William Bowen (abt. 1742 - 1804)

Born about 1742 in Fincastle, Botetourt, Colony of Virginia

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 15 Dec 1804 at about age 62 in Nashville, Davidson, Tennessee, United States

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Biography

William was born about 1742. He is the son of John Bowen and Lilly McIlhaney. ^[1]

Military 10 Oct 1774

Age: 32 Battle of Point Pleasant, Commander-in-Chief, Gen. Andrew Lewis, brother of Meriwether Lewis, traveler and surveyor who with Clark explored the Northwestern portion of the country years before. "A Sketch of the Bowen Family", Wm B. Campbell, Jr

Veteran of Lord Dunmore's War of 1774, the French and Indian War of 1754 to 1763, and the American Revolutionary War

The Bowen Family

Written by Jay Guy Cisco

From Historic Sumner County, Tennessee 1909

Moses Bowen and his wife, Rebecca Reece Bowen, emigrated from Wales to the American colonies in 1698 and settled in Chester County, Pennsylvania. John Bowen, their son, married Lily McIlhaney and in 1730 moved to Virginia. They had twelve children, one of whom, Captain John Bowen, was the father of Captain William Bowen, who was the first to emigrate to Tennessee.

Captain William Bowen was born in Fincastle County, Virginia, then Augusta County, in 1742. He was a very active, enterprising man, and by the time he was 35 years of age he had accumulated quite a handsome estate for that day by adding to the portion given to him by his mother.

He took part in the several campaigns against the French and Indians as a member of the Colonial Army of Virginia before the Revolution of 1776. He was a First Lieutenant in Captain William Russell's company in the campaign against the Shawnee and other Indian tribes in 1774, the confederation being commanded by "Cornstalk" a noted chief of the Shawnees. He was in the hotly contested battle of Point Pleasant on October 10, 1774. He was also with Captain Russell while that officer was in command of Fort Randolph, when that garrison was ordered to be disbanded by Lord Dunmore on July 1775, fearing the fort might be held by rebel authorities. Prior to this date he was with Russell's Rangers when they assisted in relieving the besieged fort at Watauga.

Captain Bowen was principally engaged in the partisan warfare on the border of Virginia and Tennessee during the Revolution. He was in the cavalry service, employed in scouting and protecting the frontiers from the inroads of the British, Indians and Tories. At the termination of the long struggle for independence, he with fifteen other soldiers of the Continental army, traveled all through Kentucky and the Cumberland county, as Middle Tennessee was then called, prospecting warrants, which had been received for services I the war of independence. Captain Bowen was so pleased with the country that he located some of his land in what in now Smith County, Tennessee, but the larger portion in Sumner County, Tennessee, about twelve miles from Nashville. He moved his family from Virginia in the early autumn of 1784 to Sumner County, where he built a double log house in which he lived for two years: then built a two-story brick, which is still standing near Goodlettsville and in good preservation. Though it was built in 1787, when what is now Tennessee was part of North Carolina. It is said to have been the first brick house built in Tennessee. General Daniel Smith, his fried and fellow soldier built a stone house, known as "Rock Castle," in the same vicinity. The two sent to Lexington, KY., for stone and brick masons to erect the two houses.

Captain William Bowen, in 1777 married Mary Henley Russell, daughter of General William Russell and his wife, Tabitha Adams, in Augusta County, Virginia, now Washington County, near where Abingdon now stands. He died in Sumner County on December 15, 1804. He left eight children. Tabitha married Colonel Armstead Moore of Virginia. They moved to Smith County, Tennessee, where they died, leaving eleven children.

Captain Arthur Bowen was in the Battle of King's Mountain (Roster & Soldiers Tennessee Society DAR pgs 307-308) William was ill and unable to go to King's Mountain and seen his brother Lt. Rees, who lost his life.

Moses died at the age of 20 with smallpox during the Revolution.

William, Robert, John, Arthur all were captains. Also, Reese, Henry and Charles were officers in the Revolution.

Sources

1. ↑ Entered by Marie Mills, Oct 26, 2011

✿ Bowen Plantation House - http://www.cityofgoodlettsville.org/115/Bowen-Plantation-House

✿ Bowen-Campbell House http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowen-Campbell_House

✿ Burial:

• Bowen-Campbell House Cemetery; Sumner County; Tennessee, USA http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Bowen&GSfn=William+&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSst=45&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=30630942&df=all&

✿ File File: Media ; Format: jpg.; bowen house. File: Media; Format: jpg. 1st bowen tenn.

✿ Source: S-1784441803 Ancestry Family Trees Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members. Note: This information comes from 1 or more individual Ancestry Family Tree files. This source citation points you to a current version of those files. Note: The owners of these tree files may have removed or changed information since this source citation was created.Ancestry Family Trees Ancestry Family Tree 44800296