introduction to politics

Ok - on this night of the 1st Presidential Debate, I was reminded of this inclusion in the Bangor Daily News when I was a cute 3 years old. I note I was with my mother - hmmm - is that because I was a mommy's boy or just because she has more liberal leanings than dad? Anyway, I learned well.

Oh, and by the way, nice socks mom!

mower pleads guilty - shot his wife

I discovered this interesting piece of family history last night while i was surfing around old newspaper sites. It concerns Walter Jabez Mower - he being my my 2nd cousin 3 times removed, his great grandparents being John and Elisabeth (Edwards) Mower. John you may recall from a couple posts back is one of my Revolutionary War ancestors.

First I found The North Adams Transcript of 21 Feb 1899 reporting the following:

Somerville, Mass., Feb. 21. - While temporarily deranged, owing to a severe attack of the grip, Walter Mower of this city shot his wife in the right breast yesterday. The chances are in favor of her recovery. Mower, it is said, has been partly insane for a days [sic] or two, and imagined that there was an attempt being made to send him to an insane hospital. He became more violent yesterday and procured the weapon with which he attempted to kill his wife.

Further surfing brought up an article in the 22 Feb 1899 issue of the Boston Daily Advertiser:

MOWER PLEADS GUILTY

Walter Mower, who shot his wife at their home, 82 Marshall st., Somerville, Monday afternoon, was arraigned in the district court yesterday. Mower pleaded guilty to assault with intent to kill his wife, Addie Mower. His bearing was calm and he appeared very much at ease, no trace of nervousness over his position being apparent. He was held by Judge Story in $5000 to appear before the June grand jury. Being unable to furnish the required bonds, Mower was driven in a hack to the East Cambridge jail. While lodged in the Somerville police station Mower's only request was that he be allowed more air. He was taken into a corridor by an officer and allowed to stand for some time near an open window. For this he seemed very grateful. His bearing throughout has been calm and dignified, as though he was totally unaware of the enormity of his offence.

Mrs. Mower is resting at her home in Marshall st. as comfortably as could be expected. Her physicians say that she will probably recover. Dr. Merrill, the family physician, is in attendance. The bullet which lodged in her neck has been removed safely. Dr. Bell will undertake the removal of the ball under her right shoulder blade. With the bullets removed it is believed her recovery will be a matter of but a few weeks. The operation for the removal of the second bullet will be done with the X-ray to locate the ball.

The Mowers have lived six years an ideal married life. The death of their first-born son two years ago brought them even more closely together. The fact that Mrs. Mower would say nothing as to who her assailant was when questioned in the grocery store Monday was proof of her deep affection for her husband. The Meserves, the wife's family, believe implicity [sic] in Mower's insanity, and yesterday Capt. Perry, the prosecuting officer in the case, was kept busy answering their questions regarding the condition and wishes of the prisoner. For several years the Mowers have lived $5000 a year beyond their income. His health also for the last six months has been very poor. Insanity is known to exist in the family, and only so recently as last Saturday he said to his wife and Mrs. Meserve that he felt at times as though an asylum would be the best and safest place for him.

.

Very interesting!

Well, not quite sure where all the insanity is in the Mower line, but I'm always open to finding more.... maybe that makes me a tad insane ???

it's field hockey season...

Congratulations!

Melissa

Bangor High School

Varsity Field Hockey

....a goalie of course!

Best wishes for a great season

john mower's revolutionary war trunk

Mom, Melissa, Dale & Dad outside the Monson Historical Society

Today, August 9th, 2008, the trek was finally made to the Monson Historical Society. Genealogical friend Tootie Bennett had kindly informed me a couple years ago that included in the society's holdings was the trunk that John Mower had taken with him into service during the Revolutionary War. The trunk featured his initials tacked onto the top of the trunk. So Patti, Melissa and I picked up my Mom & Dad and off we went.

Trunk of John Mower, Revolutionary War Soldier

Grandfather of Sophia Parker Pullen

Donated by Genevieve Beckwith

Sophia Parker was the daughter of Ireson & Pamelia (Mower) Parker, born in Greene on 2 Dec 1821. She married on 8 Mar 1841 Horace Pullen of Monson.

I'm descended through Pamelia Mower's brother, Martin.

I encourage all of John Mower's descendant's to make the pilgrimage to Monson to see this trunk in real life.

photo: chub

This photo is from an old album that belonged to my grandmother, Harriet Elizabeth (Vickery) Mower. It is a photo of her horse, Chub.

martin mower's thoughts on stock feeding

Here's an editorial written by Martin Mower in 1851 that appeared in the Bangor Daily Whig & Courier.

Stock Feeding

We have several times alluded to the improvements and experiments of Martin Mower, Esq., of this city, in his farmer operations. One thing is certain and obvious, that from some cause his farm makes a much better appearance than formerly, and is also much more profitable.

The following statement of his, relative to his method of feeding stock, will doubtless be interesting to our agricultural readers, and perhaps suggest to them some improvements:

"I have raised, the last season, one thousand bu. English rutabaga turnips at a cost satisfactory, and placed them in a cellar so constructed and ventilated as to keep them in perfect good order, at one end of which there is a cooking apartment where I have set a potash kettle covered steam-tight, which holds four bushels of turnips. To cook the turnips I add to them two pails of water, fetch them to a boil, and then close the furnace door. The following morning they are thoroughly cooked, and are then put into a half hogshead tub with one pint of salt, and mashed to the consistence and appearance of pumpkin prepared to put into past for pies. In this state they are given hot to twelve cows and a horse and devoured voraciously. In addition to this I give them as much straw and coarse hay as they will eat clean.

I give this, not as a result, but to elicit the views of your correspondents in conducting an experiment to a favorable result.

I ought to have said that the steam is carried some forty feet through a wooden pipe and condensed in the fodder, in the middle of the barn floor.

MARTIN MOWER

....................

SOURCE: Bangor Daily Whig & Courier, Bangor, Maine, 27 Jan 1851

thoughts of manure by martin mower

Well, it seems our distinguished ancestor, Martin Mower, was a strong proponent of cooking manures as illustrated in this article which appeared in the Bangor Daily Whig & Courier back in 1850.

There is very little excuse now for farmers being ignorant of any of the essential scientific or practical information regarding their great art. They have only to attend to the current reading of the day, as to matters respecting agriculture to keep up with the improvements that are made. The press is teeming with matter of the deepest importance to farmers, and much of it a genuine practical character., unfolding in an easy manner the principles of science adapted to the culture of the earth, and making familiar the great laws of nature having relations to the agricultural art. Among these publications is a beautiful volume published by Messrs. LEONARD SCOTT & Co., of New York, which contains the lectures delivered before the New York State Agricultural Society and the mebers [sic] of the Legislature of New York during the last winter. The subjects of which they treat are the relations to practical agriculture of physical geography, geology and minerology [sic] , meterology [sic] and chemistry, with the means by which general scientific knowledge may be diffused and made available for the improvement of agriculture and the general elevation of the agricultural classes. They were received with great favor at the time of each delivery, and are now collected into a volume with the view of subserving the interests both of agriculture and science. They present in a lucid manner the results of recent scientific investigation, and throw much light on the rationale of many of the operations of husbandry.
These enterprising publishers are now issuing that great work, to which we have repeatedly called attention, "The Farmer's Guide to Scientific and Practical Agriculture," by Henry Stephens of England, and John P. Norton, Professor of Scientific Agriculture in Yale College.
The Working Farmer, a monthly publication by Professor Mapes, is a work of great merit, particularly upon the all important subject of manures and the cooking of manures, a matter which is not sufficiently understood and attended to even by those who can appreciate the value of manures in farming.
In the remarks of Capt. Martin Mower of this city, at the Penobscot Agricultural Show, there was a great fund of valuable practical information upon this subject of cooking manures, which we fear was not fully understood and appreciated. The speaker endeavored to give the why and the how and in this order. It would have been better in a popular audience, such as was there assembled, to have given distinctly and consecutively the how and have left the why for another occasion, or for a brief suming [sic] up. One fact he stated of much interest, that by his method of cooking manure he had no difficulty in reducing bones in one year to an impalpable powder, thoroughly mixed with his compost or held in his liquid manure. There can be no doubt, we think, that even with his imperfect and somewhat clumsy manner of treating his compost manure, he derives very great advantage in his soil. We have seen full evidence of this in an examination of his fields and his crops. He has the true idea about the necessity of cooking manures, and he will be able to by and by, with his improvements, to bring the labor of the processes into better shape. The compost heap made of muck, leaves, saw dust, stable manure, offal and other organic matters, should be frequently saturated with a liquid of lime slacked with salt water, plaster, soot, ashes, charcoal dust, night soil, urine, soap suds, and all the wast liquid made in a dwelling, spent lye of soap, &e. This liquid passing through the heap, not only imparts virtue to the materials in the heap, but insures entire decomposition of the whole. The compost thus made and frequently turned over, becomes fit food or plants and performs the double office of decomposing other substances in the soil and rendering them useful, which otherwise would remain for a long time inert without such treatment.
But we cannot pursue this subject further now, and have only thrown out these hints and suggestions to call attention to some of the matters which should engage the earnest attention of all who would be successful farmers.
....................
SOURCE: Bangor Daily Whig & Courier, Bangor, Maine, 22 Oct 1850

farms of martin mower and james parker

Here's a newspaper article I recently uncovered from 1853 that refers to two of my 3rd-great-grandfathers, Martin Mower and James Parker. In addition, I believe the E. H. Gibbs included would be Ebenezer H. Gibbs, brother of my 2nd-great-grandmother, Betsey (Gibbs) Vickery.

Report on Farms

To the Trustees of the Penobscot Agricultural Society

The Committee appointed to examine Farms entered for the Society's premium for the year 1853, having attended to that duty would beg leave to report: That the whole number of farms entered were five, by the following persons, by Martin Mower of Bangor, E. H. Gibbs, Lowell Marston, and James Parker of Glenburn; and E. F. Crane of Kenduskeag.

In the examination of these farms, your committee were much gratified, in finding them in a prosperous and flourishing condition, not withstanding the last three successive dry seasons, that have exerted such an unfavorable influence on farming operations.

The first farm examined was that of E. F. Crane, containing about 110 acres of land, and about 70 under improvement; that is, to mowing, pasturing and tillage. The crops on this farm, excepting the hay crop, the convenience of buildings, the privilege of and convenience of water for the house and barns; the orchard and the improved breed of swine, were equal and perhaps superior to any other examined.

The second farm examined was that of Martin Mower, containing 100 acres of land. The soil of this farm is of a very superior character, and in all parts of it, very similar. It is capable of making one of the best of farms, as doubtless it will under the control and management of Mr. Mower, its owner; who being well versed in agricultural science, makes this knowledge available to practical purposes of agriculture. In manufacturing manure, Mr. Mower has few equals and less superiors.

The hay crop on this farm was tolerably good, and the turnip crop very superior.

The third farm examined was that of E. H. Gibbs, containing 125 acres of land, principally to mowing and pasturing. His barn was well filled with hay. On this farm which but a few years ago was grown up to bushes, unproductive and comparatively in a state of barrenness, now, by his energy and perseverance, has the appearance of neatness and thrift.

The fourth farm examined was that of Dr. Lowell Marston, containing 125 acres, mostly improved. This farm deserves particular attention. It consists of a variety of soils, which for descriptive purposes we will divide into high land, low land, and meadow land. The high land is used for pasturing. The lower land is laid up into sinks or beds, with an even curve, resembling a turnpike, and thirty six feet wide. This portion of the farm is under a high state of cultivation, producing from two to three tons of hay to the acre. The meadow land is improved and rendered more productive by the draining process. There were the most perfect specimens of ditches we ever saw, producing the most satisfactory results; some of them 60 to 79 rods in length, from two and a half to three feet deep, and to appearance perfectly straight. The turnpike that runs from the buildings through the farm, the fences, the sheds and cellars, for manufacturing and protecting manure, and whatever pertains to the management of the farm, were done in a workmanlike manner, and bore the appearance of order and neatness.

The fifth and last farm examined was the one presented by James Parker, Esq. of Glenburn, containing 140 acres. This was a very good farm, and with the energy and perseverance possessed by Mr. Parker thirty years ago, he would make it a pattern farm; and although Mr. Parker is on the down hill of life, yet his barns were filled with hay, his orchards with delicious fruit, and his flocks and herds in his fields, more than convinced us that he retained all of the judgment and prudence, and much of the vigor of his more youthful days.

The claims with some of the competitors were so equally ballanced [sic], it was with difficulty that your committee could determine to whom they should award the premium; but after a patient and careful examination and comparison, they at length came to the conclusion to award the Society's first premium.

To Lowell Marston of Glenburn, for the best farm, $8.

Second best to E. F. Crane of Kenduskeag, $4.

Third, to Martin Mower of Bangor, $2.

Respectfully submitted,

Per order,

E. F. CRANE

.........................

SOURCE: Bangor Daily Whig & Courier (Bangor, Maine), 30 Sep 1853.

meaghs graduates!

Congratulations to Meaghs! Graduate of Saint Joseph College with a BA in Communications-Multimedia

May 10, 2008
Here is Meaghan with her proud grandparents

happy birthday george mower

On 13 May 1827, George was born to Martin and Mary (Underhill) Mower in Bath, Sagadahoc Co., Maine. This is according to the Mower Family History by Walter L. Mower. Proof of his birth in Bath would be most welcome. Inquiry made to that city resulted in a response that the records for that time period were a casualty of fire.

1940 fire at the mower farm

Originating near an overheated stove in the milkroom of the George R. Mower dairy barn on the Pushaw Pond road in East Bangor at about 10 o'clock yesterday morning, fire caused damage estimated at $15,000 when it destroyed hundreds of dollars worth of modern dairy and farming equipment along with 30 tons of hay, 10 tons of straw, 6 tons of lime, 60 bushels of oats and a ton of fertilizer.

Only brilliant and courageous work by Bangor firemen saved the Mower home which is connected to the milkroom and barn by a small shed. Despite a strong wind blowing flames toward the house, firemen placed boards in front of themselves to shield them from the terrific heat and chopped the shed connecting the house and barn away to save the home. Assistant Chief Herbert Constantine supervised the laying of three lines of hose from a nearby brook with the aid of Engine 6 and the new Seagrave Pumper.

..........

SOURCE: Bangor Daily News (Bangor, Maine), 1 Apr 1940.

photo: mower boys 1965

The youngster on the left would be me,

along with bros Steve (middle) & Glenn (right).

Go figure - that's the way we line up politically too!

mell j hockey

Here's a view of what the we're watching just about every weekend right now....

a mower welcome to baby zachary

say hi to the little guy that has transformed me from a "great uncle" to a "great-uncle!" Or is it more proper to say that I'm grand, like in granduncle? Anyway, ain't he cute? Definitely a Mower! And congrats to my fav niece! Little Zachary, born November 25th, 2007 at 2:51 p.m. - 7 lbs. 2 oz., 20 1/4 inches long.

i love "cousin" lucy

According to information at genealogy.com, Lucille Ball is a direct descendant of Joseph and Phebe (Perkins) Towne. If one then peruses a copy of The Family of Zaccheus Gould of Topsfield by Benjamin Apthorp Gould, Phebe Perkins is included as a granddaughter of Zaccheus. Now, why would I happen to have this book readily handy, well because I also descend from Zaccheus. It would seem that Lucy and I are 10th cousins, we share Zaccheus Gould as a 9th great-grandfather.

How does this work. Let's walk up through the generations on my family tree to Zaccheus, then we'll walk down the branch that includes Lucy.

1) Dale W Mower
2) Frank E Mower and Avis M. Terrill
3) George Richardson Mower and Harriet Elizabeth Vickery
4) Edward William Vickery and Harriet Bain Parker
5) Stephen Thayer Vickery and Betsey W. Gibbs
6) Jonathan Vickery and Ruhamah Gould
7) Nathaniel Gould and Ruhamah Bickford
8) Nathaniel Gould and Jane Arey
9) Nathaniel Gould and Grace Hurd
10) John Gould and Phebe French
11) John Gould and Sarah Baker
12) Zaccheus and Phebe Gould
11) Thomas Perkins and Phebe Gould
10) Joseph Towne and Phebe Perkins
9) John Cummings and Susanna Towne
8) John Cummings and Mary Larrabee
7) Reuben Cummings and Hannah Booth
6) Isaac Ball and Hannah Cummings
5) Isaac Ball and Sarah Manross
4) Clinton Manross Ball and Cynthia T. Dale
3) Jasper Clinton Ball and Nellie R. Durrell
2) Henry Durrell Ball and Desiree Evelyn Hunt
1) Lucille Desiree Ball
....................

SOURCES:

Ancestry of Lucille Ball, Genealogy.com, online

<http://www.genealogy.com/famousfolks/lucilleb/index.htm#toc>,

accessed 16 Nov 2007.

&

Benjamin Apthorp Gould, The Family of Zaccheus Gould of Topsfield

(Lynn, Massachusetts: Thos. P. Nichols, 1895.

photo: frank and mildred (richardson) mower

Frank Lester Mower & Mildred Mae Richardson

Married 24 October 1900 in Bangor, Maine

Photo is not dated.

Possibly wedding photo?

photo: george mower

My great-great-grandfather

George Mower

son of Martin and Mary (Underhill) Mower

b. 13 May 1827 in Bath, Sagadahoc Co., Maine

m. Elizabeth Eastman on 19 Nov 1856 in Corinth, Penobscot Co., Maine

d. 25 Jan 1880 in Bangor, Penobscot Co., Maine

buried in Maple Grove Cemetery, Pushaw Road, Bangor, Maine

1860 census entry for the mower farm

The Mower farm housed a small household in 1860. My great-great-grandparents, George and Elizabeth (Eastman) Mower had only been married for 3 years. One child had been born to the couple on 17 Nov 1857, a son they named Charles M.; however he had died as an infant on 23 Feb 1858.

1860 U.S. Federal Census for George Mower

SOURCE: 1860 U.S. Census, Penobscot County, Maine, population schedule, Bangor City, Ward 5, page 5, dwelling 29, family 29, George Mower household; digital image at Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com/), accessed 1 Nov 2007; citing National Archives microfilm publication M653, roll 576.

[click here to view .pdf image of this census record]

According to this census, the value of the real estate at the time was $1500, with personal estate valued at $700. The census lists the following individuals:

George Mower, a male aged 33, a farmer, born in Maine.

Lizzie Mower, a female aged 27, born in Maine.

Ann Mariah Mower, a female aged 13, born in Maine. She had attended school within the year.

Alanson Annis, a male aged 20, born in Maine, with no occupation listed.

Ann was not a daughter of George and Lizzie, so who was she. It appears that she was a cousin to George. George's uncle, Calvin Mower, and his 2nd wife, Lydia Thompson, of Greene, Maine, had a daughter Ann Mariah born in 1849 (the last of his 11 children). However, Anna M., aged 11, is listed in the Calvin Mower household on the 1860 census for Greene. Possible duplication? The Bangor census is dated 4 Jun 1860, where the Greene one is dated 18 Jun 1860, although both should have listed individuals in the household as of the official census date. More digging will need to be done on this one, but not sure if a definitive answer will be discovered. Ann may have been in Bangor assisting in the house, it is interesting that in every census Lizzie has been in thus far she seems to have a "domestic" or "servant" girl listed.

Alanson, I am presuming to be a hired farm laborer.

My 3rd-great-grandfather, Martin Mower, who had lost his wife, Mary Underhill, in 1857, is absent in the Bangor, Maine, census for 1860. He can be found living in Minnesota on this census, with his 2nd wife - more on that later.

photo: mower boys with grammie terrill

"Grammie" Daisy Lucinda (Grant) Terrill

holding me and flanked by my brothers

from left to right: Steve, Dale, Grammie, Brian, and Glenn

Photo dated 1963

1870 census entry for the mower farm

Continuing on our journey back through time to see who was living on the Mower homestead on Pushaw Road, in 1870 we find my great-great-grandparents, George and Elizabeth (Eastman) Mower, residing there with their family. Along with their children, we find my 3rd-great-grandfather, Martin Mower, is living there as well.

1870 U. S. Federal Census Record for George Mower

SOURCE: 1870 U.S. Census, Penobscot County, Maine, population schedule, Bangor City, page 143, dwelling 885, family 1019, George Mower household; digital image at Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com), accessed 26 Oct 2007; citing National Archives microfilm publication M593, roll 552.

[click here to see .pdf image of this census record]

According to the census:

George Mower, white male aged 42, farmer, born in Maine.
Lizzie Mower, white female aged 38, keeping house, born in Maine.
Eugene Mower, white male aged 8, born in Maine, attended school within the year.
Horace Mower, white male aged 6, born in Maine, attended school within the year.
Melvin Mower, white male aged 1, born in Maine.
Martin Mower, white male aged 79, farm laborer, born in Maine.
Jennie Murry, white female aged 20, domestic servant, born in Maine.

We also learn that the real estate was valued at $5000 and the personal estate at $4000.