Charles Owens searching for his brother Harry Bowen
January 14, 1869
Information Wanted.
A colored man commonly called
Harry Bowen, escaped from his mas-
ter [master], Jerry Wayland, near St. Fran-
cisville [St. Francisville] Mo., about New Years night
1859.
It is supposed that he went to
Chicago, and from there to Canada,
but has not been heard from since
his escape, notwithstanding the
three hundred dollars in specie offer-
ed [offered] to the man hunters to capture
him. He was a large good looking
light colored man, and cost Wayland
$1,000 in Gold. His brother Charles
Owens is an industrious man living
near this city, and is anxious to hear
from him, and if this notice should
fall under his observation, or any one
having knowledge of his where-
abouts [whereabouts], they will confer a great favor
by addressing as above, Ottumwa,
Iowa.
Exchanges please copy.
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Cory Young
I was wary of this notice because it seemed plausible that the author was an ally of Bowen's former enslavers. However, both the 1870 and 1880 censuses locate a well-to-do "Mulatto" man named Charles Owens in Wapello County, IA. It seems that Owens understood his best chance of locating his brother was by referencing the very family that had enslaved him. Bowen and the Waylands remained tangled even a decade after Bowen's departure.
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