George Clude Fowler
There are now three generations of the Fowler family living in Grant county, and as one of the primary objects of this publication is to afford space for family memoirs so that posterity may have an adequate knowledge of their forebears, the following paragraphs are written as a brief memorial to the Grant county Fowlers and their immediate relationship.
George Clude Fowler was born in Jonesboro, Indiana, June 25, 1866. The family was founded in Indiana by his grandfather, William Fowler, who was born of Quaker ancestors in North Carolina in 1799. In early manhood he removed to Wayne County, Indiana, settling near Richmond, which at that time contained but two houses. He was engaged in farming and stock raising, later moved out to Iowa and Missouri, but returned to Indiana and died in Grant County at the venerable age of ninety-five years. His first wife was named Anna Cranor, who was born in North Carolina, and who became the mother of five children: Daniel, John, David, Mary and William, none of whom are now living. The second wife was Elizabeth Osborn, who was born in North Carolina in 1800, came to Wayne County, Indiana, in childhood, and by her marriage was the mother of the following children: Jonathan W., Lucy Ann and Rebecca. She died in Grant county at the age of ninety-four.
Jonathan W. Fowler, father of George C., was born in Wayne County, Indiana, in 1836, came to Grant County, for several years clerked in a general store and a drug store, became a farmer and now lives retired in Jonesboro. He is a Republican in politics, has held offices in his town and township, and has been a member of the Masonic fraternity since 1861. His wife, Jessie L. Fowler, was born in county Essex, England, in 1840. Her grandfather, James Norton, emigrated to America in 1848 and settled in Mill Township, Grant county, where he was joined in 1850 by his son, Major B. V. Norton and family, who arrived after a stormy passage, during which they were shipwrecked on the Azores Islands, and obliged to remain there several months. Mrs. Fowler's mother was Mary (Mann) Norton. Her father was engaged in farming for a time, afterward in the mercantile business in Fairmount, where he died in 1898, while Mrs. Fowler's mother died in 1856. In the Norton family besides Mrs. Fowler were the following children, six sons and four daughters: Harry, George, Frank, James, Benoni and Mark, the first four of whom served in the Union army during the civil war and Harry died in the Andersonville prison, and James fell a victim to disease while in the army. The three daughters besides Mrs. Fowler were: Emily V., Hephzibah Mary and Retta. Of all those children, only three are now living, Frank Mary and Mrs. Fowler. Jonathan W. Fowler and wife had besides George C. Fowler two sons: Erastus M. and William R. and one daughter, Lula Anetta. Of these Erastus M. and Lula are still living, the former in Union City, Indiana, and the latter with her parents in Jonesboro.
George C. Fowler was educated in the public schools of Jonesboro, for several years was clerk in a grocery store, and the candy factory of F. M. Dilling in Marion, and in 1893 took a position with the Indiana Rubber and Insulated Wire Company of Jonesboro, where he has since remained, having been superintendent of the tire department since 1894. In this department are employed about sixty persons, with a product of about eleven hundred tires per day. He has always been a stanch Republican, working for the success of the principles of his party, but has never sought public office. the family worship in the Methodist Episcopal Church and take an active interest in its affairs. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Tribe of Ben Hur, both of Jonesboro.
He was married at Jonesboro in 1891, to Miss Avilla Winslow, who is the daughter of Daniel and Sarah (Howe) Winslow, and was born in Mill Township. Her parents were early settlers of Grant County, and were prominent members of the Friends Church. She was educated in the public schools of Grant county. They have one child: Russell W., who was born in Jonesboro February 22, 1902, and is now attending the public schools of that town.
Centennial History of Grant County Indiana 1812-1912. The Lewis Publishing Co., 1914.