Letter from Ida Isabel (Rudduck) Bowen to Elizabeth (Bowen) Gerrish on 28 Jul 1965
Alden Park Manor 803B. Phila – HH. Pa.
Dear Elizabeth Gerrish:
Your letter was received & it was nice to hear from you. I never met your father, Milton but heard many times about him from my husband & always the fun he made wherever he went.
I am so glad you had the pleasure of seeing Ella Bowen & her family – she is so nice & I hear from her quite frequently. I hope she is well & that she is comfortable.
I do not have a special book about the Bowen family but I do have the large family bible, that so many families had, in those days. Telling about births, marriages & deaths& the ones that have passed on. Your grandfather Bowen was a Colonel in the Army during the Civil War. I do not remember him very well as he passed on when Russell & I were married.
I guess you know that I married my brother-in-law, Russelll H. Bowen, 1 ½ years after the death of my sistem Louise. She left two little girls – one 1 ½ yrs. old & one 3 1/3 yes. old. The older daughter, Louise Heppard Bowen, now lives in Philadelphia. She & her husband Raymond A. Ballinger never had any children. The youngest daughter, Mary Elizabeth Bowen is married to Frank Lukens Shants. They have two children, one a boy, age 22 yrs. whose name is Frank Bowen Shants. They also have a daughter, Elizabeth Shants, age 16 ½ yrs. The older son just graduated from college & is now applying for a commission in the Navy. If he is accepted he will go to Newport, Rhode Island for training. The younger child Elizabeth Louise Shants is a senior in High School at Westtown School.
If this information will help you, I am very pleased. If there is any more that you would want I will get my daughter, Louise, to help me & perhaps we can get more from the bible. I think it is lovely you are interested & I wish more young people would do likewise. We can be vary proud of our families & especially these days when young folks do not love their families & do not have a united interest.
I am not too well as I suffer from High Blood Pressure but have to go slowly & rest a great deal.
Lovingly, your aunt, Ida Isabel Rudduck Bowen
July 28th 1965