What is the importance of the Peacock family to the McDowell genealogy?

Years ago, this question would not have even been asked. However, several months ago, I was browsing through my notes and wondered "what was the date of the marriage for William McDowell and Delilah Peacock in the 1820s in Wayne County, NC?" And so I began looking through all my sources to find the answer.

Interesting, I ran across a web site for the Peacock family (http://littletownmart.com/family/Genealogy.asp?754). I found the marriage of Delilah Peacock to William McDowell and then noticed another strange entry. That is, Delilah Peacock had a brother name Arthur Peacock who married Mary Dupree. Now, the Dupree family was already important in our genealogy because James Dupree had married William McDowell's mother after the death of her first husband Anthony McDowell in 1804, Northampton County, NC. Family Dupree records have James Dupree and Delilah McDowell marrying around 1811 and having a daughter Mary in 1815. Sure enough, this daughter Mary Dupree is the female who married Arthur Peacock.

My interest in the Peacock family now grew. I decided to try to find Arthur Peacock in the 1850 census - and I found him in Jackson County, Florida with his wife Mary (born 1815 in NC). This in itself was an interesting and new find. Then, I looked immediately below this family and there was Delilah (Rowell) McDowell Dupree - James Dupree's wife, age 65 years old now in Jackson County, Florida. Some Dupree notes show that Delilah died in the Macon County, GA aread around 1832. Obviously, that was not now the case. I suspect that Delilah Dupree may have been a few years older than 65 because Delilah McDowell is listed in the 1810 census in Northampton County and her age that is given puts her born before 1784. But, I doubt she was born before 1780 even though she lived a full life up until 1804 with her marriage to Anthony McDowell and at least two male children according to the 1810 Northampton County census.

By now, I was fairly pleased with this "major" find, but there was more to come in the next several days. Perhaps at this point, it might be good to look at the chart for the Peacock, Nance, and McDowell familes - you may even wish to print a copy for this discussion. You will see on the right side the notation of Anthony McDowell having married to Delilah Rowell around 1798 in Northampton County. There are two males living with Delilah McDowell in the 1810 Northampton Census and the one born between 1800-1810 is William McDowell. We do not know the name of the other male child. Either he dies before 1816 or the older male is not a son of Delilah because in 1816, the land belonging to Anthony McDowell's mother is in the hands of George McDowell in Wake County (his mother Mary having died intestate). William of Anthony and the other "son" would also be in line to inherit a portion of the land and William McDowell is involved in the land in 1828; but, no other McDowell children are involved. So, it is very unclear as to the older male living with Delilah in 1810.

James Dupree who married the widow Delilah Rowell McDowell was himself a widower of a daughter of Henry Hill and had a child. Around 1816, James and Delilah Dupree move to Macon County, GA. James Dupree dies around 1836 in GA. But, obviously William McDowell and Delilah Peacock and Arthur Peacock move into the same general area.

Somewhere along the way, I just happened to notice that Delilah Peacock's grandfather Simon Peacock had a brother named William Peacock who married Absilla Barden. The name "Absilla" was a strange name but one that I knew in the Hill family. In fact, one Absylla Nance married a Riley Hill in Randoph County. Riley Hill was a brother to Tilathy Hill, the wife of John McDowell, my g-g-g-grandfather who married in 1819 in Wake County. With just a little work, I noticed that Apsylla Nance's father John Nance had married Michele Peacock. And as the chart shows, Michele Peacock was a daughter of William Peacock, Simon Peacock's brother. Hence, there is where the name "Absylla" came from in the Nance family. And so, the Peacock family grows again in importance to the McDowell families.

Finally, I went back to the web site for the Peacock family and noted that Delilah's and Arthur's cousin Perry E. Peacock had married an Emily Elizabeth Barnes. If you'll check the web site, you'll see that Delilah Peacock's mother was Nancy Barnes and so the Barnes family marries into the Peacock family more than once. Perry Peacock has a son Caleb who runs a boarding house and later a it becomes a Peacock House Hotel in Ellaville, Georgia. And as you can see from the chart, Perry Peacock was a son of Seth Peacock, the brother of Stephen Peacock, Delilah's and Arthur's father. Then, finally, William McDowell (age 20), the grandson of Delilah McDowell and Anthony McDowell is living with Perry Peacock in the 1850 census (the index shows the name as Wen McDowell).

And so, we come to the conclusion of the discussion of the Peacock, Nance, Hill, and McDowell families. More info on the Hill families will be found in that section on this site.