John L. Bowers (1840 - 1917)

Born 22 Mar 1840 in Huntingdon Co., Pennsylvania, USA

Husband of Elizabeth Rozanna Guenther — married 13 Mar 1866 in Lena, Stephenson Co., Illinois, USA

Descendants

Died 26 Jan 1917 at age 76 in Spokane, Spokane Co., Washington, USA

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Biography

BIO JOHN L. BOWERS: He was born in Huntington County, Pennsylvania, on March 22, 1840. He was the third child and third son of Stephen Gottlieb Bauer and Mary (Bauer) Glock whom had six children in all. While he was still a young boy he moved with his parents to Lena, Stephenson county, Illinois. It was here that he met the girl of his heart and on March 13, 1866, he married Elizabeth Roxana Guenther. All the earlier years of their married life were spent at Lena, and it is probable that the whole course of their lives was fashioned from the associations which clustered around their neighborhood. It was at this place that a large denomination of DUNKARDS existed and also a branch of this church known as the BRETHREN division. Both John L. and his wife Elizabeth took very active interest in church work and followed the BRETHREN church as their choice. This church environment continued to exert its influence throughout their entire lives and in later years we find them both marshalling all their energy at Spokane, Washington, for the benefit of their chosen religion. In the spring of 1882 they decided to choose a more frontier life, even at the risk of considerable hazard in the hope of accumulating funds for the welfare of the family. They moved Westward to Reinbeck, Iowa, and settled on a farm about seven miles from town. With bleak winters accompanied with their usual round of sickness, however John L. and wife never found nights too long to care for the comforts of their family. Many of the hardships that were endured were of pioneer character. But they had learned the lessons of frugality and perseverance, and they maintained a strong desire to rear their children in advantages that they themselves did not have. And so for educational reasons, two years later found them moved to a farm one half mile south of Reinbeck. In 1887-88 they moved into Reinbeck, Iowa, and here John began a business career in lumber and grain. Ten years later he disposed of Reinbeck interests and moved to Janesville, Bremer county, Iowa, and again in 1900 to Cedar Falls, Black Hawk county, Iowa. The last definite move was from Cedar Falls to Spokane, Spokane county, Washington, in 1904. Here they were so well connected that it became their permanent abode to the remainder of their days. Undoubtedly a major factor in the lives of John and his wife was the religious environment of the Brethren church. John was a liberal supporter of this denomination and after he moved to Spokane was instrumental in helping in a very large way to establish the church of their faith in that city. Education for his family was another major factor. He had a very high regard for the value to be derived in education and never ceased to try carry to a high plane this factor. Probably if there was a hobby in John's life it was for travel. During his early boyhood when his brother Charles enlisted in the Federal army of the Civil War, John too desired to enlist. His parents insisted that he travel first a while, and from this rudimentary beginning of travel he never ceased to enjoy the pleasures of "Skirting around". Those are the identical words often heard of him after a trip. He was active all of his life. Rarely confined to bed because of illness until the last year or two of his life. John died January 26, 1917, at Spokane, Washington, and is buried in Spokane, Fairmont cemetery.

SUMMARY of JOHN L. and ELIZABETH BOWERS LIVES They each lived a long and faithful life and saw all of their children reach maturity. John Bowers always manifested great interest in land and land trades, Mother Bowers in church. Probably the outstanding event in all their lives was a celebration of their Golden wedding which took place in Spokane in June of 1915. All of their children were present except Clara, who had died previously. At this time many of their children had not seen each other for a number of years, and it marked the inauguration of successive reunions which were held from time to time through intervening years. It seemed that at no time had the parents expressed such keen delight in their family as at this time. To them it was the culmination of a life well spent. It was a crowning event of all their prior efforts. It was the last time that they ever had all their children at home with them at one time. There were nine children in the family, in the following order, Mary Jane, Emma Elnora, Edward Aaron, Ida Rose, Clara Ann, Arthur Stephen, Lillian Elizabeth, Bird Lapearl, and John Elmer.

Sources

SEE - FAG memorial For John L. Bowers