U.S. Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ -- USGenNet Inc. -- Please read the U.S. Data Repository Copyright Statement on the following page: ------------------------------------------------------------------- Bowen, William H. (1860-1942) ------------------------------------------------------------------- Men of West Virginia, Volume II Biographical Publishing Company George Richmond, Pres.: C. R. Arnold, Sec'y and Treas. Chicago, Illinois, 1903 Pages 580-582 WILLIAM H. BOWEN, familiarly known throughout the Flat-Top coal field as Harry Bowen, is secretary and treasurer of the Booth-Bowen Coal & Coke Company, and one of the prominent citizens of that section of West Virginia, being a resident of Freeman, Mercer County. Mr. Bowen was born October 14, 1860, at Ashland, Pennsylvania, and is a son of the late Jonathan P. and H. E. (Evans) Bowen. Jonathan P. Bowen was president of the Booth-Bowen Coal & Coke Company, a practical miner, and one of the leading citizens of Freeman, Mercer County, West Virginia. He died in October, 1902, aged 72 years. His wife died in 1877, aged 40 years. She was born in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, and came of Quaker stock. The two children were William H. and Alice, who is the wife of John D. Kutzner, a druggist of Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania. Harry Bowen accompanied his parents in their removal to St. Clair, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, when he was six years of age, and there he attended the public schools until his 16th year when he went to work, 10 years later in life than did his father, in the mines of the Reading Coal & Iron Company, of which his father was then superintendent. He continued his association with that company in various capacities, until February, 1887, when he removed to the Flat-Top coal fields and took the position of secretary of the firm of William Booth & Company (now the Booth-Bowen Coal & Coke Company) and still holds this position. On the retirement of James Booth in 1893, and the consequent vacancy in the office of treasurer, Mr. Bowen was selected to fill that position also. The great company with which our subject is associated was one of the earliest operators in the Flat-Top coal field. It was opened by William Booth & Company in 1884, and was conducted by them until 1889, when it was incorporated under the laws of West Virginia under the title of the Booth-Bowen Coal & Coke Company, with William Booth as president, Jonathan P. Bowen, vice-president and general manager, Harry Bowen, secretary, and James Booth, treasurer. In February, 1892, William Booth retired, and Jonathan P. Bowen succeeded him as president. James Booth retired in 1893 and Harry Bowen became treasurer. The holdings of the company embrace about 1,000 acres of land, held under lease from the Flat- Top Coal Land Association. About 350 miners and laborers are employed at the operation and the capacity or the mines is from 25,000 to 30,000 tons of coal per month. The plant includes 177 coke ovens with a monthly productive capacity of about 4,000 tons of high grade coke. There are two mine openings, with a double tipple to facilitate the rapid handling of the output; and the ventilation is provided for by the use of a 20-foot fan operated by steam. The coal is hauled from the mines to the tipple by two Baldwin mine locomotives and the power for operating the other machinery is furnished by an engine and two boilers used to operate the deep well pump that forces the water from the well to the reservoirs from which the works are supplied. A second stationary engine with two boilers furnishes the power to operate .the elevators, crushers and other machinery about the tipple as well as to operate the machinery in the blacksmith and woodworking shops. Mr. Bowen was married to Harriet Hopkinson, a daughter of a stationary engineer of St. Clair, Pennsylvania, and six children have been born to this union, viz.: Annis, who died in 1902, aged five years; Elizabeth; Jonathan, assistant to his father at the mines, a thoroughly practical young man; Ethel, a student at Washington, D. C.; and Joseph and Headly, students at the Episcopal High School at Alexandria. Mr. Bowen owns a fine home at Simmons station, or Freeman. Politically he is a Republican and takes an active interest in public matters and has been quite prominent in local affairs. He has served at various times as councilman, both in Pennsylvania and in West Virginia. He is a member of almost all the prominent secret organizations, among them the following: Ivanhoe Lodge, No. 10, A. F. & A. M., at Bramwell, and Osiris Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., at Wheeling and Lodge No. 269, B. P. O. E., at Bluefield, of which he is a charter member. In religious belief he is a Methodist. Mr. Bowen is a very successful and popular man. His business enterprise has been shown in the able manner in which he has managed the affairs of this great industry, while on every hand may be found proofs of the high personal esteem in which he is held. ------------------------------------------------------------------- DEATH CERTIFICATE, Mercer County WV, #17191 FULL-NAME: William Henry Bowen BIRTH-DATE: October 14, 1860 BIRTH-PLACE: Ashland, Penn. DEATH-DATE: April 3, 1942 AGE-AT-DEATH: 81y-5m-19d DEATH-PLACE: Freeman, Rock District, Mercer County, WV USUAL-RESIDENCE: Freeman, Rock District, Mercer County, WV MARITAL-STATUS: Widowed (Harriett Hopkinson, deceased) OCCUPATION: Coal Operator / Coal Mining FATHER: Jonathan P. Bowen (born in Wales) MOTHER: Hannah Evans (born in Penn.) CAUSE-OF-DEATH: Cardio Vascular Renal disease INFORMANT: Jos. H. Bowen (of Freeman, W.Va.) BURIAL: Woodlawn, Bluefield, W.Va. ------------------------------------------------------------------- If you've reached this file through a SEARCH, you can access other biographies for Mercer County, WV by going to the following URL: http://www.us-data.org/wv/mercer/bios.html -------------------------------------------------------------------