General Notes

REFN: 597
[lillief.ged]
Part of what I found online concerning John Steel Gowen could be tru
e, b ut the facts I found so far are that his mother is alive in 1880. S
he is t he wife of George Staggers, father of Redden Staggers. Redden marr
ied Lemu el Linder Johnston, Jr., son of Lemuel Linder, Sr. Lem's brothe
r, James Wa shinton Johnston married Annie F. Whitley.  Redden had a sist
er Susan w ho marred a Whitley and is widowed and living next door to Geor
ge, wife Ma ry, step-son John Steel Gowen and dau. Redden.(1880)
From the Gowen Family Association online..
The sheriff of Ft. Bend County knew that John Steel Gowen was a me
mb er of an outlaw gang that roamed through the area in the turbulent da
ys th at followed the Civil War and sought an opportunity to arrest him
..  He h ad fled to Texas riding a horse stolen in Arkansas and with the k
nowled ge that he had killed a man there.  In a Fulshear saloon, he quick
ly join ed up with the bushwhackers.  While still in his teens, Gowen w
as label ed a horsethief, a cattle rustler and a desperado.  He lived t
he li fe of a nightrider with the lawless group for six years, robbing a
nd steal ing--and did it successfully, according to some.  He was never ca
ught.
Then came word from Arkansas that he was not a murderer, that the vic
ti m, his uncle, had survived and that he was not charged with any crime--
eit her in Arkansas or in Texas!.  Just as quickly as he had turn
ed to a li fe of crime, he became respectable and law-abiding.  He mov
ed to Housto n, got a job with a large grocery concern and became a mod
el member of t he community, at the age of 21.
John Steel Gowen was born in a room in Kellum's Hotel in Searcy, Arka
ns as in August 1859, according to Glen Atmar Gowen, a grandson of Hous
to n.  Having been abandoned by his father, they were enumerated there a
lo ne in the hotel in the 1860 census of White County:
Gowen, Mrs. M. 25, born in Arkansas, female
J.  1/12, born in Arkansas, male"
They were the only members of the Gowen family to appear in White Co
un ty in 1860.  The father, name unknown, born in Ireland, was orphaned a
nd w orked as a cabinboy to pay for his passage to the United States.  Fac
ed wi th the responsibility of a new baby and a sickly wife, he "went west
." Wh en his mother  died, a reluctant uncle took John Steel Gowen in a
nd load ed him with farm chores "to make a man out of him."
At 15, in an argument with the overbearing uncle, Gowen struck h
im on t he temple with a large rock and left him in a pool of blood.  Conv
inced th at he had killed his uncle instantly, he stole a horse from the l
ot and l it out for Texas, in his mind a fugitive from justice.  The
re he fell in w ith other desperadoes and became proficient in a life of c
rime, until it b ecame apparent that he could quit and start over with a s
econd chance.
"John S. Gowen," was listed in the 1881 city directory of Houst
on as a sa lesman for J. A. McKee Company which advertised "drygoods, groc
eries and b eer."  He became a model citizen and lived in a respectable pa
rt of town " on the west side of Brewster Street, two blocks north of Sewe
ll Street ."  He was married in 1883 to Marion Jane Johnston, age 14, bo
rn in Tex as in August 1869.
In the 1889-1890 city directory John Steel Gowen was a representa
ti ve of Browne & Bollfross, Grocers and lived at 30 Spruce Street.  In 1
89 1, John Steel Gowen went into business with William F. Ludtke as "Lu
dt ke & Gowen, Butchers, on the west side of Liberty Street between Ches
tn ut & Chapman." He owned a home "at the northeast corner of Donley & G
re gg Streets."  In 1897, he removed his family to nearby Wharton County.
John Steel Gowen appeared as the head of the household in the 1900 ce
ns us of Wharton County, Enumeration District 58, page 7, precinct 4:
"Gowen,John 40, born in Arkansas in August 1859
Marion 30, born in Texas in August 1869
Marie L. 15, born in Texas in Octob