Allen Bowlin was born 16 Aug 1877 in Skidmore, MO to James M Bowlin (1849-1912) & Lucinda Ann Linville (1850-1918).
Inmate: #10224 Folsom Prison
Rec: 1 Sep 1916
Crime: Bigamy
Term: 3 Yrs
Discharged: 1 Jan 1919
He had 5 wives and one was suspicious and that where this story starts.
I didn't find all his wives but here are the ones I found
Jennie M Goulding (1877-1944)
Married 19 Jun 1913 in Santa Ana, CA
they have a daughter named Mable Bowlin
Helen F Sherwin (1895-???)
Married 1918 Sacramento, CA
They had a son Luther Allyn Bowlin
Alta Mae Beasley (1897-1984)
Mrs. Minnie V Brown
They were married four years before this and he deserted her. She is the one who reported him.
Here are the following newspaper articles I found.
Click the links to read those articles
He begged the judge for probation and the judge told him there was no way he could do that. He explained to Allen that he hurt these women for life and needed to pay for his actions and gave him 3 year. He would only ruin the lives of other women and the Judge said because he admitted his guilt he was to be punished.Wife #4 Alta said this as they took her husband away:
"I never expected to get him into such serious trouble," she said, as he was led away to start his Journey to prison.
I feel more sorry for the children, they didn't have a say in any of this and most likely didn't understand it either. They were probably that told what was going on. They lost a father and had no idea what happened to him.
5 wives !! Really intriguing & you are right about the children
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your comment. I wish I could find all the wives but maybe a relative will find this and give us more info.
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