Fifth Generation

Theadora Mae Deaton was born on May 5, 1877 in Barringers Township, Iredell County, North Carolina. She died on August 3, 1946 in Atlanta, Dekalb County, Georgia .She is the daughter of William Pinkney H Deaton and Sarah Isabella Souars (or Sowers, Sowars).

William P.H. Deaton was born on January 17, 1840 in Iredell County, North Carolina. He died on October 14, 1914 in Mooresville, Iredell, North Carolina. His parents were Samuel Stanhope Deaton and Margaret Cook. I think he was orphaned at a young age because at this time I am unable to find him on record living with his parents. He lived nearby his Aunts and Uncles in Iredell County. In 1861, he joined the Confederate Army along with his cousins, Andrew Deaton (Labon Deaton’s son) and Aaron Deaton (James Cornelius Deaton’s son). They fought together in Company I 7th Infantry Division. All three of them were wounded together at the battle of Chancellorsville in Virginia on May 3, 1863. Aaron and Andrew died of their wounds in a Richmond hospital. William Pinkney Deaton survived and continues to fight until 1864. He returned home and in 1865 married Sarah Isabella Souars.

Sarah Isabella Souars was born on July 15, 1847 and died September 12, 1911 in Iredell County, North Carolina. She married William Pickney Deaton in 1865. Her parents were Philip Sowars and Elizabeth Overcash (?) both originally of Rowan County, North Carolina. Part of Rowan County was changed into Iredell County. She is of German descent. Her father probably died when she was very young.

Theadora was their 6th child. She was raised on a farm in Iredell County where she grew up with Josiphine, Lillie Bell, Regina, Robert, Lee, Daisy, and Mansfield. I do not have a lot of information of Theadora’s brothers and sisters, neither do I have pictures of them or of Theadora’s parents. My parents have pictures of Theadora at an older age which we got while we lived with my great grandmother.

Theadora met William Fowler who worked on the railroad. He might have been an orphan. We know nothing about where he came from or anything about his family. I think there is a story about how they met. She married William Henry Fowler around 1891. Her husband was a railroad man and worked as a conductor. Theadora was a homemaker. In Mooresville, Iredell, North Carolina she gave birth to 6 children.

Thomas Carwell Fowler 1892-1987 married “Aunt Grace” Grace Wadsworth

Hilda Mae Fowler who died young in 1916

Audrey Lee Fowler 1897-1979 married Eddie R. Cathey

Blanco Dewey Fowler 1898-1976 He fought in WWI and married a woman named Esperence.

Ruth Hester Fowler 1901-1992 married first Julian McLin Keith and then Irby Lee. She is my great grandmother “Meemaw”

Theadora Mae Fowler 1906-1993 “Aunt Dora” married Wayman Leftwich Theadora was born in Atlanta, GA.

Before 1906, the Fowlers moved to Atlanta where William Henry Fowler was a conductor for the railroads. That is where he died in 1927. Theadora Deaton Fowler took care of my grandfather Charles Henry Keith Lee when his parents divorced. He was close to her until his mother moved from Atlanta in the 1930s. She watched him become a pilot in WWII and saw him come home safely after crashing his plane behind enemy lines. She died in 1946 in Atlanta.

Any stories about Theadora Deaton Fowler and her family or any pictures would be greatly appreciated.