Early Stowes in Alabama
My GrGrGrandfather Joel Stowe (a.k.a. Stow), born 1791, moved from Lincoln County, North Carolina to the Tallapoosa area in Alabama in the mid 1800s. Joel Stowe and his family operated a ferry across the Tallapoosa River (now Lake Martin) east of Alexander City, Alabama.
The family lived on the hills to the west of the ferry and are buried on a hill about 100 yards south of the ferry. The hill has an outcropping of flint” (quartz) that trends north to south.
Location of Stowe's Ferry (under Lake Martin)
Becky and I visited the area in Sept. 2011. Today Lake Martin flooded in 1926, covers the location of the ferry. On what was near the western terminus of the ferry is a boat launch. Stowe’s Ferry Road leads through a housing development to the launch. Soils of the area are predominately red clay mixed with quartz.
My GrGrandfather was John Ashley Stowe, M.D. (1823-1903) who moved to Opelika, Alabama in the late 1800s.
