My Genealogy Hound

John H. Mowls, Jr., a farmer of Clay County, Ark., was born in Roanoke County, Va., March 29, 1853, and is a son of Henry and Polly Mowls, the former of Scotch-Irish and the latter of Dutch-English ancestry. The father was a colonel in the Confederate army during the Rebellion, and acted as recruiting officer, and throughout life has followed the occupations of farming, distilling, merchandising and mechanics, he and wife being now residents of California. John H. Mowls began fighting the battle of life for himself at the age of eighteen years, working as a teamster at the Cannelton Coal Mines of West Virginia for one year, after which he moved to Portsmouth, Ohio, where he was engaged in engineering a tug-boat. He next moved to St. Louis, thence to Kansas City, and from there to Topeka, where he joined a trading expedition, being thus connected for eighteen months. The following two years he spent as a cowboy at Galveston, Tex., and then returned to St. Louis and made three trips on the Mississippi River as engineer on the tow-boat “Elliott.” He next operated a shingle-yard and farmed in Mississippi, spending one year at each occupation, but was inundated by the great overflow of 1873, which compelled him to move. He went first to Cape Girardeau, Mo., then to Union County, Ill., and was engaged in farming four years. He was married there on the 13th of February, 1876, to Miss M. A., a daughter of Daniel and Ann Cook, natives of North Carolina and Australia, respectively. On the 10th of August, 1877, Mr. Mowls left Illinois and located in Nevada City, Mo., where he worked as a painter and mechanic until February 27, 1878, when his wife died, leaving him with an infant only two months old to rear. He took the child to his mother, who cared for it until its death at the age of six months. Mr. Mowls next went to Chicago, and from there to Waterloo, Ill., where he was occupied in engineering three months. He next began railroading, continuing this three years. The nuptials of his second marriage were celebrated on the 25th of December, 1879, his wife’s maiden name being Miss Emma A. Griffith, of Union County, Ill., a daughter of W. T. and Jane Griffith, who are natives, respectively, of Kentucky and Illinois. In 1880 Mr. Mowls removed to Butler County, Mo., and in 1881 came to Clay County, Ark., and is the owner of a saw, grist and cotton-mill in Kilgore Township. He has been engaged in managing various mills ever since removing to Missouri in 1880, and has also been interested in farming some of the time, and is at present following this occupation, his principal crops being cotton and corn. He is a Mason, a member of the Agricultural Wheel, is independent in politics, and he and wife are members of the Missionary Baptist Church. The following are their children: Elmer R., born February 11, 1882; Lily M., born February 3, 1887, and Joseph J., born July 13, 1887. Mr. Mowls was educated in the common subscription schools, and expects to give his children good educational advantages.