Nansemond County Virginia USGenWeb Archives Obituaries.....Bowen, Horace J., 1958 

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HORACE J. BOWEN

H. J. BOWEN DIES AT 88 IN FLORIDA

FORMER SUFFOLK RESIDENT WAS FOUNDER OF RETAIL CLOTHING STORE

   Suffolk - Horace J. Bowen, founder of the former H.J. Bowen & Co. clothing 
store here, died Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the Florida State Hospital, Chattahoochee, 
after a long illness.

   Mr. Bowen, 88, retired in 1947 after operating his business for 54 years with 
his brother, Alfred D. Bowen, now dead. The store, situated at 118 W. Washington 
St., opened Sept. 30, 1893 - the year of the business panic - and was operated 
by the Bowens and Alfred’s son until it was sold to G.S. Hobbs Jr. a few years 
ago.

   The business was started on $500 capital, most of it furnished by another 
Bowen brother, George, a railway engineer.

   Horace and his brothers hold a permanent place in Suffolk-Nansemond County 
history, because they are indirectly responsible for the name "Elephant’s Fork" 
applied to the intersection of Routes 460 and 10 just north of Suffolk.

   It seems that about 1904 H.J. Bowen & Co. bought a sign advertising the 
business and placed it at the fork. The sign was made up like the silhouette of 
an elephant. The sight of this monster frightened horses and caused so much 
confusion that the sign had to be removed, but the name "Elephant’s Fork" 
remained.

   Horace Bowen lived at his clubhouse in Lake Cohoon for a short while after 
retirement; then moved to Florida.

   He is survived by another brother, Fred Bowen of Miami; two nephews, Alfred 
D. Bowen Jr. of Suffolk and Charles Bowen Jr. of Lynchburg, and a niece, Mrs. 
Jan Bowen Traylor of Suffolk.

   Funeral arrangements will be announced from the Baker Funeral Home, Suffolk.


[Horace J. BOWEN, retired Suffolk merchant, d. 1958, Chattahoochee, FL, age 88, 
 interred in Cedar Hill Cemetery, Suffolk, 
 donated obit, newspaper unknown] 

[file transcribed by Mrs. Bruce Saunders (bs4403@verizon.net), 
 and re-formatted by File Manager.]