My Genealogy Hound

Louis C. Bowen. If, as is self-evident, this work would be incomplete without sketches of the more public spirited of the successful agriculturists and stock men and substantial, well to-do citizens of Mississippi County, then the biography of the subject of this sketch justly finds a conspicuous place in the present volume. Mr. Bowen owes his nativity to Tennessee, where his birth occurred March 31, 1818. His parents, Charles G. and Susan (Shell) Bowen, were natives of Virginia, but they were married at Knoxville, Tenn., where the father worked as a saddler. In 1823 the family moved to Vigo County, Ind., but two years later settled in Putnam County, of the same State, where they resided twelve years. In that county the father followed his trade, and was also engaged in agricultural pursuits. On May 2, 1835, they landed at Barfield Point, Ark., but only remained there four years, when they returned to Indiana. Still not satisfied, they came back to Arkansas, and settled on a tract of land near Osceola. Here the father died, in 1873, at the age of eighty-four years, but the mother died a number of years previous. The character of Mr. Bowen, the subject of this sketch, was modeled in such a manner that it was natural for him to look, perhaps unconsciously, upon farming and stock raising as the only calling with which he should identify himself. He received limited educational advantages, and remained at home until thirty years of age. He then chose Miss Catherine Martin as his future wife, but she lived only about eleven months after marriage. In 1839 Mr. Bowen entered 160 acres of land, on which he is living at the present time. He has all of this tract under cultivation, and his improvements are all of the best — good buildings, extensive orchards, etc. In 1853 Mr. Bowen married Miss Amelia O. Driver, a daughter of Abner Driver, one of the first settlers in this section. She lived about ten years, and became the mother of five children, all now deceased. They were named as follows: Martha, Nellie, James Lawson, Viola C. and Katie. In 1868 Mr. Bowen was united in marriage to Mrs. Sallie M. Driver, nee Baley, a native of Ohio. Six children were the result of this union: Robert L., William E. (deceased), Walter, Sallie, Charley and Joseph. The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, at Osceola, of which Mr. Bowen has been steward for twenty years. He has been quite active in political affairs; was deputy sheriff from 1843 to 1849, under his cousin, Sheriff John Bowen. In addition to his home plantation, he is the owner of 800 acres in another tract.