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Below is a family biography included in the Biographical Annals of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania published in 1904 by T. S. Benham & Company and The Lewis Publishing Company; Elwood Roberts, Editor.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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GEORGE W. BOWMAN, banker, of Royersford, is a descendant of an old Pennsylvania family. He was born in Waterloo county, Province of Ontario, Canada, September 30, 1850. He was reared on a farm and educated in the common schools of the vicinity, in the Toronto Normal School, and in the scientific department of the University of Toronto. He taught public schools for fifteen years in Canada, and then received a call to the chair of natural science in Lebanon Valley College, Annville, Pennsylvania, where he taught ten years, during which time he received the degree of A. B. from the Northwestern University, of Illinois, in 1887; that of Doctor of Philosophy, at Otterbein University, Ohio, in 1891. In 1892 Mr. Bowman retired from teaching and removed to Royersford, and assisted in organizing the Home National Bank and the Industrial Savings Bank, which have been merged into the Royersford Trust Company, which he also assisted in organizing. Mr. Bowman has been cashier from the time of the organization of the institution. The officers have been mostly the same from the first, and the institution has been very successfully managed.

Mr. Bowman is the son of Noah and Lydia (Clemens) Bowman, both of Canada. Noah Bowman (father) is the son of Jonathan B. and Polly (Snyder) Bowman. The Snyders were of Franklin county, Pennsylvania, and of German descent. The immigrant, Jacob Snyder, was in the Palatinate, Germany, in 1727. He came to America when a mere lad and settled in Lancaster county, and married, when about twenty years of age, Maria Hershey. He was the father of fifteen children from whom sprang the Snyder family. His son, Jacob, was the great-grandfather of Mr. Bowman. This Jacob Snyder, the seventh child of the immigrant, married Mary, daughter of Christian and Mary Erb. He was born in 1764 and went with a colony to Canada in 1806, being a leader in the Pennsylvania German settlement in that province. He died there in February, 1853. He was a good financier and business man and became possessed of large tracts of land. Each of his children was given a large farm, and many of the Snyders yet live there, being among the prominent families of that province of Canada.

The children of Jacob Snyder: Christian J.; Nancy (Mrs. Benjamin W. Bowman); Jacob, Jr.; Polly (maternal grandmother, Mrs. Jonathan E. Bowman); Benjamin; John; Elizabeth, never married; Susana (Mrs. Jacob P. Shantz); Magdalena (Mrs. Levi L. Bechtel); Henry.

Jonathan B. Bowman (grandfather) was the son of Rev. Joseph Bowman, and Joseph was the son of Christian Bowman, and Christian was the eldest son of Wendell Bowman, who was born in Switzerland in 1681. When he was seventeen years of age he emigrated to Holland, whence, early in the seventeenth century, he came to America, He arrived in Philadelphia in the year 1709, being one of a number who settled on Pequa Creek, in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. They purchased a large tract of land where Wendell Bowman had a deed for four hundred acres. He reared a family of seven sons and one daughter. His children were: Christian; Peter; John; Jacob; Michael; Benjamin; Joseph; Magdalina.

Joseph Bowman (great-grandfather) was born in Berks county in 1766. He married Mary Baer. He was a minister in the Mennonite church. In May, 1816, he moved to Canada. Some of the members of his family have been nsembers of the Canadian parliament. His children: Elizabeth (Mrs. C. Burkholder); Salvina (Mrs. Henry Weber); Jonathan (grandfather); Mary (Mrs. Joseph Snyder); Christian; Joseph; John; Samuel B.; Judith (Mrs. Jacob Bricker); Leah (Mrs. David Snyder); Wendell; Benjamin E. The family were mostly Mennonites in faith.

Jonathan Bowman was the first justice of the peace of Waterloo county, and received a token from the governor general of Canada, a fine silver snuff-box, lined with gold. He was a very useful man in his day, giving legal advice and writing legal papers. He was urged to become a candidate for parliament, but declined, preferring to remain in the walks of private life. His children: Mary (Mrs. Isaac Winger), her husband being a very wealthy merchant; Noah (father); John S., died in 1903, aged eighty-one years; Jacob S., yet living; Samuel S.; Saloma S. (Mrs. George H. Clements); Levi S., of Michigan; Joshua, a merchant; Menno S., of Riverside, California, and judge of the orphan court.

The children of Noah and Lydia Bowman: George W.; Rachel (Mrs. Rev. John E. Lynn); Clemens D., who resides at the old homestead, and by profession a civil engineer, being often employed by the Ontario government; Byron C., a druggist at Dolgeville, New York.

Noah Bowman died at the Canadian homestead on May 4, 1886. He was born February 26, 1820. His wife survives and resides in Canada. She was the daughter of Abraham S. Clemens, who was born near Lederachsville, in Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, March 7, 1790. Abraham Clemens and family removed to Canada in 1825, and located in the German settlement. He was a descendant of Gerhard Clemens, son of Jacob Clemens, who arrived in Philadelphia in 1709 and settled in Skippack township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania.

The children of Abraham Clemens: Abraham D.; Mary (Mrs. E. Bowman); Jacob; Amos; Susana (Mrs. Moses Bowman); Veronica, died young; Lydia A. (mother); and George H.

George W. Bowman married, in Canada, Miss E. Woodward, daughter of Milton and Roxilia (Smith) Woodward. Milton Smith was a farmer. He died at his home in Canada, in 1878. He stood high in his community. His children: Aba Woodward, of the state of Washington; Lyman, a merchant residing in Canada; Asa, of Michigan; Horace, deceased; Lance, died unmarried; Harriet (Mrs. E. Smith); Elisheba (Mrs. George W. Bowman). The children of Mr. and Mrs. George W. Bowman are: Maurice W., born February 13, 1868, a druggist, and engaged in business in Germantown; Ida, born November 1, 1871, wife of Arthur E. Richards, a grocer of Royersford. Mrs. Bowman died September 30, 1877.

In February, 1879, Mr. Bowman married (second wife) Miss Mary Bowman, a distant relative, born in Canada in 1850. She is the daughter of Samuel S. and Levia (Shantz) Bowman, she of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, and he of Canada. Samuel S. Bowman was a prominent farmer. He died in Canada in 1902.

Samuel S. Bowman’s children: Mary (Mrs. George W. Bowman); Nelson, of Canada; Leander, resides at the homestead farm and is a member of the county council of Waterloo county, Canada; Joanna (Mrs. John B. Shantz), residing in Buffalo, New York.

The children of George W. and Mary Bowman: Evelyn N., born April 1, 1883; and a boy that died in infancy.

Mr. Bowman is a Republican in politics. He is president of the Royersford school board; treasurer of the borough. He and his family are Methodists in religious faith, he being superintendent of the Sunday-school. He is an influential and honored member of the community in which he lives, taking an active interest in public affairs, and being in every respect a model citizen.

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This family biography is one of more than 1,000 biographies included in the Biographical Annals of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania published in 1904 by T. S. Benham & Company and The Lewis Publishing Company.  For the complete description, click here: Biographical Annals of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania

View additional Montgomery County, Pennsylvania family biographies here: Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Biographies

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