Individual Details

Note from Tom Ashworth, researcher and descendant:
We know that Peter Bowman is the father of Cornelius because of a note written by family members in 1901. In that note, it states that "Aunt Sythe" (my gg-grandmother Siretha Seburn) had sent a record, apparently written in her mother's hand (in other words, written by Sarah Bowman Gabbard, b. 1798), outlining family relationships. According to the note, which is in the possession of David Travillion Bunton of Russellville, Arkansas (and is shown in the Cornelius Bowman book recently written by Edward Bowman): "Grandfather Cornelus Bowman Neal - Grandfather Neal Bowman was son of Peter Bowman and Margaret Bowman. Grandma Bowman married a Van Peldt" ... "Written by Sally Gabbard for ???? Aunt Sythe sent record to ???? ???? their mother's hand." In another place, the note states: "Grandma Elizabeth Gentry Gabbard was bornd April the 23rd Day 1833. Edward Gabbard & Sarah Bowman her parents." [The note is displayed on page D 30 of Ed Bowman's book, "Cornelius Bowman, A Founding Father of America and some of His Ancestors and Descendants".]
Two records of the general time of Peter's death place Cornelius in the same general area where Peter lived: (1) a record from the Peaked Mountain Church shows Cornelius "Boman" marrying Susannah Pointer on March 19th, 1764; and (2) the April 16, 1767, record of the court martial of Cornelius for missing militia meetings. Again, the first record mentioned apparently gives the name of Cornelius' wife - Susannah Pointer. The Peaked Mountain Presbyterian Church was in Augusta Co in 1764 but an area that became Rockingham Co in 1778; the court martial of Cornelius is found in the Augusta County Court records. All of this is well documented in the Ed Bowman book.

There is a problem, contained in the following records of Peter Bowman - there is always the possibility of confusion with men of the same name. Were there two Peter Bowmans? Were there two Bowmans named Cornelius? The record mentions a Cornelius Bowman, father of George & Peter - yet this Cornelius who died in Owsley Co KY, had no known son named either George or Peter, nor do these given names appear in the next generation.

The certainty of two men named Cornelius Bowman, one of whom was much older, would come from the following record in the Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement by Chalkey, Vol III, p.60. 16 Aug 1749. George Bowman, son of Cornelius, deceased, and Ann Bowman, to his mother, Ann Bowman, chattels and slave. Teste: Martin shoemaker, Wm Rogers.

Records of Peter Bowman of Augusta County, VA
Chalkey's Chronicles, Vol 1,
p.103
Augusta Co Court Records, Order Book, No. VII, p.462
Feb 17, 1763
Margaret Van Pelt qualified admx. of her late decd husband, Peter Bowman
p. 116
Augusta Co Court Records, Order Book No. IX, p. 162 (either a younger man, or exempting his estate since he's deceased
Nov 21, 1764 Israel Robinson, Peter Bowman, & Thomas Beard, exempted from levy.
p.339
County Court Judments, Augusta Co.
March 1764 (B)
Bowman vs. Bird. Cornelius Bowman, father of George and Peter Bowman. Peter Bowman's widow, Margaret, married Van Pelt.
Chalkey's Chronicles, Vol III, p.76
Abstracts of Wills of Augusta Co, VA; Augusta Co Court
Will Book No. 3, p.234
17th Feb 1763. Daniel Smith (on behalf of Margaret Van Pelt's bond, (with Francis McBride) as administrator of Peter Bowman.


A brief article "Migration of the Cornelius Bowman Sr., Family" published in the Clay County Ancestral News, at Manchester KY, Vol 3, No. 4, Oct 1987, p.37. outlines the moves and migrations of Cornelius. The article submitted by Arch B. Bowman of Booneville, KY.
Cornelius Bowman was mentioned by Commissioners in Rowan Co NC Inferior Court Minutes, 5 Aug 1774, when he was ordered to lay out a road.
Wilkes Co was created out of Rowan in 1777 and there is a survey for Cornelius in Wilkes in 1778. He made a land entry on Buffalo Creek, Upper Yadkin River in 1777/78 - but of course an entry does not guarantee he actually patented that land.
Then on 30 May 1781, he was appointed Tax Assessor for Washington County - then NC but later part of Tennessee.

Washington Co TN Deed Abstracts
24 Oct 1782 NC Grant #306 to Cornelius Bowman for 100 acres N side of Watauga River and lower side of Roan Creek including the mouth of Cobb Crk. DB 1, p.33
10 Nov 1784 NC Grant #593 to Samuel Tate for 100 acres on Roans Crk adj Cornelius Bowman & William Reynolds DB B, p.334
9 Feb 1793 Samuel Tate to Richard White. 100 acres on Roans Crk. Cornelius Bowman was a witness. DB E, p.87
4 Nov 1795 NC Grant 1195 to George Engle, Assignee of Cornelius Bowman for 100 acres in Washington Co on Watauga River, N of Roans Crk. DB A, p.4

A Tennessee Taxables List, 1790, Washington Co. shows Cornelius Bowman.
U.S. Census Reconstructed Record, 1660-1820, on Ancestry.com: Cornelius Bowman was in Washington Co, Territory South of the Ohio River, 1790. He was appointed a Justice of the Peace for Washington Co on 10 May 1791.

In 1793, the Three Forks Baptist Church of Wilkes Co NC, established a branch church on Roan Creek in Washington Co. They ordered Cornelius Bowman to stop preaching in this branch church. He may have changed his affiliation to Methodist, but was still preaching in the Baptist church. Sometime after this, the family moved to Madison co, KY.

Madison Co KY Court Orders Book B: 1 Dec 1795: Deed from Robert Flemin & Mary his wife to Cornelius Bowman proved by Edward Jones & Daniel Lee & ordered certified.
4 May 1796: Same deed proved by Rebekah Lee & ordered recorded. Also appointed commissioners to determine boundary of a 2000 acres entry on Muddy Creek - Cornelius Bowman was one of the commissioners.
3 Dec 1799 Cornelius Bowman granted a certificate to obtain letters of administration on the estate of John Bowman, dec'd, whereupon he entered into bond with Elisha Bowman and Cornelius Bowman.

1810 Madison Co KY Census: Cornelius Bowman: 1m +45, 1f +45. Cornelius Jr. also in this Census.

It is believed that the Bowmans located on the Betty Bowman Branch of the South fork of the Kentucky River, in the part of Madison Co that became Clay Co in 1807 [although they were counted still in Madison in 1810]. This would become Owsley Co in 1843.

17 Apr 1817. Land dispute, Clay Co: Archibald Murphy order of ejectment to get Cornelius Bowman, his son Jacob Bowman, Elisha Bowman, and Jacob Gabbard, off his land. Depositions were taken at Richmond, Sep & Oct of 1818. Cornelius Bowman and others won their suit.
Gabbard-Gabbert Family Newsletter, Vol. 10, No. 2, Summer 2000, p. 14

1820 Census. Clay Co KY
Cornelius Bowman: 1m under 10, 1m 26-45. 1f 26-45 [probably Cornelius Jr]
next door to Elijah Bowman, 1m under 10, 1m 16-26, 2f under 10, 1f 16-26.

Estill Co CD gives date of death as 1 Jan 1826 in Marion (now Owsley) Co KY. I've also seen that his date of death was 5 Jan of 1826 - and was in Clay Co. There is a photo on Find A Grave Memorial# 98019533, that appears to be the "Deaths" page from a Bible. The year 1865 is at the top, but then it says Cornelius Bowman was Born in the year 1740 and died in January 5th 1826, so it may not be a contemporaneous record.

FindAGrave has a memorial page showing Cornelius and Susannah bured in "the Bowman Cemetery" - but this note has been posted:
Cornelius was married to Susannah Painter. Cornelius and Susannah are not buried in the Bowman Cemetery. They are buried in unmarked graves on a farm on Betty Bowman Branch Road near Booneville in Owsley Co.


Posted on FamilySearch.com is the following excellent explanation:

CORNELIUS BOWMAN SR., HIS PROBABLE ORIGIN

The national archives files on Cornelius Bowman file (compiled by Walker Hume Bowman and apparently others) promote the now widely held view that Cornelius Bowman Sr. was b. 1740 in the Shenandoah Valley of VA. The date of birth comes from the family Bible of Cornelius' son, Rev. Thomas Bowman, but the Bible record lists no birthplace. Most subsequent studies have accepted Mr. Bowman's belief that Cornelius Sr. was married to Susannah Abbott, called "Betsy."
Whereas deeds exist recording her name as Susannah and independent family traditions that say she was called "Betsy", there is no primary documentation to support the Abbott surname or a nickname. Neither is there evidence that she was born in Wilkes Co., NC, as is sometimes claimed.

Thanks to research by Edward Lee Bowman, we are beginning to get a clearer view of Cornelius' origins. The Harrisonburg-Rockingham (VA) Historical Society has records that formed that basis of a book by Richard K. MacMaster called _The Session Book of Peaked Mountain And Cook's Creek Presybterian Churches_ that contains the following marriage entry. McMaster records the marriage as follows:

Married in 1764 March 19th
Cornelius Boman
Susanna Painter
The Peaked Mountain Presbyterian meeting house is believed to have been located about seven miles south of Harrisonburg, Rockingham Co., VA. The original Session books are in the possession of the Presbyterian and Reformed Historical Foundation, Montreat, N.C., and the first Presbyterian Church of Harrisonburg, VA, has a microfilmed copy. I have carefully analyzed a photocopy of the original record using the writer's own handwriting style as seen in other entries as an interpretive and comparative tool. My analysis reveals that bride's name was originally penned as "Eliz.th" (superscripted "th") Pointer (not Painter), but subsequently "Susana" was heavily inked over the Eliz.th. This strongly suggests she bore both the name Susannah as well as Elizabeth, and it explains why her name appears as Susannah in documents, though she was often called "Betsy" by the family.

As noted, the handwritten record suggests Susana/Elizabeth's surname was Pointer, not Painter. The writer consistently formed his "a's" with slightly open tops and a strong right-hand descender, whereas his "o's" have closed tops and a weak descender. Although she may indeed been a Painter, it is clear to me that her surname was recorded as Pointer.

The date of the marriage is in agreement with the estimated dates of birth of Cornelius and Susannah's eldest sons, John and William (b. ca. 1760/65) and fit Cornelius' date of birth of 1740 from the Thomas Bowman Bible. That would provide Cornelius with a believable age of about 24 at his marriage to Susannah. It also fits well with Susannah's estimated date of birth (ca. 1745), but points to her place of birth as possibly Augusta Co., VA, instead of the oft-quoted "Wilkes Co., NC". The Rockingham County location of the marriage (Rockingham County formed 1778 from Augusta County, VA) lies in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley, and therefore consistent with Walker Hume Bowman's view that Cornelius Bowman was born in the same region.

On balance, there are simply too many factors that fit well together. Therefore, I believe we must accept the Rockingham county marriage record as that of our Cornelius and Susannah. This suggests that each was probably born to an Augusta (Rockingham) County, VA, family. Incomplete transcripts of Virginia state enumerations 1782-1785 for Rockingham County list households of a Leonard Painter, George Painter, Christly Painter, but no Pointers. Living near Christly Painter are several Bowmans, including John Bowman, Benjamin Bowman, Jacob Bowman Jr. There is also a Joseph Bowman. Also living in that county is Andrew Byrd Sr., Andrew Byrd Jr. and John "Shever" (Sevier). These names remind us of the court records of Augusta County, VA, cited by Chalkley and discussed in Ed Bowman's work.

As far as I know, the several Bowman clans living in Augusta County at that time were either German/Swiss or Dutch. The Painters were also German, the name having been derived from Bender. It should be noted that "Bender" pronounced by a native German sounds remarkably like "Painter." Although my own grandfather, Rev. William Albert Bowman (of Owsley Co., KY) believed that his Bowman ancestors were Irish, I doubt that he was correct.
From Jack Bowman Bailey

A daughter Margaret without proof of surname or relationship is persistently posted on FamilySearch.
If Margaret's parents are Cornelius and Susannah, then Margaret's daughter Eleanor eventually married her uncle Jacob - a relationship forbidden by the churches of the time. Jacob was a proven son of Cornelius and Susannah. He married Eleanor Evans. Eleanor's mother was named Margaret and the database has her surname as Bowman, and her parents as Cornelius and Susannah. While Margaret may have been a Bowman, I don't think Cornelius and Susannah were her parents.

Birth	1740	Shenandoah Valley, Virginia
Marriage	19 Mar 1764	Augusta County, Virginia - SUSANNAH Pointer/Painter
Death	5 Jan 1826	Owsley County, Kentucky

Spouse	SUSANNAH Pointer/Painter (1745 - 1810)
Child	John Bowman (1765 - 1839)
Child	William Bowman (1770 - 1840)
Child	ELIJAH BOWMAN (1773 - 1840)
Child	Cornelius BOWMAN Jr. (1775 - 1835)
Child	Elisha Williamson BOWMAN (1775 - 1845)
Child	Judah "Judy" BOWMAN (1779 - 1872)
Child	Hezekiah BOWMAN (1780 - 1842)
Child	Rev. Thomas BOWMAN (1782 - 1864)
Child	Jacob BOWMAN (1785 - 1826)
Child	Deborah BOWMAN (1790 - 1883)

Father

PETER BOWMAN ( - 1763)