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'''Milton Drew Bowers, Jr.''' (October 19, 1886 - December 15, 1985), was a federal attorney and the [[Republican]] nominee for governor of [[Arkansas]] in 1926 and 1928. He was born near Pocahontas in Randolph County in northeastern Arkansas.

'''Milton Drew Bowers, Jr.''' (October 19, 1886 - December 15, 1985), was a federal attorney and the [[Republican]] nominee for governor of [[Arkansas]] in 1926 and 1928. He was born near Pocahontas in Randolph County in northeastern Arkansas.

   

   

Bowers was the eighth of fifteen children of Milton Drew "Mitt" Bowers, Sr. (1850-1914), a [[Baptist]] minister and a native of Palmyra in Montgomery County near Clarksville in northern [[Tennessee]]. The senior Bowers served in the 1899 session of the Arkansas House of Representatives.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~arrandol/obits/obitsag.htm|title=Milton Drew Bowers, Sr.|publisher=rootsweb.ancestry.com|accessdate=August 13, 2012}}</ref>Bowers'  mother, the former Lucinda Angelina Pratt (1855-1934), a native of Ironton in southeastern [[Missouri]], was a daughter of Jesse Richardson Pratt and his second wife,  the former Elizabeth Gibson. Like her husband, Drew Bowers, Sr., Lucinda's father was a Baptist minister.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~arrandol/PrattFamAlbum.htm|title=The Reverend Jesse Richardson Pratt Family Album|publisher=rootsweb.ancestry.com|accessdate=August 13, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~arrandol/obits/obitsag.htm|title=Mrs. Lucinda A. Pratt Bowers|publisher=rootsweb.ancestry.com|accessdate=August 13, 2012}}</ref>

Bowers was the eighth of fifteen children of Milton Drew "Mitt" Bowers, Sr. (1850-1914), a [[Baptist]] minister and a native of Palmyra in Montgomery County near Clarksville in northern [[Tennessee]]. The senior Bowers served in the 1899 session of the Arkansas House of Representatives.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~arrandol/obits/obitsag.htm|title=Milton Drew Bowers, Sr.|publisher=rootsweb.ancestry.com|accessdate=August 13, 2012}}</ref> Bowers'  mother, the former Lucinda Angelina Pratt (1855-1934), a native of Ironton in southeastern [[Missouri]], was a daughter of Jesse Richardson Pratt and his second wife,  the former Elizabeth Gibson. Like her husband, Drew Bowers, Sr., Lucinda's father was a Baptist minister.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~arrandol/PrattFamAlbum.htm|title=The Reverend Jesse Richardson Pratt Family Album|publisher=rootsweb.ancestry.com|accessdate=August 13, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~arrandol/obits/obitsag.htm|title=Mrs. Lucinda A. Pratt Bowers|publisher=rootsweb.ancestry.com|accessdate=August 13, 2012}}</ref>

One of Bowers' nieces, Mildred Bowers (1912-1951), a daughter of his brother, J. C. Bowers, was a singer who was killed in an automobile accident near her home in Burbank, [[California]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~arrandol/obits/obitsag.htm|title=Mildred Bowers|publisher=rootsweb.ancestry.com|accessdate=August 13, 2012}}</ref>

One of Bowers' nieces, Mildred Bowers (1912-1951), a daughter of his brother, J. C. Bowers, was a singer who was killed in an automobile accident near her home in Burbank, [[California]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~arrandol/obits/obitsag.htm|title=Mildred Bowers|publisher=rootsweb.ancestry.com|accessdate=August 13, 2012}}</ref>

'''Bowers' friend [[Osro Cobb]] described him as "the finest trial lawyer I ever met. Mr. Bowers had a photographic memory. When he quoted the testimony of a witness in argument, it would be word-for-word -- with voice inflections highly similar to those of the witness.'''</blockquote>

'''Bowers' friend [[Osro Cobb]] described him as "the finest trial lawyer I ever met. Mr. Bowers had a photographic memory. When he quoted the testimony of a witness in argument, it would be word-for-word -- with voice inflections highly similar to those of the witness.'''</blockquote>

   

   

Young Bowers attended the Ouachita-Maynard Academy in Maynard, in Randolph County. This institution was one of the forerunners of Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, in Clark County in southern Arkansas.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=5974|title=Maynard Baptist Academy|publisher=encyclopediaofarkansas.net|accessdate=August 12, 2012}}</ref> Bowers then enrolled at the [[University of Arkansas]] at Fayetteville, from which he procured a teacher’s certificate in 1906. He then taught school at Clearview in Randolph County.  Meanwhile, he studied  law in the offices of lawyer friends in Pocahontas and in 1913 was admitted to the state bar. He ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for the Arkansas House in both 1908 and 1916 and for the [[United States House of Representatives]] in 1924. In his two consecutive bids for governor, he was defeated by the [[Democrats]] John Ellis Martineau and Harvey Parnell. He polled 23.6 percent of the [[general election]] vote in 1926; 22.7 percent, in 1928.<ref name=bio>{{cite web|url=http://cdm15728.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/findingaids/id/291/rec/10/|title=M. Drew Bowers Papers|publisher=http://cdm15728.contentdm.oclc.org|accessdate=August 13, 2012}}</ref>In the latter election, [[U.S. Senator]] Joseph T. Robinson of Arkansas was the Democratic nominee for [[Vice President of the United States|vice president]] on the [[Al Smith]] ticket.  

Young Bowers attended the Ouachita-Maynard Academy in Maynard, in Randolph County. This institution was one of the forerunners of Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, in Clark County in southern Arkansas.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=5974|title=Maynard Baptist Academy|publisher=encyclopediaofarkansas.net|accessdate=August 12, 2012}}</ref> Bowers then enrolled at the [[University of Arkansas]] at Fayetteville, from which he procured a teacher’s certificate in 1906. He then taught school at Clearview in Randolph County.  Meanwhile, he studied  law in the offices of lawyer friends in Pocahontas and in 1913 was admitted to the state bar. He ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for the Arkansas House in both 1908 and 1916 and for the [[United States House of Representatives]] in 1924. In his two consecutive bids for governor, he was defeated by the [[Democrats]] John Ellis Martineau and Harvey Parnell. He polled 23.6 percent of the [[general election]] vote in 1926; 22.7 percent, in 1928.<ref name=bio>{{cite web|url=http://cdm15728.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/findingaids/id/291/rec/10/|title=M. Drew Bowers Papers|publisher=http://cdm15728.contentdm.oclc.org|accessdate=August 13, 2012}}</ref> In the latter election, [[U.S. Senator]] Joseph T. Robinson of Arkansas was the Democratic nominee for [[Vice President of the United States|vice president]] on the [[Al Smith]] ticket.