Submitted by Descendant: Laura Kathryn HERZOG
William Hampton Dowling was born 26 May 1811 in Jeffreys Creek, Darlington District, South Carolina. He was the son of William Hampton Dowling, SR. and Sarah Elizabeth Watson. Sometime after 1820, his parents relocated to South Georgia for a number of years. This is where he was thought to have met his future wife, Mahala Ogden. He moved with his folks to the Territory of West Florida before 1830 and his father is listed as head of family on the 1830 census for Leon County. Leon County marriage records reveal that he married Mahala Ogden on 20 December 1831. This union produced twelve known children. Records from Tallahassee, Florida document a land purchase of 40 acres by William H. Dowling in Leon County on 15 April 1837. This tract was located near the community of Lamonia.
In 1839, William and his family moved to Hamilton County, Florida. He is listed as head of household on the 1840 census for the Florida Territory, Middle District, Hamilton County. He also had the honor of participating in the first state wide election for the newly created state of Florida on 26 May 1845. He represented Upper Mineral Springs, Precinct 4 in Hamilton County.
William was quite an adventurer. In 1860, he was residing in New River County, Florida. After the Civil War, he relocated his family to Clay County, Florida and changed his occupation from farming to carpentry. His occupation on the 1870 census for Clay County was listed as a wheelwright. By 1880, William was residing in the community of Baldwin in Duval County, Florida. He died at the home of a son in Jacksonville, Florida on 18 April 1885 and was buried in the Gravely Hill Cemetery in Duval County, Florida.
William Hampton Dowling was first established as a Florida Pioneer in 2006