Cozier, B. F. W., Rev

COZIER, SPANGLER, LUMBARD, MODD, KNIBLOE, LIVENSPIRE, CARTER, AVAN ORSDALL, SHAVER

Posted By: Volunteer Transcriber
Date: 8/12/2009 at 07:13:30

Rev. B. F. W. Cozier, pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Colfax, was born in Gettysburg, Adams County, Pa., on the 24th of September 1836. The family of which he is an honored member originated in Germany, and the name was originally spelled Koser. His paternal grandparents were Christian and Esther Koser. His maternal grandfather, Henry Spangler, was a native of Adams County, Pa., and a descendant of one of three brothers who emigrated from Germany to America prior to the Revolutionary War. The family was represented in the Union army during the Civil War, and one of the historic spots of Gettysburg is "Spangler's Spring," where the Confederate and Union soldiers met for water under a suspension of hostilities.

The father of our subject, Daniel Cozier, was born in Berks County, Pa., in 1801, and in his youth learned the trade of a cabinet-maker, which he followed throughout his entire active life. When a young man he removed to Adams County, and there in 1825 he married Miss Mary Spangler, who was born in that county in 1801. In 1836 he removed from the Keystone State to Ohio and located in Hardin County, near Kenton, the county seat, where he engaged at his trade for a short time. In 1837 he settled in Marseilles, Wyandotte County, Ohio, where he conducted an extensive business as a cabinet-maker until his death in 1855.

In the family of Daniel and Mary Cozier there were four sons and four daughters, all of whom reached maturity, married and reared children. They are: Amelia A., the wife of James Lumbard; Theodore S., a resident of Ohio; John H. M., who was killed in West Virginia while serving in the Union army; Anna Mary, who is the wife of George Modd, a farmer living in Wyandotte County, Ohio; Jemima, Mrs. Knibloe, deceased; Paul E., who is engaged in carriage manufacturing at Bellefontaine, Ohio; B. F. W., of this sketch; and Hester Ann, wife of Carlton Livenspire, of Kenton, Hardin County, Ohio.

The subject of this sketch is next to the youngest member of the parental family. He was reared in the Buckeye State and gained the rudiments of his education in the common schools. At the age of nineteen years he entered the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, Ohio, and in 1857, at the age of twenty-one, entered the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church, becoming a member of the Central Ohio Conference. His first charge was at Pleasantville (now McComb), Hancock County, and from there he was transferred to the church at Ft. Seneca, Seneca County. Later he accepted the pastorate of the church at Bluffton, Allen County.

In the latter part of the year 1860, Rev. Mr. Cozier was united in marriage with Miss Zelore A. Carter, who was born in Norwalk, Huron County, Ohio, in 1838. She was the fourth among six children comprising the family of William and Anna (Van Orsdall) Carter, natives respectively of Connecticut and New York. After completing her education in the seminary at Norwalk, she engaged for a time in teaching school and met with success in that profession, being a proficient and thorough instructor. Mr. and Mrs. Cozier are the parents of four children: George E., a telegraph operator in the employ of the Rio Grande & Western Railroad; Emily H., Mrs. H. C. Shaver, an editor of Moscow, Idaho; Marshall, a railroad man living in Denver, Colo., and Robert V., who is a graduate of Simpson College and also of Washington Law School, St. Louis, Mo., and who is now an attorney residing in Blackfoot, Idaho.

After his marriage Mr. Cozier resided in Arcadia, Ohio, until the breaking out of the Civil War, when he removed to Evansport, and from there went to Elmore. He enlisted in the Third Ohio Cavalry, which he served as Chaplain until three months after the close of the war. He participated in the Atlanta campaign and was for six weeks confined in the hospital at that place. He was with General Thomas in the battle of Nashville, and had some very narrow escapes both in that engagement and in other battles. He was mustered out of service at Columbus, Ohio, on the 5th of August 1865.

The next pastorates held by Mr. Cozier were at Arcanum, Clarke County; De Graff, Logan County, and Wapakoneta, Auglaize County (all in Ohio). In 1870 he came to Iowa, where he accepted a charge at Atlantic, Cass County. From that city he removed to Sioux City, thence to Winterset, and then to Boone. Later he was appointed Presiding Elder to the Council Bluffs District, then transferred to the Corning District. After holding the pastorate of the church at Clarinda, Iowa, and at Chariton he became Presiding Elder of the Boone District, occupying that position for four years. Subsequently he officiated as pastor of the Grace Methodist Episcopal Church at Des Moines for three years, and from that city came to Colfax in 1891.

In his social connections, Rev. Mr. Cozier is identified with E. D. Duncan Post, G. A. R., of which he has served as Commander. He was Chaplain of Crocker Post at Des Moines for two years, and in every place he has resided has taken an active part in Grand Army affairs. In the Masonic order he has attained the Royal Arch degree and is a prominent worker in that organization. His attention is principally devoted to the welfare of his congregation, and as pastor he has gained a high place in the esteem of his parishioners. As a speaker he is earnest, eloquent and entertaining, and such has been his success in winning the hearts of his hearers to the claims of the Gospel that it may truly be said of him, as of Goldsmith's "Village Preacher" that "those who came to scoff, remained to pray." Portrait and Biographical Record, Jasper, Marshall and Grundy Counties, IA Page 374.