As some of you know, I’ve been walking the lines of my ancestry for some time, now. Last year, through Ancestry, I connected with a distant Crowell relative of Charlotte, NC about our mutual ancestor, Simon Crowell. Simon is my 6th G Grandfather, buried in Indian Trail, NC in Union County, NC which is right next to Mecklenberg County (where Charlotte is located). This distant Crowell cousin, Dawn, knew where Simon’s grave was. I told her that I would like to visit one day.
Well, that one day happened this past Spring. I shared my correspondence with Dawn with a close cousin of mine, Josh, as he’s also on the Crowell side of my family (our grandmothers were sisters). When I was 11 years old, my mom moved us back to her hometown in Mississippi. My cousin, Josh, became my neighbor and one of my best friends…and the rest is history.
I was able to convince Josh that visiting our ancestor’s grave would be a good experience. His mother had just passed away, and it felt right to tap into our old Crowell lineage together…not only honor his mother (who was the first person to teach me about Simon Crowell many, many years ago) but also to care for those before us and learn about them.
I must be honest that once my husband, daughter, and I had settled into our hotel in Charlotte and were awaiting on the arrival of Josh, a fleeting thought had me wondering what in the world I had gotten us into. I began to ponder, had we really come all this way to look at a grave marker? I felt a little unsure about the extent we had gone to arrive in the bustling city of Charlotte, but knew that it was always these situations that gave beauty and kindness a chance to root.
When we met Dawn the next day near Indian Trail, a small town outside of Charlotte, I knew I had at least found the right person. Dawn was lively in her talk about the Crowells, local history, and The Great Wagon Road (of which our Palatine German ancestors had taken from Pennsylvania to NC back in the late 1740s, roughly, shown above). Her Crowell side had never even left the greater Charlotte area while my Crowell lineage had continued their journey to Georgie, Alabama, and then Mississippi.
Simon’s family was named Crowell but, his father, Johan Peter Grauel, carried the original surname before it was anglified in the New World. Johan had come over to Pennsylvania from the Hessen region of Germany in 1740 which is along the Rhine River. Johan and his family traveled the Great Wagon Road from Philadelphia to Maryland, Virginia, and then North Carolina. Other German families continued on their journey to South Carolina, and some even ended up in the furthest reaches of the Great Wagon Road…Augusta, GA.
Simon, born in Germany, had endured a trip to the New World by boat as an 8 year old. He then endured the journey from Philadelphia to North Carolina by wagon. Johan settled in the Mecklenberg County area of North Carolina and Simon eventually settled nearby with his wife (Elizabeth Saunders) in Indian Trail, NC (Union County, NC).
I want to pause to bring up the reason why these Germans were leaving crowded Pennsylvania and moving to these areas further South. In terms of Indian Trail and the surrounding area…it had been inhabited by the Waxhaw and the Catawba for centuries upon centuries. Due to the impact of European diseases, and later the encroachment of European settlers and war, the Waxhaws were integrated into the Catawba as their numbers had declined. And, soon after, the Catawba (‘the people of the river’) were largely pushed out of the area. Many landless, Palatine Germans moved South to own land and subsist on that land that had been ‘cleared’ of Waxhaw and Catawba peoples.
It is this tragic history that my Crowell family enters the narrative of what would eventually become Mecklenberg and Union Counties of North Carolina. While I can understand that they would have been desperate for land and stability after their journey by sea and by wagon…I wonder if they considered how land had been made available to them? Did the know? Did they have time to understand? What were their relations with the remaining Catawba? What happened to all the Catawba village sites? I have so many questions.
As for the name Indian Trail comes from the fact that this town was along a Native trade route that connected Petersburg, Virginia with the Waxhaw Indian Settlement that straddled Southern North Carolina and Northern South Carolina. And, I do think this trade route went further South to Georgia as well.
It was there in the old Goose Creek settlement of Indian Trail that we visited Simon Crowell’s grave this past weekend. With the Spring Equinox bringing us a bit more sunshine, I was very pleased to see *one* Trout Lily (Erythronium americanum) in bloom *right* next to Simon Crowell’s grave. I had seen the soft, speckled leaves peeking out from the leaves on the way to the grave site and had hoped that we could see one in bloom.
Trout Lilies are my absolute favorite spring ephemeral. I actually took Fawn Lily (a West Coast relative of Trout Lily) as a flower essence many years ago when I was seeing an Herbalist in San Francisco. It was actually this time with this Herbalist that put me on the path of becoming an Herbalist. I like to believe that some otherworldly forces were at play this past weekend, gracing us with that one Trout Lily bloom. It’s as if my ancestors were implying, ‘you’re on the right track, dear’ and ‘thank you for paying us a visit.’
Later, I saw many buds formed on other Trout Lilies…but realized there were no other blooms. I could only imagine what the forest floor would look like in a week or two. It would be dancing with splashes of delicate yellow blooms in no time.
So, there we were at the grave site. The current owners of the land were gracious enough to let Dawn and her husband lead us out there. Dawn brought enzymes to put on the headstones so that the lichen and moss would dissolve and we could read them better. She brought a shovel to place headstones that had fallen over, upright. We brought sunflowers to place on the grave and memories of our own Crowell kin.
Simon Crowell had died at 107 years of age! He had fathered about 12 children with his wife, Elizabeth. He was part of the Revolutionary War, not with a gun, but by providing beef, pork, and food stuffs for the soldiers. Many German immigrants, like the Moravians, did not participate in wars, actually. It was against their faith.
So, I’m feeling thankful to have met new people…people who appreciate the past and recognize what our ancestors offered us with their resourcefulness, determination, and consistency. I’m also feeling grateful for the gentle Spring weather and the nodding Trout Lily. And, I’m feeling thankful for showing my 7 year old daughter what we are connected to…and the stories that reveal themselves to us as we walk the family lines. After all, 300 years ago, I feel certain that Simon did not think that a little blonde-headed 7th Great Granddaughter of his would be cleaning up his grave and offering him flowers…
But, she did… And, that is the unspeakable sweetness of remembrance.
Lindsay Kolasa 