In February 1988, my father, E. Stanley Bowers, Jr., then 80,
identified the members of his family shown in this photograph.
He estimated the portrait date as 1906, a year before he was born.
Front row, left to right: Clara (Bowers) Sines, b.1868 - d.1935*
Elizabeth Hosfeld Bowers, my dad's grandmother, d.1912*
John L. Bowers, my dad's grandfather, b.1840 - d.1910*; Agnes (Bowers) Wall, b.1866 - d.1949
Back row, left to right: Charles Bowers, b.1884 - d.1955; J. Harry Bowers, b.1873 - d.1929
Frank E. Bowers, b.1878 - d.1950; Albert Bowers, b.1875 - d.1945*
E. Stanley Bowers, b.1880 - d.1952; William Bowers, b.1870 - d.1940*
Death dates followed by an asterisk (*) are approximate.
Family Facts
The Bowers family arrived in the United States from Wittenberg, Germany in 1751.
Our roots in Philadelphia predate the Civil War, a conflict in which John L. Bowers was wounded.
An 1850 census indicates that William and Agnes Bowers, 44 and 43 respectively,
lived with their eight children, including my great-grandfather, John L. Bowers,
in the Northern Liberties section of Philadelphia.
William was identified as a native of Pennsylvania and was listed as a "coal dealer."
My dad, E. Stanley Bowers, Jr., was born in 1907 in Brooklyn during his father's two-year tenure
as head of Continental Mills' New York office.
He succeeded his father as co-principal of the mill, a position he held until it was sold in the early 1960's.
My dad died in Ocean City, NJ on Tuesday, 5/26/92, the day after Memorial Day.
My mother, Marjorie Bowers, died on Friday, 12/5/03, a month shy of her 94th birthday.
Family Occupations
John was a Philadelphia City Tax Officer
Harry and Frank: Wall & Ochs, Opticians (Frank later co-founded Doyle & Bowers)
Stanley and Charles: Continental Mills (Stanley was a co-principal)
William and Albert: Phosphor & Bronze (metal fabricators)
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