BOWMAN GENEALOGY

I. Christopher Bauman was born in Germany and settled in Bucks County, PA, in 1755, near his cousin, Hans Dieter Bauman, who had arrived from Germany in 1727. He married Susan BANKS in 1759 and, following the birth of their first child, a son, moved to the "old Bowman farm" in Northampton County, PA. While Christopher and Susan were busy with their home duties on the banks of the Delaware River, the itinerant Methodist ministers traveled the length and breadth of the land preaching the gospel. These ministers often visited the farm at Mount Bethel and through these visitations the Bowman family, originally Lutherans, was converted to the Methodist faith. The two eldest sons, Thomas and Christian, became Methodist ministers and, in subsequent generations, this line of the Bowmans produced two Episcopal Bishops. Children of Christopher and Susan are:

• II. Thomas BOWMAN, b. 1760, d. 1823, Brier Creek, Luzerne Co., PA. The Reverend Thomas Bowman moved his family, with his father and mother, to Brier Creek in 1793. He married Mary FREEMAN of Northampton County. The first five of their children were born at the "old Bowman farm" at Mount Bethel, while the last five were born at Brier Creek.
• II. Anne BOWMAN, m. Mr. DIM, resided at Muncy, PA.
• II. Christian BOWMAN
• II. Mary BOWMAN, b. 1762, m. James STACKHOUSE
• II. Susan BOWMAN, b. 1764, m. Mr. MOORE, Williamsport, PA.
• II. Lydia BOWMAN, b. 1767, d. 1813, m. (1) Rev. Jacob MACK, 1799; (2) John HOFFMAN, 1809.
• II. Jesse BOWMAN, b. June 10, 1769, d. May 16, 1828, m. Sarah Alen.
• II. Sarah BOWMAN, b. 1775, m. Mr. RAMSEY.
• II. John BOWMAN, b. April 2, 1772, d. Feb. 8, 1852, Pine Grove, Shuylkill Co., PA. John married Mary BRITTON in Town Hill, PA. Children of John and Mary are:

  III. Elizabeth BOWMAN, b. 1797, d. 1807.

  III. Parmela BOWMAN, b. 1798, d. Jan. 9, 1838, 1807 m. Zebulon STEVENS. Children of Parmela and Zebulon are:

  IV. Benjamin STEVENS.

  IV. Mary STEVENS.

  IV. Charlotte STEVENS.

  IV. John STEVENS.

  IV. Stratton STEVENS.

  IV. Thomas Quincy STEVENS.

  IV. Parmela STEVENS.

  III. Sarah BOWMAN, b. July 10, 1800, m. Ira BACON. Children of Sarah and BACON are:

  IV. Major W. BOWMAN BACON (killed at the Battle of Chattanooga).

  IV. Cordelia BACON.

  III. Eleanor BOWMAN, b. 1803, m. Johnathan STEVENS. Children of Eleanor and Johnathan are:

  IV. Thomas STEVENS.

  IV. Evaline BOWMAN STEVENS.

  IV. John BOWMAN STEVENS.

  IV. Marshall BOWMAN STEVENS.

  III. Samuel BOWMAN, b. 1803, d. 1807.

  III. Phoebe BOWMAN, b. 1805, d. 1826, m. William SEWARD. Children of Phoebe and William are:

  IV. Parmela SEWARD.

  IV. Mary SEWARD.

  III. Eliza BOWMAN, b. 1808, d. 1839, m. Daniel KOONS. Child:

  IV. George KOONS.

  III. Mary BOWMAN, b. 1810, d. 1841, m. Julius PRATT. Children of Mary and Julius are:

  IV. John BOWMAN PRATT.

  IV. William Wirt PRATT.

  IV. Caroline PRATT.

  IV. Mary PRATT.

  III. George Nelson BOWMAN, b. 1815, m. Susanna E. DODSON. George settled in New York City and became a dentist. Children of George and Susanna are:

  IV. Gertrude BOWMAN.

  IV. Oscar BOWMAN.

  IV. Thomas BOWMAN.

  IV. David BOWMAN.

  IV. William BOWMAN.

  III. Huldah BOWMAN, b. July 30, 1817.

  III. John Wesley BOWMAN, b. 1812, d. 1842. Married Mary MADISON, from VA, July 31, 1836¹ in Warren, OH. (Mary Madison remarried, to John DAY, December 3, 18431,2, and had three additional children in that marriage.) Children of John Bowman and Mary Madison are:

  IV. Augusta E. BOWMAN, b. 1837², Warren, OH, m. Lathrop P. GILDER September 1, 1859¹. Child of Augusta and Lathrop:

  V. Frank GILDER, b. Dec. 27, 1860, d. Dec. 29, 1952, married Minnie Rose HART Sept. 20, 1882, in Warren, Trumbull Co., OH.8. Children of Frank and Minnie are:

  VI. Lamont Hart GILDER, b. February 28, 1885, Warren, Trumbull Co., OH, d. Dec. 2, 1960, m. Edith Alvord WARD May 17, 1914.8

  VI. Justine Caldwell GILDER, b. January 30, 1895, Warren, Trumbull Co., OH, m. (1)John Frank Williams, m. (2)Charles Pakieser.8

  IV. Adria BOWMAN, b. March 18, 1839, d. September 1, 1925, in Cuyahoga Co., OH4. She married Cornelius BASSETT DARLING, son of George DARLING and Lucia Laura BASSETT, May 27, 1857, in Warren, OH¹. Children of Adria BOWMAN and Cornelius BASSETT DARLING are:

  V. Rolla Russell DARLING, b. April 11, 1858, Warren, d. June 8, 1941, Cleveland, OH4, m. Ida WINFREY, dau. of Christopher C. WINFREY and Parthenia C. WINFREY (distant cousins) May 4, 1881¹. Children of Rolla and Ida are:

  VI. Cornelius Bassett DARLING, b. April 29, 1882, Niles, OH, d. Dec. 3, 1949, Los Angeles, CA5.

  VI. Marie WINFREY DARLING, b. Dec. 2, 1883, m. Herman Otto WAELDE, son of Otto WAELDE and Johanna KONRAD.

  V. Nellie C. "Helen" DARLING, b. Abt. 1862, Niles, OH., m. George Henry PICKERELL. From 1908 to 1927, they resided in Para, Brazil, where George was United States Consul³. Child of Helen and George is:

  VI. Gordon Chelsea Pickerell married Doris Clement FULLER, dau. of Willard and Gail S. Fuller of Cleveland, OH, May 4, 1914 in Para, Brazil.7

  IV. Melissa BOWMAN, b. 1841², m. Salmon S. PELTON, son of Albert PELTON and Mary JONES Oct. 12, 1864¹. Children of Melissa and Salmon are:

  V. Jessie PELTON³.

  V. Henry B. PELTON, b. November 15, 18656.

  V. Albert B. PELTON, b. Apr. 15, 18676.

Sources:

Primary Source: "The Bowmans: A History of Hans Dieterick Bauman and His Descendents", by Augusta Dillman Thomas, 1934, pp. 400-410. *Note: Thomas says John Wesley Bowman, husband of Mary Madison, had a second wife, Catherine Wall, but I have obtained probate records, 1842, in the matter of the death of John Wesley Bowman, so the John Wesley that married Catherine Wall is unlikely this John Wesley Bowman. Mary Madison Bowman Day and John Day, with their children, eventually moved to Colorado, although the Bowman children, Adria, Augusta and Melissa, remained in Ohio.

¹ LDS IGI Records
² 1850 Census
³ Personal correspondence files of Marie Winfrey Darling
4 Death certificate
5 Newspaper obituary
6 Joyce Pelton Bowley
7 Newspaper article
8 Correspondence from Jean Lyles, Gilder descendant.

© Virginia Burke, 1998.