Genealogy Report: Descendants of Cornelius Bowman, Sr.
Descendants of Cornelius Bowman, Sr.
1.CORNELIUS1 BOWMAN, SR. was born Abt. 1740 in Shenandoah Valley, VA, and died January 28, 1826 in Booneville, Owsley County, KY.He married SUSANNAH POINTER March 19, 1760 in Harrisonburg, Rockingham County, VA.She was born 1745 in VA, and died May 13, 1810 in Elliston, Madison County, KY.
Notes for CORNELIUS BOWMAN, SR.:
Cornelius Bowman and wife, Susan, and James Moore and wife, Ellender, with their sons and daughters were among the first settlers in Madison Co., KY.
The Bowmans settled on Muddy Creek near the Estill County line. The Moores, by gradual stages, moved up the Kentucky River and became the first settlers at (now) Booneville in Owsley County in the South Fork Country.The sons and daughters of the Bowmans married sons and daughters of the Moores. In those days there were few other people in the area.
The children settled in the South Fork Country. As time passed, the grandchildren of the Moores and Bowmans became the ancestors of a great many families now living in Owsley, Jackson, and surrounding counties. To name a few families that in part, descend from the Bowmans and Moores would have to include the following families: The Davidsons, Coles, Wilsons, Reynolds, Estridges, Eversoles, Callahans, Evans, Penningtons, Gabbards, Frosts, Lynches, Roses, Reeses, Brandenburgs, Pruitts, Roberts, McKinneys, Spencers, Lawsons, Combs, Peters, Sparks and many more.
Marriage Notes for CORNELIUS BOWMAN and SUSANNAH POINTER:
I, Jack Bowman Bailey, have been corresponding with Ed Bowman who has been doing lots of serious snooping into the origins of Cornelius Bowman Sr. and wife Susannah. Recently, Ed sent me the text of a letter he received from Faye A. Witters of the Harrisonburg-Rockingham (VA) Historical Society. Ms. Witters responded to Ed, saying that the H-R.H.S. has a notebook (The Session Book of Peaked Mountain And Cook's Creek Presybterian Churches by Richard K. MacMaster) containing seven marriage records from the Peaked Mountain Meeting House (Presbyterian) located just south of Harrisonburg, Rockingham Co., VA. One of these marriages reads:
Married in 1764 March 19th
Cornelius Boman
Susanna Painter/Pointer
Ed says that the Peaked Mountain Meeting House was the forerunner of the Massanutten Cross Keys Church. The location would have been 7 miles south of Harrisonburg, VA, is probably where Cross Keys is now located. He says that the Cross Keys Church eventually became the Union Church which was burned during the civil war and that Cross Keys was apparently recreated in 1920 and dissolved in 1967.
The marriage record is a very good fit -- I believe Ed has found our Cornelius and Susannah! Harrisonburg lies within the Shenandoah Valley (legend has linked our Cornelius to that region), and the date is about right. Eldest sons John and William are said to have been born ca. 1760/65. Several of the other families affiliated with the Bowmans are also linked to Rockingham and Rockbridge Counties.
If correct, our Susannah was a Pointer, not an Abbott. Although Painter/Pointer seems at first to be an English surname, researchers of the Painter/Pointer family of the Shenandoah Valley say they were German -- "Painter/Pointer" was anglicized from the German "Bender". Supposedly, the Painter/Bender family was descended from Matthaus Bender b. 1677 Mannheim, Palatinate, Germany, d. 1744 New Hanover Twp., York Co., PA; he m. Anna (Mary) Catharina b. 1681 Palatinate, d. 1764 New Hanover Twp, York Co., PA. You can find more by checking out the Painter Family GenForum.
I now believe our Cornelius was from one of the several German Bowman (Bauman) families of the Shenandoah region. But which one? There are at least three or four! There are several interesting hints that point toward a link to the Jacob Bowman (Bauman) (m. Elizabeth Ungert) clan, but nothing definite.
Ed Bowman also reports finding a reference to an Elizabeth Bowman marrying a William Waters on Dec 8, 1778 in Wilkes Co., NC. The clerk was William Lenoir and the witnesses were Moses Bowman and Isaac Elledge. (Note: Cornelius' grandson William (s/o John) married Malinda "Mandy" Waters 1807 Clay Co KY; the Waters family was evidently connected to our Bowmans, suggesting that Moses Bowman was some early relative of Cornelius??)
Jack Bowman Bailey
[email protected]
A Love Story, (Published, but source unknown.)
Old Cornelius Bowman and wife, Susan, lived in Madison County, Kentucky. The time came when Susan died and was buried on the waters of Muddy Creek.
After Susan died, the children began to worry about their father living by himself. They went to see him and took wagons to move him up to the South Fork Country to live with them. When they told the old man the purpose of the visit, he flatly replied, "I won't go unless I can take Susan."
Finally, it was decided that they would have to comply with their father's wish. Susan was dug up. Her coffin was loaded in a wagon.It has not been determined how long Susan had been dead.
The moving party arrived back in the South Fork Country too late in the day to rebury Susan. At the old man's insistence the coffin was placed on his bed that night, and once more he slept beside Susan.
When someone asked, "Why?" He replied, "Because I always loved Susan."
This excerped was take from the website: http//familytreemaker.genealogy.com/ftm/c/r/a/Donald-C-Crawford/GENE23-0001.html
More About CORNELIUS BOWMAN, SR.:
Occupation: Farmer
More About CORNELIUS BOWMAN and SUSANNAH POINTER:
Marriage: March 19, 1760, Harrisonburg, Rockingham County, VA
Married at:: March 19, 1764, Peaked Moutain Meeting House
Children of CORNELIUS BOWMAN and SUSANNAH POINTER are:
i. | JOHN2 BOWMAN, b. Abt. 1760, VA; d. 1839, Madison County, KY. | ||
ii. | SUSANNAH BOWMAN, b. Abt. 1762. | ||
iii. | WILLIAM E. BOWMAN, SR, b. 1765, Shenandoah Valley, VA; d. 1840, Powell Valley, Claiborne County, TN. | ||
2. | iv. | ELIJAH BOWMAN, SR., b. 1773, VA; d. 1840, Owsley County, KY. | |
v. | ELISHA WILLIAMSON BOWMAN, b. December 25, 1775, Va; d. October 03, 1845, Estill County, KY. | ||
vi. | JUDITH BOWMAN, b. 1777, Wilkes County, NC; d. Aft. 1870, Owsley County, KY. | ||
3. | vii. | CORNELIUS BOWMAN, JR., b. 1779, Madison County, NC; d. October 15, 1835, Owsley County, KY. | |
viii. | HEZEKIAH BOWMAN, SR., b. 1780, Wilkes County, NC; d. 1845, Estill County, KY. | ||
ix. | THOMAS BOWMAN, b. 1782, Watuga River, TN; d. September 15, 1864, Jackson County, KY. | ||
x. | JACOB BOWMAN, b. 1784, Wilkes County, NC; d. August 1830, Owsley County, KY. | ||
xi. | DEBORAH BOWMAN, b. February 02, 1790, Butler, Johnson County, TN; d. March 13, 1883, Owsley County, KY. |