Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 3.djvu/316

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\-IRGIXIA BIOGRAPHY


tion to the office of mayor of Richmond, in 1904, the duties of which he discharged to tlie satisfaction of all concerned. He is the author of "Walks about Richmond," writ- ten shortly after the war; "Our Distin- <,uishcd Fellow-Citizen," and "Soldier Life in the Army of Northern Virginia," which has been adopted by the state board of edu- cation for use in the public schools of Vir- ginia, and he has also compiled and edited several volumes of the "Record of the How- itzers." He is a forceful and able speaker. Mr. McCarthy m;irried, January 5, 1877, Susie Ryall .Vpperson. of Richmond. \'ir- ginia.

Bowman, Alpheus Michael, born in Rock- ingham county, \'irginia, January 11, 1847, son of George Bowman and Sarah V. Zeig- kr, his wife, both of German Lutheran de- scent. His earliest American ancestor was Joist Hite, who, with his three sons-in-law and their families, settled on Cedar creek, in the Shenandoah Valley, west of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Together they owned forty thousand acres of land, which they obtained by purchase from Isaac and John \ anmeter, who had patented this tract in 1730. One of these sons-in-law was George Bowman, who had married ^lary Hite and raised a large family. The stone house occupied by him is still standing on the one thousand acre tract which he patented in 1734. He was an active participant in the Indian wars, and died in 1768. Benjamin liowman, one of his sons, was killed by the Indians, tradition telling us that his scalp was taken by the famous chief Logan him- self. .\braham, Joseph and Isaac Bowman, three other sons, were officers in the revolu- tionarv war. Of these. .Vbrahani Bdwman


was major of the well known Eighth Regi- ment, organized by Gen. Peter Muhlenburg, and known as the "German Lutheran regi- ment : he was in command of this regiment v.hen it made the last charge upon the re- doubts at Vorktown. Joseph Bowman, the second mentioned, ranked ne.xt to George Rogers Clark in the noted Illinois campaign, the success of which assured to the United States that ])art of the northwest territory now represented by five fine states ; his death occurred in the fort at Vincennes, shortly after its surrender by the British, and it is supposed that he was the only offi- cer who lost his life in actual service during tl'is campaign. Isaac Bowman, the third of the trio, was a lieutenant in the same com- pany as his brother Joseph, and was en- trusted with the responsible duty of con- veying the English governor Hamilton and a number of other prisoners from Fort \'in- cennes to Williamsburg, \'irginia ; he was the direct ancestor of Alpheus Michael Bow- man. The early years of Mr. Bowman's life were spent in the country, where he at- tended the schools near his home, and the Xew Market Academy. At sixteen years (_ild he became a private in Company H, 'twelfth Regiment. \'irginia Cavalry, and after two years' service was cajitured in March, 1865. and held a prisoner in Fort Delaware uniil June I, 1865. After the war, he engaged in farming and stock raising on an extensive scale in Augusta county, then removed to Saltville, Washington county, liis next remove was to Roanoke county, where for many years he was the owner and ])ersonal manager of the Bowmont stock f.'.rni, and ])resident of the Diamond Orchard Com])any, the largest concern of its kind east of the .Mleghany Mount;iins and north