From “Hardesty’s History of Lincoln County, West Virginia,” published by H.H. Hardesty, we find this entry for Rufus Stowers, who resided at Hamlin in Lincoln County, West Virginia:
Son of William Larkin and Rebecca (Lambert) Stowers, was born in Tazewell county, Virginia, January 26, 1842, and settled in Lincoln county in 1872. His father died in Tazewell county in 1857, and his mother in 1856. Mr. Stowers taught school thirteen years, but is now a farmer in Carroll district, owning about 127 acres of land on Scary creek, seven miles southeast from Hamlin. The farm is in good condition, containing a large orchard of apple, pear and peach trees, and a portion of it is heavily timbered with poplar, sugar, maple, beech, hickory, and walnut. In Tazewell county, August 16, 1859, Rufus Stowers was united in wedlock with Sarah Elizabeth Lambert. She is a daughter of Hiram H. and Priscilla E. (Lambert) Lambert, and she was born in Tazewell county, April 26, 1844. October 28, 1882, Mrs. Stowers died, leaving a husband and six children to mourn her loss. She was the mother of seven children, one deceased, who were born as follows: George Washington, September 8, 1860; Matilda Jane, March 29, 1862; Mary Priscilla, August 14, 1864; Martha Rebecca Alice, August 9, 1871; Emma Eva Christina, October 7, 1875; James Addison, March 8, 1877, died July 5, 1878; Luella Ann, April 16, 1879. Mr. Stowers is a member of the United Baptist Church; his wife was a member of the same church at the time of her death. William Stowers, father of Rufus, was a soldier in the war of 1812. Rufus Stowers was at one time constable and commissioner of revenue in Bland county, Virginia. Any mail for him may be addressed to Hamlin, Lincoln county, West Virginia.
Source: The West Virginia Encyclopedia, Vol. 7 (Richwood, WV: Jim Comstock, 1974), p. 117.
NOTE: During the Lincoln County Feud, Paris Brumfield accidentally shot Mr. Stowers. Mr. Stowers appears in the song, “The Lincoln County Crew.”
