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Daniel Bowman |
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Many thanks to Joyce (Woodruff) Terrana
My ancestor, DANIEL BOWMAN SR born 15 May 1759 Frederick Co, Md.,
was the
son of John Bowman born ca 1711 and wife Catherine. Daniel married
1784
(place unknown) to Susannah Margaret HORN. After 1776, Daniel
and his
parents and some grown siblings were found in the newly created Washington
Co, Md. (they never moved, just county lines). This family attended
German
speaking Churches in the late 1700s. Have documents that place Daniel's
parents in western Maryland by 1740, both parents died by 1807. This
was
about the time Daniel left Maryland (last of his siblings to leave).
Have
documents that place him in Rutherford by 1808. The family usually
owned more
than one tract of real estate at a time, from the 1780s to their deaths,
but
rarely owned slaves. Daniel died 6 Dec 1843 and his wife by July 1845,
both
in Rutherford Co, Tn. It was said that Daniel not only could read/write
but
spoke 2-3 languages (German, English and ?). He was certainly active
at the
Rutherford Co, Tn courthouse, his name and signature appearing very
often in various capacities 1808 to ca 1840, as Juror, Justice of Peace, Commissioner
and more.
BELOW:
(1) ABSTRACT OF PORTIONs OF HIS REVOLUTIONARY WAR PENSION (on file at National Archives, quite lengthy)
(2) ABSTRACT OF HIS WILL AND SOME PROBATE DATA ON HE AND HIS WIFE, from
Rutherford Co, Tn..
1833 pension application: Daniel attested that he had in his possession,
a
transcript from his Father's Bible, stating him to have been born 15
March
1759, said transcript now at the residence of (declarant) Daniel, in
County of Rutherford. (When Daniel's son died in 1839, among David's
personal
assets was a 'FAMILY BIBLE'. This bible apparently had belonged to
Daniel’s
father, John Bowman.)
Daniel said in 1833 he had no surviving
person that could attest to his military service, other than a brother who lived in East Tennessee
that
he had not heard from in 3 years. This was surely his brother Sparling Bowman. What Daniel may not have known was his brother Sparling Bowman
also applied for a pension from Greene Co, Tenn, papers in his file from
1829 to 1833.
1833 pension application: Daniel Bowman further stated, he was
acquainted
with these people, in his Rutherford County neighborhood: Hon.
James C.
Mitchell, Logan Henderson, Thomas Yeardley, Elijah Cox, Robert Jetton,
Sam
Anderson, William Ledbetter, Robert Smith, David Wadell (or David Waddle?), Jonathan Cannon, Grenville S. Crockett, Charles Ready and Charles Niles,
(and
Tely- Gra-chy?). Also: Martin Clark, Clergyman, and Russel Dance.
Additional data on some of the names in Daniel's pension:
'C'. Niles was Alderman of Murfreesboro in 1829, Charles Niles
was Alderman in 1831, Mayor in 1833, Alderman in 1834, 1835. Charles Ready shows
up in
political records of Murfreesboro from about 1827, as Alderman, on/off,
then
Mayor in 1832, etc. Robert Smith was Alderman 1822. W.
R. Rucker was Mayor
in 1822-3, Alderman on/off even 1831, etc. Other names appearing
in these
years either as Alderman, Major, Treasurer, etc were: Anderson
Childress,
William Ledbetter, William Brady, Russel Dance, L. H. Carney, and H.
Yaakum (Yoakum, I'm sure). Source: pub. #29 Rutherford Co Hist. Society.
1833 pension application: a letter in pension files written from
Murfreesboro by William Brady in Daniel's behalf, pertaining to a pension
that he had applied for, based upon his Rev. War service. Mr.
Brady said
(verbatim):
3 April 1833
Murfreesboro,
Tennessee
(To) Pension Department.
Washington
Dear
Sir,
I return to you the amended declaration of Daniel Bowman. I have
pens--- (?perused) the brief you forwarded
me, and to prove to the
department its worth, I enclose the brief.
This applicant is a worthy man - and is WELL KNOWN TO THE
PRESIDENT OF THIS UNITED STATES. He was an Elector
in this district at the last Election.
You will please enclose the result of your deliberations, on to Esquire Bowman at this place.
With
respect,
William
Brady
Re 1832 election: The election that Daniel served, was the one
in1832 where
Andrew Jackson was re-elected by a landslide. Since Murfreesboro
had been
the Capital of State of Tennessee from 1818 to 1826, I’m sure Andrew
Jackson,
as a politician visited there often. Since Daniel was prominent
in
courthouse affairs in those same years, it isn’t difficult to see how
he met
Jackson. His son David Bowman had served under Jackson in 1813
as well as a
Replogle son-in-law.
re definition of 'AN ELECTOR':
I first thought that perhaps an 'Elector' was a poll watcher, or perhaps
an
active campaigner? With more research, I found that an Elector
was a much
more important person than that. In the 1830s, an Elector was a person
who
actually cast one Presidential electoral vote, and Electors voted separate
to
the general public. This earlier choice by state legislatures functioned
like
this: In 1804, the 12th Amendment enjoins Electors to vote for
President and
Vice President separately and provides that if no candidate has a majority
of
Electoral vote, then the House of Representatives (voting by state
with one
vote for each state) shall choose the President from among the 3 candidates
highest on the Electoral list. The present day popular election
( and
electoral college) general-ticket system enables a party to carry whole
state, if it achieves a plurality vote.
Therefore, in reviewing the 3
terms that Andrew Jackson ran, we find this: Oct 29, 1824 election day for general public, Nov 22 Presidential
electors cast their ballots 1 Dec. and he was defeated as candidate
in House
of Representatives. Next in 1828, election day for the public
was 4 Nov, but
Presidential electors cast their ballots 3 Dec., electoral votes tabulated
11
Feb and he was elected as 7th Pres. of U. S. Next, in 1832, general
election
day was 6 Nov but Presidential electors cast their ballots 5 Dec. Electoral
vote tabulated 13 Feb and Jackson re-elected. THIS IS THE ELECTION
THAT OUR
DANIEL BOWMAN SR SERVED AS 'ELECTOR'.
re 1837 pension file: another letter written re Daniel Bowman's service
to
pension agent in DC, stated that his attorney was Thomas L. Marshall
of
Nashville, and that Daniel lived 50-60 miles from Nashville. On nearly
same
day, Jonathan Cummings sold much land to 3 of Daniel's sons (Daniel
Jr, Benjamin E. and James T.).
1840 census
of Rutherford Co. pg 54/55 (pg #106 1/2):
Daniel Bowman Sr is listed under the special column, #25, set
aside for "pensioners", and as being "82 years of age".
Daniel Bowman (Sr), male age 80-90,
and female 70-80 (Susannah). No others in home.
Next door was Benjamin E. Bowman and
wife, Jane (Brown), next residence was Jesse Todd, then Henry Replogle, Daniel Bowman
Jr., James Wallace, James T. Bowman and wife, Mary (Brown). Not far away:
families of
McCrary, Lyon, Murray, Goodson, Lowe, White, Anderson, Thompson, McFarland,
Gibson, Curtis, Lowe, Jacobs, Lowe.
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THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT
OF DANIEL BOWMAN SR:
Daniel Bowman Sr died 6 Dec. 1843 (exact date, from his pension papers).
He made his will, 12 October 1842, from Rutherford Co, Tennessee. In this,
you
can see that his son Benjamin Bowman’s name had been written in as
executor,
and then crossed out. Daniel’s signature is very shaky. It was recorded,
3
Jan, 1844. (The Clerk of Rutherford Co, Tenn. copied the original will,
still
on file at courthouse) It said:
I direct all my personal property to
be sold except such as my wife Susannah Margaret may wish to reserve for her own use. I direct my
land to be
rented out during the life of my wife and the proceeds of the sale
of my
personal property lent out and the interest paid over to my wife for
her own
use. I also direct that all debts due me shall be collected and
proceeds
lent out and interest likewise paid over to my said wife. At
the death of my
wife Susannah Margaret, I wish my lands sold and proceeds of sale,
as also
all other monies and effects belonging to my estate to be equally divided
among my children or their legal representatives. The above named
sales of
my lands and other property to be made on such terms as my executors
may
think most advantageous. The scope and object of this will is,
that my wife
shall be decently supported during her life with as little loss to
the
capitol of my estate as practicable and at her death, that the balance
may go
to my children. I hereby appoint (Benjamin Bowman written in,
crossed out)
James Bowman and H. Yoakum my executors, signed Oct 12, 1842 by:
DANIEL
BOWMAN Senior. wit: Exum Rick (Recks?) and William H. McCabe.
I have copy of a 2nd place his will was recorded, but now, Benjamin
E.
Bowman was named as administrator. (record bk 12, p 431, 432). This
2nd will is not exactly the same as the first one, and the signature definitely
is not
original. Between 1842 when Daniel's will was made and 3 Jan.1844 when
it was
recorded for the 2nd time, his son, James T. had turned the 'executor'
duty
over to his brother. In many documents on file today pertaining
to Daniel’s
estate, Benjamin E. Bowman is listed clearly as 'Administrator'. None
of the
children of Daniel Bowman Sr. are named in his will, the two places
it was
recorded, instead, he refers to them as 'my children' (and 'executor:
James
T. Bowman', 'administrator Benjamin E. Bowman'). For those of
us who are
descendants of the son Benjamin E., it is a good thing we have the
baptismal
records of 1804 in Maryland, showing Benjamin Ellis Bowman to be son
of
Daniel Bowman and wife, Susannah Margaret Bowman. Daniel had
much land to be
sold in both Rutherford and Cannon Co, Tenn, as well as personal property which Benjamin E. Bowman did after his mother died. For example, there
were 2
parcels in Cannon Co alone, each called ‘plantations’ which totaled
about 160
acres, likely located at/near Readyville, and more in Rutherford Co.
I have copies of all of the many Rutherford Co., Tn. courthouse documents
of
1844 thru 1847 pertaining to Daniel Bowman Sr, and his estate: Probate
bk #12, p 290?, 431-432, 520-21; 13, p 162, 356-360, 515-516, 677;
book 14, p
313; Court Minutes bk Z, p 495, Cannon Co deeds and more.
January 1844 (p 398), Rutherford Co Court Min, bk Z, p 399: “A
paper writing purporting to be the last will and testament of Daniel Bowman dec’d
was this day presented in open court and the execution thereof was duly proved
by the
oath of James Youree and William H. McCabe subscribing witnesses thereto
and ordered to be recorded and the executors therein named having refused
to
qualify as such and thereupon Benjamin E. Bowman having applied in
open court
for letters of administration on his estate with the will annexed and
he
having given bond and security and qualified according to law to him
they are
granted.” (no exact date listed on this page other than above). Wonder
what
happened?
Mar 1845, Rutherford Court Min, bk Z p 495: “A settlement of
the estate of Daniel Bowman dec’d was this day presented in open court and ordered
to be recorded.” (exact same thing, Aug Term 1846, same book, p 584)
SUSANNAH MARGARET (HORN) BOWMAN (widow of Daniel) DIED COUPLE YEARS LATER:
Within a document of March 1844, re Daniel Bowman's estate, the 'Widow'
is
mentioned. In our Daniel's Rev. War pension documents is a letter
written by
H. Yoakum on 19 Sept. 1844, from Murfreesboro, where she, now 'widowed'
requested the Washington pension agent to check, regarding the continuance
of
Daniel's pension. She stated that her husand, Daniel Bowman had died
6 Dec. 1843, and that they had married in 1784 (she doesn't say where). On
an estate
document, dated March 1845, she is called 'Susan M. Bowman, widow',
with an
expense of $7 for (Daniel's) coffin, and again H. Yoakum is referred
to. She
too died by 27 July 1846, as documents show the family paid $6.00
“for
coffin, for Susan M. Bowman”.
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