farmer, Cotton Township, a native of New Hampshire, was born September 27, 1809. His education was simply such as could be obtained in the common schools of his time. He resides upon Section 9, and has in his home farm 339 acres of fine land, under a good state of cultivation. He has in all 560 acres of land, which he earned and cleared up himself, and is now enjoying the fruits of his early labors. His parents, Jonah and Livia (Hayward) Stow, were born in Massachusetts-the father in 1780, the mother in 1782. They were married in 1804, moved to New York in 1810, and to Indiana in 1820. The father was a Mason, and member of Murray's Mill Baptist Church, in which he was a deacon for years. He was a carpenter and farmer, and served the people as township trustee. He died September 28, 1840; his wife, in June, 1855. Mr. Uzziel Stow was married, February 20, 1834, to Miss Catharine Manser, who was born in Steuben County, N.Y., January 14, 1811. This happy union has been blessed in the birth of four children: Hiram, born September 17, 1835, died December 8, 1853; Lorin, born June 12, 1838, died April 30, 1860; Viola, born November 5, 1841, now Mrs. Dufour; and Bearin, born August 26, 1847, died August 2, 1864. Mr. and Mrs. Stow are active and influential members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which Mr. Stow has officiated as steward for many years. He was township trustee, and is a stanch temperance man; also member of the Grange. He is the true type of the thrifty farmer, and reliable, self-made man, and his word is as good as a bond. Father Stow has lived on his present farm and in the same house since 1835, and a comfortable and commodious house it is. Mrs. Stow's parents, John and Judith (Hyde) Manser, were born in the East--the father, March 1, 1785; the mother, February 7, 1788. They were married in 1808, and raised a family of seven children. Her parents moved to this county in the spring of 1820, and here her father died, December 9, 1863; her mother, March 14, 1871. Shelometh Stow, brother of U.H. Stow, has also resided most of his life in the county, and is one of its most thrifty farmers, having always followed agricultural pursuits. He was born in New York State in 1819, and married Mary A. Quincy in 1846. In early life he taught school, and worked some at the carpenter's trade.
Source: History of Switzerland County, Indiana 1885. Chicago, Illinois: Weakley, Harraman & Co., 1885
Transcribed by: Sheila Kell