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The Crescent Drug Store owned and operated by Mr. and Mrs. Jno. D. Bowden is one of the busiest and most popular places in the business district of Palacios. Dr. Bowden, O. D. has been a familiar figure in the business since 1913. At that time he purchased the business of Dr. Baldwin and has remained in the same business ever since, and as incredible as it may seem for a man of his versatile nature, Dr. Bowden has been in the same business twenty six years without changing businesses, branching out into another or forming a partnership. Aside from his business the City of Palacios has the good fortune of having him always ready and willing to donate his time. He has been Fire Chief the greater part of the time for twenty-five years and is the collector for the gas company. In addition to these things he finds time to be the ticket agent for the Bowen Bus Lines and is the United States Weather Bureau Display Man. He is a member of the Rotary Club and the Chamber of Commerce and takes a great interest in the civic life of Palacios. Mrs. Bowden, who assists Mr. Bowden in the store, is just naturally an active business person having been in public life a great many years. She has the distinction of having been the first woman Secretary of the Chamber of Commerce in the State of Texas. This position she held in San Saba where she resided before coming to Palacios at the time of her marriage to Dr. Bowden about four years ago. For several years Mrs. Bowden was Supervisor of Welfare Work in San Saba and her political activities include being Assistant Campaign Manager for Congressman South. Mrs. Bowden is one of those rare persons who have the capacity to diversify their live so that they not only have time for business but enjoy a great deal of the sports and social life and are able to be active in the civic and charitable projects of the community.
Palacios Beacon, October 19, 1939 |
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A wedding of interest to many of our citizens, occurred Saturday, April 11, at the home of the officiating minister, Rev. George F. Gillespie, when John D. Bowden and Mrs. Bertha Jones were married. They were accompanied by Miss Lucile Bowden, of Houston, daughter of the groom, and Miss Louise White, of Rockdale, a niece of the bride. Mrs. Bowden, formerly lived in San Saba and here, when she and John were years younger, became acquainted and a close friendship formed. Only a few weeks ago this friendship was renewed in such a romantic way as to culminate in their plighting the nuptial vows. Mr. Bowden has a host of friends in Palacios and elsewhere who join with us in extending congratulations and best wishes to him and his wife and our citizens as a whole extend to Mrs. Bowden a most cordial welcome.
Palacios Beacon, April 16, 1936 |
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"Why, what would I do with myself?" she asked as she hurried over to get change for a young customer. Her first job was in her father's dry good store in San Saba where she was born and reared. She laughingly says that her father put her to work to "keep her out of meanness." Later she was to become the first woman secretary of a chamber of commerce in Texas. She took the position in 1923 when the regular secretary resigned. During World War I Mrs. Bowden, better known to her friends as Bertha, was county chairman of surgical dressing in San Saba. It was her job to travel over the county and teach classes how to make bandages for war victims. And still in San Saba, she was supervisor of the county welfare organization. For this job she took a short course at the University of Texas. When Mrs. Bowden was married to her late husband in 1936 and came to live in Palacios, they had known each other for 24 years. That is to say, they met 24 years before and had not seen each other in many years. In 1912, Mrs. Bowden has been clerk in a San Saba drug store where her husband-to-be was a pharmacist. A few years later they went their separate ways. Mr. Bowden came to Palacios and bought the Crescent Drug Store in 1913. "My husband was doctor to everybody in Palacios," Mrs. Bowden remembers proudly. As a matter of fact, he was so popular that the people elected him mayor in April of 1954 only a month before he was claimed by death. Although the active lady dreads to think of the time when she will have to retire, she will have plenty to keep her busy. In addition to membership in the Wednesday Club, the Eastern Star, and the Past-Matrons Club, she plays bridge regularly and fishes when she can take him off from her seven-day a week job. In the summer she and her clerk, Miss Yvonne Paulk, go fishing several times a week. A true fisherman, she has no adversity to measuring out sizable catches. She always looks forward to the times when her sister and nephew come to Palacios to try their hand at angling. When she first moved to Palacios in 1936 she thought she would not like living in the City by the Sea. "It thought it was so small then," she says. Now she proudly points out its growth in the 20 years she has been there. "I wouldn't think of living any place else now," she says, "this is my home."
Palacios Beacon, December 13, 1956 |
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John Bowden was elected on April 6, 1954, took office on April 19, died on May 26. Peterson was elected in a special election on July 17, 1954, took office on July 19. Palacios Mayor Dies - John D. Bowden PALACIOS, Texas, May 27. (AP)--Funeral services were pending today for John D. Bowden, Palacios mayor, who died yesterday. Bowden, in office less than two months, was a pharmacist. He died at his place of business. Corpus Christi Caller Times, May 27, 1954
Mayor Bowden Dies Suddenly Wed. Mayor Jno. D. Bowden, elected by a wide margin in the April 6, election, died of a heart attack at 2:30 p. m. Wednesday in the Crescent Drug store, his place of business. Fire Chief Price Barnett and Glenn Dale Claybourn answered a call to the drug store in the department’s emergency vehicle. Dr. E. B. Sanford was the first to arrive on the scene. He announced that Mayor Bowden had just died of a heart attack. Bowden came to Palacios 41 years ago and purchased the drug store from Dr. Ralph Baldwin. Along with his drug business he opened an optometry office. During the span of time, he served the fire department for over 30 years as a member, chief and fire marshal. He was elected to the city’s highest office on April 6, succeeding Charles Luther. Another of his many duties was “Storm Warning Displayman” for the United States Weather Bureau. He held this position for the past 20 years taking the position from Guy Barnett. Bowden was born in Mississippi. He was raised in Louisiana, educated in Tennessee and lived most of his life in Texas. After graduating from the University of the South, he moved to Cuero and shifted to San Saba, where he worked in a pharmacy before moving to Palacios. Funeral arrangements are pending. Mrs. Bowden was visiting relatives in San Saba when Mayor Bowden passed away Wednesday afternoon. City Hall closed soon after his death. The council has asked that all merchants and business houses close on the day of the funeral. As of press time, no arrangements had been made. A special city council meeting has been called for Monday night for the purpose of calling a special election to elect a new mayor to fill Mayor Bowden’s office. Palacios Beacon, May 27, 1954 Services Held For Mayor John D. Bowden On Friday, May 28 Funeral services were held Friday for John D. Bowden, 67, at First Presbyterian Church with Rev. A. C. Maxted assisted by Rev. Logan Cockrum. Burial was in the Palacios cemetery. Bowden, who was a resident of Palacios for the past 41 years, died of a heart attack at the Crescent Drug Store on Wednesday, May 26. He was only recently elected mayor by a wide margin. Bowden was born November 30, 1886 in Mississippi. Included among his survivors were: his wife, Mrs. John D. Bowden of Palacios; daughter, Miss Lucille Bowden of San Antonio; three sisters, Mrs. E. B. Folse, Bastrop, Louisiana, Miss Ethel Bowden and Mrs. H. T. Marshall Silver Springs, Maryland; and two brothers, Rev. Paul Bowden, Warrenton, Virginia and K. D. Bowden, Falfurrias, Texas. The local Masonic Lodge was in charge of the cemetery service. Pallbearers were: Ward Cook, Thomas Brandon, Dan Paulk, G. G. Lawson, Jr., Hugh Dismukes and Milton Rowton. Out of town relatives attending the funeral of John D. Bowden were Mrs. E. B. Folse, Bowden Folse, Bastrop, La.; Chas. Upton Bowden, John Douglas Bowden, Monteagle, Tenn.; Lucile Bowden, San Antonio; Douglas Bowden and Mrs. Eva Potts, Falfurrias, Texas. Mr. and Mrs. J. Hudson Kelly, Mr. and Mrs. Pat Murray, Mrs. T. A. Murray, Floyd Bearden, San Saba; Sam Kelly, Nacogdoches; Mrs. Glenn Jones, Cherokee, Texas; Mrs. W. E. White Dallas; Mr. and Mrs. W. A. Hudson, Rankin, Texas and Mrs. Joe Ray, Pelham, Tenn. Palacios Beacon, June 3, 1954
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Funeral services for Mrs. Bertha Hudson Bowden, a former resident of Palacios, were held Thursday, Sept. 14, in the Howell-Doran Funeral Chapel in San Saba with Bill Grusendorf, Lay Vicar of St. Luke's Episcopal Church officiating. Interment was in the San Saba City Cemetery. Born April 17, 1886, in San Saba County, she was the daughter of E. W. Hudson and the former Susan Caroline Thompson. In 1936 she married John D. Bowden and moved to Palacios to live. She and Mrs. Bowden had met 24 years earlier when she was a clerk in a San Saba drug store and her husband-to-be a pharmacist. They went their separate ways, Mr. Bowden coming to Palacios where he bought the Crescent Drug Store in 1913. After her husband died in 1954 she continued to run the drug store for several years before selling to Woody Wilson and moving to San Saba. She died at her residence there Wednesday, Sept. 13 about 11 a. m. Survivors include three nieces and four nephews.
Palacios Beacon, September 28, 1978 |
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Lucille H. Bowden, cousin of Mrs. Caroline S. Buffaloe of Palacios, died June 21, 1987. She was the daughter of the late Bula Sartwelle. Miss Bowden was a member of Christ Episcopal Church. She was a benefactor of the McNay Art Museum, Patron of T. M. I., member of San Antonio Museum Association, and a member of numerous other organizations. Services were held June 23 at 2 p. m. in the Georgian Chapel of the Porter Loring Mortuary, with Rev. Edward A. Schroder officiating. Interment followed in Sunset Memorial Park. Surviving in addition to Mrs. Buffaloe are numerous other relatives. Pallbearers were Craig Cates, J. Mike Farner, Ron Moczygemba, J. D. Sartwelle, Jr., W. C. Sartwelle, and Thomas P. Sartwelle. Palacios Beacon, July 8, 1987
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Mrs.
John Bowden, owner of Crescent Drug Store, began work when she was
14 years old and she isn't looking forward to retirement.
