Bill and Gus Bowe, as Remembered by Jim Hart in his Memoirs

8/1/1918 WB JHT 1700 Oakland Street, Des Moines, Iowa — According to Joe Hart (a retired Canavan relative in Ireland) this is Bill Bowe, Sr. visiting his Canavan cousin Jim Hart’s family after mustering out of the Army at Fort Des Moines, IA 1918

James Austin Hart Recalls Bill and Gus Bowe

November 11, 1918, Armistice Day, ending World War I, was duly celebrated with a parade in downtown Des Moines.  I vaguely remember the festivities.  My memory is far better of a visit earlier in 1918 by Bill Bowe in full army uniform.  Bill’s mother Ella Canavan Bowe and my maternal grandfather John Canavan were siblings.  Bill, a Chicago lawyer, had served with America’s army in France and had lost part of his foot in a railway accident.  He had just been mustered out at Fort Des Moines and visited our home.  I had never seen a soldier before…

Bill Bowe was one of the kindliest and most personable men I have ever known.  Later during my years in Chicago, Bill and his wife Mary were delightful friends…

While visiting in Chicago I spent some time with Bill Bowe, the young soldier who came to our home in 1918.  Bill and Gus (his older brother) were both prominent Chicago lawyers. … Gus and Bill Bowe liked to tell stories about Grandfather Canavan, their Uncle John. He would accompany a railroad car full of his cattle to the Chicago Stockyards, sell them early in the morning, and be at the Bowe and Bowe Law Office in the Loop at 127 North Dearborn before his two nephews came to work. He was quite critical over their short working hours.

——-From the Chapter 1 of the Memoirs of James Austin Hart