My Genealogy Hound

S. G. BOWMAN. Few men are more highly esteemed or better known through Cumberland county, than is S. G. Bowman, teller in the Second National Bank of Mechanicsburg, who was born Feb. 1, 1838, in East Pennsboro township, Cumberland county, son of Samuel and Sarah (Gorgas) Bowman, both of this county.

Samuel Bowman was a farmer, and for many years was a minister of the Seventh Day Baptist Church — a man valued for his piety, and for his good and exemplary life. He was a son of John Bowman, who was born and was reared at Ephrata, Pa., belonging to an early family of that community, one of the founders of the Seventh Day Baptist religious body there. John Bowman came later to Cumberland county and settled at Camp Hill, where the balance of his life was spent. His four sons and two daughters were: George, Samuel, Henry, John, Fannie and Susan.

Samuel Bowman, father of our subject, was born Oct. 7, 1799, in Cumberland county, and died in 1848, and his wife, Sarah Gorgas, was born Jan. 19, 1800, and died Aug. 21, 1878. They were married in 1820, and became the parents of five sons and five daughters, six of whom grew to maturity, as follows: Catherine, born July 9, 1822, married Dr. A. B. Hostetter, who died in Illinois; Regina, born July 26, 1826, married David Lingle, and both died in the West; Mary, born Nov. 25, 1829, married Joseph Ross, of Middletown; Samuel, born Nov. 12, 1835, resides in Mechanicsburg; S. G.; Simon P., born Nov. 20, 1842, died Sept. 6, 1877; Susan died in childhood, and the others in infancy, all having passed away with the exception of Samuel and our subject. The father of this family was very widely known in religious circles both in Lancaster and in Cumberland counties. In his earlier ministerial life he served the Seventh-Day Baptists, but later entered the ministry of the sect known as the Church of God. Endowed with the gift of oratory, Rev. Samuel Bowman added to it the simple sincerity of honest Christian conviction, and for years he labored most successfully through Cumberland county. He traveled long distances and preached in school houses and private houses, long before any churches were built in the country districts, carrying the words of the Gospel, performing the ceremonials of marriage and burial, and becoming identified with the lives of the most of the people. He will long be recalled with affection and veneration.

S. G. Bowman grew up on the farm and obtained his boyhood education in the district schools, later supplementing this with attendance at the Newville Normal School, and the United Brethren College at Mt. Pleasant, in Westmoreland county. In 1858, with his mother, he came to Mechanicsburg and embarked in the mercantile business, in which he continued through the period of the Civil war, although he did not give his personal attention to the business all the time, as in 1862 he volunteered in the 1st P. V. I., and served a short time. He was engaged for two years (1876-77) in business at Philadelphia, and from 1878 to 1879, was located at Ocean Grove.

About 1882 Mr. Bowman became associated with the Cumberland Valley Railroad Company in a clerical position, remaining with that corporation for ten years. In 1892 he accepted his present position as teller in the Second National Bank of Mechanicsburg, and his reputation is that of a sound financier as well as a most affable and obliging gentleman.

In politics, Mr. Bowman is a stanch Republican, but holds no public office, close attention to his business, to his family and to his church, absorbing his time and making enough interests in life for his enjoyment. Since 1858 he has been a consistent member of the Church of God, of which his venerated father was the first minister in Cumberland county.

In 1860, Mr. Bowman married Mary J. Rupp, in Mechanicsburg, daughter of Henry and Sarah (Barnhart) Rupp, the former of whom was born Dec. 25, 1822, and died in 1866. Mrs. Bowman had but one sister, Ida, who married Alfred Milleisen, and is now deceased. The Rupp family is a very old and prominent one in Cumberland county. Mr. and Mrs. Bowman have had four children, as follows: Sallie, deceased, was the wife of Dr. Walter Eckles; Henry died April 4, 1903, leaving a widow and three children, Walter E., Mary and Edna; Mary, married B. F. Robinson, of Providence, R. I., and they have two children, William and Martha; and Florence resides at home.

The Rupp family is of German extraction, and many of its members reside both in Lancaster and Cumberland counties. The paternal grandfather of Mrs. Bowman was George Rupp, who was born in Lancaster county, and settled in youth in Upper Allen township, Cumberland county. The members of his family became substantial and respected citizens, namely: Jonas, Martin, George, John, Henry, J. D., Jane (wife of Benjamin Heilman), Elizabeth (wife of John B. Coover), and Fannie (wife of Mathew Bitner). All have passed away.