MARY'S GENEALOGY TREASURES
Harry Bowen and
Lily Latham Bowen
Lily Latham Bowen
A History of Del Bonita and
Surrounding Districts, Pages 278 - 279
I was born in England in 1883. 1 apprenticed for
seven years learning the barber trade, and then
I came to Canada in 1904 and barbered in Montreal,
Toronto, and Niagara Falls. The fall of 1907 I went
back to England for the winter, coming back to Canada
in the spring.
During the next few years I barbered at various places
in Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary, and Cochrane. While
at Cochrane I took five cars of cattle to Vancouver,
receiving a free pass back, but I sold it and stayed
there for the summer.
I came back to Alberta, bought a barber shop and
poolroom at Airdrie and later at Cayley. While I was
there the McIntyre Lease was opened up.
I filed on my homestead May 1, 1912, then took another
trip back to England. There I met my future wife. Alas,
my roaming days were over.
I came back to Canada in October, and Bert Campbell
and I went to the homestead together. He had a tent,
in which we lived that winter. In the spring when we
began to size things up, he found that his tent was
on my land by about two hundred yards. It didn't
take him long to move it.
It was quite common in those days for people to get
lost. I was digging a basement for my house, and I
happened to be sleeping that night at Dad Woods'
because we were going to town the next day. Well,
I had come over on a wagon running gear to dig at
my basement, and at night when I quit, I could just
see Dad Woods' when I started out, but before I
got half way there I couldn't see it any more. Well
I kept going for quite a while. I thought it was funny
I wasn't there. Then I hit a fence. Well I turned my
horses around, and got my bearings and started off
again. I hadn't gone very far this time when I hit the
south fence again. Well I didn't know what to do. I
stayed there for a while and looked around. At last
I could see a light, so off I went and headed for the
light. Woods had put a light out for me.
In the fall my future wife came out to Lethbridge. We
were married in Knox Church in Lethbridge the end of
October, 1913. George Weatherley and Jack Woods
were there. I think we were the first to be married on
the Lease.
It used to be quite a puzzle to Old Man McIntyre.
Whenever he would see us go by he used to say "I
can't understand those homesteaders. They always
go in to town empty, and come back loaded."
We had some pretty hard times in those days.
However we managed to make out all right.
Our son was born in Lethbridge, May 1915, and
our daughter was born in Magrath, 8th September,
1922. We all went to England in 1927. It was
the first time my wife had been back since we
were married.
We farmed at Del Bonita until we retired in June,
1951, and went to Magrath.
(Continued by Latham and Linnea Bowen)
When Harry and Lily Bowen were first married,
their house was close to the U.S. border. There
were several large ranches across the line.
Three of the bigger ones were Lytle's, Van
Sanden's, and Wren's. Many times when help
was needed on these ranches, Harry would go
over to help, and Lily often helped with the cooking.
As the ranchers always did their own butchering,
they were often given meat to take home. Fresh
meat was hard to come by in those days.
Harry was a barber by trade. Whenever a dance was
held at the Lens or Del Bonita schools, the Lyties,
DuBray, and Wren boys and others from the ranches
across the line would stop for a hair cut on the way to
the dance. If it was after pay day, they would give
him fifty cents or a dollar, and if they were short of
cash they got a trim anyway, even if it was by the
light of an old fashioned kerosene lamp.
Lily often told about gathering sheep's wool off the
barbed wire fence. She would card this, along with
the wool fleeces which the U.S. ranchers gave her,
and make it up into quilts.
In 1951 Harry and Lily moved to Magrath. Lily had
not been very well, and seven months later on January
8th, 1952, she passed away.
Harry moved into the Senior Citizen's Lodge in Raymond
in 1964. During his stay there, he did a bit of barbering,
usually for the folks who were unable to get out.
In April of 1966 Harry passed away at the Lodge, at the
age of 83 years. Harry and Lily had two children. Their son
now resides on the original farm homestead.
Harry and Lily Bowen had seven grandchildren and
nine great-grandchildren.
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Mary Tollestrup