The forged ancestry of Richard Bowen

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The profile of Richard Bowen-480 of Weymouth and Rehoboth currently shows an impressive Royal Ancestry.  It is entirely incorrect and is the result of a forged pedigree.  The details of the forgery, and corrections to many other details were published in The American Genealogist in 2001.

I am posting this here with the hope that a Bowen researcher will make the necessary corrections.  I will get the article to anyone willing to undertake the project.  He needs to be:

1. Disconnected from his incorrect (forged) parents.

2.  Fix the details of his birth.

3.  Correction of his wives.

4.  Rewrite of the biography to match modern research.

The American Genealogist vol. 76 (October 2001):263-278. The Ancestry, Wives and Children of Richard Bowen of Weymouth and Rehoboth, Massachusetts, by Richard LeBaron Bowen Jr.

WikiTree profile: Richard Bowen
in Genealogy Help by Joe Cochoit G2G6 Pilot (256k points)
retagged by Ellen Smith
I'll work on it. He's an ancestor of my husband. I have access to the TAG article. Thanks for bringing this to our attention Joe.

Holy cr*&... no wonder you don't want to work on this. What a nightmare of a mess. 

The TAG article is great; it reveals a SLEW of bad information about Richard Bowen that was published in 1884 and then mis-interpreted and published in another 1897 genealogy. It discounts a number of things:

  1. Richard the emigrant was NOT son of James Bowen of Pembrokeshire; James had a son Richard, but he died young
  2. Griffith Bowen emigrant to Boston and Roxbury was NOT nephew of Richard of Rehoboth.
  3. Richard the emigrant has no gravestone, much less one carved with a coat of arms
  4. The coats of arms attached to both Griffith and Richard are a total mess.
That's just the beginning... I'm working on it...

Okay, what I've done so far:

  • Cleaned up Richard's narrative. It could probably be better formatted, but for the time being is a vast improvement of what was there. In my own file for him (offline), I have a pretty nicely formatted bio that I may copy over.
  • Detached him from parents
  • Detached him from spurious spouses
  • Detached spurious mothers from his children.
  • Done some cleanup on some of his childrens' profiles
  • Requested merges for duplicate Elizabeths. 
  • AND have requested project protection for him and his children.

 

Hi! 

All should read what's been recently published by the Rhode Island Genealogical Society (in 3 Vols) by William Saxbe Jr: Richard Bowen (1594?-1675) of Rehoboth, Massachusetts and His Descendants.

This all has already been straightened out pretty well. :) 

<http://www.rigensoc.org/forsale.php>

 

Ouch! $139 to get all three volumes.

Has anyone invested in these volumes who could update the profiles based on what's found there?
Price is extremely reasonable. Have purchased them for my self. If you have never published such a book, you cannot imagine the work and expense. I have published two first class had back books.  No profits received; note expected.

Thank you for your comment, Helen.

Purchase of those books would be worthwhile for descendants of Richard Bowen, but most of the folks who comment here are unrelated amateur volunteers who are working pro bono to resolve problems with -- or otherwise improve -- Other People's genealogy that Other People have added to WikiTree. Few among us are inclined to invest $139, not to mention the necessary shelf space, to acquire a book (much less every book) that might help us improve a stranger's erroneous genealogy. But if you have a copy, it would be wonderful if you could take a look at the affected profiles and comment on any good information you found in these books that would enhance what's there right now. I believe that everyone who (like you) cares about quality genealogy and has published quality genealogy will benefit from preventing bad data from continuing to circulate. We all benefit from sharing!

And I hope that the Turks and the Watsons have appreciated your contributions to family history.

I was able to follow my line up to this point. Here is where it gets confusing for me. I will start with Richard Bowen (3) (1665) who married Mary Mercy Titus (1665-1747). Richards father is listed as Richard Bowen(2) (1624-1675) who married Esther Sutton (1629-1688).   Richard 2's father is listed as Richard Bowen (Jr) 1580-1674) who married Ann (?) in Wales,(b1586 d????). So Im assuming he came from Wales, is there a source I can look at for information on the death of The Richard from James and when he died? Did any of the other Bowens immigrate? My moms DNA came back with Welsh, so this would explain the link. But I would love to get factual evidence in my tree. :) Thank you for any help!
Richard, the son of James in Wales, died young.  There is no date given but the term "mort" is given in the records.  It's been 20 years since I first saw this.  There is no way that the two Richards are the same person.  Go with what is in the profile.  The link is at the top of this thread.

Your bigger problem is that there may have been 2 Richard Bowens born Jan 1662.  One is the son of Richard Jr., one isn't.  Or maybe they are the same person but it's not proved yet.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Bowen-479

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Bowen-684
Thank you for your help. I am going to look into it more and see what I can find about the Death if Welsh Richard and the parentage of the American Richard. There has to be something somewhere. Do you have an immigration record or know where I could look? Is it possible that someone assumed his identity knowing he had passed back home?
All of the comments are interesting.  I have, somewhere, a document that was in possesion of my mother (Elizabeth Bowen) from a Bowen cousin in the UK / Wales which also traces Richard Bowen, the immigrant, to James Bowen.  When I find it in the piles of genealogical information, I will post it here.  My understanding is that it was done from the UK and not derived from the work of E. C. Bowen.

My 2nd GGF, William Ezra Bowen, was a descendant of Richard Bowen, the emigrant.  His father, Ezra Bowen was a ship captain and one or both lived for some time in Manchester, England.  I assume this UK connection is where the cousin came into the picture.  As William Ezra died in 1866, in Philadelphia.  He was married in Manchester in 1833 so his time in time there was  way before the E. C. Bowen work of 1884.
That connection between Richard and James is widely reported and the source of many errors.  The son of James died young and can't be the same Richard.
I would like to see a copy of this without paying for it. It seems to me just having done multiple search's and uncovering through Family Search and at least four family trees and an old one I had from 2008 that it is simply a matter of putting the wife, Ann Bourne/Born with Richard. Why are we to be worried about the royalty aspect? I got that on my mom's side of her family and I still exist in my reality. Let's get this document that states 'fraud' with a link so it can be reviewed without paying for. Otherwise, how is any link from family search, FAG, family trees, or locality any different? It is just Wales and Rehoboth.

I collected this from a discussion back in the early days of the internet.

"Dear B-Lers;The following is the best Bowen info I have yet found.  Itis

copyrighted and available from the author.  After giving you his first

few pages, I will extract some of the more important and relevantparts

associated with what we have been discussing.Jack Wilson

------------------------------------------------------------------------

ANCESTRAL LINESTHIRD EDITION206 FAMILIES IN ENGLAND, WALES, THENETHERLANDS,

GERMANY, NEW ENGLAND, NEW YORK, NEW JERSEYAND PENNSYLVANIA

WITH ADDITIONAL ANCESTOR TABLESCOMPILED BYCARL BOYER, 3RDCARL BOYER,3RD

SANTA CLARITA, CALIFORNIA1998ANCESTRAL LINES, THIRD EDITION

Those who wish to write with questions are asked to enclose a

self-addressed stamp envelope.

Those who would like to undertake research into their lines notcovered

in this work might wish to purchase Val Greenwood's 77te Researcher's

Guide to American Genealogy as well as my own How to Publish andMarket

Your Family History (now in its fourth edition). Both contain a great

deal of material of value to a beginner.Carl Boyer, 3rdP.O. Box 220333

Santa Clarita, CA 91322-0333 Page 104 ANCESTRAL LINES, THIRDEDITIONBOWEN

The following presentation is an effort to convince descendants that

published theories, as well as those in the files of Richard LeBaron

Bowen, have been rejected for cause. The complete Bowen files ofRichard

LeBaron Bowen were copied and forwarded to the compiler by his son,

Richard LeBaron" Bowen, Jr., who was born in 1919 and lives at 35

Fessenden Road, Barrington, RI 02806 (1995).

There is no grouping of graves of children and grandchildren ofRichard'

Bowen around any unmarked or worn flat tombs. indeed, much laterburials

were made near the ancient tombs of Rehoboth, eliminating any

significance of the position of graves. The Newman Cemetery, known in

the contemporary Rehoboth records from 1669 to 1790 as the "Burying

Place," was probably started about 1647 and expanded in 1680, 1738 and

1790. The first burials were made about 250 feet southeast of thefirst

meeting house; the cemetery, which now contains about ten acres, lies

south of the Newman Congregation Church and Newman Avenue, and west of

Pawtucket Avenue, now in East Providence, R.I. [letter from Richard

LeBaron Bowen, Jr., dated 3 Jan. 1994, which revised at length his

father's presentation in Early Rehoboth, 4:31-371.

"One has to assume that my father soon realized that in allprobability

Jabez4 Bowen had simply appropriated a Coat of Arms from some heraldry

book where they were shown as Bowen arms. Indeed, a letter he wrote to

Harold Bowditch on August 11, 1939 indicates that he was actively

searching for the specific English work from which the arms hadbeencopied.

There is no known connection to Griffith Bowen, of Boston, whose Welsh

line to Bleddyn ap Maenyrch and beyond is well documented [Herman

Nickerson, Jr. "Griffith and Margaret (Fleming) Bowen of Wales and

Massachusetts," NGSQ, 67 (1979), 163-166, and Nickerson, "GriffithBowen

of Wales and Massachusetts," 77te Connecticut Nutmegger, 19(1987),588-5961.

Moreover, E.C. Bowen's own words make obvious the reasons for a lackof

trust in the statement that Richard1 Bowen of Rehoboth was a son of

James Bowen of Llwyngwair. "I have seen a record somewhere, and noted

it, that Richard Bowen of Kittle Hill (who emigrated in 1640) had ason

George, his eldest son and heir, whom he left in Wales (and this party

was probably the sheriff in 1650), and that Hugh and the second George

were his descendants." Cottingham identified positively George Bowenof

Kettlehill in 1679 as son of Charles, who was son of George of Kittle

Hill, sheriff in 1650, who in turn was a son of John Bowen ofPennard.

Cottingham, whose work is mentioned below, had George Bowen of

Kettlehill, Esq., Sheriff 1679, Admin. gr. 1698, as soil of Charles

Bowen of Kettlehill, living in 1686, who was son of George Bowen of

Kettlehill, Sheriff 1650. This George was in turn the son of JohnBowen

of Pennard, whose will was proved 1609, and his wife Margaret,daughter

of John Daniel of Kitthill and widow of Matthew Hamon. It is apparent

that much of E.C. Bowen's work was fabricated, and none of the data in

it call be trusted without verification from independent sources.

Elislia Chandler Bowen [101] quoted Dwn [sic; reference is to Lewys

Dwnn] by saying that he used "a term (all equivalent), which, being

translated into English, signifies that Richard, son of James Bowen of

Llwyngwair, 'chose the hunter's armor, and left the country with,it."

This is false, for the term published is mort, which means "dead,"

implying died young.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

There you for today.  We can't be descended from someone who died in childhood.

jack wilson"

The American Genealogist is the preeminent genealogy journal (along with the NEHGR) in the United States.  It is peer reviewed and sourced to the highest standards.  It is not just some document, or anything even slightly equivalent to FamilySearch, FAG, or family trees as you suggest.

I would be nice if I could provide you with a direct link to a free copy.  However, it is a modern article and still under copyright, so this is not possible.  You should be able to track down a copy at a local library or LDS center.  If you are really interested, a back order copy is available for $12.

Why would we be worried about Richard LeBaron Bowen Jnr? The father James has a son named Richard. This Richard has a son called Richard Le Baron Bowen Junior? But the Le Baron isn't listed on the profile. Isn't it that we are trying to impart on the profile the wives of Richard Bowen who has a son Richard Bowen Junior. Why would we concern ourselves with Richard Le Baron Bowen Junior dying at a young age to apply wives to the elder Richard and connect the elder Richard to his parents and his wives parents? I don't see the 'fraud' aspect of a person in the 1930's discussing graves somewhere. I was just in discussion with another Wikitreer today about the validity of FAG information.
I review it when I can. Bedtime.
Also, what does the armor have to do with the Richard Bowen coming into the states so far back. The armor isn't really the focus is it. That to me is odd.
Jodi, the thrust of the The Anerican Genealogist  article was to debunk a variety of false claims previously made about the immigrant, including ties to royalty and a specific coat of arms.

If you don't want to access the full article, I extracted key points below.
Richard LeBaron Bowen Jr is the author of the 2001 TAG article, not a son or grandson of the immigrant.
I have seen this before, Was it ever corrected?
Rionne, was what ever corrected?
Who does Richard LeBaron Bowen Jr issue from? I have a Richard Bowen Jr Bowen-767 under Richard Bowen - 480. If the middle name for Bowen - 480 is LeBaron it is not on the profile.
This link is no longer accessing the page you are referring to.
Which link?

<http://www.rigensoc.org/forsale.php>

Sorry, I thought I was in the right spot when I stated that. It is from above.

https://rigensoc.org/forsale.php

That should work. Once there, use ctrl-F to find Saxbe.

You'll see that volume 1 (which contains the info about Richard's origins) is no longer being sold-- they must have run out.
Here is what I do not understand.  I have done a fair amount of research on this, I have seen plenty of references to Richard's first wife Anne in various places.  Some of the references date to before the "Memorial of the Bowen Family" book.  For instance I have seen Sons of the Revolutionary War applications for descendants of Richard that list the wife as Anne.  I have seen other accounts that list her as his first wife.  How could this be a fabrication?

Ben, I would suggest you read the article in The American Genealogist, and I would say that none your sources are contemporary to Richard Bowen.

The Volume 1 from Saxbe, mentioned above is available online at https://archive.org/details/richardbowen159401saxb and the pdf can be downloaded at  PDF download

 

 

Thank you Nathan.  William Saxbe is a FASG, so that immediately gives me confidence in his work as a scholarly approach to the family of Richard Bowen.  The work you linked to is based on the "seminal" article from The American Genealogist in 2001, and his own article on Richard Bowen in TAG in 2010 (The American Genealogist, vol. 84 (2010): pages 65-67). "New Old Information about the Family of Richard1 Bowen of Rehoboth, Massachusetts," by William Saxbe CG FASG).

Those who do not have easy access to the TAG articles should download the PDF you linked to.

I am so grateful that the first chapters of the first volume have been placed online. I am particularly taken with the author's analysis that Richard was likely Puritan, not Baptist, and not even from Wales.

I am hoping that one of the profile managers or project volunteers will update the profile to reflect this latest work. He is a direct-line ancestor of my husband's.

If someone doesn't get to it in the next month, I'll take it on.
He is one my direct line ancestors and I am interested in looking into this.
“And not even from Wales”. Yes I think that about does it
Not sure what your intended meaning is, Lloyd.

I'll clarify mine. Since at least the late 1800s, people have believed Richard Bowen originated in Wales and was part of the Baptist community there. The linked chapter discusses the evidence for not-Wales and not-Baptist.
The editors of Richard's profile on WikiTree have already done an excellent job of writing a profile that is consistent with the Saxbe book(which was mentioned) and the American Ancestors article, also already mentioned. I deleted a duplicate footnote to Richard's Will that was floating and had an expired web link. More detail about Richard's Civic activities in Rehoboth Could be added from the book, but apart from that everything looks very good.
I stumbled across this while researching Richard.  If this has been mentioned somewhere before, I apologize.

https://richardbowenproject.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/bowen-dna-project-4dot2-final.pdf

This guy is the grandson of Richard LeBaron Bowen and he is doing a DNA study on descendants of Richard to try to unlock answers to his origin.  So far, he has found a possible DNA link to Wales through a connection to someone in family called Lewis that is documented to having come from Wales.  Clinical read, but there is interesting info in there.
Here is another interesting read.  I apologize if this has been posted here before somewhere.

http://www.wheatonjk.co.uk/Origins_of_Robert_Wheaton.htm

He makes a circumstantial case for Welsh origins through his daughter Alice and through Rev. John Myles.
Paul,

Very interesting, but mostly circumstantial. Plus these papers ignore the inconvenient facts that Samuel Newman was Richard Bowen's Puritan leader at Weymouth and Rehoboth and that Richard Did not follow Myles to Swansea. I see nothing in the historical records to connect Richard Bowen to Rev Myles. When Obadiah followed Myles to Swansea he was his own man, and the later record would indicate he may have been going for religious freedom and was not a very devout Baptist at any time.
One "connection" between Myles and Richard Bowen presented by others is that Richard was from the Kittlehill Farm on the Gower Peninsula.  This association is not documented and can be seen as just hearsay.  However, Kittlehill is just a stone's throw from Courthouse Farm and the town of Ilston.  Myles's Baptist Church, that he vacated when moving to New England, was located near Ilston.  This is well documented.  The question then becomes are there other connections between Myles and the Rehoboth group that would bring him to Rehoboth?  Or did he come to Rehoboth due to his familiarity with the Bowen family from Ilston?  Assuming our Richard was from that Bowen lineage, of course.

A piece of data that would support this connection will be to test the Y chromosomal DNA of Bowen men from Wales and especially the Gower peninsula.  That is Bowen men that claim ancestry from the Gower peninsula Bowen's of the 1400-1900s.   The Y chromosome of the Richard Bowen lineage in the US is well documented to be Y Haplogroup G2a and positive for SNPs: CTS4803+, Z6150+, Z30771+ F3484+ Y36533+ S2827+.  The Lewis lineage mentioned above is also a closely related Y Haplogroup G2a that is positive for SNPs: CTS4803+, Z6150+, Z30771+ F3484+ Y36533+ FT360979+.  The difference in the Y DNA between these two lineages suggests they shared a common ancestor  approximately 650-700 years ago.  

Just to stir the pot a little, the following is from p.51 and p.52 from the book entitled Memorial of the Bowen Family by E.C. Bowen, M.D. published in 1884.  

Llewellyn ap Owen married, A.D. 1369, Nest, daughter of Howell Fychan, Esq., probably a descendant in direct line of Ednyfed Fychan, ancestor of Owen Tewdwr, grandfather of King Henry VII. Llewellyn ap Owen had by his wife Nest—besides Rhys, ancestor of the Owens extinct, and Evan, ancestor of the Bowens of Pentre Evan, Llwyngwair, Trephloyne, etc., and other children —Philip of Panteg, who had a son Howell, and he a son Lewis (who took the surname Lewis). He (Lewis) married Gwenllian, daughter of Sir Thomas Philips of Picton Castle, knight (fifteenth century), who became founder of the great family of Picton Castle by his marriage with Jane, daughter of Sir Thomas Donne, son of Owen Donne (see Lewis Glyn Cothi's '' Works," p. 30). Of this family was Sir William Lewis (knight), mayor of Bristol, and many other families in Wales. Gen. Lewis, who married a sister of Gen. George Washington, and served under Iiim during the war of the Revolution, is supposed to have descended from this family of Lewises. Many descendants of this honorable family still reside in Virginia and other Southern States.

This implies that a Bowen lineage and a Lewis lineage shared a common ancestor, Llewellyn ap Owen, that was born approximately ~1344.   2020-1344 = 676 years ago.

Awfully close to the 650-700 YBP calculated by the Y chromosome data.

Some of what EC Bowen said about Richard Bowen d. 1675 has been questioned and deemed to have been somewhat fabricated.  But, this remark he makes about Llewellyn ap Owen can probably be substantiated with a little effort.
I have been looking through my mother's research on her Bowen Lineage.  Her GGF, William Ezra Bowen (Bowen-6753) who's 5th GGF was Richard lived in Philadelphia.  In 1831 he was hired to run, as a partner, a Dry Goods firm in Manchester, England which was associated with a firm in Philadelphia.  While there his wife died and he married Elizabeth Kirtley in Wales.  Some of his children stayed in Wales with other distant family members, although it is unclear who they all were without more research.  Fast Forward to the 1960s.  My mother still corresponded with a cousin in Wales.  He sent her a copy of a handed down Bowen family tree.  It is said to have predated William Ezra's temporary relocation to Manchester.  Interestingly, it is the linage that EC Bowen published.  I have reason to believe that there is more of a connection and it was definitely not forged by EC Bowen.

Also interesting that William and his second wife were married in Pembrookshire and are recorded in "Pembrookshire Marriages and Banns Images".  (Sources are included in William's biography.
Thanks Bob, very interesting.
Bob and Nathan, have you read Saxbe's research discussed and linked to above? Please be sure to do so. Bob, you may want to reach out to Saxbe and share what you have with him. I'll need to re-read his work to refresh myself with the details but I believe he questions/examines Richard Bowen's Wales origins.

EDITED: actually, it's the 2001 and 2010 TAG articles that should be read.
Jillaine,. I've read all including Saxbe's research.  If my mom had kept better records and notes, I would have information worthy of being discussed with Saxbe.  Unfortunately when the family tree was received from the distance cousin who was a used car salesman in Wales, I was a pre-teen.  I remember the basic content of the letter but after my mom passed, my dad didn't keep that type of correspondence even though he was our family geanologist.  I have lots of content from him on my paternal line but he let my mom work on her family and she wasn't as ambitious or thorough.  I do have a handwritten Bowen lineage, but not the letter that was sent with it.  I hope that it turns up buried somewhere, but it's doubtful that it will surface.  Thanks!

2 Answers

+13 votes
 
Best answer

Notes to work from:

Richard LeBaron Bowen Jr., "The Ancestry, Wives and Children of Richard Bowen of Weymouth and Rehoboth, Massachusetts," in The American Genealogist, vol. 76 (October 2001):263-278. 

In summary, tears down a number of fabrications published by E.C. Bowen in 1884; refutes other claims published over the decades.

  • First appearance in New England: Weymouth between Oct 1642 and May 1644.
  • One of 18 original proprietors who settled Rehoboth in 1643.
  • Buried Rehoboth 4 Feb 1674/5; wife buried 1675
  • Inventory of Richard's estate in 1675 refers to a "Great Bible" (prob source of a 1776 record; see below)
  • Fraudulent origins:
    • Claims that Richard, son of James  Bowen of Llwyngwair [Pembrokeshire] was a) married to Anne, b) had children, c) was the emigrant to New England. While James Bowen did have a son Richard, the child was identified as "mort." – deceased / died young.
    • The "Ann" as his wife is a complete fabrication.
    • That before emigration this family settled at Kittle hill, Glamorgan Co., Wales (far to the east of Pembrokeshire) before going to America in 1640.
    • That Richard had an oldest son George, left in Wales (Kittle Hill), BUT while there was such a George Bowen, sheriff in 1650 in Kittle Hill, he was son of  a John Bowen.
    • That Griffith Bowen emigrant to Boston then Roxbury was a nephew of Richard who married first Mary Rifel. He wasn't a nephew and he was only married to Margaret, daughter of Henry Fleming. See: Herman Nickerson Jr, "Griffith and Margaret (Fleming) Bowen," in NGSQ 67(1979):163-66.
  • Clues to origins:
    • R's son Obadiah's will makes ref. to 4 pewter plates he was given at his baptism (which would have taken place about 1628 based on his age at death); this would have happened in Wales. This evidence of wealth supported by the valuation of Richard's estate, which was in the upper quarter of estates from that period.
    • Obadiah may not have been baptized under the name "Bowen." Could have been under "ap Owen".
    • Also, "Obadiah" (Alice and Ruth) were rare names; a search of wills from 1620 to 1652 found not one Obadiah.
  • Bowen Coat of Arms Claims
    • Tombstone of a 6th generation descendant Jabez Bowen includes a "so-called Court House Bowen" coat of arms and claims that Richard Bowen emigrated from Glamorganshire in South Wales.
    • 1884 fraudulent genealogy claims that Griffith Bowen had a coat of arms a pierced stag, "as those of Richard." The arms shown in the 1884 chart of James Bowen are the well-known Glamorganshire Court House Bowen arms—standing stag with an arrow in its back. (This is the coat of arms placed on the gravestone of Jabez Bowen.) However, arms of James Bowen of Llwynghwair were a rampant lion. Further, the arms of Griffith Bowen are a stag couchant with an olive branch in its mouth (no arrow).
    • An 1897 genealogy claimed that "the Bowen arms, a stag trippant with an arrow stuck in his back, were cut into" the tombstone of Richard Bowen of Rehoboth. And this was the proof that Richard was of the ancient family of Bowens of Glamorganshire, also shared by he Bowens of Llwyngweir, Pembrokeshire. The tomb with the engraving was not Richard's but Jabez's. No gravestone exists for Richard.
  • Richard Bowen's second wife
    • First wife [and mother of all ch.] probably died after they arrived in the colonies; he did not remarry until 1648.
    • Elizabeth, wife of George Marsh who died 2 July 1647 married Richard BOWEN at Weymouth in November 1648, NOT Richard Brown.
  • Obadiah2 Bowen
    • The claimed specific death date of 1 September 1627 possibly est. from age of 82 at 10 Sep 1710 death. Richard's children's birth dates not recorded.
    • No evidence that Obadiah was born in Swansea, Wales, and that Swansea, Mass., was named by him for his place of birth. The Mass. town was named for the Rev. John Myles, founder of the Baptist church in Swansea, Mass., after his dwelling place/parish in Wales.
    • Baptist minister/historian Isaac Backus published a claim that Obadiah Bowen came over from England with John Myles, founder of a Baptist church in Wales in 1649. But Obadiah came to NE with his father in 1640 at age 12. The only one to accompany John Myles was Nicholas Tanner, and probably much closer to 1666.
  • Robert Wheaton, wife of Alice Bowen (dau of Richard), has been continuously given a Welsh ancestry, prob starting with 1851 obit published in NEHGR. Savage followed this and claimed Robert was first in Rehoboth in 1643, but he was actually in Salem records as early as 1636/7. There is an inaccurate account of him in an 1887 genealogy about the Converse family by William G. Hill, then repeated in later published genealogies, claiming Robert was from Swansea. But we already know that the Swansea connection is related to Myles, who came over thirty years after Wheaton.
    • Rehoboh VR: Ephraim Wheaton born 20 Oct 1659. Therefore, he was not a 4-year-old immigrant.
    • A 31 Aug 1775 record in Providence RI: "Genealogy from Robert Wheaton the first of the Name of Wheaton that came over from England to Salem in New England AD 1636 about 30 years of age and there married Elce Bowen daughter of Richard Bowen from thence Removed to Rehoboth AD 1645 and there lived and Died AD 1696 about 90 years of Age. Their Offspring Joseph, Samuel and Jeremiah Born at Salem [not recorded anywhere]; Obadiah, John, Bethiah, Hannah, Mary, Ephraim & Benjamin born at Rehoboth [all listed in the Rehoboth vital records]." This last probably came from a family bible or bibles.  "While not necessarily authoritative (since it was written one hundred and foty years after the fact), this record shows that the family then [1776] believed that Robert1 Wheaton came from England to Salem in 1636."
    • The calculated births of Robert's and Alice's children suggest a marriage year of 1640, the year she arrived in New England. This suggests that Richard may have spent a few years in Salem area before removing to Weymouth. Further suggests that Robert Wheaton and Alice Bowen stayed in Salem for about 5 years. Robert Whateon first appears in Rehoboth records in 1645 when granted a lot.
 
by Jillaine Smith G2G6 Pilot (895k points)
selected by Stu Ward

Continued:

  • Richard Bowen's Children – the only accurate representation in the 1884 fraudulent genealogy by EC Bowen. Richard's will, probated 4 June 1675, lists these children; the TAG article based on birth dates of spouses, estimates the following order:
    • Alice Wheaton [married about 1640, suggesting a 1620 birth]
    • William; [b abt 1622] died unm and bur 10 Mar 1686/7.
    • Sarah Fuller [ b abt 1624; m abt 1643 Robert Fuller, no date; no dates of childrens' births; Robt Fuller moved from Salem to Rehoboth by Jan 1644/5; their children are probably the four who married in Rehoboth:]
      • Jonathan m 1664 [b 1644/5]
      • Samuel m 1673 [b abt 1646/7]
      • John m 1673 [b abt 1648]
      • Elizabeth m 1672 [b abt 1652]
    • Ruth Kenericke m 1647 [therefore b abt 1626]
    • Obadiah [known to be about 1628]
    • Richard [b abt 1631; m Esther Sutton 4 Mar 1656; therefore prob born c 1631]
    • [Thomas, deceased before father's will written; b abt 1634; first child born Aug 1660, therefore m abt 1659; therefore born about 1634]
  • The proposed list of children and their birth dates suggests that he married about 1619, probably age 25, therefore born about 1594—a decade later than estimates based on EC Bowen's 1884 account.

Bottom line:

Richard Bown was born—possibly in Glamorganshire, Wales—about 1594, parents not known. He m1 abt 1619 ________, mother of his children; he m2 at Weymouth November 1648, Elizabeth _______, widow of George Marsh of Hingham. She was buried in Rehoboth in 1675. Richard emigrated to America about 1640, settling initially in Salem, before moving to Weymouth then Rehoboth by 1643.

I greatly appreciate your work on my ancestor Richard Bowen. It does concern me that you described those working on wiki tree as amateurs. I have observed the numerous errors on ancestry census transcriptions which were transcribed by amateurs.  Such transcriptions are a disservice to all. I find too many errors on numerous trees posted. Under Robert Wheaton, it is stated that the Swansea connection is related to Myles. I have read about Myles and it is my belief that Swansea was named by Rev. Newton. There is an article written about the confusion of the naming of  Swansea. While E. C. Bowen's work has errors, I do not necessarily believe he was aware that the information was incorrect. (He is not in my line.) I can't imagine anyone willing including incorrect information unless they were being paid for the work. I buy any family history connected to any of my ancestors. I have yet to find one without an error. Due to many interviews and DNA, I am positive concerning some events which occurred as early as the 1880s for which there is no record. I applaud Saxbe for printing corrections in each new publications. I have two corrections that I need to send him. Levi Bowen did not marry Phoebe Boney (she is my ancestor but not on the Bowen line) and Aaron Bowen was not likely a son of Clifton, Sr. as he was called cousin by one of Clifton's known sons. I certainly may make a mistake but it will not be fabrication or fraud. Thanks for listening.
Helen, my use of the term amateur was meant as a distinction from professionally trained and often paid genealogists.  It was not meant to be derogatory.

And nowhere do I intend to convey that all people who make mistakes are frauds or fabricators.  

There may be some disagreement among the experts (i.e., Jacobus, Anderson, etc.) and others about the extent to which EC Bowen knew he was fabricating (and therefore acting fraudulently). But clearly some did/do feel that he was intentionally doing so.

I will add this comment on what Jillaine has written,

Based on Richard's children's names, especially I am led to believe that he and his wife were probably puritans in Wales.  Most of the records are from the Church of England.  Therefore there is less of a chance of a marriage record for Richard and his first wife.  Unless the bible I have seen mentioned a few times ever surfaces there may be no record that will ever be transcribed for it or their children's  birth / baptismal record as it was before the rebellion in 1642.

As for Robert Wheaton's appearance in Rehoboth, although he isn't mentioned as one of the original "plantors", he does have a lot on the Ring of Green with the first set of lots that were drawn in 1643/4.

This is the way my family tree looks:

9th G Grandfather - Richard Bowen (Bowen-480)

8th G Grandfather - Obadiah Bowen (Bowen-749)

7th G Grandfather - Samuel Bowen (Bowen - 751)

6th G Grandfather - John Bowen (Bowen - 4166)

5th G Grandfather - Joseph Bowen (Bowen - 6668)

4th G Grandfather - Joseph Bowen (Bowen - 6004)

3rd G Grandmother - Phebe Ayars Davis Bowen (Bowen - 6003)

2nd G Grandmother - Mary Bowen Davis Ayars (Bowen - 40370)

1st G Grandmother - Alma Amelia Larson Ayars (Ayars - 470)

My Grandmother -    Mrytle Mae Larson Trogstad ( Larson - 3405)

My Father - Marvin Edward Trogstad (Trogstad - 1)

I do have an interest in this issue and am greatly concerned about the tag line 'fraud' applied to the file of Richard Bowen, it t'would imply my family is frauds and I have an issue with my family already being beheaded, and gutted.

I agree that it should be placed on E.C. Bowen, but with the consideration, the man might have been using the information he had and that was in the 1930's.

If you, like me, start with something and realize that it isn't placed correctly and move it to another spot to find affirmation then realize something else needs to be moved back and there is affirming information or as it is suggested when a profile comes up when creating a profile, please select that. We are all working towards the greater good of understanding who is who in the United States, America, The British Colonies, the 'old country', and abroad.
E.C. Bowen is issued from who?
Jodi,

I have fixed the category on Richard Bowen's profile. It was inaccurately using the high-level "Frauds and Fabrications" category. It now has the E.C. Bowen Fraud category on it.

I have also created a freespace page for this fabricated genealogy:

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Memorial_of_the_Bowen_Family

This thread is about the genealogy of Richard Bowen, not the genealogy of E.C. Bowen (who was author of the fabricated genealogy).

EDIT: E.C. Bowen does not have a profile on either WikiTree or WeRelate, but I did find this WorldConnect profile of him:

https://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=seajae&id=I17997
UPDATE: Saxbe's 2010 TAG article found the mention of "Ann" as Richard's first wife that predates the 1886 fraudulent genealogy by several decades, however, he's still skeptical since the given name Ann does not appear in the first few generations which would have been expected.
+17 votes
I added Category: Frauds and Fabrications to his profile.  It probably would be good to create a new subcategory "Richard Bowen Fraud" which briefly outlines the fraud and references the TAG article, and then the Category: Richard Bowen Fraud should go on EVERY profile affected by it as an alert that some information about that person may be fraudulent until it has been confirmed by other sources.
by Jack Day G2G6 Pilot (457k points)
We've typically named the Fraud categories for the perpetrator of the fraud. In this case, that appears to be E.C. Bowen, not Richard Bowen.

We've called them "Fraud" because the perpetrator appeared to be in the business of peddling fraudulent genealogies. I'm not sure that word is accurate when the perpetrator was an amateur whose fabrications enriched only their own family's vanity.  I don't know if that characterization applies to E.C. Bowen, but it looks like it might. I recently started digging into another mess of early New England fabrications ("The Beckwiths", by Paul Beckwith) whose perpetrator focused on only his own family -- and whose fabrications may have resulted more from inexperience and ineptitude than any deliberate intent to deceive. I'm thinking that the categories for these fabrications should have names like "E. C. Bowen Fabrications" and "Paul Beckwith Fabrications."
Ellen,

If you read the full TAG article, it's pretty damning regarding E.C. Bowen. The man should have known better. I'd say it falls under the fraud category.
I would have no problem with "Category: E. C. Bowen Fabrication"  I think for genealogy, the key thing is that bad things happened with the data, not whether someone made money at it.  It would be interesting to have a conversation on the topic, "which is worse, greed for family recognition or greed for money", but we don't need to have that conversation to create a category that highlights the misuse of data!

Thaks in large part to this sidebar discussion of the categories, I did some additional research on Paul Edmond Beckwith and created Category: Paul Edmond Beckwith Fabrications. I kept the title at "fabrications" largely because of the judgment of the researcher who ripped some of his work apart, but gave him the benefit of the doubt, saying:

"The Beckwith book stands as a sad commentary on the uses to which the fascinating science of genealogy may be put. The printed genealogies are so often the work of enthusiastic members of a family, with little genealogical experience, and too often prone to accept an English ancestry on meagre and doubtful evidence -- or sometimes no evidence at all."

The legal definition of "fraud" includes a requirement that some material benefit results from the falsification of the documents in question.

      This might have happened in this case, but the proof might be hard to come by.  "Bogus" might be the better word.  More than a few genealogists have no shame when it comes to their own backgrounds and the beliefs of generations yet to be born.

The TAG article cited elsewhere puts it this way:

"In 1884, E[lisha] C[handler] Bowen wrote a fraudulent account of the Welsh origin of the immigrant Richard Bowen. The short text was based mainly on the attached pedigree entitled "Pedigrees of Richard and Griffith Bowen Carefully collated from Lewis Dwn [Dwnn], Golden Grove and Dale Castle Mss Confirmed by Nicholas' Annals of Wales.'  A signature at the bottom left has 'B.I. Bowen facit.' The chart indeed contains on the left side an accurate copy of the twelve-generation lineage of James Bowen of Llwyngwair, Pembrokeshire, taken by Lewis Dwnn in 1591 and published by Nicholas.[9] The chart lists James's [sic] ten sons (of seventeen children) given by Dwnn, including Richard 'mort' as the eighth son-- the 'mort' undoubtedly meaning he died young. Nevertheless, at the bottom of the chart, B. I. Bowen added the following:"

What follows is a chart indicating Richard "mort" Bowen m. Ann, and had the known children of Richard Bowen of Rehoboth... The article goes on:

"This is a pure fabrication, making an arbitrary Ann the wife of the non-surviving Richard who is made the emigrant, probably the invention of B.I. Bowen, maker of the chart, to serve E.C. Bowen's needs. This presumably is the source of the name Ann as the Welsh wife of Richard1 Bowen and has no validity. Ann does not appear in E.C. Bowen's text accompanying the chart; the only mention of her is in the chart."

"E.C. Bowen was a physician, a graduate of the Albany Medical College, and a member of various medical associations. He certainly knew that mort signified dead. However, he explains this away by saying that Dwnn 'after Richard's name ... uses a term (an equivalent), which, being translated into English, signifies that Richard, son of James Bowen of Llwyngwair, 'chose the hunter's armor, and left the country with it.'[10] The 'hunter's armor' is a reference to the Court House Bowen arms of a stag with an arrow in it. This is a rather ingenious and subtle invention. A dictionary definition of mort, besides dead, is 'the note sounded on a horn at the death of a deer, chiefly to 'blow a mort.' '[11]"

E.C. Bowen went on to add a further fabrication, attaching Griffith Bowen of Boston to this same chart. But that's another g2g topic...

Is this chart accessible for viewing? With that many children, is it possible there was a Richard that died early and another born named again Richard. Happens a lot.

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