Montgomery County PA Archives Biographies.....Bowman, George W. September 30, 1850 - 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Joe Patterson jpatter@epix.net November 14, 2025, 4:27 pm

Source: Biographical Annals of Montgomery County Pennsylvania, T. S. Benham & Company and the Lewis Publishing Company, 1904
Author: Ellwood Roberts, Editor

  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 
L. and Polly (Snyder)
Bowman. The Snyders were of Franklin 
county, Pennsylvania, and of German
descent. The immigrant, 
Jacob Snyder, was born 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 businessman 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 B. 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; 
and 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 members 
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 B. 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. B. 
Bowman); Jacob; Amos;
Susana (Mrs. Moses Bowman); Veronica, 
died young; Lydia A. (mother); and George
H.

  George 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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