P. M. Lown was born in Columbia County, N.Y., Oct. 15, 1817. He was educated there and in 1838 left that place and went to New Orleans, traveling by railroad, canal, stage and steamboat. From New Orleans he went to a point on the Mississippi River a short distance from there and worked one season making cypress shingles. He then went to Louisville, Ky., thence to New Albany, Ind., where he worked one summer on the turnpikes. In 1839 he returned to New Orleans. He followed the river trade six years, then went to Galena, Ill., where he worked a while, then came to Farmersburg, Clayton County, and with the exception of one winter, which he spent in the pineries of Wisconsin, he has resided here since. He owns 300 acres of good land on sections 1 and 36. He was married to Margery Barber, Dec. 26, 1850. She was born in Scott County, Ill., Feb. 22, 1826. They are the parents of the following named children - Philip M., born June 22, 1854; Mary E., July 10, 1858; Lilian M., Sept. 12, 1861, and Nellie B., Dec. 28, 1864. Mr. Lown has held the offices of Township Trustee and Supervisor. In religious sentiment he is a Methodist. In politics a Democrat. source: History of Clayton County, Iowa, 1882, p. 933 |