ANDREW McDOWELLS in the Census of DeKalb County and White County.

First, I will list Andrew (ca 1800-1840s) McDowell/McDole with all of his neighbors during the 1840 census. Then I will list those who lived near the older Andrew (b. before 1775- d. before 1830) McDole in 1820.

The county lines had changed when DeKalb County was formed, so in 1840 Andrew is in DeKalb County in District 8. Later, when Putnam County formed in 1854, this part of District 8 may have gone into Putnam County.

DeKalb County 1840
James McDonel
Richard Harris
Isum Cole
William Rice
James Roberson
James Willis
William Jones
Pleasant Farler
Hannah Elrod
Nathan Vincent
Jane McDole
Britten Medley
Riley Medley
Hiram Childress
Nancy Anderson
Henry Waddle
John Roberson
Andrew McDole
John McDole
John Lafferty
Asa Thompson
William Curton
Gibson Billings
top of the next page:
Henry Frazure
David Stroud
F_veley Martin
Alex Martin
William Hames
John Heddreth ?
Charles Bevert
Josiah Husk
John Pinegar
Bartemus Pack

Now look at who lived by the older Andrew McDole in 1820 in White County, before DeKalb County had formed. I do not know if the older Andrew is a non-relative or an uncle or a grandfather or a cousin. But I'm just going to refer to him as "Uncle Andrew" for fun. He could be a brother of John, the father of Elizabeth and Andrew, so he could be their uncle. From the info in the census Uncle Andrew was already over 45 (born by 1775), with two women in the house 16-25 years old. There was also a little boy in the home. Andrew could be the father or grandfather of the boy.

Simon Odom

Nancy Stephens

William Weeks

Elizabeth Perrin

John Powers

Joseph Driver

Leonard Thompson

William Farmer

Micijah Rashbey

John Gamble

Alexander Martin

Elisha Howard

Thomas Gambrell

Andrew Steel

John Steel

John Hubbard

James Davis

John Dasse ??

Samuel H. Allen

George Allen

Abraham Izbell

Daniel French

William Sington

Archibald Warren

Levi Bozarth

Zachariah Laphifer (Lafever)

Hambleton Roves

Thomas Pierce

Nathan Pierce

John Robinson

James Elrod

Samuel Moore

John Barr

Andrew McDole

Ephram Guffy

Richard Dean

Moses Smith

Rebecca Taylor

Austin Coker

Randolph McDaniel

Rachel Beagley

On this 1820 census, James Elrod is listed three families before Andrew. James Elrod and Elizabeth McDowell were married and parents of several children. They are listed as having 3 boys and 2 little girls. James is listed as being over 45, and Elizabeth is between 26 and 44. She was born in 1795. I don't know how James and Elizabeth met, but it might have been when she came to see "Uncle Andrew". James and Elizabeth were married by 1813.

Sippy Mcdole married William Steele, the son of John Steele, in DeKalb county in 1848. Andrew McDowell b.1799 was probably her father.

Levi Bozarth was the father of Nathan Bozarth who married Hester Ann McDowell's sister, Nancy. Nathan and Nancy took in Hester Ann and her children in Missouri in 1850. Nathan Bozarth died in Missouri before 1860. Nancy's last husband was William Lawrence. Descendants of William Lawrence say her name was Nancy Allen. If that is true, Nancy could be a daughter of the George Allen or Samuel Allen listed in this census.

ANDREW McDowell/McDole's Neighbors in 1830 WHITE CO.

Reading down the same sheet of the 1830 census of White County, Tennessee with Andrew. It is page 63. As you can see, there is no correlation between the neighbors Andrew had in 1820 and his neighbors in 1830.
If anyone call tell me what part of the county these people lived in, it would help me.

Robert Vanbibber
John Suttle
Laban Foster
Robert Love
Josiah Williams
Josiah Noland
Jesse Adkins
Thompson N. Bartlett
John Polls
Wm Baker Jr.
Peter Baker
John Brown
Claibourne Hill
John Ramsey
Joseph England
John Wilhite
Benjamin Harris
James Barn
Thomas Frashur
James Bradley
Andrew McDowel
Gideon Lyda
Benjamin Hunter Sr.
Wm. Nanny
Isaac Dotson
Wm. M. Bryan Sr.

Andrew McDowell's Neighbors in 1820 White County

I have a notebook where I have listed everyone on the same page of the census with Andrew in 1820, 1830, and 1840. I wrote the names out in columns in hopes of finding that some of the names in the different columns would match up. However, no one matched up! It's like Andrew moved every year. Any hopes I had of finding Andrew with his grandparents, cousins, et al, are dashed.

So here is the list of Andrew and his neighbors in 1820. They are in White County, Tennessee. Maybe someone will be able to tell me where these people are living within the county.

Abraham Ditty
James Ellison
Wm. Austin
Wm Martin
Thomas Custus
Thomas Ellison
Hamblenton Ellison
Alesey Setts/Fetts
Wesley Green
Arthur Green
Phllip Tarbell
Cady Fetts/Setts
Andrew McDole
James Gentry
Seaborn Odom
Charles Goodman
Thomas Bashers
Richard Herren
Wm Herren
Barry Bashers
Wm Thomas
John Bashers
Middleton Bashers
Bazil Bashers
Samuel Perrigen/Terrigen
Levi Swell
Jeremiah Swell

There Really were TWO Andrew McDowells

I found there were two Andrew McDowells in the 1820 census. One of them is 45 and over and he lives very close to Levi Bozarth, George Allen, and a variety of other men in White County. Levi Bozarth and George Allen were oldtimers, born 20 years or more before 1800. (Actually, the older Andrew is listed as a McDole and the younger Andrew is a McDowell.) There are two young women in the house with this older Andrew and one boy. I don't know who the older Andrew is.

I like to think he is an uncle of Andrew's. Maybe even his grandfather. Andrew the younger was born about 1799, but his sister Elizabeth was born in 1795 in South Carolina; so an uncle could have been born about 1770 and a grandfather about 1740/1750. The darn thing about this census is that we have no clue if a man is 47, 62, or 80 years old. He's just 45 or older. I would love to find older Andrew in an earlier census, but the Tennessee census from 1810 has been lost. Then, last night, I found the 1800 census has been lost for most of Tennessee! This will be very tough, unless I can find some proof of where this family lived in SC or NC in 1800 or 1810. There are so many McDowells by 1800.

The younger Andrew is over 16 and under 25 in 1820. He is joined by a woman the same age and two young boys that fit well with the ages of their sons John and Smith. This week I decided to figure out if young Andrew remained in the same place in 1820, 1830, and 1840 by studying his neighbors. This answer is he did not remain in the same place. The neighbors are different every time, so I decided to double check by locating his "old" neighbors in the "new" census. Sure enough, they were far apart. For example, Seibert Odom; James and Joseph Allison; and Richard and William Herron had all been close to Andrew in 1820, but in 1830 they are listed on page 97 of the census, while Andrew is on page 63. So, it looks like Andrew moved.

I am curious to find out what part of White County Andrew was in during 1820 and 1830. It doesn't really matter until 1840, since Andrew and his son, John, died between 1840 and 1850. I would like to know where they were, so I can locate a couple of local cemeteries, and go leave some flowers to show my respects.

"The MacDowells" Book

I got my copy of The MacDowells by Fergus D.H. Macdowall and William L. MacDougall a few days ago. I have read half of it already

The content covers the history of the MacDowells as they move across Europe to Ireland and then to Scotland, but that is just the beginning. What I wanted to find out was how the brothers Alexander, John, William, and Ephraim McDowell spread across the US. The book chronicles the family's history very well. It includes several other McDowell immigrants also, but not in detail. No other group of McDowells seems to have recorded their their movements as well as the four brothers.

Right now I am reading the chapter McDowells of Virginia and Kentucky by Linda McDowell Swann. The next chapter is about the move from Virginia to the Carolinas by Leo B. McDowell. There are more chapters on McDowells in the Civil War and in the Revolution. There are also chapters on McDowells of note, and well known estates of the McDowells.

So far, I have not seen any references that point to my John McDowell who was born about 1765 t0 1770. (I figure he had to be too young to serve in the Revolutionary War, or he would have a land warrant in his own name, rather than one in Willis Anderson's name. I am still looking for Willis' enlistment or pension file.)

The book is only $19 and well worth it. I happened to get my from Lulu.com while they had a free shipping event. Put the book in your shopping cart on Lulu, and see if you get a discount offer in the next week.

RELATIVES of John McDowell's in 1850 and 1860 Tennessee: McDOLES and ELRODS

1. JANE McDOLE (born in S.Carolina about 1796) who lived in DeKalb County, Tennessee is probably a widow of a man named McDole.

She is not the widow of Andrew McDole or McDowell who lived from ca 1799 until the 1840s, since she and Andrew are both in the 1840 census in DeKalb County. They are near each other in District 8 on page 254 of the census. Neighbors of Jane include names like Elrod, Vincent, Medley and Childress--all familiar in that part of the County.

In the 1840 census there is a Jane McDole who is only 20-30 years old with one girl 5 and under 10 and one girl 10 and under 15. So the older girl was born 1826-1830, and the younger girl was born between 1831-1835. To find the younger daughter, I need to find a McDole girl who got married about 1846-1850.

In the 1850 census there is a Jane McDole, 54, born in S. Carolina in dwelling 651 and household 651 of District 14, DeKalb County, TN. Elizabeth McDole lives with her and is 26 and born in Tennessee. She would be born about 1824, close to the age for the older daughter in the 1840 census. In 1850 James McDole lives next to Jane in Dwelling 650 and Elizabeth Elrod lives next to Jane in dwelling 652.

In the 1860 census there is a Jane McDole (63, born in S. Carolina) living in the household of Elizabeth McDole, 33, born in Tennessee with a girl Jane McDole, 11. They are living in District 6 of White County with a Cassville Post Office, so they had moved. This time Elizabeth McDole is listed as if she was born in 1827, so that does match the age of the older daughter in the 1840 census.

From the data, it looks like Jane was Elizabeth's mother. Probably Elizabeth was the younger Jane's (b.about 1849) mother, although Jane could be another relative. She could be Elizabeth's niece. I have not looked yet to see if Elizabeth had gotten married about 1850. Everyone in the household is listed with the last name McDole.

Who was the adult Jane McDole in the 1840 census? She would have been born about 1811-1820, quite a few years younger than the Jane listed in 1850 and 1860. You can interpret the data in different ways. Is it the same woman in all three censuses with an error regarding her birth date, or two different people?

So we have a few different relatives born in South Carolina between 1795 and 1800. They would be (1) Jane McDole born in 1796 or 1797; (2) Elizabeth McDowell Elrod born in 1795; and (3) Andrew McDole born about 1799. We know that Andrew and Elizabeth are the children of John McDowell, who came to White County in 1810, because they are named in court documents regarding John McDowell's estate. Jane appears for the first time in 1840 by her own name; she might have been in the community earlier under her husband's or her father's name.


My theory is Jane may be the widow of the elusive older Smith McDole. In a recent post (June 15, 2011) I wrote about a deed for 200 acres on Dry Creek being assigned from Andrew McDole to Smith McDole in 1827; the only problem was that I didn't know of a Smith McD who would have been an adult at that time. Tonight I realized that Smith is the only local McDole who could have been Jane's husband! The land he got from Andrew was near Andrew's land and he and Jane were the same generation as Andrew. Smith could have died before 1840, and Jane could have been Smith's widow.

Who would Smith McDole (born about 1795) have been? My best guess is that he was a brother of Andrew McDole (b. 1799). John McDowell did not leave a will listing his heirs. Smith was not mentioned in the papers to settle John Mcdowell's estate; that may have just been because Smith lived too far away to be involved. Andrew felt close enough to him to name one of his sons Smith. I'm sure Smith was a brother or a cousin.

B. James McDole (b. about 1827, Tennessee) and Eliza (b. about 1826, Tennessee)

In 1850 the above Jane Mcdole lived in District 14 DeKalb Co. next to James McDole and his wife, Eliza. In this census James was listed as being 21 and Eliza is 23. In the 1860 census James and family have moved to District 7, White Co. with a New Ark Post Office. In 1860 James is listed as being 35 and Eliza is 36. They seem to not be very sure of their ages, but they do remember that Eliza is older than James! When I estimated their birth years above, I just split the years down the middle of what is in the two census records. I am still looking for more data on James and Eliza. As of today, I could not even find much about their children.


Children: All were born in Tennessee
John born 1846
Jane 7 months old June 1, 1850. So an estimated birth date of October 1849.
Sarah E. born about 1854
Nancy born about 1856
Thomas 3 months old on June 1, 1860. An estimated b.d. of February 1860.

How was James related to anyone else? It looks like he was the son of Jane or Andrew McDole and their respective spouses. Right now, I favor him being Jane's son because he stayed right beside her in 1850. He is not listed with his mother in the 1840 census, but he was probably out working on someone's farm. In the 1860 census, both James and Jane are living in White County, although they are not as close together as before.

NOTE 9/27/11. I found some information that may be about Jim and Eliza's son Tom on US GenWeb for White County, TN. It is a death record for Tom McDole.
Certificate 2181
Deceased: Tom McDole
Birth: White County
Date: Nov. 1863
Death: 29 Jan. 1944
Father: Jim McDole
Unknown birthplace
Mother: Unknown name
Spouse: Hattie Ludford
Cemetery: Plain View

Regarding Tom's birth date. I have found him in several censuses, with a different birth date each time. He was married twice, first to Tennessee Farmer and, secondly, to Hattie Ludford. Tom and his wives had several children.

Hatttie died the next year.
Deceased: Hattie Dora Ludford
Birth: 19 Oct. 1878
Place: Overton Co., TN
Death: 18 April 1945
Father: Jim Ludford
Mother: Fannie Sills



C. Elizabeth McDowell Elrod (born 1795 in South Carolina), wife of James Elrod

Elizabeth is the daughter of John McDowell (about 1770-1819) and the sister of Andrew McDowell/McDole. In 1850 Elizabeth is one of the three relatives living all in a row in the census. She is the widow of James Elrod who was born in Virginia between 1775 and 1780. This information on their children comes from a descendant, Geraldine Elrod Pollard.

Just a note on changing county lines in Tennessee. The McDowells settled in a area where the county lines changed often between 1810 and 1860. John McDowell had bought land in 1810 in White County, but it became part of DeKalb county about 1839. Then in the early 1850s, that area went into Putnam County. In fact, Fallingwater River is the dividing line between White County and Putnam County. Therefore, sometimes people did not even move, and the county name changed.

In 1850 Elizabeth McDowell Elrod was in DeKalb County and in 1860-1880 she was in Putnam County. I am not sure that she moved. I have noticed that some of the names are the same last names as previous neighbors: Medlin or Medley, Vincent, Green and Lefever.

Here are the children of Elizabeth and James Elrod:
1. Female Elrod born by 1820
2. Male Elrod born by 1820
3. John Elrod born 1813; died between 1880 and 1900. Married Cassandra Waddle.
4. James Elrod born 1815
5. Jane Elrod born 1817
6. William Elrod born 1820. Married Nancy Childress in 1851.
7. Bird S. Elrod born 1827. Married Tennessee James.
8. K. Harrison Elrod born 1832. A single man. Sometimes listed as K.H. Elrod.
9. Anthony Elrod born October 12, 1833.; died April 13, 1909. Married Mary Ward in 1863.
10. Elizabeth Elrod born 1835. Married Edmond Harrison Green January 7, 1851. Married 2nd Anthony "Tom" Vincent.
11. Parzetta Elrod born April 7, 1841; died November 12, 1917 in Putnam County, TN. Married Ammon A. Martin.

Sippy McDole, daughter of Andrew, wife of William Steele

I have been working on relatives of Sippy McDole for two days, after finding a variety of names for her in other family trees. Her name in her marriage record and two census records is always Sipy, Sippy or Cippe. Some people seem to believe the double "p" in Sippy is a double "s". It is not. If it was a double "s", the first letter would look like an"f" and the second one would look like an "s". For example, in an abbreviation for the state of Massachusetts, it looks like Mafs or Map. Sippy's name does have two "p's" in it. Sippy is usually a nickname for Mississippi, but I have never seen her listed by anything except the nickname.

Sippy married William Steele. She is listed with him in two censuses: 1850 and 1860. However, some time after the birth of her last child in 1861, she passed away. By 1870, William married Elizabeth Vickers. Elizabeth was a widow. In the 1870 census her son is living with her and William. He is listed as Green B. Vickerus. Elizabeth's older son, William, is in the house next door. Apparently, some researchers have thought Sippy and Elizabeth were the same person and have listed her with as many as three names: Elizabeth Sissy Sippy McDole.

Sippy McDole married William Steele on 8 October 1848 in DeKalb County, Tennessee. In the 1850 census they are in District 14, DeKalb County with one child. The census says:
William Steel 23 Male Tennessee
Cippe Steel 20 Female Tennessee
John E. Steel 9/12 Male Tennessee
Rebecca Cherry 43 Female

In 1860, the family has grown. Their local Post Office is listed as being at New Ark, and they are in District 8 in DeKalb County. The parents are listed as Sippy C. and William Steel. The children are listed this way:
John Steel 11
James Steel 10
Andrew W. Steel 7
Henry Steel 5
Elizabeth Steel 3
Charles W. Steel 1

In the 1870 census, William has married Elizabeth Vickers, and her son, Green B. Vickers, lives with them. Everyone was born in Tennessee.
William Steel 43
Elizabeth Steel 44
Andrew Steel 17
Henry Steel 15
Bettie A. Steel 13
William Steel 9
Green B. Vickerus 13

In 1880, William and Betty Steel live in the house by themselves.