The McGowin family lived in the Old Sparta neighborhood of Conecuh County, Alabama. At the time of the 1860 Census, Samuel Lewis McGowin (1805-1892) and his wife, Martha (1807-1892), had eleven children living in the household. The couple had at least six sons who served in Co. D, 16th Alabama Infantry: Alex (1835-1914), Samuel (1836-1862), Joseph (1839-1862), Anthony Lewis (1840-1864), Jacob Thomas (1842-1890), and John Charnic (1843-1862). Four of the six died in in the war. Samuel died of measles in Okolona, Mississippi on July 14, 1862. Joseph was killed at the Battle of Murfreesboro on December 31, 1862. Anthony died at Tunnel Hill, Georgia on February 4, 1864. John was wounded at the Battle of Shiloh and died in a hospital in Gainesville, Alabama.