A twentieth century history of Allegan County, Michigan comp. under the editorial supervision of Dr. Henry F. Thomas, Allegan.

HISTORY OF ALLEGAN COUNTY

85

his township, his village and his county, and is held in high esteem. His
business affairs have been carefully conducted and success has resulted as
the reward of his enterprise, diligence and careful management. He represents one of the old and prominent families of this part of the state and
fully sustains the honorable family record.
DR. WILLIAM E. ROWE, who practices along modern scientific lines,
having a large patronage in Allegan and the surrounding country, was born
in Van Buren county, Michigan, in I857. His father, Dr. Sylvanus Rowe,
was born in Steuben county, New York, and died at Lawrence, Van Buren
county, Michigan, at the age of seventy-nine years. He was a graduate of
the Eclectic Institute of Medicine at Cincinnati, Ohio, of the class of 1848,
and practiced first in Leclair, Scott county, Iowa, while later he established
his home in Lawrence, Van Buren county, Michigan. Hie was a physician
of much skill and ability and won a liberal support from the public. In
the diagnosis of his cases he was most careful and accurate and in administering remedial agencies he seemed to secure the best possible results. He
was also a leader in public affairs of his township, and has been the promoter of many measures and movements which have been of direct benefit.
He delivered many campaign addresses and was an earnest worker in behalf of the Republican party, believing firmly in its principles. For several
years he served as president of the village board and exercised his official
prerogatives in support of general improvement and progress. He married
Helen Carpenter, a native of Essex county, New York, who died in Lawrence, Michigan, at the age of seventy-nine years. Their only daughter
and younger child was Mrs. Effie Agrell, of Chicago.
Dr. Rowe, the only son, was educated in the public schools of Van
Buren county, and after pursuing a high school course he entered the
University of Michigan, from which he was graduated in the class of 1879
on the completion of a course in medicine and surgery. He then practiced
for eight years in his native village of Lawrence, after which he came to
Allegan, where he has remained continuously since, making a specialty
of abdominal surgery in addition to a general practice. His knowledge is
comprehensive and he continually keeps abreast with the advancement
made by the medical fraternity through research and investigation.
In 1887 Dr. Rowe was married in Allegan to Miss Emma H. Rowe, a
daughter of Anson and Julia (Look) Rowe, of Iowa. In his political views
the doctor is a stalwart Republican, and has served as county physician for
ten years. He is a member of the lodge and chapter of Masons, and is a
past master in the former. He was one of the leaders in the organization
of the Maccabees tent, and was at one time its commander. He is public
spirited and has not confined his attention alone to his professional duties
but has also become connected with various manufacturing interests which
have had direct bearing upon the growth and commercial activity of the
village. He is willing at all times to aid in furthering any good enterprise,
and what he has done for Allegan makes him numbered among its representative men.
GENERAL ELISHA Mix, whose name is on the roll of Allegan county's
honored dead, was a distinguished soldier who won his title by gallant