MYSTERY MONDAY - WHO'S YOUR DADDY? Brick Walls Post #2 - Robert L. Bowden 1863-1906

BOWDEN is my maternal grandmother’s maiden name.  I have not yet been able to locate the parents or any siblings of her father Robert Lee Bowden.  This mystery has been going on for well over ten years.  Here is what I have and what I’ve done so far.  I welcome your input.

A BRIEF BIO OF ROBERT LEE BOWDEN

Born 8 Feb 1863 in White Sulphur Springs, Greenbrier, West Virginia.  Married Florence HUNTER on 10 Mar 1887 in Cincinnati, Hamilton, Ohio.  Two children born to this couple: Florence Lee Nora Bowden (my grandmother) born 31 Jan 1888 in Ashland, Boyd, Kentucky and Edna “Denny” Mabel Bowden born 1 Jan 1890 in Cincinnati, Hamilton, Ohio.  This couple divorced on 17 Jul 1899.  The divorce was filed in Kenton County, Kentucky.  Robert worked for the railroad in every record I have about him.  He possibly remarried to a lady named Bertie Kearney in 1900.  Robert died on 8 Oct 1906 in McKees Rocks, Allegheny, Pennsylvania at age 43.

Robert’s signature from his 1887 marriage record

Here is what I know about Robert’s life so far:

(Click on any image to enlarge it)




I know that Robert and Florence divorced in 1899.  I have that record and a record of her trying to get him to pay child support.

Here are a few records from the divorce, filed in Kenton County Circuit Court, Kentucky and granted on 17 Jul 1899.


My grandmother, Florence, who is Robert’s older daughter, left me a lot of genealogical information on our family.  She had his death date listed as Oct 1906.  Since I have found her information to rarely be incorrect, and this was her own father, I looked for death records based on that date.

Here is the page from her journal with him listed as the second person.  I have redacted this list for anyone who may still be living.
 

My brother, John and I believe we have found a record of a second marriage for Robert L. Bowden, shortly after the divorce from Florence was final.

MARRIAGE RECORD - R. L. BOWDEN TO B. C. KEARNEY ON 31 MAR 1900 IN HUNTINGTON, CABELL, WEST VIRGINIA

We do find Robert living with a woman named Bertie and her son, who’s last name is Kearney in the 1900 census.  He is a railroad brakeman, which is consistent with what we know about Robert’s occupation.  The record states they have been married only 4 months, which is consistent with the marriage record and Robert is said to have been born in February, which is also what we have on record.  The only thing different is the year of his birth being listed as 1865 instead of 1863.  But, we all know those years vary from record to record, especially in the census.  The other variant is the state of birth being Kentucky, when my grandmother stated it was West Virginia.  I have checked both the Kentucky and West Virginia birth records and not found anything....yet.

Here is that 1900 census record.

 




























My big AH HA! moment came when the Pennsylvania death records 1906-1944 were released last year on Ancestry.  One night I just decided to check these records for Robert.  Why?  I don’t really know, as I had no record of him ever being in Pennsylvania.   
NOTE:  You never know where you will find the record you need.

There it was!!!!  A death record for Robert L. Bowden on 8 Oct 1906 in McKees Rocks, Allegheny, Pennsylvania.  A railroad man who died suddenly of heart disease.  Of course no parents names are listed.



Thanks to the assistance of a researcher on the Allegheny County, PA Facebook group, I also found out there was a newspaper article about his death.  Can you believe it?

And, I saw that the death certificate was signed by a Coroner, so I sent for the Coroner’s record, which gave me no new information.  All the Coroner did was look over the body to rule out signs of foul play.  See my post about my analysis of the Coroner’s report here http://www.michiganfamilytrails.com/2014/06/coroners-case-file-robert-l-bowden.html

WHAT I STILL NEED TO KNOW ABOUT MY GREAT GRANDFATHER ROBERT LEE BOWDEN

• A birth record to verify when and where he was born (although due to the Civil War, this may not be available)
• Who his parents were?
• Who his siblings, if any, were?
• Any court records I may have missed regarding the guardianship of his daughters
• Information from the cemetery that could contain details I don’t have.  I have left two messages and will try calling again.

Please note:  There is a Robert L. Bowden of about the correct age in the 1870 census.  He is the son of Elias & Sarah Bowden and living in Hardy Township, Isle of Wight, Virginia.  I have followed this lead and this IS NOT my Robert.

Do you see anything I have missed?

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST

MYSTERY MONDAY - Who's Your Daddy? Post #1 - John C. Gould

FACEBOOK - How it can be very useful in your research 

If you think you might be related, even remotely, to anyone mentioned in this blog, please contact me!

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2015   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

CORONER’S CASE FILE – ROBERT L. BOWDEN – AN ANALYSIS

Robert L. Bowden is my great grandfather on my mother’s side.  I wrote about locating his death certificate (after having looked for over 10 years) on Saturday, June 14, 2014 in this post EVALUATING A RECORD – IN HONOR OF FATHER’S DAY (click on the link to read the post).

At the end of that post I wrote about what I would do next.  One of the things on my list was to find out if there was a Coroner’s Report for his death.  

The following items led me to conclude that there may have been an autopsy or investigation into his death:

• The death certificate was signed by the Coroner.
• His death was “sudden.”
• The burial date & date of death were 17 days apart.

I sent an email and received a reply back from the Allegheny County Coroner Case Files office that they did have a file and I could submit my request.  I downloaded the form and did just that.

Here is the request I submitted. I enclosed a check for $12, and kept a copy of the request and my check in my Evernote Notebook for the Bowden surname. 

The request was mailed on 16 Jun 2014 and I received his Coroner Case File on 28 Jun 2014.  That’s a great turnaround time!

Here is a copy of the six page report.  I have indicated the items on each page that I took notice of.  

Page 1 & 2    (Click on any image to enlarge it)
  

Page 3 & 4
  

Page 5 & 6
  

WHAT DID I LEARN FROM THIS REPORT?

• Further confirmation for the date of death of Robert L. Bowden.
• Page 1 estimates his age at about 48 yrs., page 3 estimates about 40 yrs. Based on various documents we have his age was about 43-45 yrs. in 1906.
• The time he was actually found on the floor of the hotel & the name of the hotel.
• Who found him on the floor of the hotel.
• Others who were present shortly after his death.
• The names of the officer and doctor who declared him dead.
• The name of a friend who had known him for 16 years.
• That his friend stated he had a wife and two daughters.  We know he and our great grandmother were divorced in 1899 and that they had two daughters.  Had he remarried since then?
• That his friend did not know the location of his wife & daughters or the cause of his death.
• His occupation as a Railroader which matches other records we have on him.
• That he wasn’t known by the clerk at the hotel.
• That the jury’s verdict agreed with the Coroner & the Doctor that this man died from heart disease.

WHAT QUESTIONS DO I STILL HAVE?

• Had Robert L. Bowden been sick prior to his death?
• Had he been to any doctors or hospitals?
• On page 4  (and I didn’t underline this) the clerk said that Mr. Bowden’s friend “took” him to his room about noon.  Does that mean the friend accompanied him?  Or was Mr. Bowden in such a condition to have to be “taken” to the room?
• Since there is no statement of an autopsy being performed on the body, how did they come to the conclusion that he died of heart disease?
• Did one of the witnesses, his friend perhaps, know of a history of heart disease?
• Could he have died of foul play?  Did he fall & hit his head? Was there some other method or cause of death? 
• Is this the way all Coroner’s Case Files looked back in 1906? 

This was the first time I have ever sent for a coroner’s report on any of my ancestors.  I find it interesting and informative.  However, I obviously still have questions.  Will I ever learn the answers to those questions?  I don’t know.

I do know that I have learned more about the circumstances of my great grandfather’s death and I’m extremely happy to have this information.  

I don’t consider this case closed just yet.  I will still be trying to answer some of the outstanding questions about his life.  

I’d love to hear if you have ever reviewed a Coroner’s Case for any of your ancestor’s?  And, if so, what year it was and how was the report presented?  Did it contain more information than this report?

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST
SURPRISE - A BIRTH RECORD WHERE IT WASN'T SUPPOSED TO BE
VITAL RECORDS - HOW TO REQUEST THEM & KEEP TRACK OF THOSE REQUESTS 

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl 

Copyright ©  2014   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION