Pike Township Family Stories
FAMILY OF LOUIS W. CHOWN
Nichols, Iowa Centennial Book 1884-1984, pages329-331
By Genevieve ChownThe home where Louis Chown now [1984] lives in Section 33, Pike township, was purchased by his grandparents, John Chown and Eliza Chown, for their son and his wife, Lewis Chown and Elizabeth Chown, about 1889.
John and Eliza Chown came from England in 1852. They lived four years in Ohio and then moved to Lake township, Muscatine county, Iowa. They gave each of their four children a farm equivalent to 160 acres.
Lewis David Chown, born 19 May 1856, came to Iowa with his parents at an early age. He was educated in the public schools, rented his parents’ farm four years, and then moved to his 160 acres, now owned by his son, Louis Chown.
John and Eliza later moved to Columbus Junction, Iowa, where he died 17 February 1904. They are buried in High Prairie cemetery.
Lewis D. Chown married Elizabeth Aplin Meyers in Muscatine county on 6 January 1886. She was born 19 may 1865. Her parents were natives of Germany and made their home in St. Louis before coming to Muscatine county to purchase a farm in Lake township about 1889. They and their three sons moved to Nichols early in 1900.
The oldest son, John William Chown, was born 8 July 1887 and died 15 April 1918. Louis Wilbur Chown was born 5 December 1904. Robert Taft Chown was born 21 November 1908 and died 25 May 1977. Lewis and Elizabeth and their sons are buried in the Nichols cemetery.
Louis W. Chown was born in the present home of his nephew, Kevan Chown. This was during the time the house next door was being built, which was the family’s home when Robert was born. Lewis D. Chown died in 1920; Elizabeth Chown died in 1948.
After his father’s death, Louis lived with his mother. He attended Nichols school eleven years and worked at farm labor until joining his brother, Robert, in 1930 as Chown Motor company, later Chown Appliance. When Louis was young, his parents operated Chown’s Café in the old hotel on the west end of Nichols where the park is now located. Out in front of the café, Louis ran a peanut roasting machine and thus gained the nickname “Peanut.”
On 11 February 1939, Louis W. Chown was married to Genevieve Iola Brown at the Methodist parsonage in Muscatine. She was born 3 November 1913 in Joy, Illinois, a daughter of David Glenn Brown and Maggie Belle Bixby Brown. She was raised in Eliza, Illinois, and attended Glacy school. There were three girls and one boy in her family; her parents were farm laborers and residents of Illinois. While on visits to her Aunt Hazel Poole in Nichols, Genevieve met Louis. They have been living at their present home on their farm south of Nichols for 44 years.
Louis W. and Genevieve Chown are the parents of four children: Wiladine Jane Chown, Audrey Eloise Chown, David Louis Chown, all born at Mercy hospital in Iowa City, and Douglas Wilbur Chown born at Bellevue hospital in Muscatine.
Louis served on the school board for nine years during the merger of the township schools with the Nichols school. He helped with Pike Township Boys’ 4-H club, was a volunteer fireman and helped during the building of the classrooms at the Methodist church. Louis is also a 50-years member of Modern Woodman and Odd Fellow lodges. He is a member of the Masons and Eastern Star of Lone Tree and the Rebekah lodge of West Liberty. He enjoys fishing and doing latchwork as hobbies.
Wiladine Jane Chown attended her first two years of school at Conesville and finished grade and high school at Nichols. She attended The University of Iowa, received an L. P. N. degree in nursing and worked at the University hospitals. She married Joseph Paul Burns at St. Mary’s Catholic church. He was born the son of Raymond Burns and Gertrude Lumsden Burns. Joseph spent eight years in the Air Force and Navy and retired after twenty years Naval Reserve duty. He graduated from The University of Iowa as an L. P. N., furthered his education to lab technician in cardiovascular surgery and works at St. Luke’s hospital in Davenport, Iowa. They moved to Bettendorf, Iowa, where Wiladine works at the Bettendorf Nursing home They have four children: Timothy Paul Burns, graduated from Bettendorf High school; Daniel Joseph Burns; Katherine Ann Burns, and David Matthew Burns. The youngest children attend schools in Bettendorf, Iowa.
Audrey Eloise Chown attended Nichols school through her junior year in high school. She graduated from Columbus Community High school and attended Iowa State Unversity four years, graduating with a degree in education. Audrey taught two years at Bowie High school, El Paso, Texas, and did graduate work at the University of Texas. She married Gilbert Paul mcGinn at St. Piox Catholic church in El Paso. He was the son of Gilbert McGinn and Barbara McGinn of Milford, Utah. He graduated from Southern Utah with a B. S. degree in business, attended Utah State and the University of Idaho and was employed by Eastern Kodak company.
They moved to Topeka, Kansas, where Audrey served as state home economist and taught institutional cooking at Manhattan, Kansas, for the Department of Agriculture for two years. Their son, Lance Edward McGinn was born there. That year the family moved to a new home in Overland Park, Kansas; they moved to Scottsdale, Arizona and to Sandy, Utah. While there, Audrey took three courses in interconnect technology in Santa Clara, California. They operated their own telephone system.
David Louis Chown attended Nichols school through his freshman year of high school and graduated from Columbus Community High school. He spent six years in the Army Reserve. He married Barbara Louise Timm at Zion Lutheran church in Muscatine. Barbara was a daughter of Albert Timm and Ruth Brown Timm. David worked for his father on the farm and later took over the operation of that farm and his own farm in Section 34 of Pike township, which he purchased and where his family lives. Barbara graduated from Muscatine High school and from Eastern Iowa Community college. They have two children: Amanda Ruth Chown and Jeffrey David Chown. Both attend West Liberty Community schools. David and Barbara now own the farm where they live. The family has built a dairy herd of over sixty registered Brown Swiss cattle.
Douglas Wilbur Chown attended grade school at Nichols and graduated from Columbus Community High school. He attended the University of Northern Iowa, graduating with a B. S. degree in business. Douglas joined the Air Force; he graduated from Officers’ Training school at Lackland, Texas. After taking helicopter training, he spent three years in Alaska as a pilot in rescue and survival with the Military Air Command at Elmendorf Air base, Anchorage, Alaska. He married Marcia Caroline Fetter, an Airman First class with the Aerospace Controls and Warnings system at Our Lady of Victory Catholic church in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She is the daughter of Lawrence Fetter and Rosella Fetter of Minneapolis. Douglas and Marcia have two children: Kelly Jean Chown, born in Alaska, and Benjamin Douglas Chown, born at Wichita Falls, Texas, where Doug trained for B52 pilot with the Strategic Air Command. The family then moved to Michigan, where he was stationed at Sawyer Air Force base. He trained to be an instructor pilot of T37 planes at Enid, Oklahoma. The family now lives at Enid and the children attend school there. Marcia attends Phillips university at Enid and Douglas is now serving as a Flight Commander of T38 planes.
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Page created December 26, 2010 by Lynn McCleary