Rainwater Brothers Store in Morrillton, Arkansas

Gaye Bell Cooper of Dexter, Missouri tells us that this postcard was mailed to her Great-Great-Grandfather, Owen M. Bowman, who owned a mercantile store in Formosa, Arkansas on 4 September 1900. It is inscribed “Think about us as good fellows” and signed Rainwater & Clerks.

Assuming that this was a promotional postcard, we believe that the fellow in the driver’s seat of the wagon was probably a Rainwater. One or more of those standing in the wagon are also likely Rainwaters.

These men are probably James Wood Rainwater and Night W. Rainwater, both of whom lived in Morrillton at the time. The 1900 census lists James and Night as merchants living in the same household, along with their widowed mother Marguerite. Three other siblings also lived in Morrillton. Loid Rainwater was a banker; Homer Cloud was a surgeon for the Pacific Railway; Effie Rainwater Echols lived with her husband Rufus Echols. One sister, Jennie Rainwater Garrett had died in 1890, and their father, James Anderson Rainwater, had died in 1889.

James Wood Rainwater married Carrie Belle Cherry on 26 Dec 1896 in Dallas, Texas. They were the parents of Olive K., born ca 1902, and Margaret T., born ca 1904. Wood, as he was generally called, died in 1930. He was a member of the Grand Lodge of Arkansas.

Night W. Rainwater never married, and died in 1921. He was also a member of the Grand Lodge of Arkansas.

Loid C. Rainwater married Rebecca Rea Dowdle in 1901. They were the parents of Loid C. Jr., who died at the age of 5, Katherine, born ca 1980, and Allen, born after 1910.

Homer Cloud Rainwater married Pearl Rivers McCracken on 13 Dec 1892 in Orleans Parish, Louisiana. They were the parents of Cloudy Night Rainwater, born in September 1894. Homer died in 1902, and Pearl made her living as a college art instructor.

Effie Rainwater married Rufus Echols on 31 Oct 1894 in Conway Co., Arkansas. They were the parents of three children: James, born August 1896, Margaret, born ca 1903, and Edith, born ca 1910. Rufus died between 1910 and 1920.

See the entire postcard

Credits
Contributed by Gaye Bell Cooper

© 2018 Susan Chance-Rainwater
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License