Dr. Dunbar J. ROWLAND

HAIRSTON.org ID#4799, b. 25 August 1864, d. 1 November 1937
Father*Dr. William Brewer ROWLAND1,2,3 b. 14 Dec 1825, d. 19 Jan 1870
Mother*Mary Judith BRYAN1 b. 2 Dec 1829, d. 6 Mar 1903
Birth*Dr. Dunbar J. ROWLAND was born on 25 August 1864 in Oakland, Yalobusha, Mississippi.1,3,4 
He was the son of Dr. William Brewer ROWLAND and Mary Judith BRYAN.1,2,3 
Census 1870Dr. Dunbar J. ROWLAND appeared on the 1870 census of Mary Judith BRYAN in 1870 in Township 25, Yalobusha, Mississippi.1

 
Anecdote*Dr. Dunbar Rowland founded the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.4 
Marriage*Dr. Dunbar J. ROWLAND married Eron Opha MOORE on 20 December 1906.3 
Biography*Rowland, Dunbar, Director of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, was born August 25, 1864, at Oakland, Miss., and is the youngest son of Dr. William Brewer Rowland and Mary (Bryan) Rowland. His mother was a direct descendant of Charles Moorman of Louisa county, Virginia, who emancipated his slaves in 1778. William Brewer Rowland was the son of Col. Creed T. Rowland and Matilda (Brewer) Rowland of Henry county, Virginia. Creed T. Rowland moved to Mississippi about 1840 and settled in Lowndes county. After remaining there a few years he removed to Aberdeen, Monroe county, and lived on his plantation, "Rowland Place," near that city, dying there in 1866. He was the son of Michael Rowland and Elizabeth (Hairston) Rowland, natives of Henry county, Virginia. Michael Rowland served in the Revolutionary Army and took part in the battle of Guilford Court House. He was the son of Andrew Rowland a descendant of John Rowland of Surrey county, England, who immigrated to America in 1635, and resided in Virginia. Dunbar Rowland received
his primary education in the private schools of Memphis, Tenn., and was prepared for college at Oakland Academy. In 1882 he entered the Freshman Class of the Mississippi A. & M. College and was graduated in 1886 with the degree of B. S; was first anniversarian of the Philotechnic Society in 1885, and delivered the second Alumni oration in 1888. In 1886 he entered the Law Department of the State University and was graduated from that institution in 1888 with the degree of LL. B; was senior debater at Commencement, June, 1888. In November, 1888, he located in Memphis, Tenn., for the practice of law and remained four years, his culture and scholarly attainments attracting the attention of his associates. In 1893 Mr. Rowland returned to Mississippi and opened a law office at Coffeeville, at which place
in the past, Dr. Edward Mayes, L. Q. C. Lamar and Gen. E. C. Walthall had practiced, a circumstance that serves to make its history unusually interesting. In 1902 the State Department of Archives and History was created by the legislature ; Mr. Rowland was elected Director and, during his incumbency, has done valuable work in preserving and publishing the historical archives of the State. He has compiled and edited a number of valuable historical publications, some of the most important being the Official and Statistical Register of Mississippi, (1904) ; Mississippi Territorial Archives, Vol. I, (1906) and the Encyclopedia of Mississippi History, (1906). In recognition of his valuable service to the State the University of Mississippi conferred the degree of LL.D., upon him, June, 1906. In the summer of 1906 Dr. Rowland
went abroad for the purpose of investigating the official archives of England, France and Spain which relate to the provincial history of Mississippi, the legislature having provided funds to secure transcripts of original records. He is deeply absorbed in historical work ; is in close touch with the best historians of the present day, and his fine sense of justice, broadness of view and utter lack of all sectional prejudice have won the admiration of the people North and South. He is a member of the Episcopal Church, the American Historical Association and the Delta Kappa Epsilom fraternity, and is an honorary member of several historical socie ties in the United States. Dr. Rowland was married December 20, 1906, at Flora, Miss., to his cousin Mrs. Eron Opha Gregory, a descendant of the Byrd family of Virginia.5 
Death*Dr. Dunbar J. ROWLAND died on 1 November 1937 at age 73.4 
Burial*He was buried in Cedarlawn Cemetery, Hinds, Mississippi;


Photo: Find A Grave by Natilie Maynor.4 
Obituary*"Dr. Dunbar Rowland, Historian, Dies at 73

Jackson, Miss, Nov. 2—Dr. Dunbar Rowland, director of the State Department of Archives and History since its creation in 1902 and secretary of the Mississippi Historical Society, died at his home here early Monday after an extended illness. He was 73 years of age.

Funeral services for the author, scholar and historian of national reputation will be held this afternoon at the family residence, with Dr. Walter B Capers, rector of St. Andrews' Episcopal Church, and Bishop Theodore DuBose Bratton officiating.

Dr. Rowland is survived by his wife, Mrs. Eron O Moore Rowland, an author in her own right; a brother, Dr. P W Rowland, of the University of Mississippi, and a nephew, Dr. Whitman Rowland, of Memphis, Mrs. Charles Barton of Memphis is a cousin.

Dr. Rowland was stricken about August 1. Within a month he was taken to Temple University Hospital, at Philadelphia, where he was treated for five weeks. He was removed to Methodist Hospital in Memphis and his throat infection continued to grow steadily worse.

A native of Oakland, Miss., in Yalobusha County, Dr. Rowland studied law at the University of Mississippi and practiced in Memphis from 1888 to 1893. He was urged by acquaintance made in law school to move to Jackson and later founded the Mississippi Department of Archives and History more than 30 years ago.

Since then he has published numerous symposiums and historical works, the best known of which is "Jefferson Davis, Constitutionalist, His Letters, Papers and Speeches," in 10 volumes.

Dr. Rowland was one of the founders of St. John's Episcopal Church of Memphis. In 1906, the University of Mississippi conferred upon him the doctor of literature degree. Instrumental in establishing departments of archives and history in nine states, he was a leaders in the movement for erection of the National Archives Building in Washington. He founded the Mississippi Hall of Fame and State Museum before going abroad in 1906 to study the original sources of Mississippi history in archives of England, France and Spain.

The historian was a member of the Missouri and Minnesota History Societies and was honorary member of the Academic Latine des Sciences et Belles Lettres. He was for five years assistant secretary of the Southern States of the American Association for International Conciliation.

On Dec. 20, 1906, Dr. Rowland was married to Eron Gregory, his cousin, daughter of Maj. Benjamin B Moore, a descendant of the Moore and Byrd families of Alabama. Mrs. Rowland is herself an author of distinction, and has been closely associated with her husband in his work. Having spent their lived in the preservation of the history of their state and section, they won recognition as among the most helpful influences in the South for the advancement of Southern culture."
from Findagrave.com and provided by Barbara Wiley Hamby."

Printed in the Times Post, Houston, Mississippi dated November 4, 1937. 

Family

Eron Opha MOORE b. 1 Jun 1862, d. 6 Jan 1951
ChartsDescendant Chart
Descendant Chart Box

Sources (www.HAIRSTON.org)

  1. [S1870] 1870 Federal Census - National Archives and Records Administration - Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org.
  2. [S3166] Wingfield, Marshall, Marriage Bonds of Franklin County, Virginia, 1786-1858 - 1939, West Tennessee Historical Society, Memphis, Tennessee, Family Search Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.
  3. [S3047] Meador, George H. - Dunbar Rowland et al. : Adams, Alexander, Beard, Brewer, Bryan, Burton, Clark, Cooper, Hairston, Hampton, Hatcher, Lewis, Moorman, Norman, Smith, Stovall, Reynolds, Taylor and Wade : Mississippi census of 1850, Rolen, Roland, Rolland and Rowland. Call #929.2/R883m, Mississippi Department of Archives & History, Jackson, Mississippi.
  4. [S48] Find A Grave Website with Photo - only listings with photos of grave markers that are contemporary to the deceased individuals death are acceptable for genealogical proof.
  5. [S3347] Rowland, Dunbar, 1864-1937. Mississippi: Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions, And Persons, Arranged In Cyclopedic Form. Atlanta: Southern Historical Publishing Association, 1907., Hathi Trust Digital Library.
Last Edited23 Nov 2021