McDowell Diary — Appendix

Here's a mini family tree of sorts, with pictures:

Marc and Brian

Haydn Marc Lewis (born 1945) and Brian Clarke Lewis (born 1947) were the children of Maxwell Dixon Lewis and Gwendolyn McDowell. The above photo was taken at 10725 SW Walnut Ave in Tigard, Oregon about 1952 or so. Brian is on the left, Marc on the right.

Harry and Gwen

Gwendolyn McDowell (born 1909) was the daughter of Harry McDowell (born 1869) and Margaret Thomas. Harry is on the left, and Gwendolyn on the right in the above photo which I believe was taken in Seattle, Washington, some time between 1935 and 1945 (when Harry died).

Harry et al

In the above photo are, from left to right, Harry McDowell, his daughter Phylis, his wife Margret, and my mother Gwendolyn. Phylis had two sons, David Bruce Kirkpatrick (born about 1944) and Scott H Kirkpatrick (born about 1946).

Class of 1894

The above photo was titled "GRAMMAR SCHOOL CLASS OF `94" and was credited to C. A. BUSHNELL Photo of EllensBurgh, (sic) Wash. Harry McDowell is second from the left in the front row.

Harry McDowell was the son of Thomas Green McDowell and Mollie Weaver. Harry was on the wagon train trip described here and was 5 years old at the time.

Thomas and family

Thomas Green McDowell was the brother of John, the author of the attached diary. Green and John had married sisters (Mary Anne "Mollie" Weaver and Elizabeth Emily Weaver), but John's wife died 8 years prior to the trip to Washington Territory. I believe (although I am not certain) that the above photo is of Green and Mollie, and their children soon after their arrival in the Kittitas Valley near Ellensburg, Washington Territory, in the mid 1880's. In 1882, when they started on their wagon train journey from Kansas, their children were:

Frank, age 12
Harry, age 5 (my grandfather)
Elmer, age 3
Mabel, age 1

Given that there is a baby girl in the photo, the ages for the rest of the children look just about right to me. And Harry looks pretty much like a younger version of the Harry in the 1894 Class Photo above.

H. Marc Lewis    
December 1995    
Spokane, WA    

Geneaology

My ancestors on the McDowell side look like this: 


James McDowell +++ Sarah Gorrell
  [1747-1809]   ↓   [1763-1834]
                ↓ 
       James McDowell Jr +++ Sophia Hall
          [1794-1881]     ↓   [1799-1867]
                          ↓
           Thomas Green McDowell +++ Mary Anne "Mollie" Weaver
                [1840-1895]       ↓        [1847-?]
                                  ↓
                         Harry Morton McDowell +++ Margaret Thomas
                             [1869-1945]        ↓    [1888-1974]
                                                ↓
                                   Gwendolyn McDowell +++ Maxwell D Lewis
                                      [1909-1993]      ↓     [1912-1993]
                                                       ↓
                                                H Marc Lewis (me)
                                            Brian C Lewis (my brother)

2007 Update

In May of 2007 I got email from a guy named Dave who lives in La Grande, OR who had a relative named John McDowell who also drove a wagon train to the Grand Rhonde valley, but 20 years before my great-uncle John McDowell. Strange coincidence, eh?

In September of 2007, my mother-in-law died and was buried in the I.O.O.F. cemetery in Ellensburg, WA. While there, I checked at the office to see if any McDowells were buried there. I discovered that both my great-grandfather, Thomas Green McDowell, and my great-uncle, John E. McDowell are also buried there. Both apparently fought in the Civil War.


J. E. McDowell
Co. F, 150th Ind. Inf.
G.A.R.
< 29-Oct-1836 — 25-Apr-1900 >
T. G. McDowell
Co. G, 26th Ind. Inf.
G.A.R.
< 4-Sep-1840 — 5-Dec-1895 >

In section "B", row 9 is my great-grandfather's family plot. Along with him are buried his wife, Mary Anne ("Mollie") and 3 of their 4 children: Frank, Elmer and Mabel. My grandfather Harry was the 4th child, but he is not buried there.

John E. McDowell's family plot is in row 12 of section "B" and contains also his children James T. and William O. There are two women buried there whom I can't identify: Della M. McDowell and Alma W. McDowell.

— Look at a map of the route of travel —
— Go to the Diary itself —