Name: John McDowell
   Born: Feb 1806
  Place: Greenbrier Co., VA
   Died: 21 Sep 1879
  Place: Upshur Co., WV
 Buried: 
Married: 14 Oct 1828

John McDowell and his wife Anna Curry had the following children. Anna had already given birth to nine children with her previous husband, John Nickell.

John's lineage isn't satisfactorily proven, but all the evidence to date indicates that the elder John McDowell was married three times, the children from the first marriage being excluded from his will. Laten Bechtel is turning up a lot of new information, each new piece neatly fitting the other. But, if nothing else, a positive comparision of a known signature of John's with this 1846 letter may prove the descent.

John's family, without Jane, appears on page 86 of the 1850 census for Lewis county, Virginia.

Page 86:
John McDowell      40 farmer VA
Ann McDowell       55        VA
William McDowell   20        VA
Alexander McDowell 17        VA 

John's widow is listed with their son in 1880:

Banks Dist, Upshur Co:

25/25 McDowell John   47        farmer        VA VA VA
       Margaret       46 wife   keeping house VA VA VA
       Issac N        23 son    student       VA VA VA
       Bruce          21 son    student       VA VA VA
       Melika?        19 dau                  VA VA VA
       Mary           17 dau                  VA VA VA
       Martha         15 dau                  VA VA VA
       Irene?         13 dau                  WV VA VA
       Willie         11 son    farm laborer  WV VA VA
       Jimmie          7 son    at home       WV VA VA
       Annie          85 mother keeping house VA VA VA

I haven't found the Darnells yet on the 1850 census but they are found on page 331 of the 1860 census in Buckhannon, Upshur County (West) Virginia.

Morgan A Darnell      33 m farmer VA
   Jane               28 f wife   VA
   Annie              11 f        VA
   Robert A           10 f [sic]  VA
   Calvin P            7 m        VA
   Wm M                4 m        VA
   Hazell B            2 m        VA
   unnamed infant   2/12 m        VA

Will of John McDowell

Will Book A, page 205, Upshur county WV.

In the name of God, Amen

I John McDowell, of County of Upshur State of West Virginia, being of sound mind and memory, do hereby publish and declare this to be my last will and testament, hereby revoking and making void all former wills by by at any time heretofore made.

First. I order and direct my executors as soon after my decease as practicable to pay off and discharge all the debts dues and liabilities that may exist against at the time of my decease.

Second. I give and bequeath unto Anna McDowell my wife, my mare to be hers while she lives, at her decease, I order and direct said mare to be sold and the proceeds to be expended in purchasing and placing tombstones to my grave and the grave of my wife, my beds and bedding I leave in the hands of my wife to be disposed of at her pleasure.

Third. I give and bequeath unto my son J.A. McDowell my colt, provide however, that he shall pay to Anna my wife part or all the price of said colt, if necessary. I also give to said J.A. McDowell, my book case and books, also my carpenter tools.

Third [sic]. I bequeath unto W.E. McDowell my watch. If said watch cannot be conveyed to him I order said watch to be sold and the proceeds to be conveyed to him.

Fourth. I give and bequeath unto my daughter Jane Darnell my bureau.

I hereby nominate and appoint J.N. Curry and R.A. Herring to be my executors.

In witness and whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name this second day of January A.D. 1879.

                 John McDowell

The above and foregoing instrument was at the date thereof signed, sealed and published and declared by the said John McDowell as and for his last will and testament in presence of us who at his request and in his presence of each other have subscribed our names as witness.

                 John N. Curry
                 Richard A. Herring

John's Origins

The record of John's death is surprisingly complete for its time. His death certificate states that he was born in Greenbrier county, Virginia, 73 years and 7 months prior to his death. It names not only his wife, Anna, who is stated as having provided the information, but also names his parents, J and E McDowell. Additionally, the 1880 Mortality Schedule, listing the birthplace of his father as Ireland.

There are three McDowell families, or households, listed on the 1820 census for Greenbrier county. The household for John Sr had one member enumerated as not a natural citizen (column 11). Additionally, his household has one male and one female listed as being over 45 (born before 1775).

James    100010 20010
John Sr  000111 01101
John Jr  2100?0 3100?

But, then, who was John Jr? Certainly not the same John who died in 1879. However, that is the only household that has a male 10-16. John would have been about 14 at the time.

There is not enough data gathered yet to know for sure whether these are even the McDowells we're looking for. But it looks promising. If John was the son of John Jr there would seem to be a contradiction with the 1880 Mortality Schedule as he is not listed in the 1820 census as "not natural". The informant for the schedule may have confused family history believing the father was from Ireland when, in fact, the grandfather was. On the other hand, if John Jr had been naturalized a US citizen there would be no contradiction between the records at all.

The following 1850 census reading is from page 413 of the 39th District.

John McDowel   63  school teacher  Ireland
  Nancy        37                  Virginia
  Hugh         18  farmer          Virginia
  Alex         16                  Virginia
  Overton C    14                  Virginia
  Elen I       11                  Virginia

I received a photocopy of John McDowell's will, death and estates records in January, 2007. He died at Bradshaw's Run, Monroe county, VA on June 14, 1859. The death record states that he was born in Ireland, the son of John and Easter McDowell. He was 72 years, 3 months and 12? days old. The will names his wife, Elizabeth McDowell, and four children Hugh, Alexander, Overton and what looks like Louisa D.P. McDowell. Robert C Skaggs is appointed executator. There was no son named John McDowell mentioned. However, all the children mentioned were born since 1830. I believe that this same John McDowell is found on the 1820 (see below) with three sons and four daughters. But this John McDowell appears to have been absent for the 1830 and 1840 census.

The 1860 census for Monroe County has the following household:

Alexander McDowell   26      Virginia
  Elizabeth          55      Virginia
  Overton            24      Virginia
  Louisa             16      Virginia

And then this:

Hugh McDowell        35      Virginia
  Nancy              26      Virginia
  John L             1?      Virginia

Paul McDowell states in the McDowell forum that he's "from Connellsville, PA. My great grandfather, Samuel Gaston moved here around 1909. His father was Hugh and Nancy Allen McDowell from around the Monroe County area. His father was John McDowell and, from what I understand was a school teacher in that area."

I came across the following at least 10 years ago but failed to note the name of the book. However, if the book title can be discovered, this article can be found on pages 159-160 under the chapter called Early Log Houses:

The McDowells were Scotch-Irish. John McDowell, the Protestant pioneer, coming from Cork to America in 1784, soon found his way to Greenbrier County and the little district which was "home" to so many of his countrymen--the Irish Corner. He lived in the county fifty-seven years, and his log house still stands high on the hillside two miles south of Ronceverte. It was occupied by his descendants down to the sixth generation. A great grandson. Samuel H. McDowell. not only owned it at one time, but was also the owner of the George Lewis brick house at the foot of Muddy Creek Mountain.

There's no mention as to why John's residency ended 57 years later. I suppose the inference is that he died rather than moved elsewhere. If so, that would place his death in 1841. The histories indicate that the elder John McDowell was a grown man when he arrived in the Irish Corner during the 1780s. When can probably safely assume that he was born ca 1760 making him about 80 when he died. There is a transcription of the 1840 Greenbrier census online but the columns are poorly aligned and I'm unable to reliably interpret it. However, there are two John McDowell households, one of which has only an elderly man and woman in residence.

I lifted the following from http://www.wvculture.org/History/agrext/organcav.html.

In 1784 John McDowell built a home on land about halfway between Organ Cave and Ronceverte. Samuel H. McDowell the fourth generation of the family is the present owner of the farm.

John Erwin came to this locality at an early date. It is not definitely known what year he settled here, however it was previous to 1785 for that year his oldest son, John Erwin Junior was born in a log cabin about three miles northeast of Organ Cave. At the time of his death, John Erwin had about one thousand acres of land. During late years some of this land has changed hands but the farm owned by Samuel N. Erwin is a part of the original grant which has come down to the fifth generation. Samuel N. Erwin's children and grandchild were born on this place, thus making seven generations of the same family to have lived on it.

The following is a list of the surnames of families who were early settlers of Organ Cave Community: Adair, Burdette, Boyd, Boone, Burwell, Curry, Crawford, Dickson, Darnell, Erwin, Eades, Fleshman, Gibson, Humphreys, Holesapple, Honaker, Jackson, Kearns, Level, McDowell, McClure, Miller, Morgan, Patton, Price, Robinson, Rodgers, Sydenstricker, Williams, and White.

Oren Morton in A History of Monroe County, West Virginia, at the end of an article about the Archibald McDowell family (page 379), states

A few other McDowells do not appear to be of the above connection. Henson died 1805, leaving a daughter Mary who married Shared Atkins, 1803. John (1787-1859) was born in Ireland.

That paragraph gives us the dates for a John McDowell who may well have been the John Jr of 1820, the John McDowell of the 1850 census, and the likely father of our John McDowell. I also agree with the notion that he was probably not connected with the other McDowells of the region.

Laten Bechtel states at http://genforum.genealogy.com/mcdowell/messages/2490.html that John McDowell and Jean/Jane Erwin were married 1805 in Greenbrier county. She says elsewhere that Jane's father was probably William Erwin. This is of particular interest to me as my entry into this family is William Erwin McDowell, John's son, born 5 Sep 1830 in Monroe county.

Elsewhere on the same forum, Sue Korp states:

John McDowell was born November 15, 1759 in Ireland, and died December 12, 1841 in Greenbrier Co., VA. He married ESTHER ???. She was born Abt. 1760 in Ireland, and died January 13, 1844 in Greenbrier Co., VA.

If I had my druthers (and I might very well not have) my ahnentafel would look like this:

 28 William Erwin McDowell (1830-1901)
 56 John McDowell (1806-1879)
 57 Anna Curry (1794-1883)
112 John McDowell Jr (1787-1859)
113 Jane Erwin
114 Robert Curry
115 Sarah Jane Young
224 John McDowell Sr (1759-1841)
225 Esther Harrison (1760-1844)
226 William Erwin (-c1804)
227 Mary Erwin
452 John Erwin (-1761)
453 Jane Williams
454 Francis Erwin (1710-c1791)
455 Jane Curry
904 Edward Erwin
905 Frances Francis
908 Edward Erwin
909 Frances Frances
910 William Curry (1690-)
911 Sally Young

Other Data

The following is in a document regarding Reed's Mill at the website for Second Creek, West Virginia: secondcreekwv.tripod.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/reedmill3.pdf

Deed Book A/306 1/17/1804

Archibald McDowell sells some property to John McDowell that joins the property that the mill is on. It states the survey was on 10/4/1791

Shuck's "West Virginia Records", cited below, includes tax lists for 1782 and 1783 but, because there are no Johns, I've not transcribed them here. It does name the following McDowells: Archibald, Daniel, Hanson, Josiah and William.

1786 Tax List Greenbrier County from Greenbrier County West Virginia Records, Volume 2, Larry G Shuck, 1989

                    Tithables  Negroes  Horses  Cattle
William McDowel         1         0       9       16
Archibald McDowell      1         0       5        7
Hanson McDowell         1         0       2        3
John McDowell           1         0       0        0

1788 Tax List Greenbrier County from Greenbrier County West Virginia Records, Volume 2, Larry G Shuck, 1989

                    Tithables  Negroes  Horses  Cattle
Hansen McDowel          1         0       2        0
John McDowel            1         0       0        0
William McDowel         2         0       7        0
Hugh McDowell           1         0       0        0

1792 Tax List Greenbrier County from Greenbrier County West Virginia Records, Volume 2, Larry G Shuck, 1989

                    Tithables  Horses  Negroes
Archibald McDowell      1         6       0
William McDowell        2        11       0
Hanson McDowell         0         1       0
John McDowell           1         0       0

1797 Tax List Greenbrier County from Greenbrier County West Virginia Records, Volume 2, Larry G Shuck, 1989

                       Date  Tithables  Horses  Negroes  Book
Mehibald McDowel1       6/15      1         9       1       1
Robert McDowel         4/8       1         4       0       2
Henson McDowell        4/1       0         2       0       1
John McDowell          4/1       1         0       0       1
John McDowell (Sinks)2  6/29      1         2       0       1
William McDowell       4/25      1         4       0       2

1805 Tax List Greenbrier County from Greenbrier County West Virginia Records, Volume 2, Larry G Shuck, 1989

                Tithables  Horses  Negroes
John McDowell       3        4        0
Robert McDowell     1        7        0
Samuel McDowell     1        1        0

1810 Tax List Greenbrier County from A Supplement to the 1810 Census of Virgina, Netti Schreiner-Yantes

                              Slaves
             White Tithables  over 12  Horses
John Arwin         1             0        1
Mary Arwin         0             1        5
James Curry        1             0        4
Oliver Curry       1             0        3
John Irwin         2             0        3
John McDowell      3             0        4
John McDowell Jr   1             0        3
Robert Nickall     2             0       13
James Erwin        1             0        6
Benjamin Erwin     1             0        5

1815 Tax List Greenbrier County from Greenbrier County West Virginia Records, Volume 2, Larry G Shuck, 1989

                Tithables  Blacks  Horses  Cows
James McDowel       1        0        4      5
John McDowel Jr     2        0        4     11
John McDowel Sr     1        0        6     10
Robert McDowel      1        0        1      0

Sims Index, State of Virginia, 1952

Monroe County

Name of Grantee         Acres  Local Description   Year Book Page

James McDowell           174   Wolf Creek          1808   1   160
John McDowell             56   2nd Creek           1807   1   158

Greenbrier County

Archibald McDowell       142   Second Creek        1796   3   362
    "        "           367   Adj A Donally       1785   1    64
    "        "           380   Second Creek        1791   2   392
John McDowell            219   Wts of New River    1790   2   300
     "                    50   Little Wolf Creek   1799   4   274
     "                    10   Wts Greenbrier      1837   6   212
John McDowell Jr          37   Muddy Cr            1823   6     8
John McDowel Jr           31   Muddy Creek         1823   6     7
William McDowell         361   Adj John Stuart     1787   2    79
William McDowell et al   220   Second Creek        1796   3   411

A better description of the above entries for Monroe County is found at Rootsweb's archive:

McDowell, James
26 March 1808
174 acres on Wolf Creek joining his own land and the land of Owen Ellis and others.

McDowell, John
29 October 1807
56 acres on water sof Second creek joining the land of Robert Humphreys, Sr., Archibald McDowell and his own

1810 Monroe County, VA census

The 1810 census for Greenbrier county doesn't exist. However, there is a tax list (see above).

Archd McDowell   0000100001
John Curry       0021100010
John Nickle      0010000100
James McDowell   0001030100
James Nickle     2011020301
John Nickle      4001021010

1820 Greenbrier County, VA census

I don't know what this enumerator meant by the dashes (looking like an 'S' turned on its side). In context, it doesn't make sense as a ditto. The period, perhaps the only one on this page, is equally mysterious. I suspect it was meant to be a '1'. I simply can't read what is represented here by the question mark. Clearly, though, the senior is John McDowell, 1759-1841, and the Junior is John McDowell, 1787-1859.

p157 James McDowell      1-0-1- 2001-0 10-0-0     (prob s/o John Sen)
p157 John McDowell Sen   00-111 011011 3-0-0-     (1759-1841)
p157 John McDowell Jun   21-0.0 31-0?0 4-0-0-     (1787-1859)

1820 Monroe County, VA census

p213 James McDowel       100010 300010 020001     (prob s/o Archibald)
p213 Katherine McDowel   100100 000001 010000     (wife of Archibald)

1830 Greenbrier County, VA census

The entry for John clearly reads McCowell, rather than McDowell. It's impossible to know what was intended but I suspect it's John and Esther.

p190 James McDowell      2110010000000 1111010000000
p190 Robert McDowell     0000001000000 2200010000000
p194 John McCowell       0000000001000 0000000001000  (McDowell?)

1830 Monroe County, VA census

p32  James McDowel       1110001000000 1101001000000
p32  Walter McDowel      2110010000000 1000100000100
p33  Isaac S Nickle      1100100001000 0331010001000

Isaac Nickle was Anna (Curry) Nickell McDowell's father-in-law, her first husband dying in 1825. She married John McDowell in Monroe county in 1828. The couple, with her nine children, were clearly of this household.

1840 Greenbrier County, VA census

The six entries on page 216 are enumerated one after the other in the following sequence.

p216 Francis Erwin       0000010000000 0000101000000
     William Erwin       2000101100000 0100000000000
     Robert McDowel Jr   0000100000000 0000100000000 (s/o John and Jane)
     Robert McDowel Senr 0100000100000 0222001000000 (s/o John and Esther)
     John McDowel        0000000000100 0000000000100 (John and Esther)
     W M Darneal         0020201000000 0002000100000 (m Eliza McDowell)
p219 John McDowell       0210010000000 0120001000000 (John and Anna)
     John Erwin Senr     0110000100000 0?21100100000

The question mark under John Erwin's entries looks to me like a '2' that has been erased. I believe that the McDowell household page 219 is John McDowell/Anna Curry, with her appropriately enumerated as being 10 years older than his 30-40. The children listed would have been theri 2 sons and daughter and some of her children fom her first marriage to John Nickell. The John McDowell on page 216 is undoubtedly the immigrant and his wife Esther. But where is his son, the second generation John McDowell (1787-1859)?

1840 Monroe County, VA census

p152 James McDowell       1111100100000 0101200100100
p148 Walter McDowell      1111101000000 2100010000000

1850 census entries

GREENBRIER COUNTY, VIRGINIA

18th District

p239

  Archibald McDowell   30 m                VA
  Jane M McDowell      27 f                VA
  Jas Will McDowell    11 m                VA
  John W McDowell       7 m                VA
  Rick A McDowell       5 m                VA
  Samuel Cottle        41 m black          VA
  Emily Cottle         24 f black          VA

p240

  Robert McDowell      61 m farmer         Ire (s/o John and Esther)
  Elizabeth McDowell   58 f                VA  (Elizabeth Cornwell)
  Esther McDowell      23 f                VA
  Susana McDowell      18 f                VA
  Sarah E McDowell     17 f                VA
  Frances A  McDowell  21 f                VA
  Robert D McDowell    15 m                VA

p282 

  R L McDowell         38 m tailor         VA  (s/o John and Jane)
  Susana McDowell      40 f                VA  (Susan Pullin)
  Susana R McDowell    17 f                VA  (Susana Hollowell?)

LEWIS COUNTY, VIRGNIA

30th District

p84A

  John McDowell        40 m farmer         VA  (s/o "J and E")
  Ann McDowell         55 f                VA  (Anna Curry)
  William McDowell     20 m                VA  (d 1901 Colony KS)
  Alexander McDowell   17 m                VA  (John A McDowell)

p84B

  William M Darnell    26 m laborer        VA
  Eliza Darnell        25 f                VA  (Eliza McDowell)
  James M Darnell       2 m                VA
  Frances M Darnell  5/12 m                VA
  Frances A McDowell   21 f                VA  (Eliza's sister?)

MONROE COUNTY, VIRGINIA

Division 39

p413

  John McDowel         63 m school teacher Ire (s/o John and Esther)
  Nancy McDowel        37 f                VA
  Hugh McDowel         18 m farmer         VA
  Alex McDowel         16 m                VA
  Overton C McDowel    14 m                VA
  Elen I McDowel       11 f                VA

p440

  Richard McDowell     27 m farmer         VA
  Mary A McDowell      21 f                VA
  Martha S              1 f                VA

  next entry...
  James McDowell       63 m laborer        VA  (s/o Archibald)
  Margt McDowell       61 f                VA  (Margaret Dickson)
  James W McDowell     22 m laborer        VA
  Martha S Massie      23 f                VA
  
p461/462

  James H Vawn         25 m                VA
  Malinda Vawn         23 f                VA
  Martha A C            1 f                VA
  Calwell Taylor       24 f                VA
  William P Campbell    3 m                VA
  Sarah C Campbell      1 f                VA
  Wm McDowell          30 m laborer        VA
  Robert Campbell Jn   27 m                VA

p473A

  Archd McDowell       33 m laborer        VA
  Mary McDowell        25 f                VA
  Polly A McDowell      8 f                VA
  Columbus McDowell     6 m                VA
  James H McDowell      4 m                VA
  Margt McDowell        2 f                VA
  Isabel McDowell       1 f                VA

p473B

  Walter McDowell      55 m farmer         VA  (s/o Archibald)
  Patsy McDowell       48 f                VA
  William McDowell     29 m laborer        VA
  Washington McDowell  19 m                VA
  Sarah A McDowell     18 f                VA
  Catherine McDowell   14 f                VA
  Richard H McDowell   12 f [sic]          VA
  Mary E McDowell       9 f                VA
  Thomas A McDowell     7 m                VA

p474

  Jane McDowell        38 f                VA
  Martha McDowell      18 f                VA
  Andrew McDowell      13 m                VA
  Margt A McDowell      8 f                VA
  James A McDowell      4 m                VA
  John W McDowell       2 m                VA

Robert McDowell

Sue Korp posted the following 1860 census entries on genforum in 2006. Note that this is the same household enumerated for Robert (1789-1855) and Elizabeth in 1850 (above).

August 17, 1860 Lewisburg, District No. 1, Greenbrier Co., VA Census
Household # 1134/1022
Elizabeth McDowell age 68 Farmer 2500/2040 VA
Esther age 33
Susan age 27
Robert D. age 25
Eliza Darnall age 35 VA
James age 12
Francis age 10
Martha A. age 7

The fact that Robert was born in Ireland and named a daughter Esther encourages me to suggest that he may have been a brother of the John McDowell who died in 1859 and, therefore, a son of John and Easter McDowell.

"West Virginia Estate Settlements", Ross B Johnson, 1977

Monroe County, page 175

Archibald McDowell Aug 1813
Wife: Catherine
Sons: Watty [Walter], John, William, James
Daus: Hannah Martin, Fanny Stuart, Peggy Gullet

Catherine McDowell Feb 1842
Sons: James, Witty [Walter]
Daus: Jane Stewart, Peggy Gullet

Hanson McDowell 8/22/1805
Dau: Mary Atkins
Grdau: Elizabeth Atkins

Greenbrier County, page 110

Wm McDowell 2/1797
Sons: William, Samuel, Daniel, Josiah, Archibald
Daus: Jeaney, Sarah Thompson, Ann Boyd, Hannah Rodgers