Thomas Mead Bowen (October 26, 1835 – December 30, 1906) was a state legislator in Iowa and Colorado, a

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union of the collective states. It proved essential to th ...

officer during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

, a justice of the

Arkansas Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Arkansas is the highest court in the state judiciary of Arkansas. It has ultimate and largely discretionary appellate jurisdiction over all state court cases that involve a point of state law, and original jurisdiction o ...

, briefly the Governor of Idaho Territory, an elected judge in Colorado and a

United States senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

from

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

Biography

Bowen was born near the present site of Burlington, Iowa, in what was then Michigan Territory, on October 26, 1835.Eicher, John H., and

David J. Eicher David John Eicher (born August 7, 1961) is an American editor, writer, and popularizer of astronomy and space. He has been editor-in-chief of ''Astronomy'' magazine since 2002. He is author, coauthor, or editor of 23 books on science and American ...

, ''Civil War High Commands.'' Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001. . p. 138. He attended the public schools and the academy at

Mount Pleasant, Iowa Mount Pleasant is a city in and the county seat of Henry County, Iowa. The population was 9,274 in the 2020 census, an increase from 8,668 in the 2010 census. It was founded in 1835 by pioneer Presley Saunders. History The first permanent s ...

. He studied law and was admitted to the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

in 1853 and began practicing law. He was married to Margaretta T. Bowen.

Career

Bowen moved to Wayne County, Iowa, in 1856 and was a member of the

Iowa House of Representatives The Iowa House of Representatives is the lower house of the Iowa General Assembly, the upper house being the Iowa Senate. There are 100 seats in the Iowa House of Representatives, representing 100 single-member districts across the state, formed ...

that year. In 1858, he moved to

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

. During the

, Bowen served in the

. On June 11, 1861, he was appointed captain of the 1st Nebraska Infantry Regiment, later redesignated 1st Nebraska Cavalry Regiment. He resigned from the volunteers on February 5, 1862. He rejoined the Union Army on July 11, 1862, as

first lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a ...

of the

9th Regiment Kansas Volunteer Cavalry The 9th Kansas Cavalry Regiment was a cavalry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Service The 9th Kansas Cavalry Regiment was organized at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas on March 27, 1862, by ...

and was promoted to captain, July 30, 1862. Bowen was appointed

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

of the 13th Regiment Kansas Volunteer Infantry, September 20, 1862. Bowen was temporary commander of brigades in the

Department of the Missouri The Department of the Missouri was a command echelon of the United States Army in the 19th century and a sub division of the Military Division of the Missouri that functioned through the Indian Wars. History Background Following the successful ...

and the

Department of Arkansas The Department of the Arkansas was a territorial department of the United States Army during the American Civil War. History The Department of the Arkansas was created on January 6, 1864, to consist of Union occupied Arkansas, except Fort Smith. F ...

from October 1862 to March 21, 1864. He commanded Brigade 1, Division 1,

VII Corps (Union Army) Two corps of the Union Army were called VII Corps during the American Civil War. VII Corps (Department of Virginia) This corps was established 22 July 1862 from various Union troops stationed in southeastern Virginia. The corps' main combat a ...

in the Department of Arkansas from March 22, 1865, to June 24, 1865. Bowen was appointed a brevet

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

, to rank from March 13, 1865. He was discharged from the volunteers on June 28, 1865. After the war, Bowen found himself in

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

and decided to stay there. He was a member and president of the constitutional convention of Arkansas in 1866; he was also a Reconstruction era justice of the

from 1867 to 1871. Bowen, who made a large fortune in business, was appointed governor of Idaho Territory by

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...

on April 19, 1871, but resigned on September 27, 1871, and returned to Arkansas. He moved to

Colorado Territory The Territory of Colorado was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 28, 1861, until August 1, 1876, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Colorado. The territory was organized in the ...

in 1873 and resumed the practice of law. Bowen was elected judge of the Fourth Judicial District Court in Colorado, a position which he held from 1876 until 1880, when he suddenly resigned. He had given a lenient sentence to John J. Hoover, a murderer in

Fairplay FairPlay is a digital rights management (DRM) technology developed by Apple Inc. It is built into the MP4 multimedia file format as an encrypted AAC audio layer, and was used until April 2009 by the company to protect copyrighted works sold ...

in Park County, who was thereafter

lynched Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged transgressor, punish a convicted transgressor, or intimidate people. It can also be an ex ...

by an irate mob on April 28, 1880, while awaiting transfer to the

Colorado State Penitentiary Colorado State Penitentiary (commonly abbreviated CSP) is a Level V maximum security prison in the U.S. state of Colorado. The facility is part of the state's East Cañon Complex, together with six other state correctional facilities of various ...

.Laura King Van Dusen, "Crime and Punishment in 1880s Fairplay: People Protest Light Sentencing, Deliver Frontier Justice", ''Historic Tales from Park County: Parked in the Past'' ( Charleston, South Carolina: The History Press, 2013), , pp. 89-96. Bowen was a member of the Colorado House of Representatives in 1882 and resigned soon thereafter upon his election as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

. He served in that body from March 4, 1883, to March 3, 1889. While in the Senate, he was chairman of the Committee on Mining (in the Forty-eighth Congress), Committee on Enrolled Bills ( Forty-ninth and Fiftieth Congresses).

Death

Bowen engaged in mining in Colorado and resided in

Pueblo In the Southwestern United States, Pueblo (capitalized) refers to the Native tribes of Puebloans having fixed-location communities with permanent buildings which also are called pueblos (lowercased). The Spanish explorers of northern New Spain ...

, where he died on December 30, 1906, at the age of seventy-one. He is interred at Roselawn Cemetery in Pueblo.

References

External links

Retrieved 2008-10-19 *
The Political Graveyard
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowen, Thomas M. 1835 births 1906 deaths Members of the Iowa House of Representatives Union Army generals People of Kansas in the American Civil War Politicians from Burlington, Iowa Governors of Idaho Territory Iowa lawyers Arkansas Republicans Justices of the Arkansas Supreme Court Colorado state court judges Members of the Colorado House of Representatives Colorado Republicans Republican Party United States senators from Colorado Iowa Republicans Kansas Republicans Idaho Republicans People from Pueblo, Colorado 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American judges Military personnel from Iowa Military personnel from Colorado

Biography

Career

Death

See also

References

External links