Countelow M. Bowles

Countelow M. Bowles (born c. 1840) was a cooper, soldier, and state legislator.^[1] He served in the Mississippi House of Representatives and Mississippi Senate.^[2] He was a Republican and African American.^[3][4][5]

Born in about 1840 in Virginia he lived in Cleveland for a few years leading up to the American Civil War.^[6]

Bowles joined the 38th United States Colored Infantry Regiment just before the end of the American Civil War in March 1865.^[7] He was soon promoted to Corporal before being discharged the following year.^[1]

He was elected onto the board of the Bolivar County police in 1869.^[6]

Bowles was elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives for the 1870-1871 session, and then served in the Mississippi Senate from 1872 until 1874 and again 1877-1878.^[6] He had been removed from his position in 1874 as he had not been in Mississippi for over four months.^[8]

See also

• African-American officeholders during and following the Reconstruction era

References

1. "Countelow M. Bowles – Against All Odds". Retrieved 10 September 2022.
2. The Official and Statistical Register of the State of Mississippi. Department of Archives and History. 1904. p. 155.
3. History of Bolivar County, Mississippi. Reprint Company. 1976. ISBN 9780871522306.
4. Reconstruction in Mississippi. Macmillan. 1901.
5. From Cotton Field to Schoolhouse: African American Education in Mississippi, 1862-1875. UNC Press Books. April 2012. ISBN 9781469601335.
6. Foner, Eric (1 August 1996). Freedom's Lawmakers: A Directory of Black Officeholders During Reconstruction. LSU Press. p. 22. ISBN 978-0-8071-2082-8. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
7. "Civil War Enlistment Record – Against All Odds". Retrieved 10 September 2022.
8. "Exit Bowles". The Clarion-Ledger. 9 April 1874. p. 2. Retrieved 10 September 2022.