In a paper in the Southern History Collection at UNC Chapel Hill, cipher books are described as lesson books of students or teachers used for the education of simple arithmetic to more complex mathematics. Dowd’s ciphering book contains mathematical problems, including working with fractions and to how to compute the price of an item in pounds and shillings. Included in the book were unbound materials stored in the back of the book. The first set of loose leaf materials appear to be previously bound pages containing chapters 2-18 of the Book of Numbers. A second set of loose materials contains a handwritten speech officiating the marriage of two people named Geo and Esther. Thomas Swain Dowd, also known as T.S. and Swain, was the eldest son of Samuel and Hannah (Rubottom) Dowd. He was born in 1802 in Chatham County, North Carolina. His paternal grandfather, Loyalist Connor Dowd, was jailed for providing merchandise to the British Army during the Revolutionary War. Thomas likely lived with his parents in Bear Creek until he married Mary “Polly” Bray, a daughter of Jesse and Nancy (Jones) Bray, in 1824. They had ten children: Susan Jane, Emeline G., Thomas Conner, Rosana, Mary Amanda, Mary Ann, Cherry Virginia, Albert Gails, Weston Gales, and John Alston. In 1825, Thomas purchased 97 acres of land on Tick Creek near Mr. Vernon Springs adjacent to Samuel Dowd’s property. Thomas worked as a farmer and later in business as a hatter. In 1835, the Mineral Springs Baptist Church was founded near the Dowds’ property. Samuel Dowd was one of its first deacons. Thomas and his wife were also members of this church. In 1831, the North Carolina General Assembly passed an Act creating the Tick Creek Academy (later known as Caldwell Academy) in Chatham County. If this Academy was near Thomas’ home, he may have studied mathematics there. His ciphering book contains a list of names that could be his fellow students: Stephanhus, Thomas, Isaac, Henry, Robert, Rufus, Alfred, Andrew, Josiah, and John. Thomas died in 1883. He left his youngest son, John Alston, the home place with his dwelling house. According to a News and Observer article in 1924, members of the extended Dowd family held a reunion at Thomas’ former home.