Samuel Bowman (1753 - 1818)

Born 2 Dec 1753 in Lexington, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America

Ancestors

Husband of Eleanor (Ledlie) Bowman — married 3 Nov 1784 in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

Descendants

Died 25 Jun 1818 at age 64 in Wilkes-Barre Township, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Lauren Millerd [send private message]

Captain Samuel Bowman served with 11th Pennsylvania Regiment, Continental Army during the American Revolution.

Biography

Samuel was born in Lexington, Massachusetts, in December, 1753, the son of Capt Thaddeus Bowman and his second wife, Sybil Roper. ^[1]

One of seven brothers who participated in the American Revolutionary War as soldiers in the Continental Army, the elder Bowman and a brother fought at Lexington as two of the village's 48 minutemen^[2]and as ensign of the 3rd Massachusetts Regiment of the Continental Line^[3]guarded the spy Major John André awaiting his execution in 1780, walking him to the gallows.

Family and Children

He married, in Philadelphia, November 3, 1784, Eleanor Leadlie / Ledlie / Leslie, of Easton, Pa., whose parents were from Ireland. ^[4] Together, they had the following (known) children^[5]:

1. MARIA, b., in Watertown, Mass, Oct. 25, 1785; d. April 18, 1786.
2. ANN, b. r. Mar. 15, 1788 ; d. at her uncle Rev. R. R. Elliot's, Sept. 29, 1798.
3. MARY, b. Jan. 15, 1791; of Wilkesbarre, unmarried.
4. ELIZA, b. Oct. 25, 1793, m.. Sept. 14, 1822, CHARLES WHEELER, Esq., a lawyer, of Philadelphia, grad. Yale Coll., 1808. She d. May 23, 1848.
5. WILLIAM LEDLIE, b. May 1, 1798; d. Mar. 15, 1848, unmarried.
6. SAMUEL, b. May 21, 1800; D.D. Geneva Coll.; rector of St. James's Church, in the city of Lancaster, Penn. He m. (1st) SUSAN SITGREAVES, daughter of Samuel Sitgreaves, Esq., of Easton, Penn. She d. in 1830, and he m. (2d), in 1836, HARRIET CLARKSON, of Lancaster.
7. ALEXANDER HAMILTON, b. Mar. 30, 1803; He m. MARIE LOUISE COLIER, of Pensacola.
8. ELLEN STUART, b. Oct. 25, 1805, m. Rev. JAMES MAY, son of Robert May, Esq., of Chester Co., Penn.
9. CHARLES, b. June 20, 1808 ; d. young.

In 1811, he had a home built in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, which is now a known historic location. ^[6]

Military Service

Prior to moving to Pennsylvania, he served in the Massachusetts line, where he attained the rank of Lieutenant. ^[1]

In 1798, he was noted to be a strong leader, and that he should therefore be able to promote his own lieutenants in the Pennsylvania provisional army. ^[7]

On April 17, 1800, John Adams wrote a letter to the US Senate, it which it was recommended that Samuel be promoted to Captain, within the 11th Infantry under Lieutenant Colonel Aaron Ogden. ^[8]

In the 1890 text, Families of the Wyoming Valley: Biographical, Genealogical and Historical Sketches of the Bench and Bar, of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania: Volume III, by George Kulp, a brief biographical sketch of Capt. Samuel Bowman is found ^[4]:

"At the outbreak of the revolution Captain Samuel Bowman enlisted and became a captain in the continental army, and served until the close of the war. It is said that he was with Major Andre the night before his execution, and commanded the guard that led him to the gallows. About 1789 he moved to Wilkes-Barre, where his wife had a large landed estate, to which he devoted his time. He died June 25, 1818, being gored to death by a bull. He was one of the trustees of the Wilkes-Barre Academy from 1807 until his death. In 1794 he was captain of a company, and led the Luzerne volunteers to help quell the whiskey insurrection, and to Newburg in 1799." ^[4]

Death and Burial

Unfortunately, Captain Bowman suffered a rather brutal death on June 25, 1818, being gored by a bull quite severely, but dying slowly and painfully, as he passed several hours later. ^[9]

He is buried in Hollenback Cemetery, in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. ^[10]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Hudson, Charles, 1795-1881, History of the Town of Lexington, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, from it's First Settlement to 1868 with a Genealogical Register of Lexington Families, page 501
2. ↑ Johnson, The Historical Record, p. 112
3. ↑ Daughterty, Bowman's Hill, p. 10
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2} sketch of Samuel Bowman, in Kulp, George P. Families of the Wyoming Valley: Biographical, Genealogical and Historical Sketches of the Bench and Bar, of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania: Volume III, 1890 Pages 1125-1127
5. ↑ Bond, Henry, and Jones, Horatio Gates. Genealogies of the Families and Descendants of the Early Settlers of Watertown, Massachusetts, Including Waltham and Weston: To which is Appended the Early History of the Town, New England Historical and Genealogical Society: 1893. page 699
6. ↑ Historic American Buildings Survey, Stanley Jones, Photographer December 8, 1939 SOUTH EAST ELEVATION (FRONT). - Captain Samuel Bowman House, 220 North Main Street, Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, PA Photos from Survey HABS PA-241. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/pa0559/>
7. ↑ To General Washington, Enclosure: Candidates for Army Appointments from Pennsylvania, [21 August 1798], view on Founders.Archives.gov
8. ↑ From John Adams to United States Senate, 17 April 1800, view at Founders.Archives.gov, DNA: RG 46—Records of the U.S. Senate.
9. ↑ Obituary of Capt Samuel Bowman , as published in Norwalk gazette (Norwalk, Conn), July 22, 1818, Volume I, Issue XII, page 3 Norwalk Public Library Digital Archives. see attached image
10. ↑ Burial Site of Capt Samuel Bowman, Find A Grave: Memorial #101935569, Hollenback Cemetery, in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania

• Bowman Collection, 1770-1837, William L. Clements Library, The University of Michigan, https://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/clementsead/umich-wcl-M-3028bow