Rowland Family Information
(last updated 29 August 2012)
Our Rowland ancestry (with all its various and sundry lines) has its ultimate roots in England, Wales, and among the lowland Scots (whether in Scotland or northern Ireland we don't know yet). As far as we can determine, all lines were in North America by the time of the American Revolution. Nearly all initially settled in Virginia, with a scattering of families in North Carolina and at least one in South Carolina.
Once the great migrations westward began after the Revolutionary War, most of our families chose to move to Tennessee, where they have resided since the early 1800s. Most of these settled in middle Tennessee (largely in what is now Rutherford County) or in Hawkins and Fentress Counties in eastern Tennessee. Two branches -- the Roarks and the Grigsbys -- moved to Hawkins County in the early 1790s, even before Tennessee became a state.
Several lines -- the Branhams and Thrashers, in particular -- lived in eastern Tennessee during the early 19th century but then moved to south-central Kentucky, where they resided in Clinton and Cumberland counties. Others (such as our Lawrence, Wray, and John Davis lines) moved directly to Kentucky from Virginia in the early 1800s.
We have several Revolutionary War patriots in our family tree: William Brown (VA), John Davis (VA), John Hunt (NC), and Michael Roark (VA).
We have posted information on over half of our families, and plan to complete the others soon. Thank you for your patience!
Rowland Surnames
Rowland -- Brown -- Underwood -- Windrow
Whitus/Whitehurst -- McCoy
Puckett -- Manor/Maynor -- Blankenship
Branham -- Wright -- Burchett -- Lawrence -- Wray
John Davis -- Hamilton -- Maloney -- Kinkead
Thrasher -- Cline/Klein -- Roark -- Grigsby
Cochran -- William Davis -- Daugherty -- Brewster
Farr -- Hunt -- Stringfield
Click here to go to our place name finder (US counties with our surnames of interest)