Notes:

OBITUARY - dtg. March 1994, Bellefontaine, Logan County, Oh
io.

MABLE FLORENCE GRAHAM - Pastors Preston Van Deursen and David Moreland
will conduct services for Mable Florence Graham, formerly of 209 Miami, at 11
a.m. Tuesday at the First Lutheran Church. She died at 12:05 a.m. Saturday,
March 26, 1994, at Heartland of Bellefontaine at the age of 78.
Mrs. Graham was born Dec. 16, 1915, in Logan County, a daughter of
Fred and Florence Tilton Sowers, and married Gorden Graham in Rushsylvania on
May 25, 1941. He preceded her in death Dec. 14, 1971.
Surviving are a son, William Graham of New Philadelphia; one daughter,
Mrs. Max (Marjorie) Bixler of Bellefontaine; a brother, John Sowers, also of
Bellefontaine; one sister, Mildred Allender of Springfield, and three
grandchildren.
Mrs. Graham taught school in Zanesfield, Belle Center and Riverside,
and retired from Bellefontaine in 1979 after 29 years of teaching. She was a
graduate of Bowling Green State University, and was a member of the First
Lutheran Church and its Charity Circle, Delta Gamma Gamma, Mary Rutan Hospital
Guild I, Bellefontaine Women's Club, the Logan County Retired Teachers
Association and the Agrarian Club.
Calling hours are from 6 to 9 p.m. today at the Eichholtz Funeral
Home, and one hour prior to services Tuesday at the church. Interment will be
in Zanesfield Cemetery.
Memorial contributions may be directed to the Organ Fund or Bell Choir
Fund of her church.



MABEL GRAHAM
SSN 275-46-0782 Residence: 43311 Bellefontaine, Logan, OH
Born 16 Dec 1915 Last Benefit:
Died 26 Mar 1994 Issued: OH (1964)

Mabel married Gorden Wilson Graham on 25 May 1941 in Rushylvania, Logan County OH. Gorden was born on 27 Feb 1913 in Belleville, Mifflin County PA; died on 14 Dec 1975 in Bellefontaine, Logan County OH; was buried on 17 Dec 1975 in Zanesfield, Logan County OH. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Married:
The entry in the society page of the Examiner reads as follows:

The wedding of Miss Mabel Sowers, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Sowers, and Gorden Graham, son of S. H. Graham, was solemnized Sunday at 8:45a.m. at the Church of Christ in Rushylvania.

Rev. Herbert Graham, of Rushsylvania, a brother of the groom was the officiating minister. Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Weeks, who reside south of Bellefontaine, attended the couple.

Preceding the ceremony, Miss Martha Hughes, of Rushsylvania, played several organ elections, "This Day," "Oh Perfect Love," and the Lohengrin Wedding March. As the chords of the triumphal wedding march were struck the bride and Mrs. Weeks walke d toward the altar from one side of the church and at the same time the groom and Mr. Weeks approached the altar by another aisle.

The bride was lovely in a light blue street-length costume. Her accessories were in white. Her corsage bouquet was of pink roses, sweet peas, and a gardenia.

Only the members of the two families and a few close friends were present. The bride has been the teacher of commercial work at the New Madison school until recently. The groom is associated with the Hillcrest Dairy, east of Bellefontaine.

Mr. Graham and his bride left by motor soon after the ceremony on a honeymoon trip to the Smoky Mountains. Upon return they will reside on a farm east of this city.

1. Marjorie Ann Graham
2. William Gorden Graham

Notes:

1900 Census, Ohio, Vol. 92, E.D. 114, Sheet 14, Line 65, Liberty twsp., Logan County, has Fred J. living with parents, age 8.

1910 Census, Ohio, 110-0134-0107, Logan County, has Fred living with parents, age 18.

1920 Census, Ohio, Vol. 123, E.D. 195, Sheet 3, Line 8, Logan County, has Fred J. living with wife Florence M. and two daughters, Mable F., and Mildred I.

Obituary - Bellefontaine Examiner, dtg October 20, 1980, Bellefontaine, Logan County, Ohio.

FRED JOHN SOWERS - BELLEFONTAINE - Fred John Sowers, 88, of 1104 Erie St., died in Mary Rutan Hospital at 12:55 a.m. Sunday following several days of illness.
A retired farmer, he was born in Liberty Township, Logan County, on March 16, 1892, a son of John and Mary Crowl Sowers. He was a member of the First United Church of Christ in West Liberty.
He married the former Florence Tilton at West Liberty on Feb. 14, 1914. She died on Oct. 18, 1972.
Survivors include a son, John F. of Bellefontaine; two daughters, Mrs. Gorden (Mable) Graham of Bellefontaine and Mrs. Wilbur (Mildred) Allender of Springfield; one sister, Lulu Hartman of Urbana; seven grandchildren; and five great-grandch
Services will be held Wednesday at 2 p.m. in the Eichholtz Funeral Home, Bellefontaine, by the Rev. Tom Marlin, pastor of the United Church of Christ in West Liberty. Burial will be in the West Liberty Cemetery.
Friends may call at the funeral home Tuesday from 2 to 4 and from 7 to 9 p.m


The Farm Journal Directory of Logan County for 1916, found in the Logan County Library states that Fred abd Florence Sowers were tenants on a 106 acre farm in Union Twp. Logan County Ohio. They had 4 horses and 35 cows. Mabel is not listed alt hough she was born in 1915. They had a telephone.

Fred married Florence Mabel Tilton on 14 Feb 1914 in West Liberty, Ohio. Florence was born on 28 Jul 1891 in Casstown, Indiana; died on 18 Oct 1972 in Bellefontaine, Ohio -Latham Care Center; was buried in West Liberty Cemetery. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Florence Tilton Sowers graduated from Bellefontaine High School in 1909. The June 8, 1909 edition of the Bellefontaine Examiner lists her as a graduate. She stayed in Bellefontaine during the week with an uncle and aunt Milton and Jennie M nle she attended high school. After graduation, Mabel thinks she took a Patterson exam to qualify as a teacher. She taught school in a one-room school located somewhere on what is now Ludlow Road south of Bellefontaine.


Obituary, Florence Tilton Sowers, Bellefontaine Examiner, dtg. October 19, 1972.
MRS. FRED SOWERS
The death of Mrs. Fred (Florence Mabel) Sowers, 81, 1104 Erie Street, occurred at 10:25 p.m. Wednesday at the Latham Care Center, Inc. where she had been a patient since 1971. Death followed a long illness.
Mrs. Sowers was born in Casstown, Ind. July 28, 1891, a daughter of John W. and Rosanna Henderson Tilton. She was a member of the United Church of Christ in West Liberty.
On Feb. 14, 1914, the deceased was married in West Liberty, to Mr. Sowers who survives with a son, John F. Sowers, R. 4 Bellefontaine; two daughters, Mrs. Gorden (Mabel) Graham, R. 1 Bellefontaine, and Mrs. Wilbur (Mildred) Allender, Springfield , seven grandchildren and two great grandchildren, and a brother, George Tilton, R. 2 Huntsville. Three brothers and one sister are dead.
Funeral services in charge of Rev. Milton Sumerel, will be conducted Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Eicholtz funeral home and burial will follow in Fairview cemetery, West Liberty.
Friends may call at the funeral home from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. Friday.

Notes:

The picture in the scrapbook shows 4 generations starting with John Fred Sowers. The back row is Richard Allender being held by Mildred Allender, John Sowers (son of Fred and Florence), and William Graham being held by Mabel Graham. The ft w is Florence Sowers, Barbara Allender, John Sowers, Marjorie Graham and Fred Sowers.

Marjorie Graham remembers that John Fred Sowers gave his great-grandchildren pennies. He lived into his 90's. She remembers him staying at her house when she was a child and sitting on the front porch.


Notes from Mabel Sowers Graham say that he did not like the name John King and changed it so that he went by John W. Sowers all is life. He moved to Clark County, Ohio, when he was a child and to Liberty Township, Logan County, in 1884.


An article about John Sowers is found in Memoirs of the Miami Valley, Vol. III Biographical is found at the Logan County District Library (G 977.14 M533). The article is as follows;

The entire career of John Sowers, of Liberty township, has been devoted to the vocations of farming and stock-raising, and during the past 28 years he has occupied his present property of 150 acres. He is a native of Grant county, Ind., born Ju ne 23, 1861, a son of Samuel and Mary (King) Sowers, natives of Clark County, Ohio. The parents, after their marriage, moved to Grant County, Indiana, but in 1865 returned to Clark County, and about 1885 came to Logan County where they made the ir home until their deaths. They followed the peaceful pursuits of agriculture, and won the esteem and respect of their fellow-citizens by their honorable lives. Mr. and Mrs. Sowers were the parents of nine children, of whom five are living : Edward, Elmer, Grant, John and Laura. John Sowers secured his education in the public schools of Champaign County where his parents had moved when he was about seven years of age, and after leaving school, remained with his father on the hom e place until 1892. In that year he rented his present property, a tract of 150 acres on which he has operated for a period of 28 years. Mr. Sowers has met with success, both in general farming and stock raising, and has 45 acres in corn, feed ing his grain to his 40 head of hogs. Mr. Sowers was married May 18, 1887 to Mary Crowl, who was born in Champaign County, Ohio, October 7, 1862, daughter of William and Ann (Mc Caughey) Crowl, and to this union there have been born two childre n; Lulu, who married Oscar Hartman and had two children, Muriel and Grace Marie: and Fred, who married Florence Tilton and has two children, Mabel and Mildred. William Crowl was born in Washington County, Maryland, whence he moved to Urbana Ohi o. There he married Ann McCaughey, who was born in Washington County, Indiana, and they settled on a farm in Champaign County where they passed the remainder of their lives. Mrs. Sowers was their only child. Mr. and Mrs. Sowers are consisten t members of the Presbyterian Church. In politics he is Republican, and his service to his community have included official work as a member of the school board.

The Farm Journal Directory of Logan County, 1916, found at the Logan County Library, states that John W. and Mary E. Sowers are the tenants of a 150 acre farm on R4 West Liberty. It states they have two children, but son, Fred, had moved away . They had 4 horses and 35 cows. They had a telephone.

1910 Census for Liberty Township, Logan County Ohio, lists John Sowers as head on the family, living with his wife Mary, son Fred, daughter, Lulu, and brother Elmer. John and Elmer were both born in Indiana; everyone else born in Ohio. John'so ccupation was listed as general farmer and Lulu's occupation was listed as seamstress.

John married Mary Eliza Crowl on 18 May 1887 in Springhills Presbyterian Church, Champaign County OH. Mary was born on 7 Oct 1862 in Harrison Township, Champaign County, OH; died on 14 Aug 1947 in Near West Liberty, Logan County OH; was buried in Fairview Cemetery, West Liberty, Logan County OH. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Mary Eliza Crowl was the daughter of _____Crowl. He had five wives and outlived all but the last. Mary Eliza was the only child of the fourth wife. He had a half-brother, Allen Crowl, who I knew, that lived around West Liberty. I thinko f te Crowl's are buried in the cemetery at Springhills south of DeGraff. (information taken from notes of Mabel Sowers Graham)

Obituary taken from Bellefontaine Examiner, dtg. August 14, 1947
MRS. JOHN W. SOWERS DIES
Liberty Township Woman Was Native of Champaign County
Mrs. Mary Eliza Sowers, 84, wife of John W. Sowers, died at 2:30 a.m. Thursday at her residence in Liberty Township, near South Union Church. Death was due to a cerebral hemorrhage which followed a seven week illness.
Mrs. Sowers was born Oct. 7, 1862 in Harrison township, Champaign county, a daughter of William and Ann McCaughey Crowl. At an early age she joined the Springhill Presbyterian Church and was a member the remainder of her life.
In addition to her husband, survivors include a daughter, Mrs. Lulu M. Hartman, R. F. D. 1, Springfield; a son Fred J. Sowers, Bellefontaine, six grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren; two half-brothers, Samuel L. Crowl of Toledo, and All,st Liberty, and a half-sister, Mrs. Lizzie Rouse, North Hampton.
Friends may call at the Troyer-Lynn Funeral Home, West Liberty, where services will be held Saturday at 2 p.m. in charge of Rev. Robert E. Wearly. Burial will be made in Fairview cemetery, West Liberty.

Notes:

Notes for SAMUEL SOWERS:
1850 Census, Ohio, German twsp., Clark County, Page 46B, Dw
elling 633, has Samuel living with his mother, age 24.

1860 Census, Indiana, Richland twsp., Grant County, page 359, dwelling # 826, has Samuel listed with wife Mary, sons Granville and Edward; a daughter Laura. Also in the same household was a Martin Sowers, age 16, born in Ohio. Relationship to Sa muel unknown.

1870 Census, Ohio, Brown twsp., Miami County, Dwelling 306, Page 265B, has Samuel Sour living with wife Mary E.; one daughter, Laura E.; four sons, Edward, John, Elmer and Grant.

1880 Census, Ohio, Harrison Twp. Champaign County 2-2-21, 13-13
Samuel Sower 54 M OH VA VA
Mary E. 53 M OH MD OH
Edward E. 22M OH OH OH
Laura E. 20 F IN OH OH
John K. 18 M IN OH OH
Elmer E. 16 M IN OH OH
Ulysses G. 12 M IN OH OH


Death Notice, West Liberty Banner, dtg. October 1, 1891
DEATH OF SAMUEL SOWER
Mr. Samuel Sower, a well known farmer, who resided on the Forsyth farm north of town, died Tuesday, September 29, 1891, about noon, after an illness of over three weeks with typhoid fever. He was about 65 years of age.
The funeral services will be held at the M. E. church in this place, Thursday, at 2 p. m. conducted by Rev. John. I. Hillman.

Obituary, West Liberty Banner, dtg. October 8, 1891
Samuel Sower was born near Springfield,Clark county, Ohio, January 31, 1826, and died at his home near West Liberty, Logan county, Ohio, September 29, 1891, after an illness of about three weeks. Typhoid fever was the immediate cause of is d
On January 2, 1851, he was married to Miss Mary E. King, of Tremont City, who still lives to mourn the loss of him who had been her companion for more than forty years. Nine children were born of this union; four sons and one daughter remaiheir mother.
Mr. Sower had been a farmer most of his life, and his integrity was unquestioned by all who knew him. In 18?? he was converted and joined the Methodist Episcopal church. That bright experience never faded from his memory and he loved to re of his conversion. For a number of years he held the important position of class leader and was a zealous worker in the cause of Christ. Of late years his infirmities prevented the activities of former years, but he never lost interest i n the church and the consciousness of Christ's presence and power. As his pastor I visited him a few hours before he died. His face would brighten as I tried to talk to him of his Savior and the promises of God. He assured me that all was wel l and just before I left, with considerable effort he exclaimed, "Precious Jesus." It seemed as if he wanted to give one more testimony to the saving power of Christ. "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord."
J. I. H.


Death book 2 p. 324 for Logan County records the death of Samuel as October 29, 1891, but I believe that is wrong as I found two obituaries for September 29, 1891.

Samuel married Mary Ellen King on 2 Jan 1851 in Tremont, Ohio. Mary (daughter of John King and Susannah Rhodes) was born on 17 Aug 1826 in Tremont, Clark County, Ohio; died on 27 Dec 1893 in West Liberty, Logan County, Ohio; was buried in West Liberty, Logan County, Ohio. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

1850 Census, Ohio, German twsp., Clark County, Page 30B, Dwelling 405, has Mary living with her parents, age 22.
John King 52 MD, shoemaker, Susan 44 OH, Mary 22 OH, Elizabeth 20, James 19, William 17, Oliver 14, Matthew 12, Lutetia 10, Thomas 8, Sarah J. 6, Harriet 4


OBITUARY - West Liberty Banner, dtg. Thursday January 4, 1894, West Liberty, Logan County, Ohio.

DEATH - MARY E. KING was born August 17, 1826, near Tremont, Ohio, and died at her home near West Liberty, Dec. 27, 1893, aged 67 years, 4 months and 10 days.
She united with the M.E. church in 1845, being a member for nearly forty-nine years. She was married to SAMUEL SOWER, Jan. 2, 1851, at Tremont. Of this union, nine children were born, eight sons and one daughter. The husband and four soner world, leaving four sons and the daughter, and a large number of friends and relatives to sincerely mourn her death.
Funeral services were conducted at South Union church by Rev. Swank, on Friday, and the body was laid to rest in Fairview Cemetery.

Notes:

Married:
The marriage record for Samuel Sour is found on p. 241 of V
ol. 3 of the Clark county marriage records.

They applied for marriage on Dec. 28, 1850 as Sam'l Sour and Sarah Ellen King. The official certificate of marriage gives the correct name of Mary Ellen King. They were married by Rev. Jesse Goddard, minister of the M. E. church.