ORIGIN OF THE FOWLER NAME
An article by wireless to the NEW YORK TIMES from Berlin, Germany, on June 22, 1937 was sent to me by a New York Fowler descendant, Cousin Edith May (Day), Mrs. Adolph Louise Specht (1876-1948).GERMANY EXHUMES BONES OF HENRY I, Its First King.
The bones of HENRY THE FOWLER, first king of Germany, have been exhumed in the ancient town of Quedlinburg, it was announced here today. The remains were examined by experts at several universities and all agreed they were the bones of the son of OTTO the Illustrious, Duke of Saxony, The one-thousandth anniversary of King Henry's death was celebrated last year (1936).
Henry 1, surnamed The Fowler, is believed to have been born about the year 876 A. D. He was chosen king by the Franks and the Saxons in 919 on the advice of King Conrad 1. He died In 936."
Reference: Calendarium Genealogicum Volume 2. page 602.
There is in interesting note in history that Otto The Illustrious was such a wise ruler of Saxony that neighboring people asked him to rule them but he declined as his own people kept him busy but his son, Henry, the Fowler, united the Saxons, Franks, etc. into what In now the modern Germany. Some of his descendants were such good fighters that the King of France offered them Normandy to live in If they would fight his battles. Later they helped William the Conqueror gain the throne of England.
An old and rare book, published In the early days of type-setting, contains what I have not seen elsewhere, viz: the origin and signification of all the family names In England. This book said that a Saxon chief, fond of the chase, and being a daring hunter, was called Fowler. This Fowler, accompanied by a numerous band of retainers and followers, went to England about a hundred years before the destruction of the Heptarchy, and the union of all the kingdoms of England Into one, under Egbert. He settled in Sussex, and according to this old chronicle, the Fowler family had never failed to have a representative member from the eighth century to that present time of writing, to wit - in the early part of the sixteenth century.
Although the early chronicles of the country speak of several members of the Fowler family as being distinguished for conduct in arms In the local wars of the times, it will be seen that the professions of law, literature and the Church, have been mostly chosen as fields of labor and usefulness, by the descendants of the Hunters and Fowlers.
Dr. Edmund Fowler,New York.
FOWLER COAT OF ARMS
FOWLER ARMS assigned to all Fowlers by the Herald's College according to the command of the king. See page 44 of THE FOWLER FAMILY by Lucy Charlotte Fowler, published 1899, by her sister, Jean E. Fowler, of Gastard House, Corsham, Wiltshire, England.
From ENGLISH BARONETAGE by Thomas Wotton, printed in 1741, Vol. LV, pp. 102-103, number 2101 b as the libraries were arranged in the British Museum, London, England, in July, 1937:
"This family was of great antiquity before the reign of King Richard I, when in that warlike prince's expedition to the Holy Land, Richard Fowler of Foxley, in the County of Bucks, serving as a commanding officer, in the wars, in which that prince was engaged against the Infidels, together with other Chieftain princes, ....... 1190, maintained, at his own expense, a certain number of British bowmen, all his own tenants, to serve likewise in the said wars. And, at the siege of Ptolomais, (otherwise called Acon) upon an attempt of the Infidels, to surprise the Christian camp in the night-time, he, thro' his extraordinary care and vigilance, happily prevented them; his royal master, therefore, in honor to such eminent service, knighted him in the field, and caused his then crest, which was the hand and the lure, to be changed to the vigilant owl."
From BURKE'S COMMONERS Vol. 11, p. 385, edition of 1834:
Burke adds to the above account that Richard Fowler was disturbed by an owl, he investigated, and found a sentry had been silently slain near the tent of the king, he aroused the camp in time to save the life of the king, and meet the surprise attack of the enemy.
From page 19, THE HOUSE OF FOWLER, pub. 1940:
The ancient MOTTO was "They can because they think they can." POSSUNT QUIA POSSE VIDENTUR was also changed to "He is wise who watches." SAPIENS QUI VIGILATThe Crusade is shown by the crosses on the chevron. Royal service is shown by the chevron. Protection to the person of the king is indicated by the coronet on the owl.