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Mary’s petition to the North Carolina General Assembly
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The last post in my '
Thirty Fathers in Thirty Days' series concerned a Scottish immigrant 7th Great Grandfather of mine, who was a Patriot, a Colonel in the Mecklenburg County, Clear Creek Militia and a Signer of the Mecklenburg Resolves
or The Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence, John Query by name. This post will be about a very different 7th Great Grandfather.
John Query was on my paternal Grandmother's side of the family tree. Connor Dowd is on my maternal Grandmothers side. Different side of the family, different outlook and actions during the Revolutionary War.
Connor Dowd was an Irishman, born around 1730 in Cootehill, Cavan, Ulster, Ireland. He is also my 7th Great Grandfather via his daughter, Sarah Jane who married Claborne Mauldin. My maternal grandmother was a Mauldin, through and through, meaning she was born a Mauldin, and married a Mauldin and when he died, she married another Mauldin. So, this pair are sort of a super-ancestor couple, holding not one, but two spots, in my family tree. He was the son of an older Connor Dowed (1700-1789) and wife, Margaret Bourke (1704-1770), a daughter of Thomas Ruadh Bourke of Limerick. There were two known sons who came to America, Connor II and Owen. *As a matter of conflict and confusion, my Connor's brother Owen and his wife, Judah, had a son they named Connor who was born October 18,1757. He married Hannah Greave in Chatham County, NC in 1799. This Conner Dowd, the nephew, moved to Ohio and was a Revolutionary Patriot. He died March 31, 1839, in Vinton County, Ohio.*
* Widow's Petition of Hannah G. Dowd for Rev. War Pension
The Dowd brothers had arrived to Cumberland County, the part that is now Moore County, around the early to mid 1850's. When he was yet a child, Connor had learned how to bleach linen. People would weave the material at home and then sell it to the linen bleachers. They arrived in America in 1751, in Wilmington, NC, and Connor soon found employment with a Wilmington merchant. He would travel through the Upper Cape Fear River valley, making acquaintances and friends and learning the area. He was doing so while selling goods for his mercantile employer. Whilst up and down the river making his rounds, he met a widow named Nancy, by some accounts, and Mary by others, with the surname of Roberts. The widow Roberts owned 500 fertile acres. My enterprising Irish ancestor married the woman and begin raising grain and livestock. This was his settlement in Deep River. The couple also had orchards of peaches and apples and Connor created a distillery for making whiskey.
The Deep River is a 125 mile long tributary of the Cape Fear River. It begins near Jamestown in Guilford County, runs the length of Randolph County, through Randleman and Ramseur, dips into Moore County, making a right turn just above Robbins, turns north to create the border of Chatham and Lee Counties, south of Goldston and north of Sanford, before emptying into the Cape Fear south of Jordan Lake. It is a reputedly rapidly flowing stream and must have been so much more before dams and development. The opportunistic Connor took advantage of his position along the river, building four mills along its banks. He built a sawmill for lumber, a grist mill for corn and flour, a bolting mill for refining the flour, and a bark mill for grinding oak bark to extract its tannin he used to make leather in his tannery. He operated a Ferry across Deep River, near present day Carbonton. The industrious Connor Dowd grew his wealth as he grew his industry and continued to invest in land and business, running also a store and an Inn, or Ordinary. Much of the merchandise sold in his store came from his former employer in Wilmington. He was aided by a dozen slaves who helped to run his investments and businesses, and soon he was a very wealthy man. It is said that he granted his slaves great liberties, compared to other situations and habits of the day, to operate the Mills and make runs to markets on their own.
The property owned by Connor Dowd, recorded primarily in Cumberland County, lies in what is now Chatham (formed in 1771), Moore (formed in 1784), and Lee (formed in 1907) counties.
A Timeline from deeds and court records show the progression of his increase, and later the decrease after the War.
Please note the following abbreviations:
P & Q's stand for the Court of Pleas and Quaters.
LG stands for Land Grant.
B for Book and P for Page in deeds.
CumCo is for Cumberland County.
MoCo is for Moore County.
ChatCo is for Chatham County.
CD stands for Connor Dowd.
Adj. is the abbreviation for adjoining.
S is South and R is River.
1757 P& Q CumCo Connor Dowd allowed to keep an Ordinary at the house of John Overton.
1760 LG CumCo 128 acres South of Deep River adjoining Governor Johnston and John Overton.
1761 LG CumCo 150 acres on Deep River adjoining Gov. Johnston and Lord Carterett's land.
1762 Deed CumCo B2 P140 C D received 150 acres from James and Mary Finley south of Deep River part of Thomas Armstrongs 300 acre tract.
1763 LG Orange County NC for 300 acres on Deep River and Smith's Creek Adj Kings land and Nathaniel Powell.
1764 P&Q CumCo - Granted License to keep an Ordinary Tavern at his own dwelling house.
1766 C D received 83 acres from Cornelius Tyson on Deep River and the Chatham County line. CumCo B3 P61.
1766 CD purchases 250 acres from Powell Benbow.
Tax Time 1767 Connor Dowd is taxed for 4 white Polls and 2 black Polls.
1769 Deed CumCo B 3 P 436 CD to John Hunnicutt 128 acres S Deep River adj Gov. Johnston & John Overton.
1769 Deed CumCo B3 P 541 John May Deed witnessed by Connor Dowd and Richard Mauldin,(also my ancestor).
1770 Deed CumCo B4 P301 John Hunnicutt to CD, those 128 acres back.
1771 Deed CumCo B4 P 430 CD to John Hancock Jr. 150 acres.
1772 Deed CumCo B5 P 128 James Russell to CD 400 acres on Deep River and Govenors Creek.
Then the years arrived when things began to change. War came and a new country was being born. We'll look more closely at the Dowds part in that shortly, but with a new country came Tax lists. In a brief time, we can watch the literal growth of Connor Dowds wealth.
In 1777 his taxable value was $7447
In 1778 his taxable value was $19, 850
In 1779 his taxable value was $24, 750
In 1780 his taxable value was $30, 889.
including 3559 acres of land valued at $10,000, three town lots in Campbellton and 12 enslaved human beings.
Although the War was raging, Connor Dowd's wealth was increasing, at first.
1780 LG Chatham County to CD for 30 acres on Falls Creek Adj Goldston and Edward Griffin.
1780 a second LG of 300 acres on the Foggy Branch of Indian Creek including the improvements of Edward Griffin adj Duncan.
Then we see a marked change.
1788- 8 years since the last transaction - Book D Pages 581-582 Mary Dowd of Moore County to Sampson Brewer 150 acres on Falls Creek Adj Goldston. The land had been granted to Connor Dowd.
Oddly, there are two transactions the next two years that feel out of place. In 1789, in the P's &Q's, A deed to CD from to Clem Hancock proved by Edward Griffin. One year later, in 1790, in the P&Q's, a Deed from CD to William Davis was proved
1791 in the P&Q's of Chatham County North Carolina, Benjamin and Aaron Tyson were allowed to operate a ferry across the Deep River at the place Jonathan Barnes and entered into bond with Cornelius Dowd, a son of Connors'. Then it was repeated that these same Tyson's were allowed to build a water Gristmill where Connor Dowds' old mill has sat.
Then in 1797, Mary Dowd, wife of Connor Dowd, deeded to the heirs of now deceased Edward Griffin the 300 acres of Flaggy Branch of Indian Creek Adj. Duncan.
The dates are debatable, but sometime between 1760 and 1774, Connor's first wife died and he remarried another widow, Mary Overton Sheilds, the daughter of John Overton, in whose house he had established that first tavern when he had moved to Deep River. She was the widow of Reuben Sheilds. Mary was a smart lady, and a shrewd businesswoman. She helped Connor run his businesses and became his bookkeeper. They also had 10 children together. He only had two by his first wife, supposedly..
Even in the years before we were a county, Americans were not a homogeneous group. You had new arrivals with a smorgasbord of different languages and accents. You had those who were born here, descended from the earliest arrivals. You had the people who were already here to begin with. You had the people who had been brought here against their will, be it from Africa, the Caribbean Islands, poor Irish or waifs from the streets of London. Then there were the religious sects, various Catholic or Protestant groups and the odd little cults like the Shakers and Dunkers. Some in Central North Carolina, like the Quakers and the Moravians, in Salem and Bethania and the western fronts, were pacifists. War was brewing, but they didn't believe in War, at a time when everyone, no matter who you were, or where you were from, or what you believed, were forced to choose a side.
As for their part, The Dowds were members of the Haw River Separatist Baptist Church. A quick google search led to the AI utilized information below:
In the North Carolina backcountry, Separate Baptist congregations grew in the 1760s. The Haw River (Separate) Baptist Church was established in the 1760s, with its earliest members coming from the remnants of Mulkey’s church at Deep River. These settlers, including Nathaniel Powell, Conrad Dowde, Isaac Brooks, George Williams, and others, met in 1764 and united with the Sandy Creek Association in 1765 Baptist History Homepage.
The church’s first pastor was Rev. Elnathan Davis, a former Seven-Day Baptist from Maryland who embraced Separate Baptist beliefs in 1757. Davis led the congregation for many years, overseeing worship, discipline, and community life. Notably, the church passed a resolution in 1764 declaring that any member refusing to join the Regulators would be excommunicated, reflecting the political tensions of the time Baptist History Homepage.
As you can see above, "Conrad Dowde" was included in the brief list of early members. This was actually Connor Dowd. His faith played a large part in his later actions.
Dowd and his enterprises were crucial to life in the Deep Creek region. His wagons transported much needed goods between there and Cross Creek, or Fayetteville, a center oftrade and banking. Some goods were imports from Britain and France. For a while, his mills and store were the only ones between the Capitol of Hillsborough and Cross Creek. Many travelers and new arrivals crossed over on his ferry and stayed at his Inn. The Dowd place was a very important spot along the main road and for a time, a portion of the road bore his name. His actions would not go without notice.
The War and Phillip Alston
Phillip Alston (Abt 1745-1791) was a Whig Militia Leader in the Revolution, and a very wealthy, prominent man known for building the beautiful historic site known as "The House in the Horseshoe".
On July 29, 1781, his home became the site of a Skirmish, an incident considered a degree less than a battle, when Colonel David Fanning led a group of Loyalists against the Whig Militia camped at Alston's home. Alston surrendered and his home was threatened to be burned, but thankfully escaped that fate. Alston had reason to dislike the Loyalists and anyone who aided them. He became an archenemy of Connor Dowd.
As a pacifist, Grandpa Connor attempted to avoid taking sides as long as he could. He never took part in any fighting and never wielded a gun. However, with his multiple businesses and landholdings that stretched through Chatham, Moore and Lee Counties, his financial resources were much sought after for aid, from either side.
In January of 1776, Josiah Martin, the King appointed Governor of North Carolina, asked for citizens to come to the town of Brunswick, which sat near the mouth of the Cape Fear River on the coast, below Wilmington, to welcome the Red Coats expected to land there, sent by King George, in a show of support of the British and Governor Martin.
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| Remains of historic town of Brunswick, NC |
Connor Dowd was one of the ones who showed up, although the British didn't. He declined to join the ranks of the Loyalist forces but brought supplies that were given to General Donald McDonald. He brought 100 lbs. of pistol powder, iron, linen and cotton, shoes and leather from his own stores, flour, venison and other food stuffs, and allowed for the use of his own wagons. It is said he even went in debt to supply the loyalist forces with beef and pork to sustain them. So, he didn't fight, but he did provide support to the other side, not the Red Coats, in particular, but to the Americans who stayed loyal to the crown, called Tories.
The Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge
The Loyalist troops that were headed to Brunswick never made it there. Again, using the AI Google inquiry:
The Battle
On the morning of February 27, 1776, nearly 1,000 Patriot militiamen waited behind entrenchments at Moore's Creek Bridge, about 18 miles north of Wilmington 
U.S. National Park Service. The Patriots had removed planks from the bridge and greased the remaining surface with tallow and soap to hinder crossing 
northcarolinahistory.org. As the Loyalists, primarily Scottish Highlanders, charged across the bridge shouting "King George and Broadswords," they were met with devastating musket and artillery fire northcarolinahistory.org+1. Within minutes, the Loyalist ranks were decimated, their leaders killed or captured, and the survivors forced to retreat northcarolinahistory.org+1. The Patriots pursued the fleeing Loyalists, solidifying their control of the area 
American Battlefield Trust.
Casualties and Aftermath
The Patriots suffered minimal losses, with one soldier killed and one wounded, while the Loyalists lost approximately 30 men, with 20 more wounded, including the death of Captain Alex McLeod northcarolinahistory.org. The defeat effectively ended Loyalist recruitment in North Carolina and forced Governor Martin into exile, leaving the colony under Patriot control 
Wikipedia+1. The battle also marked the last recorded Highland broadsword charge in history Wikipedia+1.
Phillip Alston demanded the arrest of Connor Dowd after this battle. He was eventually released on bail, but was prejudicially charged an undue bond, higher than his compatriots and peers. This battle caused a change in the minds and attitudes in many of the Carolina loyalists. They took oaths to the State, renouncing loyalty to the crown, even joining the revolutionary forces. Connor Dowd was not one of these. It had become personal for him. The Dowds aided in assembling a small militia group to meet Cornwallis, the British General, who was on his way to North Carolina. He financed and arranged for a mounted force of 40 men, commanded by his son, Owen, named for his brother. The men never made it to meet up with Cornwallis but entered into small clashes with groups of Patriots. The Dowds paid highly for this. The worst price was the death of his son. Owen was killed on September 13, 1781, at Lindley's Mill on Cane Creek in Alamance County.
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| A portion of Thomas Kitchin's 1781 map of North Carolina, depicting Hillsborough, the Haw River, and Lindley's Mill on Cane Creek |
The link below will give more information on this particular battle. Local names from surrounding counties I recognize that participated on the Patriot side are Patrick Boggan, Thomas Wade, and Joseph Howell.
Carolana: Battle of Lindley's Mill
Local lore retells the story of Connor receiving the bloodied and broken body of his son, returned by his surviving men. At this point the tale tends to bend in two distinct directions. One form of the story is that Connor was again arrested and deported to Ireland. The other version claims that Connor escaped capture, fleeing to join the British troops in Wilmington and sailed off to England in 1782.
Both forms acknowledge the fact, proved by documented record, that he left Mary and his ten children, some quite young, to carry on alone. In response, Mary began to sell off a few of Connors most recently acquired lands for money to support herself and her children. An incredible woman, Mary fought back when in retaliation for Connor's support of the Loyalist forces, their land and several of his mills and business properties were seized. Abandoned, and aware of the portentous events around her, Mary did not possess the state of dejection many of the widows, and solitary women left in the wake of the War, had embraced. Instead, she fought back.
The image that is the lead in for this post is Mary's petition, an appeal to the new Revolutionary Government to return some of her shared properties, in order to support her family. The women and children were always left holding the bag for the actions of the men. Her petition was groundbreaking, the first one of a loyalist sueing, and eventually winning, to recover confiscated property.
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| Moore's Creek Bridge Battle between Patriots and Loyalist, primarily Scotts. |
According to the pension requests of several elderly Patriots later on, one of Connor's Mills in Moore County,had been taken and used as a Headquarters for Patriot forces. In November of 1782, a lower court in Chatham County awarded Mary the return and possession of 1000 acres in property. A community group, led by members of the families of Revolutionary soldiers, voiced complaint of this action because of Connor's actions and support of the Loyalists.
In May of 1784 , Mary Overton Dowd petitioned the North Carolina General Assembly for the right to sue the debtors who still owed Conner, or any of his business associations, any money. She was also attempting to either have confiscated property returned, or recoup the money received from that which had been sold, and to be able to sue those individuals,or governments, in court.
So for being on the wrong side of history, this 7th Great Grandfather lost his son, his businesses, his land, his citizenship, and contact with his surviving family members.
The above document is an excerpt of a letter from Robert Rowan to Governor Richard Caswell, dated September 18, 1777. In the letter, Rowan tells Governor Caswell about the outcome of his effort to get Connor Dowd to take the oath to the new United States government. Rowan, a friend and associate of Connor's, felt like he was making headway on swaying Connor's sympathies in the direction of the Patriots side. He felt his efforts were undermined by the opposing actions of Philip Alston, who had aided in having Connor thrown in jail. The entire letter and tale can be found at the link below.
Link
Mary Overton Sheilds Dowd worked to arrange Connor's return and managed to retain some of the family property. Connor returned to North Carolina in 1783 after the Treaty of Paris ended the War. The fifth article of the Treaty instructed Congress to 'earnestly recommend" for State legislatures to return either confiscated properties, or the money got of it, to its original owners. Not everybody listened to the recommendations. One unfortunate side effect of the act is that it also allowed people to sue Mary for Connors debts, even after his death, like the debt he owed for the pork and beef he had gotten for the Loyalists.
It is recorded that Connor made several transatlantic trips after returning to North Carolina. I wonder if this was an attempt to rebuild his trade business or legal dealings with the British or Irish governments.
North Carolina had passed a special act allowing Mary to retain use of some of her property and pursue legal actions in her own name. Connor Dowd is supposed to have died in 1789, in Chatham or Moore County, NC. Mary Dowd died in 1806; the paragraph below comes from information on the page of the House in the Horseshoe State Historic Site. I wish some of the Dowd property had survived.
By the time Mary Dowd died in 1806, most of the estate she had regained was gone. She had sold over 1,000 acres piecemeal through the years in order to repay debts that were accumulated by her husband, Connor Dowd. According to court documents, the estate took years to settle as debts against the estate were filed. Mary lived the rest of her life fighting to regain the wealth she had before the American Revolution, like many loyalists in North Carolina, her life was never the same.
The known children of Connor Dowd were:
- Owen Dowd 1745-1781 by first wife
- James Dowd, years unknown by first wife
- Mary Catherine "Katie" Dowd 1764-1803 Married Burwell Kendrick
- Robert Robin Sheilds, 1764-1882 Stepson - son of Mary and Reuben Shields
- Major Cornelius Dowd 1767 -1840 married Mary Dickerson Sheilds
- Mary 'Polly' Dowd 1770-1840 married Moore.
- Patrick Dowd 1771-1825 married Rita Dickerson
- Sarah Jane Dowd 1772-1829 married Clayborne Mauldin - My line
- Rosanna Dowd 1774-1850 married James Dalyrymple
- Atlas Samuel Dowd 1775 -1852 married Hannah McSwain
- Richard Dowd 1776-1840 married Rebecca
- Laura Dowd 1777- after 1840 asa 'Retta'.
- Margaret Dowd 1778-1779.
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| General area of some of Connor Dowds properties on Deep River and the road along which he built his store and tavern. |
