Description

Sylvester Mowry was born January 1, 1833 in Rhode Island/ died October 1, 1871 in London, England. His parents were Charles Cook Mowry, born July 13, 1798/ died June 18, 1861 and Celia Emma (Aldrich) Mowry, born December 14, 1809/ died March 3, 1843.

Sylvester Mowry graduated from the West Point Military Academy on July 1, 1852. He resigned from the United States Army on July 31, 1858.  His occupations included mining, pioneer, politician and author.

Mowry was elected Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives from the proposed Territory of Arizona in 1857 and 1859. He served as U.S. Commissioner to run and mark the Boundary Line between the State of California and the Territories of the United States in 1860-61. He also wrote "The Geography and Resources of Arizona and Sonora," which was published in 1865.

In 1860 he purchased the Patagonia Silver Mine southeast of the Santa Rita Mountains in southern Arizona. He renamed it the Mowry Silver Mine and built a mill and smelter for extracting precious metals. A small settlement grew around the mine which became Mowry, Arizona, now a ghost town. The Mowry Mine was the site of several Apache Indian attacks before the town was mostly destroyed in 1863. Mowry advocated killing all the Apaches by whatever means necessary.

Burial: North Burial Ground, Providence, Rhode Island

Sources: Accessgeneaology.com, Findagrave.com.