The Dowrey Family of Harrisville, Pennsylvania

The first ancestor of this branch of the Dowrey family of whom we have any record is William Dowrey, a master mechanic of Scotland, who emigrated to the United States, settling in Mason City, West Columbia county, Ohio, where he died in 1854. His political preference was strongly Democratic, and in religious faith he was a Presbyterian. He was a member of the Masonic order, having attained the Knight Templar degree. He married Agnes, born in Scotland, died 1892, at the very remarkable age of one hundred and three years, four months and fourteen days. She was graduated from the medical college in Dundee, Scotland, with the degree of M. D., and for thirty-three years subsequent to her husband’s death she practiced medicine in the city of Cincinnati, Ohio.

Children

1. James. Of whom further.
2. John. Born and died in Scotland; he was a traveling salesman; married and had a family.
3. Daniel. A traveling salesman, born and died in Scotland.
4. Ellen. Born in Scotland, died in Cincinnati; married William Howard, a clerk in a mercantile house; children:
   1. Mary. Born in Cincinnati, where she lives.
   2. Edward. Born in Cincinnati, where he lives.
5. Jane. Born in Scotland; deceased; married William Sloan, a mechanic of Scotland; son:
   1. Thomas. Lives in Cincinnati.

(II) James Dowrey

James, son of William and Agnes Dowrey, was born in Scotland, 1818, died in Plummerville, Pennsylvania, October 22, 1864. He attended the public schools of his native country and was graduated from an advanced school in the city of Dundee, Scotland. In this city he also served his apprenticeship at the trade which he later followed, becoming an expert machinist and master mechanic. In 1837 he emigrated to the United States and pursuing his trade made the first set of drilling tools that were manufactured in Franklin, Pennsylvania. During the civil war he was drafted, but was granted exemption because of his age. He married, at Harrisville, Pennsylvania, Martha McCoy, born in Harrisville in 1818, died in Coyleville, Butler county, Pennsylvania, April 6, 1890, daughter of Thomas McCoy, died in 1874. He settled on three hundred and sixty acres of land in Harrisville, on which he built a sawmill and a gristmill, to which the inhabitants of all the country around brought their timber to be made into workable lumber and their grain to be made into edible meal and flour. He fought in the second war with England in 1812 and all throughout the war was stationed at Fort Erie, Pennsylvania. He and his wife were Presbyterians, but at the age of seventy-two she became a follower of Catholicism. He married Jane Parks, born in Ireland, died in Harrisville, Pennsylvania, in 1868.

Children

1. Eleanor. Born at Harrisville, deceased, married George Reed, deceased, who was a farmer; they had several children.
2. Mary. Born and died at Harrisville, Pennsylvania; married Dunlap, native of the same town; they had two sons:
   1. Samuel.
   2. —-.
3. Parks. A farmer, born and died in Harrisville, Pennsylvania; married Sarah Taylor and had several children.
4. Sarah. Born and died at Grove City, Mercer county, Pennsylvania; married a farmer and had children.
5. Julia. Born and died at Grove City, Pennsylvania; married John Dougherty, a farmer, and had a large family.
6. Hugh. Born and died at Grove City, Pennsylvania; married —, deceased, and had two children.
7. Jane. Born and died in Grove City, unmarried.
8. Martha. Of previous mention.

Children of James and Martha (McCoy) Dowrey

1. Agnes J. Of whom further.
2. William Taylor. Born in Gallipolis, Ohio, in 1847, died April 6, 1908; a merchant; he married Elizabeth Scott, of Fort Scott, Pennsylvania, who lives at Grand Junction with her three children:
   1. Martha.
   2. Richard.
   3. Scott.
3. Thomas. Born January 5, 1850, died in Hamilton, Ohio, November 17, 1908; he followed the oil business, was a traveling salesman and belonged to the Masonic order, holding the degree of Knight Templar; married Agnes Hewlings; children:
   1. Maud. A resident of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
   2. Mary. A resident of Joplin, Missouri.
   3. Margaret.
   4. Alice. Lives with her mother in Ohio.
   5. Robert. Lives with his mother in Ohio.
4. Anna. Born in Indianapolis, 1852; married Patrick H. McBride, a contractor of Coyleville, Pennsylvania; children:
   1. Harry. Living in Butler, Pennsylvania.
   2. Edith. Living in Butler, Pennsylvania.
5. Emma. Born in Pomeroy, Ohio, 1854; married Ogg Johnson, a farmer and collector of taxes in Chandlers Valley, Pennsylvania, where they now live; child:
   1. Margie. Married Miller, a mechanic of Corry, Pennsylvania.
6. Elizabeth. Born in Mason City, West Columbia county, Pennsylvania, 1855; married Joseph Redd, an oil pumper of Butler county, Pennsylvania, now living in Pittsburgh; they have five children.
7. George. Born 1856, died 1872.

(III) Agnes J. Dowrey

Agnes J., daughter of James and Martha (McCoy) Dowrey, was born in Harrisville, Butler county, Pennsylvania, March 19, 1845, where she was educated in the public schools. She is a member of the Bradford Mutual Benefit Association and a Roman Catholic in religion. She married, October 22, 1864, in Ellicottville, New York, Robert Fitzgerald, born in Rochester, New York, August 27, 1842, died November 4, 1909. When he was but sixteen years of age he was employed in a freight house at Toledo, Ohio, and for two years held a position with the steamship company owning the boats plying between Buffalo and Duluth. When the oil discoveries were making Pennsylvania the cynosure of the financial world, he caught the fever and prospected in Plumer, Pit Hole, Rouseville, Petrolia and other localities in the region in which the strikes were being made, but with only moderate success. In 1881 he moved to Four Mile, New York, where he remained until 1891, while there forming the Howe Oil Company, which from the date of its corporation has proved a remarkable financial success. On May 6, 1909, Mr. Fitzgerald moved to Bradford, Pennsylvania, where his death occurred.

Children of Robert and Agnes J. (Dowrey) Fitzgerald

1. Martha Agnes. Born in Plumer, Venango county, Pennsylvania, July 30, 1865; married Henry Johnson, of Youngsville, Warren county, Pennsylvania, a farmer; children:
   1. Edna. Born 1891.
   2. Herbert. Born 1895.
   3. Agatha. Born 1901.
2. Robert. Born April 15, 1869, at Plumer, Pennsylvania; an oil operator of Tulsa, Oklahoma; married Margaret Currens, of Montreal, Canada; children:
   1. Robert. Born 1900.
   2. Margaret. Born August 3, 1904.
3. William J. Born at Petroleum Center, Venango county, Pennsylvania, August 25, 1873; married Catherine Franks, of State Line, Franklin county, Pennsylvania, and lives at Knapp Creek, Pennsylvania, where he follows the business of oil operator; children:
   1. John. Born 1900.
   2. Leo. Born 1902.
   3. Robert. Born 1906.
   4. Agnes. 1908.
   5. James. 1911.
4. Nellie M. Born May 10, 1876, at the town formerly called Millerstown, Pennsylvania; married John W. Johnson.
5. Margaret. Born at Four Mile, Cattaraugus county, New York, August 18, 1883; she married Arthur Ash, a native Canadian, who was graduated from Queens Medical College, Kingston, Canada, with the degree of M. D.; he then specialized in diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat at the Manhattan Institute of New York City, and is now a recognized authority on this subject; he lives at Weehawken, New Jersey; children:
   1. Frances Agnes. Born 1905.
   2. William. Born 1907.
   3. Gordon. Born 1910.

Robert Fitzgerald, father of Robert Fitzgerald, was born in Ireland in 1810, died in Ellicottville, New York, in 1878. He emigrated to the United States and made his home in Rochester, New York, where he carried on a large and profitable contracting business. He married Ellen Coughlan, born in Ireland, died in Ellicottville, 1893.

Children

1. Robert. Of previous mention.
2. John. Born in Rochester, New York, 1844, died in Ellicottville, about 1900, unmarried; was a merchant.
3. Michael. Born in Ellicottville; never married.
4. Mary. Married Albert Monroe, of Massachusetts, a retired oil operator of Ohio; children:
   1. Ellen. Born in Petrolia, lives in Ohio.
   2. George. Born in Petrolia, lives with parents.
5. Ellen. Born in Ellicottville, 1850; married Cornelius Moynahan, died in 1910; he was a stone mason by trade and served through the civil war attaining the rank of captain; children:
   1. John R. Lives in Philadelphia.
   2. Cornelius. Lives in Buffalo.
   3. James. Lives in Buffalo.
   4. Henry. Lives in Buffalo.
   5. Daniel. Lives in Jamestown, New York.
6. Margaret. Born in Ellicottville, 1852; married Thomas Kelly, of Bradford, Pennsylvania, a contractor and operator of Findlay, Ohio; children:
   1. Thomas.
   2. Ethel.
   3. Margaret.

Source

Jordan, J. W. 1840-1921. (1913). Genealogical and personal history of the Allegheny Valley, Pennsylvania. New York: Lewis Historical Pub. Co.

This genealogy is based upon the source cited above. Only the structure and formatting have been changed for clearer presentation; the genealogical and biographical content has been preserved.