Remembering Legendary Buford Daredevil Bonnie Rowe

If you were born and raised in Buford, or have lived here for any length of time, you've probably heard of Bonnie Rowe, the 1920s aerial daredevil, best known for his unbelievable stunts as a wing-walker and parachutist in the heyday of barnstorming.  Bonnie Rowe was the stuff of legends, and not just locally. He traveled all over the country with well known barnstorming troupes of the time, thrilling crowds with his amazing and sometimes foolhardy feats--stepping from plane to plane in midair, attempting to transfer to a plane from atop a moving train, and 1,000 feet "dead drops" using a home sewn bed sheet as a parachute. Bonnie Rowe called himself "The King of All Daredevils" for a reason.

Well, I wasn't born and raised here. I'm from California, so I missed the "Buford history" school field trips that included a stop at Bonnie's grave. I missed hearing the legends from grandparents about the wild Rowe boy who used to stand on his head atop the Bona Allen Tannery water tower. But it doesn't matter if I came late to the story--Bonnie and I were destined to "meet,"  no matter what.  I like to think so anyway. This month I have an article about Bonnie Rowe coming out in Georgia Backroads magazine. Well, actually, it's the cover story. And actually, it's the first time I've ever experienced the thrill of having a full length article in print.*

It all started with an interesting headstone. Bonnie Rowe's, of course. When I first moved to Georgia I briefly lived across the street from the Buford Cemetery. One day while I was at work a friend from out of state, Katie, decided to explore the cemetery and take pictures of  the old graves. Later that evening she showed the photos to me. We were both intrigued by the unusual granite marker with the carving of a person standing on the wings of a bi-plane. What was the story behind "Bonnie G. Rowe, 1900-1932"? As I've mentioned before, I love history and research, so after Katie's visit I decided to find out what I could about the headstone. No, strike that. It wasn't that I "decided," it was more that I felt compelled to learn all I could about Bonnie Rowe.

Not finding anything useful online, I contacted the Gwinnett County Historical Society with my questions, and soon received a photocopy of the story of Bonnie's death from fall from a plane. With the help of another friend, Zeny Williams, more old newspaper stories and mentions of Bonnie Rowe in barnstorming history books were found. Zeny is a wizard at all kinds of research, and she soon discovered that Bonnie Rowe had one son, Bonnie, Jr. who was in his early 80s. Getting in touch with this son was another matter. But again, thanks to Zeny, it wasn't long before he and I were talking on the phone and making plans to meet for a full fledged interview. Soon after that initial conversation, Zeny and I were invited to Bonnie Jr's home, and granted full access to all of the original scrapbooks, photos and memorabilia from his father's remarkable career. That first visit turned into a two year friendship,  filled with many lengthy phone conversations and meetings. I came to love this sweet Southern gentleman with his stories and humor, and constant twinkle in his eye.

While still in the beginning stages of my search for Bonnie, Jr. I had come across an article about Ron Alexander, a pilot and owner of a small private airport south of Atlanta. Ron was dedicated to creating an accurate reproduction of Candler Field--the original Atlanta Airport.  His Peach State Aerodrome project was just getting underway at that time, including plans for a museum at the airfield. Since Bonnie Rowe had done much of his flying and stunting based out of Candler Field in the late 1920s, I hoped that maybe Ron might  have access to some undiscovered stories or items from the daredevil's career. Turns out Ron didn't know anything about Bonnie, and suggested I get in touch with Brian Karli, the curator of the planned Candler Field Museum. Brian hadn't heard of Bonnie, either, and was thrilled to learn about him.

Soon after, I was able to introduce Bonnie, Jr. to Brian Karli and the Candler Field Museum. In the last two years of his life Bonnie, Jr. spent hours at the Peach State airfield, recounting stories about his dad, sharing original photographs, and even giving formal lectures to large groups about Bonnie, Sr's amazing life and the early days of Candler Field. In 2007 the Peach State Aerodrome was a participant in The South Takes Flight, a GBPS documentary on 100 years of aviation history in Georgia. Bonnie, Jr. has a charming on camera segment, speaking about his father's days as one of the most well known stunt aerialists in the South. If there was anything that Bonnie Rowe, Sr. had loved besides danger, it was his status as a celebrity. Who knows--maybe that feeling I had of being compelled to find both Bonnies was actually a push from the other side, just for this purpose.  Maybe I'm being whimsical, but I like to think it's true. 

Bonnie, Jr. passed away in 2008. I lost a dear friend who was a remarkable man in his own right, and I was honored to have been his friend. In getting to know the son, I got to know the father in ways that old newspaper articles and books wouldn't have allowed. I can easily imagine Bonnie, Sr., a  familiar twinkle in his eye, standing fearless against the sky on those bi-plane wings. 

The journey to find Bonnie has led me to some wonderful people and places, including Lynn Bowman at the Museum of Buford, and my current stint there as volunteer and blogger. Due to a whole lot of life events, it took me a long time to finally write my article about Bonnie Rowe, but I do have plans to write more in depth about him in the future. In the meantime I am exploring my new found passion for researching and writing about the people and events in local history. Who knows what the past will bring? 

Rebecca

* The Spring edition of Georgia Backroads will be available at retailers any day now. Thanks to Brian Karli/Candler Field Museum and Lynn Bowman/Museum of Buford for allowing me to use photos from their collections