~Judge Jowers~
Was a physician, legislator, State Senator, and County Judge.
His first marriage was 28 May, 1840 Nacogdoches, Texas to Nancy Ann Lacy (daughter of Martin Lacy) They had a daughter Annie Lacy Jowers. Nancy Ann died in Crockett, Texas.
His second wife was Paulina Catherine (Tatum) Beeson Jowers (widow of Dr. Jehu Armistead Beeson of Houston Co, Texas). They had a daughter Jane Armistead Beeson. he married her
13 May 1846.
Paulina was one of the founders of the Presbyterian Church in Palestine.
He then married Mrs. Elmira W. McKinzie Gardner who was the widow of
Judge James W Gardner of Palestine, 02 Jun 1863
(no children were born to this union). I cannot find where she or her first husband are buried.
He is buried here with his fourth wife, Bettie A Lamon Hill. Married 1869. They had five daughters.

JUDGE W. G. W. JOWERS
Few names in Anderson County history bear
greater weight than Jowers. Judge William George Washington
Jowers was born in North Carolina. His father,
James J., was a farmer. He moved in early life
to Tennessee where he died forty years later. He
distinguished himself by serving in the Creek Indian
War with Jackson. An ancestor, Thos.
Jowers of Scotch descent fought in the Revolutionary
War.
Judge Jowers' mother was Mary Clark, daughter
of Thomas Clark, a planter of North Carolina.
W. G. W. Jowers was reared in Tennessee and
Mississippi. After choosing medicine for his profession
he enrolled in the medical department of
Transylvania University of Lexington. Kentucky.
Graduating from this institution in 1835, he located
in Monroe County, Mississippi where he practiced
medicine until he was sent" to the Mississippi
Legislature. He served 1838-9. On termination
of his service in the legislature. Texas called. The
romantic side of the young doctor-legislator responded
and the end of March saw W. G. W.
Jowers arrival in Nacogdoches where he immediately
joined the Texan Army which was engaged
in excursions against the Indians. He was assistant
surgeon during Lamar's administration.
From Nacogdoches he removed to Crockett in
1841 where he practiced medicine till 1846.
When the new county, Anderson was cut off
from Houston in 1846 Judge Jowers came to
Palestine. He found work to do in his new field
and promptly did it. He cut down the first trees
on the first road leading into the new town site.
He practiced medicine in Palestine till 1848 when he
was sent to the Legislature. For sixteen years thereafter
he was kept in public office as representative
or senator. In 1868 he was elected County Judge
of Anderson County to serve three terms. In 1880,
he was again elected~ and also held the office of
County Clerk. He was a Mason, reaching all the
degrees to Scottish Rite. The benefits such a citizen
bestows on his community may not be overestimated.
Naturally~ the name of Judge Jowers is
recalled today with a general feeling of grateful appreciation.
Judge Jowers had a large family who were all
prominent in the cultural development of Anderson
County. The names of his children follow:
1. Annie Jowers Formwalt
(deceased), Granbury, Texas;
2. Richard Jowers (Dick), deceased, Palestine,
Texas;
3. George Jowers (deceased), Palestine, Texas;
4. Mary Eliza Jowers (Mrs. D. J. Price) deceased, Palestine,
Texas;
5. Margaret "Maggie" (Mrs. Frank T. Rennie), Meadvil1e~
Pennsylvania;
6. Myrtle (Mrs. Sam S. Smith),
Trinidad, Colorado;
7. Louise (Mrs. W. B. Flanagan),
Palestine, Texas;
8. Bessie (Mrs. R. E. Boyle),
4246 Mocking Bird Lane, Dallas, Texas;
9. Corrie(Mrs. Waites T. Bowdon), 2233 Fifth Street, Port Arthur, Texas.
10. Bell B. Jowers, 1869-1876

Could not find;
5. Margaret "Maggie" Jowers Rennie except in a city of Meadville directory stating she was a widow of Frank T. Rennie.
9. Corrie Jowers Bowdon married Waites T. Bowdon of Palestine, Texas.
son of Clent D. or D.C.(written both ways) and Bobbie Ada Bowdon of Palestine, Texas. They moved to Port Arthur, Jefferson Co, Texas. Two daughters; Betty b. 1911 & Corrine b. 1919. I found a city directory stating Corrie was a widow in 1939.
3. Cannot find George Jowers
8. Cannot find Bessie Jowers Boyle




~~~~~~~~~

DOCTOR WILLIAM GEORGE WASHINGTON JOWERS

Dr. W. G. W. Jowers, prominent citizen of East Texas during the days of the Republic, and after, was born in Wadesborough, North Carolina. In 1835 he was graduated from Transylvania Medical College, Lexington, Kentucky. In 1839 he came to Texas and stopped at Nacogdoches, enlisting in the Texas Militia for six months. During this same year he accompanied Martin Lacy, of Fort Lacy, Cherokee County, Indian Agent, and John H. Reagan, as bearers of the letter to Chief Bowles, of the Cherokee Indians, from President Lamar, saying that the Cherokee Indians must go. He was married to Ann Lacy, daughter of Martin Lacy, May 28th 1840, and soon thereafter moved to Crockett, where he practiced the profession of medicine. Ann Lacy died and he married Pauline Catherine Tatum Beeson, widow of Dr. Jehu Armistead Beeson, May 13th 1846. When Anderson County was cut off from Houston County in 1846, and Palestine made its county seat, he removed thereto, with his family, which consisted of his wife, Pauline, her daughter, Jane Armistead Beeson, one year old, and Annie Jowers, daughter by his first wife, Ann Lacy, near the same age. Here he practiced his profession, but just before the Civil War went into the merchandizing business. When the Civil War broke out he raised and was Captain of a company from Anderson County. His wife, Pauline, died during the Civil War, in 1862. Before this, in 1848, he was elected Representative of Anderson County and served in that capacity and later in the State Senate for sixteen years. In 1863, he married Mrs. E. W. Gardner, widow of Judge Gardner. By this union there were no children. In 1865, he was commissioned Adjutant General by President Houston. In 1869, he married Mrs. Bettie A. Lamon Hill and from this union there were five daughters, all real Daughters of the Republic of Texas and all now living: Mrs. Frank T. Rennie, Mrs. Sam S. Smith, Mrs. W. B. Flanagan, Mrs. R. E. Doyle, Mrs. Waites Bowdon. Dr. Jowers probably held public office as long and as continuously as any man in Texas. After his service for sixteen years in the Legislature of Texas, he was elected County Judge, which office he held until he died. From 1868 to 1892, he was County Judge of Anderson County. Daughters of his son, Richard Beeson Jowers, are living: Mrs. George D. Hunter of San Antonio; Mrs. D. B. McKenna, and Mrs. J. P. Burkhead, of

Palestine, and Mrs. Ed Burkhead, of Houston, and a great number of great grandchildren are citizens of Texas. Doctor Jowers, or Judge Jowers, as he was called, later in his life, was a prominent Mason. Being a member of the first lodge organized in Palestine. He is buried in the old (pioneer) Cemetery of Palestine. He died after his long and useful life, on July 30th, 1892. The author is indebted to Miss Mary Kate Hunter, of Palestine, for the above biography of Dr. Jowers, and is glad to have this opportunity of helping to preserve the memory of a worthy pioneer of Houston County. The location of Dr. Jowers home, while he lived in Crockett, is not definitely known, but there is a strong probability that he lived where the Schmidt House now stands, as the author has in his possession an original unrecorded deed, from Dr. Jowers John H. Gillespie, dated July 2, 1852, conveying lots 138 and 140 III Crockett. J. H. Gillespie in turn conveyed the same to John E. Helms the same year, and that is where John E. Helms lived and where his widow lived many years later.

"In 1863, he married Mrs. E. W. Gardner, widow of Judge Gardner. By this union there were no children." She was Elmira McKinzie Gardner and sister of my G Grandfather Francis Marion McKinzie (son of Carter Tarrant and Elizabeth Condry McKinzie - early settlers of Anderson Cnty)