James BOWMAN, Biography. Source: HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY, INDIANA. B.F. Bowen & Co., Indianapolis, 1914. P. 430-432 JAMES BOWMAN. In a person of this venerable pioneer farmer, now deceased, we have a sample of a worthy race of people to whom the country is largely indebted for its development and progress. He was not a showy man, simply a plain, industrious tiller of the soil, who worked hard to get a start in the world, provided well for his family, did his duty to his fellow men and made a good neighbor and citizen. To such as he Indiana owes much. Here and there,scattered over the state in every county, on well-tilled acres, they toiled and worked, cleared, grubbed and ditched, fought the forces of nature in the way of swamps and dense forests, gradually making headway until in time we see the beautiful and highly cultivated farms as the result of their arduous labors. Such were the pioneer farmers. They did not figure in public life. Their names were seldom mentioned in the papers, they lived quiet and unpretentious lives, but it was their work and their self-sacrifice that was gradually building up the state, adding to its wealth and beauty, until it became one of the finest agricultural regions in the world. Mr. Bowman was a public-spirited man in all that term implied, was ever interested in enterprises tending to promote the general welfare and withheld his support from no movement for the good of the locality so long honored by his residence. His personal relations with his fellow men were ever mutually pleasant and agreeable, and he was highly regarded by all, having been easily approached, obliging and straightforward in all the relations of life. James Bowman, who during his life was one of the best known citizens of Waterloo and vicinity and an honored pioneer of Franklin township, DeKalb county, Indiana. He came of a long line of sterling ancestors, the first members of the Bowman family having come to this country from Holland. Their remains now lie buried near Albany, New York. To them was born a son, Peter, whose wife's Christian name was Mary, and they lie buried in Belle Isle cemetery in the town of Van Buren, NY. Peter and Mary Bowman had four children, three daughters and a son, the latter named John, having been born at Trenton, New Jersey, on April 15, 1789. When he was but five years old his parents moved to New York State and there he married Matilda Minner, who was born on September 9, 1787, in Connecticut. They became the parents of twelve children, all of whom grew to maturity. The mother of these children died in 1854 and the father subsequently married his first wife's sister, Sallie. His death occurred in 1869. The fourth of the children in order of birth was James, the immediate subject of this sketch. James Bowman was reared to maturity on the home farm in New York and received his education in the common schools. Shortly after his marriage, which occurred in 1839, he and his wife started west via the Lake Erie Canal and Lake Erie to Toledo, from when they drove overland with ox team to Franklin township, DeKalb county, Indiana. Here he began the struggle common to the pioneer settlers of the frontier west, and in the creation of a home and the clearing and improvement of the farm he received the able cooperation and assistance of his wife. The farm which was thus located and improved has been since owned and occupied by his grandson, James Hodges, and mother, Mrs. A. J. Sinclair. In the spring of 1851 Mr. Bowman moved to what is now the northeast edge of Waterloo, where he built a home and also erected a saw mill. At that time heavy timber covered the greater part of the land now the site of Waterloo and much of this timber was worked up in the mill owned by Mr. Bowman. he was a successful man in everything to which he addressed himself and as he prospered financially he contributed to the growth and development of the community in every way possible, giving liberally of his means to the erection of churches, school houses, and in other ways contributing to the welfare of the citizens. For nearly twenty-nine years during his later life he was disabled by paralysis to such an extent as to be confined to a chair. However, during these nearly three decades he was always patient and cheerful and to the last maintained a deep interest in everything about him. His mind was as bright in his last years as at any period in his life, and he always managed his own business affairs. He was made of those sterling qualities out of which the frontier settlers of the middle West were made and to him is due the gratitude of present generations for what he did in the way of opening up and clearing the way for the later splendid civilization which has characterized this section of the state. On September 26, 1839, in Onondaga county, New York, James Bowman married Rebecca Jane Bort, who was born probably in Onondaga county, the daughter of Christian and Susan (Quackenbush) Bort. To their union were born eight children, of whom five are now living, namely: Mrs. A. J. Sinclair, Mrs. James P. McCague, Mrs. C. E. Montavon, Charles and Frank, all of whom are living in Waterloo. Submitted by Eliza Funk ebethgen@yahoo.com and Kathy Crowell February 1999.