n the second floor of the Mansion, one of the bedrooms has traditionally
been known as the Governor Fowle Bedroom. This is the bedroom used by the
first occupant of the present Governor's Mansion, Governor Daniel G.
Fowle, who moved into it in 1891.
n the Governor Fowle Bedroom, when I moved into the Mansion, there
was a
bed of very sturdy construction known as the Governor Fowle Bed. It was
of the standard length of that day, but was extra wide. History tells us
that this bed was made to order by Governor Fowle, a widower who often
allowed his young son to come in and sleep with him. The young child
thrashed around so much that Governor Fowle, being a large man himself,
wanted more room and had the bed of extra width constructed.
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overnor Fowle died during his term of office, and the story goes
that he
died in his large-sized bed and was found dead in the bed by his young
son. So far as I know, the bed has remained in use at the Mansion during
the ensuing years. I know that my predecessor, Governor Dan K. Moore,
used the Governor Fowle Bed.
hen our family moved into the Executive Mansion in January of 1969, I
chose the Governor Fowle room as my bedroom because it was spacious, had
a work desk, and was convenient to the upstairs study. I used the bed all
during the year of 1969 and the early part of 1970. However, the bed was
a little too short for me and my feet were constantly pressed up against
the footboard. This caused me to sleep a little bit catty-cornered on the
bed.
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ecently, I was sitting at my desk working, gazing in the general
direction of the bed. I became aware that the bed was not level. It
appeared that each of the four corners stood at a different height from
the floor. I got a yardstick from the kitchen and measured each corner
height from the floor. I was correct in that no two corners were the same
height. Therefore, the bed was obviously not level. This, with the
discomfort of sleeping crossways on the bed, made me determined that I
was going to get a new bed. I resolved to myself that I would not spend
the four years in the Executive Mansion in a bed as uncomfortable as that.
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