Francis M. Bowes spent most of the 1890 season with Brooklyn of the American Association, playing nearly every position save for pitcher and second base. Batting .220 – despite his versatility – meant he was better served on amateur nines. (To be fair, he was the best of the three catchers that Brooklyn employed in 1890.) Bowes is seated at the far left in the photo seen below.

In 1866, Bowes was the first of three children born to Irish imports Patrick and Anna Bowes in Bath, New York. For a while, Patrick was a principal keeper at the Sing Sing lighthouse, while Anna was a house keeper with two active kids. Patrick also worked for a time as a Brooklyn area police officer and one wonders if Anna lived in a happy home. In 1885, Frank was arrested and booked for rough, drunken behavior. Anna, who bailed out her son, begged for his release saying that she lived for her son and “…her husband would have had her in Calvary Cemetery were it not for him.”

Bowe’s first professional gig was with the Gladiators. The Brooklyn Daily Times reported that Bowes was signed for $1400 to play that season. According to the Brooklyn Eagle, the 5-9, 160 lb athlete spent the previous years playing on nearly all the good semi-pro and amateur teams of the New York area.

He missed part of the 1887 season after he broke his arm while throwing a hard curve ball.

After his season with the Gladiators, Bowes was one of the organizers of the Orchard Athletic and Baseball Club of Brooklyn. Starting in 1893 Bowes played two seasons as a first baseman with a Paterson, New Jersey semi-professional club.

Prior to his professional baseball days, Frank Bowes married Elizabeth Tracy and they had a pair of daughters.

On January 21, 1895, Bowes was shot by Willard H. Snow in a dispute near their place of employment, a box making company. Snow had docked Bowes 80 cents, and Bowes wanted his money back. When they met on a street corner, Bowes shoved Snow, who fell. As Snow got back to his feet, he pulled out a revolver and dropped Bowes, firing two extra times while Bowes was on the ground. Bowes was buried in Calvary Cemetery in Woodside, New York.

Snow was indicted, despite his pleading that he shot Bowes in self-defense. However, justice was served – not by the law, but by karma. While in jail, Snow began dealing with the latter stages of tuberculosis. In early March, a judge allowed Snow to leave jail on a large bond owing to the fact that he was dying. So, Snow was taken to a Brooklyn hospital. He died in that hospital on March 10, 1895 – just shy of seven weeks after shooting Bowes.

Notes:

“A Disorderly Young Man,” Brooklyn Daily Times, March 16, 1885: 1.
“Chips From the Diamond,” New York Sun, August 15, 1887: 3.
“Personal,” Brooklyn Daily Times, March 22, 1890: 1.
“The American Association Team,” Brooklyn Eagle, April 20, 1890: 17.
“Notes from Albany,” Brooklyn Daily Times, November 29, 1890: 1.
“{} Winter Sports,” Paterson Evening News, January 25, 1895, 1.
“Frank Bowes Shot Dead,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, January 22, 1895: 9.
“The Shooting of Frank Bowes,” Brooklyn Daily Times, January 24, 1895: 6.
“Death Quashes an Indictment,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, March 11, 1895: 1.

Also, 1870, 1880 US Census Records.