George Bowman (pioneer)

Infobox Person
name = George Bowman


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birth_name =
birth_date = c. 1705
birth_place = Virginia Colony
death_date = 1768
death_place = Bowman estate on Cedar Creek (near Strasburg, Virginia)
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nationality = German-American
other_names = George Baumann
known_for = Early pioneer of Shenandoah Valley; built one of the oldest houses in present-day West Virginia.
education =
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occupation = Landowner, farmer and indian fighter
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religion = Lutheran
spouse = Mary Hite (c. 1731-1768)
partner =
children = 13 children
parents = Cornelious and Ann Bowman
relations = Jost Hite, father-in-law
Abraham Bowman, son
Isaac Bowman, son
Joseph Bowman, son
John Jacob Bowman, son

George Bowman (c. 1705-1768) was an 18th century American pioneer, landowner and a prominent indian fighter in the early history of the Colony of Virginia. He, along with his father-in-law Jost Hite, was one of the first to explore and settle Shenandoah Valley. His estate, on which Fort Bowman was founded, was one of the earliest homes to be built in Shenandoah Valley and is the site of present-day Strasburg, Virginia.

Four of his sons, Joseph, Isaac, Abraham and John Jacob Bowman, also became well-known frontiersmen in Kentucky during the late 1770s. [Hayden, William. "Conquest of the Country Northwest of the River Ohio, 1778-1783". Indianapolis: Bowen-Merrill Company, 1896. (pg. 116)] His great-grandson, John Bryan Bowman founded Kentucky University and Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky. [Wayland, John W. "A History of Shenandoah County, Virginia". Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1980. (pg. 588) ISBN 0-8063-8011-X] [Johnson, E. Polk. "A History of Kentucky and Kentuckians: The Leaders and Representative Men in Commerce, Industry and Modern Activities, Vol II". Chicago and New York: Lewis Publishing Co., 1912. (pg. 1132)] [Bowman, Charles W. "Bowman Genealogy: Fragmentary Annals of a Branch of the Bowman Family". Washington, D.C.: Law Reporter Printing Company, 1912. (pg. 93-94)]

Biography

Born to Cornelious and Ann Bowman in the Colony of Virginia, [Voorhees, Dan. "Stephens Family Genealogies: Peter--Joshua--William--Alexander, 1690-1938". Fremont, Nebraska: Hammond & Stephens Co., 1940. (pg. 100)] he married Mary Hite in Pennsylvania around 1731. [du Bellet, Louise Pecquet. "Some Prominent Virginia Families". Lynchburg, Virginia: J.P. Bell Company, 1907. (pg. 336-337)] He one of the first to settle in the Shenandoah Valley with his father-in-law Jost Hite and brothers-in-law Jacob Chrisman and Paul Froman during the early 1730s. [Raine, James Watt. "The Land of Saddle-bags: A Study of the Mountain People of Appalachia". New York: Council for Women for Home Missions, 1924. (pg. 41)] [Fischer, David Hackett and James C. Kelly. "Bound Away: Virginia and the Westward Movement". Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2000. (pg. 113) ISBN 0-8139-1774-3] He and his wife, Mary Hite, later settled on the banks of Cedar Creek [Lewis, Virgil A. "History of West Virginia: In Two Parts". Philadelphia: Hubbard Brothers, 1889. (pg. 59-60)] located convert|8|mi|km south of Peter Stephens' Newtown settlement (present-day Stephens City, Virginia). They would eventually establish a convert|1000|acre|km2|sing=on tract of land on which Fort Bowman was built. He later received a tract of land from his father-in-law, convert|145|acre|km2 on Lenville's Creek in Frederick County. [Hofstra, Warren R. "The Planting of New Virginia: Settlement and Landscape in the Shenandoah". Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 2005. (pg. 98-99) ISBN 0-8018-7418-1]

In 1752 or 1753, while still living on Ceder Creek, Bowman built a colonial mansion known as the Mount Pleasant estate. It was here they raised their thirteen children, including Abraham, Isaac Bowman, Joseph and John Jacob Bowman. Hayden, William. "Conquest of the Country Northwest of the River Ohio, 1778-1783". Indianapolis: Bowen-Merrill Company, 1896. (pg. 116)] In 1746 and 1749, he bought 2 large tracts of land amounting to over convert|1000|acre|km2 on Linville Creek on which he constructed and operated a grist mill later known as "Bowman's Mill"; [Wayland, John W. "A History of Shenandoah County, Virginia". Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1980. (pg. 95) ISBN 0-8063-8011-X] the mill, as of 1972, was still in operation near present-day Bartonsville, Virginia. [Keister, Elmo Earl. "Strasburg, Virginia, and the Keister Family". Strasburg, Virginia: Shenandoah Publishing House, Inc., 1972. (pg. 398)] On August 14, he deeded some of his property to his widowed mother livestock and various household goods. Among his property including one horse, one mare, two cows, two yearling heifers and a slave known as Harry. [Sharp, Lois. "Ancestors of Mom & Dad Sharp: Sharp & Dennis". Utica, Kentucky: McDowell Publications, 2000. (pg. 263)]

Following his death in 1768, his sons inheritied the estate. Part of the estate was sold by John Bowman to an Abraham Miller in July of that year. [Kegley, F.B. "Kegley's Virginia Frontier: The Beginning of the Southwest, the Roanoke of Colonial Days, 1740-1783". Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2003. (pg. 533) ISBN 0-8063-1717-5] The Bowman home, one of the first homes built in the Shenandoah Valley, still exists and remains one of the oldest historical buildings in the state. His son Isaac and his first and second wife as well as Samuel Kercheval and his daughters are buried in the family graveyard located convert|200|yd|m west of the house. [Wayland, John W. "A History of Shenandoah County, Virginia". Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1980. (pg. 449) ISBN 0-8063-8011-X]

References

Further reading

* Lambert, Oscar Doane. "Pioneer Leaders of Western Virginia". Parkersburg, West Virginia: Schull Printing Co., 1935.
* Armentrout, Georgie Carrier Early. "Carrier-Carryer and allied lines: Lincoln, Harrison, Rhodes, Holsinger, Thomas, Bowman, Early, Summers, O'Roark, Phillips, and others". Baltimore: Gateway Press, 1985.
* Wayland, John W. "The Bowmans: A Pioneering Family in Virginia, Kentucky and the Northwest Territory". Staunton, Virginia: McClure Co. , 1943.

Persondata
NAME = George Bowman
ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
SHORT DESCRIPTION = Virginia pioneer and landowner
DATE OF BIRTH = c. 1705
PLACE OF BIRTH = Virginia Colony
DATE OF DEATH = 1768
PLACE OF DEATH = Bowman estate on Cedar Creek (near Strasburg, Virginia)