Early life

Gowen was born in Philadelphia in 1855, the son of James Emmet Gowen and Clementine Innes. His father was a noted railroad lawyer and his uncle, Franklin B. Gowen

Franklin B. Gowen

Franklin Benjamin Gowen served as president of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad in the 1870s and 1880s....

, was a president of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad. Francis Gowen attended the University of Pennsylvania, but left during his junior year to study law. After passing the Pennsylvania Bar, he practiced law with his father until James Gowen's death in 1885. His uncle, Franklin B. Gowen, continued to practice law after his tenure as president of the Philadelphia & Reading ended in 1883, and Francis Gowen joined his uncle's firm after his father's death. During this time, Gowen also became a director of the Girard Trust Company

Mellon Financial

Mellon Financial Corporation, was one of the world's largest money management firms. Based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, it was in the business of institutional and high-net-worth-individual asset management, including the Dreyfus family of mutual funds; business banking; and shareholder and...

, a large banking firm in Philadelphia. After his uncle's sudden death in 1889, Francis I. Gowen formed a practice with James E. Hood and Charles E. Ingersoll.

Oklahoma Connection

The Choctaw Coal and Railway Company had been established in Oklahoma Territory to construct a railroad, and to own and operate coal mines in Indian Territory

Indian Territory

The Indian Territory, also known as the Indian Territories and the Indian Country, was land set aside within the United States for the settlement of American Indians...

 and Oklahoma Territory

Oklahoma Territory

The Territory of Oklahoma was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 2, 1890, until November 16, 1907, when it was joined with the Indian Territory under a new constitution and admitted to the Union as the State of Oklahoma.-Organization:Oklahoma Territory's...

. Girard Trust Company held much of the financial paper for this company, and when it was forced into receivership due to financial difficulties, Francis Gowen was appointed co-receiver with Edwin D. Chadick on January 8, 1891. When the railroad emerged from receivership on October 1, 1894, Francis Gowen was named president of the new company, now known as the Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad

Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad

The Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad , known informally as the "Choctaw Route," was an American railroad located in located in Arkansas, and Oklahoma. The company, originally known as the Choctaw Coal and Railway Company, completed its main line between West Memphis, Arkansas and western...

.

The CO&G was heavily involved in both rail transportation and coal mining, in much the same fashion as the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad under Franklin Gowen's leadership a decade earlier. The company owned and operated several large coal mines in Indian Territory, including one large mine at the new mining community of Gowen, located east of McAlester.  Under the leadership of Francis Gowen, the Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf gradually expanded their territory to extend from McAlester east to Little Rock and Memphis, and west to Weatherford, Oklahoma Territory.

The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway during this time period was controlled by a group of investors known as the Reid-Moore Syndicate. This group favored aggressive expansion into new territory, and in early 1902 the Rock Island was able to gain control of the CO&G, resulting in the resignation of Francis Gowen from the presidency in June 1902. Gowen's law partner, Charles E. Ingersoll, became involved in the financing and construction of a second railroad in Indian Territory, the Midland Valley Railroad

Midland Valley Railroad

The Midland Valley Railroad was incorporated in 1903 for the purpose of building a line from Hoye, Arkansas, through Muskogee and Tulsa, Oklahoma to Wichita, Kansas. The railroad took its name from Midland, Arkansas, a coal mining town in western Arkansas which was served by the railroad...

, after the Philadelphia businessmen were forced out of the Choctaw, Oklahoma & Gulf leadership. Gowen, however, ended his Oklahoma involvement and was appointed General Solicitor for the Pennsylvania Railroad

Pennsylvania Railroad

The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....

in 1902. He remained with the Pennsylvania and continued to practice law, becoming General Counsel and vice-president for the railroad before retiring in the mid-1920s.