HIRAM BOWEN

HIRAM BOWEN merits a tribute of honorable distinction in this publication, for he was numbered among the first settlers of Eaton county. Here he bore to the full the "heat and burden of the day" during the trying era of initial development and progress, while in all the relations of this mortal life he was sincere, true and earnest, following the precept of the Golden Rule and making his mark upon the annals of the county which continued to be his home until he was summoned to the life immortal. Mr. Bowen was a native of the old Empire state of the Union and came of stanch New England ancestry, the family having been early founded in America. He was born in Lewis county, New York, in the year 1501, and his death occurred on his old homestead in Kalamo township, Eaton county, August 7, 1861 the farm now owned and operated by his son, Edward E. His wife, whose maiden name was Louisa Ann Cox, was born in the state of Vermont, in 1810, and she survived him by many years and attained a venerable age, passing the closing years of her life in Kalamo township, where she died in 1892, their marriage having been solemnized in the state of New York, in which state were born the first four of their seven children, concerning whom the following brief record is given: Mrs. Jane Atkins died in the state of Arkansas; Mrs. Harriet Williams resides at Lake Odessa, Ionia county, Michigan; William enlisted in a Michigan regiment of heavy artillery at the time of the civil war and died in hospital before the end of the war, as the result of disease contracted while in the service; Mrs. Louisa Craig died in Kalamo township, though her home at the time was in Barry county; Hiram was a member of a Michigan regiment in the war of the Rebellion and died about one year after its close as the result of disease contracted while in the field; Edward E., the next in order of birth, will be accorded consideration later on in this sketch; and Sarah is the wife of M. E. Keith, of Lake Odessa, Ionia county. Prior to coming to Michigan Hiram Bowen purchased two hundred and eighty acres of government land in Eaton county, the same lying in sections 29, 32 and 34 Kalamo township. In 1836 he came with his family to the wilds of this county, where only a few families were to be found at the time, and he made his way to his property and established a home in section 32, where he erected his little house of logs, the same being near the site of the present residence of his son, Edward E. Mr. Bowen was compelled to cut a way through the woods to his land, and a number of years elapsed ere roads of a passable sort were to be found save in a few localities, on the line of main travel. The log shanty was later replaced by a more commodious and comfortable log house, and in this he passed the remainder of his life, though he had made, preparations to erect the present frame residence, which was completed about one year after his death. He reclaimed a considerable portion of his land, and in the early days was compelled to go to Kalamazoo for his milling and provisions, making the trip with an ox team and not reaching home until a week had elapsed, so slow and difficult was the traveling to that distant point. He improves one hundred acres of his land, and divided the remainder among his children, the homestead retained by him comprising one hundred and twenty acres. Several years before the death of his wife their son, Edward E., purchased the interests of the other heirs and came into possession of the homestead, to which he has since added eighty acres, in sections 28 and 33, while about seventy acres of the original homestead are under cultivation, the remainder being covered with timber. Edward E. Bowen, who furnished the data for the preparation of this brief memoir, was born in this county, September 7, 1847, and has here passed his entire life, identified with agricultural pursuits. He secured a common-school education and remained with his parents until both were called to the life beyond, and since the death of his mother he has remained on the home farm, as already intimated. He is a Democrat in his political faith and is a man who commands the respect of the community in which he was reared. He is a bachelor.