Wayne County, NC - Heritage Series Reprinted with permission of the Mount Olive Tribune and cannot be reproduced without permission. Transcribed by Barbara Kawamoto. The McGowan Family "Our Heritage" By Claude Moore The McGowan (later misspelled by some of the descendants using the letter E instead of A) family originated in Scotland, but it is not yet known whether the pioneer ancestor, William McGowan came directly from Scotland or from Northern Ireland where many Scottish families had settled. Deed Book G., Pages 97, New Hanover County records, show that William McGowan, Sr., patented land in New Hanover in 1743 on the Northeast Cape Fear River. He had two sons: George and William, Jr. William McGowan, Jr., purchased a tract of land on Grove Swamp in 1771 north of Highway 24 and between Kenansville and the Northeast River. Later he purchased other tracts including the plantation owned by the Reverend Hugh McAden, the founder of Grove Presbyterian Church. The McGowans were originally Presbyterian. He acquired several slaves. William McGowan, Jr., was born around 1743. He was married in 1769 to Mary Dickson, a daughter of John Dickson (1704-1774), a native of Ireland who migrated to Duplin County around 1740. She was a sister of Colonel William Dickson, a prominent political figure in Duplin and the author of the Dickson Letters. William and Mary McGowan had the following children: John, William III, Edward, Robert, James, Michael, Joseph, David (died young), George (1788-1817) and Alexander. John McGowan (b. 1771) married Mary Molton, the daughter of Colonel John Molton of Duplin. He served as one of the executors of his father’s will in 1792, but we have no further record of him. William McGowen III (1772-1860) began to spell his name with an E, and he was married in 1799 to Mary Pearsall (1772-1829) and lived on a plantation in Duplin. Their children were: William; John; Edward; Kitty; Nancy; Susan; Mary; Joseph; Elizabeth; Catherine (1800-1854) who married Lincoln Sheffield; Zilpha (born 1802); and James Pearsall McGowen (1805-1860) who married Jane Stokes and lived in Duplin. They were the great-grandparents of the late Faison W. McGown (1903-1974) who wrote the Duplin history called The Flashes of Duplin. Edward McGowan (son of William, Jr.) is mentioned in his father’s will. We find him living in New Hanover County in 1820. He may have married a Miss Starkey of Onslow County. He had at least one son, Edward Starkey McGowan (1829-1863) who married in 1853 to Julia Styron and had two sons, Edward Starkey McGowan, Jr., and William McGowan. Edward Starkey McGowan served in Company A of the 35th N.C. Regiment from Onslow County and died in 1863 as a result of wounds received in battle; and two daughters, Susan and Agnes. Edward S. McGowan, Jr. (1860-1938) married Martha Elizabeth Rhodes, a daughter of Ivey and Clara Rhodes of Onslow County. They lived at Masonboro Sound near Wilmington and had the following children: Clara, Edward, Martha, Amanda, Maude (still living, age 90, Delmar (1905-1976). Robert McGowen (son of William, Jr.) mentioned in a letter in 1784 and was an adult when his father died in 1792. He married Susannah Hooks, a sister of the famous Mary Hooks Slocumb, Revolutionary heroine from Mount Olive and the Honorable Charles Hooks, a member of Congress. They probably lived in Duplin County. They had at least two sons: William Robert and Thomas Jefferson. William Robert McGowen married Edith Watkins and in 1825 they moved to Sumter County, Alabama. They were the great-grandparents of Lynn, William, Thomas, James and Frances Holmes of Carollton, Georgia. James McGowen (son of William, Jr.) was a soldier in the War of 1812. We have no further record. Joseph McGowen (son of William, Jr.) (1784-1851) married (1) Elizabeth Murdock and had three children; Betsey; Sarah (b. 1817) McGowen Price; and Margaret McGowen Pearsall (b. 1819). After the death of his first wife, Joseph McGowen married Hannah Green Brown of Craven County and they had the following children: John Quincey McGowen, who married Maria Faison; Elizabeth McGowen (1826-1847), who married Thomas Hall; Mary McGowen who married her brother-in-law, Thomas Hall; Julia A. McGowen who married Dr. John Haywood Faison of Turkey; Charles B. McGowen (1835-1864), Confederate soldier, died in the hands of the enemy; and Alexander Dickson McGowen (1835-1915) who married (1) Mrs. Martha Pearsall Rhodes (2) Priscilla E. Rives and lived in Duplin and Sampson. George McGowen (son of William, Jr.) married Mary McIntyre, no further record. Alexander McGowen (son of William, Jr.) (1790-1819) married Cassandra Sloan (1799-1842), a daughter of David Sloan and Eleanor Dickson. They had at least one daughter, Clarissa McGowen (1818-1893), who married Halstead Bourden (Bowden) and had eight children. David and Michael McGowen sons of William McGowen, Jr., died young. Alexander Dickson McGowen and Martha Rhodes had the following children: Hannah McGowen who married John O. Bryan; Lucy Ann McGowen who never married; Charles Dickson McGowen (b. 1869) who married Janie Rivenbark (Robert D. McGowen of Willard is a grandson); Joseph Hill McGowen who married Mary Powers; William Brown McGowen (b. 1872), railroad station master at Turkey for many years, married his distant cousin, Clara McGowan (1883-1945) of Masonboro Sound and they had three sons: William Brown, Edward Dickson and Alexander Dickson; Edward Lofton McGowen (b. 1874) who married Adeline Peacock; Alexander Lloyd McGower married (1) Elizabeth Westbrook and (2) Ada Wallace and Minnie McGowen never married. ============================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. The electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. 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