Dr. John Bower
John Bower was the oldest son in a family of nine children. His parents' names are as yet unknown to us, but they were born in PA. They apparently settled in or near Salem Twp., Clarion Co., as the names of all their children were known and recorded in the records of the Salem Lutheran cemetery association (Only one son, David Bower & wife Caroline, and one grandson Poetus, son of John Bower appear to be buried there). John was born in about 1823, possibly in Clarion County. In about 1847-48, aged 24-25, he married Mary Giltner, also born in PA. She was age 21 years. At some point John Bower studied medicine and took up practice as a physician in the Salem Twp. area. See complete biography
Over the next 17 years John and Mary had ten children, four girls and six boys. One son, Poetus Bower, died in March of 1859, possibly at birth. The tenth child, Edwin L. Bower was born in 1865 when Mary was about age 39 years. Mary may have died at this child's birth. In 1866 John's brother David Bower died deeply indebted to a soldier paid to take his place in the Civil War fighting. Presumably, the Bower parents too may have been dead by this point.
By the time of the 1870 census, John was a widower, and has moved to Iowa with his children. The census mentions only six of the children, including Rebecca Catharine,the oldest and Edwin L., youngest. Not mentioned are the older sons, Giltner and John; they would be of an age (19 and 17) to be working. Giltner did accompany the family to Iowa, and presumably John did also. The next-to-youngest son, Rhodes, is also missing from the 1870 census. He should have been 6 yrs old in 1870, so he presumably died young. It is possible he was given to be raised by another family, but it would be surprising that the youngest son would remain with the father while an older one did not. The family settled in Center Twp., Guthrie Co. IA., and in 1880 the location is described as Guthrie Center, Valley Fk., Guthrie Co. IA. (Present-day Guthrie Center lies at the intersection of state routes 25 &44, north of interstate 80, and some 30 miles NW of Des Moines.)
By 1880 Dr. Bower had remarried, to a widow named Ella Lockmiller. Ella's parents were born in PA but she herself was born in Ohio. Her husband, Mr. Lockmiller, was born in Virginia. Ella & Mr. Lockmiller had had 4 children, and all were living in 1880, but only two are recorded living in the home of Dr. John Bower: step-daughter Mary Lockmiller is 13; step-son John R. Lockmiller is 9. From an earlier census we know that a 3rd child of the Lockmillers was a daughter named Charlotta, age 24 in 1880. None of the Bower children remain at home in 1880. In this same year, Giltner Bower is found living in a boarding house in Carroll, Carroll Co. IA, described as a physician, so he followed his father into the medical profession, and may have been trained by him.
Dr. John Bower died sometime between 1880 and 1900. Ella Bower age 62, a widow, is living with her unmarried daughter Mary, age 32, in 1900.
| Date | Location | Notes | Sources | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birth | ~1823-1824 | PA | [1][3][4] | |
| 1st Marriage | Mary E. Giltner born ~1826 died between 1865 -1870 |
[6][1] | ||
| 2nd Marriage | Ella Unknown (b. OH, 1838); 1st married to Unknown Lockmiller(b. VA) |
[4][10] | ||
| Death | 1880-1900 | Guthrie Co, IA | ||
| Burial | Salem Lutheran Cemetery |
Ancestry chart segment
Generation 5 Generation 6
+-- Unknown Bower
| (????-????)
+-- Dr. John Bower --+
| (????-????)
|
+-- Mary Giltner
(~1826-~1865/70)
Sources: [6]
Children
Children with Mary E. Giltner:
| Name | Gender | Date of Birth | Birthplace | Spouse | Notes | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rebecca Catherine Bower | F | ~1848 | Unknown Plain | [1][2][3][6] | ||
| Louisa H. "Lou" Bower | F | ~1849 | Unknown Undegraff | [1][2][3][6] | ||
| Patterson Giltner Bower | M | 1851 | [2][6][9] | |||
| John M. Bower | M | 1853 | [2][6] | |||
| Mary E. Bower | F | 1855 | possibly Chalmer Karnes; see Conjecture section |
[2][3][6] | ||
| Saurena V. Bower | F | 1857-58 | [2][3] | |||
| Poetus Bower | M | (by Mar. 1) 1859 | d. Mar 1, 1859 | [6][7] | ||
| Frank Homer Bower | F | Dec 1859 or Jan 1860 | [2][3][6] | |||
| Rhodes Bower | M | 1864 | [6] | |||
| Edwin L. Bower | M | 1865 | [3] |
Children with Ella Unknown (Lockmiller):
| Name | Gender | Date of Birth | Birthplace | Spouse | Notes | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| David Bower | M | 1877 | IA | [4] |
Children of Ella Unknown (Lockmiller)'s 1st marriage:
| Name | Gender | Date of Birth | Birthplace | Spouse | Notes | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charlotta Lockmiller | F | 1856 | IA | birth order uncertain; may be oldest child |
[10] | |
| Unknown Lockmiller | ? | IA | [5] | |||
| Mary Lockmiller | F | 1867 | IA | [4] | ||
| John R. Lockmiller | M | 1869 | IA | [4] |
Places of Residence
| Location | Dates | Notes | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| PA | b. ~1823-24 | [1][3][4] | |
| Richland Twp., Clarion Co. PA | by 1850 | [1] | |
| Salem Twp., Clarion Co. PA | by 1860 | may reflect a township boundary line change |
[2] |
| Center Twp, Guthrie Co, IA | by 1870 | [3] | |
| Jackson Twp, Guthrie Co, IA; Guthrie Center, Valley Fork | by 1880 | [3] |
Photos
Sources
| Ref. Num. | Description | Image of original |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | U.S. Census 1850 Clarion Co. PA, Richland Twp., pg 31. Date of census 7 Aug 1850. Lines 11-16 show John Bower age 27, physician, Mary E. age 24, daughter Rebecca C. age 2, daughter Louisa H. age 1; David Bower age 24, potter; Lovina Neely (female) age 29. All born PA |  |
| 2 | 1860 United States Federal Census, Salem Twp, Clarion Co, PA, page 11. Census dated 29 June 1860. Lines 14-22: John Bower, 31, physician, $1100 real, $800 personal property; Mary E., 34; Rebecca C, 12; Louisa H., 11; Patterson G., 9; John M., 7; Mary E., 5; Saurena V., 3; Homer E., 6 months. All b. PA. The five older children are attending school. |
 |
| 3 | 1870 United States Federal Census, Center Twp, Guthrie Co, IA, page 19. Census dated 5 July, 1870. Lines 27-33: John Bower, 46, physician, $1000 real, $1000 personal property; R.K. (R.C.?), 22, teacher; Louisa, 21; Mary, 15; Sarena V., 12; Frank H, 10; Edwin L., 5. All born PA. |
 |
| 4 | 1880 United States Federal Census, District 77, Jackson Twp, Guthrie Co, IA, page 28. Guthrie Center, Valley Fork. Census dated 5-6 June, 1880. Lines 45 -49: John Bower, 57, physician, born PA (parents born PA); Ella, 42, wife, keeping house, b. Ohio, (parents born PA); Mary Lockmiller, 13, step-dau., at school, b. Ohio,( father b. VA, mother OH); John R. Lockmiller, 9, step-son, b. Iowa,(father b. VA, mother b. OH), attended school; David Bower, 3, son, b. IA, (father b. PA, mother b. OH). |
 |
| 5 | 1900 United States Federal Census, District 66, Valley Twp, Guthrie Co, IA, page 2. Census dated 2 June 1880. Lines 90-91: Ella Bower, 62, widow, b. Jan. 1838, 4 children, all living, b. OH as were parents; Mary Lockmiller, 32, dau., b. Jan 1868, b. OH, father VA, mother OH. Both can read write and speak English. |
 |
| 6 | Cemetery Association Record listing the siblings of David Bower, 1826-1856. | transcription |
| 7 | Gravestone at Salem Lutheran Cemetery, Salem Twp., Clarion Co. PA, transcribed Sept 1995 by E. W. Williams.
| |
| 8 | Personal correspondence from Elizabeth Wilson Williams. | N/A
|
| 9 | 1880 United States Federal Census, District 32, Carroll, Carroll Co, IA, page 27. Census dated 10 June, 1880. Line 2: Giltner Bower, 32, physician, boarder, b. PA as were his parents. He is a boarder in a household headed by a John Trainer and wife Elizabeth. John Trainer is from Canada with parents from Ireland. The remainder of the individuals in the house are boarders from various locations. This would appear to have been a boarding house. |
 |
| 10 | 1870 United States Federal Census, Jackson Twp, Guthrie Co, PA, page 4. Census dated 26 July, 1870. Lines 22-25: Ella Lockmiller, 31, born OH; Charlotta, 14, born OH; Mary F., 2, born OH; John R., 8 months, born IA. This corresponds to widow Ella Lockmiller before marriage to John Bower. Since her youngest child is 8 mos. old, her 1st husband died within the last 2 years (i.e. 1868-1870). |
 |
Source Notes
- For the 1870 U.S. Census, no Bower (soundex - all spellings) can be located in Clarion Co. PA by the Ancestry.com search engine.
- Salem Lutheran Cemetery Assoc. records indicates an "infant daughter" in addition to Lou, Catherine, and Mary. That wording suggests she died as an infant. Census indicates Saurina lived to at least age 12, so there may have been a 5th daughter. Or the contributor to that record may merely have remembered another girl child born, i.e. Saurina.
Conjecture
- Since so many families is the Clarion-Venango Counties border area migrated from Lehigh County, it is worth noting that Michael Brey, (whose daughter married Olive Bower's son), owned land in Upper Milford township, (in then Northampton, later Lehigh County) in 1806, near land of a Henry Bauer. Also a land transaction by one Joseph Klein in October of 1865 mentions land of the "late John Bower', in Salisbury township.
* 1880 U. S. census, Jackson Twp., Venango Co. PA, pg. 15. Date of census: 12th & 14th June 1880. Lines 43-45: Chalmer Karnes, age 28, farmer; wife Mary E. Karnes, age 28; "no name" Bower, age 7/12, female, relationship: "her neace". All & all parents born PA.
If the niece of Mary E. unknown (Karnes) is a Bower, Mary E. could possibly be Mary Bower, dau. of John Bower. She would be born about 1852. (Or she could be someone whose sister married a Bower.)
- The list of children of Dr. John Bower given in the Salem Lutheran Cemetery Assoc. record matches those names found in the census except for two. In the Lutheran records, youngest son Edwin L. Bower is not named, nor is daughter Saurena V. Bower. Instead they list an "infant daughter", presumably meaning she did not survive. Saurina however appears in the 1870 census in Iowa, age 12.
