Goodspeed's Henry County Biographies - R surnames
William M.
Rowe, farmer of the Fourth District and son of Adam and Mary
(Sewell) Rowe, was born in the house in which he now resides in
1842 and is one of eleven children. The father was born in
Muhlenburg County, Ky., in 1797 and being left an orphan at an
early age, received no advantages for an education. He came to
Henry County in the spring of 1820 and purchased the land on
which our subject now resides. On September 17 of the same year
he married a neighbor girl, the ceremony taking place under a
small oak tree on his plantation, and is still standing and has
grown to a mammoth oak. This was the first marriage in what is
now Henry County. It was before the county was organized when
the county business was transacted at Dover, in Stewart County,
that being the place where he obtained his license. He continued
to remain on the same farm till his career ended, March 25,
1883. He was one of the sturdy and prominent farmers in the
vicinity, and a Christian gentleman. He served as a soldier in
the war of 1812 and was under Gen. Jackson’s command at the time
of the battle of New Orleans. Mrs. Rowe was a native of
Muhlenburg County, Ky., also, born in 1802 and died in 1857. Our
subject was reared under the parental roof and educated at the
common schools of the neighborhood. In November, 1862, he
enlisted in Company G, Seventh Tennessee Cavalry, Confederate
Army, where he remained till April, 1863, when he was taken sick
and returned home. In December, 1863, he was captured while at
home and soon after was taken to Camp Morton, Ind., where he
remained about two months, after which he was taken to Ft.
Delaware. In April, 1865, he was released and returned home
after an absence of about thirteen months of hardship and
suffering. In November 28, 1862, he married Mrs. Nancy E. Rowe,
a native of Wilson County, born in 1834, and the daughter of
Gilbert and Rebecca Young. Since his marriage our subject has
resided on the homestead, and is now the owner of 300 acres of
excellent land seven miles north of Paris. Mr. Rowe is a man of
industry and frugality. He is one of the county’s best citizens.
In politics he is a Democrat and cast his first presidential
vote for H. Seymour. He and wife are worthy members of the
Missionary Baptist Church.
J. M. Rushing, a native of
Benton county, Tenn., was born May 22, 1836, son of Robert
Rushing, native of North Carolina, and one of the early pioneers
of the State, who died in Benton County in 1854. Our subject
received a fair education, and assisted his mother on the farm
till he was about twenty-two years of age. He then engaged in
the merchandise business, which he carried on in connection with
his farming up to the time of the late war. In May, 1861, he
enlisted in Company G, Seventh Tennessee Cavalry, Confederate
Army, and served till the latter part of the war, when he was
discharged on account of ill health. After his return home he
engaged in the same business that had occupied his attention
previous to the war, and has been quite successful. He soon sold
his interest in the merchandise business and afterward engaged
in the general produce and stock business, shipping all of the
principal crops raised in the county, viz.: cotton, tobacco,
etc., and has made it quite a success. He now owns one of the
finest farms in this community---about 700 acres, all well
improved. In March, 1861, Mr. Rushing married N. E. Diggs, who
died June 6, 1876, leaving four children: J. Oscar; B. W.,
attorney at law at Barnum, Tex.; Bobbie H. and Lillie. December
23, 1877, Mr. Rushing married Sue M. Beasley, and the fruits of
this union were two children: Nannie M. and a boy unnamed. Mr.
Rushing is a Mason, a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian
Church, and a Democrat in politics.
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