Rowley Tales

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window dressing Rowley Genealogy

Following is an excerpt of Chapter 2 of book "Golden Rowley Collection":
by Irene Rowley, April 10, 2003.

Descendents of Daniel Rowley born 1720- Was he a wise land dealer, or a wily land squatter?

Daniel Rowley was a farmer and pioneer, born 1720 Mar 12, CT New London Colchester, and died about 1799. He was a pioneer who seized land opportunities in newly opened areas, and left a long list of about 30 land purchases and land swaps on record in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York. This does does not count land deals that he may have made off the public record. The amount of land he purchased, 10-200 acres at a time on the frontier, make him appear rich by today's standards. However, in Colonial times, the laws were written to favor the white man, and to give him the power of the land by making it free or very cheap on the frontier. The frontier land that Daniel that dealt with was uncultivated, and would take hard work to squeeze some sustenance from, if it could sustain him and his thirteen children at all. We must assume some winters were harsh, and some seasons had illness or natural disasters which wiped out his earnings, and made him backtrack to safer places. For instance, we know that he gave up his venture to run a hotel in Great Barrington in 1768, to return to Richmond, when his second wife Jemima, died. In summary, I think Daniel could be called a pioneer land speculator, more than a pioneer farmer.

Childhood and First Marriage:
Daniel was the fourth generation of Rowleys living in East Haddam. His birth is recorded with his brothers and sisters in Colchester, although he was raised in East Haddam:

"Daniel Son of Moses Rowley jr. and Martha his wife was born March 12th Day Anno Domini 1720 in Colchester. (East Haddam Land Records, volume 3, page 16.)

He resided in Moodus as a young man, which was a section of East Haddam. At age 20, he married Miss Bethiah Langrell in the Goshen Village Congregational Church of Lebanon, Windham County, where she had been baptized and raised.

Lebanon was a neighboring town of Haddam and Colchester. After the Langrell marriage, Lebanon became the moral center, or hub for the family, as I shall describe later. Lebanon was settled 20 years before the Windham county lines were organized in 1726. In that year 1726, taxes were assessed showing Lebanon was a flourishing town with a value of 13,875 pounds, just before the Langrells arriving in the 1730s. This is remarkably higher than "Windham the leading town of north east Connecticut, the undisputed county seat" with 10,709 pounds. Unfortunately, Lebanon was technically (if lines on maps mattered) a "border town" and later annexed to New London County. (Lebanon is currently located in the northern part of New London County, Connecticut, just to the east of Colechester.) So, Lebanon only gets an honorable mention in Windham County History books, although I think it deserves a great deal more explanation...

window dressing Genealogy:

Daniel Rowley, farmer, pioneer, was born 1720 Mar 12, CT New London Colchester to Moses Rowley a descendent of Pilgrim Henry Rowley; married (1) Bethiah Langrell, 1745 Jan 24, CT New London Lebanon Goshen Second Congregational Church known as "The Round Top Meeting House"; married (2) Jemima Parsons, 1751/2 estimate; married (3) 1768-1769, Rachel _____. Church membership: Congregational Church, Oblong Society. Military: One descendent claimed he fought for NY in the American Revolution (I have not proven definitively).

Residence (from U.S. Census):
1790 - New York, Columbia County, New Canaan Township
He died 1799 estimate. (Sources: Birth: A101, M009, M197; Marriage: A085, A101, A103, A131, B114, B197, M009, M113, M115, M197; Land Records: A086, A087, A122, A124, A125, A126, A127, A129, A130, A131, A132, A145; Biography: M197; Other References: A101, A120, B123, B124 v. 4 p. 56, B128, B132, B138, B197, M113, M169.)

First Wife:

Bethiah (Langrell) Rowley, was born 1725 Oct 7, MA Plymouth Duxbury, a, daughter of Joseph Langrell (a weaver) and Mary Thomas (a Mayflower descendent from Richard Warren) of Plymouth, MA: Her father Joseph first owned land in Plymouth (township), 1722-1723, but sold it and moved to Duxburough (aka Duxbury, also in Plymouth County), from 1723-1731 where the Thomas family resided. Through his wife, Joseph also owned some land in Marshfield of the same county. About 1731-2, the Langrells became pioneers in Lebanon (of Windham and New London Counties, CT.), joining the Goshen Congregational Church. Bethiah lived in Lebanon thereafter. Church membership: Congregational Church of Goshen, CT. She was "admitted with full communion" in this church in 1742. She died 1750 May 8, CT New London Colchester, probably of childbirth, and is buried in the Colchester Old Burying-Ground (Colchester, CT). (Sources: Birth: (A102), B197, M004, M009; Marriage: A085, A101, A103, B114, B197, M009, M115; Death: A105, B197, CM001; Burial: CM001; Other References: A103, A159; M004, M008, M052, M168; see also father's probate and biography: A158, B197 p. 56-63.)

children of first wife:

Second Wife:

Jemima (Parsons) Rowley, was born 1725-1735 estimate, daughter of Timothy Parsons and Mary Robinson, of Durham, CT, baptized 1735 Apr 27, CT Middlesex Durham; died 1769 estimate. (Sources: Baptized: M101, M115; Other References: A120, B197, M113.)

children of second wife:

Third Wife:

Rachel _____ Rowley. Since she is only mentioned in Canaan, New York, and not in Orwell, VT, I think she must have died before the land agreement of 1795. (Sources: Marriage: A131, M009; Land records: A131, A132.)

children of third wife:

Sources:
1. The church drawing featured on this site is an engraving titled: "The Round Top Meeting House (Restored)", (of Amenia, Dutchess County, NY), and was Daniel Rowley's church in Amenia, NY, where many of his children were baptized. The engraving was printed in the book, History of Duchess County, co. 1877, page 114. 2. Source codes listed come from the book "Golden Rowley Collection." The bibliography will eventually be published.

 

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