During the late 1700's there were a number of John McDowells living in the Cumberland Valley area of Pennsylvania and due to the lack of records, it can be difficult to keep them separated. It is believed that our John McDowell is the one found owning 256 1/2 acres on the original land warrant maps of Antrim Township. This seems likely since on the map his neighbor is shown as William Hannah, which is the name of his son-in-law. Both these men are shown on the 1753 tax lists for Antrim Township. Currently, when or where John McDowell was born can only be speculated, however he did live his final days in Antrim where he died sometime in the spring of 1770. According to John's will and our family history, his wife's name was Jean and they had atleast five children: Joseph, Thomas, John, Sarah and Elizabeth. Some of the following information on John McDowell's family comes from a book entitled, "Mifflin County Pennsylvania Families and Records before 1800" by Raymond Martin Bell and a LDS tree for the family of John McDowell, Jr.
John McDowell, born c. 1710 and died 1770. Married c. 1733 to Jean.
Children of John McDowell and Jean
John Jr., born
1734 in Ireland and died 23 May 1809 in Menno Township, Mifflin Co, PA.
He married c. 1769, Elizabeth Reed. Elizabeth was born in
1747 in Chester, PA and died 15 August 1812. She was the daughter
of Robert Reed (c.1717-1772) and Elizabeth Gardner.
John, Jr. and Elizabeth had the following children:
- Mary who died young
- Robert (1771-1829) m. Sarah McConkey (1768-1825)
- Elizabeth m. Samuel McGlathery
- William (1775-1851) m. Ann Alexander (1783-1842)
- Sarah who died young
- James m. Mary Allison
-
John
(1783-1841), single
- Jane (1786-1851) m. Henry B. Taylor (1784-1860)
- Samuel m. ____ Moore and then ____Swartzell
- Joseph m. ____Swartzell and settled in Mercer Co (PA?)
- Nancy, single
- Jonathan m. Kezia Merryman and settled in Clearfield Co
(PA?)
Thomas, died in 1773 in Armagh Township. He married Ann ____. Their children included Elizabeth who was baptized on 17 June 1773.
Joseph, was single and died 1779 in Antrim Township, Franklin Co PA.
Sarah, m.
William
Adams. Sarah died 1813 in Plum(b) Township, Allegheny Co, PA.
(From my notes: There is a will filed in
Allegheny Co, Vol I, pg 354 for a Sarah Adams of Plumb Township.
The will was written 29 Nov 1810 and probated on 24 Mar 1813. In
this will she mentions Elizabeth Little; William Little;
David
Harron's children Sally, Margaret, Eleanor and
William by his wife, Jane Adams; John Little and
Elizabeth
Morrow. Elizabeth Morrow to whom she left a silk cloak, was probably
Elizabeth Hannah Morrow the wife of Henry Morrow. This Elizabeth
would have been the daughter of her sister, Elizabeth mentioned below.)
Elizabeth, m. William Hannah. She died in 1808 in Allegheny Co, PA. The children of Elizabeth McDowell and William Hannah included: John; Jane m. John Wherry; Elizabeth m. Henry Morrow; Sarah m. James Morrow and an unknown daugher who married Samuel Adams.