Rev. Charles Henry Rowley was born on May 7, 1842 in Moriah, New York. He graduated from Middlebury College in 1868. He then pursued his theological studies at Union Theological Seminary and later at Andover Theological Seminary, from which he graduated in 1871. He went on to become the minister of several Congregational churches, including the Union Congregational Church in Westford in 1880, succeeding Rev. Rufus C. Flagg. He was ordained here as an evangelist on February 23, 1881, and continued serving the church until 1890. He was described as a “preacher of unusual grace and power.” The last church he served was in North Craftsbury, Vermont, where he lived until his death on June 11, 1921.
Rev. Rowley married Martha Caroline Brown on October 29, 1872 in Sheldon, VT. Together, they had four children. Arthur, who became a lawyer; Alfred, who became a surgeon; George “Harry,” who was born on 25 January, 1881 in Westford and sadly died of typhoid fever on the eve of his wedding in 1906 in Rockville, CT; and Ruth, who was born on 27 March, 1887 in Westford and married Rev. Edwin R. Gordon of North Craftsbury, VT.
Microscopy was one of Rowley’s hobbies, and he was quite skilled at it. Having “perfected himself in microscopy as to attract the attention of experts in that line in this and other countries,” attested one newspaper, Rev. Rowley was elected Fellow of the Royal Microscopical Society on November 9, 1887. He loved making microscope slides, and his were all of high quality. In March 1890, he donated several of his slides containing different species of freshwater sponges to The American Monthly Microscopical Journal, delighting its editors, who noted that the slides “present a beautiful appearance and are equal to anything that we have yet seen.” In 1890, Rowley taught a summer course in microscopy at the National Louis University, Chicago, and, one year later, he joined the Rochester Academy of Science as a corresponding member.
Sources
http://microscopist.net/RowleyCH.html
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/50397099/charles-h.-rowley
Written and Researched by
Andrew Dao
Summer Intern, Westford Museum
2024
From the Westford [Mass.] Wardsman, 9 July 1921
Word has recently been received of the death [June 11, 1921,] in North Craftsbury, Vt., of Rev. Charles H. Rowley at the age of seventy-nine years. Mr. Rowley was a former pastor of the Congregational church here for about eleven years [1880-1890], leaving here nearly thirty years ago. For the past seventeen years he has lived in North Crafts-bury, serving as pastor of the church there until his resignation a few years ago. He is survived by his wife, Mrs. C. H. Rowley, and three children, Arthur, a lawyer in Richford, Vt.; Alfred, a noted surgeon in Hartford, Conn., and Ruth, wife of Rev. Edwin Gordon, of Lyme, N.H. His youngest son, Harry, who died several years ago [1906], and Ruth were born during his pastorate in Westford.
In the collection of the Westford Museum
W.2004.8: Bausch & Lomb optical company microscope used by Rev. Charles Henry Rowley, pastor at the First Parish Church 1880-1890. Hobby. Collected and made slides. Eclectic collection. Lenses from Gundlach Optical Co. Extra lenses and eye pieces. 3 Homogeneous, 1 Gundlach, 3 Bausch & Lomb, 1 1/4″ unidentified, plus 4 eyepieces
W.2004.8a: Specimen Slides, 2 boxes measuring 1 1/2″ x 6 3/4″ x 3 1/4″. First box contains 24 slides, second contains 25 slides