John Sydney Bowen was born on September 6, 1866, in Edwards, Mississippi. The son of Confederate general John Stevens Bowen, John Sydney Bowen relocated from Savannah, Georgia, to Alta Pass in Mitchell County, North Carolina, sometime after 1900. There he was proprietor of the Altapass Inn, where travelers and vacationers could play golf, tennis, and bowling and could enjoy music, dancing, and riding. He died in Altapass on September 12, 1925.