Maria Elizabeth Ross, Laura Ford and William Lowder Hearn

"Immigrants: we get the job done" -- Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton

William Lowder Hearn, born 24 Sep 1818, was the only surviving child of Harriet Hobbs and Thomas Hearn. In 1888, William Lowder jotted down some "notes" for his children concerning their family history. Here's his description of his childhood and early adulthood:

In my boyhood, what time I went to school was in Laurel, till I was about twelve or thirteen years old; during the latter part of the that time the schools were very poor in Laurel, and part of the time there were none at all. By reason of the children of the town having nearly all died off, 1829. 1830 and 1831, so that about 1832 I was sent to the Old Buckingham Academy, Worcester Co., Md., where I continued between three and four years. Till the death of my father, 1835. This was a very good school, of which the Rev. Alexander Campbell was principal, and Rev. James L. Vallandingham was assistant. At the Buckingham Academy I made good progress in all the English branches, as well as in Latin and Greek, but Mar. 1835, my father died, and I being the only child, and my mother in poor health. I was obliged to quit school. I was put into my father's store to carry on the business, in my seventeenth year, and so continued until my mother's death. Jan, 1836. After that, I being under age, my father's and mother's estate were by my mother's will wound up by Henry Bacon. An uncle by marriage with father's youngest sister. Mary. I then went into a store as clerk until my marriage with Maria Elizabeth Ross, while I was still a minor, not quite nineteen years old. I then went into the mercantile business on my own account, in partnership with my wife's father, Caleb Ross. In 1840 the firm of Hearne & Ross was organized, the members being William H. Ross, my wife's brother, and myself. This firm was dissolved, 1842, the firm property divided between us. I continued to keep the store until 1844, when I moved to a farm I had bought, called the "Garden of Eden," on the Choptank River, Dorchester Co., Md.

Maria Elizabeth Ross, born 12 Feb 1820, was the daughter of Letitia Lofland and Caleb Ross. She and William Lowder married in Delaware 13 Jul 1837. (The Brief History says 15 Jul 1837.) In the 1850 US Census, Maria, William Lowder and their four surviving eldest children were enumerated in Dorchester County, Maryland. William's occupation was given as "farmer."

I continued farming until 1857, when I moved to Hannibal, Mo. There I went into the manufacture of plug tabacco with David J. and John H. Garth, under the firm name of D. J. Garth & Co.

The 1860 US Census recorded Maria, William Lowder and seven children as living in the 1st Ward of Hannibal, Marion County, Missouri. Since the official census date was 01 Jun 1860, their youngest child was not enumerated even though he had been born by the time the census data was actually collected on 16 Aug 1860. The household also included a nurse recorded as Mrs Sleitum. William's occupation was given as "tobacco manufact."

Altogether, Maria and William Lowder had 11 children, of whom three died quite young:

Then, in April 1861, the first shots of the US Civil War were fired. It's fair to say that if the Civil War hadn't taken place, I wouldn't exist, because it was the war that brought the Hearns to New York City.

In the fall of 1862, being the second year of the Civil War, we all moved to New York City, continuing the tabacco business there until the spring of 1865. My first wife had died at our home in Hicks Street, Brooklyn, Sept. 17, 1864. In the spring of 1865 the firm of D. J. Garth & Co. was succeeded by Robinson, Garth & co., my son Edwin being the company.

When William Lowder wrote that "we all moved to New York City," he wasn't including his oldest child, Julia Augusta, who married George Henry Nettleton in Marion County, Missouri, 07 Oct 1862. Maria, William Lowder and the remaining seven children moved to 109 Hicks Street in Brooklyn - this is the address listed as William Lowder's home address in the 1864, 1865 and 1866 Brooklyn City Directories.

The 1864 Brooklyn City Directory lists William Lowder as "Hearn William L. tobacco, Sedgwick n. Van Brunt, and 85 Water, N. Y. h. 109 Hicks." The specification that 85 Water Street was in "N. Y." may indicate that the reference was to Water Street on the East Side of Manhattan rather than to Water Street in Brooklyn. Sedgwick near Van Brunt would have been in what's now the Columbia Waterfront District. Sedgwick Street hasn't officially existed since 1991, although as recently as January 2013 there was still a sign marking and a gap between buildings marking where it once had crossed Columbia Street one block north of Degraw, heading west for Van Brunt.

In August 1862 two tobacco factories stood next to each other on Sedgwick Street between Columbia and Van Brunt, one owned by Watson and one by Lorillard. Both employed both black and white workers. On 04 Aug 1862, a group of white men attempted to burn down the factories with the black employees barricaded inside. (The white employees had gone home for lunch, while the the black employees usually brought their lunches from home.) The police intervened and no one was hurt - but the charges against the would-be arsonists were pursued lackdaisically by the court system and eventually dropped.

The 1865 Brooklyn City Directory drops the mention of "Sedgwick n. Van Brunt." Then in 1866 there are two separate listings, one for "Hearn William,mer. 85 Wall,N. Y. h 109 Hicks" and one for "Hearn Edward R. tobacco manf. Sedgwick n. Van Brunt, h 109 Hicks." (Is "85 Wall" a misprint for 85 Water?) It would appear that William Lowder had passed on the more hands-on portion of the tobacco business to his oldest son, Edwin Ross. In the 1865 New York State Census, William Lowder is described as a "tobacco merchant," while Edwin Ross and, somewhat surprisingly, his 14-year-old brother William are described as "clerks." Frank Hearn, age 18, was in college.

Nov. 21, 1865, I was married to Laura Ford, in the city, while my home was still in Brooklyn, from which place we moved back to Hannibal, Mo., in May, 1866. Being out of business and not liking the prospect of resuming again in Hannibal, we moved to this city (Sheeling, W. Va.), Sept. 2, 1867. I then formed a connection with the firm of Dowey, Vance & Co., which not long after became a corporation under the name of "The riverside Iron Works." Having retired several years ago from all active participation in the management of the Riverside, I am now president of the West Virginia China company, the works not yet completed.

On 21 Nov 1865 William Lowder married Laura Ford, not "in the city" as he wrote but rather in Ohio County, West Virginia, where Laura and her family lived in Wheeling. Laura was born in Washington DC 17 Mar 1837, the daughter of Julia Ann Green and Joseph B Ford, a railroad agent. As of 1850, the family had been living in Cumberland, Alleghany County, Maryland. By 1860 they had moved to South Wheeling, Ohio County, which at the time was part of the state of Virginia. (When Virginia seceded from the Union in 1861, its northwestern counties voted to secede from Virginia.)

Six months later, most of the family moved back to Missouri. Edwin Ross, my great-great-grandfather, remained in Brooklyn, which is how he came to meet my great-great-grandmother.

Laura and Willam Lowder had five children, although their two youngest died as children:

In 1870, William and Laura F. "Heavin" and their younger children were enumerated in the 2rd Ward of Wheeling, Ohio County, West Virginia. William was now an iron manufacturer. By then not only Julia and Edwin but also Frank had moved out on their own. In 1880, the family was living at 2012 Main Street in Wheeling's 5th Ward. Mary and William had moved out, and Albert had passed away on 25 Apr 1873. The only children remaining from William Lowder's first marriage were Anna and Robert. William Lowder was still listed as an iron manufacturer, while Robert was working as a clerk in a railroad office. Joseph and Julian are described as students. Five-year-old Laura Harriet was to die three years later.

Seven years after writing his "brief notes," William Lowder Hearn died 13 Feb 1895 (Brief History, p. 233).

I couldn't find Laura Ford Hearne in the 1900 US Census. However, at the time she made her will on 03 Sep 1905, she was living in Wheeling. She left everything to her two surviving children, Julian and David. She died 10 May 1909 (p. 767).

Several members of the family are buried in the Hearn family plot at the Greenwood Cemetery in Wheeling, West Virginia:

However, five of the children of Maria Elizabeth Ross and William Lowder Hearn settled in Kansas City, Missouri, and are buried in the Elmwood Cemetery there:

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In memory of Janet A Werner, 1931-2015