Notes |
- Gravestone Inscription:
"...A useful member of the Church, A faithful Friend, not many such, A tender Parent, Husband dear, And served his Country well Whilst here. Yet, notwithstanding all that's said, Beneath this stone his head is laid."
[Note: The BOWMAN Family Crest is elaborately carved above the inscription]
The "History of Thyatira Church", compiled by Rev. Thomas W. Lingle, Ph.D., contains a brief accounting of William Bowman's death. Upon the occasion of the Church's Centennial Celebration in 1855, Rev. S. C. Alexander, pastor of Thyatira, related the following about William Bowman, one of the earliest Ruling Elders of the Church. "...On the 11th of March, 1795, Mr. Bowman was killed while coming from Salisbury with his wagon [thrown from the wagon]. From the fact of two of his sons being ministers of the Gospel, we might reasonably suppose that he ordered his family aright, and set before them a Godly example." [SOURCE: McCubbins Collection, Rowan Co. Public Library, Salisbury, NC]
William Bowman first married Elisabeth HART, 23 March 1756 in Bucks Co., PA. It is believed the following children of Wm & Elisabeth Bowman survived infancy: Samuel, b. 18 October 1758; John, b. 22 February 1763; James, b. 08 February 1765; Ann, b 09 August; Joseph, b. 04 December 1769; Mary, b. 07 March 1772; and Elisabeth, b. 20 December 1775 [SOURCE: Family Bible, published by the 'Central Illinois Genealogical Quarterly', Vol. XXV, No. 1, Winter 1989, Page 10, by Mary Karl]
Elisabeth HART Bowman died before 1785 [unknown place]. On 14 May 1785, Adlai Osborne witnessed a Marriage Bond for William Bowman and Elizabeth McPHERSON of [Old] Rowan County, NC. Elizabeth's brother, John McPherson, served as Bondsman. Elizabeth McPherson was a daughter of Robert and Elizabeth RUSSEL McPherson. [Robert McPherson was the first proprietor of McPherson's Mill on Davidson's Creek in 1779.] It is not known if any children were born from the union of Wm. and Eizabeth McPherson Bowman.
Three years after William Bowman's death, the Iredell Co. Court [August 1798 Session] "Ordered that letters of administration issue to Elizabeth Bowman and John McPherson on the estate of Will Bowman, deceased, who gave bond of 500 [pound sterling] with Samuel Fleming and James Bowman, securities; also,ordered that John Huggins, George L. Davidson, Ephraim Davidson and Robert McKneely [sic] lay off 1 years maintenance for Elizabeth Bowman and children from the estate of Will Bowman, deceased."
|