On November 20, 1885, former East St. Louis mayor John B. Bowman was gunned down as he crossed the street to his home. neighbors soon discovered his body. The shooter had disappeared, and the crime remains unsolved to this day. In this episode of Fact or Fiction, I identify potential suspects and motives. Who and why would someone want to kill the 51-year-old prominent politician of the large riverside city? As always, what we’ll learn about the facts is stranger than fiction.
“The Bowman Murder.” St. Louis Daily Globe-Democrat, 12 Feb. 1887.
Citations
“Across the Creek.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 1 Aug. 1878.
“All Serene.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 3 July 1878.
“Arthur Arbuthnt.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 21 Sept. 1886.
“At It Again.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 30 July 1878.
“Beaten, But By Whom?” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 31 Aug. 1888.
“Belleville: Evidence Accumaleted.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 26 Feb. 1887.
“Belleville: The Bowman Murder Trial Goes Over to April 11.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 24 Mar. 1887.
“A Bloody Crime: Ex-Mayor John B. Bowman of East St. Louis Cruelly Assissinated .” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 21 Nov. 1885.
“The Bowman Murder, Another East St. Louis Policeman Arrested.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 23 Feb. 1887.
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“Bowman’s Assassin: No Trace.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 23 Nov. 1885.
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“A Family Slander Case.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 16 Sept. 1890.
“Frank B. Bowman Dies.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 17 July 1935.
“He Is Not Wanted.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 6 Oct. 1890.
“History .” Early History of East St. Louis and Cahokia, www.museum.state.il.us/RiverWeb/landings/Ambot/Archives/fwp/EarlyHistory.html.
“In Court.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 23 Feb. 1892.
Keen, Tomas, et al. “Illinois Town of 26,000 Has Nation’s Highest Murder Rate.” The Crime Report, 21 Aug. 2019, thecrimereport.org/2019/04/24/e-st-louis-il-has-the-nations-highest-murder-rate/.
Kirchherr, Jim, director. East St. Louis: Made in the USA. KETC Channel 9, 2003, www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqiJrJPOJKw.
“Mayor Bowman’s Will.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 20 Jan. 1886.
“The Prisoners Discharged.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 1887.
Theising, Andrew J., and Debra H. Moore. Made in USA: East St. Louis, the Rise and Fall of an Industrial River Town. Virginia Publishing, 2003.
“A Truce.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 26 July 1878.
“Young People Saw Ghost.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 4 Apr. 1901.