Herndon had married Mentor Graham's sister, Elizabeth, in Kentucky in 1827. By the spring of 1831, they were living at New Salem, where Rowan and his brother James built a log residence and later in the fall built a store. In the summer of 1832, James sold his half-interest in the store to William Berry and moved away. Rowan, not liking Berry for a partner, sold his half-interest to Abraham Lincoln. On January 18, 1833, Rowan accidentally shot and killed his wife. Soon afterward he moved to Island Grove Township in Sangamon County.