William R. Bowles, born in 1857 in Greenfield, Missouri, was an attorney and editor of the Dade County Advocate. He was the son of Dr. Samuel B. Bowles and Elizabeth J. (Vaughan) Bowles. Dr. Bowles, originally from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, was a physician who settled in Greenfield in 1851. William R. Bowles was admitted to the bar in 1880 and practiced law for six years before becoming the editor of the Advocate in 1887. A Democrat, he actively supported his party through his editorial work. He married Cora Kimber in 1885, and they had two children, Samuel O. and John Herchel. Bowles was a member of several Masonic organizations.
William R. Bowles, attorney-at-law and editor of the Dade County Advocate, of Greenfield, Mo., was born in that village in 1857, and is the son of Dr. Samuel B. and Elizabeth J. (Vaughan) Bowles. Dr. Samuel B. Bowles was born in Portsmouth, N. H., in 1806 (?), and was of English descent. His father having died, Samuel was taken and reared by his uncle, Samuel Bowles, who lived in the city of Boston. It was in this city that Dr. Samuel B. Bowles was reared, and where he received his literary education. In 1847-48 he took a course of medical lectures, at the Medical College in Memphis, Tenn., and in the last-named year he graduated as an M. D. from the Missouri Medical College at St. Louis. About 1827 he married Miss Elizabeth Janes, and by her reared two daughters: Kate E., wife of Dr. William H. Jopes, of Greenfield, Mo.; and Almena C., wife of William Grigsby, of Jack County, Texas. After marriage, Dr. Bowles went to Raleigh, N. C., and about 1830 he moved to Middle Tennessee, where he remained for some six years, and then went to Utica, Miss. In 1838 he lost his wife and returned to Tennessee, locating at Murfreesboro, where he married Miss Elizabeth J. Vaughan in 1839. There are eight living children born to this union: Jane, wife of L. W. Shafer, attorney-at-law at Greenfield, Mo.; Mary, wife of Wash. Broyles, of Butte County, Cal.; Ella V., wife of James Curran, of Yolo County, Ca.; Stearns H., of Capay, Yolo County, Cal.; Laura, wife of Finis E. Garrett, Golden City, Mo.; Dr. Frank R., of Jack County, Texas; William R.; and Lina K., wife of J. L. Wetzel, a dry goods merchant of Greenfield, Mo. In 1851 Dr. Bowles came to Greenfield, Mo., and there died August 1, 1887. At the age of twenty-one he became a disciple of Blackstone, and in the fall of 1880, he was admitted to the bar. He then practiced law for six years, and in October 1887, became editor of the Dade County Advocate, which he has since edited in an able and efficient manner. Mr. Bowles is a young man, and the Dade County Advocate, under his able management, has met with success. The paper is newsy, and sparkles with good editorials from his pen. In politics Mr. Bowles is a Democrat, and his paper upholds the principles of the party in an able and capable manner. He is a member of the Masonic order, Washington Lodge No. 87, Royal Arch Chapter No. 38, and Constantine Commandery No. 27. In August 1885, he married Miss Cora Kimber, a native of Illinois, and the daughter of Joseph H. and Ellen Kimber. Two children, Samuel O., and John Herchel were born to Mr. and Mrs. Bowles. Mrs. Bowles is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The paternal grandparents of our subject were William and Elizabeth Bowles, the grandfather being a captain in the United States Navy for a number of years.