Charts

 

CROSS REFERENCE CHART     Click here.

The cross-reference chart is an attempt to illustrate the family lines of various individuals by showing the individual, his birthdate, and his father.  Then, by looking up the father, you can trace backwards.  This is important because there are so many instances of many individuals with the same given name.

Although, at some point in time, it is possible that most, if not all, Rowleys have a common ancestor in Europe.  However, to have some semblance of order-- and since the various Rowley groups used similar given names, it became necessary to sort them out by grouping those who descended from a common immigrant ancestor. 

Where such an immigrant ancestor was identified, and where there appear to be living descendants in sufficient numbers to warrant tracing them as a group, "branches" were assigned. 

The format is simple.  The combination number preceding each name is composed of three fields: the first is the Branch number followed by a hyphen, the second is the generation to which the individual belongs, and the third combines to provide a unique identifier for this website. For example, 13-3.002 refers to Charles V. Rowley of the third generation of Branch 13. For Branch One, there is more significance to the numbering, but that is explained elsewhere. Birth and death dates, if known, are shown, as well as the same data for known spouses.  Those names under a person's name are his or her children.

BRANCH ONE.  By far the largest such branch is that having to do with the descendants of Henry Rowley, who appeared very early in the Plymouth Colony, and is called Branch One.  It has been estimated that there are well over 10,000 living descendants at this time. 

BRANCH TWO.  The next group are those whose ancestor can be identified as Thomas Rowley, also known as Thomas Rowell, of Windsor, Connecticut.   He appeared there about 1662, and in 1669 married Mary Denslow.  There have been claims that he was a son of Henry Rowley of Branch One.  That, of course, is possible, but no documentation for the claim has been forthcoming. 

BRANCH THREE.   And then, Timothy Rowley, whose descendants for a period of time lived in the Canisteo region of New York State.  The forebear of this group, Timothy, is believed to have been born in England.  There are traces of a Timothy in Connecticut Colony, who married a Jemima Dibble, and served in the American Revolution.  Whether he is identical with the Timothy Rowley, who served in New York, and married Naomi or Neomy Root/Rute is not known.  The latter is treated as the patriarch of this group.

BRANCH FOUR.  The immigrant Rowley in this case is believed to be a man named William, who was born circa 1740, and was married to a woman named Margaret.   After the death of her first husband, she married a man named Silvernail, and died in 1825.  Their son was William Rowley, born in 1765 and died in 1850, was a sailor for forty years, and then became a farmer.  This family ultimately removed to Palmyra, New York.

BRANCH FIVE.  John Rowley was probably an Irishman, who died in 1875 in Mason County, Illinois.  He was married to Julia McDonough of Burlington, Iowa.   It should be pointed out that she was also a native of Ireland.

BRANCH SIX.  William Henry Rowley was born in New York in about 1762, and died in 1850 in Jackson County, Virginia.  His first wife has been identified as Elizabeth Van Ziles, according to Homer King Rowley.

BRANCH SEVEN.  There were a number of traces of people named Rowley in Virginia.  One of these is believed to be a John Rowley, who married a woman named Amey.  The Mayflower Society disavows the claim that the John Rowley who was a son of Moses is identical with this man.  There are a number of persons in this geographical area who may or may not be connected.  Research is ongoing.

BRANCH EIGHT.  In Westmoreland, Pennsylvania, there lived a man named John, who is the head of Branch 8, and who was born about 1749 or 1750, according to new information obtained by Marilyn Prinzing.  There are records showing that his first and second wives were both named Margaret.  It is possible he was identical with a man known as John Rolle, whose name appears on documents, and appears to have been of German extraction.  The name, "Roley," was used by some descendants.

BRANCH NINE.  According to the Genealogy of Christian Lesnett, William Rowley was the son of an English Lord, who married his daughter, Sophia.   William was a twin with John, and they were said to have been born in 1747.   His twin was said to have gone to India.  Some descendants were known to have spelled their name as "Roley."

BRANCH TEN.  In South Carolina, a man named Job or Joab Rowley was found.  His first wife was named Mary Loher or Lohr.  The family traveled overland to Louisiana, where the patriarch founded a large family.

BRANCH ELEVEN. This branch originates with Patrick and his wife Catherine Rouk who immigrated from Ireland with their son Michael into New York City. Patrick appears to have been born about 1825 and died before the 1880 census.

BRANCH THIRTEEN.  In Amherst, Erie Co., NY a Thomas Rowley appears on the 1850 census with his mother, wife and two sons.  He apparently emigrated with his mother from Belfast, Ireland

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BRANCH THIRTY-FIVE. William Rowley was born in Canada and enlisted in 1858, staying in the military until he retired in 1888. His father, name unknown, was born in England. His mother, Lucinda McKnight, also married a Wightman and had two children by him: Rev Charles Wightman and Lucinda Wightman. She died in 1878.

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Some of the various families called themselves "Rowlee," and still do today.  During some periods of time, the names Rowley and Rowlee were used interchangeably.  Another line used the spelling, "Roley," and there are those researchers today with that name.  Similarly with the name Rawley.   We feel they are all kin!  So is site does not differentiate.  If I mistakenly use the incorrect appellation, let me know, because nothing is meant by it.

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