BIO: David F. BOWERSOX, Centre County, PA Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by JRB Copyright 2009. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/centre/ http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/centre/1picts/commbios/comm-bios.htm _____________________________________________________________________ Commemorative Biographical Record of Central Pennsylvania: Including the Counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion: Containing Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens, Etc. Chicago: J. H. Beers, 1898. _____________________________________________________________________ DAVID F. BOWERSOX, a prominent agriculturist of Haines township, Centre county, is also known throughout that section as a successful veterinary surgeon, and for years his services have been in demand whenever an injury or ailment of any live stock required skillful treatment. He possesses mechanical ability of a high order, and with no instruction has mastered the blacksmith's trade, being an expert at horse shoeing, and he has repaired rifles, guns and other fire-arms, and in many ways displays unusual talent in this line. Mr. Bowersox belongs to one of the oldest families of Centre county, his great-grandfather, George Bowersox, a native of Hanover, Penn., having settled in Potter township as a pioneer, following the blacksmith's trade and farming. He and his wife, Catherine Kister, each lived to be more than eighty years old, and they reared a family of six children: Jacob, David, George, Catharine, Elizabeth and Susan. David Bowersox, our subject's grandfather, was born in Centre county, and being reared to farming followed that occupation all his life. He married Elizabeth Stover, of Haines township, Centre county, a daughter of Adam and Catherine (Weaver) Stover. In his later years he purchased the Stover homestead, and settled there. He was short and spare in build, and died at the comparatively early age of fifty-eight years. In politics he was an ardent Democrat, and he belonged to the Lutheran Church. His wife survived him with two sons, John (our subject's father) and Philip (who died in Woodward, Penn.). The widow made her home for twenty-eight years with her son John, and died in Coburn when more than eighty years old, her remains being laid to rest beside those of her husband at Stover's Chapel. John Bowersox, the father of our subject, was born April 13, 1825, in Haines township, Centre county, and is now living in retirement at Coburn. His education was that which the schools of the time and locality afforded, being confined to an attendance for a few months of each year at the log school house at Stover's Chapel. A family lived in one part of this building. The work at home was plentiful at all seasons, as in winter he could ride the horse while tramping out the grain in the barn, and the summer brought an increase of outdoor work. At eighteen he began to learn the trade of cigar maker and tobacconist with James Powley, in a shop that stood where the Coburn toll-gate has since been built. After finishing his apprenticeship he worked at his trade for a year, but it did not agree with him, and he learned the tanner's trade in Aaronsburg with George Royer. This business he followed successfully for thirty-five years, devoting especial attention to preparing leather for gloves, which were made by his 290 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. employees. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary Frederick, has been of great assistance to him, and at that time she made hundreds of dozens of pairs of gloves which our subject would take about the country for sale. Their marriage was celebrated October 8, 1846, in Hartley township, Union Co., Penn., where the bride's birth occurred May 14, 1823. Her father, John Frederick, was a weaver by trade, and depended upon his earnings for the support of his family of ten children - five sons and five daughters. He and his wife, Barbara Catherman, were each nearly eighty-four years old at death, and both were buried at Laurelton, Penn. Our subject's mother was the third child and third daughter. Her educational advantages were meagre, but a bright and active mind has enabled her to gather much practical information on various subjects. After the death of David Bowersox, our subject's father took the old homestead and followed farming there for several years; but in the spring of 1883 he removed to Coburn, where our subject built for him a residence. He owns a farm of 123 acres and a great deal of timber land. His industry and thrift, with the help of his economical wife, have won a notable success, and both are enjoying the fruits of their past labors in well-earned leisure. An excellent memory enables him to review the incidents of his life with remarkable precision, and he recalls events that occurred in his third year. Our subject is the eldest of three children, the others being Chestie A., who married (first) Henry J. Musser, and (second) A. P. Maize, of Aaronsburg; and J. A., who resides in Coburn. David F. Bowersox was born December 21, 1849, at the old home in Haines township, Centre county, and the district schools of the time furnished him his elementary instruction. Between the farm and the tannery there was plenty of work for him to do, and forty days of schooling in winter was considered a liberal amount for him. Every opportunity for study was eagerly seized by the bright boy, and as his parents permitted him to sit up late at night he was able to lay the foundation for a good practical education. Throughout his life he has been a warm friend of good public schools, his own experience emphasizing their value. On March 11, 1872, Mr. Bowersox was married, in Aaronsburg, to Miss Margaret A. Swanger, a native of Penn township, born December 19, 1852. Her father, Philip Swanger, was a shoemaker, and he and his wife, Sarah (Womer), reared a family of eight children to adult age. For twelve years after his marriage, Mr. Bowersox rented the home farm from his father, and although he then removed to another rented farm he returned later to the old place. In February, 1885, he purchased a farm of twenty acres, where he now resides, going in debt for it, and to this he has since added some mountain land, making a fine estate. Under his careful management the farm has been greatly improved, the barn having been remodeled and some new buildings put up. His extensive veterinary practice began in November, 1872, when the epizootic was prevalent, and his attention being once turned in that direction, his success in treating horses and other live stock was so great as to create a constant call for his services. While he has never graduated from a school in which this science is made a specialty, he has read all the authorities on the subject, and with his wide experience in practical treatment is now an authority himself. Mr. Bowersox and his wife are leading members of the Lutheran Church, in which he holds the office of deacon. He also takes an active part in Sunday-school work. Two children, Sarah and John F. D., brighten their home. Courteous and intelligent, Mr. Bowersox is a pleasant companion, socially, his conversation being always interesting, while in business circles he is equally esteemed as a reliable, successful man. Politically he was a Democrat until a constitutional amendment upon the temperance issue was called for, when, having long been a foe to intoxicants, he became a pronounced Prohibitionist. While deeply interested in political questions, he is not an office seeker, but has served as a judge of election.