Bloomington (IN) Telephone
March 12, 1936
page 2

NOTE: The item below was abbreviated from the original as noted by the ellipsis.

MR. AND MRS. J. M. SOWDER RECEIVE FRIENDS AT GOLDEN WEDDING RECEPTION WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON; CHLDREN ASSIST

Mr. and Mrs. James M. Sowder, Smithville Road, quietly celebrated their golden wedding anniversary Wednesday afternoon by receiving close friends and neighbors between the hours of two and five o'clock.Assisted in receiving were the children of Mr. and Mrs. Sowder, Mrs. Charles E. Cook of North Manchester, Mr. and Mrs. Roy Sowder of Bedford and Stanley Sowder of Detroit.

Mrs. Izilla Hutchison, a sister of Mrs. Sowders [sic], was the only guest Wednesday who attended the wedding ceremony fifty years ago, although seven others are still living, among them Mrs. Flora Chambers of Harrodsburg. The ceremony was performed by Rev. Lucien B. Johnson, a pioneer Methodist minister who served charges in this county. The wedding occurred at the home of the bride's father, Peter Norman, an early settler from North Carolina who located at Norman Station in the southern part of Monroe County.

Mrs. Sowder before her marriage was a teacher in Polk Township having taught in the Blackwell, Saddle Creek and Burgoon schools. She attended the old Bloomington preparatory school and received instruction at the hands of Dr. James A. Woodburn and the late James K. Beck and Prof. Houghton. She recalls vividly the days when the farm home was the center of all home industries, her family having spun wool and flax for clothing, dyed the materials and then wove and knitted the threads into cloth or clothing.

Mr.Sowders [sic] is a native of Lawrence County where the couple lived on a farm near Bartlettsville for 20 years following their marriage.

They moved to Bedford for two years and then came to Monroe County and have lived for the past 28 years on the farm where they now reside. While living in Lawrence County Mr. Sowder held the offices of school trustee in Pleasant Run Township and county commissioner.

Typed and donated by Randi Richardson.