The Large Family of John and Hannah (Wallis) Lowder

John Lowder/Louder (1738-1820) and his wife Hannah Ann (Wallis) (1735-1800) were married and settled in New Garden, Guilford, North Carolina. They were members of the Society of Friends, or Quakers, and attended first the New Garden Monthly Meeting, and later the Center Monthly Meeting and the Westfield Monthly Meeting. The records the Quakers kept were very, very good and include all the records of births, marriages, and deaths among the Friends who attended the Monthly Meeting. For this reason, I can say with certainty that John and Hannah were the parents of 13 children:

• Catherine 1758-1760
• Caleb 1760, married 1. Ann Osborn & had 10 children, married 2. Sarah & had a son
• John 1762, married Sarah & had 10 children
• Mary 1764, married William Osborn & had at least 3 children
• Joseph 1766, married Martha Clark & had 6 children
• Ralph 1768-1772
• Rebekah 1770-1772
• Samuel 1772, married Elizabeth Ratliff & had 8 children
• William 1773, married Margaret Harris & had 6 children
• Hannah 1774-1776
• Job 1776, married Sarah Ratliff & had at least 2 children
• Joshua 1778, married Jane Phillips & had at least 6 children
• Nathan 1780, married Sophia Stiltner & had 5 children

Four of the children died as toddlers, but the ones who lived to adulthood all married and had children of their own, resulting in at least 57 grandchildren for John and Hannah. Their youngest son Nathan was my 4th Great-Grandfather. 

Nathan Lowder was in my mother's maternal line. There is another large Quaker family in my ancestry on my father's paternal line, The Coffin & related families of Nantucket. An interesting little tidbit is that several of the Nantucket people migrated to North Carolina and requested membership in the New Garden Monthly Meeting at the same time the Lowder family was attending. I love finding these fun little tidbits that connect the different branches of my family. It's a small world :)