Most people look to family and friends throughout their life to share joyful moments like weddings and baptisms, to witness important decisions similar to making a will or transferring land, and to offer support in challenging times when struggling to raise a family or a death occurs. When doing family research, if any of these events are documented it helps to paint a broader picture and bring to life a name on the family tree. Such was the case with Asa Fowler, a brother to my 2nd great grandfather John Fowler as well as an uncle to my great grandfather Charles Fowler.
John, Asa’s brother, died in 1862 at 42 years of age, leaving his widow Caroline with six of their surviving children, the oldest of whom was 13. Virginia’s vital records began in 1850, but no account is found for John, suggesting he died elsewhere. This was during the height of the Civil War, and although nothing indicates that John served on either side of this conflict, it is possible he was a soldier during this time. If he wasn’t, then he might have died in neighboring Pennsylvania, which did not develop a system to record deaths until the 1890s. At any rate, the 1870 census for Monongalia County, West Virginia lists Caroline without her children raising the question of what happened to them.
Among these children was Charles who was just 8 years old when his father died. My grandmother had mentioned Charles spent much of his time with an aunt and uncle and through research I determined the uncle was Asa. Whether Charles lived permanently with his uncle or just visited often is not known, but Charles was living with him in 1870. That year the census for Springhill Township showed Asa Fowler, 46; Mary, 46; Charles, 16. Asa was a farmer, Charles a farm laborer, Mary kept house. Charles was born in VA, others born in PA. Except for this little bit of information I wondered more about the couple who took in and helped raise their nephew.
Another glimpse of Asa came from inscriptions in an old family bible. From these pages we learn Asa was born June 25, 1824. On October 17, 1844, he married his wife Mary Rotruck who was born September 21, 1823. A slip of paper found in the bible has written Daniel Rotruck Apr 30, 1797 to Aug 29, 1868 and Elizabeth Rotruck Dec 1, 1796 to Mar 23, 1872. These are presumed to be Mary’s parents. Some online family trees list Elizabeth’s maiden name as Moser; both Rotruck, commonly spelled Roderick, and Moser married into the Fowler family. Also noted in the bible, “Mary (Rotruck) Fowler was united with the Mount Moriah Baptist Church at Smithfield and was baptized by T.W.B. Tisdale on March 28, 1841.” A church pledge form for Mary from 1896 and a bequest in Asa’s will illustrates their strong connection to this church. The Mount Moriah Baptist Church cemetery was where they chose to be buried.
Asa was born either in Pennsylvania or Virginia, and he and his wife spent most of their married life in Fayette County PA. During December 1879, an article in Connellsville’s The Keystone Courier reported several families, including Asa Fowler had moved that autumn to Waynesburg. His nephew Charles was living in Greene County near Waynesburg, which might indicate the reason for the move. However, as later reported by The Keystone Courier, dissatisfied with their situation, the families of Asa and G.D. Bows returned to Springhill in March 1880, making it only a brief few months he was out of Fayette County.
In 1850 Asa and Mary were living in Georges Township with James and Jane Miller—no relationship has been determined. Asa was listed as 30 years old and Mary 27. By 1860 they were now in Springhill Township in their own household, and Asa was farming. They were both 36 years old and no children were listed in the household. If they did have any children, they must have died young. In 1863 Asa was registered for the military draft in Springhill Township, although he was not recruited for service. By 1870, when Charles was living with his uncle in Springhill Township, Asa owned real estate valued at $900. Besides Charles, Marg Clemmer, 24 was listed as a domestic in their household; she was also with them in the 1880 census, as a hired person.
Although they were living in Springhill Township in 1880, according to the Grantee Index for Fayette County Deeds, Asa owned property in Ruble Run, located in Georges Township, which he bought from William Ruble in 1861. He would sell this property in 1881 to James Ryland. Asa bought additional property in Georges Township in 1882 and 1883. A transaction in 1890 was listed as a quit-claim deed to William Hustead for the coal underlying his property. In 1883 he sold property to Joseph Goodwin but retained some land that would be sold in 1902 after his death.
By 1900 Asa and Mary were back in Georges Township; however, it appears they were not living on their property as they were listed as boarding with William Bosley, 44 and his wife Margaret, 53. William and Margaret had three daughters, Lida, Mary Catherine and a nephew Charles Sickles also residing in their household. It is presumed that Asa, now 76 years old, was retired, as no occupation was listed for him; he and Mary had been married 56 years. Perhaps declining health was the circumstance for them living with another family, rather their own house.
Mary died March 20, 1902 in Georges Township. A short death notice appeared the same day on page 1 of the Daily News Standard:
“Mrs. Asa Fowler, who resided about two miles north of this place died last night. Funeral Saturday –meet at the house 10 a.m. Services in the Baptist church, conducted by Rev. J.W. Hayes pastor. Mrs. Fowler was 75 years old. She leaves a husband, who is 78 years old and has been in poor health for some time past.”
Asa would follow Mary to the grave 2 months and 8 days later from heart failure. Knowing he was in poor health he wrote a will on April 5th of that year and a codicil to his will in May. Mentioned as inheritors were Margaret Bosley, Ida Blosser, Mary Fowler, Charles W. Fowler, and also his church. Jacob C. High was chosen as his executor and witnesses included J.R. Bixler, W.M. Bosley, husband to Margaret, Lizzie Hibbs, and Jennie High, wife of Jacob High.
Investigating further on the people Asa listed in his final instrument point to possible family connections. Charles of course is the nephew whom Asa helped raise. Ida Blosser was Asa’s niece, a daughter to his sister Martha Fowler and Jasper Gans. Margaret Bosley was Margaret Clemer who had lived with Asa and Mary as their hired domestic. Clemer was the maiden name of Jasper Gans’ mother, so perhaps Margaret was connected to Asa through the Gans family. The Mary Fowler mentioned might be the wife of Asa’s nephew Isaac Fowler—Isaac married Mary Roderick, perhaps a relative of Asa’s wife. The witnesses could possibly be cousins or descendants of his siblings, as there are some similar surnames connected to those families.
From the bits of information I found, I picture Asa and Mary to be a kind and loving couple, devoted to their church as well as family and friends, giving as much as they received, and surely following the golden rule. Asa and Mary formed a network of people on whom they could depend during their life and they demonstrated how important family was to them. Even though Asa and Mary had no children, they took on the task to care for my great grandfather Charles after his father died; it surely had an impact on him. I am grateful for that and the opportunity to keep their memory alive for their roles in the Fowler family as a caring aunt and uncle.
Relatively Speaking Blog 