Interesting and Quirky Rowland Ancestors

Not all Rowland ancestors qualify as being famous, although many have stories that are extremely interesting or downright quirky. Here are a few of those stories. Let us know if you have additional ones.

Becoming Cheyenne

William Rowland (1832-1901) was a white man who married a Cheyenne woman named Sis Frog and then assimilated himself into the Cheyenne tribe. They migrated from the Nebraska Territory to the Wyoming Territory, eventually settling on the Tongue River Reservation of Montana. Many of their children married Cheyenne, and their grandchildren did the same.

In the 1933 and 1936 census of Native Americans, some of William’s great-grandchildren still carried the Rowland name and were identified as being 7/8ths Cheyenne.

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All In The Family

Nearly every genealogist comes across an instance where cousins with the same surname have married each other. Well, the descendants of John Rowland Jr, born about 1777 in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, took it a step further. Included among the six or more incidents of his descendants inter-marrying, Zachariah Taylor Rowland married his second cousin, Libbie Lee Rowland, about 1908. They had a daughter Harriett Ellen Rowland. Harriet then married her second cousin, William Douglas Rowland, in 1929. Later that year, Harriett gave birth to Audrey Marie Rowland, resulting in three of Audrey’s four grandparents having the surname of Rowland. Audrey never married, thus ending this peculiar chain of events. Additionally, Audrey’s 3x great-grandparents, John Rowland Jr and Nancy Tucker, appear in her family tree three times.

The Great Locomotive Chase

Major John Sharpe Rowland (1795-1863) was Superintendent of the Western & Atlantic Railroad at the time that Andrew’s Raiders stole The General from Big Shanty, Georgia. “The Great Locomotive Chase” ensued ending in their capture just 2 miles north of Ringgold, Georgia.

He purchased land in Cass County (now Bartow), Georgia in 1839 and built a sizeable plantation of over 2,500 acres which was called “Etowah Valley”. In 1843, he purchased over 2,500 acres in Cass County (Bartow) and, in addition to his already successful plantation, built the most exclusive resort in the state of Georgia – Rowland Springs.

His title of “Major” is an honorary designation for his many accomplishments and contributions to the Confederacy and the state of Georgia.

Big Love

John Crawford Rowland (1811-1886) had two common-law wives…at the same time…and they were real sisters — not just “sister wives.” The sisters were Serena and Emily Blansett, with Serena being about seven years the elder. They lived together in Macon County, Missouri, and together produced 11 children. Serena was the biological mother to six, while Emily was the mother to five, and the births were all intertwined. Serena gave birth to the first three between 1836 and 1840 before Emily had her first in 1842. They alternated for a few years with Serena’s last child being born in 1850, and Emily having one more (her fifth and final) a few years later. They were all living together in the 1850 census, but Serena was not enumerated in the 1860 census, and she passed away in 1864. John would eventually make an “honest woman” of Emily by “officially” marrying her. All three are buried in the Rowland Cemetery in Anabel, Macon County, Missouri. There is a book entitled “John C Rowland, Missouri Pioneer, and his Kin” by Vaden R Mayers (1963) in the library of the Macon County Historical Society.

First Arrivals…

• North America: Thomas Rowland (1624-1698) is possibly the earliest known Rowland born in North America. He was born in 1624 at Springfield, Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay according to his profile. If true, then his parents were the earliest known arrivals in North America. However, his profile lacks sources. Elizabeth (Rowland) Thornton (1627-1655) is another contender for the first Rowland born in North America at the Colony and Dominion of Virginia. She is believed to be the daughter of John Rowland and Margaret Bailey.
• Australia: Margaret Maria (Rowland) MacGowan (1833-1871) is the earliest known Rowland born in Australia. Her parents are unknown, but they would have arrived before that date. Margaret’s life had a tragic ending. She was “speared by a native.”
• Africa: Mary Ann Rowland (1848-1905) is the earliest known Rowland born in Africa. She was born in 1848 at Cape of Good Hope, South Africa. Her father is unknown, but her mother, Harriet (Seward) Rowland, is listed as having died in England. putting Mary Ann’s African birth in question.
• Asia and South America: unknown

Centenarians

William Alfred “Al” Rowland (1912-2017) was born in Kansas City, Jackson, Missouri, served in the US Navy during World War II, and passed away in Raytown, Missouri at the age of 104 in 2017.

Nancy Kay (Rowland) Sensabuagh-Ketron (1874-1977) was born in Hawkins County, Tennessee and passed away 103 years later in neighboring Sullivan County, Tennessee. She outlived two husbands and all 14 of her siblings. She is mentioned in “The 84 Grandchildren of David M Rowland and Phoebe A Vaughn.”

Sallie Osie (Rowland) Brown (1890-1994) was born in Boone County, Missouri and passed away 103 years later in Florida.

Dorothy Naomi (Rowland) Josey (1913-2016) was born in Carroll County, Georgia and passed away in Dublin, Laurens County, Georgia at the age of 103.

Nancy Edna (Rolen) Proffitt (1899-2001) was born in Sevier County, Tennessee and passed away in Cocke County, Tennessee when she was 101 years old.

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