Walter was severely injured when a team of horses ran away with him when he was a young man. He never fully recovered from his injuries and was considered mentally below normal in some respects, though he was an industrious worker. He was cared for the last years of his life by his brother Edwin, who found Walter difficult to care for as he was paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair, [after suffering a stroke in abt July or Aug, 1920] in addition to his mental condition. [p. 83 & 99 Cowart]

Walter owned his own property, and traveled extensively on his own, so that his mental capacity was probably pretty good prior to his stroke. Walter never married.


Hartford Day Spring Newspaper, 28 July, 1920, p. 5
Walter McGowan. of Lawrence, who was taken seriously ill at Vandalia. is at the Lee hospital in Dowagiac


From the Hartford Day Spring newspaper, 30 Nov 1921, p. 2, Southwest Lawrence Walter McGowan who has been seriously
ill for some time passed away last Wednesday, Nov. 23. The funeral was held at Lawrence where he was buried Friday. Walter will be remembered by many readers of the Day
Spring and leaves a host of friends and relatives.

From The Decatur Republican Newspaper, Thursday, December 1, 1921 in Corwin news section:

"Walter McGowan passed away at his brother Ed's Wednesday, who had cared for him nearly two years. He had been practically helpless. The funeral was held at the M. E. church at Lawrence and burial beside his father and mother."

His nephew Raymond S. McGowan was appointed executor of the estate at the request of Walter's brother, Oscar. Estate papers show that Walter had loaned money to relatives and friends (three mortgages), had liberty bonds, cash, and real estate in Vandalia worth $700, a rented house. After the home was sold, and all debts collected, his estate was valued at $3614.07, and was divided 11 ways among his 8 surviving siblings and the 16 nieces and nephews, children of his three deceased siblings.
Estate file reel 66, book S, file 8439, Van Buren Co, MI