Dowell, Evan B.

DOWELL

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 6/28/2021 at 23:53:56

History of Warren County, Iowa from Its Earliest Settlement to 1908, by Rev. W. C. Martin, Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, Illinois, 1908, p.823

EVAN BARNETT DOWELL
Evan Barnett Dowell, editor and proprietor of the Indianola Record [newspaper], is one of Warren County's native sons, his birth occurring in Greenfield Township, July 16, 1855. His father, James W. Dowell, was born in Kentucky, of Dutch and Welsh ancestry, and died in 1903, at the ripe old age of eighty-one years. From his native state he removed to Montgomery County, Indiana, with his parents when thirteen years of age, making that place his home for ten years. It was then, in 1845 that he came to Warren County, Iowa, and cast in his lot with the pioneers of this region. In early life he had worked as a mechanic, but later turned his attention to farming and on coming to this county he entered land in Greenfield Township, to the improvement and culti­vation of which he devoted his energies until his retirement from active labor in 1887, becoming a resident of Des Moines at that time. There he made his home until called to his final rest. Twice he enlisted for service in the Civil War but failed to pass muster. He was first an old-line Whig but became a Republican on the birth of that party. He was active in church work as a member of the Baptist denomination and led an upright Christian life. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Martha Reese, was born in Vermilion County, Illinois, in 1827, and is of Irish and English descent. She is still living at the age of eighty-one years, her mental and physical faculties intact. By birthright she is a Quaker but for many years she has held membership in the Baptist church.
Evan B. Dowell was reared upon the home farm and attended the country schools of the neighborhood, later becoming a student at Simpson College and the Iowa State University. For about ten years he taught in country schools and also the graded schools of Summerset and Spring Hill. Subse­quently he embarked in merchandising at the former place, continuing in that line from 1889 until 1892 with good success, and at the same time he served as postmaster of the village.
On the 13th of June, 1887, Mr. Dowell married Miss Anna Wright, who was born in Greenfield Township in 1865, her parents, Isaac C. and Ellen (Graham) Wright, having located there on coming to this county at an early day in its development. Mr. and Mrs. Dowell have one child, Kenneth Roy, who was born October 11, 1889, and is now a freshman at Simpson College.
The parents are both members of the United Presbyterian Church, and Mr. Dowell is also identified with the Modern Woodmen of America, the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Knights of Pythias fraternities. His political allegiance is given to the Republican Party and he has taken quite an active and influential part in public affairs. In 1892 he was elected county auditor and so acceptably did he fill that position that he was reelected in 1894. He was appointed postmaster of Indianola, March 17, 1900, and was reappointed in 1904, serving in all eight years and six months to the entire satisfaction of all concerned. In November 1901, he bought the Indianola Record of C. D. Lyon and now as editor and proprietor of the same he is successfully conducting that paper. He is regarded as one of the leading cit­izens of Indianola, preeminently public spirited and progressive, and he has done much to advance the interests of the city, both personally and through the columns of his paper.