BOWEN

FROM PEMBROKE, WALES TO NICHOLS, NEW YORK, USA

 

 

THE OLD WORLD

Circa 1644 the Bowens were in Pembroke, Wales while the Baxters were in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England.

TWO ANCIENT FAMILIES

 

 

Born circa 1150 AD in Wales, Kyhlylyn Ap Argo Ap Llewelyn was my 23^rd Great Grandfather. Henry II was king of England and the Normans reign over Wales was a peaceful coexistence. The following is a list of my descendants where little but their names are known:  Gwynfard, Prince of South Wales (22^nd Great Grandfather) born circa 1175; Prince of Dyfed Cuhelln (21^st Great Grandfather) born circa 1200; Gwrared (20^th Great Grandfather) born circa 1225; Gwylym (19^th Great Grandfather) born circa 1250; Einion Vaur Ap Gwylyn (18^th Great Grandfather) born circa 1275, married Dido Verch Cadywan; Owen Ap Owen (17^th Great Grandfather) born circa 1320, married Gwellian Canttington in 1345; Llewelyn Ap Owen (16^th Great Grandfather) born circa 1345 in Pembroke, Wales. He married Nest Vychan Fechan Verch Hywel who was born in 1348. Ap in welsh means son of.

Evan Bowen,my 15^th Great Grandfather, was the first to use the letter “B” in front of his father’s name to signify being the son of. He was born in 1372, married Margaret Arnold in 1412, and died in the year 1424. Gwilyn Bowen (14^th Great Grandfather) was born in 1412 and married Agnes Verch James in 1450. Owen Bowen (13^th Great Grandfather) was born circa 1453 and married Janet Verch John in 1479. James Bowen (12^th Great Grandfather) was born in 1480 and married Mary Herle.

It was during the time of Owen and his son James Bowen that the Baxter’s, my father’s maternal lineage, appears on the scene. Not far from Pembroke, Wales in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England, John Popidius was an influential local politician. John the Baxter as he was known came from a noble and ancient family. In England the War of the Roses was going on between the Houses of York and Lancaster.

Even though the Baxters and the Bowens lived within miles of each other during the late 1400s it would take more than 500 years and a continent away before the two families would finally unite, thus completing half of my existence.

Mathias Bowen (11^th Great Grandfather) was born in 1524 and married Mary Phillips in 1548. James Bowen (10^th Great Grandfather) was born in 1550, married Ellen Griffith (born 1560) in 1578, and died in 1629. Richard Bowen, my 9^th Great Grandfather, was born in 1586 in Glamorganshire, Wales. He married Ann Bourn (born in 1595) in 1615. They migrated to the New World in 1638 where they settled in Rehoboth, Massachusetts. There he registered his coat of arms as depicting a standing stag with an arrow in its back. The motto read, “He who thinks evil does evil unto himself.” His wife died in 1648 and Richard in 1675.

As the Bowens were venturing out to the New World, the Baxters were content staying just across the border from Wales, in England. The son of John Popidius, Roger Baxter married Elizabeth Pagan. William Baxter married Elizabeth Biest. Richard Baxter married Anna Forester. Then came Rodger Baxter, of which little is known. Richard Baxter was born circa 1580 and married Beatrice Aldeney in 1614. He married Mary Hunks in 1635. He lived in Eaton-Constantine, Shropshire, near Shrewsbury. He was addicted to gambling but later got religion. Richard was described as a mean freeholder, called a gentleman for his ancestors’ sake. Thomas Baxter married Isabella Benson and was half brother to Rev. Richard Baxter, Jr. Francis C. Baxter was born in 1681. He emigrated to the New World in 1698, sixty years after Richard Bowen.

 

 

 

 

 

“He who thinks evil does evil to himself”

 

 

 

THE NEW WORLD

 

 

The Colonials

 

 

 

 

At the time that Richard Bowen (9^th Great Grandfather) arrived in the New World, Massachusetts was experiencing a series of powerful earthquakes. His wife died ten years after their arrival. Richard died in 1675. Obadiah Bowen (8^th Great Grandfather) was born in 1627, in Glamorgan, Wales. He married Mary Clifton (1628-1697) in 1649. He named the community of Swansea, Massachusetts. During the Puritan era of Massachusetts, Obadiah converted to Baptist and moved to Warren, Rhode Island. He died in 1710, in Swansea, Massachusetts but was buried at the Bowen Cemetery in Warren, Rhode Island. Thomas Bowen (7^th Great Grandfather) was born in 1664 married Thankful Mason in 1689. He died in 1743 in Warren, Rhode Island. Josiah Bowen (6^th Great Grandfather) was born in 1691, in Swansea, Massachusetts. This was about the time of  the Salem Witch trials. He married Margaret Child (1694-1766) in 1718. He died in 1749 in Warren, Rhode Island. James Bowen (5^th Great Grandfather) was born in 1721, married Ann Thurber in 1744 and died in 1793 in Barrington, Rhode Island.

 

 

 

The Bowens left Rehoboth, MA for Warren, RI. While the Baxters moved from Brimfield, MA over to Hebron, CT by the mid 1700s.

 

 

 

 

While the Bowens had moved out of Massachusetts to Rhode Island, the Baxters were heading toward Connecticut. Francis C. Baxter died in 1723, in Brimfield, Massachusetts. Simon Baxter was born in 1697. He married Abigail Mann in 1721, in Lebanon, Connecticut. After being caught fornicating with the widow next door, Rebecca Tarbox, Simon and Abigail were divorced in 1740. He married Rebecca Tarbox in 1741 and died in 1778.

 Nathan Baxter was born in 1742, in Hebron, Tolland County, Connecticut. He married Mindwell Holdridge in 1761. In 1763 Nathan was arrested for counterfeiting ten pieces of pewter and copper. Because he had a wife, two small children and no property, Nathan couldn’t pay the fine and was indebted to his brother, Simon, for two years. He enlisted in the Revolutionary War in 1775 and was in the Lexington Alarm. He was at West Point when Benedict Arnold turned traitor. His son, Nathan, Jr. finished out his service for him. After the war, Nathan moved to Wardsborough, Windham County, Vermont. He later purchased an island in the St. Lawrence River. Nathan ended up selling his island to one of his sons and lived the remainder of his life in Norfolk, St. Lawrence County, New York where he died in 1833.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Pioneers

 

 

 

Nathan Baxter, Jr. was born in 1764, in Hebron, Tolland County, Connecticut. He enlisted in the Revolutionary War in 1778 as a substitute for his father in the New London Garrison. He took part in the construction of Fort Nonsense. Nathan, Jr. kept reenlisting to different regiments after serving each six-month term. In 1780, he was a teamster for Colonel Timothy Pickering where he drove teams and wagons from Hartford, Connecticut to Fishkill, New York. Nathan, Jr. fought in several skirmishes against the British and in 1781 was severely wounded in the leg. He was only 17 years old.

Nathan’s pension came to $8 per month and his tax in Hebron was $12 per year. He had married Anna Dodge (1761-1815) in 1783 and in the following year they moved to Horton, in the town of Colchester, Delaware County, New York. Nathan, Jr. was married two more times after Anna’s death, to Mrs. Willson circa 1816 and Mrs. Wilton circa 1830. He had eleven children. He ended up living in Masonville, Delaware County, New York and died en route back their from an unknown location in 1836. One of Nathan, Jr.’s sons, Joel bought land 2 ½ miles below Horton, which is known today as Baxter’s Mountain.

 

 

 

As the Bowens were settling in the wilderness of northeastern Pennsylvania, the Baxters were already farming in Masonville,Delaware County, New York circa 1797. James Bowen and three other men traveled (by foot) from Rhode Island to Warren Center, Pennsylvania.

 

 

James Bowen (4^th Great Grandfather) was born in 1764. He married Ruth Arnold in 1778. In 1789 he married Chloe Thayer (1774-1814) from Milford, Massachusetts. I have no records indicating whether Ruth Arnold died or became divorced from James. In 1797 James Bowen, William Arnold (his ex-brother-in-law), William Harding, and Thomas Gibson left Warren, Rhode Island for Warren Township, Bradford County, Pennsylvania. They each carried a leather saddlebag containing clothing, tinderbox, flint, powder, bullets and mould, and plenty of fishhooks and line. The four men proceeded on foot from Providence, Rhode Island to the Hudson River where, after a long wait, they persuaded an Indian to take them across the river in his canoe. They took the Indian trails through the Catskills to the Susquehanna River near Sidney, New York. They followed the river downstream to Nichols, New York, and then proceeded up the Wappasening Creek to the Brown and Ives Tract in Warren Township, Bradford County, Pennsylvania.

At the time of their arrival, Warren was known as Martell. They made a clearing on the south branch of the Wappasening Creek that was known for many years later as “11 the old clearing”. They found that they were at the wrong tract of land and after harvesting their first crop, the four families went north to a place known ever since as “11 Bowen Hollow”. This is where James Bowen built a gristmill, in 1802, on the middle branch of the Wappasening approximately 12 miles upstream from Nichols, New York. In 1800, the first white child born in Warren was Harry, the son of James Bowen.

After Chloe died, James married Jane Westfall (1790-1879). James died in 1847.

 

 

 

 

By the mid 1800s the Bowens remained in Warren Center, the Baxters had settled in Ghent, and the parents of Hester Thomas had arrived in Neath from Wales.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bringing Families Together

 

 

 

 

Warren Center

 

 

Abner Bowen, my 3^rd Great Grandfather, was born in 1792, in Barrington, Rhode Island. He married Sarah (Sally) Sleeper in 1818 and died in 1863. Benjamin Bowen (Great, Great Grandfather) was born in 1823, married Charlotte Canfield (1831-1907) in 1850. Benjamin was a farmer. The 1880 Federal Census lists him with wife and son, Dormun (sp), living on property #152 with Chase Steadwinth and his wife and daughter. This is located five parcels from the Sleeper family. Benjamin died in 1885. Dorman D. Bowen (Great Grandfather) was born in 1855, married Julie Anna Whitaker (1866-?) in 1884 and died in 1902.

 

 

 

 

Ghent

 

 

The township of Ghent received its name from the Treaty of Ghent, which ended the War of 1812. A local farmer and his wife were having such a feud with one another that the preacher had to intervene. This took place in 1814, the year the Treaty was signed. In a tongue in cheek homage, the town folk named their community after the famous treaty.

Moses Tyler Baxter was born in 1795, in Delaware County, New York. He married Phaelie Rose (1805-1885) of Sullivan County, New York in 1820. They moved to a farm in Ghent Township, Pennsylvania circa 1835. Moses died three years later in Sheshequin, Pennsylvania. When he died, Nathan, his eldest son of eight children inherited the farm in Ghent. By the mid-nineteenth century, the Bowens and Baxters were living within ten miles of each other.

Clark Lindley Baxter was born in 1827, in Masonville, Delaware County, New York. He was 5ft 6 ½, light complected, blue eyes and sandy hair. He married Theresa Brown Taylor in Sheshequin, Bradford County, Pennsylvania, in 1847. She was the daughter of William Taylor and Sally Vasbinder. Clark farmed and lived on Mrs. Sweeney’s property, which was next to his brother, Nathan’s farm. During the Civil War, he was an artificer in the 50^th Regiment of N.Y. Engineers out of Elmira, New York. He joined on September 6, 1864. He was honorably discharged at Fort Barrie, Virginia on June 13, 1865. By this time Clark’s family had relocated to Orwell, Pennsylvania. They lived in Rome, as well as Wysox for a while as farmers. Clark Baxter died in 1898, in North Orwell, Pennsylvania. His wife, Theresa, died in 1907 in Ghent and was buried in North Orwell.

 

 

 

 

Neath

 

 

 

Israel Evans was born in1779, in Cardiganshire, Wales. He married Nancy Jones circa 1800. He emigrated to Neath, Bradford County, Pennsylvania in 1841. They were one of the first families to settle in Neath. He died in 1872 and his wife, Nancy, in 1849. They are buried in Neath, Pennsylvania. Jane Evans was born in 1822, in Cardiganshire, Wales. She married John Phillips circa 1842.

David Thomas was born in 1807 and married Ann Jones (1813-1897). He died in 1882. Morgan Thomas was born circa 1830. He married Jane Evans in 1859, in Neath, Pennsylvania.

Hester Thomas, my Great Grandmother, was born in 1859. When she was a baby, Morgan (her father), was anxious to make money so he went searching for gold. He was gone several years. While he was out West, Hester had either scarlet fever or diphtheria and was near death for several days. Thomas and Mary, her siblings from Jane’s first marriage, died as did many in the community. Jane’s brother, Evan Evans, and John (her ex-husband) stayed to take care of the sick children.

Morgan returned without any luck in finding gold. Tragedy struck the family once again when Jane died giving birth to a baby girl, Mary Ann. Morgan married Margaret Rose in the following year. After the death of her mother, Mary Ann was raised by relatives in Clifford, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania. She eventually married John Charlton in 1891 and moved to Seattle, Washington.

Hester was nine years old when her mother died and she went with her father and stepmother to Scranton, Pennsylvania. In Scranton, Morgan was a carpenter in the coalfields and in 1871 died in a mining accident. After his death, Hester moved back to Neath and lived with her half-sister, Ann Phillips who married a widower, Edwin Hines. Her uncle, Evan Evans was raising Mary Ann at the same time in Neath. Hester later became known throughout the community as a "Crack Shot" with a pistol.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Great Grandparents

 

 

 

Charles Melvin Baxter was born in 1855, in Ghent, Pennsylvania. He worked in the stone quarry in Hornbrook, Pennsylvania for a while and laid stone streets in Towanda, as well as surrounding towns. In 1879 he married Hester E. Thomas from Neath, Pennsylvania. They were living in Orwell, Pennsylvania when they had their three children:

 Maude born in 1882, ended up marrying Ford Walker Campbell in 1904 in Nichols, New York. Maude died in 1982 in Athens, Pennsylvania.

Grace Irene was born in 1891 and married Harry O’Dell Burns in Nichols, New York. She died in 1971.

Anna Elizabeth was born in 1893.

By 1900 Charles along with his wife and daughters were living in Nichols, New York where he worked as a farm laborer. According to writings, Charles was a prankster and good storyteller.

A few miles away from the Baxter’s, in Warren Center, Dorman Bowen and his wife, Anna, gave birth to Arthur Lee Bowen in 1888.

 

                                                                                               

                                                                             

Charlie Baxter with Marion Burns and Edith Campbell.

 

 

 

                                                        Ann Phillips, Donald and Hester Baxter.

 

                                   

 

 

 

 

Nichols, New York

 

 

 

Dorman died in 1902. His widow, Julie Anna married Hugh Johnson from Nichols, N.Y. Arthur Bowen at the age of 14 left his mother and worked and lived on the farm of Walter Bowen and his family of three daughters. Walter Bowen was no relation to Arthur. He worked on different farms at various times and eventually ended up living with the Johnsons in Nichols, New York. In the mid 1920s Arthur married Anna Baxter. They had two children, Donald Melvin (my father) in 1927 and Corinne. Arthur died in 1955 and Anna in 1977.

Donald married Jeanne Boyd (my mother)in 1954 where they lived on the end of Dean Street in Nichols, New York. She died in 1996 and Donald was laid to rest in September of 2001. They are survived by nine children (including me),fourteen grandchildren,one great grandson and counting to carry on the Bowen/Baxter legacy.

 

 

Arthur and Donald on Bliven Street in Nichols, New York circa 1930.

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