07. Henriette Cowan Bowen (Hattie or later Harriet) 1902 - 1992
Henriette Cowan Bowen (Hattie or late Harriet)
Harriet was born Oct. 9,1902 and died Feb. 29, 1992.
Harriet was born at Sheldon, N.D. The family at that time may have still been living on their farm at Anselm, just south of Sheldon or at Valley City then. She was about six when the family moved to Enderlin. As a little girl she also traveled with her mother several times by train down to Highlandville, Iowa to visit her aunts and uncles there, sometimes staying for a couple of months during the winters.
Several photographs show Harriet and Jane and the younger kids in their teens horsing around and laughing and posing sitting on the running board of a car. There are pictures that show Harriet as a teenager with her brothers, Walter and Wallace and with Sisters, Pearl and Margaret working in the fields and also horsing around.
Harriet married Earnest (Whitey) Bowen in about 1919 and they had one child whom they named Dorothy.
Child of Harriet Date of Birth Date of Death
Dorothy July 19, 1921 Dec. 6, 1970
In 1928 Harriet and Whitey had an apartment at 629 - 3rd Ave., Apt. 20, in Minneapolis and it was there that her brother Walter married Esther Siems. They were married there on Saturday, August 6, 1928, at 8:30 in the evening. Brothers Martin and Bud and several others were there that evening. Whitey was apparently out of town. Esther (mom) told me that they filled the bathtub with ice and prohibition beer for the event!
In 1934 Whitey owned Bowen Motor Company and sold cars. Whitey, along with his two brothers, Cliff and George, was a card gambler and they traveled on the railroad gambling. They'd travel from town to town setting up poker games and then worked the unsuspecting players for their money. When Harriet was with Whitey, she would stay in the car for hours and wait while Whitey played cards. Then when the game was finished he would hurry out to the car and off they would go and leave town. I'm told they were run out of several towns and an old news article in the Minneapolis Tribune is about Cliff and George being arrested for gambling. The Bowen brothers were told by the cops to stay out of Minneapolis and also out of Reno. In the early years Francis Cowan once asked her husband Martin what it was that Whitey did. So Martin told her that he sold can openers and she believed him!
Harriet often traveled with Whitey as he went around the country and then they would visit relatives and stay for a while. Lois Clairmont, a daughter of Harriet's sister Pearl, remembers when she was little (in the early 1940's) that Harriet and Whitey several times came to visit and would stay for about a month during the summers. Their car was packed full of suits and clothes in the back and so Lois thought that Whitey was a clothing salesman.
Whitey's parents were William H. Bowen b. 1848 d. 1929 and Bertha A. Bowen b. 1863 d. 1940. William was a horse trader. He had one sister Mamie E. Bowen b. 1893 d. 1932 and she did not marry. His brothers Cliff and George and their wives are buried out west. Cliff had a son Cliff H. Bowen, Jr. who lived only 8 months from June 10, 1922 to February 26, 1923. Whitey and his parents and his sister, Mamie, and nephew Cliff, Jr. are buried at Crystal Lake Cemetery in north Minneapolis.
According to my mother, Harriet loved Whitey and she didn't settle down in one place until 1949 when Whitey died. Around the time that Whitey died, Harriet got an apartment in Minneapolis and began working in a munitions factory. After that she worked at Honeywell as an assembler. Harriet worked at Honeywell for many years until she retired in 1967.
One of the things that I remember about Aunt Harriet was that she was very talkative and had many stories to tell. She always enjoyed a good laugh and was fun to be with. Harriet continued to live alone in an apartment in Minneapolis and on occasion traveled out to Oregon to visit her daughter's family. She continued to drive her car and visited her brother Walter and his family frequently. In 1988 when Harriet was 86 years old, her granddaughters Sharon and Shirley moved her out to Portland, Oregon to live with them. She lived alternately every three months between Shirley and Sharon’s houses for a few years. Then toward the end Harriet was placed in an adult foster care home where her daughters say her care was fabulous. On February 29, 1992 at age 89 Harriet died. Services were held at the Crystal Lake Cemetery chapel in north Minneapolis and her nephew, Rev. Bill Cowan officiated. Harriet and Whitey are buried side-by-side at Crystal Lake Cemetery, section 10, in north Minneapolis.
1G-1 Dorothy Pearl Bowen,
b. July 19, 1921. d. Dec. 6, 1970, of a stroke. Dorothy became deaf as a result of Scarlet Fever as a child. Dorothy married Clyde Patterson. Clyde was born Nov. 24, 1915 in Spokane, Washington and died April 10, 1984 at Portland, Oregon. Clyde became deaf at two years of age from Spinal Meningitis. He worked as a painter for many years. Clyde and Dorothy have two daughters, Shirley and Sharon.
1G-1a Shirley Ann Patterson Fast,
b. Nov 14, 1944. Shirley has two children. Shirley married Larry Fast on June 30, 2002 and they live in Portland, Oregon.
1G-1a-1 Anne McDonald, b. July 23, 1964. Anne was adopted by Bob & Lila Bueermann of Portland, Oregon.
1G-1a-2 Brandon Scott Griswold, b. Dec 20,1974. Married Deanna Stuhr on Feb.14, 2008. 1 daughter.
1G-1a-2a Alexis (Lexi) Griswold, b. Oct 1,1998.
1G-1b Sharon Lois Patterson Polston,
b. Jan.31, 1947. Sharon is married to Dennis James Polston and they livein Portland, Oregon. One child.
1G-1b-1 Terry Michael Polston, b. Sept 21, 1962 Terry has one daughter.
1G-1b-1a Ashley Marie Polston, b. Oct 5, 1992
Harriet was born Oct. 9,1902 and died Feb. 29, 1992.
Harriet was born at Sheldon, N.D. The family at that time may have still been living on their farm at Anselm, just south of Sheldon or at Valley City then. She was about six when the family moved to Enderlin. As a little girl she also traveled with her mother several times by train down to Highlandville, Iowa to visit her aunts and uncles there, sometimes staying for a couple of months during the winters.
Several photographs show Harriet and Jane and the younger kids in their teens horsing around and laughing and posing sitting on the running board of a car. There are pictures that show Harriet as a teenager with her brothers, Walter and Wallace and with Sisters, Pearl and Margaret working in the fields and also horsing around.
Harriet married Earnest (Whitey) Bowen in about 1919 and they had one child whom they named Dorothy.
Child of Harriet Date of Birth Date of Death
Dorothy July 19, 1921 Dec. 6, 1970
In 1928 Harriet and Whitey had an apartment at 629 - 3rd Ave., Apt. 20, in Minneapolis and it was there that her brother Walter married Esther Siems. They were married there on Saturday, August 6, 1928, at 8:30 in the evening. Brothers Martin and Bud and several others were there that evening. Whitey was apparently out of town. Esther (mom) told me that they filled the bathtub with ice and prohibition beer for the event!
In 1934 Whitey owned Bowen Motor Company and sold cars. Whitey, along with his two brothers, Cliff and George, was a card gambler and they traveled on the railroad gambling. They'd travel from town to town setting up poker games and then worked the unsuspecting players for their money. When Harriet was with Whitey, she would stay in the car for hours and wait while Whitey played cards. Then when the game was finished he would hurry out to the car and off they would go and leave town. I'm told they were run out of several towns and an old news article in the Minneapolis Tribune is about Cliff and George being arrested for gambling. The Bowen brothers were told by the cops to stay out of Minneapolis and also out of Reno. In the early years Francis Cowan once asked her husband Martin what it was that Whitey did. So Martin told her that he sold can openers and she believed him!
Harriet often traveled with Whitey as he went around the country and then they would visit relatives and stay for a while. Lois Clairmont, a daughter of Harriet's sister Pearl, remembers when she was little (in the early 1940's) that Harriet and Whitey several times came to visit and would stay for about a month during the summers. Their car was packed full of suits and clothes in the back and so Lois thought that Whitey was a clothing salesman.
Whitey's parents were William H. Bowen b. 1848 d. 1929 and Bertha A. Bowen b. 1863 d. 1940. William was a horse trader. He had one sister Mamie E. Bowen b. 1893 d. 1932 and she did not marry. His brothers Cliff and George and their wives are buried out west. Cliff had a son Cliff H. Bowen, Jr. who lived only 8 months from June 10, 1922 to February 26, 1923. Whitey and his parents and his sister, Mamie, and nephew Cliff, Jr. are buried at Crystal Lake Cemetery in north Minneapolis.
According to my mother, Harriet loved Whitey and she didn't settle down in one place until 1949 when Whitey died. Around the time that Whitey died, Harriet got an apartment in Minneapolis and began working in a munitions factory. After that she worked at Honeywell as an assembler. Harriet worked at Honeywell for many years until she retired in 1967.
One of the things that I remember about Aunt Harriet was that she was very talkative and had many stories to tell. She always enjoyed a good laugh and was fun to be with. Harriet continued to live alone in an apartment in Minneapolis and on occasion traveled out to Oregon to visit her daughter's family. She continued to drive her car and visited her brother Walter and his family frequently. In 1988 when Harriet was 86 years old, her granddaughters Sharon and Shirley moved her out to Portland, Oregon to live with them. She lived alternately every three months between Shirley and Sharon’s houses for a few years. Then toward the end Harriet was placed in an adult foster care home where her daughters say her care was fabulous. On February 29, 1992 at age 89 Harriet died. Services were held at the Crystal Lake Cemetery chapel in north Minneapolis and her nephew, Rev. Bill Cowan officiated. Harriet and Whitey are buried side-by-side at Crystal Lake Cemetery, section 10, in north Minneapolis.
1G-1 Dorothy Pearl Bowen,
b. July 19, 1921. d. Dec. 6, 1970, of a stroke. Dorothy became deaf as a result of Scarlet Fever as a child. Dorothy married Clyde Patterson. Clyde was born Nov. 24, 1915 in Spokane, Washington and died April 10, 1984 at Portland, Oregon. Clyde became deaf at two years of age from Spinal Meningitis. He worked as a painter for many years. Clyde and Dorothy have two daughters, Shirley and Sharon.
1G-1a Shirley Ann Patterson Fast,
b. Nov 14, 1944. Shirley has two children. Shirley married Larry Fast on June 30, 2002 and they live in Portland, Oregon.
1G-1a-1 Anne McDonald, b. July 23, 1964. Anne was adopted by Bob & Lila Bueermann of Portland, Oregon.
1G-1a-2 Brandon Scott Griswold, b. Dec 20,1974. Married Deanna Stuhr on Feb.14, 2008. 1 daughter.
1G-1a-2a Alexis (Lexi) Griswold, b. Oct 1,1998.
1G-1b Sharon Lois Patterson Polston,
b. Jan.31, 1947. Sharon is married to Dennis James Polston and they livein Portland, Oregon. One child.
1G-1b-1 Terry Michael Polston, b. Sept 21, 1962 Terry has one daughter.
1G-1b-1a Ashley Marie Polston, b. Oct 5, 1992