COWLES FAMILY

                        

     My first COWLES ancestor was JOHN COWLES(#1) born 1592ca in England.  He died 1675ca Hampshire County, Mass.  He came to the USA 1634ca.  Some believe John changed his name from Cole to Cowles in order to distinguish his family from another John Coles of the same town.  However, the name Cowles is an ancient English name antedating 1553.  John signed his name be mark to several documents.  He resided in Farmington and Hartford, Conn. and Hatfield, Mass.

     John married Hannah Varian (?) at Hatfield, Mass 1635ca. She was born 1613ca, died 1683, Hartford, Conn.  Their children:
(* indicates my line)

     1.  Samuel, 1639-1691.  Married Abigail Stanley 1660
     2. * John (#2), 1641-1711. Married Deborah Bartlett 1668
     3.  Hannah, 1664ca.  Married Caleb Stanley
     4.  Sarah, 1646.  Married Nathaniel Goodwin 1664
     5.  Esther, 1649ca.  Married Thomas Bell 1669
     6.  Mary, 1654.  Married ____Dickingson
     7.  Elizabeth.  Married ____Lyman


JOHN COWLES (#2), son of John and Hannah Cowles, was born Feb. 1641 at Farmington, Conn.  He died May 12, 1711 at Hatfield, Mass.  He married Deborah BARTLETT November 22, 1668 at Northampton, Mass.  She was daughter of Robert Bartlett, born 1645ca, died 12-11-1711 at Hatfield, Mass.  Their children:

     1.* Jonathan (#1), 1670-1756. Married Prudency Frary 1697
     2.  Hannah, 1668-1711.  Single
     3.  Samuel, 1673-1750. Married Sarah _____ 1698
     4.  John, 1676-1690.
     5.  Abigail, 1678-1690.
     6.  Sarah, 1681.
     7.  Mary, 1683-1742.  Single
     8.  Esther, 1686 -.


JONATHAN COWLES (#1), son of John (#2) and Deborah Bartlett Cowles.  Born 1-26-1670, Hatfield, Mass., died 11-13-1756, Hatfield.  Buried Hatfield, Mass.  He married PRUDENCE FRARY 1-21-1697.  She the daughter of Elizer Frary and Mary Graves Grary. She was born 1671, died 1756 at Hatfield, Mass.  Their children:

     1.  Abigail, 1698-1726.  Married Samuel Fairfield 1723
     2.* John (#3), 1700-1745.  Married Mary Jennings
     3.  Jonathan (#2), 1703-1776
     4.  Timothy, 1706-1786.  Married Sarah Cowles
     5.  Keziah, 1708 -  .  Married Ebenezer Cowles 1738
     6.  Nathaniel, 1711-1761.  Married Anna _____.
     7.  Ebezer, 1713-1716
     8.  Elisha, 1716-1769

     9.  Eunice, 1719 -  .  Married Jonathan Frary
     10.  Abia, 1722-1727


JOHN COWLES (3), son of Jonathan (1) and Prudence Frary Cowles. Born 12-17-1700 Hatfield, Mass., died 1745ca Amherst, Mass. Married Mary Jennings 1706-1795.  Their children:

     1.  Israel, 1726-1797
     2.  Abiah, 1729-1796ca.  Married Gideon Hannum 1752
     3.* John (#4) (Capt.), 1731-1811. Married Hannah Bardwell 1757
     4.  Martha, 1734 -  .  Married Stephen ____1754
     5.  Mary, 1742 -


JOHN COWLES (#4) (Capt.), son of John (3) and Mary Jennings Cowles.  Born 7-18-1731 Amherst, Mass., died 9-19-1811, Belchertown, Mass.  Married HANNAH BARDWELL 2-21-1857.  She daughter of Joseph and Lydia Morton Bardwell.  Born 12-23-1739, died 2-3-1813 Belchertown, Mass. Capt. John Cowles (4) settled in Belchertown, Mass. about 1752.  He served in the French and Indian War and marched to relief of Fort William Henry in 1757. Served in the Revolutionary War, muster roll dated 8-1-1775.
Their children:

     1. *John (#5), 1757-1830. Married Elizabeth Smith 1778
     2.  Hannah, 1759-1777.  Single
     3.  Abner, 1761-1837.  Married Jemima Ackley 1792
     4.  Azubah, 1763 -  Married ____ Stacey
     5.  Infant, 1770-1770
     6.  Lewis, 1772-1812
     7.  Joshua, 1775 -
     8.  Enos, 1777 -
     9.  Vester, 1779 -


JOHN COWLES (#5), son of Capt. John (#4) and Hannah Bardwell Cowles.  Born 11-26-1757 Belchertown, Mass., died 1830 in Belchertown.  Married ELIZABETH SMITH 4-22-1777, daughter of Elijah and Sibyl Worthington Smith, born 1-30-1761, died 1827. Their children:

     1.  Elijah Smith, 1780-1802
     2.  Hannah, 1782 -   Married Eli Wood 1799
     3.  Delilah (Delia), 1783 -
     4.  Elizabeth (Azuba), 1785 -
     5.  Oliver, 1787 -
     6. *  Ethan Smith, 1790-1867.  Married Sarah Roberts 1816.
     7.  Joshua, 1791-1794.
     8.  Betsey, 1794-1825.  Married Eli Strong 1812
     9.  Remember Joshua, 1796 -
     10.  Samantha, 1800 -  Married Daniel Whiting
     11.  Sibyl, 1802 -  Married Eli Strong 1826


EHTAN SMITH COWLES(#1), son of John (#5) and Elizabeth Smith Cowles.  Born 1-10-1790 Belchertown, Hampshire Co., Mass. Died 9-1-1862 Buchanon County, Iowa.  Buried Oak Hill Cemetery, Lamont, Buchanon Co., Iowa.  Married Sarah Roberts 2-29-1816.  She born 9-7-1793 Palmer, Mass., died 1-16-1861 Buchanon Co., Iowa.  Their children:

     1.  Elijah S., 1816-1817
     2.  Betsy, 1818 -  Married Davis Gray
     3.  Sarah, 1822 -
     4.  Abigail S., 1823-1879.  Married J.G. Tickner 1847
     5.* John Hudson, 1825-10-4. Married (2) Margaret Leuretta Smith.
     6.  Mary I., 1827  -
     7.  Ethan Smith (2), 1829-1916. Married Phebe Eddy 1854
     8.  Charlotte M., 1831
     9.  Hiram Dexter, 1832 -  Married Sarah Emerson 1859
     10. Orril M., 1834 -  Married William B. Smith



JOHN HUDSON COWLES, son of Ethan Smith and Sarah Roberts Cowles was born 8-26-1825 in Mass.  He died 2-23-1904 in Newton County, Arkansas and is buried at the John Morris Cemetery near Hasty, Newton County, Arkansas.
     Records indicate John Hudson married three times but no divorce records can be found on his first two marriages.  He was a very colorful character according to family stories. (See some of these after list of his children.)
     John Hudson married (1) Margaret Blair in Illinois.  He was found on the 1850 census of Kane County, Illinois with Margaret and a daughter.  Margaret was born 1830 in Mass. and died 1895ca in Illinois.
     John married (2) Emma D. Vaughn 1860ca in California.  She was born 1826 in Canada and died 1901.  She is buried at the Rosebud Cemetery, Glenwood Springs, Colorado.
     John's third marriage was to Margaret Leureta Smith on 12-4-1870 in Polk County, Missouri.  Margaret, called Maggie, was born 12-10-1849 in Kentucky and died 12-5-1925 at Haskell, Oklahoma. She was the daughter of Godfrey Smith and Elizabeth "Bettie" Milan Smith. She was 24 years younger than John Cowles.
     John Hudson Cowles children:

by 1st wife:
     1.  Mary Ella, born 1849 Illinois
     2.  Florence, 1853, Illinois.  Married (1) Frederic Norton; (2) Vernon Saxton.

by 2nd wife:
     3.  William Smith, 1861-1936.  Married Ella Anderson 1886
     4.  Frank E., 1864-1905
     5.  Charles Hudson, 1868 ca - 1915ca

by 3rd wife:
     6.*  Leuretta Mae, 1871-1952. Married Thomas A. Lawson 1893.
     7.  Hiram Dexter, 1875-1973.  Married Nancy Lyles 1894
     8.  Bertha, 1879ca -1945.  Married Joseph Helt
     9.  Harry Eddy, 1882-1951.  Married Belle Collins 1902
     10.  Maggie Elizabeth, 1883-1925.  Married Joe Busby
     11.  Carrie Viola, 1888ca - 1926.  Married Doc Lyles
     12.  Gibbie, 1889ca- 1896ca
     13.  Ethan, 1891ca - 1898ca


        JOHN HUDSON COWLES  1825-1904

     It is believed John moved with his parents about 1844 from Mass. to Illinois.  There he met and married first wife Margaret Blair and had two daughters.  Sometime just before or just after their second daughter was born John and friend Pete Towers went to California to pan for gold.  They made the journey in a cart pulled by two oxen.  On the way they traded one oxen for a milk cow.  They arrived at Placerville, California but no gold was found.  John was a carpenter by trade so he found a job in Sacramento rebuilding the destroyed town.
     Sometime before 1860 John met and married Emma Vaughn. Their first child was born August 1861 in Truckee, California. Their second son was born in Washoe County, Nevada and the third son Charles Hudson was born about 1868.  It is told that when Charles was about six months old, John Hudson packed his belongings and left Emma and his three sons.  Some twenty years later Charles traveled from Leadville, Colorado to Newton County, Arkansas and stayed with John Hudson several months.  Charles corresponded with his half brother Hiram Dexter until about 1918.
     By July 27, 1870 John Hudson was found on the census at Bolivar Township, Polk County, Missouri.  He was living with a saloon keeper.  He reported as being 38 years old and a house carpenter, born in Massachusetts.
     He married his third wife Maggie 12-4-1870 in Polk County, Missouri.  By 6-2-1880 John and family were found in Pilot Rock Township, Johnson County, Arkansas.  The oldest two children gave Arkansas as their place of birth.  However the youngest gave Missouri as her place of birth in 1878.  If true, John moved family from Missouri to Arkansas, then back to Missouri, then back to Arkansas by 1880.
     According to his homestead application John settled on his farm near Hasty, Newton Co., Arkansas November 1, 1893. He remained there until his death.  Many years after his death, the "old Cowles place" remained in the family.
     John was a member of the Masonic Lodge in Newton County. He worked as a carpenter most of his life.  According to one family member he was working as a carpenter in Harrison, Arkansas when he got sick and died.

LEURETTA MAE COWLES, daughter of John Hudson and Maggie Smith Cowles, was born 10-8-1871 in Arkansas.  She died 4-19-1952 at Haskell, Muskogee County, Oklahoma.  She married Thomas A. Lawson in Newton County, Arkansas on 10-19-1889. (For more information on this family see Lawson family genealogy).  Their children:

     1.  Effie Bell, 1891-1988.  Married Orphus Baughman 1913
     2.  Anna Paradine, 1895-1997. Married W.W. Agee 1913
     3.  Alice Beedy, 1897-1985. Married Bulus Baughman 1919
     4.  Willie "Bill", 1900-1984. Married (1) Faith Berryhill; (2) Verna Stephens.
     5.  John A., 1901-1985. Married (1) Georgia Regan; (2) Ethel Tennison.
     6.  Eva Frances, 1903-1986. Married (1) Wm Osborn; (2) Geo Ogden.
     7.  Nellie Mae, 1905-1985. Married Delbert Wright
     8.  Ernest Charles, 1907-1983. Married Celia Hynes
     9.  Virgil Robert, 1910-1997. Married Verbie Jones
     10.* Vernon , 1912-1998. Married Lela Walters

Thomas A. and Mae Cowles Lawson lived at Hasty, Arkansas where all their children were born.  They moved to near Haskell, Muskogee County, Oklahoma in 1919.  Thomas was a farmer all his life.  They both are buried at the Haskell Cemetery, Haskell, Oklahoma.


VERNON LAWSON, the youngest child of Thomas and Mae Lawson was born 12-14-1911, on his older sister Alice's birthday.  He died 4-15-1998 at his home near Tahlequah, Cherokee County, Oklahoma. He is buried at the Haskell Cemetery near his parents.  He married Lela B. Walters 5-26-1934 in Muskogee County, Oklahoma. She the daughter of James Henry and Armintie Harp Walters, born 3-5-1917 in Sequoyah County, Oklahoma.
     Vernon and Lela spent their early married life near Haskell, Oklahoma.  Vernon was a farmer and auto mechanic until 1954 when they moved to Sand Springs, Oklahoma and Vernon worked at Nelson Electric in Tulsa, Okla.  He retired from Nelson in 1972.  He and Lela moved to the country near Morris, Oklahoma a few years before he retired.  In 1995 they moved near Tahlequah, Oklahoma on Lake Tenkiller, where Vernon died in 1998.  He was known for his honesty, his sense of humor and love of his family.  Their children:

     1.  Vernon Lawson Jr., born 1936 Haskell, Oklahoma.
     2.  Billy Ray, born 1938 Haskell, Oklahoma
     3.* Carol Sue, born 1941 near Haskell, Muskogee County, Oklahoma.

CAROL SUE LAWSON, born 6-27-1941 near Haskell, Oklahoma.  Married Maurice King Johnson 19-17-1960 Miami, Oklahoma.  King the son of Charles Rollin and Marjorie McDonald Johnson, born 2-9-1939 in Douglas, Arizona.  He retired from the Army Corps of Engineers, Keystone Dam, Sand Springs, Oklahoma in 1994.  They moved near Tahlequah, Oklahoma on Lake Tenkiller.  Carol is involved in crafts but love of her life is genealogy and transcribing census and other genealogy records. (See at www.oklanet/cking/books.htm).  King and Carol enjoy being on line, fishing and being lazy in their retirement.  Their children:

     1.  Maurice Keith, born 1961 Gallup, New Mexico.  Resides in Mesquite, Texas with wife Susan and daughter Shelby Ann.

     2.  Kimberly Sue, born 1962 Ganado, Arizona.  Resides in Tahlequah, Oklahoma with husband David Wallington.  She has two sons, Phillip and Rollin Wortmann.  Phillip resides in Ft. Carson, Colorado with wife Jini and Rollin resides in Sand Springs with his wife Mindy.

     3.  Kevin Lee, born 1963 Ganado, Arizona.  Resides in Tulsa, Oklahoma with wife Tonya and two children Jake Edward and Jessica.




NOTE:  I have much more information on this Cowles family.  Seen here is only my direct line.  If I can help with any of the others please email me.okiecuz@yahoo.com

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