John Wesley was born in 1824 in Simpson Co., KY. His father was John Wiley McDowell, 1789-1873, KY and his mother was Hannah McAllister, 1791-1831, KY.

John Wesley married Rachel Isabelle Williams 27Dec1840 in Sumner Co., TN. Rachel Isabelle died c1858 in Cape Fair, Stone Co., MO.

After the Civil War, John Wesley married a Civil War widow, Malinda Jane (Boyd) Garrison, in 1867 (b.Jan 1837, d.25 Dec 1911, Van Buren, Crawford, AR).

John Wesley died on 20Sept1897 in Green Forest, AR and was buried in New Home Cemetery on 21Sept1897.

The children of John Wesley and Rachel Isabelle are:

Mary Frances b.1843, Simpson Co., KY d.aft. 1860, Cape Fair, Stone, MO

Hannah Caroline b. 08Oct1844, Cape Fair, Stone, MO, d. 21 Aug 1931, Green Forest, Carroll, AR

Nancy Melvina b. 04 Mar 1848, d. 16 Sept 1926, Carroll Co., AR

James b. 1850, Cape Fair, Stone, MO, d. aft. 1860, Cape Fair, Stone, MO (never married)

John b. 1852, Cape Fair, Stone, MO, d. aft1860, Cape Fair, Stone, MO (never married)

Joseph H. b. 1856, Cape Fair, Stone, MO, d. 1928, Ft. Worth, Tarrant, TX

The children of John Wesley and Malinda Jane are:

Margaret E. b.1869, Carroll Co., AR, d. unk., possibly OK

Elbert Houston b. 16Aug1870, Carroll Co., AR, d. 11 Sept 1943, Boynton, Muskogee, OK

Arminta Josephine b. 22 Oct 1872, Carroll Co., AR, d. 26 Feb 1958, San Francisco, CA

Rosa Alice b. 1877, Carroll Co., d. 1956, possibly NM

Malinda Jane Garrison had 5 children by first marriage-Charles A. b. 1853, William C., b. 1856, Middleton, b. 1857, John B., b. 1860, Mary Price, b. 1863

John Wesley resided in Carroll Co., AR, but at the outbreak of the Civil War relocated his family to Stone Co., MO, where his brother Wiley McDowell was living. It was then and there that he joined the Stone County MO Home Guard. After 1865 and the end of the Civil War, he once more relocated his family back to Carroll Co., AR.