Benjamin Bowsher was born 8 October, 1803[1] in Windsor Twp., Berks Co., Pennsylvania. His family migrated to Ohio in 1804, when he was just an infant, and settled in Ross County[1]. He lived in Ross County for many years[2][3], and there married Elizabeth DeLong 25 January, 1827. Together they had fourteen children:
Oliver Bowsher, b. 18 Jun 1827
Israel Bowsher, 2nd., b. 27 Apr 1830
Lucinda Bowsher, b. 15 Mar 1832
Rachel Bowsher, b. 10 May 1833
William Bowsher, b. 17 Oct 1834
Harriet Bowsher, b. 15 Sep 1836
Leannah Bowsher, b. 22 Feb 1838
George Washington Bowsher, b. 16 Apr 1840
Lafayette S. Bowsher, b. 16 Apr 1840
Infant Son Bowsher, b. 1842
Mary Bowsher, b. 16 Apr 1843
Elizabeth Bowsher, b. 16 Apr 1845
Matilda Bowsher, b. 17 Apr 1847
Benjamin Bowsher, b. 1 Apr 1851
In 1835, Benjamin and his brother, Daniel, prospected for a new home in Allen County, and in 1836 they led a group of 27 to settle in Shawnee Township. Benjamin had purchased land in the NE quarter of Section 28, and upon arrival the family lived in a dwelling that had once belonged to the Shawnee Indians which had been forced to Kansas in 1832. Benjamin would later build a home of his own on this land, and live the rest of his life there.[1]
Benjamin was one of the organizers of the Saint Matthew Lutheran church, first erected in 1837.[1]
Benjamin died 30 December, 1873, and was buried in the church cemetery. Next to his grave is a flat slab of sandstone that reads:[4]
GRAND FATHER BENJAMIN BOWSHER IN THE YEAR 1831 AT THE AGE OF 28 Y. CARRIED THIS STONE ON HIS SHOULDER UP A LADDER AND PLACED IT OVER THE CHURCH DOOR IN PICKAWAY COUNTY. WEIGHT 323 LBS.
Name
His name as it appears in all known primary source documents is "Benjamin Bowsher." Burkhardt spelled his name as "Benjamine," but it is unclear where he obtained this spelling. This may have been his understanding of what the typical spelling of the name was, as every individual with the name in The Boucher Family has their name spelled in this way. The younger Benjamin may have used "Benjamine" unofficially, as shown in limited circumstances in newspapers.
A great debt is owed to Frank Burkhardt for interviewing early Bowsher ancestors and compiling The Boucher Family, and to Kay Bowsher for discovering the inevitable mistakes in his work and contributing greatly with her own research nearly a century later.
Is Benjamin your ancestor? Please don't go away! Login to collaborate or comment, or
contact
a profile manager, or ask our community of genealogists a question.
Sponsored Search by Ancestry.com
DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Benjamin by comparing test results with other carriers of his Y-chromosome or his mother's mitochondrial DNA.
However, there are no known yDNA or mtDNA test-takers in his direct paternal or maternal line.
It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Benjamin:
Bowsher-31 and Bowsher-17 appear to represent the same person because: Represent the same individual from separate GEDCOM imports. Bowsher-17 has parent and sibling links while Bowsher-31 has spouse and child links.