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

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, 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 ...

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

United States senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...

from

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

Biography

Bowen was born near the present site of

Burlington, Iowa Burlington is a city in, and the county seat of, Des Moines County, Iowa, United States. The population was 23,982 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a decline from the 26,839 population in 2000 United States Census, 2000. Burlington ...

, in what was then

Michigan Territory The Territory of Michigan was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from June 30, 1805, until January 26, 1837, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Michigan. Detroit ...

, 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 in the U.S. state of 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 ...

. 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 * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...

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 landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

. During the

, Bowen served in the Union Army. On June 11, 1861, he was appointed

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

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 se ...

of the 9th Regiment Kansas Volunteer Cavalry and was promoted to captain, July 30, 1862. Bowen was appointed

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), 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 colon ...

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. ...

from October 1862 to March 21, 1864. He commanded Brigade 1, Division 1, VII Corps (Union Army) in the Department of Arkansas from March 22, 1865, to June 24, 1865. Bowen was appointed a brevet brigadier general, 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 West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

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 The Reconstruction era was a period in History of the United States, US history that followed the American Civil War (1861-65) and was dominated by the legal, social, and political challenges of the Abolitionism in the United States, abol ...

justice of the

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

Idaho Territory The Territory of Idaho was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 3, 1863, until July 3, 1890, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as Idaho. History 1860s The territory ...

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877. In 1865, as Commanding General of the United States Army, commanding general, Grant led the Uni ...

on April 19, 1871, but resigned on September 27, 1871, and returned to Arkansas.Another source, Limbaugh, Ronald H. (1982). ''Rocky Mountain Carpetbaggers: Idaho's Territorial Governors, 1863–1890''. Moscow, Idaho: University Press of Idaho. . page 92 states that Bowen did not like the looks of the landscape, so he decided to stay only a few weeks until July 15, 1861; his successor did not take office until December 1871, page 103. 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 38th State of Colorado. The territory was organized ...

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. Bowen was a member of the

Colorado House of Representatives The Colorado House of Representatives is the lower house of the Colorado General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Colorado. The House is composed of 65 members from an equal number of constituent districts, with each distri ...

in 1882 and resigned soon thereafter upon his election as a Republican to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

. 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 The 48th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from March 4, 1883, ...

), Committee on Enrolled Bills ( Forty-ninth and Fiftieth Congresses).

Death

Bowen engaged in mining in Colorado and resided in

Pueblo Pueblo refers to the settlements of the Pueblo peoples, Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, currently in New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas. The permanent communities, including some of the oldest continually occupied settlement ...

, 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 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 Republican Party members of the Iowa House of Representatives Kansas Republicans Idaho Republicans People from Pueblo, Colorado 19th-century Arkansas state court judges Military personnel from Iowa Military personnel from Colorado 19th-century United States senators 19th-century members of the Colorado General Assembly

Biography

Career

Death

See also

References

External links