Robert S. Howell

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Robert S. Howell
Marriage Records
Wife: Maria Wiggins
Census
Deeds of Trust
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Biography

2nd son of David Howell

Robert S. Howell was the 2nd son of David and Susanna Howell and born about 1808. He married Nancy Gatling, daughter of Lewis and Rhoda Gatling. She was born about 1829. They had 8 children. Robert is listed in the 1850 census living in Maneys Neck Township in Hertford County, North Carolina living with his brother Lemuel, his mother Susanna, and an 11 year old child Bryant. It is not known if Bryant was his son from a previous marriage or possibly a relative such as a nephew. 1850 is the only time that Bryant appears in any census records that have been found. It is not known if Bryant died during the 1850’s or had moved in with another family member.

Robert and Nancy bought property for farming in Hertford County and also Gates County, North Carolina. There are two Deeds of Trust that have been found that attest to that. Sometime during the 1870’s it is thought that Robert moved his family from Maneys Neck Township in Hertford County to Newsoms, Virginia. Robert’s wife Nancy died at Franklin Depot (Franklin, Virginia) on February 3, 1877 of pneumonia at age 48.

Robert remarried on January 20, 1886 to Maria Wiggins at Methodist Parsonage in Newsoms, Virginia. Maria sometime later was referred to as Mariah (Howell) in some legal documents such as Deeds of Trust, and Moriah in her Last Will and Testament. In 1887, Maria purchased property through a Deed of Trust from her parents known as “The Old Wiggins Home Place in Hertford County, North Carolina for $85.00 in April 1887. Two months later in June of 1887, another Deed of Trust between Robert S. and Maria Howell and The Winbornes is found for the same property as a bond for the same $85.00. It is not known how much longer Robert lived after this property was purchased as the 1890 census records were destroyed by fire. Maria died May 22, 1915 in Como, North Carolina. It is not known at this time where she is buried, but her death certificate lists it near Como, North Carolina. It is suspected that she is buried on their property which was known as The Old Wiggins Home Place.