Those who Served!Dowlings 1776
The Plaque
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“to the Dowlings who served
in America’s wars”
By Maude Dowling Turner
The Story of the Plaque
The story of the memorial plaque commemorating the war services of members of the Dowling Family is the story of the Dowling Family, in miniature, throughout American history.
The plaque records the names of those who served in the War of the Revolution beginning in 1776, the War with England of 1812, the Mexican War of 1848, the War between the States beginning in 1861, the War with Spain of 1898, World War I beginning in 1917, and World War II beginning in 1941.
The recording of the names carries with it the deeper meaning that, generation after generation, the whole of the Dowling Family has done its part toward the preservation of American institutions and the ideal of liberty. And through this deeper meaning can be seen other unidentified Dowling mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, sons and daughters valiantly keeping home fires burning, suffering in mind, body and estate, the while that those named on the plaque made their great sacrifices in the air, on the seas and battlefields and in the camps.
The Dowling Family is a distinguished one. Not so well known through historical works as are the families of Lee and Edwards, the Dowling clan nevertheless has furnished a goodly quota of leaders in all fields.
It is in the ranks of typical Americans – farmers, merchants, skilled artisans, teachers and other professional men and women, home-loving devoted parents – that the Dowling Family also stands in high place. It is as such Americans, and not as the greatest leaders, that the Dowlings with courage, self-reliance, hard work and moral integrity, cleared the land, began our industries, nurtured our culture, provided the money for education, public health and other social needs. In short, it is the Dowlings and other typical Americans who, behind the scenes of actual conflict, provided the sinews for victories and progress.
All of us therefore, as we pay first homage to those who risked or gave life itself in defense of country, honor our family heroes most when in peacetime each – in his or her own way and with full ability – does all possible in the forward struggle for a better world.
As a great American pointed out at Gettysburg, we cannot add to or detract from the record of those who fought in the service of their country. But we can re-dedicate our lives to the unfinished tasks of preserving the good that is in American institutions, the ideal of liberty and human progress. By such re-dedication we can create a living memorial to our family heroes. The plaque therefore should symbolize the moving spirit of the Dowling Family – Favente Deo, Supero – with the help of God, I conquer.
Revolutionary War
Home Robert Dowling Fr. Dowling Dowling’s Who Served Dowling Family Book
“to the Dowlings who served
in America’s wars”
By Maud Turner Dowling
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF INDIVIDUALS ON PLAQUE
(Data are based on family records and replies to questionnaires. Identical treatment was intended for each name: failure of families to supply data or missing records make sketches incomplete in some instances. Sketches are given in the order in which names appear on the memorial plaque. Every reasonable effort has been made to insure accuracy.)
1776
ROBERT DOWLING II. Robert Dowling II was the first Dowling (of our branch of the family) to come to South Carolina. Robert Dowling I, or his antecedents, came to Virginia by way of Wales during the seventeenth. century. Robert Dowling I married in Virginia to a Virginian. Robert Dowling II is the child of this marriage. Robert Dowling II grew to manhood in Virginia and married a Virginian. From this marriage there was one child, William Dowling, born in Virginia. The mother died in childbirth or soon thereafter. Robert Dowling II married a second time. By his second wife, Sarah Guinn of Virginia, there were James, John, Elizabeth, Sarah and Millie. Shortly before the War of the Revolution, Robert Dowling II moved to Jeffries Creek, near the present town of Darlington, South Carolina. William Dowling married in Virginia a Virginian and moved near his father in the Darlington region. (These facts are attested by Noel T. Dowling, Nash Professor of Law at Columbia University, and are based on notes dictated by the Rev. Dempsey Dowling in 1857.) Robert Dowling I was born before 1710, but his date of death is uncertain (believed alive in 1800). Robert Dowling II was born in 1730 and died in 1794. Robert Dowling II served throughout the war in Captain William Vause’s Company, 12th Virginia Regiment, Commanded by Colonel James Wood. He fought at Musgrove’s Mill, Guilford Court House, Cowpens and King’s Mountain. (See Maud Dowling Turner’s file Natl. D.A.R. #238787, 171982, 137007.)
JAMES DOWLING. Born 1758. Died 1802. Married to former Mary Boutwell; children, ‘William, James, John (Jabez), Willis, Henry, Sarah, Mary and Letitia. Served in Brenton’s Regiment, General Marion’s Brigade, throughout the War of the Revolution. Son of Robert Dowling II and Sarah Guinn Dowling. Service attested by pay vouchers and other records. His will was on file in Darlington, South Carolina.
JOHN DOWLING. Born 1759. Died 1826. Married to Nancy Boutwell (sister of Mary Boutwell, who was the wife of his brother James); children (see general note given below). Served alongside of his brother in the War of the Revolution and also in Captain Levacher de Ste. Marie’s Company, 1st South Carolina Regiment, commanded by Col. Charles Cotesworth Pinckney. Son of Robert Dowling II and Sarah Guinn Dowling.
(GENERAL NOTE: Although most of the names on the plaque, below those shown in the War of 1812, are descendants of James (brother of this John) Dowling, son of Robert Dowling II by his marriage to Sarah Guinn, it is useful for family history to note a few additional facts about the descendants of John Dowling. By his marriage to Nancy Boutwell John Dowling had six sons and three daughters, as follows: (A) Dempsey, Elias, Zaccheus (shown on plaque), Levi, Allen; Simpson, Lydia, Rhoda and Jemina. Levi. Elias, Zaccheus and Dempsey came, with their mother, Nancy Boutwell, to Alabama in an early day. Nancy Boutwell is buried in Old Zion Churchyard, near where Zaccheus and Levi settled – eight miles west of Ozark, Alabama. Levi left in the 1850′s and carried part of his family to Mississippi.
As Dempsey, (who married Martha Stokes of Darlington), left numerous descendants in the Southeast who are members of the Dowling Family Association, it is useful to list the names of the descendants of John Dowling’s oldest son.
(A) Dempsey had seven sons and seven daughters. They were: (1) Wesley, (2) Noel, (3) Fletcher, (4) John, (5) Edward, (6) James, (7) Zinnaman, (8) Lacy, (9) Millie, (10) Elizabeth and (11) Zillah (a twin of Elizabeth), (12) Martha, (13) Anna and (14) Frances.
The descendants of each of these children of Dempsey; son of John, son of Robert are: (1) Wesley Jasper, Martin, Marion J., Frances (dau.). Jasper and Martin died in the War between the States; (2) Noel John W., Angus, Simeon, Massalone, LaFayette, James King (died in Confederate Army), Noel P., Gabriel P. and Anna Jane; (3) Fletcher – Jefferson, Anderson (moved to Texas), Mary and Margaret; (4) John – S. Lawson, Elisha M. C., Noel B., Jerve M., Louis, George Washington, Lancy Ann, Nancy Jane; (5) Edward Jessie, Robert J., Eddie, Margaret, Betsy Ann, Jane, Susan, Ophelia and Eudora; (6) James (killed in Confederate Army, buried in Virginia) – (James and his brother, Fletcher (3) above, married sisters, Caroline and Nancy Martin) – William, Greenberry, Irvin, Sarah, Catherine, Anna, Bluney, Cally and Pandora: (7) Zinnaman – Pinkney, Simpson, LeRoy, Calvess, Laura, Jetson, Joicy, Lonette and Martha; (8) Lacy (m. Elisha Mathews) William Edwards; Melton T., Jane, Martha, Ann, Mary, Aquilla, Talitha, Betsy Ann, Margaret; (9) Millie (m. Wm. Cox) – Fletcher, Jessie and Henry, Martha, Nancy, Elizabeth, Sara, Sophronia, Cornelia, Lillie, Rebecca; (10) Elizabeth – died at age fifteen without issue; (11) Zillah (m. Sam. Hallford) – James, Wesley, Wilburn (died in Confederate Army), Dixie H. (moved to Texas), Gordon, Jessie (died in Confederate Army), Monroe, Susan, Sarah, Josephine and Piety; (12) Martha (m. Emanuel Parrish) – Hill, and Jefferson; (13) Anna (m. James Parrish) – Marcellus (died in Confederate Army), Young (moved to Texas), Lawrence (moved to Texas), Savannah, Rosaberg, Mary and Sarah: (14) Frances (m. Mathias Bracken, brother of the wife of John Dowling (4) above – Simeon, Warren. Hayden, Lawrence, Tarve, Martha, Jane, Lucile, Avila, Piety, Roxy Ann, and Rebecca.
It is seen that just as the sons of Robert Dowling II and Sarah Guinn (John and James) married sisters (Mary and Nancy Boutwell), so also, descendants of John and James frequently were married to brothers or sisters in new lines. This, in part, accounts for the feeling of “close” kinship between various branches of the family.) [End of General Note]
* WILLIAM DOWLING. Born 1756. Died January 1, 1783. Married a Virginian, children, Jabez, Micajah (“Cageby”), Elizah. Participated in siege of Charleston, later killed by Tories near the close of the war at his new home in Barnwell County, whence he had moved from Darlington. Son of Robert Dowling II and a Virginia lady whose name is unknown. See additional notes under Dennis and (James) Jabez Dowling.
