The City of Greenville, SC has lost its greatest benefactor in the tragic ending of the life of Mr T C Gower. We learn from the Greenville Daily News that he was drowned on Tuesday last while bathing in the French Broad, at his beautiful summer home in Transylvania County, North Carolina, just over the line from Greenville County.
He was in perfect health and left the City of Greenville on Monday for his French Broad place. Though 73 years of age, he was very fond of swimming, and it is supposed he went down to the river by himself to take a farewell swim for the season. He was by himself and the tragedy was not discovered until his absence caused a search to be made, resulting in the finding of his body in the river. The place of the tragedy is nearly fifty miles from the City of Greenville.
Mr Gower was born in Maine, not far from Moosehead Lake, but went to Greenville in 1821 and engaged in the coach and carriage building business that has resulted in the Greenville Coach Factory of today Although born at the North, he sympathized with the people among whom he lived and when the war broke out, he entered the Confederate service as a volunteer in Hampton's Legion.
At the beginning of the war, he was a prosperous and influential citizen but his fortune was wrecked by the war and his struggle to retrieve continued until 1872. He was a man of indomitable energy and progressiveness and he not only pushed his own fortune but by his efforts, he did more than any other man in Greenville to encourage the spirit and progressiveness that has made a mountain village a thriving and prosperous city of some 15,000 inhabitants. At his death, he was engaged in numerous enterprises, and his estate is estimated at $75,000 or more.
He was the father of Mrs Croswell of Wilmington, wife of Col W J Croswell, the esteemed Division Superintendent of the Southern Express Company.
The City of Greenville, SC has lost its greatest benefactor in the tragic ending of the life of Mr T C Gower. We learn from the Greenville Daily News that he was drowned on Tuesday last while bathing in the French Broad, at his beautiful summer home in Transylvania County, North Carolina, just over the line from Greenville County.
He was in perfect health and left the City of Greenville on Monday for his French Broad place. Though 73 years of age, he was very fond of swimming, and it is supposed he went down to the river by himself to take a farewell swim for the season. He was by himself and the tragedy was not discovered until his absence caused a search to be made, resulting in the finding of his body in the river. The place of the tragedy is nearly fifty miles from the City of Greenville.
Mr Gower was born in Maine, not far from Moosehead Lake, but went to Greenville in 1821 and engaged in the coach and carriage building business that has resulted in the Greenville Coach Factory of today Although born at the North, he sympathized with the people among whom he lived and when the war broke out, he entered the Confederate service as a volunteer in Hampton's Legion.
At the beginning of the war, he was a prosperous and influential citizen but his fortune was wrecked by the war and his struggle to retrieve continued until 1872. He was a man of indomitable energy and progressiveness and he not only pushed his own fortune but by his efforts, he did more than any other man in Greenville to encourage the spirit and progressiveness that has made a mountain village a thriving and prosperous city of some 15,000 inhabitants. At his death, he was engaged in numerous enterprises, and his estate is estimated at $75,000 or more.
He was the father of Mrs Croswell of Wilmington, wife of Col W J Croswell, the esteemed Division Superintendent of the Southern Express Company.
Inscription
Born Abbott, Maine. Died Chestnut Hill, NC
Gravesite Details
CSA Marker Thomas was elected mayor of Greenville, South Carolina in 1870. He drowned while swimming in a river.
Family Members
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Susan Cordelia Gower Mills
1845–1936
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Mary E Gower Crosswell
1852–1929
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Thomas E Gower
1859–1866
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Arthur Gaillard Gower Sr
1861–1942
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Charlie E. Gower
1863–1918
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Lola Elsie Gower Carpenter
1870–1914
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Marie C Gower Conyers
1877–1957
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Nellie "Nell" Gower
1879–1881
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Thomas Claghorn Gower Jr
1880–1956
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Annie Gower
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Saidee Gower
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