Miami Union
17 August 1933
Paralysis Fatal To Prominent Miami Countian
Funeral Held Monday Afternoon
John N. McDowell, 78, former Miami county commissioner, former member of the Miami county board of elections and a resident of the county throughout a long and useful life, succumbed to paralysis at 5:30 o'clock Saturday morning in his home on the Urbana pike four miles northeast of Troy. He was stricken July 27 and since that time no hope had been entertained for his recovery. Funeral services were conducted Monday afternoon in the late residence on the Urbana pike, four miles northeast of Troy at 2:30 o'clock. Rev. William Herbert Blough, pastor of the Casstown Lutheran church, officiated at the obsequies. Burial was made in the Casstown cemetery with Clifford Fuller, Howard Burton, Charles Web, William Rademachir and Wilbur and Charles McDowell acting as bearers of the pall.
One of Family of Eight
John N. McDowell, son of George and Mary Weatherhead McDowell was born within sight of the home which he had occupied the last 30 years and which was the homestead of his parents. He was one of a family of eight children. The surviving members of the family are two sisters, Mrs. J. S. Burton of Casstown and Mrs. Oniska Fuller of Piqua and one brother, J. A. McDowell of Dexter, Minn. Another brother H. H. McDowell, who had lived in the home the last few years but had been in the Stouder hospital for some time, passed away two days after J. N. McDowell. His marriage to Miss Lida Billingsley of Covington took place May 31,1882, and their first home was established in the same neighborhood of the present residence. Three children were born to this union. Miss Mabel McDowell of Pennsylvania State College, State College, Pa., Mrs. M. P. Lusk (Ethel) of Detroit and Edward. The son died in 1917 and Mrs. McDowell passed away in March, 1932. The active years of Mr. McDowell's life were spent in farming and stock raising and in recent years he had been engaged in the buying of livestock. He was interested in his occupation and took pride in keeping up his farm and home which he made one of the most attractive in the county. There hospitality reigned and he and his wife delighted to entertain their friends. Her passing early last year was a blow from which he never recovered.
Prominent In County
Second only to his interest in the farm and home was that in public affairs. He was repeatedly honored by his neighbors with expressions of their confidence and his reputation for integrity, reliability and independence was county-wide. A staunch Democrat he was long influential in the councils of his party and on various occasions served as chairman of the county central and executive committees and also represented the party on the county board of elections. The decedent's church affiliation was with the Lutheran church at Casstown. John McDowell was a familiar figure on the streets of Troy and to many of its citizens was the type of the county's more substantial rural citizens. News of his death was received Saturday in the business district with many expressions of regret.
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