McGowan

DESCENDANTS OF MICHAEL McGOWAN       

of Liverpool, Queens County, Nova Scotia   

Compiled by J.W. Philbrick, Natick, Mass., 1973

Condensed by Muriel M. Farquhar Davidson, 1994       

[An associate history of the following: FARQUHAR, HUSKINS, HUPMAN, CLANCY, BARNES, FREEMAN, DOLLIVER]

Family Background: J. W. Philbrick has written a detailed history of this family: – In Scotland, members of the McGown sept belonged to Clan Chattan – Associate names: MacGowen, Gow, Gowen, Gowin, Gowing, Gouen, McGown,   McGuin, McCown, M’Cuen, McKown, McCoon, Magoon, Megoon, etc. – Gaelic meaning “smith” from gobha  or gow – “Mac”  means “son of” – Family records have been found in nearly all the colonies on the   Atlantic seaboard from Prince Edward Island to Georgia before 1800. J. W. Philbrick compiled his history from family traditions, the Mcgowan-Dailey Family Bible, Liverpool VR, Perkins House records, T.B. Smith collection, Robert J. Long records, Liverpool Advance, the Public Archives of Nova Scotia in Halifax, N.S. “The McGowans of Queens, Digby, Annapolis and Kings counties are mainly descended from Michael McGowan of Ireland or David McGowan of
Galloway, Scotland. There seems to be no recorded connection between
these families which both originally settled near Liverpool although
genealogists have occasionally mixed them up. To add further elements of doubt, there was a Robert McGowan family from Ireland living in Amherst, Cumberland Co., in 1770 and a Thomas McGowan, Loyalist, who settled in Dalhousie, Annapolis Co., by 1820.”                           *  *  *  *  *
I.  MICHAEL McGOWAN, native of Ireland, arrived in Nova Scotia by 1781.
He settled first at Liverpool, then nearby Port Medway where he     was a farmer. In Liverpool, on May 4, 1781, Michael was married to     MARY DOLLIVER, widow of Capt. Angus Chisholm and mother of Anna,     Sarah, Angus and Lucy Chisholm, residing with Michael and Mary in     1787 according to the Census of Liverpool for that year. Family History Insert:- “Anna married John, son of Thomas and Susannah Patterson, and died with her first child. Lucy married Joseph Briggs who died, then married John Patterson, widower of her sister Anna. Angus, Jr., was probably the Capt. Angus Chisholm whose wife Experience is buried in the cemetery on the point in Port Medway. Mary Dolliver was the daughter of Samuel and Mary (Mayhew)
Dolliver and came with them from Maine, where she was born. She married Angus Chisholm in 1770 in Liverpool. Samuel and John Dolliver, brothers, were original grantees of Liverpool in 1764 along with John and Thomas Foster, Barnabas, Hezekiah, Samuel, Simeon and Smith Freeman, George Fancy, Thomas Patterson and others whose descendants are still in Queens County. The Dollivers came from Portland or North Yarmouth, Maine, and were grandsons of Samuel, son of Robert Dalyber, of Gloucester, Mass., through his son, Capt. John Dolliver, who went to Portland in 1727. – i –

Michael and Mary (Dolliver) McGowan had the following children, recorded in Liverpool: II.  1. James, b.  2 Sep 1782, d. 3 Nov 1783. 2. James, b. 19 Sep 1784, d. 3 Oct 1784. 3. Susanna, b. 1 Sep 1785. 4. James Dolliver, b. 19 Feb 1788, d. 11 July 1855, in Rosette, Queens Co. (Perkins House records say he died at Eagle Head near Port Medway).

Robert Long says that MARY was Michael’s second wife and lists another daughter, MARGARET, who married Michael Huphman, Jr., but both statements
seem to be unconfirmed by the Liverpool VR which indicate that Michael Huphman, Jr., married a widow Margaret McGowan.[CLANCY] Long also says that Susan McGowan married Josiah Freeman of Kempt but this is also unconfirmed.
Michael McGowan was living in Port Medway on 25 Nov 1802 when Perkins records: “House built for Dan’l Bishop at Port Metway collapses ….. Of those in the house making mortar, etc., Mich McGowan & Patrick Holland received some hurt, I hope not dangerous….”

II. 2. JAMES DOLLIVER McGOWAN, son of Michael and Mary, was married     to Elizabeth Dolliver at Port Medway by Rev. John Payzant on     23 Nov 1809. Family History Insert:- James and Elizabeth moved to Westfield, Queems Co., and lived there until his death in 1855. Although Long and R.R. McLeod imply that James McGowan settled in Westfield shortly after his marriage in 1809, Westfield was not actually settled until just after Sir James Kempt visited the northern district in 1822 and McGowan’s obituary in the Liverpool Transcript indicates that he settled in Westfield about
1832. Family tradition says that his son Robert moved to the Calais,
Maine area at the age of one in 1817, the year after the year of no
summer, with his father and several uncles. [Weather records do indicate that 1816 was indeed a bad year with some snow in every month but the Family Bible states that Robert was born in 1819 and no Maine records could be found except Robert’s marriage intentions in 1845].

II. ELIZABETH DOLLIVER was born about 1791 at Port Medway and died 2 Feb 1869 in Caledonia, Queens Co. She was the daughter of Gamaliel, son of Samuel and Mary (Mayhew) Dolliver, and Lucy, daughter of James and Betsey Briggs. Family History Insert:- Lucy (Briggs) Dolliver’s brother George Briggs married Gamaliel Dolliver’s sister Elizabeth in Liverpool in 1762 and was an original proprietor of Liverpool in 1764. Their father, James Briggs, appears to have come to Liverpool somewhat later. He was listed on the 1787
Census of Liverpool but had moved to Port Medway by 1788 when he was one of the inhabitants of Port Medway who petitioned for a magistrate separate from Liverpool. There is no indication yet as to his origin but probably it was near Cape Cod where there were many of this name.”

III. James D. and Elizabeth (Dolliver) McGowan had the following
children:- 1. Lucy, b. 25 June 1811, d. 9 Feb 1859. 2. James D., b. 27 June 1813, d.s.p. 13 July 1855. 3. Mary Ann, b. 4 July 1814 or 1815, d. 1. Dec 1896. 4. Robert D., b. 28 July 1819. 5. Michael, b. 15 Jan 1822, d.s.p. 18 Mar 1868. 6. Susannah, b. 22 Aug 1828, d. 21 May 1908 in Granite            Village, Shelburne Co. 7. Charles W. D., b. 22 Feb 1832, d. 11 Mar 1840. 8. Elizabeth, b. 4 May 1834 (in Westfield?).
Family History Insert:- Lucy married Wentworth Dailey in January, 1833. He was the son of James Daley, Loyalist, who came to Shelburne, Nova Scotia when the British evacuated New York in 1783. James Dailey married Clarissa
Buchanan at Shelburne on 10 Apr 1789 and was one of the petitioners for land along the new road between Liverpool and Nictaux in 1798. He settled there, at Brookfield, about 1801 with James Freeman, Isaiah Barss and others. Wentworth Dailey was born in 1801, supposedly the first white child born in the North District. His brother, James Dailey, Jr., settled in Rosette (now North Brookfield) and was the ancestor of the Daileys still living there.

James D. McGowan married and lived in Liverpool or Milton but had no children.

Mary Ann, daughter of James D. and Elizabeth McGowan, married Josiah Freeman in January, 1833 (double wedding with her sister Lucy) and settled in Kempt. They raised a large family which included David Sire Freeman.
Josiah Freeman, son of James and Hannah (Barss) Freeman was born 22 June 1803 in Brookfield and died at Kempt 27 July 1890. James Freeman came to Brookfield and kept the first Public House in the North District. Sir James Kempt stayed there on his famous visit of 1822 which greatly encouraged settlement in the North District. J. More lists James as a son of Samuel Freeman, Esq., and his second wife, Mary ______, although the Liverpool VR list a son Frank with the same birth date (1767) and omits James. Samuel was an original grantee of Liverpool in 1764 and was from “Harwick, New England”. Hannah was a daughter of David and Rebecca (Gamon) Barss of Liverpool and grand-daughter of Benjamin and Jane Barss, probably of Chatham, Massachusetts. “Harwick” was probably also in the Cape Cod area.

Michael McGowan married LAVINA HASKINS on 30 Nov 1847, had a grant on the Westfield River in Westfield (now North Brookfield) and d.s.p. 18 Mar 1868 (on a river drive, according to family tradition). Lavina was born 22 Jan or June 1816 and died 26 Mar 1881. Around 1880, Lavina presented the James McGowan Family Bible to Alfred Roland Dailey. It is now owned by his daughter Doris, Mrs. Richard L. Boyce, of Minneapolis, Minnesota. [This was years ago].

Susannah McGowan married Augustus Patterson of Caledonia Corner, Queens Co., in 1846, son of Peter Patterson of Norway and Eunice Smith and died about 1899. Augustus and Eunice Patterson had the following children: Michael, Joseph, John, Richard, Michael, Bessie, Janet, Phoebe and Emily. Several descendants still reside in Caledonia.

Elizabeth McGowan, daughter of James D. and Elizabeth McGowan, married David Waugh and lived in Rosette. A descendant of the same name was living in Charlestown, Massachusetts around 1920.

III. 4. ROBERT DOLLIVER McGOWAN, son of James D. and Elizabeth McGowan,
married ELIZA McWHA of Calais, Maine or St. Stephen, New     Brunswick in 1845. (Marriage Intentions filed in Calais,     Maine on May 13, 1845 by Robert McGowan of St. Stephen and     Elizabeth McWha of Calais). Family History Insert:- Robert and Eliza McGowan had children born in or near Calais and moved to McGowan Lake near Caledonia, Queens Co., where the rest of their family were born, around 1864. Robert was listed as a farmer living in Westfield on the 1866 Nova Scotia Directory and the 1870
Canadian Dominion Directory. He sold this property around 1868 and moved to South Range, Digby Co., or Clementsvale, Annapolis Co., to live with his son James but died soon after. After her husband’s death, Eliza lived with her son Robert Dolliver McGowan in Bridgetown, Annapolis Co., where she died around 1894.

IV. Robert D. and Eliza McGowan  had the following children:- 1. JAMES HENRY McGOWAN, b. 29 Sep 1848, m. Alfaretta Ann, dau. of     Alfred  and Bethia (Burrell) Berry of Clementsvale, Anna. Co.,          and d. 30 Sep 1916 in Bridgetown, Anna. Co. Alfaretta d. 27          Dec 1932 in Hartland, Maine. Their descendants live in          Annapolis County, Maine and Connecticut.

2. ALMEDA McGOWAN, m. Charles Barnes and lived in Bridgetown.          They had six children. [Charles Wishart Barnes was one of the          six children, m. Mabel Sophia Farquhar …see FARQUHAR].

3. BESSIE McGOWAN, m. (1) a Mr. Tucker who owned  a business          college in Saint John, New Brunswick, and (2) William          Winchester of Round Hill, Anna. Co. Some of her children by          Tucker moved to United States. As an adolescent, Bessie was          reputed to be a witch because of her eccentric behaviour and          super-normal strength and agility.

4. MICHAEL McGOWAN, m. Mary Mullen and lived in Havelock and     Weymouth, Digby Co. He was a heavyweight fighter and is said          to have died at 37 from the effects of a head injury suffered     in a fight with the father of the formerly well-known fighter,          Sam Langford. Michael’s descendants are living in Digby and     Kings counties.

5. CHARLES CUSHING McGOWAN, b. 22 Feb 1852, m. Olive Weatherbee,     dau. of Wilson and Eliza (Hingley) Weatherbee, Tatamagouche,     Colchester Co., and d. 1 Jan 1929 in Wytopitlock, Maine. His     descendants live in Maine and Connecticut.

6. ROBERT DOLIVER McGOWAN, b. March 1852, m. Harriet Weir, dau.     of John Weir of Brooklyn, Queens Co., and d. in Bridgetown,     Anna. Co., in 1937. Most of his descendants live in Annapolis     County.

7. OLIVIA JANE McGOWAN, b. 22 June 1858, m. (1) Walter Phinney     and (2) Stephen O. Walker, son of Henry and Maria (Jefferson)     Walker, and d. 10 July 1952 in Bridgetown. Most of her     descendants live in Annapolis county.

8. DOUGLAS THORPE McGOWAN, b. 30 Mar 1860, m. Ida May Mitchell,     dau. of Arminson and Catherine (Taylor) Mitchell of Hampton,     Anna. Co., and d. 23 Apr 1917 in Everett, Mass. His descend-     ants live in Lunenburg and Hants counties and in Maine and     Massachusetts. Arminson was son of James and Rebecca (Marshall)     Mitchell, Catherine dau. of James and Lucy (Foster) Taylor, Jr.

9. JOHN McGOWAN, d.s.p. at age 21 in Bridgetown, Annapolis Co.

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Following are the McGowan records from the McGowan-Dailey Family Bible. (NOTE: There are a few discrepancies, either ages or dates).

Presented to Alfred Roland Dailey                             by                   Mrs. Lavinia McGowan

THE HOLY BIBLE, OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT                     together with                      THE APOCRYPHA

  Translated out of the Original Tongues and with the Former Translation Diligently Compared and Revised with Cannes Marginal Notes and Reference. To which are added Index.Concord, N.H. Published by Luther Robeg 1850

Birth Records

Lucy McGowan       born June 25, 1811                          died Feb 9, 1859,                          age 47 yrs, 7 mo. 14 dys

James D. McGowan   born June 27, 1813                          died July 13, 1855,                     age 42 yrs, 16 dys

Maryann McGowan    born July  4, 1815

Robert D. McGowan  born July 28, 1819

Michael McGowan    born Jan. 15, 1822                          died Mar. 18, 1868                          age 46 yrs, 2 mo, 4 dys

Susannah McGowan   born Aug. 22, 1828

Charles W.D. McGowan b. Feb. 22, 1832                          died Mar. 11, 1840                          age 11 yrs, 9 dys (*)

Elizabeth McGowan  born May  4,  1834

(different handwriting) Lavinia McGowan Haskins born June 22, 1816
died Mar. 26, 1881
age 65 yrs, 2 mo, 4 dys (*)

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Marriage Record Port Midway, N.S.

James McGowan aged 21 years and Elizabeth Dolliver       aged 19 years were Married November 23, 1809

Michael McGowan and Lavina Haskins were Married Nov. 30, 1847

Our two Daughters Lucy McGowan and Mary Ann were married January 1833 both in one day in N.S. Lucy married Wentworth Daly and Mary Ann Married
Josiah Freeman

This record made by the request of the above named James McGowan at Tisbury U. States of America, in Tisbury in the State of Massachusetts by John P. Norton

Information Transcribed by:- Muriel M. Davidson.