Descendants of James McPherson of Ulster, Ireland

Generation #4

Lorenzo Dow (³William, ²William, ¹James) McPhearson [spelling change]

Lorenzo Dow McPhearson was born in 1806 in Laurens Co SC. The origin of his name can be traced to Lorenzo Dow, an itinerant Methodist preacher who rode the circuit through South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi during the formation of the Mississippi Territory.

Dow landed in Savannah in January, 1802. This was his first visit to the region that was to mean so much to him and in whose history he himself was to play so interesting a role. He walked on foot for hundreds of miles in Georgia and South Carolina, everywhere preaching the gospel to all classes alike. Returning to the North, he found that once more he could not come to terms with his conference. He went back to the South, going now by land for the first time. He went as far as Mississippi, then the wild southwestern frontier, and penetrated far into the country of Indians and wolves. Returning in 1804, he became one of the first evangelists to cultivate the camp meeting as an institution in central Virginia. . . .

Returning to America, the evangelist set out upon one of the most memorable periods of his life, journeying from New England to Florida in 1807, from Mississippi to New England and through the West in 1808, through Louisiana in 1809, through Georgia and North Carolina and back to New England in 1810, spending 1811 for the most part in New England, working southward to Virginia in 1812, and spending 1813 and 1814 in the Middle and Northern states, where the public mind was, "darkened more and more against him."

Here at least was a man with a mission--that mission to carry the gospel of Christ to the uttermost parts of the earth. He knew no standard but that of duty; he heeded no command but that of his own soul. Rude, and sharp of speech he was, and only half educated; but he was made of the stuff of heroes; and neither hunger, nor cold, nor powers, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, could daunt him in his task. After the lapse of a hundred years he looms larger, not smaller, in the history of our Southland; and as of old we seem to hear again "the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord."

    Benjamin Brawley, "Lorenzo Dow," The Journal of Negro History 1, no. 3 (Lancaster, Pa.; Washington, D. C.: The Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, Inc., July 1916), p. 265-275.

Lorenzo Dow McPhearson first appears in the 1810 and 1820 Laurens Co SC Censuses in the home of his parents. In about 1826, Lorenzo married his Shirley cousins' cousin, Rebecca Ann Savage b. 1808 in Laurens Co SC. Lorenzo Dow and his family migrated from South Carolina to Tuscaloosa Co AL in about 1837 after the birth of daughter Virginia.

The McPherson Family is found in Tuscaloosa Co AL in the 1840 Census. Migrating to Mississippi, the family is found in the 1850 Lowndes Co MS Census; however, son William Wesley McPherson is missing. By 1860, the family was living in Wayne Co MS. The family is not found in the 1860 Census; as only the records for the town of Waynesboro are available.

During the Civil War, the McPherson Family contributed five sons to the Confederacy--William W., Joel A., James S., George R., and John T.--two of whom died for the cause. After the war, Lorenzo and the remainder of the family are found in Wayne Co MS and are enumerated in the 1870 Census. Rebecca's date of death is not known. Lorenzo died in Wayne Co MS in 1876.

• Born 1806 Laurens Co SC

• Married c. 1826 in South Carolina to Rebecca Ann Savage b. 1808 in South Carolina

• 1830 Laurens Co SC Census: L. D. McPherson not found

• Migrated c. 1837 to Tuscaloosa Co AL

• 9/20/1839 Lorenzo D. patented land in Tuscaloosa Co AL [Patent Image]

• 1840 Tuscaloosa Co AL Census

• Migrated about 1847 to Lowndes Co MS

• 1850 Lowndes Co MS Census

1850 Federal Census: Lowndes County, Mississippi
HN   FN   LAST      FIRST        AGE  SEX OCCUP.   BIRTH
=========================================================
273  273  McPherson Lorenzo D.   44   m   farmer   S.C.
                    Rebecca      42   f            S.C.
                    Joel A.      21   m            S.C.
                    Virginia H.  17   f            S.C.
                    Sarah F.     13   f            Ala
                    George R.    10   m            Ala
                    John T.       8   m            Ala
                    Henry S.      4   m            Ala

• 1856 Migrated to Wayne Co MS
• 1860 Wayne Co MS Census (except Waynesboro) not available

• 8/12/1862 Tuscaloosa Co AL Probate

• 1866 Wayne Co MS Census

• 1870 Wayne Co MS Census

1870 Federal Census: Wayne County, Mississippi
HN  FN LAST NAME  FIRST     AGE SEX  OCCUP.         BIRTH
=======+=================================================
 6  6  McPherson  Lorenzo   65  M    Farmer         S.C.
                  Rebecca   65  F    Keeping House  Miss
                  Virginia  33  F                   Miss

• Died 9/1/1876 Wayne Co MS

    Children

    1. William Wesley McPhearson b. 4/9/1827 Laurens Co SC

    2. Joel A. McPhearson (Ancestor of Jackie Causey)

• Born 1829 Laurens Co SC

• Migrated c. 1837 w/ family to Tuscaloosa Co AL

• Migrated c. 1847 w/ family to Lowndes Co MS

• Married c. 1858 in Mississippi to Amy Moody b. 1835 in South Carolina

• Migrated before 1860 w/ family to Wayne Co MS

• 1862 Enlisted in 37th Mississippi Infantry CSA

• 6/1863 Reportedly killed at Vicksburg MS

• 1866 Wayne Co MS Census

• Note: Joel's children James, Joel, and Manilla are found living in the Moody household in the 1880 Wayne Co MS Census

    3. James Sterling McPhearson

• Born 1831 Laurens Co SC

• Migrated c. 1837 w/ family to Tuscaloosa Co AL

• Migrated c. 1847 w/ family to Lowndes Co MS

• Migrated before 1860 w/ family to Wayne Co MS
• Married 11/1/1860 in Jasper Co MS to Martha Virginia Sheely (sister of Susan Laura Sheely) b. 1840 in Alabama

• 1862 Enlisted in 37th Mississippi Infantry CSA

• Migrated before 7/1871 to Arkansas

• Migrated before 1880 to Sedgwick Co KS

• Died after 1884 Caddo Co OK

    4. Unknown Son b. c. 1835 Laurens Co SC

    5. Virginia H. McPhearson

• Born 1833 Laurens Co SC

• Migrated c. 1837 w/ family to Tuscaloosa Co AL

• Migrated c. 1847 w/ family to Lowndes Co MS

• Migrated before 1860 w/ family to Wayne Co MS

• Died after 1870 Wayne Co MS

    6. Sarah F. McPhearson

• Born 1837 Tuscaloosa Co AL

• Migrated c. 1837 w/ family to Tuscaloosa Co AL

• Migrated c. 1847 w/ family to Lowndes Co MS

• Migrated before 1860 w/ family to Wayne Co MS

• Married 1864 in Mississippi to William Massey b. 1840 in Alabama

• 1880 Jasper Co MS Census

• Died after 1880 Jasper Co MS

    7. George R. McPhearson

• Born 1840 Tuscaloosa Co AL

• Migrated c. 1837 w/ family to Tuscaloosa Co AL

• Migrated c. 1847 w/ family to Lowndes Co MS

• Migrated before 1860 w/ family to Wayne Co MS

• 5/1861 Enlisted 13th Mississippi Infantry CSA

• 7/1862 Reportedly killed at 1st Battle of Manassas (Bull Run) VA

    8. John Tillman McPhearson

• Born 8/8/1842 Tuscaloosa Co AL

• Migrated c. 1837 w/ family to Tuscaloosa Co AL

• Migrated c. 1847 w/ family to Lowndes Co MS

• Migrated before 1860 to Jasper Co MS

• 1860 Jasper Co MS Censuses

1860 Federal Census: Jasper County, Mississippi
HN  FN  LAST      FIRST   AGE SEX  OCCUP.     BIRTHPLACE
=========================================================
484 488 McPherson W. W.   33  M    Farmer     S. Carolina
                  Jane    33  F    D.H.M.     Miss
                  J. L.   16  M    Student    Ala

• 1862 Enlisted in 37th Mississippi Infantry CSA

• Married 1/7/1868 in Wayne Co MS to Isabella Pittman b. 1843 Wayne Co MS

• 1880 Wayne Co MS Census

• Died 1917 Wayne Co MS

• Buried Philedelphus Cemetery, Wayne Co MS

    9. Henry S. McPhearson

• Born 1846 Tuscaloosa Co AL

• Migrated c. 1847 w/ family to Lowndes Co MS

• Migrated before 1860 to Jasper Co MS

• Died after 1866 Jasper Co MS

Generation #5