Hey everybody, I chose the ad, "Charles Owens searching for his brother, Harry Bowen", on "Last Seen: Finding Family After Slavery." I searched around a bit for articles that had more 'substance' and a few of them fell short in areas that I wanted to analyze. Then I had the bright idea of choosing a place where I had once lived, so I chose this article when I saw it had significantly more information and it was from a state that I have previously lived in, Missouri. Essentially, Harry Bowen escaped from his master in 1859 in the city of St. Francisville, MO. He made his way to Chicago and once they're made his way to Canada. I noticed that the article was sent out on January 14, 1869, and was distributed by a courier from Ottumwa, Iowa. Here is the issue, this is five years after the height of the Civil War, so why did they take so long to write the article? Missouri is considered a southern state, and so, it was back in 1869. They were largely pro-slave, not so much in a large scale plantation manner, but in family farms. Most white families didn't own large masses of slaves, rather approx. ten. This was average for most Missouri dwellers at the time right around and during the Civil War. But, not without disputes, as many Nothern settlers were pouring into the state for economic growth. The American Yawp has this to say, "Antislavery and pro-slavery positions from that point forward repeatedly returned to points made during the Missouri debates." These debates left to much strife and caused outrage among slaveholders, so my best guess as to what happened to Harry is that he never made it to Canada at all and that is why his family never heard from him. Someone, somewhere most likely killed him along the way.
I think this goes to show what was occurring in this period, not just in the South but all over the country. He escaped his master 10 years before the conclusion of the Civil War, there is no doubt in my mind that he died along his journey. If we take a look at a map, specifically in the US in 1859, Harry would have had to travel through two to three more states before reaching the border to Canada. He went east through parts of Illinois to reach Chicago, after that he could've gone through Wisconsin and then Minnesota, or Michigan and chartered across the great lakes, or even avoided going directly north entirely. You may be thinking, slavery was already abolished by this time in the North, and yes, you are right, but you cant abolish racism. Think about it, black Americans were still being lynched in the 1900s. I think that what probably happened Harry, happened to a lot of escapee slaves. I think that it goes to show what life was like during these times for these individuals. Sad, yes, but there is no denying the outcomes of all of it, as it is apart of our countries past.
Question: If Harry Bowen made it to Canada, what would he be doing with his life? Why would he have not contacted his family?
Hi Evan, this is a really fascinating ad you chose. I noticed that the beginning of the ad sounds almost like an ad that would have been placed looking for Harry Bowen when he was still enslaved (the physical description, the note about how much he cost, the mention of the reward). I'm also curious about the description of his brother as "industrious." To answer your question, one reason why he might not have contacted his family was because of logistical difficulties--or maybe he wanted to protect them from those who might come searching for him. It sounds like he was highly sought after.