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Col. Charles McDowell
Born Oct 18, 1743 Winchester, Frederick Co. VA
Died Mar 3, 1815 Burke Co. NC

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Father/Emigrant
SPOUSE CHILDREN
Grace "Grizel" Greenlee Bowman (widow)

m. 1782
NC
b. Jun 23, 1750
Augusta Co. VA
d. May 18, 1823
Burke Co. NC
Margaret "Peggy"

b. Dec 31, 1783
?NC
d. Sep 28, 1854
?Globe, Burke Co. NC
Charles Gordon (Capt.)

b. Dec 27, 1785
?NC
d. Oct 5, 1859
Burke Co. NC
Sarah Grace

b. Dec 16, 1787
Burke Co. NC
d. 1870
Transylvania Co. NC
Eliza Grace

b. by 1790
?Burke Co. NC
Mar 25, 1876
?Asheville, Buncombe Co. NC
Athan Allen

b. Oct 27, 1790
?NC
d. Jul 22, 1832
Burke Co. NC
James R. (Maj. Gen.)

b. Sep 28, 1792
?NC
d. Apr 5, 1826
Burke Co. NC
Joseph Warren

b. after 1790
?NC
d. Aug 10, 1821
Burke Co. NC
Frederick County Virginia was formed in 1738 from Orange County (see present day map for location), and is the northernmost Virginia county.
Those who served in the Cherokee War, from Spring 1759 to 1761, under Col. George Gabriel Powell were mainly from Cheraw and Georgetown Districts of old Craven County SC (as opposed to the Camden District and western counties). Listed among those who served under Col Powell, "John Holoway", John White and a clerk William White [possibly brothers John and William], and several "Duett" or "Dueiett", namely Ens. Charles [possibly a son of Charles Dewitt], Joseph who left or deserted, and Benjamin "Due" who died [Andrea, SC Colonial Soldiers...].
North Carolina Counties at beginning of 1775 and at beginning of 1780 showing the creation of Burke Co. in 1777.
In Jul 1776, the station at Quaker Meadows was surrounded by Cherokee Indians holding British guns. According to a letter written by General Rutherford on Jul 14, Col. McDowell, along with ten men and a hundred and twenty women and children were being besieged. The siege was never actually carried out by the Indians as they retreated.
1777 Map of the Colonies, by J. Leopold Imbert showing the Carolinas and neighboring territory of "Louisiane" and the rivers and settlements there at the time of the Revolution. Map was reproduced and printed by the Museum of the American Revolution from a map image at the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center, Boston Public Library.
Quaker Meadows, home of Charles and Joseph McDowell, is a historical site just two miles northwest of Morganton NC. Photo of Historical Marker.
On Feb 6, 1777 at the Rowan Co. NC Court, Erasmus Allen and James Blair were securities for William & Milly White on bond of 1000 pounds when they qualify as administrators of the deceased Reuben White. On May 9, 1777, a bench warrant is issued against William White, administrator of Reuben White, to account with next court. "Ordered that James Chapman be jointed with Miley White and Wm White in Adminr: of the Estate of Reubin White deceased... in sum of 6000 pounds." The court ordered Esq. Charles McDowell or Esq. Matthew Sharpe of Burke Co. NC "examine John White, Thomas Whitson, Joseph Dobson, William Faris & James Levenport about the will of deceased Reubin White" [Rowan Co. NC Court Records]
On Aug 20, 1777, at the house of Col. Charles McDowell at Quaker Meadows, Alexander Cole made oath that he had witnessed, along with George Hickman, "Reuben White sign seal and deliver the deed of ten negroes & sundry other items as his own free & voluntary act & deed for the uses & purposes mentioned" from Reuben White to the wife and cjildren of William White. This was done in the presence of Reuben's widow, her father Erasmus Withers Allen (1712-1787?), and a "great many other persons" [Vineyard, p. 96].
On Dec 30, 1778, a Land Grant to "Charles McDowel" of one thousand acres of land on the north side of the Catawba River in Burke Co. NC was entered. The land was not surveyed until Aug 29, 1779 by George Hickman with George Holloway and neighbor William Miller as chain carriers. The grant was finally issued Mar 14 1780, one years and two months after the original request [NClandgrants.com, website].
Col. Charles McDowell and Maj. Tutt of Lincoln Co. NC led a detachment of the Burke Co. Regiment of Militia at the battle of Stono Ferry on Jun 20, 1779 near Charleston SC. One of their ten companies was led by brother Joseph McDowell. There, 34 Patriots were killed and 134 were wounded, a few more than on the British side [Carolana.com, website].
John Holloway and William Millar were chain carriers for a survey of 1,000 acres bordering the Catawba River at Quaker Meadows for Col. Charles McDowell, dated Aug 29, 1779. George Hickman was the surveyor. Photocopy of the survey record. Millar owned the neighboring land. Charles was the older brother of Col. Joseph McDowell, Jr. (1756-1801) who led Burke Co. troops at King's Mountain on Oct 7, 1780. The Quaker Meadows estate had been inherited by Charles in 1775 after the death of his father, Joseph Sr.
Map of Western Carolinas during the Revolution shows location where Capt. Reuben White died in 1776 at the head of the Catawba River (near Old Fort), home of Col. Charles McDowell (Quaker Meadows), the Burke Co. Courthouse not built until 1785, and the John's Creek (River), all along the Catawba River [Map from Draper, Lyman C., King's Mountain and its Heroes, 1881].
Map of Burke County NC from 1777 to 1799 showing where the McDowell, White and Holloway families settled.
In 1782, Charles married the widow of Capt. John Jacob Bowman (1733-1780), who was killed at the Battle of Ramsour's Mill on Jun 20, 1780. Grace married Capt. Bowman on Dec 23, 1778 and they had a son John Jacob (Jr.) born by 1776 and daughter Mary born in 1779.
On May 8, 1783, a Land Grant Survey Request by Charles McDowell was made for George Holloway. Col. McDowell was the Entry Officer of Claims for the county. It was to be done "without delay". The land to be surveyed was the same land entered in 1780 as Grant No. 1747. Eight years later on Jul 7, 1791, the land was finally surveyed by George's father-in-law William Loving. The grant was finally issued Jul 7 1794, 14 and a half years after the original request.
On the third page, third column, 7th household (7th Company) of the 1790 Burke Co. NC Census Charles McDowell was listed as a head of household of 8 family members:
1 male aged 16 and up (Charles),
2 males under age 16 (sons Charles and Athan or stepson John Bowman),
5 females (wife Grace, stepdaughter Mary Bowman, daughters Peggy, Sarah Grace, and Eliza Grace),
and 10 slaves.
His brother Joseph (Jr.) was listed as the seventh household in the same company (7th), in the second column of the same page, with 2 males older than 16, no male children, and 5 females (wife Margaret and four daughters), and 10 slaves [genealogytrails.com, 1790 Burke Co. Census, website].
Stepdaughter Mary Bowman married Col. William A. Tate (1765-1818).
Daughter Peggy married Col. William Dickson (1775-1855). Their large two story frame house was built for them in 1833 and is one of the historical sites in Caldwell Co. NC. [Lenoir Service League].
Daughter Peggy and husband Col. William Dickson are buried in the Dickson Cemetery in the Globe area now in Caldwell Co. A photo of the cemetery taken about 1979 [findagrave website].
Daughter Sarah married William Paxton Jr. (1783-1875).
On Sep 7, 1813, son Charles Gordon married Anna McDowell (1793-1859), a daughter of Charles' brother, Col. Joseph McDowell (1756-1801). Both are buried in the Quaker Meadows Cemetery.
Charles, his wife Grace, and other family members are buried at Quaker Meadows Cemetery on a hill high above their home. Photos of Marker of Charles, next to him Marker of Grace, and Marker of son Athan. The brother of Charles, Joseph Jr., is thought to be on the other side of Charles in an unmarked space.
Sources:
AmRevNC, Quaker-Meadows, website, 2021-3.
Andrea, Leonardo, South Carolina Colonial Soldiers and Patriots, publ. 1952, transcribed by Sara Augerson in website.
Burke Co. NC Land Grants, "Land Grants - Burke County", The North Carolina Collection, at Morganton-Burke County Public Library, selected records transcribed by George M. Holloway.
Carolana.com website, "The American Revolution in North Carolina", " Stono Ferry".
Dickson Cemetery, or Glass Family Cemetery, Lenoir, Caldwell Co NC., findagrave website.
Dickson Family Bible.
Genealogical Society of Rowan Co. NC, "Erasmus Allen Will, 1787, NC", Journal Of The Genealogical Society Of Rowan County, North Carolina, Salisbury NC, 1999.
Genealogy Trails, 1790 Census, Burke Co. NC, website, transcribed by Linda Natale, 2020.
Huggins, Edith Warren, comp., Burke County, North Carolina Land Records and More Important Miscellaneous Records, vol. II, Southern Historical Press, Easley SC, p. 125.
North Carolina Land Grants, NC Burke Co. File #290, website.
Lenoir Service League, Remembrances in Caldwell County N.C., 1976, keyed map.
North Carolina Land Grants, vol. 2, at Morganton NC Library, p. 6, #1476, transcribed by Lisabeth M. Holloway Oct 9, 1987.
Scott, W. W., Annals of Caldwell Co., Lenoir NC, 1930, pp. 64-65, 118.
Vineyard, M.L. & E.M.Wiseman, Wm Wiseman & the Davenports, Pioneers Of Old Burke County, North Carolina, v.2, Franklin NC, 1997, pp. 96, 233-234, 315-317.
White, Gifford, James Taylor White of Virginia and some of his descendants into Texas, Austin, TX, 1982.