Recently, while reading my great-grandmother’s beautifully typed out memoirs, I discovered a connection between my family and that of our 28th president, Thomas Woodrow Wilson.
Wilson’s family called him “Tommy.” Many people don’t know that he was born in Staunton, Virginia, but grew up in Augusta, Georgia. Wilson also lived in Columbia, South Carolina during his teen years.
My great-great-grandfather, Charles Alden Rowland II, also grew up in Augusta. His parents lived at 1256 Greene Street and were charter members of Greene Street Presbyterian Church, a branch of the First Presbyterian Church of Augusta, where my great-great-grandfather’s father, Charles Alden Rowland I, was made an elder at the age of 27.
In her memoirs, my great-grandmother, Katharine Whitehead Rowland Crane, wrote that at the time her grandfather was made an elder, Woodrow Wilson’s father, Joseph Ruggles Wilson, was the pastor there. “Dr. Wilson, father of Thomas Woodrow Wilson (later President of the United States), was the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Augusta and lived next door. They were very close friends of the Rowland Family.”
After discovering this interesting nugget of information, I did some research to confirm the connection. According to the house timeline on the Boyhood Home of President Woodrow Wilson’s website, the Reverend Doctor Wilson began his duties as pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Augusta in January 1858. Therefore, around that time, he and his family moved to the existing manse at 419 Seventh Street, located in the 600 block of Greene Street, right next to where Charles Alden Rowland and his family lived. Rowland would have been 24 at the time Dr. Wilson joined the church. Therefore, we can surmise that he was made an elder during Dr. Wilson’s time as pastor at the church.
I searched the Library of Congress photo archives for Woodrow Wilson’s childhood home. And there it was, for all to see. This photo was taking in August 1961. Wilson’s childhood home has been preserved and exists today, if you happen to be in the area and want to take a tour.
Now to my family. Charles Alden Rowland lived at 1256 Greene Street in Augusta with Katharine Barnes White Rowland and their growing family during the late 1800s. Their beautiful home was torn down in the late 1900s and no longer exists. These photos show the home during different time periods.
Here, you can see a portrait of my ancestors sitting on the front porch of the Greene Street house in 1896, the year my great-grandmother was born. Interestingly, it appears the negative was flipped because the stairs are on the left of the house instead of on the right.
Back to the Wilsons. In 1870—the same year my great-great-grandfather, Charles Alden Rowland II, was born—Dr. Wilson was called by denominational leaders to become a professor at Columbia Theological Seminary in Columbia, South Carolina. He and his family moved to their new home in South Carolina that fall.
Since my ancestors lived in the 600 block of Greene Street next door to the Wilsons, their home was probably located on the corner of Greene and Seventh streets before it was torn down, where the vacant parking lot (labeled 401) is shown below on the Google Map screenshot.
Here is Charles Alden Rowland as a young man, probably taken during the 1860s. It’s fascinating to think that he and President Wilson’s father were friends.
I’ll wrap up with a simple thought. Every family is both average and unique. When you dig deep enough, you’ll find an intriguing story about a family member, just like I did here.