MOWER, William H.

History of Northern Wisconsin. Chicago: Western Historical, 1881, p 170

William H. MOWER, merchant and farmer, Gilmanton [Buffalo County, Wisconsin], 
was born in 1844 in Walworth County [then the Territory of Wisconsin, the 
State created 29 May 1848] and in 1856 went to Eau Claire [Eau Claire County 
created in 1856 from part of Chippewa County] with his father, who was 
engaged in the lumber business. Although only a boy, William H. MOWER drove 
the first stake in surveying the city of Eau Claire, and also ran the first 
ferry boat across the Chippewa River at that point. In 1861 he enlisted in 
the late war, in Company G, Sixteenth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, serving 
until August 1865. [The Civil War began on 12 April 1861 and officially 
ended 09 April 1865.]

In 1880 he [William H. MOWER] was married to the widow of D. C. LOOMIS, of 
Gilmanton. [Gilmanton was first called Mann's Mills, and later Loomis. The 
history of Buffalo County states that among the earliest settlers of 
Gilmanton were William LOOMIS, Daniel LOOMIS, and A. P. LOOMIS, who located 
there in 1856. Was Gilmanton named after one or all of them? Is there a 
connection between any of these and the deceased D. C. LOOMIS? D. C. LOOMIS 
was probably not the Daniel who came in 1856, since the history goes on to 
say that D. C. and D. D. LOOMIS were among the settlers who came to Gilmanton 
in 1857. Were D. C. and D. D. LOOMIS related? Were they related to A. P., 
William, and Daniel?]

[Since William H. MOYER would have been thirty-eight when he married the 
widow LOOMIS, was she his second wife? According to the biography, William 
H. MOWER and the widow LOOMIS were married in 1880, the same year a federal 
census was taken. Were they married before or after the census was taken? 
In the 1880 enumeration of Dover Township, Buffalo County, Wisconsin, is the 
household of J. P. MOWER, sixty-five, widower, farmer, born in New York (from 
his age about 1815), to parents also born in New York. Residing with him is 
his son, William MOWER, thirty-eight, born in Wisconsin (from his census age 
about 1842), to parents both born in New York. The biography states William 
H. MOWER was born in 1844 in Wisconsin. Are William H. of the 1881 biography 
and William of the 1880 census one in the same? If so, then the widow LOOMIS 
and William H. MOWER would likely be found in separate households in 1880 
census records.]

[Also listed in the J. P. MOWER household are: Art MOWER, twenty-three, son 
of J. P., farmer, born in Wisconsin (about 1857) to parents born in New York; 
Martha MOWER, also twenty-three, daughter-in-law of J. P., married, keeping 
house, born in Wisconsin (about 1857), who is probably Art's wife; Nellie 
MOWER, twelve, granddaughter of J. P., born in Wisconsin (about 1862) to 
parents both born in Wisconsin; Pearl E. MOWER, three, granddaughter of J. 
P., born (about 1877) to Wisconsin-born parents; and Charles MOWER, six 
months, grandson of J. P., born in Wisconsin to parents also born in 
Wisconsin. The parents of these three grandchildren are likely Art and 
Martha MOWER. Bracketed material added by submitter (who is not researching 
these surnames) to support and clarify information given in the biography and 
to raise questions.]

Submitted by Cathy Kubly