USA > Indiana > Allen County > Fort Wayne > The pictorial history of Fort Wayne, Indiana : a review of two centuries of occupation of the region about the head of the Maumee River, Vol. II > Part 10
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89
Daniel Bottenberg, who died March 12, 1917, and who was one of the venerable and revered citizens of Monroe township, is specially entitled to recognition in this history of Allen county, within whose borders he maintained his home from his boyhood and in which he was a representative of a sterling pioneer family. Though he later retired from the arduous labors that long engrossed his time and attention, he continued to reside upon and give a general supervision to his fine farm, which comprises one hundred and sixty acres and which is eligibly situ- ated in Section 22, Monroe township. Mr. Bottenberg was born in Butler county, Ohio, April 19, 1835, and was one of the members of a family of twelve children, only three of whom now survive. He was a son of
78
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
Jacob and Nancy (VanHorn) Bottenberg, the former of whom was born in Maryland of German lineage, and the latter in New Jersey, of staunch Holland Dutch ancestry. The parents removed to Ohio in the early '30s and in 1849 they came with their children from Butler county, that state, to Allen county, Indiana, where the father obtained a tract of heavily timbered land, in Marion township, and there he began the reclaiming of a farm under the primitive conditions that marked the pioneer era in the history of the county. His earnest and strenuous efforts brought to him independence and he and his wife lived to see their pioneer log house give place to a more modern and pretentious building. They continued to reside on their farm until he moved to Monmouth and there he died in 1869. Their names merit a place on the roster of the honored pioneers of Allen county. He whose name intro- duces this review gained his rudimentary education in the common schools of the old Buckeye state and was a lad of about fifteen years at the time of the family removal to Indiana. He assisted his father in the her- culean work of reclaiming the old homestead farm and remained at the parental home until he had attained to his legal majority, with a due quota of incidental discipline that tended to broaden his mental horizon. After leaving the home of his parents he farmed rented land for a number of years, and he then purchased his present homestead, which he devel- oped into one of the well-improved and valuable rural estates of Monroe township. As a loyal and liberal citizen he aided in the support of those things that advanced the general welfare of the community and he gave unfaltering allegiance to the Republican party, though he had at no time any desire for public office of any kind. Both he and his wife were zealous members of the Lutheran church in their community and he served the same in the offices of trustee and elder at the time of his death. Through his own well-ordered efforts Mr. Bottenberg made his way to the goal of worthy prosperity and enjoyed the rewards of former years of earnest toil and endeavor, the while both he and his wife rested secure in the high regard of all who knew them. In 1857 was recorded the marriage of Mr. Bottenberg to Miss Elizabeth Lenhart, who was born in Ohio and who is one of the four surviving members of a family of twelve children. Her parents, John and Rebecca (Burroughs) Len- hart, were born, respectively, in the states of Pennsylvania and Maryland, and the father was twelve years of age when he accompanied his parents on their removal to Ohio, where he was reared to adult age. In 1839 John Lenhart removed from Ohio to Adams county, Indiana, where he settled on an embryonic farm in the midst of the almost unbroken forest and there he reclaimed a productive farm. The original family dwelling was a pioneer log house with clapboard roof weighted down with poles, with puncheon floor and wide fireplace as interior provisions, and with door fitted with the old-time latch string that was always left hanging on the outside, as an evidence of the hospitality of the little domicile in which dwelt contentment and happiness. The parents of Mrs. Bottenberg remained on this old homestead until their death. Concerning the five children of Mr. and Mrs. Bottenberg the following brief record is given in conclusion of this sketch: Jason remains with his mother and has the active management of the old home farm; John P. is the second son and is engaged in farming in this county; Nellie is the wife of Henry Bowers; Mary L. is the wife of William C. Foster, and they now reside
79
FORT WAYNE AND ALLEN COUNTY
in the state of Michigan; and Zenus J., the youngest of the children, resides in Monroe township.
Oscar Boulton is one of the native sons of Allen county who has brought to bear a strong and well-poised mentality as well as significant enterprise and progressiveness in the furthering of his successful activ- ities as an agriculturist and stock-grower, and he is now one of the representative exponents of these fundamental industries in his native township of Springfield, where he has made the best of improvements upon his fine farm of one hundred and eighty-five acres, in Sections 27 and 28, the homestead being about one and a half miles distant from the village of Grabill, which is his postoffice address. Mr. Boulton was born in Springfield township, February 2, 1862, a scion of a sterling family that was founded in this county full seventy years ago. . He is a son of Henry and Helen (Hatch) Boulton. Henry Boulton was born in England and was fifteen years of age when he came to America with his parents, the home being established in Erie county, Ohio, where he was reared to manhood and whence he came to Allen county, Indiana, in 1847. He purchased a tract of land in Springfield township and from the virgin forest reclaimed a pro luctive farm. There he continued his residence until he had attained to advanced age, when he retired from active labors and established his home in the village of Harlan, where both he and his wife passed the residue of their lives in gracious peace and prosperity and with secure place in the esteem of all who knew them. Louisa, the eldest of their children, is deceased, and all of the others are living, namely: Nettie, Emma, Mary, Flora, Oscar, Ida and Minnie, the subject of this review being the only son. Oscar Boulton was reared to the sturdy and invigorating discipline of the home farm and his alert and vigorous mentality prompted in him such ambition that he was not content with the advancement made by avail- ing himself of the advantages of the public schools, but furthered his academic knowledge by attending for one term the normal department of what is now the great Valparaiso University. That he made good use of the opportunities thus afforded him is evidenced by the effective service which he gave as a representative of the pedagogic profession. For eight years he was in active service as a successful and popular teacher in the public schools of his native county and thereafter turned his attention with equal earnestness and circumspection to farm enter- prise, in which he has achieved unequivocal success, his present fine farm of one hundred and eighty-five acres giving definite evidence of thrift and prosperity. In 1917 he purchased a residence in the village of Harlan, where he contemplates making his future home. Mr. Boulton is found aligned as a well-fortified advocate of the principles of the Republican party and takes loyal interest in community affairs, though he has manifested naught of ambition for the honors or emoluments of public office. He attends and supports the Methodist Episcopal church at Grabill, of which his wife is an active member. On April 24, 1890, was recorded the marriage of Mr. Boulton to Miss Isa Burchfield, who likewise was born and reared in this county, a daughter of Joseph and Mary (Safford) Burchfield. Mr. and Mrs. Boulton have no children of their own, but in their home they are carefully rearing an adopted daughter, Julia Hamilton, who accords to them true filial affection.
Jesse W. Bowers, M. D., has fortified himself with that resolute integrity of purpose and that thorough technical preparation which make
80
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
for unequivocal success in the medical profession, and he is recognized as one of the able and representative physicians and surgeons of the younger generation in the city of Fort Wayne, where he has been estab- lished in the general practice of his profession since the summer of 1908 and where his success is on a parity with his unqualified personal popular- ity. Doctor Bowers was born at Van Wert, Ohio, October 15, 1882, and is a son of George W. and Annie E. (Webb) Bowers, who still reside in that attractive little city of the Buckeye state, the father having been for a number of years identified with railroad operations, later having become an exponent of agricultural industry and being now successfully established as an apiarist at Van Wert, as an enthusiast and authority in bee culture and the producing of the finest grade of honey. Doctor . Bowers is indebted to the public schools of his native city for his early educational training, which was supplemented by a course in the Western Ohio Normal School, at Middlepoint, as well as by a thorough course in the Ohio Northern University, at Ada, in which he took a scientific course, as a member of the class of 1901. In preparation for his chosen profession he entered the Eclectic Medical College in the city of Cin- cinnati, this being one of the foremost schools of the Eclectic system in the Union, and in the same he was graduated as a member of the class of 1908 and with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He gained val- uable experience by serving as an interne in Seton Hospital, Cincinnati, prior to his graduation, and on June 3, 1908, he established his residence in Fort Wayne, where his close application and effective service have resulted in his building up a substantial practice. The Doctor is a member of the State Medical Society and the American Medical Asso- ciation, has attained the thirty-second degree in the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite and the York Rite of the Masonic fraternity, besides being affiliated also with the Ancient Arabic Order, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, the Tribe of Ben Hur and the Modern Woodmen of America. On Decem- ber 20, 1903, was recorded the marriage of Doctor Bowers to Miss Alby Beck, daughter of Daniel and Margaret (Rank) Beck, of Van Wert, Ohio, and the two children of this union are: Gah, who was born May 20, 1905, and Ferne, who was born January 9, 1908.
William E. Bowers .- One of the progressive and prosperous younger inen of New Haven, resident there since 1903, is William E. Bowers, pro- prietor of the New Haven Tribune and since 1905 manager of the New Haven Telephone Company. Mr. Bowers was born in Jefferson township, Allen county, Indiana, on February 24, 1874, and is the son of David B. and Lucinda (Lesh) Bowers. The father was born in Mans- field, Ohio, and the mother in Lewisville, Ohio. Mr. Bowers was a farmer, coming with his parents to Allen county in 1848, where they bought a farm, locating in Jefferson township. He later purchased the original tract and also added thereto, carrying on active farming operations until 1911, when he retired and moved to Fort Wayne. He died April 9, 1917. Mrs. Bowers died on the home farm in 1906. She and her husband were members of the Methodist Protestant church and were active workers in the church in the years of their residence in Jefferson township. Their children were seven in number. Alfaretta is the wife of J. F. Hathaway, of Fort Wayne. William E., of this review, was the second born. Harry H. lives in Dayton, Ohio. John E. is a resident of Washington, D. C. Glenola is the wife of Earl Schnitz, of Fort Wayne. Arthur died in infancy and Frances died at the age of seventeen years. William E.
81
FORT WAYNE AND ALLEN COUNTY
Bowers had his education in the schools of Jefferson township, the New Haven and Fort Wayne public schools and the Ohio Normal University at Ada, Ohio, where he took a scientific course. His education finished, he engaged in teaching and for three years was employed in the schools of Jefferson township. He then spent one year in the Marion (Ind.) Law School, after which he taught in the Marion schools for three years and in 1903 came to New Haven and bought the Tribune, which he published successfully until January 1, 1917, when he leased the paper to C. F. Moon. In 1905 he became manager of the Home Telephone Com- pany, of New Haven, and he is now serving as president of the North- eastern Indiana Telephone Association. Mr. Bowers is a Republican in politics, a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and of the New Haven Commercial Club, one of the live organizations of the town. His fraternal relations are confined to identification with the Modern Wood- men of America. He was married on January 15, 1902, to Miss Pearl Allen, the daughter of Hiram and Amanda (Lancaster) Allen, of Marion, Indiana. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Bowers-Arthur and Jeannette, now attending school in their home town.
W. J. Bowker .- See Athenaeum.
Allen A. Bowser is first vice-president of the corporation of S. F. Bowser and Company, manufacturers of oil tanks and pumps and one of the most important manufacturing and commercial enterprises of Fort Wayne. He is a nephew of the sterling and representative citizen whose name gives title to this well-known concern. Mr. Bowser was born in DeKalb county, Indiana, on February 19, 1865, and is a son of Alexander and Laurinda (DeVilbiss) Bowser, the former of whom was born in Allen county, the latter in the state of Ohio. The father, a representative of one of the honored pioneer families of this section of Indiana, who is now living retired in Fort Wayne, followed the carpenters' trade for a long period and developed a substantial business as a contractor and builder. Later he and his son Allen, together with Sylvanus F. Bowser, commenced the business in which he continued until his retirement a few years ago. Allen A. Bowser was a child at the time of the family removal to Fort Wayne, where he acquired his early education in the public schools. At sixteen years of age he began working with his father in the carpenter business and at twenty years they started the making of pumps in a barn at the rear of their home. Since this time Mr. Bowser has been an invaluable aid in the extensive industrial enterprise con- ducted under the incorporated title of S. F. Bowser and Company. His inventive genius has produced many of the ideas of intrinsic value to this company. As first vice-president of this concern he has become an influential figure with secure status as a captain of industry in Fort Wayne. Loyal and progressive in his civic attitude, he is aligned as a stanch supporter of the principles of the Republican party. In 1892 he married Miss Lottie Pierson, who was born and reared in Allen county and who served her community and church nobly until her death in November, 1916. Mr. Bowser himself has served the United Brethren church in many substantial ways, including the superintending of the Sunday school for the past twenty-six years. An only child, Jennie L. Bowser, resides with her father in their beautiful home on East Pontiac Street.
Albert S. Bowser .- Of the younger business men of Fort Wayne, Albert S. Bowser is a most fitting representative. Of unostentatious de-
82
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
meanor, never given to spectacular or pretentious display, Mr. Bowser, in his capacity as secretary of S. F. Bowser & Company and as the manager of the Michigan district in the sales organization of the company, has risen to the best opportunities of his connection with the enterprise founded by his father, S. F. Bowser. He has been actively connected with practically every department of the home office of the concern and is thoroughly acquainted with the details of the immense organization. Mr. Bowser was born in Fort Wayne July 28, 1886, the son of Sylvanus and Sarah F. (Russell) Bowser. A biographical review of S. F. Bowser appears elsewhere in this volume. Albert S. Bowser was educated in the public schools of Fort Wayne, and, following his period in the high school, he entered actively upon his business career with S. F. Bowser & Company, in December, 1906. On the 12th of September, 1907, he was united in marriage with Miss Ida Pearl Kickley, of Fort Wayne. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Bowser-Bon Silene and Albert S., Jr. Mr. Bowser is a member of the Masonic fraternity, including the Mystic Shrine, and actively connected with the Friars Club and the Country Club. His election to the presidency of the Senate Club in 1917 placed him at the head of one of the live organizations of the younger business and professional men of the city, an honor which bespeaks his popularity among his associates. Mr. and Mrs. Bowser are active mem- bers of Plymouth Congregational church.
Sylvanus F. Bowser is a striking example of the stalwart manhood of the middle west-an illustration of the attainment of true success through the application of sterling principles of action. As the head of one of the most widely famed manufacturing institutions of America- one with distribution centers in the capitals of Europe as well as in the chief cities of the United States-his name is known and spoken wherever commercial oils are sold or used. The hundreds of salesmen who tell of the superior merits of the self-measuring oil storage devices manu- factured by S. F. Bowser & Company, Inc., not only give a service of untold worth to millions of purchasers but they also spread abroad the good name of Fort Wayne to every quarter of the civilized world. Mr. Bowser is a man of enthusiasm, far-sightedness and of unbounded energy and capacity for thought and work. With high ideals of his duty toward his fellow men, he has built solidly upon the foundation of real success. His fraternal spirit is reflected throughout the organization of the office, the factory and the sales force. Mr. Bowser is a native of Allen county, of which Fort Wayne is the seat of government. He was born in Perry township August 8, 1854, and is a son of John H. and Eliza (Keiger) Bowser, both of whom were born and reared in Penn- sylvania, where their marriage was solemnized. They became the par- ents of thirteen children, of whom six are deceased. John H. Bowser removed from Pennsylvania to Perry township, Allen county, Indiana, in 1833, and here he developed a valuable farm in the midst of the virgin forests. Here he and his wife resided until the close of their days. Syl- vanus F. Bowser was reared on the home farm and attended the common schools. In 1882 he became a traveling salesman for the wholesale paper house of W. H. Wells and Brother, of Chicago. It was in 1885, while he was still employed by the Wells concern, that there came to him the idea of the self-measuring oil pump which was an entirely new device, the first of its kind and which was destined to revolutionize the oil handling business of the world. From the time the first pump was made,
S.T. Bowser
1.
ASTOR, LEIKA TILDEN FOUNDA
83
FORT WAYNE AND ALLEN COUNTY
Mr. Bowser, through the organization of the company after he had thor- oughly tested his invention, has constantly overcome all difficulties, until to-day the company's managers are recognized the world over as oil storage and handling experts, producing devices for the small user as well as those demanded by the largest and most complete factory or railroad plant. At the time of his discovery Mr. Bowser-as we find by referring to his own story of the business-had been compelled to refrain from hard manual labor, an account of a physical breakdown, and at this time on account of financial difficulties, he deeded his home to a creditor and engaged for his family small living quarters consistent with his meager means. The story of his struggle against ill health and threatened want, coupled with the courage and energy of the future manufacturer, is one of inspiration and hopefulness to every youth into whose life it may come. Referring to the day when things began to take on a new significance, Mr. Bowser says in his little booklet, entitled "A Dream and a Reality": "It was one morning in the early spring of 1885 that I was going out on a five o'clock train, in pursuit of my business as a salesman. Therefore, I arose at four o'clock, and, among other things, I wanted to leave my wife with a good supply of water for the day. The well from which we got our water was about seventy feet deep, and our means for getting it were somewhat primitive, not- withstanding the same is in use now, here and there through the country, and doubtless forever will be. Over the well was built a little house and up in the roof was a big, grooved swivel-wheel over which the long well rope passed so that a bucket could be made fast to each end of it. By letting one bucket down for water, you at the same time would be drawing up the other bucket full of water. The little house over the well was unusually high. It simply had a roof on it and was not enclosed and the well being deep and the night still and very cold, the steam that came out of the well froze on the ropes thus exposed between the mouth of the well and the roof. Therefore, in order to draw water in this manner, this frozen, frost-covered rope had to pass through my hands, and it being a very cold morning, its sting was added to my hands. I took my grip and made the train. I went to Decatur, twenty-two miles south of Fort Wayne; here I got a team of horses and a sleigh and drove to Pleasant Mills, some six miles southeast. From there I drove to Will- shire, Ohio, three and one-half miles farther on. It was on this drive from Pleasant Mills to Willshire that my mind turned to the unpleas- antness of drawing water out of this deep well on a cold morning. My thoughts turned to devising some better way, at which time I saw, as it were, a pump cylinder at the bottom of the well sufficiently large to hold a pail of water, the same being provided with a discharge pipe and a pump rod, similar to our present pump, and so arranged that with one full stroke I could discharge a bucketful of water. This looked good to me, and I thought if it was good and practical, maybe I could work up a little business out of it by manufacturing it for the market. Upon returning home I took it up with my brother, who was an engineer on the Pennsylvania Railroad and lived the second door from me, drawing water from the same well. Neither of us being versed in this kind of business, but my brother having an acquaintanceship with a patent- model maker who was quite well versed in mechanics of this sort, we went down and laid the matter before him. He took out of his drawer a little book which treated of subjects of this kind and showed us
84
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCIIES
therein the great pressure that would be necessary to raise the water to the surface from so deep a well, which convinced us that it was abso- lutely impractical. This settled it, for the moment at least, but when I got out alone and was thinking the matter over, it came to me in almost audible words : 'Why will it not do for oil ? It is never far away.' And as this was going through my mind I could see, as it were, an oil tank sitting in the corner of a grocery and I could see another oil tank sitting beneath, in the corner of the basement of the grocery, and as basements are never very deep I felt sure that my pump would work satisfactorily in either of these tanks. So, in a few days, when my brother was in, I took this proposition up with him. He readily agreed with me that in this case the pump would work entirely satisfactorily, but he sug- gested that everybody was supplied with oil tanks and there would be no market for them. But as my business was selling goods, I did not see it in that way." The narrative goes on to tell of the inventor's securing five orders within the following two days, for his pump, which was as yet a dream. None of these orders were filled until three months later, but from that time forward the Bowser pump grew in popular favor until, as in the case of the year 1916, the sales of S. F. Bowser and Company totaled the splendid sum of six and one-half million dollars. The total number of office and factory employes is about 1,200, while the sales force has an aggregate of 550 men scattered over the civilized world. "A volume coulu be written of the dark and trying times before the idea came to me," says Mr. Bowser, "and two volumes could be written of the times since; but you will observe that had it not been for these trying times and misfortunes, of which I have had many, together with my broken health, I would not have lost my home, I would still be a traveling man and there would have been no 'Bowser pump' to-day." Mr. Bowser has been active for many years in every great movement for the advancement of his fellow men. Daily he is called upon to give his means and his voice to the improvement of the welfare of the people of his own and other communities. Although he is a leader in the conduct of the affairs of the First Baptist Church, his benevolences are widespread. In politics he is a supporter of the principles of the Republican party. On October 11, 1876, Mr. Bowser was united in mar- riage with Miss Sarah F. Russell, who likewise was born and reared in Allen county and who is a daughter of William and Sarah Russell, residents of Fort Wayne at the time of their death. Mr. and Mrs. Bow- ser became the parents of six children, as follows: Harry M., Eva C. (now Mrs. Leland F. Johnson), William Hugh (an invalid), Albert S., Ethelyn V. (now Mrs. Daniel G. Milligan) and Mildred L. Bowser. In honor of an invalid son, Mr. and Mrs. Bowser have erected a beautiful place of worship for the Free Methodist denomination, and the same is known as the Hughie Bowser church, the edifice standing near the extensive plant of S. F. Bowser & Company.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.