Thomas S. Bowker, BiographyPorter County biographical sketches . . . .
Transcribed biography of Thomas S. Bowker
THOMAS S. BOWKER, the fourth child of Michael and Hester (Richardson) Bowker, was born in New Jersey January 12, 1820. When about two years of age, his parents moved to Warren County, Ohio, where he attended school and worked on the farm until 1836, when the family moved to St. Joseph County, Ind., and bought and cleared up a farm. In 1845, Mr. Bowker came to this county, and went to farming on rented land. December 26, 1847, he married Miss Mary Smith, daughter of John H. and Maria Smith, who came to this county in 1838, from Richland County, Ohio. Mrs. Bowker bore her husband one child, Sarah L., born February 7, 1849, and now the wife of William L. Sawyer. In 1853, Mr. Bowker purchased forty acres of unimproved land and some years later added eighty acres more; he died April 7, 1880 of cancer of the eye, from which he suffered greatly for seventeen years; he willed his farm to his wife, who has it rented out. She resides with her son-in-law, William L., son of James S. and Polly E. (Ellsworth) Sawyer, and born in this township July 17, 1842. Mr. Sawyer bought his land in 1866, with money saved from his earnings as a farm hand, and he has now a fine farm, with a good two-story frame dwelling and every convenience and appliance of comfort about him; he is a member of the Christian church, and in politics is a Republican.
Source: Goodspeed, Weston A., and Charles Blanchard. 1882. Counties of Porter and Lake, Indiana: Historical and Biographical, Illustrated. Chicago, Illinois: F. A. Battey & Company. 771 p.
Page(s) in Source: 378-379
This biography has been transcribed exactly as it was originally published in the source. Please note that we do not provide photocopies or digital scans of biographies appearing on this website.
Biography transcribed by Steven R. Shook