wife and four blacks- the Webbs; Samuel and Mary and the Stowers'; Robert and Cisele.  Who were the Webbs?  Husband and wife? Siblings? and where did they come from? How much did he pay them? Samuel is listed as farm hand and Mary a house servant.  Robert and Cisele are about as old as Dick; they are listed as servants.  How long had Robert been with him? Did he and Cisele leave after the emancipation and then come back or did they stay on? What did he pay them? Did they stay there until they died? If so, where are they buried? How did he justify being a church going man and owning slaves? What was his relationship with Robert and Cisele like before and after emancipation?

I'd like to know if he thought he was a good father. It couldn't have been that easy to be left with children to raise even if he had the house slaves to help. Would he say he was indulgent? Why did he disinherit William?

I'd like to know if he and my grandfather, Jacob, were close.  Jacob Asbury was Coleman's son and I have seen his name and Dick Stowers name on legal documents together enough to suspect they were. Dick was one of the witnesses to Jacob's death-bed will in 1856. He went to Colemansville to witness it. I'd like to ask him what really happened at Day's Saloon that caused my grandfather to be killed. The papers tell differing stories. I want him to set it straight.  I want to know what Jacob was like. What did he look like? Was he funny? Was he friendly? How did Coleman react to his death? What was Delilah, Jacob's wife like? What did she look like? Was she a good cook? Was she pretty?

I want to know more about his responsibilities as a board member of the KCRR. What was his position on that board and what did it entail? I want to know if he actually ran Stowers Station or did one of  his sons? 

And then I'd like to get his opinion on the Cemetery at the Morgan Church, the one he's buried in. What caused him to donate land for the church? I assume it was because he was a member of the church and they needed a place to build.  Am I right?  What does he think of the stones being removed and a playground being built over his and others graves? If he's ok with it, then I will make myself be ok with it. But if he's not, well that's a different story.

Lastly, I want to know what I'm doing wrong. Dick Stowers was definitely a civic minded individual. How did he find the time to do all that he did? He was a representative to the state legislature, active in his church, served on committees, and then he was a business man. He operated the rail station and served on the railroad board. I know he didn't do it all at one time but still there were overlaps. It seems like he squeezed 36 hours into 24 and I need to do that. Any instruction he can give, I'm willing to take.