Olive Samantha Bower

Olive Samantha Bower was born in 1862, the daughter of David Bower and Caroline Snyder. She was born in the years that the Civil War was being fought and the young men of the county were enlisting, and later being drafted to service. Her father's brother was Dr. John Bower, one of five doctors in Salem Township, Clarion County.

Olive was four years old when her father died in 1866. David Bower had been drafted to serve in the Civil War, but as was accepted practice, he paid another man to serve in his stead. The war ended soon after this arrangement was made, but David Bower took ill and died of "white swelling". His wife, Caroline Snyder, was left with the debt of $400 to pay. Presumably because of having to find work, or possibly unable to withstand the stress of her situation, she gave her children to be raised by others.

(click here to read the full biography of Olive Samantha Bower)
(Emlenton, Pennsylvania)

	Date	Location	Notes	Sources
Birth	1862	PA
Marriage	expect 1880 -1883		To James Francis Beals
Death	13 Mar 1894	Salem, Clarion County, PA
Burial		Aug 1930 Stone Church Salem Lutheran Cemetery, Clarion County, PA See Source Notes

Ancestry chart segment

 Generation 3            Generation 4               Generation 5
 
                     +-- James Francis Beals
                     |   (1846-1930)           
 James Elgie Beals --+                          +-- David Bower
 (1889-1982)         |                          |   (1825-1866)
                     +-- Olive Samantha Bower --+
                         (1862-1895)            |
                                                +-- Caroline Snyder
                                                    (1831-1905)

Sources:

Children

All children with James Francis Beals:

Name	Gender	Date of Birth	Birthplace	Spouse	Notes	Sources
Arminta Beals	F	b.18 Mar 1883 bapt. 3 Feb 1884 Salem Lutheran		Joe Dittman
Florence Beals	F	1884		Earl Bell
James Elgie Beals	M	24 Apr 1889	Venango Co. (present day Clarion Co.)	Winnifred May Kline	Direct line
infant daughter	F	1894		na	died at birth

Photos

This photo from the Donald Dittman & Minta Beals collection, was labeled "Liz Ashbaugh", but the facial bone structure is not hers. Is this possibly Minta Beals' mother, Olive Samantha Bower? (Olive Bower was the 2nd wife of James Francis Beals; Liz Ashbaugh was the 3rd wife.) Grandchildren of Olive Bower never met her; if they were told this was "Grandma Beals", they may thus have miss-labeled the image.
Another possibility is Flora Ann Beals (Biery), elder sister of James Francis Beals

Sources

Ref. Num.	Description	Image of original
1	1870 United States Federal Census, Beaver T., Clarion Co. PA, Pg. 21, lines 28-30 lists Jacob Beals age 33, farmer, value of real estate 4000, personal estate 917, citizen of US; Clara age 28 keeping house; Oliver (sic) C. Bower age 8 male.
2	1880 United States Federal Census, Richland Twp., Venango Co., PA, Enummerator's District 253, Page 13, lines 47-49 lists widow Hanah Porterfield, 74, living with farmer James Porterfield, 48, and servant Olive Bower, 18. Everyone and their parents were born in PA with the exception of Hanah Porterfield's father, who was born in Ireland. Everyone can read, write, and speak English. This census is dated 14 Jun 1880.
3	Gravestone at Salem Lutheran Cemetery, Clarion County, PA. Reads: "BEALS, James F. 1846-1930, Olive C. 1862-1894, Infant Daughter". Transcribed March 1995 by Elizabeth Wilson Williams.
4	Will of James F. Beals, signed 12 Jan 1924. At this time, James F. Beals lived in Salem Twp., Clarion Co., PA. His second wife, named Olive E. Beals, died on 13 Mar 1895. His present wife is named Elizabeth Beals. The executors of his will are named Chales F. Beals[sic] and James E. Beals.
5	Cemetery Association Record listing the siblings of David Bower, 1826-1856. It also lists his wife, Caroline Snyder, 1881-1909, and their children Paris Bower (m. Maria Rugh), Theresa (Tacy) Bower (m. Peter Sheakley), Olive Bower (m. James Beals), Irvin Bower, and Laura Bower (m. [unknown] Tyler). This record lists James Beals married 2nd to Olive Bower; their children Arminta Beals married Joseph H. Dittman, Florence Beals married Earl Bell, and Elgie Beals married Winnie Kline.	(transcription, David Bower family) (transcription, James Beals family)
6	Cemetery Association Record from Salem Lutheran Cemetery Association lists Jacob Beals, 1806-1899, as married to Elizabeth Brey, 1808-1899. It lists their descendants down as far as four generations in some places. Some of those descendants are my anscestors, including son James Beals, daughter-in-law Olive Bower, grandson Elgie Beals and grandaughter-in-law Winnie Kline.	transcription
7	Obituary for J. Elgie Beals. Indicates that he died at the age of 92, having been born on 24 Apr 1889 in Richland Township, Venango County, PA. He died at the home of his daughter, Bertha Chambers, in Kossuth, PA, where he had been living for some time. His parents were James F. Beals and Olive Bower Beals. He married Winnifred Kline on 12 Oct 1910. Winnifred Kline died on May 4, 1966. At the time of his death, he had two surviving daughters, Ella Wilson and Bertha Chambers, and one son, Robert Beals. His other son, Loy Beals, died in 1978. J. Elgie Beals will be buried at the Old Zion church.
8	Personal correspondence from Elizabeth Wilson Williams, great-granddaughter of Olive Samantha Bower. She recalls her grandfather, James Elgie Beals relating that his mother died in childbirth when he was six years old.	N/A
9	Research Manuscript of Ella May Beals (Wilson) researched 1975-1985, including personal knowledge and interviews of her siblings Robert Beals and Bertha Beals (Chambers), and of her aunt Mary P. Kline (Fillgrove). Ella Beals was a granddaughter of Olive Samantha Bower. Olive Bower died before Ella was born and they never actually knew each other. Ella was a daughter of Olive's son, James Elgie Beals.
10	Record books for Salem Lutheran Church, Salem Twp., Clarion Co. PA. This collection of church record books was in the keeping of then pastor Kathleen Anderson, and was partially extracted in March 1995 by Elizabeth Ann Wilson Williams and Nancy Elizabeth Beals Walls. Transcriptions were incomplete due to time limitations and the quantity of material. Vol.III."Salem Congregation, Lutheran Church, Clarion County Pennsylvania" Church Members * Olive C. Beals confirmation 3 Feb 1884 until death. Baptisms * Minta Emantha Beals; dau of J. F. & Olive Beals, b.18 Mar 1883; bapt. 3 Feb 1884	Records of Salem Lutheran Church, partial transcription 1995