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- Page 59 COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
CALVIN M. BOWER, a prominent lawyer and citizen of Bellefonte, was born in Haines township. Centre county, Penn., April 20, 1849. a son of Jacob Bower, who was a prosperous and well-to-do farmer living near the village of Woodward. The mother was a daughter of Jacob Motz, of Woodward; both parents being members of two of the oldest and most prominent families of that section of the county.
The subject of this sketch spent his early days as a farmer's boy, working on his father's farm during the summers and attending the public schools during the winter months. In November, 1866, he entered the Aaronsburg Academy to prepare for college. In the following spring he went back to his father's farm, and remained there until the fall of 1867, when he re- turned to the academy and spent the winter at his studies. In the spring of 1863 he again returned to the farm, and remained at work (ex- cept for five months spent in teaching a term of school in the neighborhood) until August, 1870, when he entered Central Pennsylvania College, at New Berlin, Penn. During the time spent on the farm he was a faithful student, making use of his spare time in finishing his preparations for college. He remained at college until October, 1871, when he came to Bellefonte to begin the study of law. He entered the law office of Orvis & Alexander, then one of the most noted law firms in central Pennsylvania. There he pursued his studies with the same zeal that characterized his school work, and in December, 1873, he was admitted to the Bar of Centre county.
Immediately upon his admission to the Bar he was offered and accepted an interest in the law firm with whom he had been a student, and in January, 1874, he became a member of the firm of Orvis, Alexander & Bower. When Judge Orvis, the senior member of the firm, was appointed to the Bench, the remaining members of the firm continued the practice under the firm name of Alexander & Bower. This partnership continued for a period of eleven years, during which time they were engaged in most of the important cases tried in Centre county. Mr. Bower was soon recognized as a careful and conscientious lawyer, and soon attained an influential position at the Bar. He early acquired a large practice at the Orphans' Court, and was looked upon especially strong in this class of cases. The firm during its existence had a large practice, and taking an active part in the work soon became one of the
leading lawyers of the county. One of the strongest evidences of Mr. Bower's ability as a lawyer is the fact that when Judge Orvis retired from the Bench he chose him as his law partner. The law firm of Orvis, Bower & Orvis, consisting of Judge Orvis, Mr. Bower, and Ellis L. Orvis. was organized January i, 1885. This partner- ship at once came into prominence, and was recognized as one of the leading law firms of Pennsylvania. Mr. Bower has always taken an active and prominent part in their practice, and his success has placed him prominently among the leading lawyers of the State. For many years he was concerned in the trial of many of the important ejectment cases tried in Centre county, and he is recognized as a well-equipped lawyer in this important branch of the law. The records of the court in the central part of the State show the extent of his practice, and the supreme court reports, for years, attest his prominence at the Bar, showing that he frequently appeared be- fore that tribunal in the leading cases from the the courts to which his practice extended.
Mr. Bower has always been an uncompromising Democrat, faithfully devoted to the principles of his party. These principles,as laid down by Jefferson, Jackson and Tilden, have always found in him an earnest and faithful supporter. As early as 1875 he was chairman of the Democratic County Committee, and by his untiring work succeeded in effecting an organization that brought out a full party vote, resulting in a majority of 1,500 in the county for the Democratic nominee for governor. He has frequently been a delegate to State Conventions, and in 1880 he was honored with a place on the Electoral ticket. In 1894 he was unanimously nominated by his party for President Judge of the 49th Judicial District, then comprised of the counties of Centre and Huntingdon. In the disastrous cam- paign of that year he was defeated with the rest of the Democratic candidates, but he ran 1,529 votes ahead of his ticket in the district. When Mr. Bower was nominated, one of the Demo-cratic papers in the district said: “ The nomination comes to him without a contest. His eminent position at the Bar in this section of the State makes him the natural candidate of his party, and he is conceded by Democrats and Republicans alike to be the strongest Democratic nominee to be found in the district." In the following year the Democratic County Committee instructed the delegates from Centre county to present Mr. Bower's name before the State Convention for the nomination of Justice of the Superior Court, and passed a resolution instructing the delegates to use all honorable means to secure his nomination. Huntingdon and other counties took similar action, and it soon became evident that there was a strong sentiment in his favor in various sections of the State. His friends made a strong fight for his nomination, and he was only defeated by an unfortunate ruling of the chairman of the Convention, which gave the nomination to Judge Magee, of Pittsburg, by twenty-eight majority.
Mr. Bower is a prominent and an active member of the Reformed Church. Frequently he has been a delegate to Classis and Synods, and has filled various Other positions with credit to himself and honor to the Church. While he is thoroughly devoted to his Church, he is interested in the cause of religion without regard to denominational lines. He has also been active in Sunday-school work, and is at present district and county chairman of the State Sabbath-school Association. He has also been an active worker in the cause of education. For years he has been a member of the board of trustees of Franklin and Marshall College, at Lancaster, Penn., and as a mark of appreciation of his work for the college, and his literary attainments, that institution some years ago conferred upon him the degree of Master of Arts. He owns one of the finest libraries in Bellefonte, and by earnest and careful study he has become as prominent in literary circles as he has in his profession. Judge Orvis, when on the Bench, fittingly recognized Mr. Bower's legal and literary attainments by appointing him a member of the examining committee; and he is in point of service the oldest member of that committee, having been reap- pointed by Judges Hoy, Furst and Love, and is the President of the Board.
Mrs. Bower is a daughter of John Meyer, of near Rebersburg, and a lady of culture and re- finement. She is particularly noted for her love of plants and flowers, and the home of the family on the e.xtreme eastern end of Linn street is one of the finest in Bellefonte. The grounds surrounding the house are one mass of vines and flowers, all under the immediate care of Mrs. Bower. The only child, John Jacob Bower, is a student of Franklin and Marshall College, a member of the class of 1898.
Socially, Mr. Bower is of a retiring disposition, absorbed in his books and his profession; yet he has acquired a large circle of acquaintances, and formed strong friendships. He is a representa- tive of one of the oldest families in Centre county, and his ancestors on both sides were some of the earliest settlers in the eastern end of Penn's Valley. Many of the Bowers and Motzes still re- side in that section of the county, and some of them own and occupy the lands where their ancestors settled about the time of the Revolutionary war, the title thereto not having passed out of the family name in which it was originally acquired.
Jacob Bower, the great-grandfather of Calvin M , and the son of John and Catherine Bower, came into what is now Haines township from Hanover township, York county, in 1776. He married Christena Nease, daughter of Philip Nease. John Motz, the great-grandfather of Mr. Bower on his mother's side, came to the site of Woodward from Penn township, in what is now Snyder county, in 1786. He bought land under date of April 29, 1785, and is credited with being the first settler on the town site named. Shortly after locating, he built a mill, and in a small scale manufactured soda. He was highly educated, a sculptor by profession, and had to leave the Fatherland in consequence of his devotion to the cause of liberty. At his death he left quite a valuable collection of books on Church history, astronomy, etc. His wife's maiden name was Mary Whitmer. [2]
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1849 - 1903 (54 years)
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