Just a little break

Just wanted everyone to know that I have not forgotten this blog.  Mom has had some really bad times and I am working with her.
Please take the time to talk with your parents or grandparents and write down things about them.  Such items as their occupation, training/education, little quirky things.  Later on down the line you will be glad you did.
If your parents/grandparents are already gone, then take the time now to write down things you remember about them.  What were the things they like to do most.  Was grandma a quilter, homemaker extraordinaire, really good cook or just an all around good person.  It is the little things you may remember that your children need to know about their grandparents.
At the family reunion we all discussed the grandmother that was not very pleasant to be around and yet one cousin had fond memories of her.  So this lady had to have some redeeming qualities that most of us missed.

Stay tuned, I will be back as soon as possible.

Lewis McDowell
Born in 1822 in Louisiana.  The earliest documentation for Louis is in the 1850 census of Sabine Louisiana. He is 27 years old and his wife, Jelina is 21; they have a one year old daughter, Jane.
Ten years later he is in Williamson County, Texas living close to the Gabriel Mills post office.  Lewis, wife Jelina and three children are listed.  The children are Elizabeth Jane age 11, Mary J age 4, and William Joseph age 2.
Lewis was a teamster.  He kept a journal of his travels as he sold to area neighbors such articles as coffee, fabric, tobacco, etc.  This journal is now in the possession of a descendant of his oldest daughter Elizabeth Jane. 
After Jelina's death during the birth of her fifth child, John David McDowell , Lewis remarried the next year to Nancy Ann Cartwright and moved to McCullough County. 
In 1868 Lewis, in a drunkard stupor, was murdered; shot in the back by a local bar patroon.
He was buried by Jelina in the Cox Cemetery in Brady, McCullough County, Texas.

Front cover of journal kept by Lewis McDowell

Lettter to James Dykes from Nancy Cartwright

Lewis McDowell tombstone

New beginings

Hello and welcome to  my first post of McDowell family history.  I plan to start with the furthest back ancestor Lewis McDowell and work my way forward to the generation of today.  If you were at the recent family reunion maybe you saw my large binders of family history that I have collected.  I will share all of this information here on this site for your convenience. My intention is to leave behind a trail of ancestors for future generations to look back upon.
Let's get started!