Western Pennsylvania Genealogy
Compiled by Douglas H. Lusher


Family Group Record



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David Watson Rowe and Anna E. Fletcher




Husband David Watson Rowe 1 2 3




           Born: 12 Nov 1836 - Greencastle, Franklin Co, PA 1 4
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 


         Father: Hon. John Rowe (1814-1880) 3 5 6
         Mother: Elizabeth Watson Prather (1814/1814-1880) 1 3 6


       Marriage: 5 Aug 1862 7 8



Wife Anna E. Fletcher 7 9

           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 


         Father: Charles Augustus Fletcher (1804-1846) 10
         Mother: Elizabeth Ziegler (      -      ) 11




Children

• They had no children.


General Notes: Husband - David Watson Rowe


He was educated in the schools at Greencastle, Franklin County, Pennsylvania, where he was prepared for college. He entered Marshall College, Mercersburg, in 1851, and went with the institution to Lancaster, upon the consolidation of Franklin and Marshall College, in 1853. He left the college in his Junior year to begin the study of the law with William McLellan, of Chambersburg, and was admitted to the Franklin County Bar, Aug. 15, 1857. Although he left college before being graduated, he was honored with the degree of A. M. by Franklin and Marshall College, in 1867. After being admitted to the Bar he began the practice of his profession at Chambersburg, where he was engaged at the outbreak of the Civil war. With his brother he responded to President Lincoln's first call for troops by enlisting, becoming a private in Company C, 2d P. V. I. A week later he was made sergeant major of the regiment, and was promoted to be first lieutenant of Company C a few weeks later, serving until the expiration of his term of enlistment. When the 126th Regiment was organized he recruited Company K, of which he was appointed captain, Aug. 8, 1862. He was promoted to be lieutenant-colonel of the regiment Aug. 13, 1862, and served until the expiration of his term of enlistment, May 20, 1863. He was present at Antietam, but, the regiment being held in reserve, he was not actively engaged. At the battle of Fredericksburg, Dec. 13, 1862, the regiment, which formed a part of Tyler's Brigade, Humphrey's Division, was in action in the attempt to carry the crest of Marye's Hill. The command was "Charge bayonet: officers twelve paces in front." The advance was made over the prostrate line of the last charging column, up within a moment's dash of the stone wall where the enemy lay. There it was met by a sheet of flame from the fatal wall. Col. Elder fell, severely wounded, at the head of his men, while heroically urging them on at the farthest point of the charge. The command then devolved upon Lieut. Col. Rowe, under whose skillful leadership the fruitless struggle was maintained until it was seen that further sacrifice was useless, when in obedience to orders, he brought his shattered regiment off the field. On the field of Chancellorsville, the enemy, having turned the Union right, pressed upon the unprotected flank occupied for the time by Tyler's Brigade, to which Col. Rowe's regiment belonged, and, passing round to the rear, threatened it with capture. Thus outflanked the regiment was forced to retire, but not until all the ammunition that the men carried had been exhausted. Among the wounded in this battle, were Lieut.-Col. Rowe and his brother, Lieut. John G. Rowe. Col. Rowe was hit in the cheek by a rifle ball. Gen. Tyler, in his official report of the battle, says: "The 126th, Lieut. Col. Rowe, was third in line, and for earnest, spirited work they could not be excelled. Col. Rowe exhibited the true characteristics of a soldier-brave, cool and determined-and his spirit was infused into every officer and soldier in his command." After his return to civil life he resumed the practice of his profession, in which he continued until 1868, when, at the age of thirty-one, he was commissioned by Gov. Geary, Additional Law judge of the 16th Judicial District, comprising the counties of Franklin, Fulton, Bedford and Somerset. In the autumn of the same year he was elected for the full term of ten years. In 1874 the 39th judicial District was formed, comprising the counties of Franklin and Fulton, of which he became President Judge: he was re-elected in 1878 for a second term of ten years. He retired from the Bench in January, 1889, after having served twenty-one years. After leaving the Bench he resumed his place at the Bar, and continued in active practice. He had as his partner, 1889-95, Alexander Stewart, son of Judge John Stewart, forming the firm of Rowe & Stewart. After Mr. Stewart's death he practiced alone, except for a brief period when he had Henry P. Fletcher as his partner. He was a member of Housum Post, No. 309, G. A. R., of which he is a past commander; and of George Washington Lodge, No. 143, F. & A. M. His religious membership was maintained in Trinity P. E. Church, Chambersburg.
He was six feet in height, of medium weight, with dark eyes and hair. After admission to the Bar, he resided in Chambersburg, except for the period between 1873 and 1883, when he lived at his place called Rosemont, above Greencastle. Later, for many years he resided at his home, on the northeast corner of Market and Second streets. Judge Rowe delivered the oration at the county's memorable celebration of the centennial anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.


General Notes: Wife - Anna E. Fletcher

from Greencastle, Franklin Co, PA

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Sources


1 —, History of Franklin County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: Warner, Beers & Co., 1887), Pg 680.

2 —, Biographical Annals of Franklin County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: The Genealogical Publishing Co., 1905), Pg 74, 579.

3 Mary Craig Shoemaker, Five Typical Scotch-Irish Families (Unknown Publisher: Albany, NY, 1922), Pg 39.

4 —, Biographical Annals of Franklin County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: The Genealogical Publishing Co., 1905), Pg 74.

5 —, History of Franklin County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: Warner, Beers & Co., 1887), Pg 680, 724.

6 —, Biographical Annals of Franklin County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: The Genealogical Publishing Co., 1905), Pg 73, 579.

7 —, History of Franklin County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: Warner, Beers & Co., 1887), Pg 681.

8 —, Biographical Annals of Franklin County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: The Genealogical Publishing Co., 1905), Pg 75.

9 —, Biographical Annals of Franklin County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: The Genealogical Publishing Co., 1905), Pg 75, 579.

10 —, Biographical Annals of Franklin County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: The Genealogical Publishing Co., 1905), Pg 578.

11 —, Biographical Annals of Franklin County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: The Genealogical Publishing Co., 1905), Pg 369, 578.


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