| Notes |
- "Mary Hite, the eldest daughter of Jost Hite, married George Bowman in 1731, in Pennsylvania. The young couple joined the ox-drawn caravan of sixteen families who cut their way through the wilderness and settled in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, where 'The Old Baron' Hite had acquired many thousands of acres of land. Their son, John George Bowman, Born April 27, 1732 was said to be the first white child born in the Valley.
"John W. Wayland, historian, says 'The Opequon and Cedar Creek region, where they located, was then a part of Spottsylvania County, Virginia. In 1734 it was included in the new county of Orange; in 1738 an act of the Virginia General Assembly provided for that part of Orange west of the Blue Ridge to be erected into the counties of Frederick and Augusta; but courts for Frederick were not organized at Winchester until 1743, or for Augusta at Staunton until 1745. Accordingly, the Hite-Bowman settlement was in Spotsylvania County until 1734; in Orange from 1734 until 1743; thereafter in Frederick altogether until 1772 when Dunmore (now Shenandoah) County was cut off from the southwest side of Frederick. Thereafter George Bowman's home was in Shenandoah County, while the homes of Hite and other members of his original colony remained in Frederick.'
"George Bowman built a large stone house on Cedar Creek, near its confluence with the north fork of the Shenandoah. The house has been called by different names -- 'Fort Bowman,' 'Willow Bend,' and 'Harmony Hall.' Strongly built, it possibly served as a neighborhood place of refuge during Indian forays, hence 'Fort Bowman.' The willows growing along Cedar Creek suggested the second name. It is said that the Bowman boys were such fighters, the neighbors called their home 'Harmony Hall.'
"The town which grew up nearby, established by law in 1761, was named Strasburg, although in the early days it was called Stover Town and Funk's Town.
"As early as 1753 the Bowmans had a mill near the house which supplied grain for settlers on the way south, as well as for family members and neighbors.
"According to his will, George Bowman was the owner of negro slaves, horses and mares, cattle and sheep, money, a house and two lots in Winchester, and nearly 2,000 acres of land. George and Mary had thirteen children, eleven of whom grew to be men and women.
"George and his sons, as well as many of their descendants, owned numerous horses, and were bold and skillful riders. Four of the sons -- John, Abraham, Joseph and Isaac -- (who were brothers of our ancestor, Mary) were the only four brothers who were high-ranking officers in the Revolutionary War. According to Wayland, 'Colonel John Bowman was the first county-lieutenant and military governor of Kentucky; Colonel Abraham Bowman commanded the 8th Virginia Regiment, one of the outstanding fighting units of the Revolution; Major Joseph Bowman was a captain in Dunmore's War and the efficient leader, with George Rogers Clark, in the conquest of the Northwest (Illinois) Territory, an achievement without parallel in the building of our nation; Captain Isaac Bowman was Master of Horse in the Illinois Campaign, a captive three years among the Indians, and an important man of affairs in Kentucky and Virginia. All were active and prominent in civil as well as military service in the colonel and Revolutionary period.... It may be asserted with confidence that no other four brothers made a greater contribution to the cause of independence or to the subsequent expansion and wealth of the nation.'" -- Bond, Marian Saunders. Some Ancestors, pp 40-42.
PORTION OF WILL OF GEORGE BOWMAN Made Nov 3, 1764; probated 1768. Will Book #3, p. 431, Frederick County, Virginia, Records
".... Item -- My will and desire that the above hundred pounds allotted to my oldest daughter Mary Stephens shall be given to her children my grandsons as followeth -- twenty five pounds to be paid to my grandson George William Stephens, twenty pounds to Isaac Stephens, twenty pounds to Adam Stephens, the remaining five pounds to be paid out of my estate to the executors of this my last Will and Testament. If there be any of my estate over and above, to be divided among my children, my daughter Mary's part shall be equally divided among her children. ..."
The above makes no sense since Mary was living, indeed lived until 1820! Was he on the outs with Mary but not with her children? -- LKL
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Taylor Family Genealogy
1699 - 1764 (65 years)
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