Born in Columbiana County, Ohio, May 1, 1846, his parents being John G. and Sarah (Hahn) Sowers. Following the death of his parents which occurred when he was only about four years of age, A. J. Sowers went to live with his uncle, the Rev. J. Crouse, at Bucyrus, Ohio, where he was reared. He there attended the public and high schools and, aroused by the continued attempt of the south to overthrow the Union, he enlisted in 1862 as a private of Company K, Eighty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which he served through the summer, although he was but sixteen years of age at the time. In the spring of 1864 he reenlisted as a member of the One Hundred and Thirty-sixth Ohio Regiment and did duty as a sergeant with that command until the succeeding fall. After the war Mr. Sowers engaged in clerking in a dry-goods store in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, for a brief period but in the spring of 1865 came to Bedford, Iowa, and soon afterward engaged in farming and teaming. In 1869 he turned his attention to the implement and vehicle business. In all of his public relations Mr. Sowers has made an equally creditable record. He is a stalwart republican and for several years was chairman of the county central committee. He was the first mayor of the city of Bedford, served for several terms as a member of the city council and in all such relations has exercised his official prerogatives in support of movements which have been directly beneficial to the city. Further political honors came to him in his election to the Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth general assemblies and while thus representing his district he was connected with much important legislation which proved of substantial worth to the state. Outside of political connections, too, he has done effective work for the benefit of Bedford. He served as president of the Bedford Commercial Club and vice-president and the president of the Iowa Implement Dealers Association. On the 6th of January, 1875, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Sowers and Miss Olive I. Carson, a daughter of Joseph S. and Phoebe (Vaughn) Carson, of Marion, Linn county, Iowa. Both Mr. and Mrs. Sowers are Presbyterians in religious faith and he has served as a deacon in the church. He is also connected with the Modern Woodmen of America and the Yeomen.
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