Clara E. (Bradley) Fowler

 

Clara E. (Bradley) Fowler

Born:  April 25, 1890

Birthplace:  Brady, TX

Parents:  Joseph and Sarah Bradley

Died:  March 11, 1983

Clara Fowler was born April 25, 1889, near Brady, TX to Joseph H. Bradley and Sarah E. (Terry) Bradley.  Clara had two siblings:  a sister, Cora Bradley, and brother, Ocie Bradley.

When Sarah died on June 2, 1892, Clara and Cora were adopted by Pascal and Mary L. Fowler.  In 1910, Pascal and Mary moved from Texas to New Mexico, filing on half sections of land joining one another.  Clara and Cora filed homesteads south of their adopted parents between state and school properties just west of Hobbs.  Clara Fowler filed for a homestead on the west half of Section 32 in Township 18 south of Range 38 east. She “proved up” on the claim and got her patent on the 320-acre homestead on November 5, 1917, the same year Lea County was formed.  The location of that homestead was in the area where now West County Road ties in with 62-180 (the Carlsbad Hwy).

Pascal died September 4, 1911, which prompted Cora and Clara to move in with their adopted mother until her death on June 27, 1916.  When Cora died on April 26, 1917, Ocie Bradley moved to Hobbs to help Clara with the stock and ranching properties.  Ocie died on October 7, 1929.  Sometime before 1940, Clara moved in with Steve and Charlcia Taylor, where she lived until her death on March 11, 1983.

As time went on, Clara along with Charlcia Taylor and the Taylor ranch raised Polled Hereford cattle and were even part of a 1968 nationwide sale of cattle to Santiago, Chile, South America, shipping 80 head of their Polled Herefords by ship.  The Chilean government wanted to improve the country’s domestic herds and sent veterinarians and cattlemen to the United States to find cattle suitable for the project.  The cattle of Clara Fowler and Charlcia Taylor met the needs of the Chilean government.  Again in 1969 Clara Fowler and Charlcia Taylor sent 88 head to Chile but this time the Fowler/Taylor cattle went by jet cargo plane.  

Clara was a charter member of the First Baptist Church of Hobbs in 1938, along with W.L. Greebon, Virgil Linam, B.J. Caudill, and L.E. Lake.  She was a member of the Open Range Cowboy Association and was chosen as their Cowboys’ Sweetheart in 1968.  She was also a member of the Lovington Rebekah Lodge.