The Fowler, Lander, Pierce and Mess Families
Last Updated 02 August 2009
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n spite of the prominence of the Fowler family name in Massachusetts, this particular Fowler family connection has proven difficult to trace. Members of my family remember Helena Louisa Fowler, wife of William Henry Wainwright, as a gregarious and active person. She had a sister-in Law named Abbie, who lived in Everett Massachusetts and was a dancer. Abbie was married to Louisa's brother William Fowler. I have made significant progress recently in finding my Fowler and Lander ancestors. What I found tells an interesting story about life in early Massachusetts and what may have been a tragedy averted in my family by illegal means.
Helena Louisa Fowler, has
been an enigma to me for years. There seemed to be no record of her other than
her 1872 marriage to my great grandfather William Henry Wainwright. What I knew
from her marriage record was that she was aged 19, daughter of William and
Helena Fowler of Boston, a city well known and feared by researchers as a
genealogical black hole. I decided to take a different tack by instead
searching for her sister Abbie Fowler, about whom I was told by my late aunt
Harriett. Harriett was well acquainted with Abbie, and had fond memories of
her. Abbie appears in the US Census for 1900 living in Everett Massachusetts
with her husband William L Fowler. The 1908 death record for William indicated
he was the son of Edward Fowler and Helena Lander of Boston. Apparently,
William was a brother of my great grand mother but with a different father!
William and Abbie’s marriage record of 1877 indicated that he was born in
Gloucester Massachusetts. His bride, Abigail Mess, was the daughter of Samuel W
Mess and Susan Somes of Gloucester.
Despite this shift back to Gloucester, I was unable to find any Gloucester Fowler families who fit. So I started looking into Abigail Mess and her family. Her father, Samuel W Mess had married Susan Somes in 1833 and the couple had a large family in Gloucester including Abigail Mess, born in 1853. Susan Somes Mess died in 1857 leaving husband Samuel with small children. As most men did at this time, Samuel sought another mother for his children after his wife’s death in 1858 and married Helena Farmer of Boston. It was not until I looked this family up in the 1860 US Census that I realized that Helena had several Fowler children that she brought to the marriage . Apparently, William L Fowler had married his step-sister Abbie W Mess. More significantly I had found my great grand mother!
Helena’s use of the name "Farmer" in her marriage record is a mystery. She never used that name in any other records, and there was no record of a Helena Farmer anywhere in Massachusetts- but in her marriage record to Samuel W Mess in 1858 she clearly gave an incorrect name to the clerk. Why?
A search for additional records on the Fowler children surfaced information on three others. Hannah (Annie D) Fowler married Lewis Bailey, a junk dealer from Gloucester in 1862; Caroline Fowler married William C Saunders of Deer Isle, Hancock County Maine in 1866; and Edward Morris married Matilda Fader. Caroline’s marriage record indicates her parents were William Fowler and Helena Lander but Ann’s marriage record indicated her parents were George Fowler and Helena Lander. Edward Morris Fowler was born in Boston as an unnamed male child of Edward Fowler, mariner from Nova Scotia and Helena. The couple lived (or at least had Edward) at 2 Garden Street in Boston.
Let’s recap. Helena Fowler’s children had recorded or recorded for them fathers William Fowler, George Fowler and Edward Fowler. There is no record of anyone of those names who died in Massachusetts between 1854 and 1858. Helena remarried in 1858 as Helena Farmer. What emerges is a picture of a poor young family whose breadwinner was often away at sea and maybe did not return home one day. In such a situation a woman, not knowing whether her husband was alive or dead might have jumped at the chance to go to a completely different place and marry again for the welfare of the children. To ensure that she was not subsequently found to have committed bigamy, she might have used a different name in her second marriage. Because Edward was the name recalled by eldest son William I tentatively conclude that this is the correct first name of Helena Louisa Fowler’s father.
Without even a reliable first name, it has turned out to be almost impossible to trace Edward Fowler’s roots. The most reliable record I have of him is from the birth of his son in 1854. There is no record of this family in the 1850 Census in Massachusetts, and no entry in the Boston City directories for him. By the time of the 1855 Massachusetts Census, Helena is taking care of the family alone, although she did not indicate that her husband was dead. If he was indeed a mariner from Nova Scotia, the next line of research would need to focus on that region.
The 1904 death record for Helena Mess indicates her parents as William Lander from Boston and Helena Frances Pearce from Townsend New Hampshire. Extensive research in the Boston Town records reveals only one record of a William Lander- that of a record of a tax payment in Boston in 1821. Indeed this may not even be the correct William Lander- but it is the only record I have found. No one of that name appears in the Boston City directory for the period in question. The record of his marriage to Ann Peirce of Townsend Massachusetts in 1805 came to light only after exhaustive examination of Boston Town records on microfilm. More exhaustive research in the Mass Vital Records has revealed 5 apparent children of this marriage so far, none of whom was properly recorded. One child, William Pearce Lander raised a family in Boston., After the death of his wife in 1863, he went to California to seek his fortune in the mining business. The Census entry for him in 1880 indicates he thought his father was born in Ireland and his mother in Massachusetts. The death record for another son, Francis A Lander indicates his father was born in England. Another, Susan Pearce Lander, lived unmarried for many years with her sister Helena in Gloucester. Her death record indicates her father was born in Boston. Because of his name, I am inclined to think that this William Lander was an immigrant from Ireland.
The latest leg of my Fowler-Lander journey has been the search for Ann Pearce and her family in Townsend. The town records of Townsend were not published until 1992 when Henry C Halliwell compiled them for NEHGS. The work is not widely available, and it was only recently that I could locate a copy in Newburyport.. Despite being a very small town, there were two Hannah Peirce’s born in Townsend within 4 months of one another in 1786. One was married in Townsend in 1805 (incredibly, only months from the marriage date of Hannah Pierce to William Lander in Boston) while the other does not appear in any other records of the town. So the problem was which Hannah was mine?
The likely answer came again from the published Townsend Records. In 1824 The Townsend Selectmen received a notification from the Town of Boston that Eunice Quinn, daughter of Solomon Peirce, widow of Nicholas Quinn and sister of Anna Pierce had applied for living assistance in Boston and that since her father was from Townsend, their town should be responsible for her maintenance. The Townsend officials responded that Solomon was never a contributing member of the town, and refused to pay for her support. (Since Eunice died in Townsend, they must have eventually recognized her as one of their own). Based on this, it is well within the realm of possibility that Eunice's sister Anna may have also married an Irishman from Boston. Therefore, although it is scanty evidence, I believe that Anna Peirce was the daughter of Solomon Peirce and Eunice Farrar of Townsend Massachusetts.
In 1872 Louisa Fowler married William Henry Wainwright in Gloucester. It appears that she distanced herself from her mother's two families, for we find no records where the two families are mentioned together. Nevertheless, Louisa and William remained in Gloucester for their entire lives. Helena Louisa died there in 1917.
Samuel W Mess died in 1899, at the age of 88. His wife Helena died in 1904, aged 77. Their son Frank served as informant for his mother's death.
In 1877, Helena's son William and Samuel's daughter Abby married and moved to Bremen Street in East Boston. They later moved to Union Street in Everett where William died in 1908, followed by Abby in 1930.