George Brower (1850-1940)

BROWER

Posted By: cheryl Locher moonen (email)
Date: 12/31/2019 at 17:29:38

Dubuque Daily Times, Friday, Dec 31, 1875, Dubuque, IA, Page: 8

The marriage of Mr. George S. Brower and Miss Ella J Busby, was at the residence of Prof. C. Baylies at six o’clock yesterday afternoon. Only the relatives and intimate friends of the family were present. While intended for a private and unostentatious affair, it was elegant and in excellent taste. The bride’s presents were some of them fine and valuable. The principal parties are well known in the city – the bridegroom being one of our most enterprising and promising young men, and the bride an amiable and accomplished lady. The newly married couple left last evening on their wedding trip, extending to Mobile and other points of the Sunny South, and will be absent for about three weeks.

They were the parents of 5 children in 1900, 2 still living: Aileen, Imogen, Harry, Calla, and Nellie.

The Pioneer History of Pocahontas County, Iowa page 401 - Brower, George L was a resident of Fonda from Jan 1, 1878 until the spring of 1883, when he moved to Rockwell City, where he established the Security Bank. At the time he located in Fonda, he opened a general store and one month later, purchasd the entire stock of general merchandise owned by W.H. Clemens. Jan 1, 1881 he opened a branch store and restaurant at Pocahontas in charge of W. Hodge and leased the Fonda Creamery when it was completed that spring. All of these business interests at Fonda and Pocahontas were relinquished in the spring of 1883. He was a member of the first town council and continued to serve in that capacity 5 years - 1879 to 1882.

He married Ella J. daughter of James and Jean Busby, and their family consisted of 5 children, two of whom died in childhood and Harry, in his 10th year, Dec 15, 1895.

For several years he and his family have resided in Des Moines and Chicago, in order to secure the best educational advantages for their two daughters, Aileen and Imogene, and in July 1890 they went to Paris that Aileen, who possesses a voice of unusual sweetness and power and who has alresdy become a very accomplished singer, might pursue advanced studies in music for a couple of years.

As a man he is gentle and good natured, never in a hurry but always planning some new venture and carrying to a successful issue large business interests. At Rockwell City there has been accorded to him the honorable title "Brower the Builder" because he has built more houses and large business blocks in that city that any other man.

He has also been the inventor of a set of building blocks that are greatly coveted by the childdren all over the land. He is a man well equipped for business, has the faculty of developing large results from small beginnings, knows how to make a profitable use of every thing that comes into his possession, and seems to be uniformly successful in all his enterprises.