1863 Oct 20
Anson Bowen Call (Bowen) is born to Anson Call and Mariah Bowen Call in Bountiful, Utah. He was raised by Mary, Anson’s first wife. His first years of school were in their home. He loved spelling and penmanship. He learned to pray daily in the special prayer room on top of the house.
1872 Oct 20
Baptized by his father in the Bountiful mill pond (age 9).
1877 Aug 13
Drove a buggy with family members to Brigham Young’s funeral (age 13).
Circa 1878
Took a buggy and wheelbarrow to Salt Lake City to gather granite chips scattered by the stone cutters as they cut stones for the temple.
1879
Was active in the YMMIA (age 16).
1881
Davis County paid his way to study at the University of Deseret, where 233 students were then enrolled. The university, now the University of Utah, was located at 200 West and 400 North in Salt Lake City in a long two-story adobe building (age 17).
1884
Was ordained to the office of an elder (age 21). In those days, Church policy was to have only 12 deacons in a quorum, and he was not ordained to the Aaronic priesthood.
1884-85
Taught school in Bountiful. Was paid $40 per month (age 21-22).
1885 Nov 04
Married Mary Theresa Thompson (she was 17 and he was 22) after courting for two years. Married in the two-year-old Logan Temple. It was required that Saints be rebaptized prior to being married in the temple.
1886 Oct 06
Ethel Vententia was born to Theresa in Bountiful.
1887 Summer
Moved to Star Valley, Wyoming (age 23). Taught school for two years.
1888 Feb 01
Athelia Viola was born to Theresa in Star Valley.
1888
Became engaged to Harriet (Hattie) Cazier (Harriet was 17 or 18 and Bowen was 24 or 25). Her father was bishop in Star Valley.
1889 Jun 12
Harriet was endowed in the Logan Temple (she was 19 and Bowen was 25)., but they were not allowed to be married at that time. Bowen went to President Wilford Woodruff for advice. He told Bowen to sell all he had and move to Mexico. They went back to Star Valley and moved the following year.
1889 Dec 16
Ivis Pamela was born to Theresa in Star Valley.
1890 Aug 31
Bowen’s father, Anson Call, passed away in Bountiful (Bowen was 26 and his father was 80).
1890 Nov 27
Bowen, Theresa and three daughters, and Hattie left for Mexico.
1890 Dec 11
Bowen and Hattie were married and sealed in Colonia Juarez (Bowen was 27 and Hattie was 20).
1892 Aug 17
Cleo Afton was born to Theresa in Colonia Dublan.
1892 Sep 22
Clella May was born to Harriet in Colonia Dublan. Cleo and Clella were called their Mormon twins. Bowen taught school in Dublan and opened his own general merchandise store. He also owned and operated a farm.
1893
Call, Harris, and Bentley formed a partnership named the Dublan Co-op (age 29 or 30).
1894 Spring
While walking down a field arm in arm with Theresa and Hattie, Bowen had a distinct impression that he would lose one of his wives.
1894 May 06
Harriet, Bowen’s second wife, died after a three-day illness of consumption (she was age 24). She was buried in the Dublan cemetery.
1894 Aug
Bowen saw a vision of his father, who had died in 1890, at the foot of his bed. His father was holding a book, a record of Bowen’s life. His father indicated that the book was only one-third completed. Bowen, from that time forward, believed he would live to the age of 85 or older.
1895 Feb 20
Bowen was called on a two-year mission to England. Partners Harris and Bentley cared for his family. In Norwich, England, Bowen was a companion to his older brother Willard. Bowen was age 31. While on his mission, Bowen and several companions were watching a celebration where rockets were being fired. He had a very definite prompting to move from where they stood. They moved, and a few minutes later a rocket struck and killed a man who was standing where they had stood.
1895 June 03
Harriet Elizabeth was born to Theresa in Bountiful while Bowen was in England.
1896 May 27
Harriet Elizabeth, daughter of Theresa, died, age 11 months. Bowen never met this child.
1897 Jun
Bowen was released after completing his mission and returned home (age 33).
1898 Mar 01
Mildred Theresa was born to Theresa in Colonia Dublan.
1898 Mar 11
Bowen was married and sealed to Dora Pratt in Colonia Dublan (he was 34 and she was 19).
1899 Jul 03
Florence Leah was born to Dora in Colonia Dublan.
1900 Jul 04
Anson Bowen Call Jr. was born to Theresa in Colonia Dublan. He was the first son after Bowen’s 8 daughters
1901 Oct 28
Charles Helaman was born to Dora in Colonia Dublan.
1902 Dec 14
Gaius Delmar was born to Theresa in Colonia Dublan.
1903 Jan 21
Bowen was married and sealed to Julia Sarah Abegg in Colonia Dublan (she was 18 and he was 39).
1904 Jan 04
Waldo Noel was born to Dora.
1904 Feb 09
Florence Leah, daughter of Dora, passed away.
1904 Aug 01
Dora, Bowen’s third wife, passed away in Colonia Dublan after a brief illness at age 25. Dora’s children Charles and Waldo were raised by Theresa.
1905 Dec 12
Velan David was born to Theresa in Colonia Dublan.
1906 May 28
Lorna was born to Julia in Colonia Dublan.
1909 Aug 21
Ara Om was born to Julia in Colonia Dublan.
1910-16
Much political unrest and several revolutions in Mexico.
1911 May 25
President Profidio Diaz resigned in Mexico City after 29 years as president and dictator of Mexico.
1912 Mar 01
Twins Omer Lehi and Homer Eli were born to Julia in Colonia Dublan.
1912 Mar 22
Omer, son of Julia, died.
1912 Jul 27
At the demands of the revolutionaries, the Saints turned over their guns, pistols, and ammunition.
1912 Jul 28
First exodus from the Mormon Colonies. 2,500 people, mostly women and children, left by train in boxcars to El Paso, Texas.
1912 Aug 01
The men of the Mormon Colonies gathered in Colonia Juarez and then went to the mountains (The Stairs) and buried stake records and rode horseback 150 miles to the US border at Hachita, New Mexico.
1912 Aug 13
The men took trains from Hachita to El Paso and met their families. Bowen became head of the commissary for the US government, in charge of distribution of food and supplies to the Saints (age 48).
1912 Aug 22
Theresa, Julia, and ten children arrived by train in Bountiful, Utah. The US government provided free passage for the Saints.
1912 Oct 30
Bowen was released from commissary duties. He secured employment in a clothing store in El Paso earning $2.50 per day.
1912 Nov 30
Bowen returned to Dublan by train to be a leader church and civic matters. Other Saints also returned to the Colonies.
1913 Jun 16
Apostle Anthony W. Ivins promised Bowen that “the Lord would spare his life if he remained faithful.”
1913 end of Jun
Bowen met Theresa, Julia, and ten children in Columbus, New Mexico. They all returned to Dublan by wagon.
1913 Oct 01
Homer, son of Julia, died, age 19 months.
1913 Nov 18
Bowen faced a firing squad but was spared at the last moment. He and three captors went to Colonia Juárez and raised US $200 ransom.
1914 Apr 25
Second exodus: Bowen, Theresa, Julia, and twelve children left Mexico, again due to political unrest. Theresa and children went to Hachita, New Mexico, to stay with Eugene and Ethel Call Romney, her oldest daughter. Julia and children went to Binghampton, Arizona, near Tucson, to live with her mother Louisa Abegg Done.
1914 Jun 11
Ola was born to Julia in Binghampton.
1914 Nov 30
The family returned to the colonies by wagon.
1915 May 11
Bowen was ordained bishop in Dublan (age 51) by Anthony W. Ivins. He served as bishop for 29 years, until Dec 3, 1944.
1915 Sep
Pancho Villa and his troops arrived in Dublan by railroad, bringing 10,000 men and 8,000 horses. They stayed for 22 days, camping on the streets and sidewalks of Dublan. After Villa and his troops departed, it poured rain for 2 days, washing away the filth and debris the troops and horses left behind.
1916 Mar 09
Pancho Villa raided Columbus, New Mexico.
1916 Mar 13
Villa and his troops passed by Dublan at 3:00 a.m., miraculously without any disturbance. See the account in the book cited below.
1916 Mar 17
General John J. Pershing, US Army, and his troops arrived in Dublan, making camp one mile north of town. They brought airplanes and a number of Dodge trucks.
1916 Nov 11
Fulvia was born to Julia in Colonia Dublan.
1917 Jan 30
Pershing and troops left Dublan. Bowen’s family rode in a military ambulance to Columbus, New Mexico, arriving February 5. There were 10,690 US soldiers; 9,307 horses; 2,300 Mexican locals; 533 Chinese locals; and 197 Americans (including a few of the Saints) in a dusty 5-mile-long wagon caravan consisting of some 500 outfits. They were welcomed in Columbus with great festivities. Bowen, Theresa and children then moved to Verdin, New Mexico. Julia and children returned to Binghampton, Arizona.
1917 end of June
Julia and children took the train to Bowie, Arizona, where they were met by Bowen and Waldo. From there they drove by wagon to Dublan.
1919 Mar 12
Adro Thon was born to Julia in Colonia Dublan.
1920 Mar 18
Clella, daughter of Harriet, died in Colonia Dublan, age 27.
1921 Jul 04
Nelda was born to Julia in Colonia Dublan.
1923 Oct 22
Vesta was born to Julia in Colonia Dublan.
1925 Mar 02
Waldo, son of Dora, and Thon, son of Julia, were brutally murdered near Colonia Dublan while transporting a wagonload of freight to a nearby ranch.
1925 Jul 08
Ola, daughter of Julia, died in Colonia Dublan, age 11.
1925 Sep 06
Ruth was born to Julia in Colonia Dublan.
1927 May 25
Arnold Bowen was born to Julia in Colonia Dublan.
1929 Dec 02
Eran Abegg was born to Julia in Colonia Dublan.
1937 Jul 27
Julia died in El Paso of a blood clot following a hysterectomy, age 51.
1939 Sep 05
Velan, son of Theresa, died of typhoid in Dublan.
1943 Mar 03
Bowen was ordained a patriarch in Dublan by George Albert Smith (age 79).
1944 Dec 03
Bowen was released from his calling as bishop (age 81), having served as both bishop and patriarch for two years and having been bishop for 29 years and a counselor in the bishopric for 16 years prior to being bishop.
1957 Oct 30
Mary Theresa Call died in Dublan, age 89.
1958 Jan 2
Anson Bowen Call died in Colonia Dublan, age 94.
For much greater detail relative to the events recorded in this timeline, please refer to the book Anson Bowen Call, Bishop of Colonia Dublan, by Lorna Call Alder. Copies may be available from Lynn Alder.