Sympathy Saturday - Frank G. Bowman

Frank G. Bowman was my dad's maternal grandfather and my dad is his namesake. It's a quaint habit the Bowman's and the Chinn lines had. At any rate, Frank Bowman died in 1930, long before I was even a glimmer in my parents' eyes, since my dad was just four years old when his grandfather passed.

Frank Graves Bowman 1854-1930

From the Lexington (Missouri) Daily News:

Frank Bowman Dies After Long Illness

Secretary of Chamber of Commerce and Founder of The News Victim of Paralysis
Frank Bowman, secretary of the Lexington Chamber of Commerce, died at his home on North Seventeenth Street, at 1:10 o'clock Monday afternoon after an extended illness.  Paralysis was the cause of death.  The funeral service was held Wednesday afternoon, conducted by the Rev. W. A. Wimberly, pastor of the First Christian Church.

Mr. Bowman was born in Lexington on September 4, 1854.  He was married to Miss Elizabeth Webb on April 3, 1883.  The wife and four children survive as follows:  Mrs. Hugh Rogers, Lexington; Mrs. James A. Rankin, Claremont, California; Mrs. John S. Percival, Detroit, Michigan; and John Bowman of Kansas City.

Stricken with paralysis on October 22, last, Mr. Bowman later rallied considerably and was believed to be on the road to recovery, but later developments brought gradual weakening.

Mr. Bowman was the founder of The Lexington News and for many years operated this newspaper in partnership with a brother.  He was a man of strong convictions and unfailing adherence to the simple virtues.  Through his political connections in later years he acquired friendships throughout the state and was widely admired for likable qualities.  He was postmaster at Lexington under the administration of Grover Cleveland, later became secretary of the state board of charities and correction.  He was also deputy county recorder under Henry McNeel and enrolling clerk of the house of representatives for twelve years.  He had been secretary of the local Chamber of Commerce for a number of years.


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