Gower Family Now and Then, February 7, 2012

Family means
nobody gets left behind,
or forgotten.
~from the movie "Lilo and Stitch"

Hello Family and Friends,

Greetings to all of you from Alameda, California where Cindy and I are visiting with our kids Nathan and Chenda and our grandkids Preslea and Logan.

Today is the birthday of my cousin Paula Harrell Tuzzolino, who, with her husband Frank Tuzzolino, lives in Sun Lakes, Arizona. At least they live there at this time of the year. In the warmer months they spend most of their time at their home in Oak Harbor, Washington. Paula's mother is my aunt Vicki Gower Johnston of Oak Harbor. Happy Birthday to Paula!

Paula has one daughter, Heather, who, with her husband Sean Cotton, live in San Antonio, Texas. They are the proud parents of Paula's two granddaughters, Victoria and Alexandria. I mentioned in this blog a few months ago that Alexandria ("Lexi") was born just this past September and is the newest Gower descendant.

Speaking of the descendants of my grandparents Leroy and Nola Shannon Gower, I made a terrific find online while researching my Gower ancestors. I came across the picture of, and information about, the grandparents of Paula's (and my) grandfather Leroy Gower. Also named Leroy Gower (1854-1909), he and his wife-to-be Ellen Taylor (1855-1906) were children during the Civil War, and then married as teenagers in Arkansas in 1872. Leroy was originally from Izard, Arkansas, while Ellen Taylor was originally from Alabama. 

For most of their married lives they lived in the area around Mountain View in Stone County, Arkansas (just south of Izard - but you knew that, right?). Stone County is where they raised their family, including sons George William Gower, who was my great grandpa, and his brother Leroy Monroe "Babe" Gower (yet another Leroy). Stone County is also where most of our Gower ancestors lived for several generations. My grandparents Leroy Ertin Gower and Nola Shannon were born in Mountain View at the turn of the 20th century, but left as young adults in 1925 for Oklahoma, and then moved on to San Diego, California in 1942.

The second picture I am including shows my GGgrandparents Leroy Gower and Ellen Taylor. The source from whom I received this picture claims that "this is the oldest known picture of any Gower in Arkansas." The looks in their eyes, their clothing, the quality of this image, and the setting all suggest a very old photograph. I could find no date for this remarkable photo, but both these folks died in their early 50s in 1906 and 1909, respectively. A good guess as to when it was taken would be sometime in the 1890s, perhaps earlier.

The following is a lineage that includes Leroy and Ellen Gower and continues through Paula Tuzzolino and our youngest Gower descendant Alexandria Cotton.

• Abell Gower (from Gloucester, England, dates and wife unknown), the father of...
• Abell Gower (1640-1689) who married Jane Hatcher (1640-1710), the parents of...
• Abel Gower (1690-1780) who married Mary (unknown maiden name), the parents of...
• John Gower (1721-1800) who married Rosemond Fielding (1699-1759), the parents of...
• Thomas Gower (1741-1815) who married Mary Robertson (1730-1816), the parents of...
• Matthew Gower (1762-1853) who married Susannah (unknown maiden name), the parents of...
• Abel Gower (1800-1870), who married Rachel Rebecca Lay (1800-1860), the parents of...
• Jackson W. Gower (1831-1902), who married Mary Anderson (1832-1912), the parents of...
• Leroy Gower (1854-1909), who married Ellen Taylor (1855-1906), the parents of...
• George Gower (1873-1944), who married Serena Turner (1876-1931), the parents of...
• Leroy Ertin Gower (1899-1974), who married Nola Shannon (1903-2004), the parents of...
• Victoria Gower (b. 1933), who married Jerry Kerr (b. 1930), the parents of...
• Paula Harrell (b. 1951), who married Bruce Robson (b. 1949), the parents of...
• Heather Robson (b. 1976) who married Sean Cotton, the parents of...
• Alexandria Cotton (b. 2011)

This 15 generation lineage is the longest lineage that I can conjure up anywhere in our family tree. 14 of these generations are American born folks, which I find truly remarkable.

- - -

Steve