The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-02-07
]. ]. MCGOWAN DEAD
DIED AT IL O'CLOCK LAST NIGHT
FROM LA GRIPPE-PNEUMONIA
HAD BEEN ILL THREE DAYS.
THIRTY-TIvE YEARS CHATHAM's
TAX COLLECTOR.

ate Soldier. Faithful Public OH
cfaI and Ronored Citizen GOne-His
Funeral VIII Take Place TO-mOr-
row.
James ]. MCGOWAN for more than
thtrd of a century tax collector OF CHAT
ham county, and one of the most revered
ond respected citizens Of Savannah, died
at his residence on Congress street. east,
few minutes after II O'Clock last night
from la grippe pneumonia.
Mr.. McGowans death was wholly un-
expected. and its announcement will pro-
Cfuce a shock as great as the grief it will
cause will be profound. No man in pub
Tic life was more universally popular,
nor had more warm and earnest friends.
To very few who knew Mr.. MCGOWAN
had the fact of his illness been made
known and on that account the shock OF
his death viii be the greater. For some
days last week he had complained of feel
ing i'll, but neither he nor the members
of his family were at all apprehensive as
to his condition. Monday it was discov-
cred he had the grip, and he was con-
fined to his bed. On the same day pleur-
isy developed, and was followed yester-
day by pneumonia, which was the imme-
diste cause of his death.
In the afternoon Mr.. MCGOWAN insisted
upon leaving his bed and sitting for
while in his armchair. He was up when
DR.. Graham, his attending physician,
came to visit him and on the physicians
advice he returned at once to his bed. In
the evening he appeared to be a little
better and in brighter spirits and talked
more cheerfully and more intelligibly
than he had during the day. Almost up
to the time of his death he retained con-
seriousness and he recognized and spoke TO
his nurse only a few minutes before the
end He had been lying on his right side
and a few minutes after II o'clock he
turned over and expired suddenly and
peacefully. DIR. Graham, who was pres
failure. caused by the pneumonia into
which the grip developed.
Mr.. MCGOWAN was born in Ireland six
ty-four years ago, but his parents came
to this country and to Savannah when he
was an infant, and he had resided here
ever since, save during the period of his
service in the Confederate army, and for
some months after he received the wound
that terminated the service.
At the outbreak of the Civil War Mr.
MCGOWAN was engaged in mercantile pur-
suits in Savannah. and at once enlisted
in the Irish Jasper Green's with which
gallant body of his compatriots he serv-
ed until the battle of Lost Mountain, in
which he was desperately wounded.
minnie ball struck him at the junction of
the elbow of his left arm and to save his
life ii was necessary to amputate the
arm. Mr.. MCGOWAN at that time was or
derby sergeant of his company, and had
made record for gallantry and the eff
cient discharge of duty which won him
the respect of the men of his company
and the entire confidence of his superior
officers. At the time of the battle in
which he lost his arm his company was
commanded by Capt. John Flannery.
The loss of his arm incapacitated him
for military service and he was discharged
from the army. He returned to Savan-
nah where he remained until the advance
of Sherman's army upon the city. Then
he went to Augusta and lived there until
the downfall of the Confederacy and the
cessation of hostilties.
Soon after the war an election for coun-
ty officers was held, and Mr.. MCGOWAN
who was a candidate for the office of tax
collector, was elected and assumed charge
under the commission of Gov. Jenkins.
He was allowed 10 continue in office Tor
very short time only. Georgia ceased
to be a state and became military dis
trict, with United States army officer
,n charge as military governor.
Gov. Jenkins was deposed, and Tax Col
lector MCGOWAN was ordered to turn over
to the military authorities the money he
had collected for taxes and assessments
He refused respectfully enough, but with
a firmness that no amount of threats and
persuasion served t0 overcome. He was
thrown into prison in the old government
barracks. then standing where the De
Soto Hotel now STANDS. and was kept
there for several months. The Surrender
of the money he had collected was made
the price of his liberty and ne didn't want
it at the price. The money had been sent
Eugene Kelly & Co., where it remained
until a civil government was again in
power. and Mr.. MCGOWAN in position
to hand it over to the duly constituted
authorities of the county.
After a time the military authorities
got tired OF keeping Mr.. MCGOWAN in
prison; possibly they became a bit I'M
certain of their right to the money they
wanted him to deliver to them; at any
rate they gave him his liberty. In the
meantime, however, they had appointed
a man named Hopkins, who had drifted
into Savannah from one OF the southern
counties of the state during the last days
of the war and had become a bitter Re-
publican, tax collector of the county
Hopkins found it easier to get somebody
to appoint him than he did to get any
body to go on his bond and he found
himself unable to qualify in the amount
prescribed by law. When he failed TO
qualify, the then ordinary of the county
pronounced the Office of tax
collector vacant and appointed
Mr.. MCGOWAN to ill the I'M
expired term 10 which he had orio{pa liz,