THE WEAVER AND BOWEN FAMILIES IN GOMER TOWNSHIP

Narrator: Mrs. Euphema Weaver Bowen, 80

Miss Weaver, the daughter of Samuel Weaver came into Caldwell County 1872 with her parents, at the age of twenty one. They settled three miles east of Nettleton. In 1875 she married S.L. Bowen and they improved some land next to the Weaver farm, hence she has spent most of her life in one community. She had four sons and three daughters all of whom lived on a farm. The Bowens gradually fenced their land from the prairie land on all sides, put down wells, planted orchards, and laid the foundation for good farms.

She knit all the mittens and hose used on her own farm, made underwear, dresses, shirts and pants, in fact had a complete clothing factory. She dried fruit - the old fashioned way of drying of peaches and apples was to split them, seed them and spread them out on tablecloths on a low roof till they were sun dried. Then they were tied up in flour sacks, against flies and worms. There was little canning done and mostly in tin cans with sealing wax on tops. They dried peas, sweet corn cut off the cob, navy beans and lima beans; gallons of cucumbers and green tomato pickles and the kitchen was bright with dried peppers. Soft soap was made at home and supplied all their need for general purposes. Candles were made and molded at home in molds of twelve or twenty four holes. A quilt was always ready to work on. Every wife had a hop vine for yeast and bread. You can see that no woman these days had time to spend foolishly in attending teas and card parties.

The old Bowen farm is now owned by Edbert Clarkson who married the youngest Bowen daughter. Mr. Bowen died several years ago and Mrs. Bowen lives with Egbert. The Weavers and Bowens bury in the Weaver Cemetery near Nettleton.