Fremont County >> 1901 Index

History of Fremont and Mills County, Iowa
Chicago: Lewis Pub. Co., 1901.

C

Bard I. Cavender

We are now permitted to touch briefly upon the life history of one who has retained a personal association with the affairs of Fremont county for some years, and is now efficiently serving as county recorder. He is a native of the Hoosier state, his birth having occurred in Dubois county, Indiana, on the 15th of October, 1860. He was reared upon a farm and at the age of fourteen years began earning his own livelihood by working for neighboring farmers by the day or month. His early education was obtained in the country schools near his boyhood home.

On leaving the parental roof at the age of twenty years, Mr. Cavender went to Page county, Iowa, where he taught school one term, and later followed the same profession in Taylor county, this state, and also in Missouri and Nebraska. In March 1884, he was married in Clarinda, Iowa, to Miss Florence Stotler, who was born in Tippecanoe county, Indiana, but was reared and educated in Page county, Iowa. In 1867 she came with her parents to Iowa, the family locating in Page county. Her father engaged in farming and is now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Cavender have one child, Frank W., born in Imogene, this county.

Mr. Cavender first became connected with commercial life as a clerk in a drug store in Missouri, where he became thoroughly familiar with the business, and later was similarly employed at Blanchard and Imogene, Iowa. At the latter place he conducted a drug store of his own for five years, and on disposing of the same he engaged in clerking at Randolph, this county, until elected county recorder in 1896. So acceptably did he fill the office that he was reelected two years later, but has refused to become a candidate for a third term, it being his intention on retiring from office to remove to Hamburg, to become the editor of the Fremont Democrat. His duties have been faithfully and conscientiously performed, and he has proved a most popular official.

In 1899 Mr. Cavender was chairman of the Democratic county committee, and has taken a very active and prominent part in political affairs. He cast his first presidential vote for James G. Blaine, in 1884. For four years he served as justice of the peace in Monroe township, this county, and was twice the mayor of Randolph, being elected on a non-partisan ticket, without opposition, which fact plainly indicates his personal popularity and the confidence and trust reposed in him by his fellow citizens. For a time he was a member of the school board in Sidney, where he has made his home since serving as the county recorder. Socially he is a member of the orders of Knights of Pythias, Odd Fellows and Freemasons of Sidney; the chapter, R. A. M., at Riverton and the council at Hamburg. Religiously he is a member of the Baptist church while his wife is a Presbyterian in religious belief.

Lansford Chambers, who is successfully carrying on agricultural pursuits on section 17, Scott township, Fremont county, Iowa, was born in Franklin county, Ohio, October 20, 1848.  His father, Samuel Chambers, was born in the same county in 1800, and died in 1866.  The grandfather of our subject, Joseph Chambers, emigrated from Ireland to Ohio in an early day and there married a German lady.  He was twice married  and became the father of six sons and three daughters, two of the children being born of the second marriage.  After arriving at years of maturity, Samuel Chambers was united in marriage to Miss Charlotte Moore, the wedding being celebrated in Ohio about 1844.  In 1849 they removed westward to Atchison county, Missouri and in 1850 became residents of Lyons township, Mills county, Iowa.  In October of that year the father entered one hundred and sixty acres of land from the government and later made additional purchases until he was the owner of two thousand acres of land for which he paid from one dollar and a quarter to ten dollars and fifty cents per acre.  Today it is all worth from fifty to sixty dollars per acre.

Lansford Chambers, whose name introduces this sketch, was only two years old when the family came to Iowa, and since that time he has resided upon his present farm.  He was reared on the family homestead and early became familiar with the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist.  Today he is the owner of two farms aggregating thirteen hundred acres.  Upon the home place of forty acres where he resides, are improvements to the value of twenty thousand dollars.  Among his possessions is an apple and plum orchard comprising twenty-five acres.  He is one of the most extensive stock-raisers in this section of the state and upon his place may be seen a great variety of horses, mules. Shetland ponies, cattle, hogs and Angora goats.  He breeds all of these.  His cattle are registered red polled and herefords and he has some very fine specimens of the stock.  His famous stallion is a magnificent Belgian draft horse of perfect color and form, weighing two thousand pounds; in contrast are his Shetland ponies, which is perfection if not in size, are the equal of the stallion.  He owns some of the finest Shetland ponies ever raised in the country.  One of a certain span weighs one hundred and fifteen pounds and the other one hundred and fifteen pounds and a half.  One of  these is the celebrated Dewey, foaled the 1st of May, 1899, just a year after Admiral Dewey had captured the Spanish fleet in Manila bay.  At birth it weighed twenty-five pounds and was twenty-three inches high.  Its height is now twenty-eight inches and its weight is one hundred and fifteen pounds.  The other pony, Cracker Jack, is a half brother of Dewey and was foaled June 5, 1900.  At birth it was twenty-four inches high and weighed thirty pounds and its weight is now one hundred and fifteen and one-half pounds while its height is twenty-eight inches.  Both of these ponies are well broken, gentle and kind in disposition so that children can safely play with them or drive them.   When Dewey was three days old Mr. Chambers refused an offer of fifty dollars for him.  His hogs are of the black Berkshire breed.  He raises hundreds annually, and lost seven hundred by cholera in the season of 1899.  Mr. Chambers imported his fine jacks and Angora goats from Kentucky.  He has upon his farm a fish pond where he raises carp and catfish.  He has about five hundred acres planted to corn, yielding from thirty-five to forty bushels per acres annually.  He has one hundred acres planted to small grains and he puts up about two hundred tons of hay each season.  Upon the place he has a sawmill and a blacksmith shop and does his own work along those lines.  His farm implements are worth four thousand dollars, thus every modern accessory and improvement is found upon his place.  In 1876 he erected a comfortable brick residence, and every other building upon a model farm may here be seen.  As a horticulturist he has also attained considerable celebrity.  He has a nursery of eight thousand trees and the fruits from his orchards find a ready sale upon the market by reason of their superior quality.  He is also engaged in the raising of fine fowls, having from one hundred to two hundred blooded fowls.  He breeds both peafowls and turkeys on a large scale.  His farm produces almost everything in the way of food, including fruits, vegetables, fowls, fish, pork and beef.  Too much can not be said of Mr. Chamber's progressive methods.  He is constantly striving to make improvements and he has one of the finest and most desirable farms in the entire state.  He is intensely practical in his work and his well directed labors have brought to him a handsome competence.

Another work of his active life is the invention of a combined dirt roller and pulverizer and for this he has filed a claim in the United States patent office as follows:

"To all whom it may concern"

   "Be it known that I, Lansford Chambers, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bartlett, in the county of Fremont and State of Iowa, have invented a new and useful Combined Dirt Roller and Pulverizer, of which the following is a specification.

   My invention relates to a new and improved machine in which there are two cast iron fluted cylindrical reversible rollers operating and revolving upon the ground in such a manner as to crush clods, tear up and pulverize the ground by loosening it up when reversed, and when thrown in opposite direction to smooth the same.

   The objects of my invention are, first, to pulverize and crush the soil as the rollers revolve on the ground in one direction by pushing back the dirt and pulling up and destroying all vegetation, making the ground mellow and freeing it from clods instead of crushing them into the ground as a simple roller would do; second, when the rollers are reversed (the clods having been pulverized by the use of the pulverizer) they operate to make the ground smooth and level, and when used on ground planted with corn or small grain it is left in good shape for the use of the cultivator.

(Here follows a description of the machine.)

Having described my invention, what I now claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is ---

   A combined land roller and pulverizer comprising a cylindrical body or bodies, the surface of which is fluted, thereby forming longitudinal crushing blades or bars arranged tangentially mounted in a suitable supporting frame provided with a draft devise whereby when the roller is drawn in one direction the soil is cut and pulverized, and in the reverse direction the soil is smoothed, substantially as described.

Signed ...Lansford Chambers
Witnesses:  Frank C. Chase...John B. Statler

On the 6th of March, 1873, Mr. Chambers was united in marriage to Miss Agnes Kern, who was born in Ohio, April 30, 1843, and is a daughter of Joseph Kern, of Kentucky.  He brought his bride to the old homestead where he has since remained.  Their marriage has been blessed with four sons and two daughters: The first, a daughter, died in infancy; Joseph Samuel, born January 13, 1876, assists in the operation of the home farm; Jasper died in infancy;  Charles E., who was born December 22, 1878, is engaged in the livery business in Bartlett, is married and has a son and a daughter; Bertha Ellen, born April 26, 1881 is with her parents; and Henry, who was born in 1884, died in infancy.

In his political views Mr. Chambers is a stalwart Republican and has served as a school director, but has never sought or desired office, preferring to devote his time and energies to his business interests in which he has met with magnificent success.  He has traveled quite extensively through America, visiting the Pacific coast and many other sections of the west.  He spent some time in Oregon in 1884 and enjoyed many hunting expeditions on the coast range mountains.  After an absence of six months he returned home on the 19th of December, 1884.  Mr. Chambers is one of the most widely known men of southwestern Iowa.  Almost his entire life has here been passed and he has therefore witnessed the growth and development of this section of the state.  At the same time he has contributed to every measure which he believed would prove of public good, withholding his support from no movement calculated to benefit the community.  He has won success along well defined lines of labor and today he stands prominent among those who owe their prosperity to their own efforts and who are now classed among the wealthy residents of the community.  While great advancement has been made in the industrial and commercial life, agriculture has kept pace with the general progress and Mr. Chambers is among those who have been leaders in the work of improvement in connection with farming interests.

Robert J. Clark, who carries on general farming and stock-raising in Sidney township, Fremont county, was one of the worthy citizens that Ohio furnished to the Hawkeye state.  He was born in Ross county, Ohio, February 7, 1859, and is a son of George C. and Ann B. (Murray) Clark.  The father was born in the same house in which occurred the birth of our subject, his natal day being September 26, 1827.  Thomas Clark, the grandfather of our subject was a native of Sherman Valley, Pennsylvania, born in 1782.  Emigrating westward, he located in Ohio, in 1810, taking up his abode in the midst of a heavy forest, where he developed a farm and reared his family.  He married Eleanor Black, of Pennsylvania, and they had a family of two sons and six daughters, of whom two daughters yet survive, namely: Susanna, who is now the widow Murray, of Highland county, Ohio; and Mrs. Nancy Ellen Fernow, who is also a widow and resides in Marion, Linn county, Iowa.  The grandfather of our subject served as a first lieutenant in the war of 1812.  In religious faith he was a Presbyterian and was well known as a minister of the gospel in that denomination.  He passed away in Ross county, Ohio, in 1846, and was laid to rest in the cemetery in Greenfield, in Highland county.

George Clark, the father of our subject, was reared on the old family homestead, where he remained until he was forty years of age.  His educational privileges were limited, for the country was new and unsettled and the work of development was scarcely begun.  On the 1st of March , 1854, he was united in marriage to Miss Ann B. Murray, who was born in Ross county, Ohio, on the 12th of December, 1832, a daughter of William and Elizabeth (Stewart) Murray, of Kentucky.  They, too, were farming people.  Unto the grandparents of our subject were born five daughters and three sons.  Those living are: Elizabeth J., who resides in Greenfield, Ohio; and Margaret, who is now Mrs. Smalley, a widow, living at Stockton, Kansas, where she has a family of children.  In January, 1868, George C. Clark, the father of our subject removed from Ohio to Iowa, arriving in Fremont county in January.  In March of that year he purchased two hundred and forty acres of land, for which he paid thirty dollrs per acre, and took up his abode on his new farm.  He sold his two hundred acre farm in Ohio for fifty dollars per acre, and was thus enabled to meet the payments on the new place. He has always carried on agricultural pursuits, making a specialty of the raising of grain and hogs.  Enterprising and wide awake, his diligence and perseverance have brought to him a very gratifying degree of prosperity.  Unto him and his wife have been born the following named: Elizabeth Mary, who was born in 1855, became the wife of Milton Murphy, a farmer of Sidney township, Fremont county, and died November 14, 1891, at the age of thirty-six years, leaving two of their four children: Robert J., is the next of the family; and Eleanor Myrtle, born in 1865, died June 16, 1884, while pursuing a course of music in Tabor, where she was stricken with typhoid fever.  She was especially gifted in the art of Music, and gave great promise of future development along that line.

Robert J. Clark, whose name forms the caption of this article, pursued his education for one term in the schools of Ohio and then came to Iowa, where he continued his studies in the district schools and later spent four terms in Tabor College.  Throughout his entire life he has remained on the old homestead, assisting his father in the cultivation and development of the land, and during the past eleven years he has been extensively engaged in the stock business, feeding cattle and hogs, for the market.  He has his stock on the north eighty acres of the farm and keeps a splendid grade of Hereford cattle.  He also buys other cattle, which he feeds for the market, shipping from one to five car loads of cattle and several car loads of Poland China hogs each year.  He is a young man of marked energy, keen business ability and resolute will and his honorable dealing has ever won him the respect and trust of all with whom he has come in contact.

Both Mr. Clark and his father are stalwart Republicans in their political faith, but have never held or desired office.  The parents and their sons are also Presbyterians, and the father was an elder for some years in the church in which they hold membership.  Both George Clark and his wife are active workers in the church and are people whose many excellent characteristics have gained for them high regard.  In 1890 their present residence was erected and in March, 1891, they removed from the old home into the new.  The family is one of prominence in the community and the name is inseparably interwoven with the history of agricultural interests in southwestern Iowa.  The success which has attended the efforts of father and son is the merited reward of earnest labor.

M. F. Cooley

If those who claim that fortune has favored certain individuals above others will but investigate the cause of success and failure, it will be found that the former is largely due to the improvement of opportunity, the latter to neglect of it.  Fortunate environments encompass nearly every man at some stage in his career, but the strong man and the successful man is he who realizes that the proper moment has come, that the present and not the future holds his opportunity.  The man who makes use of the Now and not the To Be is the one who passes on the highway of life others who have started out ahead of him and reaches the goal of prosperity far in advance of them.  It is this quality in Mr. Cooley that has made him a leader in the business world and won him a name with industrial interests that is widely known.

Mr. Cooley came to Fremont county in 1865, during his boyhood.  He is numbered among the native sons of the Hawkeye state, his birth having occurred in Centrville, in Appanoose county, on the 3rd of December, 1851, his father, A. W. Cooley being one of the honored pioneer settlers and prominent business men of that locality.  In the year 1865 he came with his family to Fremont county, where he engaged in dealing in grain and stock, carrying on business with good success until his death, which occured in 1892, when he was sixty-one years of age.  He was a native of Indiana and was of English descent.  His father, S. E. Cooley, however was an Indiana farmer, and upon the old family homestead in the Hoosier state the father of our subject was reared until he had attained the age of eighteen years, when he became a resident of Appanoose county, Iowa, his home being near Centerville.  In that locality he married Abigail Cox, a representative of a well-known and influential family.  She was to him a most excellent wife, to her children a devoted mother, and to her neighbors a kind and loyal friend.  She was loved by all for her goodness of heart, and at her death, which occurred in 1891, many mourned her loss.  Unto Mr. and Mrs. A. W. Cooley were born seven children, four of whom are yet living, namely: M. F., of this review; J. E., who is living in Belgrade, Nebraska, where he is engaged in the lumber business; W. I., who is connected with mining interests in Colorado; and W. S., who is interested in mining and also in a Spanish ranch in California.  One son, S. A., and two daughters, Sarah E. and Mira, have passed away, Sarah having been six years of age at the time of her death, while Mira attained the age of sixteen years.  The father of these children was a Republican in his political faith and gave an unwavering support to the principles of the party.  He held membership in the Methodist church, took an active part in its work and did all in his power to promote the moral interests of the community.  He enjoyed the confidence and respect of all with whom he was associated and through thirty-five years the name of Cooley has been honorably connected with the history of Fremont County.  

Mr. Cooley, whose name introduces this review, was reared upon the old homestead farm and attended the public schools, also broadening his knowledge through practical experience, reading and observation.  His business training was received under the direction of his father in connection with the grain and stock trade.  In early manhood he spent ten years in the far west in the mines and upon a ranch.  He visited Montana, Colorado, Wyoming, Nevada and Texas and became familiar with all phases of life in that portion of the country.  It was a valuable experience, teaching him to become independent and self-reliant.  In that way he gained a start in life and upon his return to Fremont county, about 1877, he engaged in farming and cattle raising.  He was also connected with the drug trade for some years and was actively interested in the organization and establishment of the Hamburg Banking Company.  He became one of its leading stockholders and the vice-president, and has since been connected with the institution, the success of which is due in no small degree to his efforts, for he has a wide acquaintance and all know him to be a reliable and substantial business man.  The public has therefore given him its patronage, and the business of the bank has constantly increased in volume and importance until the concern has become a very paying one.

On the 5th of March, 1877, Mr. Cooley was united in marriage to Miss Alice Mann, a lady of intelligence and good family, who at that time was living in Atchison county, Missouri.  She was born in Nemaha county, Nebraska, and was reared and educated in Missouri and Iowa.  Her parents were A. C. and Sarah (Workman) Mann, early settlers of that state, coming to Fremont county in 1845.  Unto Mr. and Mrs. Cooley have been born four children: Maud S. and Grace Mary, who are at home; Milton, who died at the age of four years; and a daughter who died in infancy.

Socially Mr. Cooley is connected with a number of  organizations.  He is a very prominent Mason, belonging to the blue lodge and chapter of Rockport, Missouri, to the council of Maryville, Missouri, to Brule Commandery, K.T., of Red Oak, Iowa, and to Moilah Temple of St. Joseph, Missouri.  In his political affiliations he is a stalwart Democrat, earnest in his advocacy of party principles, and for six years he has served as a member of the city council in Hamburg.  He has been a delegate to many conventions, including county, congressional and state, and does all in his power to promote the growth and insure the success of his party.  He is a man of fine physique, five feet ten and a half inches in height and weighing two hundred pounds.  Mentally, also, he is a strong man, of excellent judgment, fair in his views and highly honorable in all his relations with his fellow men.  His manner is frank, genial and cordial.  He enjoys out-door sports, especially hunting, and as opportunity offers indulges his taste in that direction.

Hon. John Cooper is a prominent and influential citizen and well-known early settler of Fremont county, where for more than half a century he has made his home, having located there in 1850.  He was born October 13, 1820, in Mason county, state of Kentucky, and belongs to one of the old and prominent families of that state.  The county was noted for its brave men, the unfailing courtesy of its citizens, for its fine horses and its good marksmanship.  His father, Thomas Cooper, was born in New Jersey and his ancestors were prominent in peace and patriotic in war.  His parents were of English birth and he was a cousin of Peter Cooper, the noted financier, who was a candidate for president of the United States on the Greenback ticket in 1876.  When a young man Thomas Cooper went to Ohio where he was married to Susan Middleton, a native of that state, his parents having emigrated from the Mohawk valley in New York, where his ancestors had located at an early period in the development of that portion of the country.  Some of the representatives of the family served in the early wars of the United States.  For a number of years Thomas Cooper and his wife resided in Mason county, Kentucky.  They had the following children, four sons and four daughters, namely: William, now deceased; John, of this review; Eliza Ann, who also has passed away; Mary Ann, who is living in Kansas City, Missouri; James, deceased; Martha who makes her home in Virginia; George, who has passed away; and George.

In 1835 the parents removed with the family to Clay county, Missouri, taking up their abode near Kansas City.  That section of the country was then undeveloped, and Indians roamed at will over the prairies and wild beasts and wild game could be shot near the pioneers cabins.  Mr. Cooper built a log house and upon the farm which he developed both he and his wife spent their last days.  He was born in 1795 and died at the age of fifty-eight years, while his wife, whose birth ocurred in 1796, died at the age of fifty seven years.  Throughout his business career the father carried on farming, making that the means for the support of his family.  In politics he was a Jacksonian Democrat, and in religious belief both he and his wife were Baptists.

John Cooper, whose name introduces this record, was reared in Kentucky until fifteeen years of age and acquired his education in the public schools.  In 1833 he accompanied his parents  on their removal to Clay county, Missouri, and amidst the wild scenes of frontier life was reared to manhood.  In 1850 he married Miss America Bruce, who has been to him a faithful companion and helpmeet on the journey of life for more than half a century, sharing with him in the joys and sorrows, adversity and prosperity which checkers the life of all.   She was born in Kentucky and was reared in that state and in Indiana.  Her parents were Singleton and Louisa (Farris) Bruce, natives of Kentucky, whence they removed to Indiana and subsequently came to Fremont county, Iowa, casting their lot among the pioneer settlers here.  They had six children.  When Mr. Cooper came to this portion of the country it was included within the boundaries of Holt county, Missouri,  and there he made choice of a location and began the development of a farm.  He has voted both as a citizen of Missouri and Iowa and yet has never changed his place of residence.  When he took up his abode here there was a log cabin upon the place, but otherwise no improvements.  He at once began to break the prairie and today he is the owner of a very valuable farm of two hundred and twenty acres, constituting one of the best country seats in Madison township.  His home overlooks the entire Nishnabotna valley.  It is surrounded by a fine grove of walnut and elm trees, in the branches of which the squirrels play, while bees also have their home in the big trees; and though they gather the honey he does not allow the trees to be cut down nor the squirrels to be shot.  The farm is well improved, good out-buildings have been erected, the pastures rival the blue-grass region of Kentucky, the orchard contains fine varieties of fruits, and everything upon the place is neat and thrifty in appearance, showing that the owner is very systematic in his work and that his methods are at once practical and profitable.

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Cooper have been born two children:  William Bruce, who is now living in Hamburg; and Mrs. Hattie Fletcher, who died, leaving four children, three of whom are now married and have children of their own.  One of the number, John Fletcher, with his wife resides on the old Cooper homestead and assists in the operation and management of the farm.

In former years Mr. Cooper was a strong advocate of the Greenback party and an ardent admirer of his cousin, Peter Cooper, who was the originator of that political organization.  He was nominated and elected to the state legislature in 1873, and took his seat in the general assembly the following year, serving there with credit to himself and satisfaction to his constituents.  He is now a "silver" Democrat and a warm personal friend and admirer of William Jennings Bryan.  For forty-five years he has been a Mason in good standing, having been initiated into the order at Rockport, Missouri.  He now belongs to Riverton Chapter, R.A.M.  Mr. Cooper is six feet in height and used to weigh two hundred pounds.  He is genial in manner and kindly in disposition, is very hospitable and the latch-string of his home always hands out.  His business integegrity is unquestioned and his word is as good as any bond.  He has been identified with the county from the pioneer epoch of its development when he had to go eighty miles to mill.  Long since, however, good markets have been established nearer home, towns and villages have spring up and the county has become the place of habitation for a prosperous and progressive people.

E. F. Cowger, M.D.

In the subject of this review we have one who has attained distinction in the line of his profession and has been an earnest and discriminating student and holds a position of due relative precedence among the medical fraternity of Fremont County.  He is the pioneer representative of his profession in Riverton, where he arrived on the 17th of September, 1873.  Since that time he has been actively engaged in the practice of medicine and now has a large patronage.

The Doctor was born on the 30th of August, 1843, the year in which occurred the birth of President McKinley.  He is a son of Rev. James Cowger, who was born in Highland county, Ohio, a grandson of George Cowger and a great-grandson of Gustave Cowger, who was of German-Russian parentage, their ancestors having been active in the wars of Russia and Germany one hundred and fifty years ago.  The mother of our subject bore the maiden name of Susan Garver, and was a native of Ohio.  Her father, Adrian Garver, was of Irish lineage.  James Cowger and his wife Susan came to the territory of Iowa in 1845. With the exception of a few settlements along the Mississippi the state was almost entirely uninhabited.  There was not a single railway line within its borders or west of the river, and the wonderful work of progress which has since transformed the county, and seems almost phenomenal, was then a labor of the future.  The father took up his abode in Van Buren county, Iowa, near Keosauqua, and and in addition to the development of his farm he engaged in preaching the gospel in the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal church, riding the circuits in the wilds of the Hawkeye state.  In 1859-60 he accepted of a church of this denomination in Glenwood, Mills county, this state.  He was a very sincere and active worker in the cause of the ministry and did everything in his power to secure the advancement of Christian principles among the people.  He died at the age of fifty-four years, and his wife, who survived him some time, passed away in Riverton, Iowa, at the age of sixty-nine, having spent her last days there in the home of her son, the subject of this sketch.  She was a good Christian woman, greatly beloved for her kindness of heart.  Mr. Cowger had three children, namely, E. F., of this review; D.L., who is living near Downs, in Mitchell county, Kansas; and W. A., of Riverton township, Fremont county, Iowa.

The Doctor was reared in Iowa, acquiring his education in the public schools of the state.  On the 25th of July, 1862, he offered his services to the government as a defender of the Union, enlisting in Company D, Nineteenth Iowa Infantry, with which he was connected until honorably discharged, on the 6th of July, 1865.  He served under General Blunt on the frontier of Missouri for nine months, and in 1863 participated in the siege of Vicksburg, after which his regiment was attached to the Deprtment of the Gulf and was stationed at Brownsville, Texas, for six months.  Dr. Cowger was eventually commissioned second lieutenant of the Eighty-first United States Colored Infantry and served until November, 1866, with credit and honor.  During that time he was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant.

On leaving the military service of his country Dr. Cowger returned to Abingdon, Jefferson county, Iowa, and began the study of medicine under the direction of Dr. R. J. Mohr, a prominent and well-known physician, who had served as a surgeon in the Tenth Iowa Infantry.  Dr. Cowger is also a graduate of the Keokuk Medical College, of Keokuk, Iowa, and of the Ensworth Medical College, of Missouri.  Well equipped for the practice of his chosen profession, he came to Riverton in 1873 and has since been classed among the leading practitioners in this part of the county.  He has ever been a close student and is constantly adding to his professional knowledge by reading, study and careful thought.

On the 10th of August, 1865, Dr. Cowger was united in marriage to Miss Susan Cline, who was born in Fayette, Ohio, a daughter of James Cline, who resides in Abingdon, Iowa, at the age of ninety years.  The Doctor has five children:  R. J., who is a druggist by profession, but is now living on a farm in Fremont county; Mrs. Mary E. Mawhor, of Riverton; Anna L., who is engaged in clerking in the store owned by Kidd & Company; Ernest E., who was born in 1878 and served in the Thirty-ninth Iowa Infantry during the war with Spain and in the Philippines until honorably discharged; and Susie M., at home.

In his political views the Doctor is a stalwart Democrat and ranks as one of the leading members of the party in this section of the state.  He has often delivered addresses to further the interest in the cause and is recognized as a good stump orator.  He served as county coroner, but has never sought or desired other official preferment.  socially he is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Phthias fraternity, the Modern Woodmen of America, the Grand Army of the Republic and Masonic fraternity.  The success which attends his efforts is but a natural sequence, for his position soon became assured because he was an able physician, a man of sterling integrity and one who devoted himself to his profession and to the interests and welfare of those to whom he ministered as indeed he yet does.  He is a physician of great fraternal delicacy and no man ever observed more closely the ethics of the unwritten code or showed more careful courtesy to his brother practitioners than does Dr. Cowger.