May 19
As told to Elsie Odell Bennette by Beth Gowdy about her mother, Anne Kemp Gowdy
John Glenn Newbill of Virginia was a slave owner but his slaves were well treated. When his daughter, Sarah, and her husband, Riley Kemp, moved to Pettis County, Missouri, he gave her a couple. Read the rest of this entry
May 19
As told to Elsie Odell Bennette by Beth Gowdy about her father
The summer of 1862, John T. Gowdy and a friend went north to Canada to hunt for gold. They had very little success, but John did bring home a very small amount of gold dust.
May 19
Personal Recollections of the Journey to Oregon in 1852, by Mrs. J. T. Gowdy of McMinnville
I was born Nov. 23, 1843, in Pettis county, Missouri, near where the city of Sedalia now is, but there was no city there then, the county seat, Georgetown, was the nearest town from where our farm was.
May 19
As told to Elsie Odell Bennette by Beth Gowdy
Your great grandfather, John T. Gowdy, was only seventeen years old when he crossed the plains in 1852 by ox team. By the time he was telling this story to his children, he had forgotten the name of this river.
