Biographies
For
Muscatine County Iowa
1889



Source: Portrait and Biographical Album, Muscatine County, Iowa, 1889, page 572

WILLIAM CHOWAN ², an early settler of this county, now residing on section 32, Orono Township, is a native of Devonshire, England, and was born on the 26th of March, 1826. His parents, Richard and Mary Ann ( Hook ) Chowan ², were also natives of that country, and reared a family of eight children : Ann and Mary, the two eldest, are both deceased ; Sarah is the widow of Mr. Runnals, and resides in London ; John, is living in Lake Township, this county ; Joseph makes his home in England ; Richard is also living in the land of his birth ; William, of this sketch, is next in order ; and George, the youngest, is a resident of England.

Our subject was reared to manhood in his native land, and there followed the occupation of farming. Thinking that the New World would furnish a better field for his labors, when twenty-nine years of age, he emigrated to America. Boarding the sailing-vessel " Consolation," at Liverpool, in 1855, after a very stormy voyage of twenty-eight days, he landed in New York. He was in a strange country, with no friends near him, and had but half a crown in money ; but he immediately began seeking for some employment at which he could gain a livelihood. Going to Cleveland, he husked corn for about a week, and then pawned some of his clothes in order to get enough money to carry him to Zanesville, Ohio, where he had a brother living. In that city he worked for an old judge, receiving $10 per month ; and continued his labors in that vicinity, working by the month, until the breaking out of the Civil War, when he responded to the country's call fro troops, enlisting in Company E, in the 62d Regiment of Ohio Volunteers, under the command of Col. Pond. He was not engaged in many of the hotly contested battles of the war ; his hardest fight being at Winchester. In 1863 he was discharged from the 7th New York Battery, to which company he had been transferred.

On the 28th of October, 1852, Mr. Chowan ² was united in marriage with Miss Sarah Ann Symonds, their wedding being celebrated in England, but on May 18, 1852 ¹, before his emigration to America, Mrs Chowan ² departed this life. He was again married, on the 12th of April. 1857, becoming the husband of Miss Ann Jane Robinson, and by their union four children were born: John, born Dec. 18, 1857 ; William, April 24, 1859 ; George, June 25, 1860 ; and Richard, born June 8, 1861, died the same year. The mother of these children was called to her final rest in 1862, and Mr. Chowan ² was a third time married, this union being with Mrs. Dyche, widow of Charles Dyche, and a daughter of George and Rebecca ( Pry ) Master, who were natives of Germany. Three children have graced their union : Mary, born July 21, 1864, is now the wife of Charles Stickney, of Louisa County, Iowa ; Eliza, born Jan. 18, 1868, and Charles R., born May 8, 1869, are both at home. By her former marriage Mrs. Chowan ² had six children : Nancy Jane, born April 4, 1849 is now residing at Toolesboro ; John G., born Nov. 26, 1850, is a resident of Louisa County ; Rebecca C., born Aug. 6, 1853, wedded John Edmondson, of Washington County, Iowa ; Joseph, born August 8, 1855, died on the 26th of August, same year ; Clara E., born Sept. 19, 1858, died Jan. 16, 1879 ; Agnes, born Aug. 15, 1859, is the wife of Edward B. Miller. Clara wedded Jim Lee.

Mr. Chowan ², politically, affiliates with the Democratic party, and his wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is engaged in general farming and stock-raising on section 32, Orono Township, and is one of the self-made men of the county, having made all that he has by his own efforts. Landing in this country with only half a crown ( which, however, he still has in his possession ), pawning his clothes to get to his brother's then working for $10 per month, was the way in which he began life in America ; but his perseverance, industry and good management, and economy have gained him a comfortable competence.

¹ This death date has to be wrong. It has to be from 1853-55

² The surname should be CHOWN, not CHOWAN, according to a researcher


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