Mrs. Fowler, age 92

FOWLER, EDMONDS, MAY, DODDS, DIESCH

Posted By: Monica
Date: 5/30/2012 at 19:01:14

I am not related and have no further information, this is taken from an old scrapbook that belonged to Mrs. Clara (Jones) McCartney. The article is ca1945.

Mrs. Fowler, Age 92, Town's Oldest Mother
This week we pay tribute to Edgewood's oldest mother, Mrs. Rosetta Fowler, and no more devoted mother ever raised a family of children than Mrs. Fowler. And there was never a better neighbor. Mrs. Fowler is 92.

Mrs. Fowler's grandfather, John Edmonds, came to Iowa from Oswego Coounty, New York in the "sixties" and liked the coutry so well he kept writing back to his son, Stewart Edmonds to "Come on out here where you can make a living without working yourself to death doing it." At last in 1868 Mr. and Mrs. Edmonds and their family started out on the 1,100 mile rail trip to Iowa and reached Manchester in June. They settled in Delaware County at Ead's Grove and the daughter, Rosetta, who was 16 years old at the time, has never lived outside the county since that time.

On October 8, 1873 she was married to James Fowler at Earlville. Because they chose to be married on that date a Justice of the Peace read the marriage service. the ministers were all away at conference.

Almost all the years of their lives which they spent farming were west of Greeley on the Fowler homestead which is still in Mrs. Fowler's possesion. Six of their seven children are still living to pay their devotion to their mother. They are Herman Fowler of Manian, North Dakota, Bert Fowler of Waverly, Mrs. Nettie May and Mrs. Sarah Dodds of Edgewood and Mrs. Gertie Diesch of Earlville. There are also six grandchildren, two of whom are in the armed services overseas, and four great grandchildren.

In 1920 Mr. and Mrs. Fowler retired from their farm and lived two years in Greeley before they purchased their home in Edgewood in 1912 and moved to this village. In 1927 Mr. Fowler died and they also lost a daughter, Nellie, after moving to Edgewood.

The canning season which is on in full swing now recalls the early days of her life to Mrs. Fowler. She made lots of preserves and apple butters, dried corn and apples for winter use but they did not think it possible to can vegetables nor fruit then. The butter ration points could be solved very neatly by Mrs. Fowler if she could get the cream to churn.
She has churned and sold hundreds of pounds of butter in her early days as a farm wife.

Health, that precious thing, has always been excellent and it remains so for Mrs. Fowler. Except for cataracts which have impaired her vision she is still an active woman and could see to get about. Many happy returns of the 25th of July to Mrs. Fowler.