Robert Leo Bowman (1871 - 1912)

Born 11 Dec 1871 in Hackberry Township, Labette, Kansas, United States

Died 19 Sep 1912 at age 40 in Washington County, Oklahoma, United States

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Biography

Robert Bowman was born 11 Dec 1871 probably in the town of Hackberry, Labette County (on the Kansas-Oklahoma border), Kansas where his parents Oliver and Rachel (Pearson) Bowman were recorded in the 1870 US Census.^[1] There is as yet undocumented information that Robert's family subsequently lived in Kiowa County, Kansas. He married Eva Fischer of North Dakota^[2] about 1897. In 1900 the Bowman's lived in Bismarck, North Dakota with an infant and an Adam Fischer whose relationship to Eva is unknown.^[3] In 1910 the family is living in Guthrie, Logan County, Oklahoma with Robert listed as a manager of a sand station.^[4]

When Robert Bowman began working in law enforcement as a Special Agent with the Bureau of Indian Affairs is not known. On 19 Sep 1912 Special Agent Robert Bowman was shot and killed as he and a Lenapah City (Nowata County, Oklahoma) Marshal W. R. Mayfield were operating a liquor checkpoint one mile south of the Kansas border. The officers observed four horse-drawn wagons found to be carrying liquor and arrested the drivers. As Agent Bowman climbed into the wagons to begin destroying the liquor, gunman in two unseen cars following the wagons opened fire on both officers. Agent Bowman was killed and the Lenapah City Marshal recovered.^[5]

SA Bowman is memorialized at Panel: 54-E: 18 on the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, DC and on the Oklahoma Law Enforcement Memorial. He is interred at the Oaklawn Cemetery, Tulsa, Tulsa County, Oklahoma.^[6] His wife Eva was last known to be living in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1919.

Children

• George H - b 8 May 1898, Bismark, North Dakota^[7]
• Rachel Elizabeth - b 10 Aug 1904, Blaine County, Oklahoma^[4]
• Helen May - b 24 Jun 1911, Oklahoma^[8]

Sources

1. ↑ US Census, Year: 1870; Census Place: Hackberry, Labette, Kansas; Roll: M593_436; Page: 16A; Family History Library Film: 545935
2. ↑ Marriage Certificate of daughter Helen, Marriage Records. Delaware Marriages. Bureau of Vital Statistics, Hall of Records, Dover, Delaware.
3. ↑ US Census, Year: 1900; Census Place: Bismarck, Burleigh, North Dakota; Page: 8; Enumeration District: 0229; FHL microfilm: 1241226
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} US Census, Year: 1910; Census Place: Guthrie Ward 4, Logan, Oklahoma; Roll: T624_1260; Page: 13B; Enumeration District: 0128; FHL microfilm: 1375273
5. ↑ ["Officer Down" memorial for Robert Leo Bowman]
6. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #52757933
7. ↑ United States, Selective Service System. World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. Oklahoma; Registration County: Tulsa; Roll: 1852130
8. ↑ California Death Index, 1940-1997. Sacramento, CA, USA: State of California Department of Health Services, Center for Health Statistics.

Acknowledgments

This profile was created by Amber Sanders and was re-sourced and expanded by T Stanton October 2019.