On Friday, January 31, 2025, we cleaned Marshal Bowman’s gravestone, under the supervision of Lynn Harrell, trained and certified by the Florida Public Archeology Network in Cemetery Resource Protection. BEFORE front of the Woodman of the World gravestone. There are streaks on the granite […]
Who is Suspect #2? Former newspaper editor, master storyteller and virtuoso of many arts, Fred Farris, introduced the theory that Edgar Watson was the true assassin of Marshal Bowman in his book Once Upon a Time in Southwest Florida. Let’s take this case into consideration.
If you’ve visited Indian Spring cemetery in Punta Gorda, FL, you’ve probably noticed the highly detailed tree trunk grave stones. These grave markers bear the words ‘Woodmen of the World’ and often feature other similar iconography. According to Waymarking.com “Many of these tree stump monuments stand 4 to 5 feet high and show sawed or broken limbs traditionally symbolizing a life cut short.”
According to authors U.S. Cleveland and Lindsey Williams, Isaiah E. Cooper was convicted of Marshal Bowman’s assassination, but enough doubt existed that his scheduled execution was postponed three times, and ultimately when former Punta Gorda resident Albert Gilchrist was elected governor of Florida in 1908, […]
The exact location of the Bowman family home has been a source of speculation for years. Some have claimed the family lived on Taylor St. in either 321 Taylor St (formerly Two Thrifty Girls) or Pizza Gorda buildings. We cannot find any evidence to support […]
Laura Bowman has been snubbed by other local historians. According to Lindsey Williams and U.S. Cleveland, after the assassination of her husband, Marshal John Bowman on January 29, 1903, “Mrs. Bowman moved to her mother’s home at Charlotte Harbor town and died two years later. […]
