Mary Yaner, who were your people?

Mary and her husband Nicholas Yaner lived in Crystal Township, Montcalm County, Michigan, near my hometown. Nicholas and Mary were my great-great grandparents. Nicholas, an immigrant from Württemberg, had been one of the earliest settlers in Crystal Township before he wandered down to Ohio and met Mary. I recently set out to learn more about where Mary came from. It’s not that I’ve had no information about Mary or her potential family. I had seen census records for Nicholas and Mary in the late 1800s but hadn’t looked much further.

Where do I begin?

Mary Yaner’s death record tells us that she was the daughter of Peter Bowers.^[1] Nicholas didn’t know Mary’s mother’s name, nor did he know the birthplace of either parent. He reported that Mary was born in Ohio on January 16, 1844. Although he wasn’t a witness at her birth, he understood this to be her birthdate. Mary’s death resulted from tuberculosis, a malady that seemed to follow her family. Two of her children had already died of tuberculosis. Her grandson Coyne Kidder, my grandfather, died of tuberculosis at age 32 when Mom was six.

I found that Mary was known variously as Mary Ann, Mary A., Marietta, Mary Ette, and Mary E. Bowers or Yaner. Note that she was identified as Mary E. Yaner in her death record.

Looking for Peter Bowers in the 1850 census of Ohio, I found his household in Coventry Township, Summit County.^[2] Mary was reported to be seven years old. Her mother was not listed and was likely deceased. Daniel Bowers, Catharine Bowers, and Gristona [Christina] Row appear to be Mary’s siblings. Sarah Powles, in the next household, was of an age to potentially be a sister.

Peter Bowers subsequently married Elizabeth Gunsman on September 9, 1855.^[3] Mary A. Bowers was listed in their household in the 1860 census of Coventry Township.^[4] Amanda and Louise would have been Mary’s half-sisters. Perhaps Mary had her sister in mind when she named her daughter Louise Ellen Yaner in 1877. I remember this daughter as my Great-Grandma Kidder.

Mary Ann Bowers married Nicholas Yaner in Summit County, Ohio on or about February 25, 1865.^[5] Her father Peter had died October 25, 1864.^[6]

Expanding the family

The 1870 census of Ontwa Township, Cass County, Michigan reveals more useful information in this search for Mary’s family.^[7] Nicholas and Marietta Yaner are listed at the bottom of Page 1, with children following at the top of Page 2. On line 22 of Page 2, we find Isaac P. Bowers followed by his wife and children. Isaac, age 44, turned out to have been an older brother who had left his father’s household by 1850. The birth record of Isaac’s daughter Catharine reveals that Isaac’s middle name was Powles (see image 253 in the original document).^[8] Remember that surname from the 1850 census? Powles was sometimes spelled Powless in other records, perhaps a hint at its pronunciation.

Researching Isaac’s family, I found that he remarried after the death of his wife Sarah. The registration of this second marriage identified his parents as Peter Bowers and Susannah Powers (again, read the original document).^[9]

At last, I had discovered Mary’s mother’s name. Thank you, Isaac. Let’s pause for a moment, though. Might Isaac have been misunderstood in providing her name? Might his middle name have been a tribute to his mother’s family? That was not an uncommon practice. I suspect that she was in fact Susannah Powles, but I really don’t know.

Peter Bowers

Mary’s father was Peter Bowers, but where did he come from? The short answer, based on the 1850 and 1860 censuses, is Pennsylvania. I learned more about Peter’s family from the 1840 census of Summit County.^[10]

As in 1850 and 1860, I have found one household for a Peter Bowers in Summit County in 1840. U.S. Federal Censuses taken before 1850 reported statistical information for the household, naming only the head of household. We can’t be certain that this is the same family, but I think it is likely. Remarks in the following table indicate my thoughts about who might be represented in various age ranges. Note that children’s ages didn’t exactly correspond to ages reported in 1850, and there were children I haven’t yet identified. Did Peter have a good grasp of his children’s ages for the 1850 census?

Age ranges	Males	Females	Remarks
40-49	1		Peter
30-39		1	Susannah?
15-19	2
10-14	1	1	Isaac?
5-9	1	1	Christina?
0-4	1		Daniel?

Summit County was created in 1840 from portions of Medina, Portage, and Stark Counties.^[11] A Peter Bower household was recorded in Marlboro Township, Stark County, Ohio in 1830.^[12]

Age ranges	Males	Females	Remarks
30-39	1		Peter
20-29		1	Susannah?
0-4	2		Isaac?

Peter’s neighbor, John Powles, had a larger household consisting of one male aged 50-59, one female 40-49, three females 15-19, one male and one female 10-14, one male and one female 5-9, and one male and one female 0-4. Might this be Susannah’s family?

Peter Bowers reported in the 1850 and 1860 censuses that he was born in Pennsylvania. His stated ages indicate birth about 1800. His son Isaac, born about 1826, also reported Pennsylvania as his birthplace. This suggests that Peter moved to Ohio between 1826 and 1830.

I couldn’t find a twenty-year-old Peter Bowers household in the 1820 U.S. Census of Pennsylvania. I can tell you that there was no shortage of Bauer, Bower, and Bowers families in Pennsylvania, and Peter might still have been in one of those households, not as head of household, for the 1820 census. Bauer, by the way, is the German word for farmer.

Another Peter Bowers

I did find an older Peter Bower in the 1820 census of Woodberry (now Woodbury) Township, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania.^[13] John Bower on the next line might have been Peter’s brother. An 1821 Pennsylvania census of Woodberry lists Peter Bower and Peter Bower junior, as well as Michael, George, and John.^[14] While senior and junior designations at that time did not indicate relationship as it does today, these Peters could be father and son. Who were Michael and George? This census didn’t enumerate households, so they might have been in one or more nuclear families.

The elder Peter was active in Huntingdon County in 1832, as indicated by this list of collections at Clover Creek for building a new church:

This document, which was page two of an agreement to build the church, appears following page 382 in Genealogy of the Brumbach Families [hereafter “the Brumbach book”] by Gaius Brumbaugh.^[15]

Probate records of Huntingdon County for the estate of Peter Bowers in 1844 identify several heirs, none of them our Peter.^[16] The older Peter was likely related, however, having died in Summit County, Ohio, in 1843. Note connections to the Rhodes and Fouse families. Members of these families were living near Mary Yaner’s father in the 1850 census. We should also be mindful that this probate was initiated by a creditor looking for compensation from the deceased Peter’s estate, calling for known heirs to settle financial claims. This probate was not opened by named heirs producing a will. We should not assume, then, that the cited heirs-at-law were necessarily Peter’s children, or not all of them. The named heirs and next of kin were:

• John Bowers
• Michael Bowers
• Adam Bowers
• William Fouse, husband of Susan Fouse
• John Acker, husband of Elizabeth Fouse

Probate for the estate of Peter Bower had in fact been opened the year before in Summit County, Ohio. I found an estate notice in the Summit County Beacon of April 5, 1843.^[17]

The Brumbaugh connection

The elder Peter Bowers lived among Brumbaugh, Acker, Clapper, Rhodes, and Fouse families in Huntingdon County. The previously mentioned Brumbach book names a Peter Bowers as the husband of Susannah Brumbaugh. Their family was documented beginning on page 451 of this book.^[18] Bearing in mind that the Brumbach book is a secondary source, it provides a wealth of information. Peter was thought to be born in September 1760 and reportedly died January 3, 1843. No birth or death dates were given for Susannah Brumbaugh Bowers. Their listed children were:

1. Elizabeth, who married John Acker and resided in Blair [previously Huntingdon] County, Pennsylvania.
2. Catharine, born April 29, 1813, married Joseph Strunk, who was reportedly born in Tritts Mill, Summit County, Ohio.
3. Jacob, born December 28, 1814, married Elizabeth Rhodes and reportedly moved to Marlborough Township, Stark County, Ohio in 1842.
4. Adam, born December 11, 1818, married Elizabeth Clapper and lived in Blair County.
5. Abraham, born January 6, 1822, married Anna Richards and resided near New Portage in Summit County.
6. Sarah, born December 28, 1824, married Jacob Powles. They lived in Summit County and later moved to Kansas. Remember them in the 1850 census?
7. Isaac, born April 19, 1828, married Phoebe Dreher and lived in Summit County until his death August 17, 1857.

Susannah Brumbaugh’s sister Elizabeth’s family with John Bowers, possibly Peter’s brother, is also documented in the Brumbach book beginning on page 455.^[19] John died June 26, 1886, near Roaring Spring in Blair County. John and Elizabeth’s documented children were:

1. Mary, born May 30, 1812. She married David McGee. At some point they moved to Iowa and later to Kansas.
2. Catharine, born in July 1813, married Abraham Solliday in Blair [at that time Huntingdon] County, Pennsylvania. They moved to Wayne County, Ohio about 1838.
3. David, born January 18, 1815, married Ann Hoover in Huntingdon County. At some point they moved to Wayne County, Indiana.
4. Susan, born August 24, 1817, married William Heitchew. They lived in Huntingdon County until her death in 1840.
5. Sarah, born November 23, 1818, married George W. Hueston. They lived in Huntingdon and then Blair County.
6. Peter (another one), born April 13, 1820, married Sarah Hatfield. He reportedly died June 26, 1886, apparently with his father.
7. Esther, born December 1, 1822, married William Heitchew after her sister Susan’s death.
8. Amelia, born October 8, 1825, married John H. Sorrick. They moved to Summit County, Ohio.
9. Abraham Brumbaugh Bowers, born September 29, 1827, married Savilla Ann Brown. They lived in Iowa and Kansas.
10. William died young.
11. George died young.
12. Alexander K., born June 19, 1834, married Celia A. Dupray. They lived in Iowa. 

John Bowers, Michael Bowers, and Susan Fouse, named in the 1844 citation of heirs, weren’t listed in the family of Peter Bowers and Susannah Brumbaugh. Susan, described as the daughter of Peter Bowers, is named as the wife of William Fouse on page 398 of the Brumbach book.^[20] She was reportedly born in Blair [sic Huntingdon] County May 29, 1797. If Susan’s father was the elder Peter Bowers, either Susannah Brumbaugh was born well before the 1790s, as has been reported, or she wasn’t Peter’s first wife. A biographical sketch of Samuel Bowers, grandson of Peter and Susannah, indicates that Susannah Brumbaugh was in fact Peter’s second wife.^[21] A bit of further investigation suggests that Mary Yaner’s father Peter Bowers, Michael Bowers, Susan Bowers Fouse, and the John Bowers listed in the 1820 census of Woodberry were probably children of the elder Peter and his first wife, whoever she was. The John Bowers named in the 1844 estate might have been an unmentioned younger son of Peter and Susannah Brumbaugh Bowers. He was living in the 1850 household of his apparent brother Isaac with Isaac’s mother Susannah.^[22]

The journey from here

Shared DNA can sometimes lead to research by other descendants. A distant DNA relative named Barbara, who lives in Virginia, has traced Bowers ancestors to Pennsylvania in the 1700s. I have communicated briefly with her since 2015. Other testers on multiple platforms share the same segment of DNA that I share with Barbara. Unfortunately, I haven’t found much documentary evidence of our shared ancestors in their posted trees. One of Barbara’s shared DNA matches does indicate Rhodes ancestors, so that might be helpful in sorting out potential connections. MyHeritage DNA projects the most likely relationship between Barbara and me is fifth cousins, sharing great-great-great-great grandparents. I see a few connections with other testers on Ancestry who are descendants of Isaac Powles Bowers.

Mary, I’ve found a few of your people, but this puzzle just keeps getting more interesting. Much of my discovery is speculative, but I know far more than I did before beginning this exploration. I might need to be thinking of a trip to Pennsylvania and Ohio.

Notes

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^[1] Death Records, 1903, Montcalm County, Michigan, Mary E. Yaner, Digital File 515005, https://michiganology.org/uncategorized/IO_7aa2433c-0d0d-496c-b975-f1096cb4d2c6, accessed December 9, 2023; from Archives of Michigan, Deaths, 1903, Montcalm County, record 4 (stamped 66).

^[2] United States Census, 1850, Coventry, Summit County, Ohio, record of Peter Bowers, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MX7H-C1C, accessed December 9, 2023; from U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), 1850 United States Census, Coventry, Summit County, Ohio, Population Schedule, page 172, line 42.

^[3] Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-2016; Summit County, Ohio, record of Peter Bowers and Elizabeth Gunsman, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XD7T-5MV, accessed December 9, 2023; from Summit County, Ohio, Marriages, 1855, page 634, record 149.

^[4] United States Census, 1860; Coventry, Summit County, Ohio, record of Peter Bowers, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MCL9-V5B, accessed December 9, 2023; from U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), 1860 United States Census, Coventry, Summit County, Ohio, Population Schedule, page 125 (stamped 191), line 38.

^[5] Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-2016; Summit County, Ohio, record of Nicholas Yaner and Mary Ann Bowers, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XDWS-5VS, accessed December 9, 2023; from Summit County, Ohio, Marriages, 1865, Volume C, page 285, record 900.

^[6] Find-a-Grave memorial 15484646, Peter Bowers, Kyser Cemetery, Barberton, Summit County, Ohio, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/15484646/peter-bowers, accessed December 9, 2023.

^[7] United States Census, 1870; Ontwa, Cass County, Michigan, record of Nicholas Yaner, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MHHX-Y35, accessed December 9, 2023; from U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), 1870 United States Census, Ontwa, Cass County, Michigan, Population Schedule, page 1 (stamped 133), line 40.

^[8] Michigan Births, 1867-1902; Cass County, Michigan, record of Catharine Ujene Bowers, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NQ49-LVL, image 253, accessed December 9, 2023; from Michigan, Department of Vital Records, Lansing, Cass County, Births, 1869, page 30 (stamped 258), record 449.

^[9] Michigan Marriages, 1868-1925; Cass County, Michigan, record of Isaac P. Bowers, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NQWK-G12, accessed December 9, 2023; from Michigan, Department of Vital Records, Lansing, Cass County, Marriages 1889, Volume 1, page 12 (stamped 264), record 608

^[10] United States Census, 1840, Coventry, Summit County, Ohio, record of Peter Bowers, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHTT-LXS, accessed December 9, 2023; from U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), 1840 United States Census, Coventry, Summit County, Ohio, Population Schedule, page 282, line 1.

^[11] Summit County, Ohio Genealogy, Boundary Changes, https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Summit_County,_Ohio_Genealogy, accessed December 9, 2023.

^[12] United States Census, 1830; Marlboro, Stark County, Ohio, record of Peter Bowers, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XH5X-MXZ, accessed December 9, 2023; from U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), 1830 United States Census, Marlboro, Stark County, Ohio, Population Schedule, page 242, line 24.

^[13] United States Census, 1820, Woodberry, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, record of Peter Bower, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHG6-1FJ, accessed December 9, 2023; from U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), 1820 United States Census, Woodberry, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, Population Schedule, page 36, line 23.

^[14] Pennsylvania Septennial Census, 1821, Woodberry, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, record of Peter Bower, https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/701387:2702, accessed December 9, 2023; from Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.

^[15] Genealogy of the Brumbach families: including those using the following variations of the original name, Brumbaugh, Brumbach, Brumback, Brombaugh, Brownback, and many other connected families, by Gaius Marcus Brumbaugh, published 1913, F. H. Hitchcock, New York, available on Internet Archive, https://archive.org/details/genealogyofbrumb00brum/page/382/, accessed December 9, 2023.

^[16] Probate of Peter Bowers estate, April 11, 1844, Pennsylvania Wills and Probate Records, https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/1751611:8802, accessed December 9, 2023; from Huntingdon County Wills, Volumes 3-4, 1822-1847, Page 363.

^[17] Notice of Peter Bower’s estate, The Summit County Beacon Archive, https://www.newspapers.com/image/228852069/, accessed December 9, 2023; from The Summit County Beacon, Akron, Ohio, April 5, 1843, Page 3, column 6.

^[18] Genealogy of the Brumbach families, https://archive.org/details/genealogyofbrumb00brum/page/451/, accessed December 9, 2023.

^[19] Genealogy of the Brumbach families, https://archive.org/details/genealogyofbrumb00brum/page/455/, accessed December 9, 2023.

^[20] Genealogy of the Brumbach families, https://archive.org/details/genealogyofbrumb00brum/page/398/, accessed December 9, 2023.

^[21] History of Stark County, with an outline sketch of Ohio, by William Henry Perrin, published 1881, Baskin & Battey, Chicago, available on Internet Archive, https://archive.org/details/historyofstarkco00perr/page/920/, accessed December 9, 2023.

^[22] United States Census, 1850, Coventry, Summit County, Ohio, record of John Bowers, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MX7H-FTM, accessed December 9, 2023; from U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), 1850 United States Census, Coventry, Summit County, Ohio, Population Schedule, page 187 (stamped 94), line 26.