On the morning of November 3, 1916, splashed across the
front page of the Columbus Enquirer was the headline: “Muscogee County Stirred
by Double Tragedy Last Night - W.O. Bowden and His Girl Wife Dead.”
William Oscar Bowden
1867-1916
William Oscar Bowden, son of Morris Malachi
Bowden and Frances Sommers Simmons was born on December 28, 1867 in Meriwether
County. The Bowden family moved into the Midland area of Muscogee County in
1883. M. M. Bowden, a prosperous farmer also ran a lumber mill, cotton gin and
stores in the area. He was active in politics, serving as the Steam Mill
district chairman of the Muscogee Democratic Party. He also served as a member
of the county school board. William was the oldest of eight children. He
married Mary Ann Waller, the daughter of Robert Eli and Hannah Ingram Waller on
October 5, 1887. The couple had a son, Oscar William, born on August 14, 1888.
Tragedy struck the Bowden family early on the morning of August 14, 1889.
Oscar, only 11 months old, died of cholera at the home of his grandparents. He
was buried in the Whitley Cemetery on Warm Springs Road. Maggie Inez, was born on October 14, 1889,Mary was born in
August ,1892 , Willie Ruth in 1894 and Hannah in 1896.
Downtown Columbus at the turn of the 20th Century
In April 1898, Morris and William were involved in a
dispute over cattle with Bill Heard, a neighboring farmer. The Columbus Daily
Enquirer reported that police in Columbus were warned of trouble between the
Heard’s and Bowden’s. It seems that Bill Heard had accused the Bowden’s of
stealing cattle. Later the same afternoon Heard was seen in Columbus riding a
horse and carrying a double barreled shotgun on his shoulder. Someone told the
sheriff that Heard was in search of the Bowden’s (Morris Malachi and William O.
Bowden). The chief of police met Mr. Heard in front of the Central Hotel. He
confiscated his shotgun and escorted him to his office. Though Mr. Heard
protested that he wasn’t looking for anyone, he gave the sheriff his gun and
told him he was returning home. A short time after that, the sheriff was
informed that W. O. Bowden was in town also armed with a shotgun. When
confronted, Bowden said he wasn’t looking for anybody. The next week William
Bowden wrote an open letter to W. H. Heard and it was published in the Columbus
Daily Enquirer. In the letter Bowden states that he was not looking for Mr.
Heard to kill him, he was merely trying to protect his father. He stated that he was carrying a shotgun, but
only for protection. The incident must have been resolved as there were no more
articles in the paper.
Tybee Island 1900
On August 28, 1900 William Bowden made the news again
with the reporting of his death. The headlines stated “Mr. Will Bowden Drowns
at Tybee.” His brother, Newell, received a telegram stating Bowden had drowned
near Savannah the night before. The paper stated that Bowden was a prominent
planter and one of the best -known men in Muscogee County. He had recently been
a candidate for the state legislature, but had dropped out due to his wife’s
illness. Newell left immediately for Savannah to participate in the recovery of
the body. In a report in the Savannah paper, Bowden’s brother-in-law, Robert E.
Waller, had accompanied him to Savannah. Robert Waller told police that he and
Will arrived in Savannah on Sunday morning taking the Central’s excursion train
from Columbus. They checked into their motel and spent the day taking in the
sights around Savannah. Waller stated that Bowden was not accustomed to “surf
bathing,” but wanted to try it. Waller tried to persuade him from doing so and
thought he succeeded but Bowden once again stated his desire to try. About 7:30
Bowden went down to the bath house to rent a suit but was told the bath house
was closing and he would only have a half an hour before having to return the
suit, so he decided not to take it. According to Waller, Bowden went down to
the beach, stripped off his clothes except his underwear and headed into the
water alone. He disappeared into the surf and though Waller called out he never
returned. Waller left the beach, went back to the Hotel Tybee and reported his
disappearance. A search party searched all night with no luck. After several
days of searching, Bowden’s body had not been found. Bowden was heavily insured
(about $25,000) and the insurance companies stated that if his body were not
found, there would be a delay in the payments. It was found that he had taken
out a policy just days before the trip, which raised suspicion. On October
25th, an article appeared in the Columbus Daily Enquirer discussing Bowden’s
insurance policies. He was actually insured for $30,500 with five different
insurance companies. Since claims had been made, representatives from the
various companies visited Columbus and Savannah looking into the matter. (The
policies would be worth over a million dollars in 2021).
Apparently M. M. Bowden changed his will shortly after W.O.'s disappearance. His will stated that he had recently advanced W.O. $2,100.00 He left each of W.O. Bowden's daughters $20.00 apiece.
On October 30, 1900, Morris Malachi Bowden died at his
home in Flat Rock at the age of 54. He had experienced liver problems for more
than two months before his death. In a matter of months the Bowden family had
lost a father and son leaving the family in deep grief.
Will Bowden made the headlines again in November. The
headline in the Columbus Daily Enquirer on November 23, 1900 read, “Mr. Bowden
Alive, He Returns Home.” Apparently he arrived from Atlanta on the evening
train and was seen by several people as he disembarked. It was remarked that he
had grown a beard but seemed well. He stated that he left Columbus due to some
family unpleasantness and went to Savannah. From Savannah, he traveled to
Richmond, VA. He was quite despondent and became ill while in Richmond. His
illness lasted several weeks and when he recovered, he traveled back to
Georgia. He said reports of his drowning only reached him when he arrived in
Atlanta the day before. He was also told about the death of his father. When
told about the insurance policies, Bowden stated that if any had been paid out
the money would be returned. He then left on the train to Flat Rock.
After speaking with the insurance companies, it became
known that Bowden’s home in Flat Rock had been under surveillance for a while. The insurance
companies had been skeptical of an actual drowning after they uncovered some
conflicts in Robert Waller’s story. Detectives found that Waller and Bowden had
made a stop in Macon to pay on one of Bowden’s policies and he took out another
while there. They were also able to confirm that Bowden had purchased a suit of
clothes in Macon. The night of his drowning, he asked a bellboy to bring him
some hot water. The detectives surmised that he shaved off his mustache and put
on the new suit of clothes and left the hotel with Waller. Waller then went
down to the beach and sat there with Bowden’s old clothes. After a long while,
Waller came back to the hotel and asked if anyone had seen Will Bowden. The
clerk told him he didn’t have time to go look for Mr. Bowden. Waller then
stated that he thought Mr. Bowden had drowned. The clerk and several employees
went out to the beach but couldn’t find any trace of Bowden. Mr. Waller stated
that Will Bowden was a poor man and only had $6.00 which Waller was holding.
Instead of “drowning,” detectives reported that Bowden went to a back railroad
car and paid a cash fare instead of using the ticket he had bought in Columbus.
He arrived in Richmond and had been there ever since. A representative of the
Mutual Reserve Fund Life Association stated that they had known of Mr. Bowden’s
whereabouts for several months and would have acted if the company had been
sued over not wanting to pay out the $10,000 policy. They supposed that the
smaller policies was the reason they had
not been as vigilant in their search for Bowden. The company also stated that
they did not intend to make any charges against Waller and Bowden for the
attempted fraud. An
interesting side note to this story; the Savannah police had decided to charge
Robert Waller with murder and take the charge to the Chatham grand jury. The
papers reported this might be the reason Bowden came home. On November 27th,
Robert Waller made a statement to the Columbus Daily Enquirer stating he
accompanied Mr. Bowden to Savannah and they did stop in Macon. He did not know
that Bowden purchased a suit of clothes and paid on an insurance policy. He recounted
the bathing incident, but stated that he had no part in the drowning incident,
he only reported that he thought Bowden had drowned.
In November 1901, approximately
3,100 acres were sold to settle the estate of Morris M. Bowden. Will Bowden,
Archie T. Reese and Britt David bought the land for 10.00 an acre. (Today
$31,500.00 would be worth approximately $982, 600.00)
In July of 1903, the Columbus Ledger stated that Hannah
Bowden, the eight-year-old daughter of William and Mary Ann Bowden, was thrown
from a horse while riding with her sister. She fell on her face, cutting herlip
and knocking out her front teeth. Something appeared to have frightened the
horse and it lurched forward throwing Hannah to the ground. She struck her
face, knocking out her front teeth and cutting her lip. She was attended by Dr.
John Young, a Columbus dentist. Dr. Young reported to the Ledger that she had
lost her permanent teeth and was in shock, but he felt she would recover.
On December 20, 1903 The Columbus Ledger stated that
Miss Inez Bowden, the daughter of William and Mary Ann Bowden, had died at her
home. She had been ill with typhoid pneumonia for four weeks. She was buried in
the Ingram family cemetery.
In 1904, the Bowden’s made the news again. Will Bowden
invited a number of Columbus residents for a tour of his cotton field and
dinner. Bowden was so proud of his cotton that he brought a stalk into the
newspaper office to be admired. He reported to his guests that he expected to harvest 150 bales of cotton from 150 acres!
(In 1900, cotton was selling for $50.00 a bale, netting about $7,500, in
today’s economy that same 50 bales would be worth about $234,000.00).
The early 20th century found America in a financial crisis.
By 1907 the country was heading into a deep depression and banks were failing
at an alarming rate In October of 1907 the Stock Market crashed losing 50% of
its value. People panicked and there was a run on the banks. In order to
stabilize the economy J.P. Morgan met with major banking institutions to form a
plan for the stronger banks to help smaller institutions survive and calm the
American people. Some banks, known as clearing houses, printed certificates stating
that customers had a certain amount of money in that bank, helping banks to
stay in business and reassure customers.
In February 1908 William Bowden, John J. Weaver (Talbot
County farmer) and Charles E. Davis (attorney in Rome, GA) were charged with
certificate forgery by the officers of the Columbus Clearing House Association.
The grand jury indicted all three men. John J. Weaver was jailed until trial,
Bowden and Davis remained out on bond. The case was finally resolved in
November 1908. Bowden was acquitted of the charges.
Muscogee County Courthouse
circa 1900
In January 1911 Will Bowden was found not guilty of malicious mischief
(the paper did not give any other information). On
April 2, 1911 Bowden was charged with the assault and battery of William P.
Daniel, a Muscogee County farmer. Bowden was required to give bond in the
amount of $100.00. Mr. Daniel swore out a peace warrant against Bowden and he
was required to give of a bond of $250.00 for this case. The trial began on
April 13, 1911. Mr. Daniel accused Bowden of assaulting him on the highway,
pointing a gun at him and trespassing on his property. The jury remained out
about an hour and returned the verdict of not guilty.
On October 5, 1915 Will Bowden was placed under a $4,000 bond by the
Muscogee County court. He was charged with attacking his daughter with an axe
and threatened to poison his wife and family. It was stated that Bowden, while
under the influence of alcohol had run his daughter away from home with an axe
forcing her to run into the woods and remain there all night. It was also
stated that his wife had been locked in a room for some time to protect her
from Bowden’s threats to poison her. Hannah Bowden, appearing before Judge
McCrory stated that Bowden had gone to the school where she taught, broke up
her classroom and caused her to lose her position. On October 7, 1915 Bowden
was released on the agreement that he refrain from going near his wife or
daughter in the future. He remained
under a $500 peace bond.
On
May 29, 1916 Bowden was placed under a $500 bond charged with violation of the
state prohibition laws. Bowden was arrested based on statements made by Charles
P. Miller. Mr. Miller, after his arrest, told officers that the confiscated
still belonged to Bowden. On June 9th Judge John H. Lewis dismissed the case
against Bowden stating insufficient evidence.
In August 1916, Mary Ann Bowden secured a divorce from
Will Bowden. Just a few days later on August 7th, Bowden, now a portly forty
nine, married sixteen year old Willene Hill, the daughter of Mattie Hill Cox
and step- daughter of J.L. Cox. The couple moved into the home of Phillip
DeBrabant, renting rooms from him. On October 30th Willene arrived at a
neighborhood party without Bowden. After she returned home, Bowden was drinking
and the couple got into an argument. On Thursday morning, she packed her trunk
and asked DeBrabant to take her to her mother and stepfather’s home. Later that day, Will Bowden passed
through the DeBrabant home carrying a gun and several cartridges. He told
DeBrabant that all he had was his along with his gun as soon as he was finished
with it. He said he might not be home until the next day. Around five o’clock,
Willene, her stepfather and brother were sitting in the living room. Mrs. Cox
had gone outside to complete evening chores. Bowden slipped in through the back
door, walked into the living room, looked at Willene and said “Well, well,
little girl.” Willene started to rise from her chair as Bowden raised his gun
and shot her. The force hurled her backwards leaving her with a large gaping
wound in her side. Immediately after Bowden shot, Cox pulled out a pistol and
fired at Bowden four times. When the trigger stuck, Cox pulled out his knife and
started toward Bowden. Charley Hill, Willene’s brother, had a shotgun and fired
once. Bowden fired at Charley but missed him. The struggle continued out onto
the front porch and Charley struck Bowden in the head with the butt of his
shotgun shattering it into several pieces. Bowden then fell into vines off the
front porch. He tried to speak, but never uttered another word. Shortly after the incident Dr. Edward Young
of Midland was called and he found Mrs. Bowden dead and Bowden close to death. About five minutes after Bowden died, police
and the undertaker arrived at the Cox home. They placed Mrs. Bowden on a bed
and went in search of W.O. Bowden, well known to the officers. They found him
in a mass of ornamental vines in front of the house. Bowden’s body was taken to Columbus by the
undertaker’s office. Upon examination it was found that the body had a number
of wounds. There was a deep knife cut across the forehead, three stabs under
the right arm, three pistol wounds (one to the right shoulder, one to the right
side and one in the stomach) and a severe wound across the right side of the
face caused by blows from a shotgun. The wound in the stomach appeared to be
the cause of death. Mrs. Bowden’s body was delivered to Herring and Knight’s
funeral home to be prepared for burial. W.O. Bowden’s body was delivered to
Kelly and Van Houten’s Funeral home. Willene Bowden was buried at the Concord
Baptist in Shotwell, Alabama. William Bowden was buried in the Pierce Chapel
Methodist Church Cemetery in Harris County, GA. On November 4th the Columbus
Daily Enquirer carried the story that no inquest would be made into the deaths
of the Bowden couple
and no charges would be made against J. L.
Cox and Charley Hill.
References
Columbus
Daily Enquirer (Columbus, GA), October 8, 1887, p.8
Columbus
Daily Enquirer (Columbus, GA),, April 28, 1898, p.5
Columbus
Daily Enquirer (Columbus, GA), May 3, 1898, p.8
Columbus
Daily Enquirer (Columbus, GA), August 28, 1900, p.3
Columbus
Daily Enquirer (Columbus, GA),August 29, 1900, p.5
Columbus
Daily Enquirer (Columbus, GA), September 1, 1900, p.8
Columbus
Daily Enquirer (Columbus, GA), September 5, 1900, p. 5
Columbus
Daily Enquirer (Columbus, GA), October 20, 1900, p. 2
Columbus
Daily Enquirer (Columbus, GA), October 30, 1900, p.4
Columbus
Daily Enquirer (Columbus, GA), November 23, 1900, p.1
Columbus
Daily Enquirer (Columbus, GA), November 24, 1900, p.3
Columbus
Daily Enquirer (Columbus, GA), November 27, 1900, p.3
Columbus
Daily Enquirer (Columbus, GA), November 6, 1901, p. 3
Columbus
Daily Enquirer (Columbus, GA), July 16, 1903
Columbus
Daily Enquirer (Columbus, GA), December 20, 1903, p.21
Columbus
Ledger (Columbus, GA), August 21, 1904, p.9
Columbus
Daily Enquirer (Columbus, GA), February 13, 1908, p.8
Columbus
Daily Enquirer (Columbus, GA), November 24, 1908, p.3
Columbus
Daily Enquirer (Columbus, GA), March 31, 1908, p.5
Columbus
Daily Enquirer (Columbus, GA), January 17, 1911, p.3
Columbus
Daily Enquirer (Columbus, GA), April 2, 1911, p.4
Columbus
Daily Enquirer (Columbus, GA), April 13, 1911, p.3
Columbus
Ledger (Columbus, GA), October 5, 1915, p.9
Columbus
Daily Enquirer (Columbus, GA), October 6, 1915, p.5
Columbus
Daily Enquirer (Columbus, GA), October 7, 1915, p.6
Columbus
Ledger (Columbus, GA), May 29, 1916, p.7
Columbus
Ledger (Columbus, GA), June 9, 1916, p.5
Columbus
Daily Enquirer (Columbus, GA), November 3, 1916, p. 1
Columbus
Ledger (Columbus, GA), November 3, 1916
Columbus
Daily Enquirer (Columbus, GA), November4, 1916, p. 1
Grimsley, Reagan L.
"Muscogee County." New Georgia Encyclopedia. 31 October 2018. Web. 15
June 2021.
www.depressionscrip.com/panic/panic.html
www.measuringworth.com
