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- "Elizabethton Star," Wednesday, July 2, 1930
PROMINENT FARMER HERE SHOOTS SELF
LUTHER BOWERS, Ninth District Commits Suicide Near Home This Morning.
Luther A. Bowers, 35, a prominent farmer of the ninth district, in the Blue Springs section of Carter county shot and instantly killed himself with a single barreled 12-gauge shot-gun at ten o'clock this morning, according to a decision received at noon of a coroner's jury under the charge of County Coroner Robert T. Johnson, Jr.
A single shot wound in Bowers' neck was said to be the cause of his death, and indications showed that it was self-inflicted. The shooting occurred in a roadway about a hundred yards from his home.
According to a statement of his wife, Bowers mentioned to members of his family that he believed that a fox was among his chickens, taking his gun and accompanied by his ten-year-old son, he went about a hundred yards up the road that ran by the farmhouse, and asked the boy to go into the bushes to look for the fox. It was while the boy was away that the shot was heard.
"I became alarmed as soon as I heard the shot, and felt that Luther had killed himself," said Mrs. Bowers. "He has been in ill health for a number of months, and recently has not acted as if he were in his right mind."
The son was said to have rushed back to his father when he heard the report of the gun, but Bowers was dead before the boy could reach him although only having to cover a distance of about thirty yards.
An imprint was found in the road seemingly made from the stock of the gun being placed upon the ground, Coroner Johnson said, and there were powder burns on his left hand. Members of the family who were nearby said that the report of the gun sounded as if it was muffled, or that the end of the barrel had been placed against some object.
Neighbors stated to the jury that Bowers had been acting queer for a number of days, that he would seldom talk to any one, and appeared as if some depressing matter was on his mind.
Bowers was a prominent and well-known farmer of his community, and was a descendant of an old Carter county family. He has scores of acquaintances throughout the county.
Funeral arrangements have not yet been made. The body was brought to a local undertaking establishment to be prepared for burial.
Bowers is survived by his widow and eight small children.
BOWERS, Luther A.
"Elizabethton Star," Thursday, July 3, 1930
BOWERS RITES HELD AT HOME
Funeral services for Luther A. Bowers, 34, who died at his home on Blue Springs Branch at ten o'clock yesterday morning, were held at his home this afternoon at 2:30 o'clock in charge of the Rev. Franch Wampler. Interment followed in the Bowers family cemetery.
The deceased is survived by his widow, Flora Bowers, four daughters and four sons, and his mother Mrs. Ike Morrell.
Bowers was alleged to have shot himself yesterday, believed caused by ill health of several months duration. He was a prominent farmer of Carter County and a member of one of the oldest families in this section.
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1895 - 1930 (34 years)
