Rowe Family Papers, 1840-1990 (majority within 1840s-1940s)

Summary

Creator:

Rowe family.

Abstract:

Residents of Highland Township, Oakland County, Michigan. Civil War reminiscences and other papers of James D. Rowe, soldier in the 1st Michigan Cavalry; Civil War letters of Spencer D. Lee, related family member, also in the 1st Michigan Cavalry; business records of Grant and Carrie Jackson Rowe, publishers of the Milford Times; sermons of Samuel Simpson Marquis as transcribed by Mrs. G. S. Rowe; collected materials largely concerning Milford and Highland Township history; and miscellaneous photographs and Civil War print.

Extent:

0.7 linear feet (on 2 rolls of microfilm)
0.3 linear feet (in 1 box)
1 digital audio file

Language:

English.

Call Number:

852173 Aa 2 mf334, mf335

Authors:

Finding aid prepared by: Catherine Mary Arnott and Ann Flowers

Background

Scope and Content:

The collection is divided into three series: Rowe Family Papers, Milford Historical Materials, and Milford Times Records. The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence, genealogical material and reminiscences relating to the Rowe family. The Civil War years are particularly well documented in letters written by in-laws: William Putnam, brother of Helen; the wife of James Rowe; and Spencer Lee, who married Helen's sister, Sarah. The Milford Times Records series contains business correspondence and records of the Milford Times, a newspaper published and edited by members of the Rowe family from 1890 to 1950. Carrie Jackson Rowe, who ran the Times for 46 years with her husband, Grant, was interested in Highland County local history; her writings on historical topics, as well as the historical documents she collected, form the Milford Historical Materials series.

Biographical / Historical:

The first Rowe to settle in Highland Township, Michigan, was Squire Washington Rowe. Rowe was born June 1, 1815 in Camillus, Onondaga County, New York, later moving with his family to Parma, Monroe County, New York. Rowe and Dolly Castle were married on March 26, 1835, and the young couple soon emigrated with other family members to Michigan, arriving in May, 1835, where they built up a large farm in Highland Township and raised their family.

In 1855 Squire Rowe built an imposing stone house known today as Stone-Rowe, registered in 1976 as a Michigan Historic Site. Rowe was a Republican and served 21 terms as supervisor of Highland Township. In the Civil War, he was a recruiting officer for the 10th Regiment, Company K, and he was appointed Captain of the 14th Infantry, with the duty to raise a regiment. However, he seems not to have succeeded in this since that group does not appear on regimental rosters. He also headed relief work in aid of soldiers' widows and orphans. In 1864 Rowe was elected to the Michigan House of Representatives, which office he still held at the time of his death on November 19, 1866. His widow, Dolly, died in 1909. Squire and Dolly Castle Rowe were the parents of eight children:

Eliza Elvira, born March 22, 1836. Eliza married Willis Smith in 1856. Smith served in the 5th Michigan Cavalry during the Civil War. The Smiths spent their lives in Milford, Michigan.

James Delos, born February 18, 1838. James attended Kalamazoo College before his enlistment in the 1st Michigan Cavalry. During the war James was wounded at both Cold Harbor and at Winchester, Virginia, where he was hospitalized for three months. In 1864 while home on furlough he married Helen Putnam of Detroit. Following the war James and Helen farmed in Highland Township. Helen died in 1920; James in 1925. James and Helen Rowe had four children: Grant S., James B. (called Burt), Lois B. (called Bertha), and George L.

In 1896 Grant married Carrie Jackson, a daughter of Isaac Jackson, the original publisher of the Milford Times. Together Grant and Carrie published and edited the Times for 46 years, and had nine children: Dorothy H., Margaret A., Carrie M. (called Marian), Lois A., Robert G., Virginia P., Ruth M., Rachel J., and Winifred S.

Grant's sister, Lois B., attended high school in Lansing and then the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. She taught school in Duluth, Minnesota, which is where she met and married William Howard Lewis of Bangor, Wales, in 1896. Lois spent the rest of her life in Wales with William and their four children: Cedric, Selwyn, Eroica and Elaine.

The third child of Squire and Dolly Rowe was Lemuel Josiah (called Josiah), born November 3, 1840. Josiah was also a student at Kalamazoo College before enlisting in the Second Michigan Infantry. Josiah was taken prisoner at Knoxville, Tennessee. He spent fourteen months in Confederate prisons, escaped and remained at large for four weeks. He was recaptured and later escaped a second time from a prison in Alabama, wandering five weeks before reuniting with Union troops in Tennessee. Around 1872 he married Jane Ogilby. He died in 1880; Jane in 1919.

Benjamin Nelson, born December 21, 1842. Benjamin worked in Washington DC during the last years of the war. He eventually settled in California. He died in 1926.

Squire Lowell (called Lowell), born February 8, 1845. In 1875 Lowell married Amelia (Millie) Jackson, a daughter of Isaac Jackson, the original publisher of the newspaper (and an older sister of Carrie who married Lowell's nephew, Grant in 1896; see paragraph above about James and Helen Rowe's children). Lowell and Millie Rowe farmed the old Rowe homestead in Highland Township, Michigan, while operating a jewelry store in Milford. In 1884 they moved to California to join Benjamin, but returned to Milford the following year to raise Millie's young sister, Mabel, after the death of her parents. Lowell and Millie Rowe were the parents of two sons: Herbert, who died in infancy in 1892, and Clifford H. Lowell died in 1921 and Millie in 1930.

Marian Chastina, born June 1, 1847. In 1875 Marian married Henry Holmes in Milford, and they moved to Duluth, Minnesota. Lois B. Rowe, a niece, stayed with them when she taught school in Duluth.

Theodosia Maria, born August 4, 1849. In 1874 Theodosia married Dr. Alexander D. Hagadorn, formerly of Milford but later of Lansing, where the Hagadorns spent their lives. Grant and Lois Rowe, children of Theodosia's brother, James, lived with the Hagadorn family while they attended high school in Lansing.

Lucius Judson (called Judson), born April 20, 1851. Judson settled in Erie, Pennsylvania. In 1873 he married his first wife, Addie Crosby, who died in 1875 in childbirth. The child, George, lived. In 1883 Judson married his second wife, Elizabeth Dunning. They had a daughter, Adda, who was born in 1885. Judson died in 1938.

Acquisition Information:

The collection was donated in several accessions beginning in 1950 by Mrs. G. S. Rowe (Donor no. 2351 ), her daughter, Mrs. Lois Rowe Maugh (Donor no. 7248 ), Joan Heiser Kramer, a niece of Mrs. Maugh (Donor no. 7575 ), Patricia Horlacher (Donor no. 8047 ) and John Hoag (Donor no. 10444 ). The collection, except for indicated items, was microfilmed in 2000.

Processing information:

In preparing digital material for long-term preservation and access, the Bentley Historical Library adheres to professional best practices and standards to ensure that content will retain its authenticity and integrity. For more information on procedures for the ingest and processing of digital materials, please see Bentley Historical Library Digital Processing Note. Access to digital material may be provided either as a direct link to an individual file or as a downloadable package of files bundled in a zip file.

Related

Alternative Form Available:

Originals of the collection are held by the Bentley Library.

Digitization: A number of recordings within this collection have been digitized. The resulting files are available for playback online or in the Bentley Library Reading Room according to rights. Original media are only available for staff use.

Subjects

Click on terms below to find any related finding aids on this site.

Subjects:

American newspapers -- Michigan -- Milford.
Business records.
Milford times.
Phrenology.
Spiritualism -- Michigan.
Dwellings -- Michigan -- Highland (Oakland County : Township)
Interiors.
Journalists -- Michigan -- Milford.
Milford times.
American newspapers -- Michigan -- Milford.

Formats:

Photographs.
Prints.
Sermons.
Digital file formats.
Sound recordings.

Names:

Kalamazoo College.
United States. Army. Michigan Cavalry Regiment, 1st (1861-1866)
WJR (Radio station : Detroit, Mich.)
Rowe family.
Lee, Sarah.
Lee, Spencer D.
Marquis, Samuel Simpson, 1866-
Rowe, Carrie Jackson.
Rowe, Grant.
Rowe, James Delos, 1838-1925.
Brodhead, Thornton F., -1862.

Places:

Highland (Oakland County, Mich. : Township)
Milford (Mich.)
Oakland County (Mich.)
South Dakota -- Blizzard, 1888.
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865.
Highland (Oakland County Mich. : Township) -- Dwellings.
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865.