Excerpted From 1884 History of Cumberland, Jasper, and Richland Counties, Illinois, p.570 (Grove Township)

"JOHN SOWERS was a son of Noah and Catherine (Griffith) Sowers, both natives of Page County, Va., where they were married, and from whence they moved in 1844 to Licking County, Ohio, going thence, in 1849, to Jasper County, IL, where the father died in 1853.  The mother still survives.  John was the eldest of nine children. He was married February 2, 1853 to Mary E., daughter of Reuben and Mary Carr. He lived in Crooked Creek Township on a farm of his father-in-law's until 1865, when he moved on the farm he now owns and occupies, consisting of 160 acres of land under good cultivation. Nine children have been born to them, viz.:James W. (deceased), an infant son unnamed (deceased), Mary J., John H., Martha C., Christian C., Reuben H., William T., and Owen. Mr. Sowers is one of the progressive and energetic men of Jasper County."

- Submitted by Minga (Buckle) Stivers