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In 1879, Mr Rowe was licensed
to preach by the Bowling Green Quarterly Conference, Rev L Rosser,
Presiding Elder, and became a member of the Virginia Conference
in 1884. His first appointment, as pastor, was to the Church
in Murfreesboro, NC, where he served for 2 years, resigining
at the end of the second year to enter Princeton University
for special courses.He received his preparatory training
in private schools of Caroline County. Between 1879 - 1880,
he was a student at Randolph-Macon (GA), UVA, and Princeton
(circa '80s). He attended Princeton after he had entered the
ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, withdrawing
temporarily from the active pastorate for this purpose. In 1881, he married Emma Byron Scott, born 2/24/1847, sister of Alice Scott Chandler, founder of Bowling Green Female Seminary. They were two of the daughters of Francis Woolfolk Scott and Anna Maria Minor. On returning from Princeton Mr Rowe was appointed to the Boydton (Virginia) Church, but after one year of service he retired from the itineracy, on account of increasing ill health, and was given an educational appointment, by his Conference, to the Bowling Green Seminary, Bowling Green, Va., of which institution he became principal in 1888. (Other sources state that he bought the school in 1883, with Mrs Chandler operating it as principal until 1897 when she moved to Georgia. ) Edgar and Emma had one son, Edgar Scott Rowe in August 1884. Emma died of complications from childbirth on August 24, 1884. In 1888, Edgar married Mary Winslow Shaw, born 3/30/1863, of Elmwood, Massachusetts. Their first son was born in 1890, named Winslow Rowe. He would later die from a fraternity hazing at Randolph-Macon College in the 1920s. Their second son, John Gallatin Rowe was born 10/26/1893 and died 6/10/1895. In 1894, Mr Rowe was elected President of Wesleyan
Female College at Macon GA, the oldest female college in the
South, and served in this capacity for 2 yrs. On his acceptance
of the presidency of this school Bishop A G Haygood, a member
of the Board of Trustees, said, "I believe you are the
providential man for our college." Upon his retirement
from the presidency, Rev W P Lovejoy, also a member of the Board
of Trustees wrote, "I believe you have proved to be the
providential man for us," and the Board of Trustees, as
a body, passed resolutions in "appreciation of the able,
faithful, and successful services" rendered to the institution.
While President of Wesleyan Female College Mr Rowe was a member
Mr Rowe was elected President of Martha Washington College, Abingdon, Va., upon his retirement from Wesleyan in 1896, but before entering upon his duties resigned the position to take up again the presidency of Bowling Green Seminary. Upon returning to Bowling Green larger plans were made for the Seminary, and, in keeping with the enlarged plans, the name of the institution was changed to Southern Seminary. Their daughter, Orra Curtis Rowe was born in October 1896 and their son Edgar Healey Rowe, Jr was born in March 1898. Mary Winslow Shaw Rowe died in October 1905 in Buena Vista, Virginia, of malaria or some type of blood disease. The Southern Seminary prospered in Bowling Green until 1901, when it was moved to Buena Vista, Va. where it flourished. Source: Wingfield's History of Caroline
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