Progress since Thanksgiving 1989:
1. The services of Jim Petty, former head genealogist at the Family History Library in Salt Lake were obtained to sort out the lineage problem of Andrew Mower. Our information at that time was that he was born in Maryland about 1755. Some genealogical work done 20 years ago showed his line through a New Jersey Moor family.
2. We have since learned this line was in apparent error. We learned that Andrew Mower was born Andrew Maurer in 1752 in Bucks County, Pennsylvania to Michael Maurer and Anna Elizabeth ________. Andrew had two sisters that we have identified so far. We feel there are other siblings yet to be identified.
3. Andrew married in Pennsylvania and had 4 children by what appears to be two different wives---Michael Maurer (Mower) born in 1774 to wife Barbara, and Molly (1778), Sarah (1781) and Jacob (1783) Maurer (Mower) born through wife Margaret. Andrew moved to Maryland after the Revolutionary War and there two more children were born by Margaret---Phoebe (abt 1790) and Andrew Jr. (abt 1793).
4. The Mowers at this reunion today all come through the eldest of Andrew's sons---Michael. Andrew was of German stock. We believe his father---Michael---was the first Maurer of our line to come from Germany. We are working now to establish their date of immigration and origin in Germany.
5. Michael Mower son of Andrew, married a girl of German parents---Catherine Geissinger, daughter of Charles (Carl) Geissinger. They married about 1797 in Frederick County, Maryland and soon moved with the family to Bedford County, Pennsylvania. Andrew and all of his children moved to Bedford as did Charles (Carl) Geissinger, and his family. Andrew's sister, Anna Margaret Maurer who married Christopher Brill also had moved to Bedford. It was common for families to move in groups to the West.
6. We have learned Charles (Carl) Geissinger fought in the Revolutionary War and received a land grant in Bedford in the early 1800's. We have discovered 2 of his sons names---Charles and John--- and have done temple work for them. We have discovered that John married and lived in Bedford and had a family there.
7. Henry Mower Senior grew up in Bedford Co. Pennsylvania and like his father, Michael, became a wagon maker. In 1817 he married a grand daughter of Anna Margaret Maurer Brill---Mary Amick, daughter of John Amick.
8. The Amicks are more elusive to trace, but we are cracking their case too. John had a brother named Michael. Possibly the family came from York County, Pennsylvania, but originally came from Germany. Michael Amick married Molly Maurer (Mower) and lived and died in Bedford County. He and Molly had 7 children. We are right on the verge of breaking this family open.
MOWER: We have researched the names of all Mowers living in Bedford County, Pennsylvania 1800-1900. Sometimes the name was spelled Mowery, Mowry, Mowrer, Moura, etc. Those names also have been identified. We know of blood relationship with many of those individuals. Many we suspect blood relationship with, but have not found the linking evidence yet.
GEISSINGER: We are researching all Geissingers, also spelled Geisinger, Gisinger, Guysinger, Kissinger. We have researched many found in Frederick, Maryland where Michael Mower married Catherine Geissinger. We have also researched many in Ohio where the family appears to have moved. To date about 100 Geissingers have been submitted for temple work. Some are definite blood relatives, some are highly suspected as being relatives because they lived in the same area, but the linking evidence eludes us to date.
BRILL: This name has not been researched into Germany. We have written a German genealogist to research the Maurer/Brill name in the Palatine area of southern Germany. Since the family associated together in America, we think they may have associated in Germany. A lady in Hermiston, Oregon who is researching that line and ties into us. Her ancestor was Christopher Brill who married Anna Margaret Maurer (sister of Andrew Mower).
AMICK: We have research many of the descendants of John Amick in Bedford County, Pennsylvania. We have identified about 200.
Barbara Nichols, r from the state of Washington, whose mother is an Amick, has sent me 66 Amick descendants of hers who undoubtedly tie into our line. I believe the closer we get to the origins of John Amick, that these people she sent me are John's cousins.
FUTURE GOALS FOR THE COMING YEAR: 1. Push the following lines into Germany: Maurer, Geissinger, Amick. 2. Begin the German research phase of the work. 3. Pursue the Geissinger, Amick, Mower descendants in America. 4. Rally financial support to fund the expertise needed from the genealogist. 5. Continue a monthly newsletter to inform the family of progress and frustrations.
MOWER FAMILY NEWSLETTER AUGUST 1990
It was great to meet all of you again, and some of you for the first time at the Mower Reunion in Payson on July 21st. Tedi Jeen and I have not been to the Family History Library since the reunion. I am planning on going to Utah for 3 days in mid-August to attend some sessions of the genealogical conference to be held in Salt Lake then. I would like to attend the sessions dealing with German research since that seems to be where we are headed.
Thanks to all of you who contributed at the reunion, and some who have sent money in the mail since. We have cleared the debt to the genealogist and will have purchased another full day's work from him for this month.
The big news as related at the reunion, but which will be news to those of you who did not attend, was that Shirley Wall may have established the parents of John Amick, (Henry Mower Jr's grandfather.) This is a lead which needs to be pursued. If this turns out to be true, we will have totally new information to the family on his line. His parentage was lost through the years as his descendants (who knew it) died.
It appears to me that we are going to link up with the line of Amicks that Barbara Nichols sent me last month. You will remember that she is a lady who lives in Washington State who descends through the Amicks through a different line. Barbara's research may help us by helping us trace down through her line until we link up with the parents of John Amick. If we can not trace John Amick back through history, maybe we can trace his ancestors down to him. Just a thought.
Any of you who have Mower family histories, collections of Mower historical material of any kind---obituaries, articles, etc. Please mail a copy of them to me so that Shirley Wall and I can build a reservoir of Mower data for the computer. We already have life stories of Henry Mower Jr. and Henry Mower Sr., but other Mower material would be appreciated. Eventually we might like to put together a Mower Family History. Thanks.