The homeplace of William Ben and Julia Callihan Dowless was located on NC Hwy 211 in Abbottsburg, NC. The home was built in the late 1930's and featured large rooms, indoor plumbing and a spiral staircase to the upper 2 levels. Ben built the home large enough to include space for his children as they grew to adulthood and married. Ben is sitting on the steps near the automobile and Julia, in her ever present apron, is standing between the huge stair cases that lead to the upper level. Ben was founder and owner of Dowless Tobacco Curers in Abbottsburg. Looking to the left side of the photo, you can see part of the Dowless Tobacco Curer manufacturing plant behind the main home. Ben was originally a farmer and later became a manufacturer and a builder, developing large tracts of property in White Lake, Elizabethtown, Bladenboro and Lumberton, NC.

Click here to view a picture of William Ben Dowless.

Click here to view a detailed report on the family of William Ben Dowless.

Click here to view the tombstone of William Ben Dowless and wife Mary Julia Callihan.

Contact Bob Dowless (BRDowless@aol.com) for more information.




Bladen County NC GenWeb

This page was last modified 19 November, 2008 .


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