John Edward Mower (September 18, 1815–June 11, 1879) was a member of the Minnesota Territorial Legislature in the 1850s. On March 1, 1856 the second territorial

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Willis A. Gorman (D) honored him by giving the newly created

Mower County Mower County () is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,029. The county seat is Austin. Mower County comprises the Austin Micropolitan Statistical Area and is included in the Rochester-Austin Co ...

his name.John Edward Mower, Minnesota Legislators Past and Present
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Biography

John was born in New Vineyard, Maine in 1815. His family made the move west and settled in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

where he met and married Gratia A. Remick. He and his brother, Martin, moved their

families Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideal ...

to the area around St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin and established themselves in the

lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...

business in 1843. In 1845 John floated his family downriver on a raft made from the

that he would use to build the second frame building in

Stillwater, Minnesota Stillwater is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Washington County. It is in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area, on the west bank of the St. Croix River (Wisconsin-Minnesota), St. Croix River, across from H ...

, their new home. The Mower brothers built a house in the style of

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but a ...

Arcola Arcola may refer to: Places ; Australia * Arcola, Grafton, a heritage-listed house in New South Wales ;Canada * Arcola, Saskatchewan, a town in the Province of Saskatchewan * Arcola Airport, an airport in the Province of Saskatchewan ;England * ...

in 1847 and it is now on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

. He died on June 11, 1879 and is buried in Fairview Cemetery in

Political career

John Edward Mower was elected to the fifth and sixth Minnesota Territorial Councils and in 1875 he was elected to the

Minnesota House of Representatives The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower house of the Legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota. There are 134 members, twice as many as the Minnesota Senate. Floor sessions are held in the north wing of the State Capitol in Saint ...

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mower, John Edward 1815 births 1879 deaths People from Franklin County, Maine People from Stillwater, Minnesota Businesspeople from Minnesota Members of the Minnesota Territorial Legislature Members of the Minnesota House of Representatives Mower County, Minnesota 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American businesspeople