Welcome to BowenvilleBenjamin L. Bowen's family Clan Tracks :
On the trail of my ever elusive Bowen clan.This project code named Bowenville, started in December of 2003 and is a work in progress.
The Bowen family web site contains information of various kinds and related to different branches of the Bowen clan that may not be directly related to mine. It is my intention to seperate the Bowen family web site into two distinct areas.Bowenshire and Bowenville The Bowen family web site which will be of general interest to those with the Bowen Surname it's codename is Bowenshire, Bowenville will be specific to my line and known branches, while Bowenshire will contain information that may be of a general interest to other Bowen clans.
This Bowenville clan-tracker is specifically for information of my direct and related lines or branches. It attempts to make a central information station for known and sourced information and places here questions and clues to possible family connections or missing links, with the reasons stated as to why they may be pertinent to this study . This work also contains links to more detailed information if it is available.Also see my [ Collateral Lines ]
Tennessee
Cannon County Tennessee [Tennessee Bowen contacts and researchers]
The Muster rolls of the 48th Illinois volunteer infantry states that Green Bowen(1) b abt 1837 and Andrew Bowen b abt.1828 sons of Joshua Bowen Jr. and Petney Gann were both born in Tennessee. Greens'(1) nativity is listed as Cannon County Tennessee, which was formed in 1836 from parts of Warren, Smith and Rutherford counties. Andrew's nativity is just listed as Tennessee.Perhaps we can assume then that these Bowen's traveled between the frontier of Tennessee & Bertie county North Carolina, then on to Illinois.
On the 1880 Census for District 72, Guadalupe county, Texas, William M. Bowen records his father's birthplace as Tennessee. William's father Green Bowen(2) was born ca 1812, and later removed to Illinois then on to Texas
Joshua Bowen b ca 1781 & Margaret Cobb b ca 1781-1789 m 7-27-1801 Bertie County North Carolina
Children
Joshua Bowen Jr. b ca 1802
Polly Bowen b ca 1804
Green George Bowen b ca 1812Possibly
Jesse Bowen b ca 1804
Cornelius Bowen b ca 1805
North Carolina
Our Bowens have been found in Bertie County, North Carolina The earliest being Joshua Bowen and Margaret Cobb.
Records of marriages in North Carolina date their marriage at July, 27th 1801.
A Joshua Bowen appears on the 1810 Bertie County North Carolina Census
1810 Bertie North Carolina census - ( Bowen's ) page number line number name 47 15 Bowen, Hardy 47 16 Bowen, Joshua 1810 Bertie County Census
Pg# Ln # Head of Household Last Name First Name
Males to 10 /16 -26 / 26-45 / 45+
Females to10 / 10 -16 /16-26 / 26-45 / 45+ / All Others / Slaves / RemarksPage 47 Line 15 : Bowen Hardy :
Males to10 [ 3 ] 10-16 [ 0 ] 16-26 [ 0 ] 26-45 [ 2 ] 45+ [ 0 ]Females to 10 [ 0 ] 10-16 [1 ] 16-26 [ 2 ] 26-45 [ 0 ] 45 + [ 1 ]
All others [ 0 ] Slaves [ 0 ]
47 16 Bowen Joshua Males to10 [1 ] 10-16 [1 ] 16-26 [ 0 ] 26-45 [ 1 ] 45+ [ 0 ]
Females to 10 [ 2 ] 10-16 [ 0 ] 16-26 [ 1 ] 26-45 [ 0 ] 45+ [ 0 ]
All others [ 0 ] Slaves [ 0 ]What is the relationship between Joshua & Hardy Bowen ?
It should be noted that Hardy Bowen m Penelope Cobb Jan 3, 1787 in Bertie County.
(Best Man Abner Lawrence,Bondsman: Abner Lawrence; Benjamin Bowen)
And that ;
Joshua Bowen m Margaret Cobb Jul 27, 1801 Bertie
(Best man Elisha Corbert, Bondsman: Elisha Corbert, Witness: George Gray)
And that;
Elisha Corbert married Elizabeth Cobb Nov. 2,1796 in Bertie Coutny
( Bondsman: Hardy Bowen X. Witness: George Gray )
Illinois
The early Bowens' used the spelling variations Bowin and Boen ,this may have been the spelling the earliest ancestors used,while I am still in the process of determining the origins of the family,As far as we know the last time the Boen spelling was recorded as such for this clan was the 1850 Jefferson County Illinois census
( listing below).It is not completely known if any of this clan kept the Boen name or if all eventually changed the spelling to the more "Americanized" Bowen.The Bowens' of Illinois probably arrived in the early 1830's. Daniel, Joshua & Joshua Jr (Boen) apper in Marion County Census records. Green Bowen, Joshua Bowen and William Bowen were all in the same company of soldiers in the Blackhawk wars of 1831-1832 from White County Illinois. Some of the records used the spelling variation Bowin. Is this Green & Joshua Bowen the sons of Joshua Bowen & Margaret Cobb? Joshua would have been about 30 years old while Green would have been about 21. Who is William Bowen/Bowin in relation to this Green and Joshua?
Green Bowen and his wife Elizabeth Fobar were married in White County in1834, later his nephews, the sons of his brother Joshua who was for a time in North Carolina, can be found in White County records, such as the 1840 census Index .
Various 1830 Illinois Bowens' Bond County Illinois Bowens Morgan County Bowens Vermillion County Bowens' Marion County Bowens' other
Illinois CountiesMichah Bowan
John Bowen
Andrew Bowen
Jeremiah Bowen
Jerry Bowen
Jesse Bowen
Rousey Bowen
William Bowen
Willy Bowen
Edward Bowen
Daniel Boen
Joshua Boen
Joshua Boen jr.
Rebecca Boen
Thomas Bowen - Lawrence
Thurman Boan - Schuyler
Rebecca Boen - Marion
Michael Bowen - Wabash
Name Year County State Page Township or section Records Database Green Bowen 1840 White County IL 023 State or colonial census White County IL 286 Census 1840 Index to Illinois Census : Joshua and Green both appear in White county.
Adams County : Charles R Bowen, John R Bowen, Riley Bowen
Bond County :Thomas Bowen, William Bowen
Carroll County : L H Bowen
Cass County : Jeremiah Bowen
Clark County :John Boan
Cook County : Henry Bowen
Hancock County : John Bowen
Kane County : Sarah Bowen, Hyram Bowen
Knox County : Sally Bowen
Lawrence County : Thomas Bowan, David Bowen
Lee County : Cyrus Bowen
Madison County : A Bowen, Margaret Bowen, John Bowen
Mc Lean County : James Bowen
Mercer County : David Bowan
Monroe County : Alfred Bowen
Pike County : William Bowin , Obadiah Bowen
Rick Island County : Han ?? D Bowen
Sangamon County : Zasy Bowen, Abraham Bowen
Schuyler County : Absolam Bowen
Shelby County : Thomas Bowen
Stark County : William Bowin
Vermilion County : Edward Bowen, Katharine Bowen
WarrenCounty : Rawsey Bowen
White County : Green Bowen, Joshua Bowen
Will County : H H Bowen, Christopher Bowen
Bowen Census from Jefferson County Illinois 1850.
Thanks to James Bowen for this information.This clan of Bowens' later moved on to Texas in and around DeWitt or Lavaca Counties.
This would be Green Bowen (Boen), the son of Joshua Bowen and Margaret Cobb Bowen.
The census taken in 1850 with Green's age listed at 35 would indicate he was born in 1815.
Mary Elizabeth Fabor would have been born then in 1814.
|
This information is from the Muster and Descriptive rolls of the Illinois
48th volunteer Infantry Company "H" from White County, Illinois,received
from the Illinois Secretary of State and the Illinois State archives. In Volume 1 page 626 White County1929 Illinois Roll of Honor , Record of Burial Places of Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Army nurses of all wars of the United States buried in Illinois record the burial date of Andrew Bowen as 5-7-1902 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Note : Joshua Bowen & Petney Gann Bowen had children, among them was Andrew, Green and John Bowen. It does not apear to be that the Green Bowen of the 48th Illinois ( and later the 145th Illinois) was the son of Joshua and Petney even though the age is the same. Green Bowen, son of Joshua & Petney was born in Illinois, per the 1850 White County Illinois census, he later went on to marry Anna Ellen Gann.
The Green Bowen of the 48th Illinois was born in Cannon County Tennessee. His civil war pension was filed for in 1894 by one Elizabeth Bowen ( from Johnson County, Illinois).
I have also located this marriage record from 1858 : Green Bowen, marries Elizabeth Williams, in Johnson County Illinois.
Elizabeth Bowen's Civil war pension application which was filed on April 25, 1894 in Illinois, listed Green Bowen as serving in both Company H of the 48th Illinois Infantry and later,Company A of the 145th Illinois Infantry.
Green Bowen was "discharged for disability" from the 48th Illinois on Sept. 29th,1862 at Bethel, Tenn. Green Bowen re-enlisted in May of 1864 into Company A of the 145th.Green Bowen
Claimed Residence in Vienna
Enlist Date Enlist Place Enlist Rank Enlist Age
02 May 1864 Priv
Served Illinois Enlisted A Co. 145th Inf Reg. IL Mustered Out at Camp Butler, Springfield, IL on 23 September 1864
Source:
Illinois: Roster of Officers and Enlisted Men
[ Civil
war records are housed at the National Archives ]
Microfilm Publication T288: General Index to Pension Files,
1861-1934 [ Pension
Index Pages]
Bowen files would be on roll 44 (Boult, Frank--Bowles, Daniel)
Can be read at various locations including
the
Houston Public Library's Clayton Library, 5300 Caroline St., Houston, TX
77004-6896. Phone: 832-393-2600.
To obtain Civil War military service and pension records by mail
Paper copies of Civil War military service records can be ordered by mail using an NATF Form 86 for each soldier. Copies of Civil War pension records can be ordered by mail using an NATF Form 85 for each soldier.
You can obtain the NATF Form 85 and Form 86 by providing your name and mailing address to www.archives.gov/global_pages/inquire_form.html. Be sure to specify the correct form number and the number of forms you need.
You can also obtain the NATF Forms 85 and Form 86 by writing to: National Archives and Records Administration, Attn: NWDT1, 700 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20408-0001.
Texas
My Bowen clan's migration to Texas can be traced back to the Green Bowen his wife Mary Elizabeth Fabor and their children Eliza (age 14), Elizabeth (age 11), Mary A. (age 7) , William (age 6), John (age 3) and Abraham aged 2 months.Green Bowen Jr. may have been the first of our Bowen clan born in Texas abt 1857(1880 Census Green Bowen Jr. is listed from Texas as age 23 ).
The family traveled from Jefferson County, Illinois sometime between 1854 to 1857 .
The census shows the family in Jefferson County, Illinois in 1850 using the Spelling of BOEN .
Greens' Brother Joshua Bowen Jr. (born in 1802) lived in Bertie County North Carolina and later in White County, Illinois with his wife Petney Gann and their family.
The census and marriage records indicate that many Bowens' had settled in Illinois, possibly arriving earlier from Tennessee and North Carolina.
Green Bowen appears in Goliad County Texas in 1860 Year Name County State Page Township or section Record Type Database 1860 Green Bowen Goliad County TX 065 Middletown P. O. Federal Population Schedule TX 1860 Federal Census Index
Green Bowen b ca 1812 in Tennessee appears on the Muster rolls for Company "E" of the Eighth Texas Infantry in 1862, The rolls were from Refugio Couny Texas. Green Bowen would have been 50 years old at this time.
In the Spring of 1862 William M. Bowen of Caldwell County Texas, the son of Green Bowen and Mary Elizabeth Fabor enlisted in Waul's Texas Legion Confederate States Army. William was assigned to Cavalry company F which was known after the October 1862 reorganization of the legion asWillis' Battalion Texas Cavalry, commanded by Lt. Colonel Leonidas Willis. The battallion was sometimes refered to as Waul's Texas Legion Cavalry Willis' Battalion.
William, born in 1844 in Illinois would have been a boy of eighteen years old. These eight years between arrival in Texas and his enlistment would have given the spireted boy ample time to hone the skills required to become one of the elite fighting men of the Confederate Texas Cavalry.On an application for a Confederate pension filed for in late 1904 and approved in early1905 in Caldwell County,at the Prarie Lea Post Office William M. Bowen stated that he served until the end of the war.
In sworn statements before judge George Kyser of Caldwell County, Both J.J. Coulter and George Washington New (G.W. New) attested to knowing and serving with William in the war. J.J. Coulter stated that he was aquainted with William since the spring of 1862 and that he was frequently with William in the company througout the summer of 1862.
G.W. New stated that he ( G.W.) was a member of the same legion and Battalion in Company "C" and he personally knew that William joined in the spring of 1862 and served to the close of the war. Mr. New also stated that he had known William "since he was a school boy". All three gentlemen appear on the list of Confederate Soldiers of Caldwell County maintained by the Caldwell County Genealogical and Historical Society.hsoc@bcsnet.net .Indications are that a young William migrated with his family to Texas from Illinois between 1850 and 1854. The family appears on the 1850 census in Jefferson County Illinois, and on the Goliad County Texas census of 1860.
William had four sisters Eliza Anna, Elizabeth, Mary A., Mary Jane all born in Illinois and three brothers. John, Abraham and Joseph Green Bowen who was possibly the first of our clan born in Texas in February of 1856 in Goliad County .
William's father, Green Bowen served in Company E of Hobby's Eighth Texas volunteer infantryWilliam M. " Bill" Bowen was the husband of Mahala Duke Bowen, the daughter of David Duke and Matilda Killingsworth of Jackson Alabama. Bill and Mahala were wed October 12, 1868 in Guadalupe County, Texas. William, as much of the clan of Bowen's were, was a farmer and was also a freighter. Between the years of 1870 and 1879 William and Mahala had seven children, six boys named Green, William Henry, James Lawrence, Ithama ( I.T.), John Davis, and Josephus and their daughter, Eliza Mahala. Most of the clan stayed in and around the same area with some removing to Luling Texas. William M. Bowen's son James Lawrence Bowen, married his cousin Dora Alice Bowen, daughter of William's brother Abraham and wife Adeline Prudence Courtney Rice. James and Dora had nine children, the first of whom was Seymour Courtney Bowen who married Bessie Myrtle Phillips who had three children one of which was Wayne Bowen who married Ruth Romanos-Chapa who are the father and mother of the humble writer of this biography.
Notes from Records of enlistment :
Transcription of records from The Texas State Archives.
Name & Rank: Bowen Willam, Pvt.
Comm. Off: Harwood,Thomas M., Capt.
Organ: Co. F, Cav., Waul's Legion, CSA
Enlist: Jan.20-62 (1862)
Disch:
Descrip: age 20; Nativ. Ill ; Res. De Witt Co. ; Single
Remarks: R&F 104; Co.mus into srv. Jan.20-62, Wm.H. Kelley Capt.;Co. sta, at Camp Waul July10-62;
Reorganized & called into serv. of CSA Je.7-62 for 3 yrs.or war; 1MR
Green Bowen of Texas registered his
Cattle Brand & Ear Marks in Goliad County,Texas in 1871.
( Courtesy of the Bowen-Fruth Collection)
| Name | Race-Sex | Age | Occupation | Notes | From |
| Bowen, Green | W- M | 68 | Farmer | Debility | Tn. |
| Bowen, Mary | W- F | 67 | Wife | Illlinois | |
| Bowen, Green, Jr. | W- M | 23 | Farmer | Texas | |
| Bowen,Elmira | W- F | 20 | wife | keeping house | Texas |
| Rice,Oren | W- M | 24 | farming | Texas | |
| Rice, Alice | W- F | 20 | wife | Keeping House | Texas |
| Rice, Mary A. | W- F | 4 | Daughter | Texas | |
| Rice, Nancy E. | W- F | 2 | Daughter | Texas | |
| Bowen, Abraham | W- M | 30 | Farmer | Illinois | |
| Bowen, Adeline P. | W- F | 40 | wife | Keeping House | New York |
| Bowen, Daniel H. | W- M | 10 | Son | Texas | |
| Bowen,Dora Alice | W-F | 5 | Daughter | Texas | |
| Bowen, David | W- M | 2 | Son | Texas | |
| Rice, Mary E. | W- F | 14 | Wife Daughter | Texas | |
From a hard copy of the census supplied by James Bowen and transcribed by Ben Bowen 6-6-99 | |||||
| Transcriber notes: Oren Rice is the son of Adeline P. from a previous marriage to Oliver Rice. Notice that Mary was 1 year older than Green in the 1850 Jefferson County, illinois census but is now one year younger. | |||||
Census Place District 72, Guadalupe, Texas 1880 Name Relation Marital Status Gender Race Age Birthplace Occupation Father's Birthplace Mother's Birthplace
Wm. BOWEN Self M Male W 36 IL Farming TN TN
Mahaly BOWEN Wife M Female W 28 AL Keeping House TN AL
Green BOWEN Son S Male W 10 TX At Home IL AL
Wm. H. BOWEN Son S Male W 8 TX IL AL
James L. BOWEN Son S Male W 6 TX IL AL
Ithamer BOWEN Son S Male W 3 TX IL AL
John D. BOWEN Son S male W 8/12 TX IL AL
Information recorded on the 1900 Census:
Address (street and house no. in large cities); name; relationship to head of family; color or race (White, Black, Chinese, Japanese, and Indian); sex; month and year of birth; age at last birthday; marital status (single, married, divorced, widowed); number of years married to present spouse; number of children of wife; number of her children living; place of birth of person and parents; citizenship (if foreign born, year of immigration, and number of years in U.S.); citizenship status if over 21 (Alien, PA=declaration of intent filed, Naturalized); occupation for persons age 10 and over; number of months unemployed; whether attended school within the year; education (whether can read, write, and speak English); ownership of home (Owned, Rented); whether a Home or a Farm; and whether Free or Mortgaged.
From the 1900 DeWitt County Texas census Abraham Bowen :
W - M head of family dob March 1850 age 50 married 30 years, born in Illinois, Father born in Tn., Mother born in Illinois occupation farmer, lives on farm. can read, write, and speak englishAdeline Bowen :
W -F Wife dob June,1839 age 60 married 30 years 9 children born 6 still living ,born in New York ,Father Born in New York , Mother born in Tennessee.can read, write, and speak englishJames L. :
son in law ; W - M dob March 1877, age 25, married 4 years born in Texas, father born in Illinois, mother born in Alabama, Occupation farm laborer, can read, write, and speak english.Dora A. :
Daughter, W-F dob April 1875 age 25 married 4 years 2 children 2 still living, born in Texas, father born in Illinois, mother born in New York, can read, write, and speak english.Seymour C.
Grandson, W-M dob July 1897, age 3 years , born in Texas, Father born in Texas, Mother born in TexasWilliam A.
Grandson, W-M dob August 1898 age 1 year, born in Texas, Father born in Texas, Mother born in Texas
1910 Lavaca County,Texas Census
James Lawrence Bowen
Dora Alice Bowen
Seymour Courtney Bowen age 13
William Abraham Bowen age 12
Addie Mae Bowen age 9
Mahala Agnes Bowen age 7
Richard Neal Bowen age 5
Edna Lea Bowen age 3
Andrew Bowen age 9 months
Abraham Bowen (Dora's father)
Nancy McNichols Bowen (Abraham's 2nd Wife)
