William Bowe History of Montana, 1898 US Genweb Montana Archives William Bowe, a Montana pioneer of 1864, and one of the founders of the town of Melrose, was born in Ireland, March 17, 1844, fourth in the family of five children of Lawrence and Margaret (Delany) Bowe, both natives of the Emerald Isle. His parents emigrated to America in 1848 and settled in Connecticut. In 1859 they removed to New Britain, that State, where the father died in his eightieth year and where the mother still lives, she having reached the age of eighty. William Bowe spent several years of his early life at Cromwell, on the Connecticut River. When he was only fourteen he was employed to run an engine in a manufacturing establishment and after the family moved to New Britain he worked on a farm for some time. In 1863 he went to Denver Colorado, spent the winter there and in the spring came to Montana, arriving at Virginia City, July 8, 1864 with a capitol of $100. The history of his life for the next few years was that of a miner going from camp to camp, sometimes owning an interest in a mine himself and at other times working by the day until he had visited nearly all the mining districts in this section of the Northwest and on the whole his mining career was unsuccessful. He then turned his attention to freighting which he continued until of fall of 1873 when he came to his present location at Melrose. In the spring of 1875 he bought out two squatter, giving one of them $100 and the other $150. At that time there were only two other settlers in the valley-John Stone and Jefferson McCauley. When the land was surveyed Mr. Bowe pre-empted 160 acres of land to which he added eighty acres of desert land. In the fall of 1875 he built a small log house, which served for a home until he could get a better one. Finally he purchased a house at Ricker, took it to pieces and moved it to his place and this house now forms a part of the hotel building. He has kept the hotel here since 1876, it being the stage station until the railroad was built. With the coming of the railroad he platted the town of Melrose and at once sold off a number of lots. Much of the town he still owns. In 1880 he made further additions to his hotel, which has since enabled him to entertain comfortably all that stop here. December 26, 1876 Mr. Bowe married Mrs. Lucia Fleser, widow of Adam Fleser and daughter of Elihu Phillips. She was born in Strongsville Ohio, February 16, 1837. By her first husband she had children: George E., Melrose; Charles A.,Calista I; wife of James Mackboy, Phillipsburg; and Rose A. wife of Sherman W. Vance. Mr. Vance and his family reside with Mr. Bowe. Mrs. Bowe crossed the plains with her first husband in 1864 and on that journey had thrilling experiences and narrow escapes, a detailed account of which would fill a volume of no small proportion and would be more thrilling than many a romance. The company with which they traveled was composed of twenty men, four women and five children, all well armed. At the South Platte River they were delayed on account of storms and high water. One man was drowned and one man and a child were killed by lightning. Further on in the journey they had trouble with the Indians and it was with difficulty that they escaped with their lives. Mrs. Bowe is the daughter of a physician and by her knowledge of curative powers, made herself very useful in taking care of the sick on the journey, as she also has during her long residence in Montana. After their arrival in Virginia City, Mr. Fleser engaged in mining and later moved to German Gulch where he kept a station. On account of his dissipated habits she left him and obtained a divorce after which she became the wife of Mr. Bowe. During their long residence at Melrose, Mr. and Mrs. Bowe have made a wide acquaintance in the state being noted far and near for their genial hospitality. USGenWeb Project NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may not be reproduced in any format forprofit, nor for commercial presentation by any other organization. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than as stated above, must obtain express writtenpermission from the author, or the submitter and from the listed USGenWeb Project archivist.