Fanny Wellwood first appears in the 1851 census in Glasgow.   She is single, age 17, and is living with her brother John and his family.  Her place of birth is given as Belfast, Ireland.  She married Aaron Rowley in Calton, Glasgow on July 13, 1860, and during the course of their short troubled marriage she gave birth to four children.  It’s important to note that on her marriage record her parents are listed as Moses Wellwood and Jane McDowall.  Aaron was a potter from Staffordshire, England.  His parents had died when he was young and he was raised in the Burslem Union, which was a workhouse there.

Aaron and Fanny’s first child was a daughter named Mary.  Mary was born in Calton, Glasgow on Jan. 18, 1861, just 6 months after Fanny and Aaron’s marriage.  The 1861 census shows Fanny and little Mary living in the home of Robert and Mary Stewart in Bridgeton, Glasgow – though their last name is written as Ronley instead of Rowley.  Fanny, a married woman, is working as a power loom weaver in a cotton mill, even though her baby is only 3 months old – and Aaron is nowhere to be found.  He is instead back in Staffordshire, boarding at the home of Margaret Barley and working as a potter.  He is listed as married, aged 25 years.  Fanny must have travelled to England to be with him, as her son Samuel was born in Burslem, Staffordshire on June 25, 1863.  John, the next child, was born in Tunstall, Staffordshire in February, 1865.  Sometime that year, Fanny, Aaron, and their children returned to Scotland.  Aaron applied for settlement on Nov. 21, 1865.  In the paperwork his birthdate of 10/4/32 (April 10, 1832) is given as well as his parents’ names of Aaron and Emily (Slack) Rowley.  His wife is listed as Fanny Wellwood, age 33, born Belfast, and their children, ages, and places of birth are also listed.  The reason for Aaron’s application for relief appears to be that he has been hospitalized for a month in the Royal Infirmary in Glasgow with a fever, and is wholly disabled during his convalescence.  In the seven months prior to the date of application, ever since they returned to Scotland, they had five residences, one for 3 months and the others for one month or less. The day after Aaron’s application the inspector came and they were denied relief and told to return to England where he had been born and raised.  Evidently, Aaron returned to England, but left Fanny and the children behind in Scotland, deserting them.  On the 13^th of December, Fanny applied for relief from the same address and stated she had been deserted by her husband.  Two days later, on Dec. 15, 1865, little John died.  The inspector granted the expenses for the coffin, ground, and burial.  Fanny then stated her intention to return to work and that her husband would send for her.  Fanny gave birth to her next child Sarah in Glasgow on March 13, 1867.  On the birth record her father is listed as Aaron, but Fanny seems to have given the child up shortly after birth, and given Aaron’s desertion one does wonder.  Little Sarah died in the Barnhill Poorhouse, where both her parents are listed as unknown, on Jan. 25, 1868 when she was less than 11 months old.

In the 1871 census, Aaron is still in Staffordshire, but now his two surviving children Mary and Samuel are living with him.  Fanny is nowhere to be found, and Aaron lists himself as a widower.  A few short months after this census on July 11, 1871, little Mary (aged 10-1/2) died by throwing herself down a coal pit in Staffordshire.  And what was she doing that near a coal pit at her age, anyway?  There is no record or explanation, but I suspect as with many children of that age in England at the time she was working in the mines.  In the census she does not have an occupation, although two of the teenage sons (ages 14 and 17) of her closest neighbour were working in the coal mines.  The death record does not suggest it was an accident.

In the 1881 census, Aaron is lodging in the home of Hannah Dean in Staffordshire and working as a potter.  The age is off, but it certainly appears to be Fanny’s Aaron.  He is still claiming to be widowed, but his only surviving child Samuel can be found living with his mother, Aaron’s wife Fanny, in Glasgow, Scotland.  She is working as a grocer and she also claims to be widowed.  Obviously, this troubled marriage has ended in fact if not in deed.

Family lore states that Samuel and his mother moved to the U.S. via Canada, but I could find no evidence of them having ever been in Canada.  Instead, I found Fanny arriving in New York on the FURNESSIA out of Glasgow on July 20, 1885.  Her stated age of 50 is more or less correct.  She claims to be a wife (her marital status seems to be very flexible), but no husband is present, nor is her son Samuel.  There is evidence that suggests he entered the U.S. first and then sent for her.  Fanny can be found in the 1891 Fall River directory working as a nurse and living at 42 Fifth Street.

In 1884 Samuel C. Rowley is in the United States.  He is boarding at 20 Davis Street, Fall River, Mass. and working as a clerk.  In the 1889 Fall River Directory, Samuel is boarding at 21 Fifth Street and still working as a clerk.  He finally marries on Feb. 5, 1889 in Fall River to Ella Fielding.  Both are listed as 25 years old, she is a milliner born in Fall River and he is a clerk born in Scotland.  His parents are given as Aaron and Annie (close enough).  It was a first marriage for both.  Certainly, this marriage record fits with what we know of Samuel to date except for his place of birth, which should be England (but one can understand why he would identify with Glasgow, Scotland).  In the 1900 census, Samuel and Ella are living at 658 Birch Street in Fall River with their two children Elsie L. and Inez M. Rowley.  Using NEHGS (see link at the top of this page) to locate their birth records, I also discovered the stillborn birth of their first child, a son, on Jan. 16, 1891.  Elsie, I discovered, was born on March 4, 1894 and Inez on March 10, 1897, all in Fall River.  I also discovered a fourth child, Dorothy E. Rowley, born to them on Feb. 9, 1901 and who died on April 19, 1904 in Fall River.  Ella (Fielding) Rowley died on Dec. 12, 1907.  Both Dorothy’s birth and Ella’s death list their address as 660 Birch, next door to their previous address.  The 1900 census gives Samuel C. Rowley’s birth as June 1863, which I know by his birth record to be correct, but lists Scotland as his and both his parents places of birth which is not correct as he and his father were born in England and Fannie was born in Belfast, Ireland.  It also states he entered the U.S. in 1880, which I believe to be incorrect as he was in Glasgow for the 1881 census.  I have not, however, found the passenger record for his arrival, as I did for Fanny.  Living just 4 doors away in 1900 is Richard Shovelton, who is Ella’s stepfather, having married her mother Eliza on Nov. 26, 1874.

In the 1910 census, Samuel C. Rowley is still living at 660 Birch, though he is now 46 and widowed, living with his daughters Elsie and Inez.  Richard Shovelton is still 4 doors away.  Samuel is still working as a clerk, more specifically in a grocery store, but his date of immigration is now listed as 1887, and his and his parents’ places of birth are still listed as Scotland.  As his parents were married in Glasgow and he was mostly raised there, he may not have made the distinction between what he thought of as home and where they were actually born.  I did locate Samuel’s naturalization record which also lists Scotland as his place of birth or allegiance but while giving his address as 658 Birch in Fall River then gives his date of birth as Oct. 10, 1864!!  Even though on the 1900 census he knows it to be June 1863.  The date of his naturalization was Sept. 20, 1900, the certificate number is 263-Vol.1897-1902-Yr.1900 and was recorded in the second district court of Bristol County in Fall River.

At this point, I want to return to Fanny.  Family lore states that she married a man named Goddard, and so I searched for a marriage for her, but without success.  But then again, she may still have been legally married to Aaron, as I could find no divorce – just a turning of their backs to each other and both declaring themselves to be widowed.  So perhaps she simply “took up” with this Goddard without benefit of clergy, as they used to say.  I searched the 1900 census, but could find her neither as Fanny Rowley nor Fanny Goddard.  And so I searched the death records – after all, she was born in about 1832.  And I found her!  Fanny Goddard had died on July 27, 1905 in Fall River – but there was a problem.  The death record stated that her maiden name was Cameron and her father was Alexander!  But her address was practically right across the street from her son Samuel and his family – as she was at 589 Birch Street!  So to kill time while I puzzled it out, I decided to try to locate Mr. Goddard and discover his name.  I found him in the death records as well – William Goddard, age 66, lived at 589 Birch Street and died on July 18, 1905 just 9 days before his wife Fanny!  And GUESS who the informant of his death was?  Samuel Rowley, Fanny’s son!  So WHAT the heck was going on with Fanny’s maiden name?  I’ll come back to this in a few minutes…

Let’s go back to Samuel, now.  He decided to remarry after Ella’s death, and on Sept. 12, 1911 he married Elizabeth A. Phillips who was 20 years his junior.  It was her first marriage, at the age of 27.  Samuel C. Rowley, age 47, was living at 658 Birch on the marriage record.  His occupation is salesman, he still states he was born in Scotland, but NOW he lists his parents as Douglas J. and his mother’s maiden name as Frances Cameron!!  This is certainly the Fanny Goddard who lived just down the street, and it is equally clear this is the same Samuel who on his first marriage listed his parents as Aaron and Annie!

Samuel died prior to the 1920 census, by all accounts – I still need to get a copy of his death record before I quote the date.  But for now let’s move on to his children.  Samuel Rowley’s daughter Elsie married twice – the first time to Joseph Stringer on Dec. 23, 1913.  They had a daughter Dorothy Ruth who was born on Nov. 1, 1914.  The marriage was not happy, and Elsie divorced her husband for cruelty in mid-1917.  Joseph was given custody of their daughter.  As harsh as this sounds, it was quite common in the days before no-fault divorce.  There were very few grounds for divorce in those days, and usually a husband had to agree to being either an adulterer or a wife-beater in order to end a marriage and allow for the parties to move on.  It was also quite common for a husband who had a better income to be given custody, as it was assumed he would also either remarry or make other arrangements for his children’s care.  In fact, Joseph returned to live with his parents, and his mother helped raise his daughter Dorothy.  Both Joseph and Elsie remarried- Elsie to Edward A. Wenmouth on July 26, 1918 in Fall River.  They went on to have 5 children, not including the children from their first marriages (Edward had been widowed) prior to Elsie’s death on Christmas Eve 1925 in Providence, R.I. where they were living. Joseph remarried about 1922.  Dorothy eventually married and had 4 children.

Samuel and Ella’s other daughter Inez went to live with Alice Shovelton after the death of her father.  Alice lived in Newton, Mass. and was a principal and teacher in a private school called Hillbrow School.  She was also Inez’ mother Ella’s step-sister, one of Richard’s daughters from his first marriage.

So now back to Fanny and Samuel’s sudden change of parentage.  I have discovered some interesting items that might provide an explanation, but there is absolutely no proof that this is the true explanation.  Nevertheless, I’m going to write it out here in hopes that someone reading it might be able to shed further light on this mystery.  First, it bothered me a great deal that Fanny disappeared from the 1871 Scotland census and then suddenly showed up in 1881.  That and the fact I could not find a marriage to William Goddard led me to suspect she might have also “taken up” with someone in Glasgow.  After all, she appeared to have had a child more than a year after her husband had deserted her that she in turn seemed to have abandoned to the poorhouse.  Surely, had she NOT abandoned little Sarah after her birth, they would have known who at least one of her parents was for the death record.  So it appears to me that Fanny had a very difficult life, and decided at some point to take what she could from it and try to find a bit of happiness.  So I went looking for her in Glasgow in the 1871 census under a different last name.  And frankly, Cameron seemed as good a place as any to start.  And I found her!  Or, at least I think it’s her.  I found a Fanny Cameron born in Ireland about 1832 living in Glasgow St. Paul’s.  She is listed as the wife of Duncan Cameron of Inverness, and they have two little girls – Isabella, age 3 and Catherine, age 1.  First, I looked for a marriage for them and came up empty.  Then I checked the girls’ birth records and discovered that both were listed as the illegitimate daughters of Duncan Cameron and Fanny Alexander!  Isabella was born on April 12, 1868 – shortly after little Sarah’s death – and Catherine was born on April 16, 1870.  If Fanny Alexander was really Fanny Wellwood, she may not have wanted to be found, or to have it get back to Aaron that she was having another man’s children.  So I looked for a Fanny Alexander in previous census records, living in Scotland but born about 1832 in Ireland, in case it was a weird coincidence.  Not in 1861, not in 1851, but did find a Fanny Alexander born about 1833 in Scotland in the 1841 census.  So I started looking for death records for Fanny Alexander or Fanny Cameron of the right age in any of the locations I found Fanny Alexander or Fanny Cameron, but came up empty.  Not finding a death record prior to 1855 is not unusual, so I wasn’t surprised to not find one for the Fanny I located in the 1841 census – but not in 1851.  Then I looked for the Cameron family in the next census, and found Duncan living in Greenock West, Renfrewshire, with his new wife Helen who was born in Scotland about 1841, as well as Isabella and Catherine, now both 3 years younger than on their birth records.  They are still living there in 1891.  And there was Fanny Rowley in 1881, right there in Glasgow, but now with Samuel her 17-yr-old son living with her.  The names may just be a weird coincidence, but it certainly makes me stop and think…  Fanny’s death gives her maiden name as Cameron and her father as Alexander, as well as lying about her age, and Samuel’s death gives his father’s name as Douglas J. – still no idea where that one came from.  Samuel did appear to take a trip to England in early 1905, returning in February through Pennsylvania – and after this time the name changes occurred.  So, why did he go to England, and what did he discover there?  Was Fanny Cameron in the 1871 census really Fanny Wellwood who was still legally married to Aaron Rowley who had deserted her?  Was the Samuel Rowley who returned from England through Pennsylvania in Feb. 1905 the same Samuel Rowley that was married to Ella in Fall River?  It does state on his passenger record that he had entered twice before – in 1884 and 1887 – so it certainly appears at a glance to be my Samuel Rowley.  Was Fanny the daughter of Moses-the-missionary and not his sister?  Could Cameron have been the name of his childhood sweetheart that he married upon his return to Ireland from Africa?  Fanny’s date of birth would certainly seem to make that possible – if Moses was the firstborn, he would have left for Africa in the mid- to late-1820’s and returned 5 years later in the early 1830’s.  But that still would not explain her father’s name being listed as Alexander Cameron (could it have been her grandfather?) or Samuel’s father being Douglas J. Rowley – who I could not even locate (or was his biological father the Douglas J. and the legal father Aaron Rowley?).  What is undisputable is that Ella’s husband and Elizabeth’s husband is the same Samuel C. Rowley (did the C stand for Cameron?), and Fanny Wellwood-Rowley-Goddard was his mother.  I seem to only have more questions – and no answers – the more I dig into it.

© Deborah Ray and archivecookie.com, 2010.