Husband Col. Alexander McDowell 1
Born: 1760 - Conococheague Valley, Franklin Co, PA 1 2
Christened:
Died: 4 Jan 1816 - Franklin, Venango Co, PA 1 3
Buried: - Old Pioneer Cemetery, Franklin, Venango Co, PA 4
Father: William McDowell (1720/1722-1812) 5 6
Mother: Mary Maxwell (1728-1805) 5 7
Marriage: 1795 1
Wife Sarah Parker 8
Born: 11 Sep 1763 - Philadelphia, PA 8
Christened:
Died: 25 Sep 1865 - Franklin, Venango Co, PA 9
Buried: - Old Pioneer Cemetery, Franklin, Venango Co, PA 4
Father: Capt. Parker ( -Abt 1770) 8
Mother: Elizabeth Adam ( - ) 2
Children
1 F Elizabeth McDowell 1 4
Born: 1796 1 10
Christened:
Died: 23 Dec 1809 4
Buried: - Old Pioneer Cemetery, Franklin, Venango Co, PA 4
Spouse: Did Not Marry
2 F Susan McDowell 1 4
Born: 1798 1 10
Christened:
Died: 30 Aug 1806 4
Buried: - Old Pioneer Cemetery, Franklin, Venango Co, PA 4
Spouse: Did Not Marry
3 F Margaretta McDowell 1 10
Born: 1799 or 1800 - Franklin, Venango Co, PA 1 10
Christened:
Died: 28 Jan 1825 - Warren, Warren Co, PA 10
Buried:
Spouse: Archibald Tanner (1786-1861) 1 10 11
Marr: Dec 1819 1 10 12
4 F Sarah McDowell 1 13
Born: 1801 1
Christened:
Died: 3 Jul 1821 or 21 Jul 1821 1 13
Buried:
Spouse: Alexander S. Hays ( - ) 13
5 M Thomas Skelly McDowell 14 15
Born: 26 Apr 1803 - Franklin, Venango Co, PA 14 15
Christened:
Died: 8 Feb 1876 - Franklin, Venango Co, PA 14 15
Buried:
Spouse: Emily Nevins Ayres (1808-1862) 10 16
Marr: 30 Jan 1825 15
6 M William McDowell 1 13
Born: 25 Jan 1805 1
Christened:
Died: 21 Apr 1839 1
Buried:
Spouse: Elvira McNutt ( - ) 13
7 M Parker McDowell 17 18 19
Born: 1805 - Franklin, Venango Co, PA 13
Christened:
Died: 16 Aug 1860 4 19
Buried: - Old Pioneer Cemetery, Franklin, Venango Co, PA 4
Spouse: Lavinia Titus (1817-1893) 17 18 19
Marr: 15 May 1839 - Titusville, Crawford Co, PA 20
8 M Maj. Alexander McDowell 19 21 22
Born: 23 Nov 1807 - Franklin, Venango Co, PA 8 13 19
Christened:
Died: 8 Dec 1875 - Franklin, Venango Co, PA 8 19
Buried:
Spouse: Anna Moffitt (1821-1889) 23
Marr: 3 Nov 1842 13 19
9 F Mary McDowell 4
Born: Abt 1813
Christened:
Died: 16 Mar 1821 4
Buried: - Old Pioneer Cemetery, Franklin, Venango Co, PA 4
Spouse: Did Not Marry
General Notes: Husband - Col. Alexander McDowell
He moved from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh and then came to Franklin, Pennsylvania, in 1794. Three years later brought his family to Franklin. He was an agent of the Holland Land Company, under Major Alden, of Meadville. Col. McDowell was also a magistrate. He built a log house on the hill, a short distance from the creek, where he and his family lived.
"There are portraits of these old pioneers still extant. Judging from these, Colonel McDowell was a sedate, dignified gentleman, of the Washingtonian school, used to prominent position, and well versed in the amenities of life. Mrs. McDowell was a small woman, quite beautiful in person, attractive in conversation, and was esteemed by her acquaintances as a most desirable friend and neighbor." [HVC 1879, 443]
He was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, being then in his early manhood; and some time after the cessation of hostilities with England became agent for the Holland Land Company, receiving the appointment from them of deputy surveyor in the year 1793. He became the most noted of all the surveyors in northwestern Pennsylvania; and was one of the most distinguished members of a family that has been prominent and numerous in the public and social life of that portion of Pennsylvania embraced by the counties east of the mountains since their early settlement. In 1794, after his appointment by the Holland Land Company, he came out to Venango County, Pennsylvania, in their interests, and became one of the earliest pioneers in this region.
Returning east, he married and in 1797 he brought his young family out to Venango County, making his permanent home in Franklin, where he became one of the prominent men of the town from the first. In 1796 he received the appointment of justice of the peace from Governor Mifflin, and was an arbiter in all cases of difference between the settlers. He became well acquainted with the celebrated Indian chief Cornplanter, whose land he surveyed and whose home he assisted in establishing to the lasting gratitude and friendship of the Indian chief; and through his kindly spirit and fair dealings won the esteem and loyalty of all the neighboring tribes. He and his little family were thus enabled to live in peace and security, fearing naught, though the Indians were oftentimes noisy and intoxicated in their encampments across the creek, whooping and yelling sometimes half the night.
At the time that Colonel McDowell established his home in Franklin the town had been laid out about a year, and there were but four or five families in the place. The McDowell family at first resided in a log house, the property of the Holland Land Company, which was located on the bank of the creek near the site of the present Venango mills. It was without windows or doors, as there was no carpenter in the place to construct these, and the openings were hung with blankets. Colonel McDowell erected a more commodious log house for his family on Elk street, below Eleventh, which was later weatherboarded and eventually became comfortably equipped and furnished, and (after the erection of a stone addition about the year 1803) was considered one of the two finest residences in Franklin. The first wall paper in the town was introduced by the McDowells for their home; the paper came from Philadelphia in sheets, and being thick and strong, lasted until the destruction of the old house in 1874; the design pictured boys and dogs in blue upon a light ground, and was greatly admired by the neighbors.
When the county was organized in 1800, Colonel McDowell was appointed one of the trustees to superintend its affairs, until commissioners were elected in 1805; he was then elected first county treasurer. In 1801 he was appointed first postmaster of Franklin. He had been one of the earliest patrons of Edward Hale at his trading post at Fort Franklin in 1798; and in 1801, as one of the town trustees, signed the lease of a part of the public square to him, "at the rate of one dollar a year until the ground which the said Hale has now in cultivation is wanted for public use."
According to portraits yet extant, he seems to have been a gentleman of the old school, sedate, dignified, and well accustomed to the amenities of life and social usages. He was a Presbyterian, as his ancestors had been, and as many of his descendants have remained, and when as late as 1801 there had been no preacher in Franklin of any denomination he doubtless was instrumental in securing the services of a clergyman, presumably of his own creed, who arrived in the year named and preached at the homes of the citizens until a suitable structure was erected for church and school. [GPHAV, 370]
General Notes: Wife - Sarah Parker
Her father died in her early childhood. Her mother married again and Sarah resided with her stepfather in Philadelphia until the time of her marriage, being a noted belle in those days. She was small, slight and graceful, had great personal beauty, and was witty and charming. She exchanged her earlier life of refinement and ease for the privations attending a pioneer's wife with the cheerfulness and philosophy of her courageous character, and lived to see the poverty and hardship of the first few years give way to the rich development of after days; having been at all times equal to the occasion and a helpful and friendly neighbor in her crude surroundings. She had brought with her into the wilderness where she came as a young wife, a chest full of the finery of her former days, silk and velvet gowns, laces and jewelry, keeping these as relics of her earlier life.
In the pioneer days she was energetic and resourceful to a degree; preserving and managing her little household with frugality, bartering with the Indians for provisions and matching her quick wits against theirs, winning their esteem and loyal friendship and that of her white neighbors as well. In the after days she had many reminiscences to relate of the town and its growth, describing the clearing by moonlight of the bushes and stumps from what is now the park; the purchase of fish from the Indian fishermen, and their rooted distrust of the white woman's honesty until it was well proven; and telling how upon one occasion when a hen had eaten the few cucumber seeds which she had drying on a table for the next season's crop, she cut open with a pair of scissors the craw of the fowl, recovered the seed, sewed up the wound with a needle and thread, which was apparently not heeded, and thus preserved both seed and fowl for her future household supplies.
After the death of her husband, she continued to reside in the old home; and in 1823 and 1824 was recorded as keeping house there with her three sons. In 1826 she donated to St. John's Church a lot valued at seventy-five dollars. Her death occurred at the home of her son (Thomas S.), where she passed the last few years of her life after leaving the old homestead (that was less than half a square away). Only two of her children survived her and she had lived until she was weary of life, peacefully passing away in the third year after she had attained the century mark. The town had grown strange to her and all of her friends were gone; she was undoubtedly the oldest person who ever lived in Franklin. [GPHAV, 371]
Mrs. Sarah M'Dowell.
Died, in this borough, on the 25th of September, 1865, Mrs. Sarah McDowell, relict of the late Col. Alexander McDowell, in the one hundred and second year of her age.
It seems proper that more than a passing notice should be taken of the departure of this aged lady, apart from the extreme age she had reached in our midst. She occupied a prominent position as one of the earliest residents of Franklin, and Venango county. She had seen this region in its poverty, and had borne its hardships, and her life was prolonged to see its prosperity and rich development of wealth. Mrs. McDowell was the daughter of Captain Parker, and was born in Philadelphia, Sept. 11th, 1763. With her husband she emigrated to this county about the year 1796, having resided here almost seventy years. At the time of her arrival, the town had been laid out but a year, and the entire population consisted of but five or six families.
The family at first resided in a log house that stood near the present site of the Venango mills. This house was the property of the Holland Land Co., of which Col. McDowell was agent, and was standing in 1873. About the year 1803, the stone house in which the McDowell family resided until lately, was erected. This was the principal home of the deceased until a few years ago, when she went to reside with a son.
Mrs. McDowell was the mother of nine children, only two of whom survive her. In her earlier years she was active and sprightly in the highest degree, and endowed with great personal beauty. Although extremely reticent on many occurrences with the past, yet she would speak freely and distinctly of the early settlement of the town, describing its appearance, its site, mainly covered with trees and bushes, and the occasional meeting, by moonlight, to clear what is now the park, of its bushes and stumps. The recitals of incidents connected with Indian adventures and traffic were interesting.
She was acquainted with Cornplanter, and related many incidents connected with his history. Mrs. McDowell had seen as many phases of human life as most persons who had lived even beyond her years. In her earlier life she lived in the city, and enjoyed associations with its refinement and cultivation. In more mature years, her associations were with the stern and rugged duties of pioneer life-privations, hardships, the hoping for better days, and waiting for improvement and comfort.
She had lived until she was weary of life, for all of her earlier friends had passed away. The town had become strange to her, and it is not singular that she wished to be at rest. Thus has passed away the oldest resident in our town and county. She will be remembered as a kind neighbor, a fast friend, and a good citizen. [HVC 1879, 488]