Hannah A. Bowman ^{2,47,101,103,104}

   General Notes:

Hanna Ann (Bowman) Fisher

(From Pictorial History of Ft. Wayne, B.J. Griswold, 1917, Volume II)

Hanna Ann (Bowman) Fisher, widow of the late Samuel Fisher, long a prominent resident of Roanoke, and herself one of the foremost women of the community, was born in Columbiana County, Ohio, on November 12, 1835, and is the daughter of Henry and Harriett (Armstrong) Bowman, who were natives of Ohio and Pennsylvania, respectively.

Henry Bowman was a prosperous stockman all his active life. He came to Indiana in 1853, at a time when travel was difficult and only hard work was rewarded with any measure of prosperity. He drove his family and household possessions through from Ohio, the familiar ox team and wagon of the day being an important factor in the journey, and in 1852 bought a tract of two hundred acres of wild land.

They experienced all the rigors of early life in the wilderness, subjected to the dangers from wild animals and Indians, but they fared well in spite of those difficulties, and became one of the prominent and well-to-do families of the community as the years passed. Mr. Bowman was township trustee for a number of years, and also served some years as post master at Aboite. The last ten years of his life were lived in quiet retirement on his home place.

Ten children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Bowman. Hannah Ann, the immediate subject of this review, was the first born. Sarah is the wife of Thomas Crawford, of Roanoke. Elizabeth is deceased, also Malinda. Harriet Jane is the fifth child. Mary Elizabeth was the next born. Mathias Walter, Henry, Calvin and Charles are all deceased.

Hannah Ann Bowman was married on July 4, 1859, to Samuel Fisher, the son of David and Sarah Jane (Wherry) Fisher, who came from Pennsylvania to Ohio in early life. Samuel was educated in the public schools of his time and worked on his father's farm after the manner of farmer's sons. He came to Allen County in 1855, and found work there, later buying a farm of eighty acres. It was unclaimed land, without a cleared spot large enough to erect a little home upon.

The Fisher home was the first plank house in the neighborhood, and was one of the finest places in the community at that time. It was finished throughout in black walnut, that fine old wood of which so much was found in Indiana at that time, and the family lived there for many years.

Mr. Fisher was an energetic and progressive man and gained a considerable prominence in his town during his lifetime. He was a Republican and was township supervisor for seven years. He died on January 14, 1911, and his widow is living on the old home place, practically alone.

They were the parents of eight children. Ivester lives in Huntington County. Harriet Amanda is deceased. Lucinda Alice became the wife of Hugh McFadden and lives in Aboite Township. Ida and Sarah Jane are deceased. Leona Dell married Cyrus Johnson and is a resident of Lafayette township. Mary Luetta is the wife of Albert G. Foulks, and Henry D. is a resident of Fort Wayne and a conductor on the Pennsylvania road. There are eighteen grandchildren and eighteen great-grandchildren in the family at the present time. Ivester, the eldest child of Mrs. Fisher, has nine children, named Irma, Edna, Elda, Eva, Esther, Marion, Lennie, John and Florence. Lucinda also has nine children, named Edith, Anna, Russell, Otis, Mode, Elizabeth, Fay, Lester and Wilma.

The great-grandchildren are as follows: Irma, eldest child of Ivester, now deceased, left Helen, Eldon and Evelyn. Edna, the second daughter of Ivester, has Audra, Francis and Ruth. Elda is the father of Harley and Maxine. Lennie has one child -- Wilhelmina. Edith is the mother of a son, Royal. Anna has three children -- Hugh, Helen and Ethel. Etta has four children -- Arval, Mabel, Glenn and Wybourn, and the first born of these is the father of one son, Arthur Aaron. Mrs. Fisher has thus, at the age of eighty-two, the distinction of being great-great-grandmother, and she is still enjoying good health and finds much pleasure in the contemplation of the activities of the younger generations that have come up about her.

   Marriage Information:

Hannah married Samuel Fisher, son of David Fisher and Sarah Wherry, on July 4, 1848 in Ft. Wayne, Allen County, Indiana ^90,101. (Samuel Fisher was born on May 16, 1825 in Columbiana County, Ohio ^101,102, died on December 14, 1910 in Lafayette Township, Allen County, Indiana ¹²⁰ and was buried in Odd Fellows Cemetery, Roanoke, Indiana.)

   Marriage Notes:

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