Thomas Fowler                         1813 - 1867

         &

Caroline Virginia Allison         1825 - 1862

1850 Census Atchison Co. MO #109; Holt Co. MO Marr Rec; Homestead Rec.
Yolo Co. CA; Yolo Co. CA Deed Bk D p 97, Bk e p 344

MARRIAGE: Holt Co. MO Deeds; 1843-1846; Co. Clerk; Section of Marr. in
Deed Book; FHL Film #1005318.

Thomas was born in 1813 in Kentucky as the fourth boy of 8 boys and
2girls. Thomas grew up on the frontier as the West was just being opened
up during his youth. The family opened up new farm lands, moving on as
the population increased.

The family moved from Indiana to Illinois, and on the way back to
Indiana, the father took the turn to Missouri on a whim and they settled
in Holt Co. and then in Atchison Co. In Holt County, Thomas met and
married Caroline Virginia Allison in 1844. They moved to Atchison County
with the rest of the family and it was there that Albert, Harvey, Mary,
Lucy and Sarah Elizabeth were born.

In 1849, Thomas was lured to California by the promise of gold. He
traveled with his brothers Samuel and Welcome and went to Grass Valley,
where they built the first store and Thomas ran it. The 1850 Census shows
him living at a hotel in Coloma, El Dorado County, with his occupation
listed as minor and as having $1300 worth of personal possessions. Heras
30 years old. (may not be my Thomas - where were Welcome and Samuel?)

In 1851, Thomas went back to Missouri with Samuel and Welcome to arrange
for the whole family to come west. They traveled by boat down to Panama
and hiked across the Isthmus. Then they traveled by boat again to New
Orleans where they bought new clothes, climbed aboard a steamer to travel
up the Mississippi to Missouri.

The next few months were busy as the "Fowler Nation" got ready to move.
Wagons were made like the Mormon wagons and they were accused of being
Mormons, an unpopular religion in Missouri at that time. Father John
weighed 300 pounds and was very ill. He was not expected to survive the
trip west and so wood was carried along to build his coffin. On the
trip, Father John recovered his health and lived to be almost 100 years
of age.

Thomas and his family settled in Woodland, Yolo Co. CA where Joseph,
Thomas R. and Robert N. were born. In 1860, Thomas, Caroline and Albert
are listed as Grantors on a deed for property in Yolo Co. which they sold
to W.S. Huston.
The land was 8 miles south of Cacheville, which is now known as Yolo.

In 1862, Caroline was pregnant with her 9th child and had an abscessed
tooth. She died as a result of complications. Thomas sold his homestead
in 1864 to his brother, Welcome, and moved to Virginia City, Nevada,
where he doctored the miners pouring there for the silver rush. He may
have lived in Gold Hill with his sister, Mary Malinda Lothrop Stiles.
Hedged in 1867. The three youngest children, Joseph, Thomas, and Robert,
were adopted by Thomas Peacock, but the 1870 Census shows Joseph living
with his uncle, Welcome, in Merced, California. The older children went
to live with the Farmer family in San Luis Obispo, California.