"A REMINISCENCE
"My people came to this part of Georgia from Buncombe County, North Carolina. Migration to Gilmer was already about its peak. Travel in, over such crude trails as had already been developed, averaged but three miles a day. A road might be partly traceable, partly blazed through woods and at other points might fade out altogether.
"Among the multiplied obstacles to the travelers were huge boulders, logs, steep mountain sides, impossible cliffs that had to be skirted somehow, not to mention stumps, bogs, mudholes and dizzy grades. The emigrants coasted slowly down bluffs with the felloes of their wagons wrapped round and round with beaten hickory withes. Good safe spring water was seldom far.
"Parties Gilmer bound usually set out during the mild weather of autumn. In the clan containing my folks were 27 persons jammed into seven conestoga wagons. These vehicles had no brakes.
"Ranging along wilderness streams, through rugged gaps, between mountain walls, the migrants pushed south and west, letting nothing them dismay. When a river in flood barred the way, they simply waited until it ran down. It took that group 30 days to reach Ellijay, which they did on Christmas Day, 1848. The new band was cordially received in the little county seat. An Ellijay 'grocer' treated everybody to whiskey. The settlers went on into western Gilmer and stopped a little short of the Cohutta mountains.
"Conrad Lowe rode a bay stallion, behind him Patsy, his wife, a baby in her arms. Later Lowe swapped the horse for 160 acres of land in Ridgeway district. On this same tract of land my mother lived until her death in 1936 at the age of 96."
*Related by Ben Sitten, who remembered the traditions. Mr. Sitten died Aug 22, 1958.
Source: "The Annals of Upper Georgia Centered in Gilmer County", by George Gordon Ward, 1965: Section One, Chapter One, Pages 1-3. The above-quoted comments were selected from the 2-1/2 pages devoted to Ben Sitten's "Reminiscence" which Mr. Ward chose to use as the opening pages of his book.
(Note that "Patsy" was a common nickname for Martha [wife of Conrad Lowe]; the "baby in arms" has since been identified as Clementine A. Lowe. Ben Sitten was grandson of Coon Rod [Conrad] Lowe via daughter, Catherine Elizabeth Lowe Sitten.)
-----------------------------
Gilmer Co census data indicates that Coon Rod (or Conrad) & Martha Lowe had eight children:
1. Thomas Jefferson Lowe, b ca 1833: Jefferson Lowe & Avaline Critchfield (d/o Ira & Mary Critchfield) married Aug 19, 1857. They are in 1860 census with 1-mo old daughter, Martha; not found again.
2. George Washington Lowe, b ca 1835: George W. Lowe & Rachel Stroup (d/o Levi & Nancy Stroup) married Nov 12, 1854. They are not found in later Gilmer census data. Then, G. W. Lowe & Sarah M. Orr married June 25, 1882. (See link below)
3. Nathaniel/Nathan Lowe, b ca 1837: Nathan Lowe & Rebecca Elender Orr (unable to identify parents) married Jan 27, 1859. They had eight children and are listed in 1860 thru 1880 Gilmer census; no further records on this family.
4. Catherine Elizabeth Lowe Sitten (see link below)
5. Sarah E. Lowe Nelson (see link below)
6. Clementine A. Lowe, b 1849; still with parents at age 31 in 1880 census; no marriage record or legible tombstone found.
7. Martha Lowe, b 1851; married James Ratcliff on Dec 24, 1868 (see link below)
8. Elvira Missouri Lowe, b 1855 (listed as Elvira in 1860 census, as Missouri in 1870); not with parents in 1880; no marriage record or legible tombstone found.
NOTE: All three sons of Coon Rod Lowe served during the Civil War - CSA, Company I, 39th Regiment
"My people came to this part of Georgia from Buncombe County, North Carolina. Migration to Gilmer was already about its peak. Travel in, over such crude trails as had already been developed, averaged but three miles a day. A road might be partly traceable, partly blazed through woods and at other points might fade out altogether.
"Among the multiplied obstacles to the travelers were huge boulders, logs, steep mountain sides, impossible cliffs that had to be skirted somehow, not to mention stumps, bogs, mudholes and dizzy grades. The emigrants coasted slowly down bluffs with the felloes of their wagons wrapped round and round with beaten hickory withes. Good safe spring water was seldom far.
"Parties Gilmer bound usually set out during the mild weather of autumn. In the clan containing my folks were 27 persons jammed into seven conestoga wagons. These vehicles had no brakes.
"Ranging along wilderness streams, through rugged gaps, between mountain walls, the migrants pushed south and west, letting nothing them dismay. When a river in flood barred the way, they simply waited until it ran down. It took that group 30 days to reach Ellijay, which they did on Christmas Day, 1848. The new band was cordially received in the little county seat. An Ellijay 'grocer' treated everybody to whiskey. The settlers went on into western Gilmer and stopped a little short of the Cohutta mountains.
"Conrad Lowe rode a bay stallion, behind him Patsy, his wife, a baby in her arms. Later Lowe swapped the horse for 160 acres of land in Ridgeway district. On this same tract of land my mother lived until her death in 1936 at the age of 96."
*Related by Ben Sitten, who remembered the traditions. Mr. Sitten died Aug 22, 1958.
Source: "The Annals of Upper Georgia Centered in Gilmer County", by George Gordon Ward, 1965: Section One, Chapter One, Pages 1-3. The above-quoted comments were selected from the 2-1/2 pages devoted to Ben Sitten's "Reminiscence" which Mr. Ward chose to use as the opening pages of his book.
(Note that "Patsy" was a common nickname for Martha [wife of Conrad Lowe]; the "baby in arms" has since been identified as Clementine A. Lowe. Ben Sitten was grandson of Coon Rod [Conrad] Lowe via daughter, Catherine Elizabeth Lowe Sitten.)
-----------------------------
Gilmer Co census data indicates that Coon Rod (or Conrad) & Martha Lowe had eight children:
1. Thomas Jefferson Lowe, b ca 1833: Jefferson Lowe & Avaline Critchfield (d/o Ira & Mary Critchfield) married Aug 19, 1857. They are in 1860 census with 1-mo old daughter, Martha; not found again.
2. George Washington Lowe, b ca 1835: George W. Lowe & Rachel Stroup (d/o Levi & Nancy Stroup) married Nov 12, 1854. They are not found in later Gilmer census data. Then, G. W. Lowe & Sarah M. Orr married June 25, 1882. (See link below)
3. Nathaniel/Nathan Lowe, b ca 1837: Nathan Lowe & Rebecca Elender Orr (unable to identify parents) married Jan 27, 1859. They had eight children and are listed in 1860 thru 1880 Gilmer census; no further records on this family.
4. Catherine Elizabeth Lowe Sitten (see link below)
5. Sarah E. Lowe Nelson (see link below)
6. Clementine A. Lowe, b 1849; still with parents at age 31 in 1880 census; no marriage record or legible tombstone found.
7. Martha Lowe, b 1851; married James Ratcliff on Dec 24, 1868 (see link below)
8. Elvira Missouri Lowe, b 1855 (listed as Elvira in 1860 census, as Missouri in 1870); not with parents in 1880; no marriage record or legible tombstone found.
NOTE: All three sons of Coon Rod Lowe served during the Civil War - CSA, Company I, 39th Regiment
"A REMINISCENCE
"My people came to this part of Georgia from Buncombe County, North Carolina. Migration to Gilmer was already about its peak. Travel in, over such crude trails as had already been developed, averaged but three miles a day. A road might be partly traceable, partly blazed through woods and at other points might fade out altogether.
"Among the multiplied obstacles to the travelers were huge boulders, logs, steep mountain sides, impossible cliffs that had to be skirted somehow, not to mention stumps, bogs, mudholes and dizzy grades. The emigrants coasted slowly down bluffs with the felloes of their wagons wrapped round and round with beaten hickory withes. Good safe spring water was seldom far.
"Parties Gilmer bound usually set out during the mild weather of autumn. In the clan containing my folks were 27 persons jammed into seven conestoga wagons. These vehicles had no brakes.
"Ranging along wilderness streams, through rugged gaps, between mountain walls, the migrants pushed south and west, letting nothing them dismay. When a river in flood barred the way, they simply waited until it ran down. It took that group 30 days to reach Ellijay, which they did on Christmas Day, 1848. The new band was cordially received in the little county seat. An Ellijay 'grocer' treated everybody to whiskey. The settlers went on into western Gilmer and stopped a little short of the Cohutta mountains.
"Conrad Lowe rode a bay stallion, behind him Patsy, his wife, a baby in her arms. Later Lowe swapped the horse for 160 acres of land in Ridgeway district. On this same tract of land my mother lived until her death in 1936 at the age of 96."
*Related by Ben Sitten, who remembered the traditions. Mr. Sitten died Aug 22, 1958.
Source: "The Annals of Upper Georgia Centered in Gilmer County", by George Gordon Ward, 1965: Section One, Chapter One, Pages 1-3. The above-quoted comments were selected from the 2-1/2 pages devoted to Ben Sitten's "Reminiscence" which Mr. Ward chose to use as the opening pages of his book.
(Note that "Patsy" was a common nickname for Martha [wife of Conrad Lowe]; the "baby in arms" has since been identified as Clementine A. Lowe. Ben Sitten was grandson of Coon Rod [Conrad] Lowe via daughter, Catherine Elizabeth Lowe Sitten.)
-----------------------------
Gilmer Co census data indicates that Coon Rod (or Conrad) & Martha Lowe had eight children:
1. Thomas Jefferson Lowe, b ca 1833: Jefferson Lowe & Avaline Critchfield (d/o Ira & Mary Critchfield) married Aug 19, 1857. They are in 1860 census with 1-mo old daughter, Martha; not found again.
2. George Washington Lowe, b ca 1835: George W. Lowe & Rachel Stroup (d/o Levi & Nancy Stroup) married Nov 12, 1854. They are not found in later Gilmer census data. Then, G. W. Lowe & Sarah M. Orr married June 25, 1882. (See link below)
3. Nathaniel/Nathan Lowe, b ca 1837: Nathan Lowe & Rebecca Elender Orr (unable to identify parents) married Jan 27, 1859. They had eight children and are listed in 1860 thru 1880 Gilmer census; no further records on this family.
4. Catherine Elizabeth Lowe Sitten (see link below)
5. Sarah E. Lowe Nelson (see link below)
6. Clementine A. Lowe, b 1849; still with parents at age 31 in 1880 census; no marriage record or legible tombstone found.
7. Martha Lowe, b 1851; married James Ratcliff on Dec 24, 1868 (see link below)
8. Elvira Missouri Lowe, b 1855 (listed as Elvira in 1860 census, as Missouri in 1870); not with parents in 1880; no marriage record or legible tombstone found.
NOTE: All three sons of Coon Rod Lowe served during the Civil War - CSA, Company I, 39th Regiment
"My people came to this part of Georgia from Buncombe County, North Carolina. Migration to Gilmer was already about its peak. Travel in, over such crude trails as had already been developed, averaged but three miles a day. A road might be partly traceable, partly blazed through woods and at other points might fade out altogether.
"Among the multiplied obstacles to the travelers were huge boulders, logs, steep mountain sides, impossible cliffs that had to be skirted somehow, not to mention stumps, bogs, mudholes and dizzy grades. The emigrants coasted slowly down bluffs with the felloes of their wagons wrapped round and round with beaten hickory withes. Good safe spring water was seldom far.
"Parties Gilmer bound usually set out during the mild weather of autumn. In the clan containing my folks were 27 persons jammed into seven conestoga wagons. These vehicles had no brakes.
"Ranging along wilderness streams, through rugged gaps, between mountain walls, the migrants pushed south and west, letting nothing them dismay. When a river in flood barred the way, they simply waited until it ran down. It took that group 30 days to reach Ellijay, which they did on Christmas Day, 1848. The new band was cordially received in the little county seat. An Ellijay 'grocer' treated everybody to whiskey. The settlers went on into western Gilmer and stopped a little short of the Cohutta mountains.
"Conrad Lowe rode a bay stallion, behind him Patsy, his wife, a baby in her arms. Later Lowe swapped the horse for 160 acres of land in Ridgeway district. On this same tract of land my mother lived until her death in 1936 at the age of 96."
*Related by Ben Sitten, who remembered the traditions. Mr. Sitten died Aug 22, 1958.
Source: "The Annals of Upper Georgia Centered in Gilmer County", by George Gordon Ward, 1965: Section One, Chapter One, Pages 1-3. The above-quoted comments were selected from the 2-1/2 pages devoted to Ben Sitten's "Reminiscence" which Mr. Ward chose to use as the opening pages of his book.
(Note that "Patsy" was a common nickname for Martha [wife of Conrad Lowe]; the "baby in arms" has since been identified as Clementine A. Lowe. Ben Sitten was grandson of Coon Rod [Conrad] Lowe via daughter, Catherine Elizabeth Lowe Sitten.)
-----------------------------
Gilmer Co census data indicates that Coon Rod (or Conrad) & Martha Lowe had eight children:
1. Thomas Jefferson Lowe, b ca 1833: Jefferson Lowe & Avaline Critchfield (d/o Ira & Mary Critchfield) married Aug 19, 1857. They are in 1860 census with 1-mo old daughter, Martha; not found again.
2. George Washington Lowe, b ca 1835: George W. Lowe & Rachel Stroup (d/o Levi & Nancy Stroup) married Nov 12, 1854. They are not found in later Gilmer census data. Then, G. W. Lowe & Sarah M. Orr married June 25, 1882. (See link below)
3. Nathaniel/Nathan Lowe, b ca 1837: Nathan Lowe & Rebecca Elender Orr (unable to identify parents) married Jan 27, 1859. They had eight children and are listed in 1860 thru 1880 Gilmer census; no further records on this family.
4. Catherine Elizabeth Lowe Sitten (see link below)
5. Sarah E. Lowe Nelson (see link below)
6. Clementine A. Lowe, b 1849; still with parents at age 31 in 1880 census; no marriage record or legible tombstone found.
7. Martha Lowe, b 1851; married James Ratcliff on Dec 24, 1868 (see link below)
8. Elvira Missouri Lowe, b 1855 (listed as Elvira in 1860 census, as Missouri in 1870); not with parents in 1880; no marriage record or legible tombstone found.
NOTE: All three sons of Coon Rod Lowe served during the Civil War - CSA, Company I, 39th Regiment
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