WILLIAM RUSSELL BOWEN
WILLIAM RUSSELL BOWEN,son of William Bowen and Mary Henely Russell, was born 1787 in Gallatin, Sumner County, Tennessee and died 3 Nov 1855 in Texas,
though there is indecision whether it was in La Grange, Fayette County or in Blue Bluff, McLennan County. He married 5 August 1812 by Rev James McGrady in Henderson County, Kentucky to
MARY H RANKIN, daughter of Adam Rankin and Elizabeth Speed, born 1789 in Kentucky and died by 1828, at which time William soon married Polly McCall.
Issue:
MARY HENDLEY RUSSELL BOWEN, born 30 Oct 1814 in Tennessee. She married John Jennette King.
ELIZABETH RANKIN BOWEN, born 1816. She married William R Sanders
WIILIAM RANKIN BOWEN, born 1819 in TN. He married 30 Oct 1843 in Montgomery County, Texas to Elizabeth G White.
ADAM RANKIN BOWEN, born 30 September 1821 in Gallatin and died 17 March 1891 in Bartlett, Williamson County, Texas and is buried in Jarrell Cemetery in Williamson County. He married 4 April 1844 in Montgomery County, Texas to Cloanthe Trecilla Roe.
SUSAN SPEED BOWEN, born 19 Jan 1824 in Sumner County, TN and died 13 Jan 1853 in Houston, Harris County, Texas. She married 30 April 1840 in Grimes County, Texas to Elias Darius Gregg.
ALEXANDER MOORE BOWEN, born 1828 in TN.
JOHN HENELY BOWEN, born 1833 in Texas. He married Emily Gaines.
Likely Alexander and John H Bowen are children of William and his second wife, Polly.
William Russell Bowen must have been a strong, adventurous man, but it must have been difficult to live in the shadow of his father, Captain William Bowen and his grandfather, Captain William Russell. Yet it must have also inspired him, and instilled a belief in himself that he could accomplish anything. William grew up on the family plantation, being the third son and fifth child. Of his life in Tennessee we do not have much about, but it must have been a full one. His father died while he was still but a teenager, and he lived with his mother running the plantation and farming as a living until at some point and for reasons unknown he moved to Hendersonville, Kentucky. Here he married his first wife, Mary Rankin, daughter of Dr. Adam Rankin. Dr. Adam Rankin, between the years 1811 and 1813, had as a house guest the reknown John James Audubon and his wife Lucy and their children. Indeed, two of Audubon's children were born in Dr. Rankin's house. In 1817 Audubon commissioned to build a steamboat, which was later sold to William, his brother Samuel A Bowen, Robert Speed (likely a cousin to William's wife), George Brent and Bennett Marshall. Audubon placed an attachment on the boat, and the men sued him for $10,000 damages. The case was finally dismissed when the plaintiff failed to appear in court. Later, one of the Bowens attacked Audubon and in the fight was stabbed by Audubon. Assault charges were placed against Audubon, but they were subsequently dismissed. William further had disagreements with a man by the name of Robert Eadis, because from 1824 until as late as 1837 he is named in a lawsuit as owing money to the estate of Robert. William continued to refuse to pay.
By 1835 William Bowen was back in Tennessee farming the plantation where he had grown up. In most stories and records written about the Bowens of Tennessee, little information is given on this son that carried on the family farm after his father and mother had died. Mary Russell Bowen had died in March 1827, leaving an extensive will, and leaving a large portion of the homestead to William. Also, his wife Mary had died and William had remarried to Polly McCall. The exact dates of Mary's death and his marriage to Polly are in much debate. Perhaps because there was few things to hold him there and perhaps it was also the influence of the stories of the frontier, especially of the war brewing in Texas, fueled by the adventures and real life deeds of his father, William Russell Bowen
apparently was not one to settle into the gentile, and perhaps somewhat placid life of a gentleman farmer. After all, he had grown up in a household of men who never settled for anything less than the best. No doubt he had also listened to Andrew Jackson tell his tales of adventure when he came to visit. At any rate, on January 13, 1835 William sold the house and 420 acres of land for $4608 to George Keeling. He stipulated that the family
cemetery remain and be cared for. He then headed for Texas, and a new life. We do not know if he took his family with him right away or if he left them behind until the politics in Texas, then still a part of Mexico, were more settled. Either way, he most likely headed down the Natchez Trace where he either cut off at Jackson, Mississippi and proceeded overland across Mississippi and Louisiana to Nacogdoches, or he may have continued down the Natchez Trace and on to New Orleans where he would have boarded a ship to Galveston or Indianola. Upon arriving in Texas in October 1835, he
immediately joined the Texas Army in their struggle against General Santa Anna. His service papers state he was promoted to the rank of Major on April 2 or 3 1836 by General Thomas Rusk and that he received an honorable discharge by the same Thomas Rusk on 8 May 1836. In Feb 1838 William filed his survey for "eight and one third labors of land to which he is entitled by virtue of a certificate #109 issued by the board of land commissioners for the County of Montgomery" for his war service. There are some notes that claim William and Polly move their family to La Grange in Fayette County when they arrived in Texas, and perhaps that is where the family stayed while William was serving in the Texas Army. When William claimed his 600+ acres in present day Grimes County, Texas, he moved his family there and stayed until in 1849 when he moved his family to Huntsville in Walker County, Texas, just east-northeast of Grimes Co. Once again, Williams life becomes more vague, and little if any is mentioned of him in the history books. The only other account of his life is a story from J H Dickson, of San Angelo, Texas in an WPA interview on January 5, 1938. The entire story follows:
"In the spring of 1855, my father, W M Dickson was a home guard at Kerrville. Old Bill Bowen was a home guard in Atascoca County. The Indians came, to steal whatever they could get away with. They got two women, a boy, and many horses. Bill Bowen and his men set out after the Indians. They traveled by the way of Kerrville, got my Dad and his gang, with strong determination to get the women and boy. They followed them all the way to the Big Hubbard Creek, in Shackleford County. Bill said, "They have seen us, and are out-ridin' us. As our horses are about done, we will circle through and cut in on Big Hubbard". This creek was widened by a slue of water which grew china trees, sunflowers and tall weeds. Just as they had gotten their horses well hidden, they saw the Indians coming over the hill right in front of them on the other side of the creek. The two women and the boy had been stripped of their clothes and tied to the wild stolen horses. Their feet were tied under the
horses' bellies and their hands up around the horses neck and to the mane. They had ridden thirty six hours in this position with the wild horses running at full speed through he wild country. As they got to Big Hubbard the horses made a dash for water, as neither horse nor man had had a drink of water nor a bite to eat on the way. The Indians roped out the horses that carried the woman and the boy and tied them to a tree. They killed a steer and ate the raw meat, cut hunks out and threw near enough to the captives for them to smell. There were 17 Indians and about 300 horses in the Indian's bunch. Papa and Bill's gang began firing. They killed and got fourteen scalps of the Indians, then went over, released the women and boy, and divided clothes with them. They made up a fire and roasted some of the meat that the Indians left and ate and watered up. In a few hours the women were able to start homeward. They were given the best horses and saddles.
When they got back as far as Mason County, they borrowed a hack and carried the women and boy home. Papa and old Bill Bowens' names went down in history for this act."
William would have been 68 years old at this time.
This is the last report of William Russell Bowen, until a small entry in the Galveston Weekly News on November 18, 1856 reads "On the 3rd last, at the residence of his son, John H Brown at Blue Bluff, McLenan County, Texas, Mr. Wm Brown formerly of Grimes County". While this reads "Brown" in the original newspaper, could it be "Bowen" instead?
A most remarkable life, yet all the excitement and passion is left only for us to imagine.
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