The Updegrove-DiMarco Home Page:Information about John Lincoln Bower
MD John Lincoln Bower (b. July 12, 1865, d. December 06, 1955)
Notes for John Lincoln Bower:
[lycofam.ged]
BOWER, JOHN LINCOLN (M.D.), p. 540 [The Historical and Biog raphical History of Berks County, Morton Montgomery, 1909]
John Lincoln Bower, M. D., was born in Amity township, Berk s county, on the Bower homestead, July 12, 1865. The Bowe r homestead is part of a five hundred acre tract of land pu rchased by Otto Earnest Koch from the commissioners of Will iam Penn, by patent bearing the date of June 11. 1705. Thi s property was given and granted by said Otto Earnest Koc h to his son Zacharias by a grant dated the "Thirteenth da y of April in the Fourth year of the Reign of our Sovereig n Lord King George, Anno Dom. 1718" and remained in his pos session until March 10, 1723, when it was acquired by Joh n Waren, who dying without issue, April 24, 1734, bequeathe d 150 acres of said property to his brother Jacob Waren. O n March 10, 1764, 113 acres of this tract of land were sol d by Jacob Waren and his wife Ann to their son Thomas. Thom as Waren or Warren was possessed of additional property, fo r the records show that April 13, 1772, he and his wife Ev a sold 137 acres of land to Moses Bauer (since Anglicized t o Bower) the great-great-great-grandfather of Dr. Bower, fo r a consideration of 480 pounds 7 shillings.
Moses Bower died in 1805, and in a will dated March 14th, o f the same year, he bequeathed his "plantation" in equal sh ares to his only surviving son Michael and his grandson Jac ob, son of Moses Bower, and great-grandfather of Dr. Bower . Michael was to have the lower half and the grandson Jaco b to have the remaining portion of the "plantation." By rea son of these bequests certain cash payments were required t o be made by said Michael and Jacob to the widow and grandc hildren of Moses Bower.
Upon the death of Michael Bower in 1823 the property pa ssed to his son Jacob, who retained possession until Marc h 13, 1839, when it was purchased by Daniel Bower (grandfat her of Dr. Bower) and his brother Jacob H. On April 1. 1847 , Daniel became the sole owner and so remained until Nov. 8 . 1882, when the property was bought by Jacob L. Bower. th e present owner and the father of the subject of this biogr aphical sketch. The farm now consists of 104 acres, compose d largely of the portion bequeathed by Moses Bower to his s on Michael, and lies on both sides of what was formerly kno wn as the Reading and Perkiomen Pike, the main highway fro m Reading to Philadelphia, and is intersected by the Monoca cy Creek. A landmark of the place is a sawmill more tha n a century old, operated by water power supplied by the Mo nocacy Creek and is widely known as Bower's saw mill. The o riginal structure stands today, and the mill is still in us e. Many Indian relics have been found on the farm, bearin g mute testimony that prior to the coming of the white pion eer, this must have been a favored locality for the Red Man.
The great-great-great-grandfather of Dr. Bower, Moses B auer, or Bower as the name is now spelled, and his wife Cat harine and four children: Michael, John, Moses and Albrech t - were the first of this family to come to America. and c ame from Germany, landing in Philadelphia, Sept. 10, 1753 . Moses Bower died in 1805, and was survived by his wife, o ne son Michael and twenty-nine grandchildren. He was interr ed in the old graveyard at Amityville.
The great-great-grandfather, Moses, was the third son o f his father Moses. He was twice married, and was the fathe r of nine children: Jacob. Elizabeth, Moses, George, Daniel , Samuel, David, John and Michael.
Jacob Bower, the great-grandfather, was born Oct. 16, 1 781, and was the eldest child of Moses and Barbara (Frederi ck) Bower. He was married to Susanna Happel who died Dec. 2 8, 1854. They had ten children, Daniel, John, Jacob H., Wil liam, Elizabeth, m. William Updegrove, Hannah, m. Jacob Moy er, Mary Ann, m. Benjamin Rhoads, Catharine, m. David Schee tz, and Susanna and Samuel who died in early life.
Daniel Bower, his grandfather, was born Oct. 17. 1807 , in Amity township, and died March 30, 1894. He married El izabeth Matilda Lewis, of Robeson township, who died Jan. 1 3, 1868, aged fifty-seven years. They are buried in St. Joh n's Church Yard, in Robeson township. There were seven chil dren born to them as follows: Catharine, deceased, m. to Jo hn W. Hartranft; Jacob L.; Samuel L, deceased; Justina, liv ing in Birdsboro; Lewis A., of Wilmington, Del.; Susan M. . widow of William R. Potts, Birdsboro, Pa.; and John N., B irdsboro, Pennsylvania.
Jacob L. Bower, father of Dr. Bower was born Nov. 23, 1 834, in Robeson township. He resides on the old homestead . Mr. Bower for many years conducted the farm and sawmill w ith unusual success, but for some years he has lived retire d. Some years ago, Mr. Bower served his township as schoo l director. He is a solid substantial and progressive man , and has always endeavored to live up to his high ideals o f good citizenship. On November 4, 1860. he married Sarah B abb, daughter of the late John and Mary (DeHart) Babb, of A lsace township. They had these children, and all survive: D r. Elmer E., a dentist of Camden N. J.; Emma; Dr. John L. a nd Mary S.
Dr. Bower attended the public schools of his district a nd this was supplemented by several terms at the Amityvill e Seminary, following which he taught his home school, Leop ard No. 4, for one term. He was graduated from the Jefferso n Medical College in 1898, and became a resident physicia n at the Philadelphia Hospital, and remained there for a li ttle more than fifteen months. After this he entered the se rvice of the Pennsylvania Railroad Co. and is one of its ol dest medical examiners, having been located in Reading sinc e Oct. 15, 1892.
Dr. Bower is a member of the Berkshire Country Club, th e Wyomissing Club, the Union League of Philadelphia, and th e Pennsylvania German Society. Professionally he is a membe r of the Reading Medical Association, the Berks County Medi cal Society, the Medical Society of the State of Pennsylvan ia, The American Medical Association and is a member of th e Medical Staff of the Reading Hospital.
{1870-PA-BERKS-Amity-051A-194-217-05}
{1880-PA-BERKS-Amity-043A-110-127-04}
More About John Lincoln Bower:
Burial: December 1955, Robeson Twp, Berks Co, PA.389
Census 1: July 14, 1870, Amity Twp, Berks Co, PA; Census: 1870.389
Census 2: June 09, 1880, Amity Twp, Berks Co, PA; Census: 1880.389
Record Change: January 11, 2004389