My Family Tree

John Bowman was born on the Island in 1855, the son of Richard and Jane Bowman, emigrants from England. He married Jane Eliza McFadyen, who died young.

There were two John Bowmans in the 1891 census. John aged 35, a widower born on the Island with both parents born in England, living in the household of Will Bowman, but a domestic, not a brother. The other entry for a John Bowman, born 1859, was also widowed and living with the family of Mary (Bowman) and William Henry Rodd. Also in this second household were John's father Richard, age 80, and his nephew, Herbert Bowman. John and Richard were domestics. These might be two entries for the same person.

John Bowman (age 38) sailed to Boston on the Worcester in August 1893, after selling his property. On the passenger list there was also a John Bowman, age 18. John Wesley Bowman did emigrate to Boston around this time.

John went to Rhode Island, where he found work in a screw company. He met Ellen Noon, and John, son of Richard and Jane, married Ellen in 1893. They had two surviving children, George and Howard. A daughter Florence died in infancy. John became ill, and he was sent back to the Island, where he was admitted into the Insane Asylum. John may have had a stroke; he also had delusions that he was a very wealthy man, owing most of the Island and Boston. John had hallucinations, but the report noted that he was not a heavy drinker.

The person who bought his farm left the property and two unpaid mortgages. As far as I can tell, the property was returned to John. In 1900 there were notices about selling his farm in North Wiltshire at a public auction in the Guardian newspaper. The family petitioned for administration of his estate around this time.

John died at the Asylum in 1901. The court and probate records make no mention of his children from his first marriage.