Richard Fowler

GEDCOM Note

Biography

<div align=justify>Richard Fowler was born on 17 January 1792 in Prince George’s Parish, Georgetown District South Carolina, the son of John Fowler (1747 – 1845) and Elizabeth Rackley (1760s – 1815/1825). His parents’ families had lived in the Sampson/Duplin region prior to Richard’s birth. His father had served in the North Carolina militia, fighting for the Patriot side during the American Revolution. In fact, 27 February 1776, John Fowler saw action at the Battle of Widow Moore’s Creek Bridge, where the Patriots routed the Tory army and helped advance the patriot cause throughout the Colony of North Carolina. Fowler moved across the state line into South Carolina sometime in the 1780s, before Richard’s birth. He remained there until shortly after 1800, when he returned to North Carolina and settled in Columbus County. Based upon the date of his eldest known child, Richard Fowler married sometime prior to mid-1812 to Sarah, born on 3 May 1790 in North Carolina.
<ref>Richard Fowler Family Bible. John Fowler Revolutionary War Pension Application, #S16809, North Carolina. Duplin County NC Estate Records, 1813, Joshua Rackley. Fowler, Richard Gildart. A History of the Fowler Family of Southeastern North Carolina. Privately printed, 1985, pp. 15–18, 25A, 28–29. This work describes the migrations of John Fowler and his wife, Elizabeth Rackley, including the years they spent in South Carolina. </ref> On 27 July 1812, shortly after his marriage, Richard Fowler enlisted as a private in the company commanded by Captain Caleb Stevens, in Major John A. Lillington’s detachment of North Carolina militia during the War of 1812. His unit was stationed at Deepwater Point, North Carolina and his commanders listed him as present for duty during his six-month tour of duty. He received payment of $6.66 per month until his discharge on 23 December 1812. <ref>Compiled Military Service Records, War of 1812, Major Lillington’s Detachment, North Carolina Militia, Richard Fowler, Microfilm Publication M602, National Archives and Records Service. </ref> The birth of Richard Fowler’s eldest daughter Elizabeth occurred on 2 February 1813, not quite six weeks after his discharge from the North Carolina militia. Thus, we presume that his marriage to Sarah occurred prior to his enlistment in the militia the previous July. We only have evidence that Richard married once. Family tradition related during the twentieth century by a variety of Fowler descendants living in Union Parish Louisiana insists that Richard’s wife was “Sarah Paramore.” No evidence to support this claim has yet been found. <ref>Some have speculated that Richard Fowler was married to two different women with the given name of “Sarah,” given a four-year gap in the births of his daughters (between 1819 and 1823). However, gaps often occur due to miscarriages, etc., and there is no other evidence that he had more than one wife. One confusing point about the family tradition of Sarah’s maiden name of “Paramore” or “Parramore” is that we cannot locate any nearby families with this surname during this time period. </ref> Richard and Sarah lived in Columbus County North Carolina for about five years after their marriage. During this time, they lived on a farm located on the south side of Beaver Dam Swamp that adjoined the farm of his father, John Fowler, as well as those of John Wilson, William Sikes, and Duncan Sikes. It is not clear if Richard owned or rented this farm, for many land transactions of that era went unrecorded. By 1818, after about six years of marriage Richard and Sarah had four daughters: Elizabeth, Elvira, Phiney/Sheny, and Milly Fowler. <ref>Richard Fowler witnessed a land transaction in Columbus County on 1 November 1815 with his brother-in-law, Isaac Simmons (Columbus County NC Deed Book B, pp. 96–97). On 26 October 1817, Fowler and another brother-in-law, William Sims, witnessed the transaction in which John Fowler purchased two tracts of land (Columbus County NC Deed Book B, pp. 308–309). Richard Fowler’s farm location and his neighbors come from records made a decade after he had left North Carolina for Alabama (Columbus County NC Deed Books E, pp. 28–30 [10 May 1828], and H, pp. 214–215 [4 Mar 1829]). These documents show Richard Fowler’s land lying next to that of John Fowler, John Wilson, and the Sikes. There are no recorded deeds in Columbus County that show Richard Fowler buying or selling land. He could have rented the land, or his land transactions may have gone unrecorded. The Fowler Bible records Milly Fowler’s date of birth as 23 December 1817. Milly died before 1850, and so no census shows her place of birth. The 1880 census listing of her second son, James Andrew Albritton, shows his mother born in North Carolina (1880 Sevier County AL Federal Census, Population Schedule, Clear Creek Township, Household #161, ED 269, p. 18). On the other hand, the 1880, 1900, and 1910 census listings of Milly’s eldest son, Enoch Richard Albritton, all show his mother’s birthplace as Georgia, the same as his father. There are no other records that show Richard Fowler as a Georgia resident, so presumably Enoch or whoever reported this information confused his mother’s place of birth with that of his father (who was indeed born in Georgia). Thus, it appears that Richard and Sarah remained in Columbus County until after Milly’s birth in December 1817. </ref> In 1818 or 1819, Richard and Sarah moved their family from North Carolina to Alabama Territory, first settling in Monroe County. Their fifth daughter, Samantha Fowler, was born there on 19 November 1819. <ref>The Fowler Bible records the birth of <i>“Mantha Fowler”</i> on this date. Later records verify that <i>“Manthy Fowler”</i> was actually Samantha Fowler who married Noah Scarborough in 1837 (Wilcox County AL Marriage Book 1826–1840, pp. 302, 352, Noah Scarborough to Samantha Fowler; Wilcox County AL Deed Book E, p. 369, Noah and <i>“Manthy”</i> Scarborough sell 80 acres of land near Snow Hill). The 1850–1900 Union Parish LA Federal Census records all give Alabama as Samantha’s place of birth. It is clear that the Fowlers came into Alabama via the Federal Road, but we have no indication of where Richard Fowler settled between 1819 and 1821. On 19 October 1821, Richard Fowler <i>“of Monroe County”</i> purchased land at the Cahaba, Alabama Land Office (Cahaba, Alabama Cash Entry #470). </ref> On 21 October 1821, Richard purchased 80 acres of government land in what is now Clarke County Alabama for $100.12½ in cash. Fowler paid for the land with $80 from his account in the bank at Darien, Georgia, $20 from his account with the Planter’s Bank in Georgia, and 12½ cents in change. <ref>Fowler’s land in Section 20, Township 8 North, Range 5 East lay just about 1.5 miles due west of the Alabama River, which is the border between Clarke and Monroe Counties. Since that transaction gave his residence as Monroe County, he had presumably resided on land there before this purchase (Cahaba, Alabama Land Office Cash Entry #470). Fowler purchased 80.1 acres for $100.12½. </ref> It is not clear whether Fowler ever moved onto his new farm, for when he made his second purchase of government land on 19 November 1827, the land officer still listed Fowler’s residence as Monroe, not Clarke, County. On the other hand, perhaps his proximity to the Monroe/Clarke County line made these geographical designations fluid during these early years of Alabama statehood. <ref> Cahaba, Alabama Land Office Cash Entry #3314. </ref> During the winter of 1827–1828, nearly ten years after their arrival in Alabama, Richard and Sarah Fowler decided to leave their neighborhood and move about thirty miles northeast. For their new home, they chose a location near the Village of Snow Hill and the point at which Wilcox-Dallas-Lowndes Counties intersect. On 19 November 1827, Richard Fowler purchased 80 acres of government land a few miles northwest of Snow Hill, lying on the Dallas County side of the Dallas/Wilcox county line. His neighbor on the west side of his new farm, Martin Batte Lee, apparently sold an additional 80 acres to Fowler over the next few years. Then on 16 May 1831, Fowler made his third and final government land purchase, obtaining 71.5 acres of land that adjoined his existing farm, this time on the Wilcox County side of the county line. The Fowler’s farm now consisted of 231.5 acres bisected by the Dallas/Wilcox County line. <ref> Cahaba, Alabama Land Office Cash Entries #3314 and 7571. These records are abstracted above. On 22 July 1828, Martin Batte Lee purchased the W½ of SW¼ of Section 31, Township 13, Range 11 in Dallas County, the property that lay along the western side of Fowler’s new farm (Cahaba, Alabama Cash Entry #3600). Since Fowler owned this 80 acres in 1833, he must have purchased it from Lee between 1828 and 1832. This conveyance was not recorded in either Dallas or Wilcox Counties.</ref> After only a few years, Richard and Sarah decided to move again, although this time they remained in the Snow Hill vicinity. On 17 January 1833, they sold their farm to Henry McCoghren for $800, what appears to have been a rather substantial profit. <ref>Dallas County AL Deed Book C, pp. 365–366. Fowler paid a total of $189.44 for the 160 acres he purchased from the government. We do not know what he paid Lee for the remaining 80 acres, but Lee paid the government exactly what Fowler did ($100.06). </ref> In about 1832 or 1833, Richard and Sarah bought a new farm located roughly two miles to the west/southwest of their former one, still near the Dallas/Wilcox county line but this one entirely on the Wilcox County side of the line. They obtained 141.8 acres of their new farm from William Drake, who bought it in October 1833 from Enoch Albritton, a man whose son later married Richard and Sarah’s daughters Milly and Sarah Ann, and whose grandson married their youngest daughter, Susannah. The new Fowler farm also adjoined that of Addison Scarborough, whose son married another Fowler daughter within a few years. <ref>Enoch Albritton of Wilcox County Alabama purchased this 141.8 acres at the Cahaba, Alabama Land Office on 25 May 1831: SW¼ of Section 4, Township 12 North, Range 11 East (Cahaba, Alabama Land Office Cash Entry #7947). Albritton claimed the right of “Preemption,” meaning that he had settled the vacant land, cleared acreage for agriculture, and established residence on it before the government offered the land for sale to the public. This gave him the right to purchase it before anyone else. Enoch Albritton and his wife, Penelope Frizzle, sold it to William Drake on 2 October 1833 (Wilcox County AL Deed Book C, p. 93). Richard Fowler presumably purchased this property from William Drake sometime between October 1833 and 16 August 1837 (Wilcox County AL Deed Book E, pp. 151–152). The transaction from Drake to Fowler was not recorded in Wilcox County, so we do not know exactly when it occurred. </ref> Fowler made additional purchases of land in the mid-1830s, increasing his acreage to a total of 212.7 acres. His new farm was located just about ½-mile from Snow Hill. <ref>Wilcox County AL Deed Book E, pp. 151–152 shows that by 16 August 1837, Richard Fowler had purchased two additional tracts of land: SW¼ of NW¼ and SE¼ of NW¼ of Section 4, Township 12 North, Range 11 East. The SW¼ of NW¼ was purchased from the government by David Seale on 27 November 1833 (Cahaba Cash Entry #17889), and the SE¼ of NW¼ John W. Campbell on 28 January 1834 (Cahaba Cash Entry #17889). The transactions in which Fowler purchased these tracts were not recorded in Wilcox County, but they must have occurred between 1834 and 1837.</ref> In the early 1840s, Richard and Sarah began accumulating another farm nearby, just about two miles due south of their existing farm and adjoining the Bethsaida Baptist Church. Their motivation for purchasing this additional farm remains unclear, but it appears that their main farm remained the one located closer to the county line. <ref> Richard Fowler’s second farm lay in Sections 16 and 17, Township 12 North Range 11 East, a location just two miles due south of his existing farm near the Wilcox/Dallas county line that adjoined Addison Scarborough’s farm. On 24 November 1840, Fowler purchased the SE¼ of SE¼ (except ten acres) of Section 17 (Wilcox County AL Deed Book J, p. 594–595). On 22 August 1844, Fowler bought the NW¼ of SW¼, Section 16 (Wilcox County AL Deed Book J, pp. 589–590). There is no record of his obtaining the remainder of his second farm, as those transactions were not recorded. Proof that he owned these additional tracts comes from when Richard and Sarah Fowler sold the property on 13 November 1850 (Wilcox County AL Deed Book J, pp. 593–594). The Fowlers’ second farm consisted of a total of 147 acres. They must have purchased the NE¼ of SE¼ of Section 17 from Martin B. Lee, who bought it from the government on 23 May 1835 (Cahaba, Alabama Cash Entry #22699). They also must have purchased the SW¼ of SW¼ of Section 16 from Silas W. A. Albritton, who bought it from the local government on 21 December 1844 (Section 16 was exclusively reserved for the use of the local schools, so the government transferred it to Wilcox County, and then the county sold whatever portions remained after schools were established). It remains unclear why the Richard and Sarah Fowler purchased this second farm. It could have been an investment, or perhaps the family one (or both) of their married daughters operated it (Milly Fowler Albritton or Samantha Fowler Scarborough). It appears that the Fowler’s primary residence and farm was the one closer to the county line, as it was the most valuable property based upon the sales prices of their two farms when they sold them both in November 1850. </ref> Like most Southerners, Richard Fowler farmed for a living. The records suggest he managed to earn a good living and supported his family well, even though he had seven daughters and only one son. Fowler primarily relied on himself for his farming pursuits, as he did not own many slaves. He owned no slaves in 1830, but by 1840, he had three slaves living in his household: a female aged between 36 and 55 and two male slaves aged between 10 and 24 years of age. That year, five members of the household were engaged in agriculture, presumably Fowler and his son, plus the three slaves. <ref>1830 Dallas County AL Federal Census, p. 76, line 2. 1840 Wilcox County AL Federal Census, p. 326, line 24. </ref> By 1854, Fowler owned two male slaves, presumably the same two he owned in 1840. <ref>Union Parish LA Police Jury Minutes Book 1852–1869, p. 41. This record contains this entry: <i>"Jas. Perdue overseer on the road leading to Van Hooks old Bridge commencing at the Forts of the road below David Ward’s and work to the Deluter [sic] and have the following hands subject to him for 1 year…Fowler’s 2 Hands…”</i> The term <i>"hands”</i> in these early records refers to either a man’s teenaged, minor sons or his slaves. Since Fowler’s only son married in 1847 and does not appear to have followed him to Union Parish Louisiana, this reference must be to Fowler’s two slaves. </ref>We have no indication of how Fowler obtained his three slaves. On 3 February 1855, he purchased one slave at an estate sale. Fowler paid $1100 for <i>“the negro slave Prince, about forty five years of age black color, and a slave for life…” M</i> We have no record of what became of Prince or the other Fowler slaves after the deaths of Richard and Sarah Fowler a few years later. <ref>Union Parish LA Conveyance Book G, pp. 172–173. Prince’s fate after his 1855 purchase by Fowler remains unclear. Of Fowler’s known four sons-in-law, only three owned slaves in 1860: George W. Albritton (nine slaves), James R. Albritton (one slave), and Wiley J. Polk (twelve slaves). Prince would have been 50 years of age by 1860, and none of them own a slave near that age. Each of them owned only one adult male slave: James R. Albritton’s was aged 37, George W. Albritton’s was aged 32, and Polk’s was aged 60. </ref> The unfortunate lack of available records prevents us from definitively knowing Richard and Sarah Fowler’s religious affiliation. However, a preponderance of circumstantial evidence points to their following the Primitive Baptist faith. Only a few years after the Fowlers arrived in Snow Hill, the Bethsaida Baptist Church formed at Snow Hill. Although the original church minutes apparently do not exist, a church history written in the mid-1900s states that it formed in 1831. Bethsaida Baptist Church applied for membership in the Bethlehem Baptist Association at its 1831 associational meeting held at Fellowship Church in Wilcox County from September 24th until 27th. She then had seventeen members but no preacher. By 1832, J. A. Butler served as pastor of Bethsaida, and in 1834 and 1835, Thomas Trowell served as the minister. The church’s membership held at nineteen between 1832 and 1834, then increased to twenty for 1835–1836. Elder Robert Warren represented Bethsaida Baptist Church at the Bethlehem Associational Meeting beginning 24 September 1836. Along with other anti-mission churches, Bethsaida applied for letters of dismissal from the association at this meeting. <ref>Bethlehem Baptist Association Minutes, 1831–1836. 1831–1976 History of Bethsaida Baptist Church comes from a printed church program.</ref> Although we have no documentation that Richard and Sarah belonged to Bethsaida Baptist Church, their Snow Hill farms adjoined those of Martin B. Lee and Addison Scarborough, both active members of Bethsaida Church. Moreover, after the Fowlers moved to Louisiana in the 1850s, their farm adjoined that of James D. Griffin, the son of a Bethsaida Church deacon. <ref>Wilcox County AL Deed Book M, p. 512. This record shows Martin B. Lee and James Griffin as deacons of Bethsaida Church, and Addison Scarborough as an ardent supporter of the church. 1838–1847 Ebenezer Primitive Baptist Association Minutes, Samford University Library, Birmingham, Alabama show Scarborough as a member of Bethsaida Church. Union Parish LA Conveyance Record H, pp. 456–457 shows James D. Griffin owning a farm in Union Parish Louisiana that adjoined Richard Fowlers. James D. Griffin is known to have moved to Louisiana from Snow Hill, and he is believed to be the son of the older James Griffin who was a deacon at Bethsaida. </ref> Another indication that Richard and Sarah belonged to Bethsaida Baptist Church is their purchase of their second farm near Snow Hill in the early 1840s: this property adjoined Bethsaida Church. In addition, many of their children and grandchildren belonged to the Liberty Hill Primitive Baptist Church in Union Parish Louisiana, located just about 1.5 miles from the farm Richard Fowler bought in Union Parish Louisiana in 1851. In an era in which many adult males remained illiterate, Richard Fowler received at least a rudimentary education as a child growing up in rural northeastern South Carolina and southeastern North Carolina. Throughout his adult life, he signed his name to land transactions. Samples of his original signature show that, even at the age of sixty, Fowler had a clear, distinctive, and beautiful signature, indicative of a man accustomed to writing and signing his name. Sarah Fowler, on the other hand, was illiterate and made <i>"her mark”</i> to land transactions. <ref>Dallas County AL Deed Book C, pp. 365–366 (17 Jan 1833, Richard and Sarah Fowler to Henry McCoghren; signed by Richard, with Sarah making her mark to the document). Columbus County NC Deed Book F, pp. 36–37 (17 Oct 1835; signed by Richard Fowler). Wilcox County AL Deed Book E, pp. 151–152 (July 26 and Aug 16, 1837; signed twice by Richard Fowler). Wilcox County AL Will Book 2, p. 166 (26 Oct 1844; signed by Richard Fowler). Wilcox County AL Deed Book J, pp. 588–594 (13 Nov 1850; three transactions all signed by Richard Fowler, with Sarah Fowler making her mark to all three). Union Parish LA Conveyance Book D, pp. 527–529 (17 Oct 1851; signed by Richard Fowler). United States Bounty Land Application of Richard Fowler, United States National Archives (contains the only known sample of Richard Fowler’s original signature).</ref> Although Richard Fowler’s parents clearly made certain he received an education, Richard did not do the same for his daughters. He may have been among those nineteenth century Southerners who insisted upon literacy of their sons but not for their daughters. At least three of Richard and Sarah’s daughters remained illiterate throughout their adult lives: Elvira, Samantha, and Sarah Ann. Like their mother, all three resorted to making their marks to legal transactions during their lifetimes. <ref>Union Parish LA Succession Book H-1, pp. 123–125 (25 Mar 1851; Elvira Fowler Polk made her mark to the document appointing her as the “Natural Tutrix” of her minor children). Union Parish LA Conveyance Book U, p. 246 (25 Jan 1884; Samantha Fowler Scarborough makes her mark to the document). Union Parish LA Conveyance Book Z, p. 291 (25 Feb 1891; Samantha Fowler Scarborough makes her mark to the document). Union Parish LA Conveyance Book 9, pp. 248–250 (18 July 1901; Samantha Fowler Scarborough makes her mark to the document). Monroe, Louisiana Land Office Homestead Application #92 (26 Nov 1872; Sarah Ann Albritton made her mark to the document). The following census records list the indicated Fowler daughter as a person who cannot read or write: 1850 Clarke County AL Federal Census, Population Schedule, p. 231, Household #385 (Elvira). 1860 Union Parish LA Federal Census, Population Schedule, p. 118, Households #754 (Sarah Ann) and #755 (Samantha). Many upper-middle class white Southern farmers of this era educated their sons but not their daughters. For example, the five sons of James Seale (1769–1860) all received an education, with one (James H. Seale) becoming an attorney and serving as the sheriff of Union Parish Louisiana and Clerk of Court of Jackson Parish. However, Seale’s daughters all remained illiterate throughout their adult lives (Mary Seale Bates, Matilda Seale Parmer Grant, Clarenda Seale Ham, Cynthia Seale Ward, and Elvira Seale Cooper). </ref> Richard and Sarah’s youngest daughter, Susannah Fowler, was born in 1827 and grew up Snow Hill. In 1899, Susan stated that <i>“…I went to school… when I was twelve years old,”</i> which would have been in 1839 or 1840. There is some evidence that the Snow Hill community schools were founded in the latter 1830s, so she may have been the only Fowler daughter still of school age by the time local schools formally organized. Like her father, Susan had a distinctive handwriting when she signed her name at the age of seventy-two. <ref>Texas Confederate Pension Application of J. R. Albritton, Navarro County Texas, approved 27 Jan 1900. Susan signed an affidavit on 23 August 1899 in which she stated, in reference to her husband, that <i>"I went to school with him when I was twelve years old…”</i> and that she has <i>"…been acquainted ever since we was children in Alabama near Snow Hill, in Wilcox County…”</i> United States laws reserved Section 16 for the use of local schools. Richard Fowler bought a second farm near the Village of Snow Hill (what is currently <i>"Old Snow Hill”</i>) in the latter 1830s, with half of this farm laying in Section 16. From the Federal Tract Book records of Township 12 North, Range 11 East showing Snow Hill and the surrounding region, including Richard Fowler’s farms, the local government began selling off Section 16 in 1840 and 1841, indicating that they had by then formed schools and were then disposing of the remaining portions. </ref> In 1845, a severe drought plagued portions of central Alabama and Georgia, causing widespread crop failures. According to one Georgia resident writing in 1847,

<blockquote><i>...We have the hardest times in this country that we ever have had since we have lived here. Corn cannot be bought for a dollar a bushel. The folks are going from here to Arkansas a good many of them...We have had the hardest times now that I ever have seen in my life. There is no corn in Georgia nor much of anything else to eat or feed with...</i> <ref>The Georgia Genealogical Magazine, No. 34, October 1969, p. 2343. Penelope Yelvington and son Moses C. Yelvington of Talbot County Georgia wrote these letters to her son (and Moses’ brother) Robert J. Yelvington of Greenwood, Louisiana. “Macon Weekly Telegraph” issue of 24 February 1846. This paper mentions the severe drought in Georgia during the summer of 1845. </ref> </blockquote> To escape these conditions, many people left Georgia and Alabama for the cheap government land available in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas. It is believed that these conditions prompted several of Richard and Sarah’s children and long-time neighbors to emigrate from their homes in the Snow Hill community to the Bayou d’Loutre region east of Farmerville, in Union Parish Louisiana. Their daughter Samantha Fowler Scarborough and son-in-law George Washington Albritton, as well as neighbor Martin B. Lee, all left Snow Hill and moved to Louisiana in 1847. <ref>Louisiana Confederate Pension Applications of Samantha Elvyann Scarborough Ham, filed 6 Dec 1909 and 30 Aug 1920, and also Susan Malissa Scarborough, widow of George N. Scarborough (her first cousin), filed 24 Nov 1928. Both Samantha Elvyann and Susan Malissa Scarborough are granddaughters of Richard and Sarah Fowler, their being daughters of Samantha Fowler Scarborough. Both stated in their applications that they had resided in the state of Louisiana since the year 1847. Ouachita, Louisiana Land Office Cash Entries #9304 (22 Feb 1848, Noah Scarborough) and #10018 (12 July 1849, George W. Albritton). Ouachita, Louisiana Military Warrant #54487 (25 Sept 1849, Martin B. Lee, assignee). This documentation verifies the 1847 arrival in Union Parish Louisiana of Samantha Fowler and her family. It would appear that Albritton and the Lees came with the Scarboroughs, but if not, they followed them the next year. </ref> Records indicate that Albritton’s wife, Milly Fowler, died about 1846–1847, and her sons, Enoch Richard and James Andrew Albritton, remained in Snow Hill with their grandparents while their father went with relatives to establish new farms in Louisiana. <ref>Louisiana Confederate Pension Application of Enoch R. Albritton, filed 12 April 1911. Albritton stated that he had lived in Louisiana <i>"since I was seven years old.”</i> Since he was born in June 1843, this indicates that he did not arrive in Louisiana until 1850. Since we know that Samantha Fowler Scarborough’s children went to Louisiana with their parents in 1847, this would suggest that Milly Fowler died in 1846–1847, following the birth of her second son, and the boys remained in Snow Hill with either her parents, Richard and Sarah Fowler, or their paternal grandmother, Penelope Frizzle Albritton, while their father went to Louisiana. George W. Albritton returned to Snow Hill during the winter of 1849–1850, married his first wife’s younger sister, Sarah Ann Fowler, on 3 January 1850 in Wilcox County Alabama, and then took his new wife and two sons to their new home in Union Parish Louisiana. </ref> Richard and Sarah Fowler remained on their Snow Hill farms through the 1850 growing season, but on 13 November 1850, they sold their two farms totaling 360 acres for the sum of $1000. <ref>Wilcox County AL Deed Book J, pp. 588–594. The Fowlers sold 106.35 acres of their primary farm near the Dallas County line to William M. Purifoy and the remaining 106.35 acres to Francis M. Purifoy. They sold their 147-acre farm near Snow Hill and the Bethsaida Baptist Church to Edmund Hobdy. </ref> It appears that immediately after this transaction, they left Snow Hill. <ref>Richard and Sarah Fowler sold their farm in three separate transactions dated 13 November 1850. The census enumerator visited their neighbors at Snow Hill on November 15, and he did not include the Fowlers as residents. This suggests that they had already left Snow Hill by the 15th.</ref> Their eldest surviving daughter. Elvira Fowler Polk, remained in Alabama until early December, but that winter the Fowlers and Elvira and her family all followed Samantha Fowler Scarborough and Sarah Ann Fowler Albritton to Union Parish Louisiana. The records indicate that they had arrived there by March 1851. <ref>Wilcox County AL Probate Record Book 7, p. 227. Union Parish LA Succession Book H-1, pp. 123–125. Elvira Fowler Polk’s husband, Wiley J. Polk, presented his final account as guardian of Elvira’s children by her first husband to the Wilcox County Alabama Probate Court on 5 December 1850; this indicates their imminent emigrate from Alabama. On 22 March 1851, Elvira petitioned the Union Parish Court, stating that, <i>"She has lately removed from the State of Alabama to your said Parish bringing with her three minor children Sarah A. E., John R., and Roan A. Robinson the…sole surviving issue between Elvira Polk and Amos Robinson late of the State of Alabama and County of Clark dec’d. </i> It is not known if Richard and Sarah Fowler came directly to Union Parish Louisiana immediately after selling their Snow Hill farms, or if they waited and made the journey with Elvira and her family between December 1850 and March 1851. </ref> On 17 October 1851, Richard Fowler purchased a 237.39-acre farm a few miles southeast of the farms of his daughters Sarah Ann and Samantha. He paid $600 cash and gave two promissory notes for $300 each due in January 1853 and January 1854 as payment. <ref>Union Parish LA Conveyance Record D, p. 527. Johnson Malone sold Richard Fowler 237.39 acres of land including the NE¼ and NE¼ of SE¼ of Section 18, the SW¼ of NW¼ of Section 17, Township 21 North, Range 2 East.</ref> A year later, Fowler’s son-in-law, Noah Scarborough, sold his farm a few miles away and purchased vacant government that adjoined Fowler’s; Scarborough increased his holdings over the next few years until his farm reached 440 acres. <ref>Monroe, Louisiana Land Office Cash Entries #12217 (22 Nov 1852), #14143 (15 Nov 1854), #17597 (10 Oct 1857), #17743 (3 Dec 1857), #21063 and 21066 (27 Oct 1859), all for Noah Scarborough. </ref> On 25 August 1852, Richard Fowler appeared before Justice of the Peace Thomas Van Hook to apply for Bounty Land based upon his military service during the War of 1812. Fowler made the following statement regarding his military service:

<blockquote><i>"Richard Fowler aged Sixty years, a resident of the Parish of Union State of Louisiana…declared that he is the identical Richard Fowler who was a private in the Company commanded by Captain Caleb Stevens in the Battalion Commanded by Major Lindsey, North Carolina Volunteers (name of Colonel commanding Regiment forgotten) in the War of 1812 with Great Britain. That he enlisted at Whitesville in the State of North Carolina on or about the last of May or first of June 1812 (exact date forgotten) for the term of six months, and continued in actual service in said War for the term of six months or about that term, and was honorably discharged at Wilmington, North Carolina on or about the 20th December A.D. 1812, but received no certificate of discharge, from some cause not known to him," </i> <ref>United States Bounty Land Application of Richard Fowler, United States National Archives. </ref> </blockquote> On 3 February 1855, Richard Fowler attended the sale of the Estate of Henry R. Bryan in front of the courthouse in Farmerville. Fowler purchased Prince, the slave referenced earlier, for $1100. <ref> Union Parish LA Conveyance Record G, pp. 172–173. </ref> This is the last known record of Richard Fowler. On 3 December 1857, Richard Fowler’s son-in-law, George W. Albritton, bought his final 40-acre tract of government adjoining his original Union Parish farm located about three miles north of the Fowler/Scarborough farms. <ref>Monroe, Louisiana Land Office Cash Entry #17744, 3 December 1857, to George W. Albritton. </ref> A few weeks later, on 3 January 1858, another Fowler son-in-law, James R. Albritton, husband of Susan Fowler Albritton, purchased the farm of former Snow Hill resident James D. Griffin, which adjoined both the Fowler and Scarborough farms. <ref>Union Parish LA Conveyance Record H, pp. 456–457. James D. Griffin is believed to be the son of James Griffin, the deacon of Bethsaida Primitive Baptist Church at Snow Hill; see Wilcox County AL Deed Book M, p. 512. </ref> Sometime during the year 1858, George W. Albritton sold his original Union Parish farm and assumed ownership of Richard Fowler’s farm; George Albritton owned it by 7 February 1859. <ref>Monroe, Louisiana Land Office Cash Entry #19759 to George W. Albritton. This document required Albritton to state the precise description of his existing farm. Albritton listed his existing farm as the property Richard Fowler purchased in 1851. There is no recorded document in Union Parish Louisiana by which Albritton acquires Richard Fowler’s farm. The transaction must have not been recorded. </ref> At this point, the three Fowler sisters Samantha, Sarah Ann, and Susan all resided on adjoining farms, along with their mother, Sarah Fowler (Elvira and her family left Union Parish and moved further west into De Soto Parish by the mid-1850s). It appears that Richard Fowler died in the year 1858, prompting George W. Albritton to sell his farm and acquire the Fowler farm that adjoined those of his wife’s sisters, Samantha Scarborough and Susan Albritton. Sarah Fowler died on 6 November 1859 after suffering with pneumonia for one week. <ref>Union Parish LA Federal Census, Mortality Schedule, p. 3/497, line #27. </ref>Both Richard and Sarah Fowler are believed to be buried near Noah Scarborough's grave in the Taylor/Liberty Hill Cemetery, just up the hill from their church. <ref>Taylor/Liberty Hill Cemetery (Farmerville, Union Parish LA), tombstone of Richard Fowler. </ref>

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