Surname Saturday: John Gow, Perhaps a Brother or Cousin of Catherine Gow Stewart, Springdale, Wisconsin, 1850

James Peter McPherson arrived in Springdale, Wisconsin, on May 21, 1850, and moved into John Stewart's log house. Within two weeks, J.P. put his tailoring skills to use by making pants and vest for John Stewart, and pants for  John Gow.  (John Stewart's wife was Catherine Gow, so perhaps John Gow was Catherine' brother or a cousin.) John Gow lived in the Springdale-Verona area from at least 1850 until his death, August 17, 1881. 

One of the reasons that I am interested in John Gow and his Stewart connections concerns the possibility that John Gow may be related to James Gow, a well known Dundee Chartist writer and poet (and hand loom weaver).  J.P. McPherson had strong ties to the Chartist movement; he was in the Dundee flax mills at the time that the textile mill workers, whether they be hecklers, flax dressers, power or hand loom weavers, were at the forefront of the Chartist movement; also, his father-in-law William Gibson Burns was a lifelong, ardent champion of the Chartist movement and universal suffrage.

So, if there are any Gow or Stewart researchers that can shed any light on the political connections between these families and the Chartist movement, I would like to hear from you.  My email address is at the upper left corner of this blog.

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© Joan Hill, Roots'n'Leaves Publications