John F. McGowen

TRUSTEE: JOHN F. McGOWEN

John F. McGowen was born 17 April 1826 in Ohio. He was the third child born to Jesse G. McGowen and Mary McGowen. His brothers and sisters were Jacolina E., Mary A., Sarah R. Francis L., Henry W., William J., Lewis J., James N., and Helen A. At age 42, John was a merchant in Seneca in 1870 with real estate valued at $100 and personal property valued at $200. He and his brother were boarders of Paulina Gibbons. His brother Lewis J., age 36, was also a merchant, but his real estate valued at $6000 and personal property valued at $3000. Before 1882, Mr. McGowen had been in the mercantile business. In 1882, he established a business as a manufacturer and dealer of harness, saddles, and similar leather items. John McGowen was a Mason and a G.A.R. member.

John's sister Sarah R. McGowen Williams, at the age of 72, swore that her brother John F. had married early in life and divorced by the District Court of Nemaha County, Kansas. She also said he had remarried at Seneca, Kansas, but his second wife had died. John had remarried for a third time and in 1898 his widow was Millie A. McGowen. Sarah finally swore that these three marriages had produced but one child that had died in infancy, thus his widow, Millie A. McGowen, was his only heir at law.

One might speculate that Lucinda McGowen, who died at age 41 on 20 April 1879 and who is buried in the Seneca City Cemetery, was John F. McGowen's second wife. A divorce between a John McGowen and Eliza McGowen was located in 1890 court records when John would have been close to 62 years of age. No record of a marriage occurring in Seneca was discovered.

John's official contributions to Seneca were:

• • 1872 served on Seneca City Council

  • 1874 served on Seneca City Council

  • 1877 held office of scribe in newly formed Royal Arch Mason lodge

  • 1882 served on Seneca City Council

John F. McGowen, an early comer to this county and at one time a leading business man of Seneca, died July 5th 1898 in the Soldiers Home at Dayton, Ohio.