Descendants of
William Pitt Bowers

 

William Pitt Bowers was born 1767 in New Jersey of English parentage. He moved to North Carolina as a young man where he met and married Sally Gomer (born in Ireland). They moved to Davidson County, Tennessee where William was a farmer with 500 acres. William died in Tennessee in April 1823.

Their children:

 

x

i.

Lemuel Bowers

 

 

ii.

John C. Bowers - born 3 August 1801, John resided in Davidson and Montgomery Counties, Tennessee all his life. He was a Justice of Peace in his district for 20 years. He married Sally Lassiter on 26 December 1822.

.

 

iii.

Stephen Bowers

GENERATION II

Lemuel was the eldest of William's and Sally's children, born 1795 in North Carolina. Lemuel served in the War of 1812. He enlisted as a private in Captain Eli Hammond's (Tennessee) Company of U.S. Mounted Rangers Volunteers at Nashville, Tennessee on 12 August 1812 for a term of 12 months. He was honorably discharged at Dry Fork River, Franklin County, Tennessee at the end of the month in August 1813.

Lemuel Gomer Bowers married, on 10 November 1814, Evelina Betts (born 1798 in Tennessee). A verbatim transcript of their marriage record follows this narrative.

They moved to Illinois in the fall of 1831. Lemuel bought 40 acres of land in Hamilton County, Illinois in 1833, purchasing 40 acres more each year in 1836 and 1851.

On the 1840 census of Hamilton County, Illinois Lemuel is listed as being between 40-50 years old with his wife between 30-40 years. Four boys and three girls are in the household.

Lemuel died 25 December 1860, Evelina on 24 May 1883 at the age of 86. They were members of Blooming Grove Church, in Blooming Grove, Illinois. Lemuel and Evelina are interred in Blooming Grove Cemetery, Hamilton County, Illinois.

According to Evelina's obituary, she and Lemuel had 9 sons and 3 daughters. I know of only seven, all of whom were alive in 1861 and named in their father's will.

Their (currently known) children:

 

 

i.

Emeline Melissa Bowers - married 22 August 1843 Samuel R. Bond

 

 

ii.

Lofton F. Bowers - married 04 August 1844 Dicy Hawood Moore

 

 

iii.

Lavina Eveline Bowers - married 24 July 1845 William Achols

 

 

iv.

Ebzathan M. Bowers - born 1819, died 1894

 

 

v.

Lemuel H. Bowers

 

 

vi.

Sarah G. Bowers - married _?_ Vandeventer

.

x

vii.

Zachariah H. Bowers

GENERATION III

Zachariah H. Bowers was born 5 March 1835. He served as a private in Company A, 87th Illinois Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War. His records show he was 5 feet, 9-1/2 inches tall with blue eyes, sandy hair, and a light complexion. At the time of his enlistment, Zachariah was a farmer in Hamilton County. He mustered into service in August, 1862 for 2 years.

Zachariah married Mary Jane Echols on 26 December 1858 (marriage license #1787). She was born 8 December 1841.

Zachariah died on 19 March 1870 from acute pneumonia. Mary died 20 August 1905

Their children:

 

x

i.

Henry Curtis Bowers

 

x

ii.

Moses F. Bowers

 

 

iii.

Lofton Bowers - died in infancy

 

x

iv.

Cyrus A. Bowers

.

x

v.

Lucy E. Bowers

GENERATION IV

Henry "Kirt" Curtis Bowers was born 21 April 1860 in Hamilton County, Illinois and died at the home of his son, Jefferson Douglas Bowers, in Roswell, New Mexico on 16 December 1918.

He married Emma Josephine Green on 18 December 1878 in Hamilton County, Illinois (marriage license #4758). They were married 40 years. They attended the Baptist church Blooming Grove for a brief period, then changed to Smiths' Chapel in Hamilton County, Illinois. Both are buried at Blooming Grove Cemetery in Hamilton County Illinois.

Emma was born 4 May 1863 and died 15 June 1945. She was the daughter of John "Jeff" Jefferson Green (born 4 April 1841; died 6 January 1926) and Hester Elizabeth McDaniel, (born Tennessee1838; died 21 October 1899). They are buried in Cherry Grove Cemetery, Hamilton County, Illinois.

Their children:

 

 

i.

Jefferson Douglas Bowers - born 2 October 1879; died of cerebral hemorrhage 11 July 1944. He married Ellen Snyder who was born about 1870. Jefferson's stepchildren were listed as his sole heirs.

 

 

ii.

Joseph E. Bowers - born 30 March 1887; died 30 July 1967. He married 10 April 1905 Elva Lucinda Williams (born January 1888 died August 1971). They had 7 children.

.

.

iii.

Edna Bowers - born 18 December 1892 twelve miles from McLeansboro, two miles from Blairsville, Illinois on a farm; died 8 March 1972. She married (1) 17 May 1913 William Clarence Lingle (born 17 December 1888; died 25 October 1941); (2) in 1946 Charles Buttry; (3) Charles Watts.

Moses F. Bowers was born 24 December 1862 and died 3 October 1940. He married (1) in 1885, Mary Ann Kinchloe (died 1887). Moses married (2) Evaline Duty on 3 June 1890. She was born 15 June 1870 and died 31 May 1939. At one time in his life, Moses resided in Posey County, Indiana.

His children:

 

 

i.

Estella Bowers

 

 

ii.

Mabel Bowers

 

 

iii.

Hazel Bowers

 

 

iv.

Bonnie Bowers

 

 

v.

Pauline Bowers

 

 

vi.

George Bowers

Cyrus A. Bowers was born 22 June 1866 and died 08 November 1935. He married Mary E Moore on 7 December 1890. Mary was born 6 April 1873 and died 14 March 1954.

Their children:

 

 

i.

Ralph Osborne Bowers - born 1892; died 1942.

 

 

ii.

Leslie Earl Bowers

Lucy E. Bowers was born 21 April 1869 and died 01 October 1925. She married Joseph E. Daily on 17 October 1888. Joseph was born 1868, dying in 1937.

Their children:

 

 

i.

Paul Daily

 

 

ii.

Ruth Daily

~*~ FINIS ~*~

flourish bar

Know all men, that we Lemuel Bowers & Seldon Betts

Of the county of Davidson and the State of Tennessee, are held and firmly bound unto the governor of the said state, for the time being, in the sum of twelve hundred and fifty dollars, to be paid to his excellency, his successors in office, or assigns, to which payment well and truly to be made, we bind ourselves, our heirs, executors and administrators, and each and every of us and them, both jointly and severally, firmly by these presents - Witness our hands and seals the 7th day of November, 1814.

The condition of the above obligation is such, that whereas Lemuel Bowers hath prayed and obtained license to marry Avelina Betts. Now if the said Avelina Betts be an actual resident in the aforesaid county, and there shall not hereafter appear any lawful cause why the said Lemuel Bowers & Avelina Betts should not be joined together in Holy Matrimony, as husband and wife, then this obligation to be void and of no effect, otherwise to remain in full force and virtue.

 

Lemuel Bowers

Seal

.

Seldon Betts

Seal

NOTE: The above record is exactly as written. Avelina Betts is Eveline Betts. I believe Seldon may be Eveline's father, though it is not proven. Also, Eveline is mentioned in Seldon's will.

Submitted by Carol Brown (24 May 2000)

 

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