To get a snapshot of the Alf Bolin family situation in springtime 1860 we only need go to the 1860 U. S. Census. The first household in Cass Township of Stone County Mo. was the Jemima Bowling (note spelling) household. Jemima declared that she was 50 years old and was a native of KY. With her were children: Larkin Bowling, age 27; Alfred Bowling, age 26; James Bowling, age 17; May (Mary) Bowling, age 14; George Bowling, age 13. Next door on the census was John Bowling, age 24 and his wife Iva Bowling, age 24 and their son Jefferson Bowling, age 2. John was a son of Jemima and a brother of Alfred.
Alfred's other brother William and his wife Prescilla Bowling are a short distance from pioneer John Inman who lived near the famous landmark, the "Inman Arch.", with 2 little children: Sarah Bowling, age 2; and John Bowling who is 6 months old.Contrary to so many articles about the murderous Alf Bolin----1860 found the 3 Bowling families to be somewhat stable. Alf Bolin even declared a considerable amount of personal property and his permanent abode was with his mother------not Calvin Cloud or John W. Bilyeu.
The census was taken by Francis Marion Gideon who was a neighbor of the Bowlings and likely lived near the current Hidden Valley Golf Course, which is on the James River southeast of Boaz and just north of Jamesville. Gideon will play a part in a future event in the life and death of Alf Bowling.So what happened to farmer and laborer Alf Bowling? The easiest answer is the coming of the CIVIL WAR!! Still, one would ask what events sparked Bowling becoming a villian and a monster?
Contemporaries of Bowling say it had to do with his mother!!?? One angle claims that Jemima Bowling had become a prostitute to support her life in the wilderness and that she eventually "took up" with a guy and moved west to never be heard of again. THAT CAN BE VERIFIED TO NOT-----NOT BE TRUE!More likely-----here is what happened-----although this cannot be totally proven, at this late date.
When the Civil War began in the spring of 1861 nearly all neighbors of the Bowlings declared for the Union cause. Your author can name family after family around future Spokane---Tory---Ponce--and Robertsons Mill (Jamesville) etc. that quickly sent fathers and sons off to places like Forsyth to join men like Captain Jesse Galloway in the crusade to keep the Union together.
Meanwhile, according to a June 20, 1872 Springfield newspaper article Alf and some of his friends had taken an oath that they would not join either side. The friends backed out on the pledge and went Union. But Alf's family really supported the Rebels, so Alf would not join up with the union and "hid out" to avoid being forced into the Union cause. Union men went to Alf's mother's shack and tried to get her to tell them where the coward was!! When she refused they gave her a whipping!!! That did it, Alf would stay in the brush and primarily seek revenge on the Union radicals. He knew nearly all the boys and men who went Union, and he would'nt care to make life miserable for them and their families.
TO BE CONTINUED