The Owen family of Fayette County

I'm beginning to believe it was fate, not happenstance, that landed me here in Fayette and Coweta counties. As a native East Pointer, I would never have thought I had so many roots in this area. I have come across many related families ... Whaleys, Boyds, Walkers, McClendons, Fowlers, Harpers, Carroll, Heflins, Woods ... many names familiar to this area. But I had only one direct ancestor in Fayette that I knew of, my great-great-grandfather, John "Jethro" Norris. And he didn't stay here very long.

Well, last Tuesday evening I found another ... and its an up-close one. I found my great-grandmother. Would you believe I had been looking for her for three years?

Let me back up and tell you how I found her, Maybe my steps (and mistakes) will help you find one of your lost ones too.

It wasn't until three years ago that I even knew her name. Loose notes about our family written on hotel stationery by my Uncle Tom Fowler back in the 1970s told me her name was "something" Owen. Help from Joe Baggett with the 1870 Campbell County census gave her a first name, Lucy, and added an extra bonus. Living next door were Amanda Owen, age 32, and Robert Owen, age 19. I knew they must be her relatives but I wasn't going to even try to figure out what relationship they were. I was so high at finding my great-grandmother, I really didn't care at that point.

The 1880 Cleburne County census added more information and gave her name as "Lucinda C." Her grave in Ranburne gave me her birth and death dates: 1847-1886. A marriage record in Meriwether County in 1866 added another date, and fit with the birth of her first child in 1867. (This was going along too smoothly ... something had to be wrong. And, oh boy! Was it ever!)

The marriage record in Meriwether threw me off a bit because I couldn't figure out what the heck my great-grandfather was doing in Meriwether County when he lived in Campbell, and the names on the record said: Miss Caroline Owen and William J. Fowler. It bugged me, but the middle initial was right, so I let it ride. Then, thinking I was so smart, I went to the Coweta Genealogy Library and Jane Webb helped me find her in the 1860 Meriwether County census. There she was ... Caroline Owen, daughter of John and Eliza Owen. I found her in 1850 census also and the age was perfect. I put her siblings and parents into my program and thought I was done. Oh, how smug I was!

Then the bomb hit. A few months later I was browsing the 1850 Meriwether census for my Boyds and there, nestled among them, was a Martin and Martha Owen ... with a daughter named "Lucinda C." age 4. Uh-oh. Two of them. Both the right age. I almost cried.

To make things worse, there was a Robert Whaley living with this family and I knew there were Whaleys in my Fowler ancestry. What was I going to do now?

The first thing I did was leave messages everywhere possible ... Rootsweb, Genforum, and Roots-L lists for Cleburne, Meriwether, Campbell, Owen and Owens. I left no stone unturned ... I begged ... I pleaded ... but nobody could help me. Nobody was researching that particular family.

Then, a few months ago, I received a message from Bill Owen who had come across a guardianship record for a Martha Owen in Fayette County in 1854. It appeared her husband had died and Martha had to apply for guardianship to maintain custody of her minor children.

In Fayette? You're kidding. Don't tell me she was right here in my lap and I never knew it.

So, Tuesday after work I went to the Fayette County Library and pulled the microfilm records for the Court of Ordinary in Fayette in 1854. It was all there. It even gave the full names of the children, and guess what? There was my Lucinda Caroline Owen. The others were Martha Amanda (remember the 1870 Campbell County neighbor?), Sarah Elizabeth, Matilda C., and Robert Martin (the other Campbell County neighbor).

Then I hopped across the street to the Fayette County Historical Society's library and checked the transcribed census I knew they had. I also double-checked the original court records. There they all were in the 1860 census, with another, older son, William. Best of all, my Lucinda C. was listed as "Caroline," age 14. Amanda was 22 and Robert was 9, right on the money with the Campbell County ages 10 years in the future.

As I drove home, I don't think the car touched the ground all the way from Fayetteville to Thomas Crossroads. I was floating.

Although I now have my great-grandmother from her first census to her last, I still have a lot of holes to fill in and much research to do on the rest of the family. I know she married and moved to Cleburne County, had a total of seven children, and is said to have died in childbirth with an eighth. My great-grandfather remarried and had five more children with his second wife.

But what happened to her mother, Martha? Or Amanda ... William ... Elizabeth ... Matilda ... Robert? There was also another daughter, Mary Owen, who appeared in the 1850 Meriwether County census and probably married before the family moved to Fayette. Did she stay in Meriwether? There are two William J. Owens listed as having served with Fayette County units during the Civil War. Is one of them mine? There is a Robert M. Owen married to a Julia in 1880 Carroll County. Is that my Robert? Who did the other daughters marry ... and where?

Only more research can really complete the picture. And I need your help. If you are related to this Owen family, I'd sure love to hear from you.

Are you looking for your long-lost Atlanta area ancestors? Do you have an interesting history on them? Send their stories to The Citizen, Drawer 1719, Fayetteville, GA 30214; E-mail jkilgore@thecitizennews.com or jodiek444@aol.com. Include as many details as you can on dates, names and locations.

Until next week, happy hunting!

(Judy regrets that time does not permit her to do personal research for others. She will willingly share research information on her own family lines, including collateral and allied lines.)