- Isaac Bowman
Infobox Person
name = Isaac Bowman
image_size =
caption =
birth_name =
birth_date = birth date|1757|4|24
birth_place = Mount Pleasant estate onCedar Creek (nearStrasburg, Virginia )
death_date = death date and age|1826|9|9|1757|4|24
death_place = Strasburg, Virginia
death_cause =
resting_place =
resting_place_coordinates =
residence =
nationality =German-American
other_names =
known_for = Officer under GeneralGeorge Rodgers Clark during theIllinois campaign andNorthwest Indian War ; held in two-year captivity by the Chickasaw before his eventual escape toCuba .
education =
alma_mater =
employer =
occupation = Landowner, farmer and militia officer
home_town = Strasburg, Virginia
party =
religion =Lutheran
spouse = Elizabeth Gatewood (1782-1790)
Mary Chinn (1792-1826)
partner =
children = 16 children
parents = George Bowman and Mary Hite
relations =Jost Hite , grandfatherAbraham Bowman , brotherJoseph Bowman , brother
John Jacob Bowman, brotherIsaac Bowman (
April 24 ,1757 –September 9 ,1826 ) was an 18th-century American soldier and militia officer who took part in theAmerican Revolutionary War and theNorthwest Indian War . His capture and eventual escape from hostile Chickasaw led him on a two-year adventure before returning to the United States fromCuba in 1782. Hall, Henry. "Year Book of the Societies Composed of Descendants of the Men of the Revolution". New York: The Republic Press, 1890. (pg. 206)]His brothers, Abraham, Joseph and John Jacob Bowman, were also officers during the Revolutionary War and all early frontiersman who were among the first to settle in
Kentucky . His father George Bowman and grandfatherJost Hite were also prominent pioneers in theColony of Virginia .One of his patrilineal descendants,
Alpheus Michael Bowman , was a successful Virginia businessman and politician during the late 19th century. Tyler, Lyon Gardiner, ed. "Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography, Vol. III". New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1913. (pg. 274)] Another of his descendants isWilliam Irving Shuman , a banker and assistant U.S. Treasurer inChicago, Illinois . [Press Reference Library. "Notables of the West". Vol. II. New York: International News Service, 1915. (pg. 446)]Biography
Early life
Born to George Bowman and Mary Hite, Isaac Bowman was the youngest of four sons and grew up on the Bowman estate on
Cedar Creek , only two miles below present-day Strasburg. Wayland, John W. "A History of Shenandoah County, Virginia". Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1980. (pg. 527-528) ISBN 0-8063-8011-X] He inherited part of the family estate, including the Bowman mansion, upon the death of his father in 1768. During the mid-1770s, he accompanied his cousinIsaac Hite and his brothers Abraham, Joseph and John to Kentucky where, in 1775, he and the other thirteen pioneers carved their names into abeech tree inWarren County, Kentucky . Isaac Bowman did not become a major landowner as his brothers did, most likely due to his age. Hayden, William. "Conquest of the Country Northwest of the River Ohio, 1778-1783". Indianapolis: Bowen-Merrill Company, 1896. (pg. 979-985)]ervice during the American Revolution
In 1778, at age 21, he enlisted in the
Illinois Militia and participated in GeneralGeorge Rodgers Clark 'sIllinois campaign serving as alieutenant andquartermaster under his brother MajorJoseph Bowman . During this time, he was assigned to escort a number of high level British officials and military officers asprisoners-of-war fromFort Vincennes toWilliamsburg, Virginia including GovernorHenry Hamilton and Philippe-François de Rocheblave. He also delivered messages, including letters from his brother Joseph describing the progress of the expedition. Returning to Illinois, he was reportedly present at the capture of Fort Vincennes and attended the burial of his brother in August 1779. He also paid the expense of the services. He was one of the officers awarded a land allotment inClark's Grant , Bowman being given 2,156 acres for his services. Part of his land was used to buildJeffersonville, Indiana in 1802, the city eventually becoming thecounty seat of Clark County.Capture by the Chickasaw
In November 1779, shortly after the campaigns' end, he was placed in charge of a small party of settlers by John Todd which was to be escorted from
Kaskaskia toKentucky County . Bowman was also entrusted with a number of articles belonging to the commonwealth of Virginia which was to be delivered to the lieutenant governor. According to Todd in a letter to GovernorThomas Jefferson on June 2, 1780, he reported,It was long assumed that Bowman had been killed defending the party against the Chickasaw. However, he survived the battle and was, in fact, taken prisoner by his attackers. He was treated harshly and was tortured by his captors being "subjected to every torture, short of death, that the cruel savages could devise". However, he was eventually taken in by the tribe and was made an adopted son of one of the chieftains. He was later chosen as a son-in-law and, although the details of this marriage is unrecorded, there is an account of members of the
Lewis and Clark expedition who, in 1804, encountered an Indian woman who had the name of a "J. Bowman" tattooed on her arm.Bowman eventually escaped from Indian country with the help of a local Indian trader, possibly a
Spaniard , who left with him forCuba and eventually made his way to the United States. Accounts differ as to the exact circumstances of his escape, another being that he was purchased by a man named Turnbull for a keg of whiskey and remained in his service until his debt was repaid.Later years
Following his return to Shenandoah in 1782, he married an Elizabeth Gatewood with whom he had four children. After her death eight years later, he married Mary Chinn and had another nine additional children. Wayalnd, John W. "A History of Shenandoah County, Virginia". Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1980. (pg. 694) ISBN 0-8063-8011-X] He settled down on the Mount Pleasant estate and became a prosperous farmer and landowner. In 1812 or 1813, he constructed a large brick
mansion on the family estate where he lived with his family until his death on September 9, 1826.The house was located on the high bank above Cedar Creek, two miles northeast of Strasburg and within half a mile of his birthplace, the original stone cabin built by his father in 1753. As of 1895, the house was still in existence although unoccupied.
References
Persondata
NAME = Isaac Bowman
ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
SHORT DESCRIPTION = Kentucky pioneer, militia officer and landowner
DATE OF BIRTH =April 24 ,1757
PLACE OF BIRTH = Mount Pleasant estate onCedar Creek (nearStrasburg, Virginia )
DATE OF DEATH =September 9 ,1826
PLACE OF DEATH =Strasburg, Virginia
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