California Biographies Mendocino and Lake Counties, California Transcribed by Peggy Hooper This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm Source: History of Mendocino and Lake Counties, California With Biographical Sketches History by Aurelius O. Carpenter And Percy H. Millberry Illustrated, Complete In One Volume Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California, 1914 JOHN DANIEL BROWER.� A brief vacation period spent in Mendo- cino county during 1871 while he was yet a student in school convinced Mr. Brower that there were opportunities here for the development of profitable stock interests. Later travel through other parts of the state convinced him that this section is difficult to surpass from the standpoint of stock-raising. The climatic conditions keep large herds and flocks in health. The products of the soil are such as to favor the stock business. With sagacious invest- ment in stock and prudent oversight in their care, a satisfactory return on the investment may be predicted, and such has been the experience of Mr. Brower, whose holdings in the Potter valley are utilized principally for stock. A man of decidedly progressive spirit, he was one of the very first in his locality to successfully obtain water by gravity for irrigation ; this feat was accomplished through the building of a dam across the stream and when water had been secured he placed forty acres of his farm under cultivation to alfalfa, since which time he has embarked in dairying on a small scale. His father, also John Daniel Brower, born in Paterson, N. J., was a carpenter by trade. In 1849 he was one of the two hundred and five that bought the sailer Robert Bound and brought her around Cape Horn with a cargo for San Francisco. The party left New York in January of 1849, and reached San Francisco in the following August. Mr. Brower was among the first of those who settled in Alameda, locating there in 1851. He married Mrs. Charity (Bennett) Wilcox, a native of England. Alameda is the native California home of Mr. Brower and November 2, 1854, the date of his birth. Fair educational advantages were given to him, for besides the public schools he attended the Alameda Academy and later the Doyen Academy, while at the age of eighteen he took a course at Heald's Business College. The commercial course was completed in 1873 and the same year he became manager of the farm of his father in Potter Valley, Mendocino county, where he specialized with sheep. Soon he began to build up a flock of his own, but in 1882 he sold his stock to his father and moved to Santa Rosa. During the next year he traveled in various parts of the state, looking for a satisfactory location. In the end he decided that Mendocino county offered advantages equal to those of other localities. Returning in 1883, he purchased land adjacent to the property of his father. The former owner, Mr. Maze, had commenced to improve the two hundred acres, but the greater part of the improvements have been made by the present owner, who through the tilling of the soil and the raising of stock has made the farm a profitable investment. Besides the oversight of his farm and stock Mr. Brower served for a number of years as a director of the mercantile establishment in Potter Valley, also was a member of the board of trustees of the town of Potter Valley for four years and trustee for eight years in the Union school district. Movements for good roads and bridge-building, brought about by public subscriptions, have received his stanch support, for he recognizes that they are indispensable to community progress. In politics he is an independent Republican. He was made a Mason in Abell Lodge No. 146, F. & A. M., and with his wife is a member of Casimir Lodge No. 25, O. E. S., and the Potter Valley grange. He is also a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen. His marriage, in Santa Rosa December 20, 1877, united him with Miss Jessie Eliza Patterson, who was born in Omro, Winnebago county. Wis., and received her education in the public schools and Ripon College. After completing her studies she devoted several years to teaching music both in Wisconsin and California. Ten children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Brower, namely: John Daniel, of Pacific Grove; Jessie Irene, Mrs. R. E. Dashiell, of Scotts Valley, Lake county; Hazel Edith, who died in 1906; Stella Mary, Mrs. McGufiin, of Tucson, Ariz.; Lewis Conklin, who died in 1903; Edward Patterson; Mabel Jane; Marjorie Lael; Nina, deceased; and Josephine Dorothy. Mrs. Brower's father, L. C. Patterson, was president of the New London (Wis.) Bank. He came with his family to California and settled in Santa Rosa in 1876, establishing a mercantile business there which engaged his attention until he gave it up to establish a stock business in Eastern Oregon, where he passed away.