|
Dunbar
Rowland
Director of Miss. Dept. of Archives & History
Source:
Rowland, Dunbar, ed. Mississippi, Comprising Sketches
of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons, Arranged
in Cyclopedic Form, in three volumes. Vol. 2. Atlanta:
Southern Historical Publishing Association, 1907. pages
578-579
Rowland,
Dunbar, Directory of the Mississippi Department
of Archives and History, was born August 25, 1864, at Oakland,
Miss., and is the youngest son of Dr. William Brewer Rowland
and Mary (Bryan) Rowland. His mother was a direct descendant
of Charles Moorman of Louisa county, Virginia, who emancipated
his slaves in 1778. William Brewer Rowland was the son of
Col. Creed T. Rowland and Matilda (Brewer) Rowland of Henry
county, Virginia. Creed T. Rowland moved to Mississippi
about 1840 and settled in Lowndes county. After remainng
there a few years he removed to Aberdeen, Monroe county,
and lived on his plantation, "Rowland Place,"
near that city, dying there in 1866. He was the son of Michael
Rowland and Elizabeth (Hairston) Rowland, natives of Henry
county, Virginia. Michael Rowland served in the Revolutionary
Army and took part in the battle of Guilford Court House.
He was the son of Andrew Rowland a descendant of John Rowland
of Surrey county, England, who immigrated to America in
1635, and resided in Virginia. Dunbar Rowland received his
primary education in the private schools of Memphis, Tenn.,
and was prepared for college at Oakland Academy. In 1882
he entered the Freshman Class of the Mississippi A. &
M. College and was graduated in 1886 with the degree of
B. S.; was first anniversarian of the Philotechnic Society
in 1885, and delivered the second Alumni oration in 1888.
In 1886 he entered the Law Department of the State University
and was graduated from that institution in 1888 with the
degree of LL. B.; was senior debater at Commencement, June,
1888. In November, 1888, he located in Memphis, Tenn., for
the practice of law and remained four years, his culture
and scholarly attainments attracting the attention of his
associates. In 1893 Mr. Rowland returned to Mississippi
and opened a law office at Coffeeville, at which place in
the past, Dr. Edward Mayes, L. Q. C. Lamar and Gen. E. C.
Walthall had practiced, a circumstance that serves to make
its history unusually interesting. In 1902 the State Department
of Archives and History was created by the legislature;
Mr. Rowland was elected Director and, during his incumbency,
has done valuable work in preserving and publishing the
historical archives of the State. He has compiled and edited
a number of valuable historical publications, some of the
most important being the Official and Statistical Register
of Mississippi, (1904); Mississippi Territorial Archives,
Vol. I, (1906) and the Encyclopedia of Mississippi History,
(1906). In recognition of his valuable service to the State
the University of Mississippi conferred the degree of LL.
D., upon him, June, 1906. In the summer of 1906 Dr. Rowland
went abroad for the purpose of investigating the official
archives of England, France and Spain which relate to the
provincial history of Mississippi, the legislature having
provided funds to secure transcripts of original records.
He is deeply absorbed in historical work; is in close touch
with the best historians of the present day, and his fine
sense of justice, broadness of view and utter lack of all
sectional prejudice have won the admiration of the people
North and South. He is a member of the Episcopal Church,
the American Historical Association and the Delta Kappa
Epsilom [sic.] fraternity, and is an honorary member of
several historical societies in the United States.
Dr.
Rowland was married December 20, 1906, at Flora, Miss.,
to his cousin Mrs. Eron Opha Gregory, a descendant of the
Byrd family of Virginia.
|
