"Noah W. Bowser, whose attractive homestead farm is located about three miles south of the village of Fayette, in Franklin township, is a representative of one of the pioneer families of this part of the county. He was born on the home farm, in Section 32 of this township, on the 19th of February, 1852, and is a son of Noah and Delilah (Zimmerman) Bowser, the former of whom was born on that same farm, where he passed his entire life, having died at the age of twenty-two years and three months, a short time before his only child, subject of this review, was born. Noah Bowser was a son of John Bowser, who was born in Germany, and who became one of the very early settlers of Fulton county, taking up a tract of wild land and developing the farm upon which heirs son and grandson were born, as just noted. He there passed the remainder of his life in agricultural pursuits, and he was also a licensed preacher in the Christian Brethren church, being zealous in the work. His remains lie at rest in the Spring Hill cemetery, as do also those of the other deceased members of this well-known family. Of the eight children of Rev. John Bowser none are living, Noah having been the youngest. Delilah (Zimmerman) Bowser was born in the eastern part of this State, being a daughter of Daniel Zimmerman, a native of Hessen, Germany, whence he came to America when a child, his father having been one of the Hessian soldiers employed by the British government to aid in suppressing the American Revolution; but after learning the nature of the cause for which he had come to wage war, he soon deserted from the English ranks and became a valiant soldier in the continental line. After the war he established a permanent home in the country in th winning of whose independence he had assisted. Daniel Zimmerman was a shoemaker by trade, but devoted the greater part of his active life to farming, and after the death of his wife he came to Fulton county, where he passed his declining days. After the death of her youthful husband Mrs. Delilah (Zimmerman) Bowser became the wife of Solomon Snyder, and after residing about six years in Defiance county they came to Franklin township once more, here making their home until about 1877, when they removed to Metz, Steuben county, Ind., where Mr. Snyder died a few years ago and where his widow still has her home, being seventy-seven years of age (1905). Of the three children of her second marriage two are living--Alston C., a resident of Huntington, Ind.; and Sarah M., the wife of James Porter, of Metz, Ind. Noah W. Bowser secured his early educational training in the common schools of Franklin township, later attending the public schools of Wauseon and the Ohio Wesleyan University, at Delaware. He thereafter was engaged in farming on the old homestead for five years, after which he traded farms with his mother, being thereafter engaged in operating the farm at Spring Hill about three years. In the spring of 1884 he went to Metz, Ind., where he was engaged in the hardware business about three years, after which he purchased a farm in Williams county, Ohio near West Unity, remaining on that place until 1900, where he disposed of the property and purchased his present farm, of eighty acres, in Section 5, Franklin township, where he is engaged in successful farming and stock-raising. In politics Mr. Bowser is a stanch Republican, has maintained a lively interest in the party cause, and he has been a frequent delegate to the county conventions. He has served as township trustee and treasurer, and is loyal and public-spirited in his attitude. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and he is affiliated with the Fayette lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. October 19, 1874, Mr. Bowser married Miss Amanda Gortner, of Franklin township, and she died in 1878. On the 22d of April, 1880, he married Miss Ada Kump, daughter of Levi Kump, and early settler of Franklin township, where he died September 17, 1904, aged seventy-five years. Mr. Bowser has five children: Earl L. is a student in the Ohio State University at Columbus, and the other children remain at the parental home, namely: Frank L, Eunice D., Stanley W. and Clarence D." --Mikesell's History of Fulton County p. 281-282.