Flora Juliet Bowley (April 29, 1881 – December 30, 1966) was an American actress.

Flora Juliet Bowley
A young white woman with dark hair. She is wearing a dark garment with a white fur stoll or collar visible on one shoulder.
Flora Juliet Bowley, from a 1906 publication.
BornApril 29, 1881
San Francisco, California
DiedDecember 30, 1966
Monterey, California
Other namesFlora Hoffman
OccupationActress
RelativesAlbert Jesse Bowley Sr. (brother)

Early life

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Flora Juliet Bowley was born in San Francisco in 1881,[1] the daughter of Freeman Sparks Bowley (1846-1903) and Flora Ella Pepper Bowley (1846-1939).[2] Her father, who briefly led the 30th U.S. Colored Infantry regiment and was a prisoner-of-war in the American Civil War, was a railroad engineer who wrote several books on military topics, and a memoir.[3][4] Her mother, known as "Mother Bowley", was a beloved maternal figure at San Francisco's Presidio.[5] One of her brothers was U.S. Army general Albert Jesse Bowley Sr.[6] She graduated from Smith College.[7][8]

Career

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Bowley had a short but successful career as a stage actress.[9] She appeared in The Fortunes of the King and The Bachelor's Romance in Northampton, Massachusetts in 1905,[10] and The Lion and the Mouse in Chicago and New York in 1906.[11] She starred with Robert Edeson in Classmates on Broadway in 1907.[2] She was said to resemble the actress Mary Mannering, but they were not (as some rumors held) related to each other.[12]

Personal life

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Bowley married Julius Theodore Charles Hoffman (1848-1935) in 1914. The Hoffmans had four children. Flora Juliet Bowley Hoffman died in 1966, in Monterey, California, aged 85 years.

References

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  1. ^ "Pretty California Girl Makes a Hit at Columbia". San Francisco Call. April 5, 1906. p. 2. Retrieved July 3, 2020 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  2. ^ a b "Flora Juliet Bowley in 'Classmates'" Army & Navy Life 11(November 1907): 570.
  3. ^ Russell Duncan (2009). "Honor in Command: Lt. Freeman S. Bowley's Civil War Service in the 30th United States Colored Infantry (review)". Civil War History. 55 (4): 501–502. doi:10.1353/cwh.0.0125. ISSN 1533-6271. S2CID 144812923.
  4. ^ Bowley, Freeman Sparks (1997). A Boy Lieutenant: Memoirs of Freeman S. Bowley, a 30th United States Colored Troops Officer. Sergeant Kirkland's Museum and Historical Society. ISBN 978-1-887901-01-7.
  5. ^ "'Mother' Bowley Dies at Army Hospital". The San Francisco Examiner. April 24, 1939. p. 15. Retrieved July 3, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Col. Bowley Succumbs". The San Francisco Examiner. March 2, 1944. p. 11. Retrieved July 3, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "College Girl's Stage Success". The Kansas City Star. February 7, 1905. p. 6. Retrieved July 3, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "California Girls Stand High East". Los Angeles Herald. June 8, 1904. p. 4. Retrieved July 3, 2020 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  9. ^ "Gallery of Leading Players". The Butte Daily Post. January 15, 1908. p. 8. Retrieved July 3, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Star for One Night". Star Tribune. March 21, 1906. p. 4. Retrieved July 3, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Chicago the Home of Summer Drama". The World To-Day. 11: 791–792. August 1906.
  12. ^ "Not Related to Mannering". El Paso Herald. August 11, 1906. p. 10. Retrieved July 3, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
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