Mr. Bowers comes from a brave and sturdy ancestry that settled in America in Colonial times, and representatives of the family fought loyally in both the Revolution and in the War of 1812, and again in the late Civil War was the family represented in the person of our subject, who did gallant service for the Union cause and received deserved promotion from the ranks, and by his brother Harrison. A native of Muskingum County, Ohio, our subject was born in 1833. His father was John Bowers, of Pennsylvania birth, while his mother was Rebecca (Vernon) Bowers, also of Pennsylvania. His parents went to Ohio in their young days, and there married and established their first home. They lived there till 1853, and then went to Iowa and located in that State permanently. She died in 1872 and he died in 1878, both leaving records of honorable lives well spent. The Bowers family are descended from English and German stock. The father of our subject was a solider in the War of 1812, while his father, John Bowers, served in the Revolution and was present at the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. On the mother’s side, the ancestry of our subject was of mingled English, Scotch and Irish blood. His uncle, Joseph Vernon, served under Gen. W. H. Harrison in the War of 1812. One of the brothers of our subject, Harrison Bowers, gave up his life on the altar of his country during the late Civil War. He was a member of Company K, fourth Iowa Cavalry, received an injury from a horse, and died from the effects of it at the age of twenty-three years.

Mr. Bowers is one of a family of twelve children, of whom eleven are now living. He received his education in the common schools of Ohio and Iowa, coming westward at the age of twenty years. He remained with his father, assisting him greatly in the management of his agricultural interests, till he was twenty-five years old. He then entered upon his career as an independent farmer and improved a farm in Henry County, Iowa, which he sold in 1863 at a good advance, and came to Illinois to take advantage of its exceptionally fine agricultural resources. He bought a farm in Brimfield Township, and actively entered upon its cultivation, and in the years that followed placed it under substantial improvement. It is very desirably located, and comprises eighty acres in Brimfield Township and eighty acres in Elmwood Township, all of which is under admirable tillage.

Mr. Bowers was first wedded to Miss Emiline J. Morey, their marriage taking place May 24, 1860. Her parents, David and Elizabeth (Conroe) Morey, natives of Ohio, came to this county in pioneer days, and after living here for a time moved to Iowa. In 1866 they returned to this part of the country, and settled in Elmwood Township, which they made their home till his death. His widow survives him and makes her home in Kansas. By their marriage they became the parents of six children. Mrs. Bowers was born in 1841, and after a brief but happy wedded life with our subject, died in 1866, leaving two children, Ida B. and H. G. The former is the wife of H. P. Zink, of Brimfield Township, and they have two children. The latter a resident of Brimfield Township, married Mary Reed and they have two children.

Mr. Bowers was married a second time June 27, 1867, to Mary E. Burt, a daughter of Charles P. and Lucretia (Davis) Burt, natives of Vermont. They came West in 1853, and cast in their fortunes with the pioneers of Brimfield Township, and there he rounded out a useful life in 1870, and she in 1874. They were the parents of four children, of whom Mrs. Bowers, the third in order of birth, was born January 20, 1841, in the village of Rockingham, Vt. She received an excellent education in the public schools of Brimfield Township, and adopted the profession of a teacher, and has taught school successfully in Peoria and Knox Counties. She is a woman of rare intelligence, and of a fine character and has been a great help to her husband. The only grief of their wedded life has been in the death of the two children born to them.

In the fall of 1863, our subject enlisted in Company K, Fourth Iowa Cavalry, of which he became Corporal, and bore an honorable part in the suppression of the rebellion. He was engaged in the battles of Tupelo, Guntown and Ripley, Miss.; Selma, Ala.; his regiment was the first to occupy Montgomery, Ala., and he was in front of the breastworks at Macon, Ga., when word was received of Lee’s surrender. Our subject with his company, was at Columbus, Ga., May 16, 1865, and was subsequently mustered out at Atlanta and was discharged at Davenport, Iowa, in August, 1865, he having shown throughout his military life true soldiery qualities, proving himself to be efficient, cool headed and self reliant, in all times and at all places.

Mr. Bowers has intelligent views on all matters of public import, and especially is he interested in the cause of temperance, and is an active temperance worker, supporting the straight Prohibition ticket, though he had formerly been identified with the Republican party from the days of Fremont to the time of Garfield. All who know our subject, and he has many friends, are agreed that he is a thoroughly good, upright man, with a kindly, sincere and honest nature, that involuntarily calls out the respect and trust of all who come in contact with him. He and his wife are members in high standing of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Elmwood, and are never behind their fellows in good works, whether of a charitable, social or religious character.

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