52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – Week 29 – Peter M. Howell (1805-c.1865)

By – Don Taylor

 There are occasions when you find something totally awesome regarding an ancestor.

Book Cover
Courtesy: Amazon.com

I use a simple name and date of birth search often on several sites, one of them is Archive.Org, a great site for many reasons.  Well, a search for “Peter Howell 1805” yielded a book, The Life and Travels of Peter Howell.  OMG – Could it be?  Sure enough, I had found a book about and by Peter Howell, my wife’s ancestor. I used the PDF version on Archive.Org to glean lots of information about Peter’s life; I downloaded the Kindle version for my wife so she could read about him in his words.  I also found that there were two print versions available through Amazon. I bought one of each of the versions as gifts.  I learned that not all reprints are the same.  One of the reprints was good, the other unacceptable. I wrote about my experience with the two versions in a review on Amazon.Com.  Probably one of the greatest finds in the book was a drawing/illustration of Peter, so we can see what he looked like.  A copy of his portrait now adorns our living room “Ancestor Wall.”

Sadly, his “life and travels” never mentions his parent’s names. It does mention a sister, but never her name either. The book did give new information about exactly where he lived and when, as well as new information about his children, one of whom we had never heard of before.

Sometimes a simple search on the right website can yield the most amazing finds. Archive.Org is one of those must search sites that you should include if you don’t already do so.

Bio – Peter M. Howell (1805-c.1865)

Peter M. Howell abt 1849
Source: The Life and Travels of Peter Howell

Peter was born 15 Jul 1805 in Charlotte County, Virginia.

In 1807, his family moved to Buckingham County, Virginia. When he was only 12 years old, his father died.  His mother remarried sometime between 1819 and 1820.  Also about 1819, his half sister (name unknown) married a man named Holman. About 1821, Peter apprenticed himself to Mr. Holman to learn carpentry. Which he did for about 3-1/2 years.  He relocated with Mr. Holman and his half-sister to Alabama, “not far from the Tennessee River.”  By 1827, Peter returned to Buckingham County and was living with his mother and her new husband near Farmville (Prince Edward County).

On June 11th, 1829 Peter married Caroline M. A Pankey in Cumberland County.

The 1830 census finds the young couple living in Cumberland County.  Also, about 1830 their first child, a daughter, Louisiana was born.  In 1832, they lived back in Buckingham County near Willis Mountain. They had two more children in the 1830’s, Phillip C in 1833 and Elizabeth in 1836. In 1937, they appear to have been living on his brother’s (Gideon) land at “Deep Bottom.”

Parker’s Meeting House Source: Sally’s Family Place

The 1840’s census finds the family in the Northern District of Buckingham County, Virginia. In 1842 another son, (great-grandfather) Peter Fletcher Howell was born. We know that Peter had business at the Buckingham County courthouse several times in the 1840s.  In 1845 another son, Lorenzo Dibrell Howell was born. During the 1840s, Peter started preaching regularly, walking everywhere in the area.  He preached in long circuits going from town to town and ranging far and wide. That period of his life is the subject of his book.  In January of 1846, he relocated his family to Murfreesboro, North Carolina about a mile from Parker’s Meeting House.

In 1848, Peter moved to Halifax, North Carolina. In the ensuing years, he became the minister of a church there.

Peter is in the 1860 census but not in the 1870 census, so I believe he died sometime in that decade. I have been unable to located death or burial information regarding Peter.

 Further Actions:

Investigate all Howells in Charlotte County in 1800 looking for Peter’s father.
Investigate all Howells in Buckingham County in 1810 looking for Peter’s father.
Investigate Peter’s siblings’ lives.
Determine church Peter became minister of in Halifax.

List of Greats

• 8.  Peter Fletcher Howell (1842-1924)
• 16. Peter M. Howell (1805-1865)
• 32. James Howell (?-1817)

[Note: Formatting updated and #32 in List of Greats added on 12 Jul 2017.]