Contents
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Showing both families — every line on the page. Pick a side to hide the other
family's ancestors; Earl, Kristin and their three children stay on either way.
Person · John Wesley Bowles
The record
- HHomethe fan · what changed · open questions
- MMigrationbirths and deaths on a map, by decade
- TTimeline609 entries · 5 eras
- PPeople290 cards, by generationJohn Wesley Bowles
- LLines13 surname pages
The evidence
- DDocuments896 thumbnails, filterable
- SSourcesS1–S1207, with where each is cited
The findings
- How the wall came downProeger line
- The glass patentsProeger line
- How the Caffey half was closedCaffey line
- What the DNA saysits own page
- Four routesMigration
- The asymmetryLines
- Open questions20 questions
- Add to this recorda form, read by Earl
How to read this record
Every claim is tagged
Most family trees flatten everything into the same confident typeface. This one does not.
The three research tags below are the whole point of the exercise: they say what a document
proves, what the weight of evidence suggests, and what nobody has found yet. A fourth marks
what the family stated directly, where no document has been retrieved at all — it is kept
separate on purpose and is never quietly promoted to confirmed. A fifth, added on
13 September 2026, marks biological evidence: a DNA result is not a document, and it is not
testimony either. Two further labels mark where this page withholds information
rather than lacking it.
ConfirmedAttested by a document that was actually retrieved and read — a census sheet, a
government index, a grave marker, a family-written obituary.
ProbableStrongly supported but not nailed down: a user-contributed tree, a masked index field,
or a chain of consistent circumstances. Believable, not proven.
Not foundSearched for and not located. This is a statement about the search, not about the
person — the record may well exist somewhere unsearched.
Family testimonySupplied by the family and recorded on their word — no document has been retrieved for
it. Note the diamond rather than the dot: this is provenance, not proof, and it stands
apart from the three record tags above S24.
DNA evidenceBiological evidence consistent with a claim. It corroborates origins; it does
not by itself establish a person or a link. Note the bar rather than a dot or a diamond:
no DNA result on this page is ever counted as confirmed, because no document
was read for it S46.
Living — withheldThe person is living. By the privacy rule for this page, name and relationship are
shown, and at most a year the family has already published. Full dates of birth, ages,
places of residence and record identifiers are held back.
Research in progressA branch that is actively being worked on. The node exists in the structure so the
shape of the family is honest; the detail is simply not in yet.
- Born
- 26 June 1902
- Died
- 6 December 1960
- Parents
- William Anderson Bowles & Iona Belle Brock
- Married
- Ethel Maude NeSmith
- Sources
- 6
Research status
Research status: PROBABLE as a son of
William Anderson Bowles and
Iona Belle Brock Probable confirm or correct →, accepted by Earl 28 September 2026 pending more evidence. Evidence: the index of his Texas death certificate names his father as W. A. Bowles and his mother as “Belle Broach”
S904; his own 1942 draft card, read from the image, gives his birth on 26 June 1902
S934; in 1940 and 1950 he farmed beside his brother Alfred
S935S743. What is weak or missing: the death certificate itself has not been read from the image, “Broach” is read as Brock, and the same birth date is given for his brother
Thomas L. Bowles. Know more? Use ‘Add to this record’ to confirm or correct it. Card added 1 October 2026
Evidence: The index of his Texas death certificate names his father as W. A. Bowles and his mother as Belle Broach; his own 1942 draft card, read from the image, gives his birth on 26 June 1902; in 1940 and 1950, read from the images, he farmed next to his brother Alfred. Weak or missing: The death certificate is read from its index only, not the image; Broach is taken to be Brock; the same birth date is given for his brother Thomas L. Bowles and is not yet explained. Not yet confirmed. Know more? Confirm or correct this →
Life in the order the records give it
Birth1902
Born
26 June 1902 at Potosi, Taylor County, by the death certificate index
S904; his draft card gives the same date and says Abilene, the county seat beside Potosi
S934Census1940
In 1940 his household, in Precinct 1 of Taylor County, is on the same census sheet as his brother Alfred's family
S935; in 1950 he is the John W. Bowles, 47, farming next door to Alfred
S743Death1960
🆕 Died
6 December 1960 at Abilene
S904. The typescript state index of 1960 deaths, read from the image, lists “Bowles John Wesley” under
Taylor County, 6 December, state file number
75611 Confirmed S1105Family parents, marriages, children, siblings
Marriage—
Married
Ethel Maude NeSmith, as a daughter's Texas birth certificate names her
S936In the record
Generation 4 — Earl's great-grandparents and their siblings
- S7431950 U.S. census, Taylor County, Texas, ED 221-57A, sheet 75. Ancestry record 195175579. Image examined, read 26 September 2026. Confirmed Alfred S. Bowles, 65, born in Arkansas, farming on his own account, with his wife Jewel, 52, born in Texas. Next door: John W. Bowles, 47, farming, with Ethel, 45, and Verna, 19. The index leaves Jewel out; she is on the image. John W. is John Wesley Bowles, Alfred's brother: his 1940 household is on the same census sheet as Alfred's family (S935), and his own draft card (S934) gives the same birth year. Updated 29 September 2026: this note first said how he was related was not known.
- S904Texas death certificate index — John Wesley Bowles, 6 December 1960, Abilene. Ancestry collection 2272, record 23227833. Born 26 June 1902, Potosi, Taylor County; father W. A. Bowles; mother “Belle Broach”. Probable Read from the index only; the image has not been examined. “Broach” is read as Brock.
- S934U.S. World War II draft registration card T-11064 — John Wesley Bowles, Taylor County, Texas, 1942. Ancestry record 20532483. Image examined, read 29 September 2026. Confirmed John Wesley Bowles, Route 2, Abilene, born 26 June 1902, Abilene, Texas, aged 39, a self-employed farmer; contact Will Nesmith; signed “J W Bowles”. His own statement of his birth date. His death certificate (S904) gives Potosi, a Taylor County community beside Abilene.
- S9351940 U.S. census — John Bowles household, Precinct 1, Taylor County, Texas (ED 221-22, sheet 22A). Ancestry record 157946165. Image examined, read 29 September 2026. Confirmed John Bowles, head, 37, born in Texas, farmer, in the same house in 1935; Ethel, wife, 35; two daughters. Ancestry indexes the name as “Banales”. The same sheet opens with Alfred Bowles's family.
- S936Texas birth certificate no. 61843 (delayed filing, 1957) — a daughter of John Wesley Bowles. Ancestry record 108291474. Image examined, read 29 September 2026. Confirmed Father John Wesley Bowles, 24, born in Texas, farmer; mother Ethel Maude NeSmith, 22, born in Texas. Cited for the parents only; the child's details are not published.
- S1105Texas, Death Index, 1903–2000 — typescript state index of 1960 deaths, page 120. Ancestry record 6822025. Image examined in the Stage 2 reading, 1 October 2026. Confirmed “BOWLES JOHN WESLEY — TAYLOR — DEC 6 — 75611”: Taylor County, 6 December 1960, state file 75611. Ancestry indexes the place as the town of Taylor; the column on the image is the county. The certificate itself (file 75611) has not been read from the image; S904 is its index.