After learning his trade at Easton, he worked a year at Quincy, Illinois, and came to Linn County in the fall of 1839, where he helped lay out Marion, made the coffin for the first burial in its cemetery and joined its first Methodist class in 1840. In 1841 he married Catharine Gray, who died in 1855 leaving four children: William H., a Civil War veteran of the 9th Iowa, Caroline, Leonidas H. and Thomas G. With his second wife, Mary E. Bonnell, he had James E. Jr., later county auditor and a Marion attorney, and Addie B. He farmed in Marion Township until 1880 (1883 in another account) and died at Marion at eighty-two. Every fact below is cited to a public-domain Linn County history.
Where the family starts
Jacob S. Bromwell and Elizabeth (McDonald) Bromwellthe earliest generation in the recordMost recent in our records
Addie B. Bromwellborn 1863Tap a name to jump to that person.
Carpenter and farmer, Marion Township; pioneer of 1839
JAMES E. BROMWELL, Si; retired from the active labors of a farm life and living at Marion, is one of the pioneers of Linn County of 1839, and has been prominently identified with the agricultural interests and development of the county almost continuously since locating here. He was born in Talbot County, Mil., April 30, 1818, his parents being Jacob S. and Elizabeth (McDonald) Bromwell, natives of Maryland. The father was of English and the mother of Scotch descent.
James E. Bromwell was reared to manhood in his native State. It was at Easton, Talbot County, that he learned the carpenter's trade, and there he continued to work at the same until the year 1838. He then left his home and native State for the undeveloped West, with the view of bettering his financial condition. Going to Quincy, Ill., in the spring of 1838, he there worked at his trade until October, 1839, when he pushed on farther west, terminating his journey in this county. Locating at Marion, he helped to erect the first building in that now thriving little city, and continued to live there and work at his trade for about five years. As soon.as the Government land was surveyed, he entered a tract located on what is now section 8, Marion
Township, and at once began its improvement and cultivation.
Mr. Bromwell was married in this county to Miss Catharine, daughter of Thomas Gray, Aug. 2G, 1841. She was born in Kentucky, and of their union three sons and a daughter were born. The eldest son, William H., enlisted on the first call for troops in the late Civil War, as a private of Co. K, 9th Iowa Vol. Inf. After the expiration of his term of enlistment he re-enlisted, or rather veteranized, and served until the close of the war. He was married to Miss Mary E. Whiteneck, and at present is a farmer in Nebraska. Caroline was born in Marion Township, this county, and is the wife of Murray \V. Kepler, also a resident of Nebraska; Leonidas H. was born in Linn County, married Alice Lathrop, is a Knight Templar Mason, and lives in Gage County, Neb.; Thomas married Ella Bailey, and they are living in Marion.
Mr. Bromwell located on his land in Marion Township in the spring of 1844, and engaged in farming and stock-raising, and thus continued until April, 1880, when he retired and moved to Marion. His good wife died, and on the 31st of October, 1855, he was united in marriage with Mary E., daughter of Jesse and Elizabeth Bonnell. She was born in Shamokin, Northumberland Co., Pa., Aug. 14, 1831. Her father was born in New Jersey, her mother in Pennsylvania; they were of English and German descent respectively. Mr. and Mrs. Bromwell became the parents of two children, a son and daughter. The son, James E., was born in Marion Township, Jan. 31, 1858, and is at present Deputy Auditor of this county; he is a classical graduate of Cornell College, a Royal Arch Mason, and a member of the order of Knights of Pythias. The daughter, Addie B., was born in Marion Township, April 28, 1863, and is living with her parents.
Mr. Bromwell is the present Overseer of the Poor for Marion City. He has served fourteen years as Trustee of Marion Township, and has held many of the minor offices. In all the positions of trust and responsibility in which he has been placed he has discharged his duties with fidelity as well as competency. He and his good wife united with the Methodist Episcopal Church in early life, and have maintained their connection with that denomination continuously since, their children belonging to the same church. Our subject is one of the oldest Masons in the county, and belongs to Lodge No. 6, of Marion. He is one of the earliest pioneers of Linn County, and has been a resident here during a period of forty-seven years. He has lived an honorable, upright and useful life, and upon his past record none can point to a single blot, and at present he is living in quiet retirement at Marion.
As printed in the source1. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.
Eldest son; Civil War soldier
Daughter
Son
Son
County auditor and attorney, Marion
JAMES E. BROMWELL.
Holding a prominent position among the attorneys of Marion is this gentleman, who is distinctively a man of affairs and who fields a wide influence. He is also one of Linn county's native sons, born in 1838, and is one of the two children of his father's second marriage, his parents being James E. and Mary E. (Bunnell) linimwell. natives of Maryland and Pennsylvania, respectively. The father was one of the pioneer settlers of this county, having located here in 1839. at which time he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of wild prairie land in Marion township, which he placed under cultivation and improved with good buildings, making farming his life work. He took (quite an active and prominent part in local aft'airs, and filled various minor offices in a most commendable and satisfactory manner. He assisted in laying out Marion proper, and always gave his support to those enterprises which he believed would prove of public benefit. He died in May, 1900, at the age of eighty-two years, honored and respected by all who knew him.
As printed in the source2. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.
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