Berry Bowling
Berry Bowling (1886-1921) was a Scott County man who was lynched after being accused of murdering two people.
Biography
Born July 23, 1886, Berry Bowling was the son of Harrison Bowling (1854-1918) and Nancy Hutson. He had several siblings, including Amon Bowling (1881-1912), John E. Bowling (1883-1915), and Wiley Bowling (1895-1931).
He was named after his grandfather, Greenberry “Berry” Bowling, who was the first of the Bowling family to settle at Bull Creek south of Huntsville.
Bowling married Nancy Jane GIbson (1889-1937) in 1908. She was the daughter of Wiley Gibson (1858-1935) and Elizabeth Ann Harness (1871-1941). Like the Bowling family, the Gibson family lived at Bull Creek. Nancy Jane’s grandfather, Thomas Gibson, moved his family from Kentucky to Bull Creek in the mid 1800s.
Berry and Nancy Jane had five children, who were between the ages of one and 11 when he was murdered. They were Leoda (1909-1980), Oma Holloway (1914-1988), Obis (1914-1999), Obie (1917-1990) and Ona Monroe (1920-1988).
Murder Charges
Bowling was charged with killing William Harness, age 72, in 1921. He was an elderly father of 16 children who had first been married to Elvina Brown, then later to Mary Jane Lawson. Mary Jane had first been married to John E. Bowling.
The records are a source of confusion. For example, some online sources suggest that William Harness and Mary Jane Bowling were married in 1891. However, Bowling’s first wife — Elvina — did not die until 1915. The 1910 census finds them still living together with five of their children, ranging in age from 14 to 28. And Elvina’s headstone at Bowling Harness Cemetery at Bull Creek states that she was the wife of William Harness — which it likely would not have if they had been divorced. Likewise, Mary Jane’s first husband, John Bowling, did not die until 1915. Her headstone lists her as “Mary Jane, Wife of John Bowling.” But newspapers at the time of her death identified her as Mary Jane Harness, wife of William Harness. Mary Jane was about 40 years younger than William.
What appears to have occurred is that William and Mary Jane were married at some point after their spouses died in 1915. The 1920 census finds them living together — as William Harness and Mary Jane Harness — with six of their children and two grandchildren.
William Harness was shot at his home in February 1921. The Journal & Tribune newspaper named Berry Bowling as the suspect, stating Bowling “went to the home of the deceased, and while there shot him with a pistol.” The newspaper further stated that Bowling fled and hid in the mountains until he was arrested on Feb. 11 by Sheriff Mitchell Phillips and deputies James Potter and Marion Phillips.
The newspaper identified Bowling only as Harness’s neighbor. However, there was a connection: Mary Jane’s first husband, John Bowling, was Berry Bowling’s brother.
Bowling stood trial in March 1921. Prosecutors argued that Bowling “was showing much attention to Mrs. Harness and her daughter, and it was the state’s theory that Bowling fearing Harness would learn of the fact had killed him,” as the Knoxville Sentinel later reported.
Attorneys for Bowling, meanwhile, argued that the tragedy was an accident, that Bowling did not know the pistol was loaded when he pointed it at Harness.
The court proceedings ended in mistrial. Two jurors wanted to convict Bowling of first degree murder, and 10 wanted to convict him of manslaughter. They could not reach an agreement.
Two months later, on May 4, 1921, Mary Jane Harness was shot and killed.
According to the Knoxville Sentinel, Mary Jane had testified against Berry at his trial. The newspaper said, “Her testimony was most incriminating, and this is believed by some to have led Bowling to kill her.”
Mary Jane’s oldest child, Leamon, who was about 11 at the time, witnessed both of the murders — first William Harness, then his mother, Mary Jane.
According to newspaper reports, Bowling’s mother — Nancy — and his nephew were both present when he killed Mary Jane. The Knoxville Sentinel reported: “She and Bowling’s nephew begged him not to shoot after they had seen him draw his revolver. However, Bowling fired three times, killing Mrs. Harness almost instantly.”
Following his arrest, Bowling pleaded insanity before Squire W.A. Terry. He was ordered held without bond.
The Lynching
On the night of May 6, 1921, a mob of somewhere between 25 and 50 masked men — depending on the newspaper giving an account of the incident — kidnapped Bowling from the Scott County Jail in Huntsville. The jailer, Mart Chambers, and his wife, Nancy, were the only people at the jail at the time. Sheriff Phillips told reporters that the mob told Chambers they had a prisoner, and when he opened the door to the jail, they overpowered him and “took possession of the prisoner.”
“Jailer Chambers was awakened about midnight Saturday by some one calling at the jail door,” the Knoxville Sentinel reported. “He was told that it was an officer with a prisoner … He unlocked the jail door, and as it swung open, masked men stepped up to him, drawing their pistols and ordering Jailer Chambers and his wife to throw up their hands. Keys were then taken from the jailer, which the mob used to get in the cell where Bowling was confined.”
According to the newspaper report, some of the masked men guarded the jailer and his wife, while others dragged Bowling from his jail cell. He was taken to a white oak tree near the jail and hanged. According to reports, the rope broke the first time, and a second rope was used to hang him.
“The body was then riddled with bullets, after which the masked men went away, leaving the corpse to be cut down by officers hwen they went to the scene early Sunday morning.”
Chambers told reporters that the identity of the vigilantes was unknown. “There is nothing which might show their identity,” he said.
Aftermath
Bowling was buried at the Bowling Harness Cemetery at Bull Creek. William and Mary Jane Harness are also buried there, along with Bowling’s father, Harrison Bowling, and his grandfather, Greenberry “Berry” Bowling.
Nancy Jane Gibson Bowling, Berry’s widow, died in 1937 and was buried at Bull Creek Cemetery. The last of their children, Obis Bowling, died in 1999.
Read More: The Lynching of Berry Bowling (Murders in the Heartland)