The Kerfoots of Frederick, Clarke, and Fauquier Cos: The Sowers Connection
Copyright (C) 2002 by Abigail Ann Young
The Sowers family29 were quite prominent in Frederick County; on the Old Town Pedestrian Mall in Winchester can still be seen "Miller House" which was originally built by Daniel Sowers I, then became the property of the Miller family, and is now (autumn 2001) a Lutheran seniors' home (see figure 4). Over several generations they intermarried with the Kerfoots and, like them, were founding members of Old Bethel Church (see figure 5 for a side view of Bethel Church and a corner of its churchyard, where many Kerfoots and Sowers are buried).
Generation 1
The first generation of Virginia Sowers, Jacob Sowers I (c1710-1781) and his wife Mary (c1720-aft 1781), were members of the German Reformed Church, and are buried in the historic Mount Hebron Cemetery in Winchester Virginia, within whose perimeter are enclosed two burial grounds established on land donated by Lord Fairfax to the Lutheran and German Reformed congregations in the 1760s. Both the Reformed tradition and the Quaker tradition (through the Carters, another Kerfoot connection) thus enriched the newly established Baptists in Frederick and Clarke Counties for, whatever Protestant tradition they may have begun in, those who married Kerfoots ended up Baptist!
Judging from the few sources that mention them, there is not a great deal to say about Jacob and Mary Sowers. According to EBJ, the wills of two men named Jacob Sowers were probated in Frederick Co in the 1780s, one on 3 April 1781 and the other on 7 March 1782. On the basis of Mrs Buck's research it appears that our ancestor is the one with the earlier probate, since she assigns a 1781 death date to "our" Jacob Sowers I. According to The Frederick Co rent rolls30, two Jacob Sowers were land owners in Frederick County in 1764; and two Jacob Sowers were also listed in the county in the Continental Census of 178231. Disentangling these Jacob Sowers, who may represent as many as three different men: Jacob I (d. 1781), Jacob II (d.1822), and a third (apparently unrelated) Jacob (d.1782), will require further research in Frederick Co records.
Generation 2
Mrs Buck found the children of Jacob and Mary Sowers listed in Jacob's will as:
Jacob Sowers II (c1742-1822). He married Isabella Hampton.
John Sowers (c1744--1813). He married Jane Knight.
Daniel Sowers I (c1748-1815). He married Catherine (---).
They are the founders of the line which has frequently intermarried with the Kerfoots; it is the only one I shall try to trace in detail. Mrs Buck recorded the following information about Catherine Sowers: "In a letter dated Jan. 1969, from Robert W. Robins addressed to my late great-uncle Hunter B. McKay, he wrote: 'My wife and I happened upon the tombstone of her ancestor Catherine Sowers who died in January of 1839. The grave of Catherine Sowers is near that of her brother-in-law, Jacob Sowers Jr, and I presume that her husband, Daniel, is buried beside her -- though no stone is in evidence.' My family and I visited Mt. Hebron Cemetery of Winchester Va in 1989, but could not find her stone. There are many old weather-beaten stones in evidence, and do [sic] to the fact that the office did not have a listing of these old burial stones, I guess we will never know who are buried around the cite [sic] of the German Reformed Church."32 She also includes a transcription of Catherine's will on 'Tabulated Genealogy', pp 18-19; Daniel I left no will, according to Mrs Buck's research, but she did find an inventory and valuation in the Frederick Co records. I will verify this in the Frederick Co will books on my next research trip.
While doing research in Frederick Co in the autumn of 2001, I recorded that Catherine Sowers "departed this life 29 January 1839 in the 86th year of her life, according to her tombstone". Unfortunately I failed to record the source of this tombstone transcription, so this information remains unverified until a later trip to Frederick Co. Our family tradition suggests that Catherine's maiden name may have been Jenkins.
Elizabeth Sowers (c 1750-1809). She married John Campbell.
Susanna Sowers (c1752-?). She married (---) Williams.
Generation 3
Chart IX in Kerfoot and Allied Families lists five children for Daniel I and Catherine: Daniel Sowers II (m. Sarah Davis); William Sowers; James Sowers (m. Elizabeth Kerfoot); Fielding Sowers; and Lydia Sowers (m. John [Daniel] Kerfoot). Mrs Buck adds the names of three other daughters: Elizabeth; Mary Ann; and Ann Eliza. Catherine Sowers' will named only 3 sons (James, William, and Fielding L.), and 2 daughters (Lydia and Mary Ann), and I think perhaps caution is indicated in considering Daniel II, Elizabeth, and Ann Eliza to have been children of Daniel I and Catherine.
Here, however, is the full list, based on Mrs Buck's research:
Elizabeth Sowers (c1771-c1814)
Lydia Sowers (1772-1840). She married John [Daniel] Kerfoot (19 Jun 1769-23 Nov 1841) in 1790 and their descendents are dealt with in the Kerfoot line.33
James Sowers (11 July 1775-24 December 1849). He married Elizabeth Kerfoot on 31 December 1798.34 She was his sister-in-law, the sister of the John Kerfoot who married Lydia Sowers.
Daniel Sowers II (c1780-1820). He married Sally (or Sarah) Davis c1809. According to EBJ, Sarah Davis was related to Jefferson Davis but he doesn't say how or in what degree. One strain of family tradition states that Sarah's father was a Stephen Davis of White Post.
Mary Ann Sowers (c1785-?). She married Samuel Bonham on 22 November 180535.
Fielding L. Sowers (20 November 1788-19 November 1863). He married Sallie D. Brownley on 20 December 1810. He was buried at Old Bethel Church.
Ann Eliza Sowers (c1790-1831).
William Sowers (1795-betw 1860 and 1870). He married Catherine Jenkins 28 January 1818.
Generation 4 (selected)
Three children of Daniel Sowers II and Sarah Davis also married Kerfoot cousins:
Eliza Ann Sowers (c1809-?) She married William Carter Kerfoot, son of John [Daniel] Kerfoot and Lydia Sowers
Catherine Sowers. She married George Louthan Kerfoot, son of John [Daniel] Kerfoot and Lydia Sowers
Daniel W. Sowers. He married Mary Eliza Kerfoot. EBJ wrote in his 1932 Kerfoot notes: "[o]ne daughter of John and Lydia (Mary E.) married a cousin, Daniel A.[sic] Sowers. They lived at Woodley, with its handsome home and next to Llewellyn, the home of her brother, Dr. Frankll[i]n J Kerfoot, physician."