“Lightning never strikes twice.”

Coleman Carlisle Fowler certainly would have argued that point. He was struck by lightning twice and lived to tell the tale.

Coleman Carlisle Fowler

Coleman Carlisle Fowler was born on the fourth day of March in the year 1871.

He was one of fourteen children born to Charles Ellis Fowler (1828-1900) and Mary Margaret White (1836-1915).

Charles Ellis Fowler

Thomas Gillman Fowler (1798-1880) had a home built by slave labor south of Jonesville in 1840. This home was passed down to his son Charles Ellis Fowler. It was this home in which Coleman Carlisle Fowler was raised.

The Fowler Home Place

Charles Ellis Fowler married Mary Margaret White after the 1850 census was taken. Their first child was born in 1854. More children would follow, then a pause while Charles went to war.

Charles Ellis Fowler enlisted in the South Carolina 18th Infantry Company B on Feb 22, 1862 at John’s Island near Charleston, SC.

Charles Ellis Fowler was shot at the battle in Petersburg on April 2, 1865. He was admitted to the Fairgrounds Post Hospital and then captured the next day. He was a prisoner of war at the Surrender six days later.

Charles Ellis Fowler made it home after the war, and more children were born. Coleman Carlisle Fowler was the fourth child born after the war, and four more children would follow.

I have been fortunate to discover much about this man — Coleman Carlisle Fowler — and his family. He was a husband, a father, a farmer, and he survived being stuck by lightning…. twice.

On Sunday, May 5, 1895, Coleman Fowler and John Franklin Carter had attended services at Gilead Church in Jonesville. The two men were walking home about one o’clock in the afternoon, along with several others.

They were walking beside each other on the road. A bolt of lightning struck Coleman Fowler near the brim of his hat. The lightning traveled down to his scarf pin. It moved onto his watch chain and into his pocket. There, it melted the chain and the rim of his watch. It then traveled down his body, into his right leg, and into the ground. The shoe on his right foot was ripped open.

Coleman Fowler was badly burned and lying on the ground unconscious. Franklin Carter lay nearby. It was thought by the others who did not get struck that the two men were dead. Only when they picked up them up did they realize that they were still alive.

Franklin Carter regained consciousness and was carried back into the church. He recovered enough that he was taken home the same evening.

Still unconscious, Coleman Fowler was taken to the nearby home of his uncle, Elijah T. Fowler (1830–1908). Badly burned from his chin to his foot, Dr. Southard was called to the house.

Coleman Fowler suffered greatly before regaining consciousness and remained at his uncle’s home until the next day. Burned and in pain, he went home and began his recovery from an event that one usually does not survive.

It was reported that Coleman Fowler was seen moving slowly and carefully in town a few days afterwards.

He would be linked to Franklin Carter forevermore when he became his son-in-law. Coleman Carlisle Fowler married the beautiful Nancy “Nannie” Pacolet Carter on Christmas Day in 1896.

Daughter of John Franklin Carter (1852–1908) and Frances Sparks (1848- 1917), Nannie was born September 24, 1876.

Nancy Pacolet Carter

Coleman and Nannie had girls, girls, girls. And one son. Their first daughter was Delpha, born on September 30, 1897.

Frances Marie was born in 1899, Martha Lee in 1901, Florence in 1903, and Bertha Colleen in 1905. And then, for a while, no children.

Son Carlisle Elliott Fowler would be born in 1916, and one more daughter, Dorothy Lynette, in 1918.

Sometime around the new year of 1902, a doctor was once again summoned to heal Coleman Fowler. While building a barn, Coleman fell off a scaffold and broke his arm. Dr. M. W. Chambers set the arm and tough-as-nails Coleman Fowler recovered.

The first mention that Coleman Fowler was a farmer (soon-to-be-legend) was a small mention in The State newspaper on September 12, 1901:

The State Sept 12, 1901

Thomas Green Clemson founded Clemson Agricultural College in 1889. From the August 19, 1903 issue of The State, I discovered that Coleman Fowler had made at least two visits to Clemson.

THE WATERMELON KING

Coleman Carlisle Fowler was a superior farmer. In addition to growing cotton, he planted oats and watermelons. He was mentioned often in 1913 and 1914 in upstate newspapers praising his fine crops.

COLEMAN FOWLER’S DAUGHTER IS SHOT ON CHRISTMAS DAY

Fifteen-year-old Frances Marie Fowler was shot in late December 1914. She and her friend Myrtle Coleman were caught in the crossfire of two men. These men were firing pistols at each other on Main Street in Jonesville. Like her tough-as-nails father, Marie survived being shot in her breast and lived to tell the tale.

The story is below in the January 1, 1915 issue of The Union Times:

A MAN ON A MOTORCYCLE AND A TRAIN

The Fowler Home Place where Coleman Fowler spent his childhood was just across the railroad tracks about a mile south of Jonesville. I know of three incidents of trains hitting and killing someone on those tracks. I am sure there are more.

In September of 1915, Coleman Fowler witnessed a horrific accident near his home. He and two young men were walking near the tracks when they saw Clarence Black on a motorcycle attempt to cross in front of an oncoming train.

The train hit Clarence Black and he was killed instantly.

Although Coleman Fowler was not physically injured, he must have been impacted emotionally for a long time afterward.

AND NOW, WE COME FULL CIRCLE

The Gaffney Ledger July 28, 1921

Saturday, July 23, 1921, Coleman Carlisle Fowler was struck by lightning again. This time, he was at home lying on his bed. The lightning bolt came through the open window and stuck his bed, then exited out the other window.

The bed springs melted, and a hole was burned deep into the mattress. Coleman Fowler was shocked but alive.

If Coleman Carlisle Fowler was not already a God-fearing man, he surely was after this day.

The newspaper clipping below provides details. It also gives a slightly different account of the first time Coleman Fowler was struck by lightning back in 1895.

TWO LIVES WELL LIVED

Coleman Carlisle Fowler had been a handsome man in his youth. His wife Nannie was beautiful. Years of farming, raising children, and dodging tragedy did not subtract from their character or diminish their handsomeness or beauty. .

Coleman was a good man, well respected in his community. Nannie was equally respected and loved by all who knew her.

I see beauty in the photograph below. I see love and devotion and loyalty.

Coleman Carlisle Fowler lived for almost thirty-four more years after the second lightning strike. He died on June 13, 1955. He was laid to rest at New Hope Methodist Church near Jonesville. His beautiful beloved Nannie joined him in eternal rest on June 5, 1962.

  • Henry Ellis Fowler (1746-1808)
    • Godfrey Fowler (1773-1850)
      • Thomas Gillman Fowler (1798-1880)
        • Charles Ellis Fowler (1828-1900)
          • COLEMAN CARLISLE FOWLER (1871-1955) m. Nancy Pacolet Carter (1876-1962)
            • Delpha Fowler (1897–1987)
            • Frances Marie Fowler (1899–1980)
            • Martha Lee Fowler (1901–1991)
            • Florence Fowler (1903–1989)
            • Bertha Colleen Fowler (1905–1998)
            • Carlisle Elliott Fowler (1916–2012)
            • Dorothy Lynette Fowler (1918–2008)

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