J. S. Bottenwiser, son of Saul B. and Fannie (Meyers) Bottenwiser, Sept. 16, 1829, near Baden See, Switzerland. When eight years of age he was brought to Richmond, Va., by an uncle, his godfather. He attended school at Lexington, Va., taught by John P. Letcher and Stonewall Jackson. He graduated when seventeen, and left for New Orleans. Remained there four years in a dry-goods house, and in 1851 went to California via the Gulf of Mexico and Panama. He was employed as messenger for Adams & Co.’s Express, and lost all his money by the collapse of the company. Then left California and returned to Louisville and clerked till 1860, when he engaged in the dry-goods business for himself. In 1868 he located in Cincinnati, and remained till 1877. He then came to Owensboro, and has been engaged in the dry-goods business here in partnership with Wm. Sharpe, under the firm name of Wm. Sharpe & Co. He was married June 3, 1860, to Cornelia Stephens, of St. Louis, daughter of Allen Stephens, for twenty-eight years Captain on the Louisville and New Orleans packets. They have one child – Charles H. Mr. Bottenwiser is a member of Blue Lodge Council, R.A. Chapter and K.T.  Politically, he is a Republican.

Source: History of Daviess County, Kentucky. Chicago: Interstate Publishing Co., 1883. Print.