Lowern was born April 1, 1906 in Wiley’s Cove, which is now renamed to Leslie, in Searcy County, Arkansas to George Wilhelm and Celia McCullough. He lived in Wiley’s Cove/Leslie until 1920. He does not appear in the Leslie High School band or basketball team, I already checked that. I found no record of Lowern graduating. I dug a little more and found his social security application. In 1920, after May, but before September, he moved to Olyphant, Arkansas in Jackson County. I know this because the Wilhelm family appears on the 1920 census as living in Leslie, Arkansas, but in September, Lowern, both his parents, and one sister applied for Social Security Numbers with Olyphant, Arkansas as their residence. There’s no high school in Olyphant, so it is very likely none of the Wilhelm children attended school after they moved to White County as the nearest school was in Oil Trough, Arkansas where Eva lived.
In 1920, Lowern was 13 years old, two of his half brothers were married with new babies and they stayed in Searcy County. Homer was married and staying behind in Maumee, Arkansas with their first son and Arthur was a very young widow having just re-married again with a new son. Homer and Arthur lived near each other until 1930 when Homer moved to Missouri, then Kansas. His oldest brother, Grant Wilhelm, was already married with children and he married again in Harrison, Arkansas in 1930. Homer shows up as enlisting with an Olyphant address so at some point they all went to Olyphant, Arkansas. Lowern is Celia’s oldest biological child, then there’s Aline, Thema, and Lee.
Lowern’s dad George was a land clearer. People would hire him to clear land. I am still researching exactly what makes a land clearer different from a logger. I believe it’s where he is hired to make the land ready for farming or for building on. He likely worked with explosives. George and Celia also made moonshine and passed the skill on to confirmed Lowern and Lee. I haven’t found evidence Lowern’s half brothers did this, as they went on to be miners and an actual logger. That’s how I know George was not mislabeled as land clearer in place of “logging”, because it’s there on the same census where Arthur is specifically a logger.
After living in Olyphant for four years, from 1920 to 1924, Lowern married Eva Nola Bell Seamon in Olyphant, Arkansas. Eva was born near there in Oil Trough, White, Arkansas. Lowern was 18 and Eva was 20 years old. Eva appears on the 1930 census as having attended school through high school so she likely graduated from Oil Trough school in 1922. I have no proof of this. Just a logical conclusion based on the facts I have- census says she graduated, in 1920 she lived in Oil Trough, Arkansas, and she got married 2 years after graduation.
Lowern and Eva live in Olyphant, AR and her dad and brothers lived in Oil Trough in 1924, according to the marriage records. Then their firstborn, Araminta is born in their home in Harrison, Arkansas two years later. I looked through the events surrounding Olyphant, Arkansas and found that the National Park Service declared a large area a national preserve, meaning no more land clearing. George and Celia moved to Harrison because that is Celia’s hometown, and Lowern and Eva followed to be near family- Lowern appears in the stave mill employee rolls in 1926. He also had his first Harrison arrest on December 9, 1928. Minta was 1 and Betty was a baby then. His home at 721 E Ridge Street, Harrison, AR was raided many times, but Lowern escaped capture several times.
Lowern was arrested 10 more times, each time for having moonshine in his house, violating Prohibition Laws. July 7, 1929; August 4, 1929, July 9, 1930, April 3, 1931, July 11, 1931, October 16, 1932, February 24, 1933, March 8, 1933, April 28, 1933 and May 18, 1933. I can’t post the articles on this blog due to copyright issues, but you can look at the Harrison Daily Times on these dates to read the articles. Often his brother Lee was also involved. The arresting U.S. Marshals were Rufus Adair, Berry Jackson, Isaac Stapleton, J.L. Boen, and Bruce Wilcox, Prohibition Agents. He was fired from the stave mill and Lowern did not like that, so he set fire to the stave cooperage mill, then harassed attendants of the Assemblies of God church. Lowern’s lawyer was often Bob Derryberry.
His wife, Eva Nola Bell died in 1938 when Lowern was 31 years old. Eva was surrounded by her 4 daughters when she passed away and her father. Eva’s pall bearers were Charles White, Gus Jenkins, Robert Hale, Dave Woodard, WW Porter, and Vander Fiser.
Lowern leaves behind the home at 721 E Ridge Street when his wife died and moves his daughters in with his mother, Celia. They lived on E Rush Street with his father in law next door. I found no records of run ins with the law, but Prohibition did end at this time. He appears on the 1940 census as working at the cooperage, but it must be a different one from the one he burnt down. I am not finding records on this new mill he worked at.
He died on March 5, 1942 from tuberculosis at 36 years old at the tuberculosis ward of the Harrison Hospital. His pall bearers were Lee Wilhelm, Bill Smothers, Shortly Long, Floyd Coiner and Charles Gregory.
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