William Rowland and Elizabeth Brown
William M. Rowland was born around 1816 in Tennessee and died in Rutherford County sometime around 1900. He married Elizabeth C. Brown on 18 July 1846 in Rutherford County; she was the daughter of Lent Brown and Nancy Caroline Windrow. Elizabeth was born in April, probably between 1826 and 1828 in Rutherford County, judging from the date of her marriage. (Johnson, in My Findings, recounts that Elizabeth's grandniece, Lucy Brown, visited "Aunt Lizzie", who was fond of sitting in her rocking chair , with a black bonnet on her head, and recounted to her young niece seeing shooting stars on 13 November 1833, when she was about 7 years old.) Elizabeth died sometime after 1910 in Rutherford County, her lifelong place of residence.
William first appears in census records in 1850, when he and Elizabeth are recorded, along with their young sons, Granville and Meredith. In 1860, they were enumerated twice, once at their home and a second time apparently while visiting Elizabeth's brother, Pleasant W. Brown. By 1880, they were living with their daughter, Mollie Rowland Fain, and her family; that same year, Elizabeth also was enumerated while apparently paying a visit to her widowed brother, James Brown, and his daughter, Mary.
According to Rutherford County's tax rolls for 1849, William owned no land and was charged for one poll. By 1867, he owned 115 acres of land valued at $1,025, and paid a total of $9.23 in tax that year. His sons Granville and Meredith also were taxed, paying one poll tax of $1.00 each.
William was a farmer, according to all census enumerations; in the 1850 agricultural census, he told enumerators that he owned $5 of farm implements; 1 horse; 1 milch cow; 1 swine; $40 of livestock; 150 bushels of Indian corn; 75 lbs of butter; $10 of household manufacture; $85 of animals slaughtered. (We're still working to figure out whether this was about average for a farm of this size or not.)
William M. Rowland (b. 1819, TN - d. early 1900, Rutherford, TN)
m. 18 Jul 1846, Rutherford, TN
Elizabeth C. Brown (b. 1826/1828, TN - d. ca 1912, Rutherford, TN)
Children:
i. Granville M. Rowland (Apr 1847 - 19 Jan 1924); m1. Fannie Windrow, m2. Nancy Featherston
ii. Meredith O. Peay Rowland ("Mace") (1849-ca 1900); m. Mellissa Jordan
iii. Sarah Jane Rowland (2 Mar 1851-19 Aug 1870); m. Elisha Hendrix (or Elisha Hendricks)
iv. Martha A. Rowland ("Mollie") (1854-1890); m. William Fain
v. Nancy Caroline Rowland (1856-between 1880/1900); never married
vi. Susannah Rowland (October 1857-23 Sep 1929); m. William Harvey Haynes
vii. John Woods Rowland (13 Nov 1859-2 Sep 1946); m1. M.J. Jenkins, m2. Anna L. Whitus
viii. Minus E. Rowland (12 Jan 1865-29 Mar 1939); m. Mary McCanless
ix. William Rowland Jr. (bet. 21 Jul/31 Dec 1870-1889); never married