Harrison County Iowa Genealogy

HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY, IOWA, 1891
BIOGRAPHIES
Page 461
JOHN B. LOWREY

John B. LOWREY, an extensive farmer and landowner, came to Harrison County in the fall of 1866, settling at the village of Olmstead, where he was pastor of the Congregational Church for on year, but on account of ill health, left the ministry and bought a piece of wild prairie land, on section 5, in Douglas Township, which he improved and lived upon until the autumn of 1879, at which time he traded that farm for his present place which, at the time of the exchange, had a frame house and only fifteen acres broken. That tract consisted of one hundred and sixty acres, to which he has added until he now owns a half section.

Mr. LOWREY was born March 27, 1841, at Oswegatchie, N. Y. He was reared in the Empire State, living in various places, from the fact that his father was a Methodist preacher and was one of the few who assisted in organizing the Wesleyan Church, in America. At the age of nineteen he went to Staten island, where he filled a vacancy in the Methodist Church for six months, and after the conference met he traveled on a circuit in Sullivan County, n. Y., for one year, and was then sent as a missionary to Virginia, and from there to Kentucky, at Camp Nelson, among the colored troops. There his health failed, occasioning his return to new York, but a short time later we find him at Tabor, Mill County, Iowa, and in Fremont County, where he remained eighteen months, just previous to coming to Harrison County. He lived longer in Saratoga County then in any other county in New York, and came from there to Iowa.

August 6, 1864, he was united in marriage to Helen M. DEUEL, of Saratoga County, N. Y., and through this union three children were born�Viola M., born November 17, 1865; Austin, April 8, 1869; Leon, January 25, 1873. The last named died December 25, 1881. Viola M. married Charles P. DAVIS, and they are living in Douglas Township at present.

Helen M. (DEUEL) LOWREY was born in the town of Greenfield, Saratoga County, N. Y., May 16, 1842, and there remained until the date of her marriage. Her father was Edmond DEUEL, who was born in Malta, N. Y., August 24, 1809, and is still living near his birthplace. The mother, Martha BAILEY, was born in Greenfield, N. Y., in 1816, and they were united in marriage in 1834, and became the parents of five children, of whom Mrs. LOWREY was the third. The mother died in Greenfield, November 11, 1881.

The father of our subject, John LOWREY, was born in Ireland, on March 29, 1809, and when a mere babe emigrated with his parents to America, stopping at Albany, and from there to Canada, where the family lived for some years, and finally came back to New York. This man, who was born in the Emerald Isle, and who had seen much of the eastern portion of this country was, in the autumn of 1865, induced to come to Amity, Page County, Iowa, where he died October 12, 1874. His wife, the mother of our subject, was born in May, 1816, in the old Green Mountain State�Vermont, and her maiden name was Nancy WILDER. This worthy couple were married at Bombay, Franklin County, N. Y., September 12, 1839, and were the parents of seven children, our subject being the second born.

Politically, Mr. LOWREY is identified with the Republican party, and is a firm believer in the Orthodox faith, both he and his estimable wife being members of the Presbyterian Church.

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