Notes for JACKSON J. BOWDEN:
Jackson J. Bowden was born in Oglethorpe, Georgia January 22, 1814. His parents were Anna Blackburn and John Bowden. His family moved to Maury County, Tennessee in 1819 when he was 5 years old. They then moved to Lawrence County, Tennessee in 1820. Jackson J. Bowden married Selina Lay in Lawrence Co., Tennessee where his first 3 children , all daughters, were born. The family moved to Arkansas sometime around 1844, where 3 more children, another daughter and two sons were born. Selina probably died in 1850 and is buried most likely in Gravel Hill.On August 12, 1852 and at the age of 38, he married his second wife, Narcissa Bewley, age 18. This marriage was performed by her uncle John M. Bewley. The couple had 10 children, 3 of whom died in infancy. From 1845 up to the beginning of the Civil War, Jackson J. Bowden was a militia captain. He was appointed postmaster at the Post Office in Moreland in 1866. He held this position for 3 or 4 years. He joined a temperance organization in Dover in 1867. Despite his old age, he raised with his own hands, two and a half bales of cotton, thirty bushels of corn and forty bushels of sweet potatoes.
More About JACKSON J. BOWDEN:
Occupations: Methodist minister, farmer, cotton farmer
Cause of Death: Death was caused by a fall.
Medical Information: Somewhat deaf in later years. Had very good eyesight, he did not need glasses to read even in his later years. He was strong, as he farmed even in his older years.
NARCISSA EVALINA BEWLEY
Obituary:
Died of heart disease Aug. 4, 1885, Mrs. Narcissa E. Bowden. She was as well as usual to within twenty minutes of her death. Subject of the above was a daughter of R.S. and Evelina Bewly. Born in Pope county, Arkansas, January 4th 1834, was married to the Rev. J.J. Bowden
Aug. 12, 1852, and happily converted to God on the 4th Sunday in September, 1854, at Gum Log camp-meeting, and she ever afterwards lived a faithful and devoted christian. The writer during the past 11 years has often met with her
around the sick beds of her friends, children and husband and on her own sick bed we were frequently called to administer and wait on her, and always found her the same dignified, modest, prudent christian with a heart full of sympathy
and kindness for her friends and family in times of affliction, Sister Bowden was a woman of fine native intellect, energetic and industrious. She leaves a husband, one daughter and six sons to mourn her departure. But while she leaves those of mature years she has gone to meet those three little ones on heaven's eternal happy shores. Her funeral will be preached at Gravel Hill camp meeting, embracing the 2d Sunday in next month. May God comfort the bereaved.
C.L. Kirksey
Goodspeed’s Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Western Arkansas, 1891
Rev. J.J. Bowden, p.213Rev. J.J. Bowden, farmer, Moreland, Ark. Mr. Bowden , who is familiarly known as “Uncle Jacky Bowden” was born in Georgia, January 22, 1814, and is the son of John and Anna (Blackburn) Bowden, both natives also of Georgia, and of English and German descent, respectively. The father was born in 1751, and was married about 1796. He and wife migrated from Georgia to Tennessee, and here they received their final summons, the father dying at the age of ninety-five, and she at the age of sixty-five years. Their family consisted of fifteen children, eight sons and five daughters of whom grew to mature years. Two died in infancy. Those living are named as follows: Polly, William, Feriba, James, Anna, Jane, John S., Jackson J., Charles, Newton, Wiley, Lucinda and Allen. The paternal grandfather of these children emigrated from England to America at an early day, and fought for independence in the Revolution. When about six years of age Rev. J.J. Bowden emigrated with his parents to Tennessee, and there remained until 1844, when he moved to Arkansas. While a resident of Tennessee he met and married Miss Salina Lay, a native of Georgia, who bore him six children, tow of whom are now living, one in Texas, and the other in Conway County, Ark.
After coming to Arkansas Mr. Bowden settled in Gum Log Valley, but afterward purchased eighty acres of land on Crow Mountain, where he resided six years. He afterward purchased 300 acres at Gravel Hill, and gave eleven acres of this to the Methodist Episcopal Church South, the land, at the present time, being valued at $100 per acre, upon which he has expended on his own account, and out of his own pocket, at least $500. Later he sold this farm, and retired to his farm at Gravel Hill, where he now resides, and where, despite his increasing years, he still carries on his occupation of farming, though in a limited way, having rented most of his land to tenants. When Mr. Bowden first located on his present farm, the country was thinly settled, and in all the country from Cross Plains to Dover there were but two families. On Crow Mountain, where there are now about 200 families, there were at that time just two families.
Mr. Bowden joined the church in 1828, and has always taken a deep interest in church work. When leaving Tennessee he brought letters from his church, which he deposited in Gum Log Valley, in what is now known as David Chapel, where he assisted in erecting the first church edifice in Valley Township. And probably the first in Pope County. Mr. Bowden was licensed to preach in 1848, by Dr. A. Hunter; ordained a deacon by Bishop Paine in 1852, and ordained an elder by Bishop Early in 1857. His first ministerial work was on Crow Mountain, where he organized and erected the first church. In 1865, after the close of the war, owing to the unsettled condition of affairs,
Mr. Bowden was called upon to take in hand the organization of the churches of Dover circuit, on which there were twenty-four appointments, and to which it was difficult or impossible to send a regular itinerant, Mr. Bowden found the churches in a demoralized condition, but undertook the work, which he successfully accomplished in about a month, presiding over that circuit only a year. He organized the Sunday school at Gravel Hill, or Bowden Chapel, directly after the war, and also assisted in the organization of several others. He went to Little Red River in 1840, where Methodism had never penetrated, and established a church, which has grown from the seed thus sown to a flourishing circuit. His first wife dying in 1852, Mr. Bowden was married, in August of the same year, to Miss Narcissa E. Bewley, daughter of R.S. Bewley, of Pope County. The fruits of this union were ten children, three of whom died in infancy. The remainder are all married, with the exception of one son and a daughter. They are named as follows: Robert S., Benjamin B., Charles D., George A., Anhana C., Miles E., and Sallie F., all but one of whom are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. From 1845 up to the beginning of the Civil War, in which he took no part, Mr. Bowden was militia captain. He was appointed postmaster at Moreland post office in 1866, which position he held for three or four years. He joined a temperance organization at Dover in 1867, and as this is a subject in which he takes a great interest, temperance organizations have been established all over Pope County. Although in his seventy-seventh year and somewhat deaf, Mr. Bowden can read ordinary print without the aid of glasses. He lost his wife in 1885. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church also, and was an active worker in the same. Despite his old age, he raised, the present year, with his own hands, two and one-half bales of cotton, thirty bushels of corn and forty bushels of sweet potatoes, besides he preached nearly every Sunday.
Rev. J.J. Bowden Obituary
Arkansas Methodist--September 15,1897At Rest : BOWDEN: - Rev. J.J. Bowden
was born in Oglethorpe county, Georgia,
January 22, 1814. Moved with his parents to
Murray county, Tennessee in 1819; they
moved to Lawrence county, Tennessee,
1820. Uncle Jackson, embraced religion
September 1828 and united with the
Methodist Church. He emigrated to Pope
county, Ark., in 1844, and was licensed to
preach by Andrew Hunter, at Lewisburg,
Arkansas, in the fall of 1848, ordained
deacon by Bishop Pain, at Clarksville,
Arkansas, in 1852, ordained elder by Bishop
Early, at Dardanelle, Arkansas, in 1858.
When the war closed the Church was
disorganized, but he went to work and
helped to organize the Clarksville district,
and was appointed P.C. of Dover circuit, the
first year after the war. He donated eight
acres of land near him on which he built a
large frame church with some assistance and
helped to erect an arbor and enclosed it with
a plank fence. It is known as the Bowden
Chapel camp ground. He was true to the
prayer meeting, Sunday-school, and the
ministry. Thousands no doubt will be saved
by his ministry. His death was caused by a
fall while on his why to Brownwood. He
died at the residence of his son, M.E.
Bowden, near Mexia, Texas, November 24,
1896. Uncle Jackson was well known as a
true enthusiastic preacher. Got a blessing at
every service. What a priceless legacy for his
nine children who survive him. May the
same God whom he trusted, comfort the
bereaved, and may all meet in a brighter,
better world. Allen F. Bowden. Clio, Texas
Nashville and Texas Advocates
Submitted by Jackie Blaney
jblaney12@yahoo.com
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