His first wife has been identified as Elizabeth Van Ziles, according to Homer King Rowley. There were a number of traces of people named Rowley in Virginia. One of these is believed to be a John Rowley, who married a woman named Amey. The Mayflower Society disavows the claim that the John Rowley who was a son of Moses is identical with this man. There are a number of persons in this geographical area who may or may not be connected.
Research is ongoing.
In Westmoreland, Pennsylvania, there lived a man named John, who is the head of Branch 8, and who was born about 1749 or 1750, according to new information obtained by Marilyn Prinzing. There are records showing that his first and second wives were both named Margaret. It is possible he was identical with a man known as John Rolle, whose name appears on documents, and appears to have been of German extraction. According to the Genealogy of Christian Lesnett, William Rowley was the son of an English Lord, who married his daughter, Sophia. William was a twin with John, and they were said to have been born in 1747.