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Adam and Margaret Christina Harkey were married on May 31, 1868, by Rev. J.H. Davis and lived in Weakley County. Their first child, Robert Lee, was only 29 years old when he died, and family stories relate that the youngest son, Cletus, also died at a young age, although no date of death has been found for him. He is buried beside his parents at Mt. Vernon Cemetery, Weakley County, TN. In the August 3, 1928, Dresden Enterprise, under the Sidonia News there is an article that reads, "Mr. A. M. Mowery was called to his reward Wednesday night, July 25. Mr. Mowery had been ailing for several months, presumably with old age, 84 years being his allotment. Funeral at Hopewell Cumberland Presbyterian Church with interment at Mt. Vernon. He leaves an aged wife, two daughters, Mrs. Jim Wright, and Razz Gardner, also a host of friends to mourn his death." There are no headstones to mark the resting places for Adam, Margaret or Cletus. They are said to be by Vinia Mowery Marlar or Robert L. Mowery, their children.

During a visit to Sharon, Tennessee, in October 2001, the death of Vinia Mowery Marlar was told by her daughter, Virginia Marlar Cook. Vinia delivered her baby daughter, Virginia, who weighed only a pound and a half, on December 13, 1915 in Sharon. Then later having complications, Vinia was wrapped in blankets and taken by wagon to a Memphis hospital but died on January 12, 1916. To keep the tiny baby from freezing, she was packed in a box of wool and kept next to an open fire. After Vinia died, Virginia was raised by her aunt Victoria Mowery Wright. Virginia would refer to her aunt as her "mama," and Vinia would always be her mother. Virginia grew very hard of hearing, and it was difficult to communicate with her but she never lost her "girlish" sense of humor.
Ada Adora Mowery, the fifth of six children born to Adam and Christina, married Erasmus Gardner in February 1897, in Weakley County, Tennessee. Ada had a habit of using snuff, a habit that young Virginia Marlar disliked very much. She recalled taking her Aunt Ada's snuffbox and hiding it in one of the nests in the hen house, and the snuffbox was gathered along with the eggs. Of course when asked if Virginia knew anything about it, she pled innocent. Virginia credits her Aunt Ada with making "the best butter beans in the world." Ada and "Ras" were known affectionately to their family as "Ma" and "Pa" Gardner. The stories told by their other grandchildren Alfred Donald Gardner, Katherine Christine Gardner-Briggs, and Carolyn Colely-Workman include spending many a Christmas in their home; "Ma" winding the old clock on the wall before going to bed; and kerosene lights and crank telephones. They were faithful members of the community and at one time owned the old feed store in Sidonia and attended the Hopewell Church.