John Bowman (pioneer)

Col. Johannes "John" Bowman
Born
Johannes Bowman

17 December 1738
Cedar Creek, Shenandoah Valley, Orange/Frederick County, Virginia Colony
Died4 May 1784
Bowman Station, Burgin, Lincoln/Mercer County, Kentucky, USA
Resting placeBowman Family Graveyard
Addie Curd farm near Burgin, KY where the Old Bowman Station was located.
NationalityGerman-American
Known forEarly Kentucky pioneer and militia officer
TitleCommissioner of Botetourt County of Virginia Colony, Safety Committee member in Harrodsburg in Kentucky County, First Kentucky County Lieutenant, Colonel in the Revolutionary War, Military Governor of Kentucky County Virginia, Sheriff and presiding Justice of the Peace of Lincoln County in the state of Kentucky.
Term1770–1784
SuccessorBenjamin Logan
SpouseElizabeth McClung (c. 1731–1784)
ChildrenJohn Jr.
Parent(s)Hans Jerg (George) Baumann (Bowman)
Maria Elizabeth (Mary) Heydt (Hite)
RelativesJost Hite (the Old German Baron), grandfather
Jacob Bowman, brother
Colonel Abraham Bowman, brother
Major Joseph Bowman, brother
Capt. Isaac Bowman, brother

Col. Johannes "John" Bowman (17 December 1738 – May 4, 1784) was an 18th-century American pioneer, colonial militia officer and sheriff, the first appointed in Lincoln County, Kentucky. In 1781 he also presided as a justice of the peace over the first county court held in Kentucky. The first county-lieutenant and military governor of Kentucky County during the American Revolutionary War, Col. Bowman also, served in the American Revolution, many times, second in command to General George Rogers Clark, during the Illinois Campaign, which, at the time, doubled the size of the United States.

He and brothers Joseph, Isaac and Abraham Bowman were excellent horsemen and later known as the "Four Centaurs of Cedar Creek", all of whom were among the earliest pioneers to settle in Kentucky and prominent officers in the Continental Army.[1] He was the brother-in-law of frontiersmen Isaac Ruddell, Lorentz Stephens, Peter Deyerle, George Wright, Henry Richardson and George Brinker. His grandnephew, Abraham's grandson John Bryan Bowman, founded Kentucky University and the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky.[2][3] He is the younger brother of Jacob Bowman.

  1. ^ Hayden, William. Conquest of the Country Northwest of the River Ohio, 1778–1783. Indianapolis: Bowen-Merrill Company, 1896. (pg. 979)
  2. ^ Wayland, John W. A History of Shenandoah County, Virginia. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1980. (pg. 588) ISBN 0-8063-8011-X
  3. ^ Johnson, E. Polk. A History of Kentucky and Kentuckians: The Leaders and Representative Men in Commerce, Industry and Modern Activities, Vol II. Chicago and New York: Lewis Publishing Co., 1912. (pg. 1132)