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Capt William H (Wild Bill) Towles was my great, great grandfather. A Florida native born in Perry, FL in 1852, he moved to the Fort Myers area while in his twenties.
In April of 1893 my great, great, grandfather, with his friend G M Hendry went hunting with other friends and while setting up camp Wild Bill was shot by an unknown person. He screamed for his gun and the others in his party scattered for cover and never pursued the perpetrator.
A doctor was immediately sent for and the men took turns carrying Towles (who was a large man) on a stretcher to meet up with the doctor. Of course the event made headlines in the local paper..."A Dastardly Attempt At Murder: Wm. H. Towles Shot in the Back." Another doctor was called in from Tampa and using chloroform, removed buckshot from his head and back.
After a few days, a third doctor, who was visiting him, removed small pieces of bone and two more pieces of buckshot from his head and another shot from his lungs. He felt that Mr Towles had an even chance for recovery and relayed that to family who were at the Towles home on Riverside Avenue (now McGregor Blvd).
The Sheriff sent deputies to search for the shooter/s but even though two men were incarcerated for attempted murder, there was not enough evidence to prosecute them.
By May, Wild Bill, a county commissioner was up and about walking into town and attending the commission meetings.
Over the next 20 years, Capt William H (Wild Bill) Towles
business interests included, cattle raising and exporting (during the Spanish American War, he shipped thousands of head of cattle to Cuba and was reported to have made a fortune), shipping, building (among others, the Fort Myers courthouse and the Bartow light plant)and politics. He passed away in 1921 after a surgical procedure. According to his obituary in the Fort Myers newspaper... "he was married twice, but his first wife died years ago. Mrs. Corrine Summerlin is his oldest daughter who is postmistress here. Captain Towles was married again about twenty two years ago to Miss Willie Boyd of this city, who remains to mourn her loss. Two children from this marriage, a son Wallace and a daughter Miss Mildred, also remain..."
His home at 2050 McGregor Boulevard in Fort Myers is on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
