1722 Jacob Bauman was born on September 23, based on a bible record. [1] Jacob Bauman was perhaps a son of Christian Bowman (son of Wendel Bowman). [2]
1740s Jacob Bowman, searching for land with plentiful game, went to Bowmansville and met a Native American who became his guide and friend. Following the advice of his guide, Jacob settled on the eastward flowing Allegheny Creek. [3]
1745 Jacob Bowman obtained a warrant dated October 8 for 77 acres in Alleghenyville, Brecknock Twp, Berks County, Pennsylvania (originally recorded in Cumru Twp, Lancaster County). [4] [5] A survey dated October 13 showed the tract adjacent to his own land with a land warrant of Christian Bowman. [6] [7]
1751 Jacob Bowman obtained a warrant dated May 2 for 50 acres in Cumru Twp, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. [8] [9] A survey dated September 4 reported 28 acres and showed Conrad Weiser and Philip Streiter as adjacent landowners. [10] The location is now in Brecknock Twp, Berks County, Pennsylvania. [11]
1764 Jacob received a patent for the land described in the land warrants dated 1745 and 1751. [12]
Jacob Bowman built the first mill (which stood near the junction of Ziegler's Lane and Pennsylvania Route 568) and the first sawmill in the Alleghenyville region. [13]
1765-67 Jacob Bauman, owner of a sawmill, was taxed 9 pounds in Cumru Twp, Berks County, Pennsylvania for 105 acres, 2 horses, 4 cattle, and 4 sheep. (Christian, perhaps brother) was also taxed. [14] [15] [16]
1768 Jacob Bauman, owner of a mill, was taxed 7 pounds in Cumru Twp, Berks County, Pennsylvania for 70 acres, 2 horses, 3 cattle, and 3 sheep. (Christian, perhaps brother) was also taxed. [17]
1769 Jacob Bauman of Cumru Twp, Berks County, dated his will on November 3. The will named wife Freny and mentioned unnamed children under the age of fourteen years. [18]
1770 An account by Peter Eschelman of the estate of Jacob Bauman reported a balance of £8.2.11. Dated March 20. [19]
The inventory listed the personal goods of Jacob Bauman (household and farm items) and debts naming Christian Stauffer, John Bauman, Peter Hoschauer, Peter Hockes, George Steffen, Michael Bauman, Jacob Miller, Peter Bauman, John Groff, Lawrence Pinsler, Philip Hertz, and George Gebhart. [20]
1770 The German will of Jacob Bauman of Cumru Twp, Berks County was in probate court on March 29. Executors Peter Bauman and Hans Oberholser. Witnessed by Henrich Bar and Christel Bauman. [21] [22] [23]
1773 Widow Bowman was taxed in Cumru Twp, Berks County. [24]
1809 Fronica Bauman, widow of Jacob Bowman, Cumru Twp, Berks County [renounced her right of administration for the estate]. December 16, 1809. Adm. to Martin Bauman, a son. [25]
1812 The heirs of Jacob Bowman, deceased, sold land that Jacob Bowman had purchased from John Edwards on December 20, 1735. Jacob Bowman's will, dated November 3, 1769, indicated that his estate should be shared equally among his heirs. Christian Bowman, son of Jacob, purchased part of the land from Jacob Bowman, John Bowman, Peter Bowman, Henry Bowman, Martin Bowman, Freney Bowman, & John Bear. Dated March 10. [26]
Research Notes:
The relationships among early Bowman settlers in Pennsylvania is uncertain. Following Emmert Bittinger, we show this Jacob Bowman as person B122, son of Christian Bowman (B12), son of Wendel Bowman (B1). [27] Mr. Bittinger suggests that Jacob Bowman (B122) settled in Alleghenyville, Brecknock township, Berks county and died there as did several of his children. We have found documentation in both Lancaster County and Berks County, most often labeled as Cumru township. These documents apparently refer to events in present day Brecknock township, Berks County. The first Bowman tax record we have found in Brecknock township, Berks County was in 1786 for Jacob Bowman. [28]
See Mennonite card file: [29]
A biosketch reported [30]:
In the early 1740s, young Jacob Bowman, searching for an area where game and fish would be more plentiful, went beyond the settlements of Groffdale and Weaverland to the more recently settled Bowmansville. At Bowmansville Jacob met a Native American who offered to be his guide to better hunting grounds. He told Jacob that to be successful in life one must locate where the water runs toward the rising sun. Jacob made his home along the eastward-flowing Allegheny Creek and became a lifelong friend of the native. History does not record any hostilities between the natives and the white settlers in the Alegheny Valley. Jacob Bauman (born 1722), a Mennonite, is traditionally regarded as the first white man to settle permanently in the Allegheny Valley... He built the first mill...He built the first sawmill...Jacob and his wife Veronica had six sons and two daughters.
[1] "Genealogical Tips Baumann/Bowman," [cites a bible assumed printed in 1720 and assumed to have belonged to Wendel Bowman (1681-1735), but which was actually printed in 1753, and belonged to Christian Bowman (1724-1790) and his son Wendel] Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage 9 (April, 1986), 46, Incorrectly assumes this Jacob was the son of Wendel Bauman.
[2] Emmert F. Bittinger, "The Children of Wendell and Ann Bowman Reconsidered," Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage 18 (October 1995), 18-27, at 26, B122.
[3] Henry W. Horning, "Mennonites of the Allegheny Valley," Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage 28 (October, 2005), 2-11, at 3-4, Biosketch.
[4] Pennsylvania Land Warrant, Lancaster County, [PHMC Warrant].
[5] Henry W. Horning, "Mennonites of the Allegheny Valley," Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage 28 (October, 2005), 2-11, at 4.
[6] Pennsylvania Archives Land Office Survey, A-88-132, [PA Survey Map], [PASurveyBooksIndex].
[7] Pennsylvania Archives Land Office Survey, A-35-189, [PA Survey Map], [PASurveyBooksIndex].
[8] Pennsylvania, Land Warrants and Applications, 1733-1952, [AncestryRecord].
[9] Pennsylvania Land Warrant, Lancaster County, B-582, [PHMC Warrant].
[10] Pennsylvania Archives Land Office Survey, A-88-131, [PA Survey Map], [PASurveyBooksIndex].
[11] Henry W. Horning, "Mennonites of the Allegheny Valley," Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage 28 (October, 2005), 2-11, at 4.
[12] Bureau of Land Records, Pennsylvania Land Patent Books, [FamilySearchImage], [FHLCatalog].
[13] Henry W. Horning, "Mennonites of the Allegheny Valley," Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage 28 (October, 2005), 2-11, at 4.
[14] Berks County, Pennsylvania, Tax, 1765-66, [FamilySearchImage], [FHLCatalog].
[15] Berks County, Pennsylvania, Tax, 1766, [FamilySearchImage], [FHLCatalog].
[16] William Henry Egle, Pennsylvania Archives, Third Series, Volume 18 (Berks Taxables) (1897), 29, 1767, [InternetArchive].
[17] William Henry Egle, Pennsylvania Archives, Third Series, Volume 18 (Berks Taxables) (1897), 117, [InternetArchive].
[18] Pennsylvania Probate Records, 1683-1994, Berks, Estate, FHL film 1644078, image 1799, [FamilySearchImage].
[19] Pennsylvania Probate Records, 1683-1994, Berks, Estate, FHL film 1644078, image 1800, [FamilySearchImage].
[20] Pennsylvania Probate Records, 1683-1994, Berks, Estate, FHL film 1644078, image 1801-1803, [FamilySearchImage].
[21] Pennsylvania Probate Records, 1683-1994, Berks, Will 2-17, [FamilySearchImage].
[22] Pennsylvania Probate Records, 1683-1994, Berks, Estate, [FamilySearchImage].
[23] Pennsylvania Probate Records, 1683-1994, Berks, Estate, German will, FHL film 1644078, image 1798, [FamilySearchImage].
[24] Berks County, Pennsylvania, Tax, 1773, [FamilySearchImage], [FHLCatalog].
[25] USGenWeb, Berks County Pennsylvania Will Abstracts (search year-range in both sets of abstracts), Fronica Bauman, 1809, [USGenWeb], [Berks County Wills Register].
[26] Berks County, Pennsylvania, Deed 25-310, [FamilySearchImage], [FHLCatalog].
[27] Emmert F. Bittinger, "The Children of Wendell and Ann Bowman Reconsidered," Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage 18 (October 1995), 18-27, at 26, B122.
[28] Berks County, Pennsylvania, Tax, [FamilySearchImage], [FHLCatalog].
[29] Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society, Genealogical Card File (Lancaster, Pennsylvania), [AncestryRecord].
[30] Henry W. Horning, "Mennonites of the Allegheny Valley," Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage 28 (October, 2005), 2-11, at 3, of 3-4.