Tuolumne
County
Biographies
HORACE H. ROWELL
A well known and reliable
businessman of Sonora, Tuolumne County, California, is Horace Hall Rowell, the
subject of our sketch. Mr. Rowell is an
old settler of California, having located in the state in 1853. His birth took place January 9, 1830, at
Hooksett, New Hampshire, and was the son of Peter and Susan (Eastman) Rowell,
natives of New Hampshire and Massachusetts, respectively, who were of French
and Scotch descent. Peter Rowell served
as a drummer in the War of 1812. He and
his wife were the parents of eleven children, four of whom are surviving. Mr. and Mrs. Rowell were worthy people, of
Universalist belief, and died at the ages of seventy-five and fifty-six, respectively.
Our subject lived the usual life of
the school boy of his time and prepared for future usefulness by learning the
gunsmith’s trade. In 1849 his brother
Gilman came to California and successfully engaged in mining in Mariposa
County, dying at Sawmill Flat, Tuolumne County, in 1890, leaving behind him a
record of good deeds and many kindnesses to other miners. He was generous and liberal and will long be
remembered. Our subject reached
California by the Isthmus route and for three years engaged in placer mining at
Sawmill Flat, where he met with some success, leaving with considerable
money. He then opened a blacksmith shop,
hiring a smith for the work, but suffered a loss of three thousand dollars by
fire. In 1875 he settled in Sonora,
again losing a large sum by fire, but rebuilt and opened up his place of
business better prepared than ever. Since
that time Mr. Rowell has successfully carried on his line of trade, dealing in
guns, ammunition and sporting goods and in connection handles sewing machines,
also owning a repair shop.
Since the Civil War Mr. Rowell has
been a staunch Republican, showing much enthusiasm for the present (1900)
administration. Since 1860 he has been a
valued member of the I. O. O. F., and is regarded as one of the representative
businessmen of Sonora.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
“A Volume of Memoirs and Genealogy of Representative Citizens of Northern
California”, Pages 516-517. Chicago Standard Genealogical Publishing Co. 1901.
© 2010
Gerald Iaquinta.