Thomas Bowman (Methodist Episcopal bishop)

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This article is about a Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church. For the Evangelical Association bishop, see Thomas Bowman (Evangelical Association bishop).
Thomas Bowman
Thomas Bowman.jpg
Bishop Thomas Bowman
President of Indiana Asbury College
In office
1858–1872
United States Senate Chaplain
In office
May 11, 1864 – March 9, 1865
Preceded byByron Sunderland
Succeeded byEdgar Harkness Gray
President of Dickinson Seminary
In office
1848–1858
Preceded byInaugural holder
Personal details
Born(1817-07-15)July 15, 1817
Berwick, Pennsylvania, US
DiedMarch 4, 1914(1914-03-04) (aged 96)
East Orange, New Jersey, US
Spouse(s)
Matilda Hartman
​
​
(m. 1841; died 1879)​
Children11
ParentsSarah Brittain Bowman
John Bowman
EducationWilbraham Academy
Cazenovia Seminary
Alma materDickinson College
OccupationAmerican bishop, Methodist Episcopal Church

Thomas Bowman (July 15, 1817 – March 3, 1914)[1] was an American bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, elected in 1872.[2]

Early life[]

Bowman was born on July 15, 1817 in Berwick, Pennsylvania, a son of Sarah (née Brittain) Bowman (1786–1852) and John Bowman (1786-1843)[3] and spent his boyhood days on a farm in eastern Pennsylvania.[4] His maternal grandfather, Samuel Brittain, fought in the American Revolutionary War as a private in Captain McCalla's Company from Bucks County, Pennsylvania.[5]

Bowman was educated at Wilbraham Academy in Massachusetts and Cazenovia Seminary before earning his B.A. degree from Dickinson College in 1837 as the head of his class, chosen as valedictorian,[6] and began the study of law at Dickinson Law School but he decided to leave the law and become a minister.[4] Two years later he entered the traveling ministry of the Baltimore Annual Conference of the M.E. Church. He was ordained (deacon and elder) by Bishop Waugh.[1]

Career[]

Bowman taught in the grammar-school of Dickinson College from 1840 to 1843, and five years later founded Dickinson Seminary in Williamsport, Pennsylvania of which he was president until 1858. Bowman was then chosen as president from 1858 to 1872 and later chancellor from 1884 to 1899 of Indiana Asbury College in Greencastle, Indiana (which in 1884 was renamed DePauw University in honor of Washington C. DePauw).

While he was president of Indiana Asbury College, he also served as the chaplain of the United States Senate from May 1864 until March 1865 during the administration of his friend, Abraham Lincoln.[1] Just five days before Lincoln's assassination, Bowman warned Lincoln that he was in danger of being assassinated by John Wilkes Booth as he saw Booth "prowling about the Capitol buildings and White House, and became convinced that his presence there boded ill for Mr. Lincoln".[7] According to Bowman, Lincoln "laughingly made light of the warning."[7]

During his time at DePauw, Bowman presided over such significant events as the first admissions of women students and of the initial planning (and laying of the cornerstone) of East College. He also served on the university's board of trustees from 1887 to 1895, including a term as president of the board.[1]

Upon his election to the episcopacy, Bowman resigned the Asbury presidency. As a bishop he officially visited all M.E. conferences in the U.S., Europe, India, China, Japan and Mexico.[1]

Personal life[]

On July 13, 1841, Bowman was married to Matilda Hartman (1821-1879),[8] a daughter of Johannes Hartman and Mary Magdalene (née Crouse) Hartman.[9] Together, they were the parents of eleven children, including:[10][11]

  • John Durban Bowman (1842–1871), who fought in the U.S. Civil War but died unmarried at age 28.[8]
  • Theodore Granville Bowman (1845–1923), who married Virginia Florence Lee.[8]
  • Thomas Marion Bowman (1846–1914)[8]
  • Charles Gideon Bowman (1848–1924), who served as treasurer and manager of the Bowman Stamping Company; he married Florence H. Warren, after her death, he married Mattie Belle Overton.[12]
  • William Hamilton Bowman (1850–1939)[8]
  • Cecilius Bantz Bowman (1852–1916)[8]
  • Mary Crouse Bowman (1853–1937), who married George P. Smith of Baltimore, Maryland.[13]
  • Samuel Brittain Bowman (1856–1939), who married Mary Walden in 1884.[5]
  • Clarence Mitchell Bowman (1858–1891), who married Elizabeth Amanda Binyon.[8]
  • Sarah Elizabeth Bowman (1860–1948),[14] who married Burns D. Caldwell, president of the Wells Fargo Express Company.[15]
  • Frances Olivia Bowman (1862–1863), who died young.[8]

The "Patriarch of the Methodist Church" died at the age of 96 at his daughter's home in East Orange, New Jersey on March 3, 1914 and was survived by two daughters and five sons. His remains were interred at the Forest Hill Cemetery in Greencastle, Indiana.[1]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f "BISHOP BOWMAN DIES IN HIS 97TH YEAR; " Patriarch of the Methodist Church" Was Dedicator of More Than 1,100 Churches". The New York Times. 4 March 1914. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  2. ^ "Thomas Bowman," in The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1954.
  3. ^ Revolution, Daughters of the American (1923). Lineage Book. The Society. p. 99. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b Times, Special to The New York (16 July 1907). "OLDEST BISHOP CELEBRATES.; Thomas Bowman of Methodist Church Observes His 90th Birthday". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b Society, Sons of the American Revolution Colorado (1912). Historical Register. W. H. Kistler Stat'y Company. p. 81. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  6. ^ Indiana Magazine of History. Indiana University, Department of History. 1914. p. 224. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b Times, Special to The New York (23 November 1903). "WARNED PRESIDENT LINCOLN.; Bishop Thomas Bowman, Then Senate Chaplain, Had a Foreboding That Booth Would Kill Him". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h Hartman, Jeanine (1993). The Glattfelders in America: The Descendants of Two Brothers, John Peter & Casper Glattfelder; and Their Uncle, Hons Heinrich; and Others. FamilyHart. p. 11. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  9. ^ Women, Cazenovia Junior College for (1877). First Fifty Years of Cazenovia Seminary, 1825-1875: Its History, Proceedings of the Semi-centennial Jubilee, General Catalogue. Nelson & Phillips. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  10. ^ Times, Special to The New York (16 July 1911). "BISHOP BOWMAN'S BIRTHDAY.; Celebrates His 94th in His Daughter's Home in Newark, N.J." The New York Times. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  11. ^ Church (U.S.), Methodist (1913). General Minutes of the Annual Conferences of the United Methodist Church in the United States, Territories, and Cuba. Council on World Service and Finance. p. 656. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  12. ^ "1868 - Charles Gideon Bowman (DePauw University 1868)". www.phigamarchives.org. Phi Gamma Delta Digital Repository. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  13. ^ "The Christian Advocate". T. Carlton & J. Porter. 1909. Retrieved 9 March 2021. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  14. ^ TIMES, Special to THE NEW YORK (14 May 1948). "MRS. S. CALDWELL, HELPED COLLEGES; Widow of the Railway Express Company Chairman Dies in Her Home at Orange, N.J." The New York Times. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  15. ^ "BURNS D. CALDWELL DIES IN A PULLMAN; President of Wells, Fargo & Co. Stricken in Vermont on Way Home From a Fishing Trip. BEGAN AS RAIL ROAD CLERK Chairman of Board of American Railway Express Co. Was 64 and Lived in Orange". The New York Times. 26 September 1922. Retrieved 8 March 2021.

Attribution

External links[]

Religious titles
Preceded by
Byron Sunderland 		42nd US Senate Chaplain
May 11, 1864 – March 9, 1865 		Succeeded by
Edgar Harkness Gray
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