Republican farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1810-1920, 1918-03-15

ACTIVITIES KILLS
LAWYER.
New York, March 8-John M.
Bowers, father of Spotswood D. Bow
ers, of Bridgeport, one of the three
lawyers chosen by President Wilson
to act on the Legal Advisory Board
in connection with the draft in New
York City, died yesterday afternoon
at the Laurel House, in Lakewood,
N. j., where he had gone to recuper-
ate from strain due to his war work.
Mr.. Bowers was in his sixty-ninth
year, and had been a member of the
New York Bar for nearly fifty years.
A heart attack was the immediate
cause of his death.
Mr.. Bowers's death is believed by
his physicians to be the direct result
of his efforts in the last ten weeks.
He had worked night and day, it is
said, together with Henry w. Taft
and Charles A. Boston, other mem
bers of the board in advising the s.
900 lawyers who have been untangl-
ing legal snarls in the answers of
draft candidates in their question
naireS.
A week ago Mr.. Bowers complained
that he was ILL., and his ailment was
diagnosed as nervous Indigestion. He
was ordered to rest, and went to the
Laurel House, so as not to be far
from the scenes of his work for the
government. Mrs. Bowers was with
him, and daily reports to the family
indicated that he was improving.
He set up little while yesterday
and ate a hearty luncheon. After
ward he remarked to Mrs. Bowers
that while he felt almost well again."
he was very sleepy. Mrs. Bowers
sat at his bedside for a short while
until he fell asleep, and then went in
to the next room, where she was
reading when she heard her husband
gasp. She ran into his room and
found him comatose. He never re-
covered consciousness, and died about
3 o'clock.
member of Bowers & Gerard, the
junior membering the former Am
bassador to Germany. had been con-
nected with a number of the most
notable legal cases IN New YORK
among them the Barnes-Roosevelt
libel suit, wherein he was Colonel
Roosevelt's chief counsel, and the re-
cent charities investigation. in which
he was counsel for the State Board
of Charities.
Mr.. Bowers was born in Coopers-
town, N. Y, in November, 1850, and
came to New York, when he was 16
years old. He entered the law office
of Platt, Gerard & Buckley as a stu
dent. The Gerard in the firm was the
father of the former Ambassador to
Germany, and the friendship between
Mr.. Bowers and the Gerard family
extended through two generations. In
1914 Mr.. Bowers and County Clerk
Schneider led the fight to nominate
James W. Gerard, then in Berlin, as
the Democratic candidate Tor the
United States Senate. Mr.. Bowers
was also prominent in the contest
which resulted in the selection of
Ambassador Gerard's opponent, James
w. Wadsworth, for the place.
After close study with the firm of
Platt, Gerard & Buckley for three
years, Mr.. Bowers was, at the age of
10, admitted to the bar. The date
of his admission, 1869, made him at
the time of his death one of the old
est members of the bar of this city
Mr.. Bowers career was closely
10
in New York. In his later years
there was hardly an important case
in which he was not sought for ad-
vice or service before the jury.
AS counsel for the Reorganization
Committee Of the Third Avenue Rail
way in 1912, Mr.. Bowers had a great
share in the rehabilitation of the
property. He received a fee of $685.
900 for his work in that case. He
was counsel for The New York World
for number of years.
Perhaps the most widely advertis-
ed of all Mr.. Bowers cases was tn :
Rarnes-Roosevelt libel suit, when the
former President was sued for $780,
900 by the Albany political leader for
| calling him a boss" Mr. Bowers
worked to such good purpose that the
| trial resulted in favor of Col Roose-
welt. His summing up in defense
| of the colonel is described by all who
| heard it as a mastery Grafton
Mr. Bowers in 1894 was leader Of
| the minority party. the Democrats, in
the Constitutional convention which
| framed the present state constitution
He succeeded his partner, James F.
| Platt, as head of the law firm which
he entered as a student, a score Of
years ago. Shortly afterward the
firm became Bowers & Sands. 1t was
changed again recently to Bowers &
Gerard when Mr.. Gerard decided to
resume the practice of law after his
| return from Berlin.
| Mr.. Bowers was married twice. His
| first wife was Miss Susan B. Dan
bridge, granddaughter of Governor
| Spottswood of Virginia. lJhe died in
| 1909. In 1911 he married Miss Kath-
crime Starkweather of Cooperstown,
| who survives him. His children who