LUCIAN C. M. CLOWER. The owner of the farm located on section 33, Shipman township, is he whose name is at the head of this sketch. He was born in New Jersey, December 6, 1830, and when quite young he accompanied his parents to Ohio, where he lived until he was twenty years of age. During this time he remained on a farm, receiving a practical training in agricultural pursuits. His early opportunities in an education way were those of country boys in Ohio, which has a reputation for its district schools.
In 1850 Mr. Clower came to Jersey County and lived there nearly three years. Thence he removed to Sangamon County where he sojourned until the spring of 1861, the date of his removal to Macoupin County. Settling in the township where he at present resides, he has remained here almost continuously since the time of his advent.
Our subject was married in Shipman Township, April 18, 1854, to Miss Ann Tompkins, who was a native of New Jersey. Mr. Clower and his amiable wife are the parents of seven children, who are: George, William, Eva, John, Edward, Annie and Edna. The eldest son was married early in life to Ella Deahl; Eva is the wife of Charles Hills; John married Miss Phebe Huckelbridge. Edward married Lillian Wilton, of Medora. The children are all bright and interesting, being potent factors in the township as men and women of energy and intelligence.
Our subject has always followed in the calling of agriculture having made a decided success therein. He has erected a good set of buildings on his farm and the improvements placed upon it speak well for the man, did we not know anything else in his favor. He has now two hundred and forty acres. He has been elected to the office of School Trustee, which position he has filled for some time to the satisfaction of his constituents and the honor of the district. The platform of the Republican party is the one that appeals most strenuously to Mr. Clower's sense of the intelligent government of a great land. Both he and his wife are members of the Baptist church, of which they are generous supporters.
The parents of Mr. Clower were William and Rebecca (Howell) Clower, natives of New Jersey. The father died April 4, 1891, having reached the advanced age of eighty-nine years. The mother died in Christian County, this State. Mrs. Lucian Clower's father was William Tompkins, a native of Morris County, N.J., and her paternal grandfather was Nathaniel tompkins, also a native of New Jersey, who passed away from this life in Shipman County in May, 1860. Her mother was Rebecca Vaughn, born in Mercer County, N.J., January 14, 1814, and the daughter of John Vaughn, who died in Shipman Township in February, 1861. Mrs. Clower belongs to a family the members of which lived to almost a patriarchal age. Her father died in Shipman Township, January 28, 1890. Her mother still survives at an advanced age. Mrs. Clower's maternal grandmother was Nancy Garrison, who was of English ancestry and passed away from this life in the State of New Jersey. Her paternal grandmother was Nancy Bedford. Mr. Clower's maternal grandmother was Lear Swim.
Elsewhere in this volume appears a view of the cozy rural abode where Mr. and Mrs. Clower are comfortably domiciled.