Martha Adeline Webb was the second child of William Jefferson Webb and
Nettie Reich Webb. She was born on December 4, 1845 in Itawamba County,
Mississippi, on Lick Skillet Creek probably.
At the age of 18, in 1866, she married Richard Henry Bowen, also from the
same part of Itawamba County. Richard had served in the 6th Mississippi
Cavalry in the C.S.A. His war records can be seen here by following
the link on the image to the left. They always lived around the same
area and together had twelve known children. In 1870 the census recorded
them as follows:
1870 Itawamba County, Mississippi CensusIn 1880 they had increased by a few children:
Page 426B; 217/217
Bowen, Richard 28 M W Farmer Mississippi
Bowen, Martha 24 F W Keeping House Mississippi
Bowen, Mary 3 F W At home Mississippi
Bowen, Sarah 2 F W At home Mississippi
Faulkner, John 19 M W Farm Laborer Alabama
1880 Itawamba County, Mississippi Census
Page 507A
Bowen, Richard W M 35 Head Farmer NC, VA, NC
Bowen, Martha W F 34 Wife House Keeper MS, TN, NC
Bowen, Mary W F 13 Daughter At Home MS, NC, MS
Bowen, Sarah C. W F 11 Daughter At Home MS, NC, MS
Bowen, Robb W M 9 Son At Home MS, NC, MS
Bowen, James W M 7 MS, NC, MS
Bowen, Edgar W M 4 MS, NC, MS
Bowen, Nora W F 1 MS, NC, MS
1900 Itawamba County, Mississippi Census
Page 242A; House #281
Bowen, Richard Head July 1844 55 Md. 34 NC VA NC
Bowen, Martha A. Wife Dec. 1846 53 Md. 34 11/11 MS TN NC
Bowen, James W. Son Apr. 1873 27 Widowed MS NC MS
Bowen, Summter R. Son Nov. 1880 19 Sing.
Bowen, Callie E. Dau. Dec. 1883 16 Sing.
Bowen, Lela Dau. Mar. 1886 14 Sing.
Bowen, John A. Son Mar. 1888 12 Sing.
Bowen, Neely Son Dec. 1891 9 Sing.
Maxcey, Mary R. Dau. Feb. 1867 30 Widowed 1/1 MS NC MS
Maxcey, Viola G-Dau. Oct. 1896 3 Sing. MS MS MS
Dick died in 1923 at 79 years of age. Not much is known about Martha
personally. She died at the age of 90 in 1936. Her death certificate
is found here (follow link on image to right). Neely's family reports
that she did tell him that when she was young, she would have been about
seventeen years old, that she was out doing the wash in the creek and she
heard the sound of the guns in the distance at the battle of Shiloh.
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Last Will and Testament of Richard Henry Bowen
I, Richard Henry Bowen, of Amory, Monroe County, Mississippi, being of sound and disposing mind and memory, declare this to be my last will and testament, hereby revoking any former will and testament that I may have made.
ITEM I: I direct that all my just and honest debts be paid, including all the expenses of my last sickness and burial, and any other just and honest debts that I may owe at the time of my death.
ITEM II: I hearby give, devise and bequeath to my wife, Mrs. Martha
A. Bowen, the use of all my property, real and personal, during her life
time for the purpose of supporting herself and any dependent members of our
family that may live with her. She may use all the income from said
property for the purposes stated, and in addition may use a sufficient amount
of any money that I may have at the time of my death, including bank deposits
and notes, to provide such support in the event that the income from said
property is not sufficient.
ITEM III: I give, devise and bequeath to my daughter, Miss Leta Bowen, One Thousand Dollars, to be paid to her upon the death of her mother, Mrs. Martha A. Bowen, and she shall have the use of my estate herinafter mentioned.
ITEM IV: Upon the death of my wife, Mrs. Martha A. Bowen, it
is my desire that my daughter, Miss Leta Bowen, shall have all the household
and kitchen furniture and bedclothes that I may own at the time of my death,
said property to belong to her during her lifetime and then to be divided
as the remainder of my personal property herein mentioned.
ITEM V: I give, devise and bequeath to my grandson, Farris Henderson,
five dollars, and direct that he shall not participate further in the division
of my estate. This amount is to be paid at any time after my death.
ITEM VI: After the provisions of Items I to V, inclusive, have been complied with, I give, devise and bequeath the remainder of my estate to the following named persons, share and share alike, to-wit: To my sons, Robert H. Bowen, James W. Bowen, Trannie Bowen, Sumter Bowen, John A. Bowen and Neely Bowen; to my daughters, Mrs. Sarah E. Mattox, Mrs. Callie Wax and Miss Leta Bowen, and to my grand-daughter, Miss Vista Maxey. I direct that any amount due to my daughter, Callie Wax, shall not be paid to her until the death of her husband, Roy Wax; and if she dies before her husband, then her share is to be paid to her children upon the death of their father, Roy Wax. The distribution of personal property may be made at any time after the death of my wife, Mrs. Martha A. Bowen, except as otherwise provided herein; but no division of real estate is to be made until the death of my daughter, Miss Leta Bowen.
ITEM VII: I hereby nominate, constitue and appoint my two sons, John A. Bowen and Neely Bowen, Executors of this my last will and testament, the two to act jointly in all things: and I hereby relieve them of the necessity of making bond and of accounting to any court for their acts and doings hereunder. And if either of them should die before the final settlement of my estate, the other shall act as Executor.
ITEM VIII: If any devisee herein mentioned shall die before my death, then the share of such devisee shall go to his or her children, or be divided equally among the distributees mentioned in Item VI in case such devisee shall have no living children.
Signed at Amory, Mississippi, in the presence of the witnesses named below, on this 15th day of January, 1921.
Signed: Richard Henry Bowen
Witnesses: L.C. Gilbert; E.C. Bourland
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Mary R. Bowen
(md. )
Mary married H.P. Maxey in December of 1895.
They had one daughter, Viola, in 1896, and then H.P. died in November of
1898, at the age of 28. Sarah lived to be 43, dying in 1910 in Itawamba
County.
Sarah C. Bowen
(md. William Maxey)
Sarah married William Maxey in 1893. He died
in 1915. She married Willie Mattox after that. She was not known
to have had any children, but she helped raise her nephew Farris Dalton Henderson.
She died in 1953 at 84 years of age.
Robert Bowen
(md. ?)
Robert is not living with the family in 1900,
but it is not known if he died or moved out by then. Some family members
said he went to Florida and never came back.
James William "J.W." "Jim"
Bowen (md. Loraine J. Wheeler and Vona Mattox)
Jim married Loraine J. Wheeler in 1900 and Vona
Mattox about 1910 after Loraine passed away. He died in 1959 at the
age of 85. It is not known if he had any children.
Edgar "Trannie" Bowen
(md. Mary Rocha Stone)
Trannie married "Narochia" in 1896, and together
they had ten children. He died in 1969 at the age of 93.
Nora Lee Bowen
(md. Ira Dalton Henderson)
Nora Lee married Ira Dalton in 1899. Their first
child died after 43 days, but their son Farris Dalton Henderson lived to
old age. Nora Lee died in 1901 at age 23.
Sumpter Richard Bowen
(md. Ellie D. Moore)
Sumpter had two sons. He married in about 1915
and lived to be 54, dying in 1935.
Callie E. Bowen
(md. Roy R. Wax)
Callie married in about 1902 and had two daughters
and a son. We do not know what happened to them. Callie died
in 1956 in Amory at the age of 72.
Leta Bowen
(nver married)
Not much is known about Leta.
Johnny Allen Bowen
(md. ?)
Virtually nothing is known about Johnny. Some
relatives thought he wound up in Greenville or Greenwood and had children
of his own.
Neely Bowen
(md. Marguerite Van Dervoort)
Neely married in about 1910 and had one son,
Charles. Neely died in 1961 in Memphis at the age of 69.