John M. Rowser was three years old when his parents moved from his birthplace of Martinsburg, Pennsylvania to Scott County, Iowa. In the spring of 1878, in company with A. B. Safley, John went to O'Brien County, IA, where they rented a farm of one hundred and sixty acres. They bought wheat at a dollar and at a dollar and a quarter a bushel and sowed one hundred and forty acres in wheat, giving one-half of the crop as rent, the ground having been broken and the landlord agreeing to furnish machinery to take off the crop. They cut and threshed what could be got and their share was six hundred bushels of such poor quality that it only brought thirty cents a bushel. In 1882 John went by wagon to Wyoming territory, where he engaged in the business of farming and stock raising. It was there that he met his wife, Margaret Catherine Mahnken, and they were married on Christmas eve, 1890.

Mr. Rowser with his family returned to Cedar county Iowa in December 1909, after twenty-eight years in the west. At the time of the move, the four children ranged in age from 10 years to 3 months. Disposing of his interests there, he purchased a farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Red Oak Township, where he resided until his death. John and his wife Margaret are both buried at Red Oak Cemetery in Red Oak Twp. Their daughter, Frances Margaret, always known as Margaret, is also buried there. Margaret died of pneumonia in 1924 at age 23.

Source: Maggi Rowser Holcombe (posted on Ancestry.com)

Last Modified: 10/09/2004
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