NJ to NC, TN, AR, and TX - One Hannah Martha (8) Family’s Journey
John Bowlby Palmer was born in Sussex County, NJ in the late 1700’s, one of several children born to Hannah Martha (Bowlby) (8) and Edmund Palmer. Edmund and Hannah followed other Palmer families to Rowan County, NC after 1781, and purchased 150 acres of land there on March 20, 1787. Judging from the ages of their children, John Bowlby Palmer married Sarah Rich, daughter of Isaac and Margaret Rich, in the 1790’s. John and Sarah subsequently had three daughters, Margaret, Eliza, and Hannah, and eventually relocated their family to Franklin County, TN, where many of their living descendants can still be found today.
Margaret Palmer married Eli Bradshaw Weddington. Longtime Bowlby Family Organization associate, Jimmy “Jim” Donald Gallagher of Tennessee, husband of Hannah Martha (8) genealogical researcher, Joy (Quandt) Gallagher, is a descendant of Margaret (Palmer) and Eli Weddington.
Eliza Palmer was born on 28DEC1808 in Rowan County, NC. On 18DEC1827, she married Louis/Lewis Evans in Vineyard, Washington County, Arkansas. Lewis had been born on 7DEC1799 in NC. BFO associate, Phyllis G. Walker of Virginia, is a descendant of Lewis and Eliza (Palmer) Evans.
Lewis was the first postmaster of Vineyard, AR from 1829 to 1835. Vineyard, AR was renamed Evansville, AR in Lewis’ honor in 1835, and Lewis again served as the town’s postmaster from 1838 to 1849. Lewis and Eliza had the following children, all of whom were born in Arkansas: Caroline “Carrie” Louise, born about 1829; Marcus “Mark” Legrand, born in 1830; Albert Gallatin, born in 1833; Dewitt Clinton “Clint”, born in 1835; Eugenia Lewella, born in 1837; Mary G., born in 1841; Henry Clay, born in 1844; and Lewis Walker, born in 1846.
In 1849, Lewis Evans was elected captain of a group of men from Washington County, AR and some members of the Cherokee Nation, who decided to go to the California goldfields. Beginning on the Grand Saline River, in what today is central Kansas, and under Lewis Evans’ leadership, a train of forty wagons pioneered new sections of wagon road and used existing trails, such as the Santa Fe, California, Carson, Truckee, and Lassen Trails, to reach the goldfields of California. Their route became known as The Cherokee Trail or the 1849 Evans/Cherokee Trail.
From Evansville, AR, Lewis and Eliza moved to Gonzales, Gonzales County, Texas, where they were joined by Eliza’s widowed mother, Sarah (Rich) Palmer. John Bowlby Palmer had died in Franklin County, TN in 1825. Lewis and Eliza and all or some of their children were enumerated on the 1850 U.S. Census for Vineyard, Washington County, AR and the 1860 U.S. Census for Gonzales, Gonzales County, TX.
Marcus Legrand Evans, Albert Gallatin Evans, and Henry Clay Evans all fought for the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. Mark and Henry mustered in with Company C of the 8th Texas Cavalry, which was popularly known as Terry’s Texas Rangers. Terry’s Texas Rangers was comprised of a group of Texas volunteers for the Confederate States Army which was assembled by Colonel Benjamin Franklin Terry in August 1861. Both Mark and Henry enlisted at Houston, Texas on 12SEP1861. Albert mustered in as a Private with Company D of Waul’s Texas Legion at Gonzales, TX on 14MAY1862. He later became the quartermaster for his battalion and was promoted to Captain.
Mark was initially elected Captain and by October 1862, was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel; however, he died at Harrodsburg, Kentucky on 19OCT1862, after sustaining a gunshot wound to the head at Perryville, KY. Henry was initially elected 4th Corporal but was promoted to 2nd Corporal by August 1862. He later became ill and went AWOL from November 1863 to September 1864, for which he was court-martialed in October 1864. After the war, Henry engaged in the cattle business in Gonzales County, TX, but around 1904, he moved to New Mexico, where he died at Roswell on 4MAR1907. After the Civil War, Albert became a prominent cattleman and merchant.
The 8th Texas Cavalry, aka Terry’s Texas Rangers, fought in the following American Civil War battles: Shiloh, Perryville, Murfreesboro, Fort Pillow, Chattanooga, and Chickamauga and served from August 1861 to 26 APR 1865.
It is very possible that there are descendants of Lewis and Eliza (Palmer) Evans still living in some of the 254 counties in Texas, and BFO researchers are attempting to locate and contact as many of them as possible.
Sources for this article include the following:
http://terrystexasrangers.org/biographical_notes.e.evans_ml.htm;
http://www.cherokeetrail.org/pioneering/pioneering.html;
Genealogical research by Joy (Quandt) Gallagher and Phyllis G. Walker;
Our Bowlby Kin, Descendants of Hannah Martha Bowlby (8) by June B. Barekman;
1850 and 1860 U.S. Censuses; and the Internet website, Wikipedia.
Wayne Bowlby
San Diego, CA, USA