Who Were the Parents of
Christopher Roberson Rowland?
For the past few years, a beautifully framed old
photograph has hung in the home of my parents, Eudora Virginia Williams and the
late Rev. Reuben L. Leslie, Sr. For as
long as I can remember before that, it hung in the front bedroom of the home of
my grandparents, William Samuel Leslie and Margaret Gertrude Ramage Leslie,
where the ancient couple in the photograph were probably identified to me many
times before I understood by my aunt, Eva Leslie Hosey, who cared for my
grandparents. These two serene faces
belong to my great-great-grandparents, Christopher Roberson Rowland and Isabella Blakely Rowland.
Family Bible records of Aunt Eva provided a wealth
of detail about the couple and their descendants, and much has been discovered
about their lives and female side ancestors.
C.R. was born 14 Sept. 1813 and died 2 December 1887. Isabella was born 8 October 1811 and died 7
December 1881. The couple married in
1836, and they had nine children: Elizabeth
Catherine (b. 1837), Nancy Mary (b. 1839), Aurelia Jane (b. 1840), Margaret
Isabella (b. 2 May 1842, d. 8 June 1920), William Lowers (b. 1844), Rosanna
Florella (b. 1846), Melissa Ophelia (b. 1848), Robert Thomas (b. 1850), and
Elbert Calhoun (b. 1853). Isabella
Blakely was daughter of William Blakeley, Sr., (b. 12 May 1760, d. 1845 in
Laurens, SC) and Nancy Boyd (b. 12 February 1781, d. 12 May 1844). Isabella’s father William was son of John
Blakeley (1718-1798) and his wife (m. 1742) Rachel Orr (1725-1814). Isabella’s father’s will named nine children
including Isabella. C.R. Rowland left
many documents with details about his life.
He was born, lived (entirely as far as I can tell) and died in South
Carolina, apparently residing only in Laurens County where he is buried. Some time before 1858 he was made an elder
in the Rocky Springs Presbyterian Church near Laurens, where his wife’s father
and brothers were among the first elders, and he and his wife are buried in the
churchyard. He is named in US Census
for Laurens County from 1840 (as Roberson) to1880, and his estate settlement in
1889 was occasion for a return from “exile” in Arkansas by daughter, Isabella (see
more below).
But where did Christopher Roberson Rowland come
from? Who were his parents? Was C.R. Rowland’s mother the 65-year-old Elizabeth who lived in
his household in 1850? Was C.R.
Rowland’s mother’s maiden name Roberson/Robertson/Robison? Was C.R. known by his initials because his
father’s name was also Christopher Roberson Rowland? Was C.R. the grandson of the Christopher Rowland (1-1-4-0-0 in
1790 US Census, Laurens Co., SC) whose will was probated in 1806 in Livingston
County, KY (wife: Anna, children Lewis, John B., Henry, Reuben Jr., Micajah,
Mary Bush and Lydia)? Was he the
grandson of or otherwise related to either Reuben Rowland (3-3-7-0-4 in 1790 US
Census, Laurens Co., SC) or John Rowland, preacher candidates at nearby Lower
Duncan’s Creek Church in 1792 (Pope, p. 87)?
How was he kin, if at all, to the Rowland/Roland/Rolin households in US
Census, Laurens Co., SC: in 1800,
Ezekiel, Henry B., Rev. John, Lewis, and Mary; in 1810, E.S., Mary and Henry;
in 1820, Robert, Matthew and Ezekiel; in 1830, James, Doc. E.L., Henry B.,
Robert, and John B.; and in 1840, James, Joseph, Harriett, Ezekiel, Letttison,
and William? Did C.R. Rowland have
siblings, and if so, who were they? Was
Martha Rowland, wife of George F. Wolff, the founder of Bingen, AR, C.R.’s
sister? How did C.R. and his wife
Isabella cope with the turbulent times of Reconstruction and “Redemption” in
Laurens County that saw the new husband of their daughter Margaret Isabella,
John Washington Watts Ramage, flee for his life in 1872 to near Bingen,
Arkansas (later sending for his family pictured below in about
1890 with Margaret Gertrude Ramage, at back left and her brother John Roland in
front of her), when falsely accused of and hunted by federal troops for murder
in the infamous Laurens Riot of 1870 (Bell, p. 38)? Corrections, questions, clues and answers (!) are
eagerly awaited.
Some Sources:
Bell,
William Watts. 1932. The State That Forgot: South Carolina’s Surrender to Democracy. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill. *** Jones, F.D. and W.H. Mills, ed. 1926.
History of the Presbyterian Church in South Carolina Since
1850. Columbia, SC. ***
Pope, Thomas H. 1973. The History of Newberry County, South
Carolina, Volume I, 1749-1860. Columbia,
SC.: University of South Carolina
Press. *** US Census (1790-1880),
probate and property records for Laurens Co., SC, and Livingston Co., KY.
*** W.S. and Gertrude Leslie Family
Bible records. *** Interviews, letters and emails with dozens
of cousins and other kin.
Submitted 6 May 2001
by: Reuben Lloyd Leslie, Jr.
12203 Antoinette Place,
Austin, Texas 78727-5334
512 837-6181 rlsd@io.com
(that’s RLSD@IO.COM) and http://www.io.com/~rlsd