BOWERS OF GILLESPIE COUNTY
Born 1836 – Died 1925
These
pages relate the history, as I understand it now, of James Philemon Bowers,
born 1836 in Macon, Bibb County, GA.
I
will begin with excerpting stories from two sources, and then highlighting the
discrepancies, as well as the accuracies as I know them.
The following is
excerpted from "Families of Kimble County", published by the Kimble
County Historical Commission, Frederica Burt Wyatt, Chairman, Junction, Texas
76849, Shelton Press
"From stories passed from generation to generation, it is believed that James Philemon Bowers came over from Scotland, or maybe Ireland as the story goes.
He married Hepsy Ann Johnson (9/17/1835 - 8/8/1907), and lived in Macon, County, Georgia. He fought in the Civil War. Immediately after the Civil War, he rented 50 acres of land and planted cotton. After he sold his crop, he moved his family to Waelder, Texas, in 1865. They lived there until 1882, when they once again moved westward and settled in Harper, Texas.
There were eight children born to James and Hepsy. It is believed the older ones were born in Georgia, and the younger ones in Texas. The children were John, George, Charles, Robert, James Jr., Stonewall, Fannie and Julia.
Fannie died (cause unknown) when she was twenty years of age. James, Jr. is buried in Junction Cemetery. His tombstone reads, Pvt. 28th Brigade Texas Militia, Conf. St. Army. Charles Joseph and Robert Lee both married and raised their families in or around Kimble County."
While it is probable that earlier generations of the James Bowers family immigrated from Scotland or Ireland, it wasn't James Sr. We know now from census records and other sources that he was born in Macon, GA in 1836. James Sr. can be traced back to David Bowers Sr. of the Old 96th District, Edgefield, S.C. (David Bowers, 1720 - 1793), Philip Philemon, John Bowers then James Sr.). He actually moved to Texas in 1870.
His wife is listed in various records as Hepsey, Essa,and Anna. Her name is listed in their marriage record, recorded in Stewart County, GA as Epsa Ann.
The note in the story above
about James Jr. being buried in Junction Cemetery is incorrect. I do not
know who the James Jr. listed above might be, but James Bowers Jr., son of James
Sr, died in 1935 and is buried in Harwood, Texas (obituary, The Gonzales
Inquirer, March 18, 1935). He was too young to have served in the Army of
the Confederacy, having been born in 1865.
The following is
excerpted from the book "Here's Harper: 1863 - 1963" published by the
Centennial Committee, Harper, Texas
"The Bowers
Family
John and W.
P. Bowers were two brothers who were early settlers in this area. W. P.
Bowers married a Middleton girl, and he was one of the four men who organized
the first school in Harper. John Bowers had four sons: John,
Charlie, Stonewall, and Bob. He came to Harwood about 1884. He was
a Confederate veteran from Georgia and had many stories to tell about the war
and its ravages. He was well off financially, his health was good, his
sons were strong, and they made a good addition to the town.
John Bowers donated the
land for the Harper Baptist Church. He was a deacon in the Baptist Church
and led the prayer meetings on Wednesday nights. The young folks always
enjoyed going to prayer meeting and hearing him tell his war stories, which
always had a good moral. He also taught a singing school. He
predicted the end of the world when a total eclipse of the sun was mentioned in
the almanac.
Once when there was an
unusually severe drouth, Mr. Bowers called an extra prayer meeting and prayed
for rain for two days. His prayer was answered immediately and the rain
came in torrents. Fences were washed away and gardens destroyed.
The Perdenales was on the biggest rise ever known. Some of his friends
then insisted that Mr. Bowers specify the amount of rain he would ask for after
that experience.
Mr. Bowers finally moved to Segovia where he had an irrigated farm on the Llano and didn't have to pray for rain any more."
While some elements of this account may be accurate, and some of the humorous accounts true, some portions are incorrect. There was no W. P. Bowers. James P. Bowers Sr. moved to Texas from Georgia in 1870 after the Civil War.
The John Bowers mentioned in the above account was actually J.P.'s oldest son John William Bowers, born in 1858 in GA. James and Epsa had a total of 13 children (1900 census) of which only 6 were still living at the time of the 1900 census. His other children were: Mary Francis b. 1855, George W. b. 1860 (mentioned above), Julia A. b. 1861, James P. Jr. b. June 23, 1865, Edward T. b. 1866, Stonewall J. b. April 29, 1868 (mentioned above), Robert Lee b. June 22, 1870 (Bob from above), and Charles Joseph b. December 26, 1877 in Bastrop County, Texas. Charles was the only one of their children born in Texas..
The "W.P. Bowers" mentioned above who married a Middleton girl, was actually James P. Bowers Jr. He married Maggie Alma Middleton, also of Harper, in 1887. But he was married again two years later to Minnie Ford White in Gonzales County. I can only assume that Maggie Middleton died in the intervening two years, presumably in childbirth, but I have no proof of this.
John Bowers (the son of J.P.) did in fact donate land for a Baptist Church in Harper, and J.P Bowers was involved in founding their first school.
James
Philemon Bowers was born in March of 1836 (1900 Census), in Macon, Bibb County,
GA.
He
was born into the union of John Bowers (b. 1812 in SC) and Frances Dobbs. John and Frances were married August 9,
1832.
To
date, the only sibling record I have found (or that other researchers have
found) is for a sister, Keziah Bowers.
Apparently,
they were orphaned sometime before they became teenagers and were partially
raised by an Uncle (this is documented in J.P.s application for Confederate
Pension, by an affidavit signed by a cousin, T.J. Bowers).
I
have to date, found no census information for J.P or Keziah prior to 1870 in GA
(1870 GA census, Quitman County, GA.
Additionally, I have found no census information for J.P after the 1900
census in Texas.
James
married Epsa Ann Johnson (b. 9-17-1835 in NC) in Stewart County, GA on January
5, 1854. This is recorded in marriage
books / records for Stewart County.
According
to the 1900 Census, James and Epsa had a total of 13 children during their
married life together. However, by the
time of the 1900 census, only 6 children remained living. Their last child, Charles Joseph was born in
Texas on December 26, 1877. All of the
other children were born in GA, some before the Civil War, and some after. It is assumed that 4 of their children died
in or very shortly after childbirth, as only 9 of their 13 children are
mentioned in any of the census records from 1870 until 1900. (Birth years for most of their children are
estimated from ages given at the time of various census records).
James
and Epsa’s children were:
Mary
Francis Bowers, b. 1855
John
William Bowers, b. 1858
George
W. Bowers (possibly Washington as a middle name), b. 1860
Julia
A. Bowers, b. 1861
James
Philemon Bowers, b. June 23, 1865, d. 1935
Edward
T. Bowers, b. 1866
Stonewall
J. Bowers (probably Jackson), b. April 29, 1868
Robert
Lee Bowers (probably for Robert E. Lee), b. June 22, 1870
Charles
Joseph Bowers, b. December 26, 1877
By
the time of the 1900 census, the only children who remained living were:
John
William Bowers
George
W. Bowers
James
Philemon Bowers
Stonewall
J. Bowers
Robert
Lee Bowers
Charles
Joseph Bowers
It
is interesting that James P. Jr. was born so near the end of the hostilities of
the Civil War. Especially given that
James Sr. served in the Army of the Confederacy during that conflict.
There
is a notation in the affidavit of T. J. Bowers (J.P.’s cousin) noting that he
remembered J.P. being home on a furlough sometime during 1864.
James
served throughout most of the hostilities during the Civil War.
He enlisted or mustered in
1861 from Stewart County, GA. He
was a private in the 61st Regiment, Company F, GA Infantry (also known as the
7th Battalion or “Stark Guards and “Wiregrass Rifles”). There are apparent discrepancies in some of
the war records of his service.
CSA records show:
He was wounded in Sharpsburg,
MD in the hip in 1862.
He was a POW in
Fredricksburg, VA from December 1862 until he was paroled in May of 1863 in
Richmond, VA.
He apparently returned to the
Confederate Armies because he was later captured and was a POW again at
Spotsylvania, VA in May of 1864.
He was paroled for exchange
in March of 1865.
But
a note sent from the War Department, Adjutant General’s Office in November of
1919 (in support of his application for Confederate Pension) states that he was
captured at North Anna, May 8, 1862 and was paroled at Point Lookout, MD and
transferred to Aiken’s Landing, VA March 17, 1865. Received at Boulware’s Wharf, March 19, 1865. Later paroled at Albany, GA May 16, 1865.
In
the application for Confederate Pension, James states in his own affidavit that
“I was honorably discharged or surrendered at Tallahassee Florida, sometime in
May 1865, cause final surrender of the Armies of the South”.
James
did return to Georgia and his family after the cessation of hostilities of the
Civil War. He listed his occupation in
the 1870 census as “farmer”.
James
is listed with his household in the 1870 Census, for Stewart County, GA.
Specifically,
he is found in the census for the Georgetown
P.O., Quitman County.
James Sr. is listed in the
1870 Census for the Georgetown P.O., Quitman County, Georgia area. He is listed
with wife “Epsy” and 8 children (Mary F., John W., G. W., Julia A., James,
Edward T., Stonewall J. and R. L.
Sometime
in 1870, after the 1870 census, James and Epsa moved their family to
Texas. James stated in his application
for Confederate Pension in 1919, that he had been a resident of the State of
Texas, “since 1870, for about 49 years”.
Various
relatives have related differing stories of how the family migrated to
Texas. One story has it that the family
boarded a steamboat or steamship from GA and sailed to Galveston Island, where
they outfitted with a wagon train and traveled to Segovia, Texas and settled on
a section of land.
Another
story relates that the family traveled overland from GA to TX, in a small wagon
train, driving a herd of brood mares to sell in Texas and buy farmland.
However
they came to be in Texas (this author tends to believe the overland route),
they did not intitally settle in Segovia, Texas. John Bowers, the eldest son, did
apparently relocate to the Segovia area sometime after 1900 and acquired land
there. (Here’s Harper 1863 – 1963 and he is still in the 1900 census in
Gillispie County).
The
early Bowers settlers in Texas appear to have been a somewhat nomadic lot,
having moved a number of times between 1870 and 1900.
In
1880, James, his wife and 5 of their then 8 living children were living in
Jeddo, Bastrop County, Texas.
This
is enumerated in the 1880 census in Vol.
2, ED 10, Sheet 7, Line 19. He is
listed here as head of household. It
notes that he was 45 years old at the time of this census. His wife was listed in this census as
“Anna”. They were listed as having 5
children living with them: Julia A. Bowers 18 y/o, James Jr. 16 y/o, Robert L.
Bowers 10 y/o, Charles J. Bowers 3 y/o and Stonewall Bowers 12 y/o. No mention in this census of a Edward,
presumably deceased. (He would have only been 14 as of the date of this census,
therefore not likely to have been married or head of a household of his own).
In
1900, James was still living in Gillispie County, Texas.
He is listed in the 1900
Census as residing in Gillispie County, Texas. Listed as a farmer who owned his
own farm free and clear. In this Census, information is found in Vol. 46, ED
35, Sheet 6, Line 62. He is listed as being married to Anna, his wife of 46
years at that time. He was 65 at the time of the Census. This Census lists both
of his parents as being born in South Carolina. He and wife Anna are listed as
the parents of 13 children, with only 6 living at the time of the Census.
For the 1900 Census, they are
listed as having their son, Charles, with his wife Lizzie, and their children
Annie and Walter residing with them.
There is no census data
available (or that I have found) for James after 1900.
James wife Epsa Ann died on
August 9, 1907, in Junction, Kimble County, Texas.
In 1919, James applied for a
Texas State Confederate Pension. One of the people who signed an
affidavit for his application is a T.J. Bowers, who states he is James' cousin,
and that James was partially raised by his father.
This application was
submitted December 7, 1919 and approved January 17, 1920. It is interesting to note that the
application was filed in Medina, Bandera County, Texas. James notes in his affidavit that he had
been in residence in Bandera County for 6 months. His stated age at the time of the application was 83 years
old. He stated in his affidavit that he
was a farmer by occupation and that his physical condition was “good”. However, he states that he has “no home now”
and that the value of his other property was $500.00
One of the attachments to his
application (from the State and County Assessor for Kimble County, states that
he was charged on the tax rolls of Kimble County with a “homestead of the value
of no dollars, and other property, personal or both, of the value
of 625.00.
In a letter that James sent
to the Board of Pensions in December of 1919, he stated “I am needing a little
help awful bad in my old age”.
James drew his pension until
the time of his death in 1925. He died
on December 20, 1925. At the time of
his death, he was living in Junction, Kimble County, Texas, with his grand
daughter Annah Katherine Bowers Phillips (daughter of Charles Joseph) and her
husband, Charles Craten Phillips.
James’ son, Robert L. Bowers,
filed the “Application for Mortuary Warrant” to terminate his pension benefits
on January 2, 1926.
James is buried in Junction,
Kimble County, Texas
Sources
"Families of Kimble
County", published by the Kimble County Historical Commission, Frederica
Burt Wyatt, Chairman, Junction, Texas 76849, Shelton Press
"Here's Harper: 1863 -
1963" published by the Centennial Committee, Harper, Texas
1870
Census of the United States for the State of Georgia
1880
Census of the United States for the State of Texas
1900
Census of the United States for the State of Texas
Roster
of Confederate Soldiers of Georgia 1861 – 1865
Soldiers
Application for a Pension – State of Texas – Filed by James P. Bowers in 1919
Marriage
record book for Stewart County GA
FamilySearch
International Genealogical Index – Marriage Records – Film Number 6142802
Interview
with Ottie Lee Bowers Jr.
Interview
with Wilbur V. Bowers