| STEPHEN CORNELL FOWLER was born in Lakeville, Queens County, Long Island, January 3, 1797. His ancestors were among the early settlers of the Island, and came from England a hundred years prior to the Revolutionary war. His father served with the militia in the war of 1812, and took part in the defense of the city of New York and vicinity. He was married to Martha Fowler, on the 28th day of December, 1819, who died on the 25th day of November following. He married Rebecca Lawrence, December 31, 1821. She was the eldest daughter of Whitehead Lawrence, who was also descended from one of the early settlers of Long Island, and counted among his ancestors the Lawrence who first settled that portion being known as "Lawrence's Neck," now called College Point. The result of this marriage was ten children: Mary, born in 1822, died in 1823; Stephen Lawrence, born January 31, 1825, died at Valley Ford, California, March 4, 1868; Cornelia Wykoff, December 7, 1826; James Edgar, December 28, 1828; Benjamin, May 25, 1832, died June 14, 1833; Whitehead, May 5, 1834; Sarah Ann, February 14, 1837; John Henry, September 14, 1839; Benjamin, December 17, 1841; Nathaniel Darling, October 15, 1845. The two eldest sons, Stephen and James, were among the first who left New York for California when the news of the discovery of gold in the country reached there. They took passage on the ship Brooklyn, which sailed from that port January 12, 1849, and arrived at San Francisco August 12, 1849. Cornelia and Whitehead soon embarked with his wife and the remaining portion of his family on board the clipper-ship Lookout, Captain John G. Joice, and sailed from New York, December 28, for San Francisco via Cape Horn, which port they entered safely May 6, 1854, and on the 12th came, per steamer Reindeer, to Petaluma, thence by ox team to where the town of Valley Ford now stands. Having passed that period in life when they were ambitious to accumulate wealth, they built them a home around which they gathered fruits and flowers and every thing that was calculated to make life pleasant in their declining years. Mother Fowler being the first female resident of the town, many still remember the generous hospitality of the old couple. On the 31st of December, 1871, with their children gathered around them, they celebrated, in a becoming manner, the anniversary of an event that took place just fifty years previously amid the quiet surroundings of their childhood home, having wandered toward the golden sunset and rested within hearing of the ceaseless roar of the Old Pacific. Mother Fowler, as she was called, died in April, 1884, at the advanced age of eighty-two years. As she passed peacefully away her last word was "Home." Mr. Fowler was a lover of his adopted State, and enthusiastic admirer of her climate, and a firm believer in her destined greatness. Particularly was he attached to Sonoma County. He took a deed interest in all that pertained to the welfare and prosperity of the State, and willingly assisted in aiding every enterprise in the community in which he lived that seemed to him to have for its object the promotion of the public good. The Rev. Thomas Fraser, synodical missionary, thus speaks of him in the Occident of January 1, 1879: "Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live forever? He whose death was noticed in a recent issue of the Occident, was one whom I dearly loved, the father of a large and most estimable family, and truly a father in Israel. My acquaintance with him commenced in the spring of 1860, when he showed himself, as ever after, an humble, sincere and consistent Christian. Thoroughly attached to the Presbyterian church, he loved all good people, and was loved and respected by all who knew him. As a man, he was kind, just and true. As a Christian, he had remarkably clear perceptions of divine truth, with strong and positive convictions. His religious feelings were exceeding warm, easily excited and not easily controlled. As a friend of religion and supporter and officer of the church which he loved, all knew where Father Fowler stood. He was one of the original members and elders of the first Presbyterian church founded in this section of the country. As the work grew it became necessary to organize another church, and he was a member and elder of that until he died. During many years missionary work in Sonoma County, he was my warm and steadfast friend. In his last sickness, which was extremely painful and protracted, he waited patiently with childlike trust in his Savior for the relief which death only could afford. His last words to me were: "I am waiting for Christ to take me to himself; you will soon hear that I am at home." He died just before midnight, November 27, 1878, at the advanced age of eighty-one years, ten months and twenty-four days, and was buried in the cemetery at Bloomfield. His life was a worthy example of patience, industry, sobriety, humility and brotherly love. |
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