Memorial Record of Western Kentucky, Lewis Publishing Company, 1904,
pp 465-467 [McCracken]

     CAPTAIN JOSEPH H. FOWLER is widely and favorably known among
navigators of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers and their tributaries, and
scarcely less well known by men of business affairs in towns and cities
situated on these rivers, his acquaintance extending throughout a wide
territory, and he is held in high esteem by all.  The Captain is a
native of Kentucky, having been born in Livingston county, April 26,
1833, and comes of an old and distinguished family of that state.  His
parents were the late Judge Wiley P. and Arminta (Given) Fowler, the
former of whom was one of the noblest of men, an able and brilliant
lawyer and jurist of Kentucky.
     He was a native of Smith county, Tennessee, born in the year 1799,
and was a son of Godfrey Fowler, a native of South Carolina, of English
descent, and a pioneer of Tennessee, whose many virtues and great
ability made him a highly respected citizen of the several communities
in which he made his home.
     Judge Fowler married Arminta Given, a native of Kentucky and a
daughter of Dickson G. Given, also a native of Kentucky and of
Scotch-Irish extraction.  In early life they resided at Smithland, but
later located in Paducah.  Five children were born to them, namely: Dickson
G., Joseph H., J. W. P. and L. A.  Early in life Judge Fowler embraced
the profession of a lawyer, and soon rose to prominence among the
members of the bar of Kentucky.  In 1840 he was appointed judge of what
was then the first judicial district of Kentucky, and extended from
Henderson to Hickman, but later changes were made in the judicial
district.  For thirty-five years he remained on the circuit court bench,
retiring about 1875.  As a jurist he won an enviable reputation.  He
possessed a clear, analytical mind, and had a profound knowledge of the
law.  He presided over the court with a dignity well worthy of the
ermine he wore.  His decisions were characteristic of justice, equity
and a thorough knowledge of the law involved.  He left to the rising
generations a life record well worthy of emulation, an to his family the
richest of heritages, that of an honored and untarnished name.  In 1990
he passed away in death, having lived a little more than four score
years, being eighty-one years old at the time of his demise.  His
remains were borne to Smithland, his former home, and there interred,
the last sad rites being performed by the Masonic fraternity, of which
he was an honored member.  Judge Fowler was revered and loved by all who
knew him, and in his death there passed away one whose life had graced
the community and enriched the biographical annals of the state in which
he had lived.
     Captain Joseph H. Fowler was reared in Princeton, Kentucky, and
there educated in Cumberland College.  In 1849, when only sixteen years
of age, he started in life for himself, beginning what has been an
unbroken, eventful and successful life in the wharf and steamboat
business.  For years he has been a conspicuous figure among those
interested in navigation upon the Ohio and Mississippi rivers.  Among
the many financial and industrial enterprises with which he has been
identified may be mentioned: The Fowler Wharfboat Company, of which he is
vice president; the Evansville, Paducah and Cairo Packet Line, of
which he is president.  To him and his associates is due much credit for
the maintenance of river navigation, and among those who have
contributed much toward the upbuilding [sic] of Paducah he has always
been a prominent figure.  His home has long been in the city, and he has
ever taken a deep interest in public affairs.  In politics he is a
stanch Democrat, and for many years has served as chairman of the
council of the city, having first been elected to the office in 1867. 
He is a member of the Methodist church, to which he is a very liberal
contributor.  Fraternally he is a member of the Ancient Order of United
Workmen.
     In 1855 Captain Fowler and Miss Mattie E. Leech were married.  She
is a native of Livingston county, Kentucky, and with grace and fidelity
has presided over his home.  The following children were born to their
marriage: Given, Mellie Arminta, Mattie, Josephine, Rose B. Mellie
married Dr. F. T. Davis, who was a successful physician of Paducah, but
died in 1888; Mattie married Cook Husbands, teller of the American-German
National Bank of Paducah; while Josephine is the widow of E. M. Post, who
was interested with the H. B. Claflin Company, of New York city, and died
in 1900.
     Captain Fowler has passed the three score year and ten milestone of
life, but is still a well preserved man and very active in business
affairs.  His has been a strenuous and useful life, and one filled with
good deeds, great works, through which and his own pleasing personality
he has made numerous friends.

Fowler Given Leech Davis Husbands Post
=
Livingston-KY Smith-TN SC Henderson-KY Hickman-KY Caldwell-KY

http://www.rootsweb.com/~kygenweb/kybiog/mccracken/fowler.jh.txt