Laurens County ScArchives Obituaries.....McGowan, Sr., William November 7, 1866
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Candace (Teal) Gravelle tealtree@comcast.net August 17, 2007, 12:18 pm

"The Abbeville District"
Abbeville, South Carolina

NEWSPAPER Issue of Friday, NOVEMBER 30, 1866

OBITUARY OF WILLIAM McGOWAN, Sr.

Died, at his residence in Laurens District, on Wednesday morning the 7th 
inst.,  William McGOWAN Sr. in the 80th year of his age.


Possessing a vigorous constitution, hardened by life and long toil, he passed 

the period allotted to man and finally, attacked by Congestion of the Brain,  

sunk to rest amidst a large circle of family and friends.  The deceased 

belonged to that sturdy Scoth-Irish race which has gone into every clime of the 

earth, and into some without taking root,  and producing fruit abundant and 

useful, perhaps than could any other race that ever lived;  whose descendants 

are in every state and represented in every legislative council in America.  

Devoted to liberty, because of oppression at home, in that green gale of the 

ocean which amidst all the vicissitudes of life, none of them ever ceased to 

remember as the greenest spot in memory; and they came in large numbers to the 

United States, because they had been taught to believe that it was "the land of 

the free."



The deceased possessed in a large degree, all the characteristics of that 

remarkable race;  vigor of body and mind, frankness, generosity, fidelity, 

impulse, sentiment and heart, giving an appreciation and fondness for poetry, 

and at the same time, the amibition for practical sucesss which induces 

industry, economy and thrift.



The deceased was born near Lough Neigh, County Antrim, Ireland in March 1786 

and for one in his unpretending sphere, his life was an eventful one.  His 

final thoughts were about an unsuccessful struggle for independence in the Old 

World, and his last about a like struggle even in the New World. 



His father, Patrick McGowan, belonged to the patriotic party of "United 

Irishmen" in this sort of struggle for liberty in the year 1798.  The writer 

has often heard from the lips of the deceased, that , during the uprising, his 

father was out with the pikemen and he, being a boy, was carried by an elder 

sister, still living, when the village of Randalstown was burned and the family 

had to fly from the red coats of Lord Cornwallis.  Power triumphed over the 

disorganized patriotism, and that rebellion was crushed. Then came, in their 

course, all the expedients for making treason odious; proscriptions ?  and the 

dungeon, exile and the gibbet ?  Some members of the family, particularly an 

Uncle Robert, were severely punished as traitors to the Goverment of Great 

Britain and the dissentions in the country, growing out of the insurrection and 

connected with the question of "Union", which arose soon after, making it 

disagreeable and unsafe to remain in his native land.



Patrick McGowen, the father, determined to seek a new home in America.  Without 

the aid of anyone, it was no small matter to cross the ocean.  After many 

disappointments, he sailed from Belfast in the Fall of 1800 but the good 

brig "Sollie" sprank a leak and had to put back to Cork for repairs.  Here, he 

suffered much in person and purse, but finally reembarked his household goods 

and sailed again and reached Charleston, South Carolina, in May 1801, with his 

family, consisting of his wife and four children, three daughters and the 

deceased, an only son, then a lad of thirteen.  Starting from Charleston they 

went to Laurens district, where an elder brother John had previously settled.  



On the second day out, their father sickened and suddenly died, leaving the 

widowed mother and three sisters mainly dependent on the youthful exertions of 

the deceased.  Penniless, friendless, foreigners, strangers in a strange land, 

they made their way up to the genial hills of Cane Creek and the deceased 

commenced his life near the spot where he died.



In the course of a few years he married and reared a large family of children, 

some of them survive to tell the desolation occasioned  by his departure, and 

to mourn his loss.  HIs life was one of unremitting hardships, not for himself 

but for his family.  He was devoted to his children and seemed to regard it as 

the chief object of his life to elevate their condition and make them 

comfortable, respectable and happy.  Feeling keenly the want of an education 

himself, he spared no pains nor expense in giving them the best opportunity the 

country afforded.  



*NOTE: A large paragraph on the obituary is not legible due to poor quality 

filming or poor quality or condition of the newspaper in that section.  The 

next few paragraphs are legible, and thus transcribed. 



But, his children seeking their own way in the world had all left him, and this 

last and fatal blow, coming upon him in his loneliness, prostrated him. 



So marked were the traits of the deceased, that if he had been favored with 

early advantage, he would have been  a great man.  He possessed that without 

which no man in any walk of life ever was great, indomitable will and 

perseverance.  His body was iron, and his character like his person was broad, 

strong and massive.  He never attempted anything in which he did not succeed.  

As a citizen he was public spirited and patriotic.  He loved to read and 

discuss politics and had a decided opinion upon all subjects.



The loss of such a citizen will be felt especially in these times.  As a 

neighbor, no man was more kind and obliging.  He always entertained a strong 

feeling of fellowship with the poor and the needy were never turned away from 

his door hungry.  As a friend, he was kind hearted and faithful and exacting of 

these qualties in return.  As the head of a family, he was energetic and 

untiring.  He cared nothing for himself, but all for those dependent upon him.  

Under an exterior apparently stern, he carried a heart as warm as ever beat in 

the breast of man.  Its value is only fully known when lost.



He was a strong believer in the christian religion as revealed in the 

scriptures. He labored hard, amidst the engagements, perplexities and the 

passions of life, to be a worthy professor and gave evidence in his latter days 

that in leaving this world, he has gone "where the wicked cease from troubling 

and the weary are at rest."



As the autumn paled the sun and tinged the forest with gold, he gave evidence 

of the fall of a leaf, and at the approach of his eightieth winter, he knew 

that his race was run, declared his willingness to go, gathered his children 

within reach and laid down his stout frame and died.  Peace be to the kind 

generous soul.  No one has more reason to be thankful for your many labors of 

love than he, who in spirit, still lingers over the grave.  May the turf grow 

green and the sod press gently on it.

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