[2] He attended the parochial and public schools of Chicago, and was a professional bicycle endurance rider and racer[2] before running for Alderman.

[1] When Anthony D'Andrea ran against Bowler in 1916, the violence during the election sparked the five-year-long Aldermen's Wars, which saw thirty political operatives killed.

[1] Bowler was chairman of the City Council's remapping committee in 1923 when it became apparent that the fairest map would redistrict him out of his own 19th Ward.

[4] During his final term, he was confined to a hospital bed and unable to attend House sessions, and his oath of office was administered in Chicago by Congressman Charles A.

[5] Bowler is considered to have been one of the five individuals most responsible for pushing through legislation that helped fund the building of the Congress Street (now Eisenhower) Expressway in Chicago.