Freestone County, Texas
Biographies 


                Travis "James" Littleton Bowden Family

  Travis "James" Littleton Bowden (b. Aug. 12, 1853, Ala., d. June 19, 1936, 
Cherokee Co., Tex., buried in Mt. Hope Cemetery) joined a large cattle drive at 
an early age and had many exciting experiences on this drive.
  When he was quite young he met and m. a young woman by the name of Bynum. They 
had two children, and while James was away one day a band of outlaws came to his 
house and captured his wife and young son. His daughter was left alone. He took 
his daughter to relatives in Walker Co., Tex., then set out to look for his wife 
and son. In search of his family, he finally located the place where his wife 
was taken. She was dead, killed by an outlaw. Travis Bowden then shot the outlaw 
and left Texas. When he came back to Texas in 1876 he changed his name from Travis 
to James. No trace was ever found of his son.
  James Littleton Bowden next m. Emiline Oratio Newman (b. Oct. 14, 1850, Ouchita 
Parish, La., d. April 5, 1934, Cherokee Co., Tex.). They m. Dec. 28, 1876, in 
Freestone County, Tex. They moved to Cherokee County in 1880. She was the daughter 
of Samuel and Mary Ann Austin Newman, who d. in Freestone Co. They settled in the 
Mt. Hope community southwest of Rusk, where they built their home and raised seven
children: (1) Mary Isabella "Bell" Bowden, b. Oct. 13, 1877, m. William O. Berry 
June 12, 1898; (2) Ann Gertrude Bowden, b. Feb. 18, 1879, m. George Phillips Nov.
S    10, 1910, who d. after being struck by lightning, m., second, J. T. Bradshaw 
Dec. 31, 1922; (3) Lisar Jane Bowden, b. July 10, 1882, d. Nov. 18, 1882; 
(4) Jepthy T., b. Dec. Travis "James" Littleton Bowden 24, 1880, m. Vertie Ellen 
Tucker on Sept. 27, 1903; (5) James Littleton, Emily Newman Bowden b. Oct. 3, 
1884, d. Aug. 31, 1886; (6) Millard Filmore, b. March 30, 1888, m. Lennie Ola 
Thompson Oct. 6, 1912; (7) Grace Charity Bowden, b. May 2, 1894, m. Alvin Rainey 
March 20, 1916. All of the children were raised in the Mt. Hope community near 
Rusk. 
  The family farmed its land, raised cows, horses, and other livestock, and had 
a "ribbon cane" (sugar cane) syrup mill. My grandmother, Bell Bowden Berry, used 
to tell us many things about growing up with her parents, the Bowdens. She loved 
her horse very much, and she told us how the girls had to see their reflections 
in the creek, because they had no mirrors in their home. She told us often about 
the day she got mad at her sister, Ann, and to get even with her she gave her 
sister's cat a dose of paregoric. She then took a needle and thread and sewed 
the cat's ears together and his tail to his back. She got a good feel of Grandma 
Bowden's peach tree limb for that. - Bobbie Berry Dowling.