Sarah Ann Fowler ^{1 3 4 5}

   Another name for Sarah was "Sally" Fowler.^{2 3}

  Noted events in her life were:

• She has alternate birth date of 5 September 1816 and a birth location of Hatfield, MA.

⁵

• She appeared on the 1850 US Census in Butler, IL on 31 October 1850. ⁴

1850 US Census
Page 359A, Dwelling 24, Family 27
Butler, Winnebago County, Illinois
Sarah A. Packard..33..MA

(Living with husband and 5 children.)
.

• She was buried after 30 September 1858 in the Dodge Cemetery in , Winnebago County, IL.

Find A Grave Memorial 18110397
. ⁵

Sarah married William Porter Packard Sr, son of Cyrus Packard and Hannah Griswold, on 27 October 1934 in Hatfield, MA.^{1 2} (William Porter Packard Sr was born calculated 4 July 1809 in Enfield, MA,^{1 3 4 6 7 8 9} died on 8 May 1891 in Rockford, IL ^{1 9} and was buried after 8 May 1891 in Cherry Valley, IL ⁹.)

  Noted events in their marriage were:

• Marriage Image: 27 October 1834, in Massachusetts. ²

• They appeared on the 1850 US Census in Butler, IL on 31 October 1850. ⁴

1850 US Census
Page 359A, Dwelling 24, Family 27
Butler, Winnebago County, Illinois
(Butler is now present day Cherry Valley)
William P. Packard..40..MA..Farmer
Sarah A. Packard..33..MA
Maria Packard..15..NY
Sophia Packard..14..NY
Porter Packard..8..MO
Charles E. Packard..5..MO
Jane H. Packard..1..IL
Benjamin Frick..17..NY..Farmer
.

  Marriage Notes:

Name: William P. Packard
Event Type: Marriage
Event Date: 27 Oct 1834
Event Place: , , Massachusetts, United States
Gender: Male
Spouse's Name: Sally Fowler
Spouse's Gender: Female

Citing this Record
"Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q29L-LNLV : 10 February 2018), William P. Packard and Sally Fowler, 27 Oct 1834; citing Marriage, , , Massachusetts, United States, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston; FHL microfilm 004325917.
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There remains much confusion over the names and number of children actually born to William and his probable two different wives, Sarah Fowler and Julia Rose Adams. To make matters worse, many "Internet researchers" blindly assign a marriage date of 24 Dec 1867 to his marriage to Sarah Fowler not even bothering to realize that the children they list were all born between 1835 and 1855.

It appears that William Packard and Sarah Fowler separated sometime after 1855 perhaps by reason of her death. It also appears that he remarried to Julia Unknown by 1860. The wife's name of Sarah shows on the 1850 US Census while the name Julia shows on the 1860, 1870, and 1880 US Census records.

The following children are shown on the 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880 US Census records living with William and either Sarah or Julia:

1850 (with wife Sarah):
Maria Packard..15..NY
Sophia Harriet Packard..14..NY
Porter Packard..8..MO
Charles E. Packard..5..MO
Jane H. Packard..1..IL

1860 (with wife Julia):
William P. Packard..18..MO
Charles E. Packard..16..MO
James H. Packard..12..IL
Mary J. Packard..9.. IL
John W. Packard..7..IL
George F. Packard..5..IL

1870 (with wife Julia):
Norman Packard..19..NY
Deborah Packard..17..NY
Timothy Packard..8..IL
Daniel Packard..6..IL
Edwin Packard..3..IL
William Packard..1..IL

1880 (with wife Julia):
Daniel Packard..Son..15..IL
Edwin D. Packard..Son..13..IL
Wilson Howe Packard..Son..10..IL

Merging all these names together, we come up with one master list of children:
(Hannah) Maria Packard
Sophia Harriet Packard
William P. Packard
Charles E. Packard
James H. Packard
Mary J. Packard
John W. Packard
George F. Packard
Norman Packard
Deborah Packard
Timothy Packard
Daniel Packard
Edwin Packard
(Wilson)/William Packard

The 1880 US Census record is the least confusing to examine in that it shows only three children all born after 1865 and all born in Illinois, and all three showing a relationship of son or daughter. Thus these three youngest children, Daniel, Edwin, and Wilson, must be born to William and Julia.

However, the 1870 US Census is somewhat more challenging to figure out the relationship of the six children listed. The three youngest children on this 1870 US Census are the same as shown on the 1880 US Census therefore, these three, Daniel, Edwin, and William (Wilson), were born to Julia. But the older three "Unknown Children" have ages and birth locations that raise questions about who would be their mother. The 1870 US Census shows their ages to be 19, 17, and 8 but notice the large gap between 17 year old and the 8 year old. It is my belief that this gap could represent the years between William's first wife, Sarah, and his second wife, Julia. This means that the two oldest children, Norman and Deborah may have been born to Sarah while the youngest of these three, Timothy, may have been born to Julia. This would now gives this relationship:
Norman - born 1851, son of Sarah
Deborah - born 1853, daughter of Sarah
Timothy - born 1862, son of Julia

This still presents a major problem concerning the birth locations of the two older of the three "unknown children". It seems counterintuitive to believe that the birth location of Sarah's children went like this:
Hannah, 1835 in New York
Sophia 1836 in New York
William Jr, 1842 in Missouri
Charles, 1844 in Missouri
James, 1848 in Illinois
Mary, 1850 in Illinois
Norman, 1851 in New York (?)
Deborah, 1853 in New York (?)
John, 1853 in Illinois
George, 1855 in Illinois

After William and Sarah were married in Massachusetts, they probably moved to New York, had their first two children in New York, moved to Missouri where William Jr and Charles were born, and then according to published biographies finally settled in Illinois by 1846. It just doesn't seem right that they went back to New York during 1851-1853 for the births of Norman and Deborah and then returned back to Illinois for the births of John and George in 1853 and 1855

A little more research shows that Julia was from the New York area and was previously married to a Torry before 1860. Therefore, the parentage of Norman and Deborah Packard is most likely that of Julia and her first husband, Torry. Norman and Deborah's correct surnames should be Torry instead of Packard.

The name of Timothy is also problematic in that he never appears in any other census record other than being 8 years old on the 1870 US Census. It is possible that he could have been out working on his own at age 18 when the 1880 US Census rolled around, but lacking any other records for him, the parentage of Timothy is also unknown.

The one big unknown factor in this entire discussion is the fact that the 1870 US Census did NOT show relationships to the head of household. This means that these "unknown children" may not even be William's children at all but perhaps nieces and nephews from some other relative. At this time, I have not been able to place their names with any other Packard relative. In addition, no other researcher lists any of the six children's names shown on the 1870 US Census (even though the three youngest are listed as his children on the 1880 US Census).

Finally, the youngest two children of William and Sarah, John and George, are only shown with the mother being Sarah for the sake of convention with other researchers. Both John and George were born between the 1850 and 1860 US Census so it is equally possible for either Sarah or Julia to be their mother, all depending upon when Sarah left the household and when William remarried. So far I have not seen any document or source citation that is definite in this matter.

The final "master list" of William's children now looks like this with the appropriate mother's name added:
(Hannah) Maria Packard - Sarah
Sophia Harriet Packard - Sarah
William P. Packard - Sarah
Charles E. Packard - Sarah
James H. Packard - Sarah
Mary J. Packard - Sarah
John W. Packard - probably Sarah but undocumented
George F. Packard - probably Sarah but undocumented
Norman Packard - should be Norman Torry, son of Julia's first husband; not related to William Packard
Deborah Packard - should be Deborah Torry, daughter of Julia's first husband; not related to William Packard
Timothy Packard - unknown; slight chance the mother is Julia
Daniel Packard - Julia
Edwin Packard - Julia
(Wilson)/William Packard - Julia
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The 1850 US Census for the family shows them residing in Butler, Winnebago County, Illinois. Butler eventually became known as Cherry Valley.
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