Robert Dow Partain

SSN 447-07-9455

Dow was born in Spiro, OK, July 7, 1905. He was the ninth of ten children born to Julia Elizabeth and John Thomas Partain. His mother died when he was two years old and John Thomas’ third wife, Etta Elliott Partain, raised him. He died in Spiro in December of 1986 and is buried in Spiro Cemetery near the gravesites of Julia, John Thomas, Etta, and Minnie Partain Flynn.

My most vivid memory of Uncle Dow is the pungent smell of self-rolled Prince Albert cigarettes at 6:00 A.M. In a house where tobacco was unknown, the blending of Prince Albert and cooking bacon had a nauseating effect. Dow would drop in and crash at our house for two or three weeks at a time as he wondered around the country. For most of his life he spent much more time on the road than he did at home.

Alcohol was a major part of Dow’s life. My home was not one of his favorite places to stay since he was not at liberty to drink there. My parents seldom spoke of Dow and simply passed him off as the “black sheep” of the family. Unfortunately, this label does a great disservice to dark colored sheep.

Dow reached young adulthood living on Bokoshe Mountain in Eastern Oklahoma. It was there that he took Esther Ware as his wife.

Dow sired 10 children with Esther. Given his lack of morals, lack of family commitment, time away from home, and propensity for alcohol, it is entirely likely that he has other children born to other women.

Esther was born August 1, 1912. Her mother died when she was six years old. Her father, James Garret Wear, lived and worked at a Masonic children’s home near Oklahoma City, OK and that is where she grew up. Esther was 19 when she married.

Dow worked in the oil fields in Eastern Oklahoma and in Southern California during the early part of his adult life. However, due to alcohol and irresponsibility, he was not able to hold any job for very long. In the early 1950’s he decided he wanted to be a farmer and managed to make a down payment on a farm in Newark, AR not far from Batesville, which became known to Esther and the children as “the old home place.” But he was unable to make a living and unwilling to stay home. He spent most of his life wondering between family members and anyone else who would take him in.

Esther worked in the cotton fields chopping and picking cotton to make payments on the farm and provide for her children. She raised her family there and, after the kids were grown, managed to get a job working as a nurse.

Sometime after the birth of Julia in 1953, Esther finally knew she could no longer live with the physical abuse and abandonment. Dow breezed through town and forced himself on her, as was his custom. As a result, Thomas was born on the 26th day of August 1955. She filed for a divorce before Thomas was born.

She gathered her children up on Sunday mornings and they all walked to church. The last two children were very young when her divorce was final. The Church of Christ where she had faithfully taken her children for years considered her an unwed mother and/or improperly divorced and withdrew fellowship. Even though she never lost faith in God and even continued to send her children to church, she had no further use for organized religion.

All the events of her tumultuous life came crashing down on her after Thomas’ birth and she suffered a nervous breakdown.

After her children were all grown, they joyfully took care of her until her death in Tomball, TX September 11, 2000.

Children born to Robert Dow and Esther Partain:

John Thomas “Sonny” February 9, 1934 Spiro, OK

Robert James "Buddie" October 1, 1936 Fontana, CA 1/10/00 Spiro, OK

Audry Ovleia October 28, 1938 Spiro, OK

Roland Dow "Pat" March 17, 1943 Fontana, CA

Alta Delores August 16, 1944 Fontana, CA 5/5/45 Rialto, CA

Joann Aileen January 21, 1946 Fontana, CA 9/18/96 OK City, OK

Ellen Maria July 5, 1949 Spiro, OK

Evelyn Fern July 28, 1951 Lepanto, AR

Julia Anita February 10, 1953 Batesville, AR

Thomas Eugene August 26, 1955 Batesville, AR

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