The Sowers surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 10,198 people carried this name — #3,504 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 28,900 people counted. That is up 2% from 9,977 in 2000.

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Where the name comes from

The origin of the Sowers surname

Named to someone who sows.

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Sowers» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.

In the first U.S. census, 1790

44 families named Sowers, or a close spelling, were counted in 1790.

Each family is counted by its head. About 235 people lived in those households, 5.3 to a family on average. The table counts it together with 7 other spellings. The table lists white heads of families only, in the twelve states whose 1790 records survive; Virginia’s figures come from state lists of 1782–1785.

Families, by state

Pennsylvania 23
Virginia 8
Maryland 6
New York 4
North Carolina 2
Connecticut 1

U.S. Census Bureau, «A Century of Population Growth from the First Census of the United States to the Twelfth, 1790–1900» (Washington, 1909), table 111, p. 262 — public domain · names carried by at least 100 white persons in 1790.

In print

Sowers in American newspapers,
1885–1908.

Newspaper page from Ottumwa Semi-weekly Courier carrying the name Sowers
Ottumwa Semi-weekly Courier 1902-11-06
Newspaper page from The Southern Sentinel carrying the name Sowers
The Southern Sentinel 1885-01-30
Newspaper page from The Southern Sentinel carrying the name Sowers
The Southern Sentinel 1908-07-17

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain.

In print

Sowers in Australian newspapers,
1850s–1950s.

800 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Sowers. The most, 241, date from the 1920s. Weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, it stands out most in Victoria, at 2.3 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

Victoria 353
New South Wales 177
South Australia 116
Queensland 109
Western Australia 30
Tasmania 10
ACT (Canberra) 1

Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Sowers.

Who carried it

People named Sowers,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Robert Sowers
    Robert Sowers 1923–1990 · writer
  • James Longwith Sowers 1897– · writer
  • Wesley Sowers 1905–2008 · politician
  • Robert Sowers 1923–1990 · writer
  • Terry Ann Dixon 1942–1982
  • Mary Frances Roy Sowers 1947–2011

Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0 · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Sowers,
in the records of 3 countries.

Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.

United States603 records

603 records of the Sowers name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 436
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 119
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 16
  • New York State death index (outside NYC), 1957–2001 15
  • U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 7
  • U.S. service members who died in the Vietnam War 4
  • Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 3
  • U.S. service members who died in the Korean War 3
  1. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Roy A. Sowers

    Born 1918 in Missouri. Enlisted 1944 at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; driver from Lafayette County. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1998, buried at Odessa City Cemetery, Missouri.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Jarg Sowers

    Arrived at New York in 1886 aboard the Noordland from Antwerp, aged 26; laborer. From Wesel, Germany; bound for New York.

    U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted)
  3. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record Kenneth C. Sowers

    Born 1932; from Adams County, Nebraska. U.S. Army, heavy weapons infantryman; killed in action 1950 in South Korea.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain)

Showing 3 of 603 records for Sowers in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Vietnam Veterans Memorial, photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden, 2009 (public domain).

Canada4 records

4 records of the Sowers name in Canada
  • Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 3
  • Canadian Virtual War Memorial 1
  1. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Mary Sowers

    Died 1867 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

    Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia.
  2. A Canadian First World War grave register card for a soldier who died of wounds in 1917
    Example: Canadian war grave register, 1917
    War record Abraham Sowers

    Died in service in 1919.

    Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada.
  3. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Isabel Sowers

    Married 1870 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

    Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia.

Showing 3 of 4 records for Sowers in Canada.

Counts: Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. · Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0); Canadian First World War circumstances-of-death register (scan by Scottgraham87 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); Marriage register, Tilburg, 1911, Regionaal Archief Tilburg (public domain).

Australia4 records

4 records of the Sowers name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 3
  • Victoria wills and probate, deaths to 2001 1
  1. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record Frederick W. Sowers

    Musician of Carlton, Victoria; died 1872.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Graham Sowers

    Arrived in Victoria in 1911 aboard the Barbarossa, aged 21.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 2 of 4 records for Sowers in Australia.

Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Sowers.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Sowers is.
A volume says what happened to it.

Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.

See the Sowers volume
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