Color enhanced Fowler/Hilburn family, original photo credit: William L. Fowler Jr.
The only thing that could almost top my friend- and family-filled Tennessee Christmas this year was returning home to discover one of my relatives had sent a photo of an ancestor I had not yet seen. It also led to the Memphis household of Ben and Clyde Fowler Hilburn that I found fascinating.
Enhanced photo of Lewis M. Fowler (1848-1938) around 1933, photo credit: William L. Fowler Jr.
With the addition of this photo of Lewis M. Fowler (1848-1938), my maternal second-great-grandfather, which was sent to me by his great-grandson, William Leslie Fowler Jr., I now have photos of all but four of my second-great-grandparents.
Some people collect baseball cards; I guess I collect family photos.
I’m still searching for photos of George D. Williams (1846-1919), Martha Jane Watridge Williams (1852-1888), Mourning Adeline Cobb Watridge (1838-1876) and Sarah E. Patterson Fowler (1851-1920) to make my collection complete.
Back in October, I uploaded and blogged about some Fowler photos and a letter written by Lewis Fowler that was shared with me by a mutual Fowler descendant, Jenny West.
I sent a copy of the photos to William Leslie Fowler Jr., a Fowler relative I tracked down with the help of my mother. Leslie is the son of William Leslie Fowler Sr. (1909-1994), who was the son of Samuel Dalton Fowler (1882-1913), one of Lewis Fowler’s sons.
Samuel Dalton Fowler was a brother of my great-grandmother, Ruby Fowler Lovelace (1887-1952).
Lewis M. Fowler
Our mutual ancestor, Lewis M. Fowler, was born July 14, 1848, in McNairy County, Tenn. He was the father of Ruby Fowler Lovelace (1887-1952) who was the mother of Guy Lovelace (1916-1997) who was the father of my mother, Shirley Lovelace Williams (1939-present).
Lewis M. Fowler’s father, Oliver Fowler (1826-1858), died when Lewis was about 10 years old. I assume that, in later years, Lewis was not close to either of his parents’ families because his death certificate did not list his parents’ names.
Lewis married Sarah Elizabeth Patterson in McNairy County on March 27, 1868, when he was 19 and she was 16. It’s remarkable to think this was only about three years after the Civil War ended.
Sometime after 1880, Lewis and Sarah moved their family to northern District 4 in Haywood County.
They were the parents of nine children:
- Lula M. Fowler (1873-1960)
- Oliver Wilson Fowler (1875-1951), Jenny’s great-grandfather
- Mollie F. Fowler (1876-1931)
- Thomas Monroe Fowler (1880-1937)
- Samuel Dalton Fowler, Leslie Fowler’s grandfather
- Ruby Fowler Lovelace, my great-grandmother
- Daisy Fowler Lovelace (1893-1976)
- Elender M. Fowler (1884-after 1900)
- Mary C. Fowler (1871-unknown), who must have died as a young child
In addition to the photo, William L. Fowler Jr. also shared memories of our mutual ancestor. In the letter that accompanied the photo, he wrote:
| “This picture of Lewis Fowler was taken in about 1933 … it was taken at his old home place that backed up to old Highway 70. I don’t remember the name of the road it fronted on. We had family reunions there for many years. As a child, I well remember Mollie’s (Lewis’ daughter) cakes and pies. There were times when Grandpa Fowler rode in the car with my Dad and I. He always kept both hands on the door as if he was ready to jump out if anything went wrong. I’m not sure if he ever had much faith in automobiles.” |
In the 1920 census, Sarah had recently died, and Lewis was listed as 68 and living with his daughter Ruby and her family. Also in the household was 3-year-old Guy Lovelace (1916-1997), who would grow up to become my maternal grandfather.
In the 1930 census, Lewis was living with his daughter Mollie and her family.
Lewis M. Fowler’s death certificate
Lewis Fowler died Aug. 8, 1938, at age 90 after suffering a stroke. He was buried next to his wife in Zion Baptist Church Cemetery in Haywood County.
From left: Littie Fowler, William Leslie Fowler Sr. (1909-1994) and their mother, Clyde Lorene Mann Fowler Hilburn (1889-1968), in the early 1950s. Littie and William were children of Samuel Dalton Fowler (1882-1913) and Clyde, photo credit: William L. Fowler Jr.
Samuel Dalton Fowler
Leslie Fowler also sent a photo and additional information about his immediate family.
From a little research online, I discovered that his grandfather, Samuel Dalton Fowler, died Oct. 2, 1913, when he was just 31 years old. His grave also can be found at Zion Baptist Church Cemetery. According to family history, he died by suicide. The reasons and other details were never discussed.
In addition to three young children, Dalton left behind his wife, Clyde Lorene Mann Fowler.
Ben and Clyde Lorene Mann Fowler Hilburn
’m going to take a slight detour here. What really captured my imagination was the household of Ben and Clyde Lorene Mann Fowler Hilburn.
Clyde was a daughter of Henry Allen Mann and Alice Elizabeth Hall Mann.
The Mann name rang a bell because my paternal grandmother, Elizabeth Castellaw Williams (1915-1998), had a sister, Velma Irene Castellaw Mann (1904-unknown), who married a man with an unforgettable name: Abner Bertheer “Bear” Mann Sr. (1902-1966).
Bear was a son of Grover Cleveland Buster Mann, who was a son of Seth Henry Mann. Clyde was a daughter of Henry Allen Mann, who also was a son of Seth Henry Mann, so Clyde and Bear were first cousins.
Leslie let me know that, in addition to the two children I had already identified for Dalton Fowler and Clyde Mann Fowler — William L. Fowler and Jesse Thomas Fowler (1906-1952) — there was another daughter. Her name was Littie Fowler, and she is pictured above.
She was the youngest of the three siblings.
When Samuel Dalton Fowler died in 1913, Jesse was 6, William was 4 and Littie was 3 or younger.
Sometime before 1917, Clyde married Ben Hilburn. They had three sons together: Morris Hilburn (1917-1991), Bernard Hilburn (1919-1993) and Elvis Hilburn (1924-1989).
In the 1940 census, taken on April 2, the Hilburns had a crowded household in Memphis. In addition to Ben, 50, and Clyde, 49, the household included their sons Morris, 23; Bernard, 21, and his wife, Irene; Elvis, 16; Clyde’s son, Leslie Fowler Sr., 31; Leslie’s wife, Mary Frances Trout Fowler (1910-1989); their son, Leslie Jr., 11; Clyde’s cousin John Mann Jr.; Ben’s niece and nephew, J.W. Trout and Lucille Cobb Trout; their infant daughter, Johnny Sue; and Leonard Trout, Mary Frances Trout Fowler’s father.
The Firestone Tire and Rubber Company Memphis Plant in Memphis around 1939. It opened in 1936 quickly became one of the city’s largest industrial employers. By the 1950s it was considered the largest tire-manufacturing plant in the world. The plant operated for nearly five decades before closing in 1983. Photo credit: Memphis & Shelby County Pulbic Library & Information
The family lived on National Avenue. That was one busy household.
I’m used to seeing “farmer” listed as the occupation in most of my genealogy research, so it was interesting to find something different for a change. They all had 1940s-era big city jobs. Ben worked in the railroad toolroom. Morris and Bernard both worked for Firestone Tire and Rubber Co.; Morris worked in the machine office, and Bernard was a splicer. J. W. Trout was a pipefitter, and Leonard Trout worked for Memphis Light, Gas and Water in customer service. Leslie Fowler Sr. owned a “filling station,” while his wife, Mary Fowler, was a stenographer for a wholesaler. John Mann Jr. was a delivery boy for a bookstore. Together, not counting the money Bernard made from owning a gass station, the family brought home a combined annual pay of around $8,000. Right now, in 2014, that would be equal to around $135,000.
This front page of the Memphis Commercial Appeal provides a snapshot of what those in the household may have been thinking about on April 2, 1940. World War II was still nearly two years away, but the war in Europe was already dominating the news and shaping American politics, trade and federal spending.
Ironically another major domestic story that day was the start of the 1940 U.S. Census. The paper reported that 120,000 enumerators were beginning the “nose counting” job across the nation. There was controversy over privacy, with Sen. Charles Tobey of New Hampshire objecting to some of the personal questions connected to the census.
Finally, I couldn’t help but be curious about what happened to a boy named Elvis in Memphis long before the other Elvis showed up at Sun Studio. A quick look at his obituary shows he had a life filled with service to his country and a large family.
For more of my genealogy research, visit rscottwilliams.info.
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