Among those who are doing effective work in connection with the development of the rich oil fields of northeastern Oklahoma is numbered H. H. Bowen, a successful operator residing at Ochelata, who is the possessor of considerable creative ability which he has utilized to good advantage in this field of activity. He was born in Adams County, Ohio, October 27, 1868, of the marriage of Reuben R. and Kate Bowen, the former a native of Virginia, while the latter was born in Ohio and was left an orphan when but an infant. The father devoted his attention to the buying of timber and became a pioneer of Indiana, passing away in 1907.
H. H. Bowen acquired his education in the common schools of Indiana and in 1905 he came to Oklahoma, first locating at Bartlesville and later removing to Ochelata, where he entered the oil business, in which he has been very successful. He owns improved property in both Bartlesville and Ochelata and has a one hundred and thirty acre tract of land situated two and a half miles southwest of Ochelata, on which he has five wells which at first produced one hundred and fifty barrels per day, while their present output is about forty barrels daily. He has done all of the development work on this property with his own funds and has devoted much thought to oil development work, which has resulted in the invention of a sand trap for oil wells, and he has also invented a wench for pulling rods and tubing from oil wells, the device being so made that it can be adjusted to the rear wheels of an automobile, which furnishes the motive power and is a great saving over the old method. Mr. Bowen is also interested in the Ochelata Mercantile Company and likewise owns a farm of one hundred and forty acres near Fort Recovery, in Mercer County, Ohio, and has made nine trips from Oklahoma to that state by automobile.
In 1902 Mr. Bowen was united in marriage to Miss Dora Cochran, a native of Indiana and a daughter of William and Anna (Brown) Cochran, who were also born in the Hoosier state. To this union has been born a daughter, Magdalene M., who is attending Forest Park College at St. Louis, Missouri. Mr. Bowen owns two residences, one being at Bartlesville and the other at Ochelata. He is a keen, farsighted business man whose energy and determination have enabled him to carry forward to a successful issue whatever he has undertaken, and Oklahoma has greatly benefited through his labors.