Kinfolks
by Evelyn Flood

Became interested in the Bowman families when I found that a kinfolk Gaines Harris had married NARCISSUS BELLE BOWMAN in Johnson County, Arkansas.
Gaines Harris was half-brother to our great-great grandmother, Rachel Caroline Harris Flood (Mrs. George W "Uncle Wash" Flood).

Several people have helped me with this story and I appreciate it very much.

Also, found that our great-great uncle, Simon Flud, had served as U.S. Deputy Marshal under Judge Parker. This led me to plan a section on U.S. Deputy Marshals who rode for Judge Isaac Charles Parker.
Turned into quite a job. There were about 3,000 deputies all told.
Visit that link and read about these brave men who were the only law in Indian Territory.

It turns out that Ab Allen's wife was sister to Mary Eveline Beasley
Bowman (wife of Wes Bowman), making Ab Allen the brother-in-law to Wes Bowman.

James Wesley"Wes" Bowman was born in Breathitt County, Kentucky on 6 January 1869 on Lower Twin Creek. He was the son of John Wesley Bowman and Priscilla Elizabeth Mills

John Wesley and Elizabeth Bowman had the following children:
i: Mary Jane Bowman 1855
ii: Robert Bowman 1857
iii: Millard Fillmore Bowman 1858
iv: William Bowman 1860
v: Preston Bowman 1864
vi:Narcissus Belle Bowman 1865
vii: Emely Bowman 1867
viii: James Wesley"Wes" Bowman 1869
ix: John Bowman 1871
x: Madison"Mat" Bowman 1874
xi: Andora Bowman 1876
xii: Amesa Bowman 1878

John Wesley Bowman died in 1899 and is buried at Ft. Douglas, Johnson County, Arkansas. Priscilla Elizabeth Mills Bowman is buried in Hickson Cemetery, Franklin County, Arkansas
Elizabeth Mills Bowman lived with Gaines A Harris family until her death ca 1910

The main reason for my researching Wes Bowman was due to the fact that Wes's sister Narcissus Belle Bowman married Gaines A. Harris, son of William G. Harris and Louisa Anna Robinson. Gaines A. Harris was half-brother to our great-great grandmother Rachel Caroline Harris Flood

The Bowmans are mentioned in Bud Phillips Book "New Ozark Cousins", Just one of over 200 families told about in this informative book.
This fully indexed book,"New Ozark Cousins" is available through the Newton County, Arkansas Historical Society and their website:
Newton County Historical Society

Wes Bowman is also mentioned in "Hell On The Border" where he was referred to as the "beardless one" since he was so young when he was a deputy marshal and did not yet have a beard.

Paul Bowman, a grandson of Wes, sent me the following information on Wes Bowman and would like to share this with you
This account was actually written by Paul's father, Charles Everett Bowman and sent to Miles Nicholas Crawford for Crawford's book"Early Pioneers On The Three Forks of the Kentucky River"

James Wesley Bowman, son of John Wesley Bowman and Elizabeth Mills Bowman, was born on Lower Twin Creek, Breathitt County, Kentucky, on January 6, 1869, where he lived until he was about 13, when he then moved with his family to Fort Douglas,(Johnson County) Arkansas, about 30 miles back in the Ozarks from Clarksville, Arkansas.

When he was about 20 years old he started assisting the local officers in making arrests in the surrounding mountains of Johnson County.
Paden Tolbert, who was already making a name for himself as a peace officer, was impressed with the courage and coolness of Wes in potentially dangerous situations, so he sent his name to the Ft. Smith Court with a recommendation that Wes be given a commission as a U.S.Deputy Marshal
In a few weeks Wes was called to Ft. Smith and sworn in by Judge Parker as one of his deputies, and given his commission dated 10 February 1891.

His sphere of operations was vast, comprising all of the Indian Territory and the Western District of Arkansas that the warrants he was given to serve were for men ranging from the hip-pocket bootlegger to murderers who would rather die than go before Judge Parker. There were White, Negro, and Indian outlaws and mixed-bloods of all three, roaming the Territory and some banded together such as the Dalton, Doolin, Bill Cook and Rufus Buck gangs. The Henry Starr and Cherokee Bill gangs were also active at this time. Sometimes Wes teamed up with well known officers such as Paden Tolbert, Heck Thomas, Ed Reed (Belle Starr's son), and others, but for the most part he was alone with no way of communicating with his superiors or calling for help when he needed it. The law- abiding citizens were afraid to assist the marshals out of fear of reprisal from the outlaws.

Wes rode the trains and stages when available, but the men he was after usually stated off the beaten path, so he travelled mostly by horse back. He would go into a paticular area, arrest as many as he could find, then hire someone with a team and wagon to transport his shackled prisoners to Ft. Smith or the nearest railroad town.

In the last of October 1892 he was called to Ft. Smith to join the select group of 16 marshals being sent to bring in Ned Christie, the Cherokee outlaw who had evaded capture for several years. The group arrived at Christie's house-fort, each of Tahlequah, Indian Territory during the night and surrounded the place. Christie had cleared away the trees and brush for several hundred feet around his fort making it difficult for the officers to find cover very close to the house.
Next morning, after calling on Christie to surrender and being answered by several shots, Christie was told by an Indian guide to send his women and children out, which he did.
Christie, another adult Indian named Arch Wolf, and a sixteen year old boy named Soldier Hair remained in the house and began firing at every-thing that moved. The marshals also kept up a sporadic but ineffectual fire. They had brought along a small cannon which they fired many times. But due to the sturdy construction of the fort and the inexperience of the gunners with such a weapon, it was also ineffective.
On the morning of November 2, 1892, four marshals stood close together and firing their winchesters rapidly, laid down a smoke screen with the black powder ammunition.
Charley Copeland, a volunteer, ran with a bundle of dynamite with a lighted fuse and shoved it under the corner of the house. The explosion demolished part of the house and fire from the fireplace set the rest on fire.
Arch Wolf ran out, and because of the smoke and confusion, excaped.
Christie came out firing his Winchester and in the uncertain light he was mistaken for a marshal until he almost collided with Wes Bowman.
The two men fired at the same time but Christie was moving and his shot missed, but was so close the muzzle blast of his Winchester powder- burned the face of Bowman. Wes didn't miss and Ned Christie's career as an outlaw was ended.
The sixteen year old Soldier Hair was afraid to come out and stayed in the burning building until he was badly burned. Finally one of the Indian guides assured him that he would not be shot and only then did he come out.

On 2 March 1893 Wes married Mary Eveline Beasley of nearby Mt. Levi, Arkansas where they set up housekeeping. Wes farmed in addition to his police work, but marriage had complicated things for him. His young wife Eveline was afraid when she was left alone in their isolated mountain home while he was out rounding up criminals. She also worried that he might be killed, so she begged him to give it up.

Their first son, Loyd McKinley Bowman, was born 26 February 1895 and this was an added reason for Wes to get into another line of work.

In 1902, Eveline's nagging finally paid off. He gave it all up, and they moved to Bristow Indian Territory where Wes went to work in a dry goods store.
However, Wes's reputation followed him to Bristow. Soon, he was persuaded to take a deputy's commission under the veteran U.S. Deputy Marshal William Freshour, peace officer since the Civil War.
Bristow and the surrounding country held many tough men during the early 1900s. Through the teamwork of Wes and Freshour, many of the toughest men were brought to justice.
Later, Wes served as a deputy sheriff, then as Chief of Police of Bristow, Oklahoma.
While Chief of Police, a rancher who was considered to be a real "bad man" came into town and started drinking and bragging that he was going to run the Chief out of town. He finally went up to a motel room with some drinking friends. Wes went up to the room and told him it was time for him to leave town. The man said he would leave when he got ready, and he wasn't ready ready yet. Wes told him that if he didn't start in five minutes, he was coming back after him and take him to jail. Wes went back to the street and took out his watch and waited.
Before the time was up, the man came down the stairs, got on his horse,and rode out of town. Freshour complimented the bad man on his good judgement.

Two more sons were born to Wes and Eveline. Charles Everett was born 31 December 1904 and Omer Cecil on 17 August 1908.
The old worry was still with Eveline, and this time Wes gave up police work for good.
About 1910 they moved back to Arkansas, to Ozark this time, where Wes's Mother, brother and sister were living. From then on, he was engaged in farming. Occasionally Wes was called upon to help transport prisoners to jail or work in place of officers on vaction, but his days as a peace officer were over.

In 1921 he moved his family back to Oklahoma and farmed til he retired.
He died in Seminole, Oklahoma on 20 September 1957, at the age of 88, and was buried in Wetumka, Oklahoma.

Wes Bowman was a quite, unassuming man, a good husband and father, and one of the best mountain fiddlers to come out of Arkansas.

Wes was easy going and had a good sense of humor. Following are a few of the true stories Wes told about his experiences as a lawman.

He liked to tell the story about going with Freshour to evict a woman whose house had sold for taxes. The woman was Black and weighed over 300 pounds. After they had carried out all the furniture, the woman was left sitting in a canebottom chair in the middle of the room, refusing to move. After all persuasion failed, the two men, with great effort, picked her up, chair and all, and carried her out. Wes said he still couldn't figure out how they got her through the narrow door and into the yard.

Once, he was sent to serve a warrant on a young man living with his parents back in the mountains of Arkansas. He found the home and Identified himself and asked about the son. The father said he didn't know where he was, and asked to see the warrant. Wes knew the old man had a habit of asking to see the warrant, then tearing it up. Handing him the warrant, Wes told him that if he tore it up he would arrest him and take him to Ft. Smith for interferring with an officer. The old man read the warrant, handed it back, then pounded on the floor and the son, hiding under the floor came up through a trap door and surrendered.
It was nearing nightfall, so the young marshal asked if he could stay all night. The father invited him in, and he spent the night, sleeping with the young man he was to take to Judge Parker's dreaded jail the next day.

No doubt Wes had many close calls as a police officer, but he always said his closest call happened one evening in the mountains. Wes and his brother-in-law, Ab Allen, arrested a man named Grimmit somewhere up in Bullfrog Valley. They started to Clarksville with him, but as it was late in the afternoon, they stopped at a farm to stay all night. Sometime after supper, a commotion waa heard outside and when the farmer went to investigate, he found a large group of armed men outside who said they wanted to talk to the marshal.
Wes went to the door and the spokesman said they were Grimmit's friends and had come to take him.
The man said if Grimmit was released immediately, they would not harm the marshals, but if they had to take him by force, they would hang them both.
Wes picked up his Winchester, motioned Ab to the back door with him, then told the men that they would kill the first man that came into the yard. The mob, all marshal-haters, milled around outside yelling and firing their guns for an hour or so, evidently not wishing to harm the farmer's family, they finally rode away. The two marshals took turns guarding their prisoner all night and the next day took him to Ft. Smith without incident.

Thank you Paul Bowman for sharing your information with us

1910 Franklin County, Arkansas, White Oak Township
Visit 308-328
Bowman, James W, Head, age 41, M1 17 years, KY,KY,KY Farmer
.......Evalyn, Wife, age 33, M1 17years 3 children-3living, AR,AR,AR
.......Loyd M, Son, age 15, Single, AR,KY, AR
.......Everett, Son, age 5, Single, AR,KY,AR
.......Omer, Son, age 1, Single, AR,KY,AR

1930 Seminole, Oklahoma, Wolf Township, Visit 135-139
Bowman, James W, Head, age 61, Rents ,Male, White KY,KY,KY
........Evelyn, Wife, age 53, married at 17, AR,KY,KY
........Everett, Son, 25 Single, roustabout,oil fields, OK,KY,AR
........Omer, Son, 21, Single, roustabout,oil fields, OK,KY,AR

1930 Franklin County, Arkansas, White Oak Township, Wire Road
Visit 181-185
JONES, William, Head, age 53, M at 27, Miss. TN, AL
.......Nora, Wife, age 50, M at 24, AR,TN,AR
BOWMAN,Loyd M, Son-in-law, age 33, M at 23, AR,Miss.Miss.
.......Velma, Daughter, age 26, M at 16, AR,Miss, AR
.......Oma J, Grand-daug.,age 7, single, AR, AR, AR

Would like to mention Madison M Bowman, brother of James Wes Bowman. He is shown playing a fiddle with his brother Wes Bowman in the picture.

1900 Johnson County, Arkansas Census, Piney Township, Visit 10-10
Bowman, Matison M,head, 25, b1873, M4yrs, KY, KY,KY
......Mahala E, wife, Nov1876, 23, M6yrs, 3,
......Martha E, daug., July 1894, 5 S, AR
......Chester C, son, Mar 1897, 3, S, AR
......William E, son, Mar1900, 3/12, AR

1910 Franklin County, Arkanss, Walker Township
Bowman, J M, head, 36, M1 16yrs, KY
...... Mary, wife, 34, M1 16yrs, 6-6 living, AR
...... Lizzie, daug., 15, S, AR
...... Chester, son, 13, S, AR
...... Elmer, son, 10, S, AR
...... Beulah, daug, 7, OK
...... Floyd, son, 5, OK
....... Sissie, daug., 2, S, OK

I would like to find out what happened to Matt Bowman and his family.
Know that he married again to Neoma "Oma" Smith (unknown date).

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Evelyn Flood
Rkinfolks@aol.com