John C. Bonwell

BONWELL, LOWMAN, MILLER

Posted By: Marthann Kohl-Fuhs (email)
Date: 5/13/2009 at 11:38:49

1889 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF
SHELBY AND AUDUBON COUNTIES, IOWA
W. S. DUNBAR & CO., PUBLISHERS
113 ADAMS STREET, CHICAGO

pages 807-808

JOHN C. BONWELL, retired farmer of
Viola Township, now a resident of Au-
dubon, Iowa, was born in Highland
County, Ohio, near Hillsborough, November
16, 1842. He is a son of Nathaniel and
Charity (Lowman) Bonwell. The father was
born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, in
1792, but passed most of his youth in Ken-
tucky, whither his parents removed when he
was a child, he removed to Ohio and was
there married, and settled in Highland
County. There he carried on farming until
his death, which occurred in 1865. His wife
was a native of Pennsylvania. Late in life
she came to Audubon County, where her
death occurred in 1881. She was in her
seventy-second year. Arthur Bonwell, grand-
father of our subject, was a native of Scot-
land. He emigrated to America and took
part in the war of 1812. He removed from
Virginia to Kentucky in 1797, and at one
time owned a number of slaves, whom he
afterward set free. John C. Bonwell was
reared in his native county, receiving a
common-school education and acquiring a
knowledge of all the details of practical
farming. At the age of nineteen years he
left the plow and volunteered in the defense
of his country. He enlisted in the Sixtieth
Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Company F, and
was assigned to the Army of the Potomac.
He participated in several battles and skir-
mishes, the most noted being the second bat-
tle of Bull Run. After this battle he was
taken prisoner and held for three days, when
he was paroled, sent to Annapolis, thence to
Baltimore, and thence to Chicago, where he
was discharged in December, 1863. In Au-
gust, 1864, Mr. Bonwell re-enlisted in the
One Hundred and Seventy-fifth Ohio, and
was sent to Camp Denison, near Cincinnati.
He remained there two months, and from
that time until June, 1865, he was guarding
bridges and railroads in Tennessee and Ken-
tucky. He was honorably discharged in
June, 1865, and then returned to Highland
County, Ohio. He then started a store in
Lebanon, Ohio, which he managed three
years. During this time he was married to
Miss Mary E. Miller, the oldest daughter of
Jacob and Eliza Miller. In the fall of 1869
Mr. Bonwell removed with his family to
Marion County, Iowa, and during the first
winter taught school at Wheeling. The fol-
lowing summer he removed to the town of
Monroe, and there he dealt in real estate and
taught school. In 1874 he purchased an in-
terest in the First National Bank of Monroe,
and was book-keeper for that institution for
some time. Disposing of his interest in the
bank, he went to Exira, Audubon County,
Iowa, in 1875, when he engaged in the drug
trade. Selling out this business, he bought
400 acres of land in Viola Township, which
he has improved by erecting a substantial
residence and good buildings for stock and
grain. Mr. Bonwell devotes his time to
feeding and raising hogs and cattle, in which
he has been very successful. He has added
to his farm until it now contains 720 acres,
in a high state of cultivation. In the spring
of 1889 he removed his family to the town
of Audubon, in order to give his children
better educational advantages. Mr. and Mrs.
Bonwell have three daughters -- Pauline V.,
Gertrude C. and Leora May. Mr. Bonwell
has served several terms as justice of the
peace in Viola Township. In politics he is
a staunch Republican, taking an active in-
terest in the party, often serving as a dele-
gate to county, judicial, congressional and
State conventions. Mr. Bonwell is a mem-
ber of Veritas Lodge, No. 392, A. F. & A.
M., and of Amity Chapter, No. 93, R. A. M.
He is a member of Allison Post, G. A. R.,
and of the Red Men. He commenced life on
a small capital, but by industry, good judg-
ment and careful investments he has accumu-
lated a large estate.