USA > Pennsylvania > Luzerne County > Wilkes-Barre > A history of Lodge no. 61, F. and A. M., Wilkesbarr?, Pa. with a collection of masonic addresses > Part 13
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He was bred a farmer, and remained at home with his father until the year 1795. In that year, at the instance and invitation of his uncles, Samuel and Ebenezer Bowman, who were permanently and satisfactorily located in the Wyoming Valley, Penn'a, he determined to seek a home in that new country. Consequently he left New Braintree October 28th, 1795, and arrived at Wilkesbarré November 5th. Looking about him for some work or occupation in which to engage, he discovered the need in the Valley of a tanning and currying establishment. Knowing something of this vocation he made arrangements to engage in it, and for many years thereafter was a successful tanner and cur- rier in Wilkesbarré.
For several years he was in public life, filling different offices in the civil and military institutions of the county with fidelity and ability, securing a widespread popularity. He was an active, ardent and energetic man, of a most kindly disposition, ever ready to aid in any measure calcu- lated to benefit either individuals or the community at large.
He took especial interest in military matters, and this, of course, was natural, for both his father and grandfather were soldiers in the Revolutionary War. He began his military experience in July, 1798, as a non-commissioned officer in the " Wyoming Blues," of Wilkesbarré, Ebenezer Slocum, Captain. In October, 1798, he became Second Lieutenant, and in this position served for some time. In 1806 he was elected First Lieutenant of the " Blues," at that time a well- drilled and uniformed company of light infantry, and com-
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manded by Joseph Slocum, who had been elected Captain early in 1803. In 1807 a declaration of war against Great Britain being anticipated, volunteers in the several States of the Union offered their services to the general government. The "Wyoming Blues," through their three chief officers, ten- dered their services in a patriotic communication to President Jefferson, to which he sent a flattering reply in his own hand- writing. Shortly after this Lieutenant Bowman became Cap- tain of the " Blues," and September 5th, 1814, he was elected Colonel of the 45th Regiment Pennsylvania Militia. This regiment became in 1815 the 2d Regiment Pennsylvania Mi- litia, and was commanded by Colonel Bowman until 1821, in June of which year he was elected Brigadier General of the 2d Brigade, 8th Division, Pennsylvania Militia, which posi- tion he held till 1828. In that year he was elected Brigade Inspector of the same Brigade, for seven years. This was his last military service.
In May, 1810, he was elected a member of the Wilkes- barré Borough Council.
In the Summer of 1810 the Philadelphia Bank established a branch at Wilkesbarré-the first bank in Luzerne county. The banking-house was located on River street, below Mar- ket. Isaac Bowman was one of the sixteen directors ap- pointed to conduct the affairs of the bank. Some of the other directors were, Ebenezer Bowman, Esq., Rosewell Welles, Calvin Wadhams, Benjamin Dorrance, Charles Miner, and Jesse Fell. Ebenezer Bowman, Esq., was chosen President of the Board of Directors, and John Bet- tle, Esq., of Philadelphia, was appointed Cashier.
November 14th, 1810, General Bowman was commis- sioned by Governor Snyder Coroner of Luzerne county for the term of three years. In 1814 he was appointed Col- lector of Taxes for Wilkesbarré. October 19th, 1819, he was commissioned by Governor Findlay Sheriff of Luzerne county for three years, having been elected to that office as
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the candidate of the old Federal party, then in its decadence. He was appointed by Governor Wolf Recorder of Deeds and Register of Wills of Luzerne county, for a term of three years, February 17th, 1830; he was re-appointed for a sec- ond term January 21st, 1833 ; and by Governor Porter for a third term February 3d, 1839.
General Bowman was initiated into LODGE 61 June Ist, 1801, and for thirty-three years was an active member thereof. He took a deep interest in everything concerning Masonry, and was recognized by his Brethren as possessing a very thorough and accurate knowledge of the "work " and landmarks of the Craft. He was Senior Warden of the Lodge in 1804 and 1806, Junior Warden 1812 and 1813, Treasurer 1810, and Worshipful Master in 1805, 1811, 1814, 1817, and 1827; and very frequently, in other years, he presided in the East in the absence of the Worshipful Mas- ter. He also filled other stations of importance in the Lodge, and in February, 1823, was one of the representa- tives from the Lodge in the Grand Committee which met at Philadelphia under the sanction of the Grand Lodge .*
He not only took pride in acquiring a knowledge of the secrets, art, and mystery of Free Masonry, and in instruct- ing his Brethren therein, but he delighted to cultivate the charities of our ancient Institution, and the widows and orphans of departed Brethren found that he never forgot to aid the afflicted. April 9th, 1824, he withdrew from active membership in the Lodge, at which time the following res- olution was adopted: "That the Lodge communicate to Bro. Gen. Isaac Bowman the thanks of the Lodge for his many and useful services in the Lodge, and their earnest desire for his felicity, until we meet on the Level of Time in the Mansions of the Grand Lodge on high." But when the spirit of anti-Masonry first began to be perceived in the
* See page 60, ante.
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country, and its influence to be felt, Brother Bowman hast- ened to apply for re-instatement in the Lodge. This was effected December 4th, 1826, and at the same meeting he was elected to serve as Worshipful Master for the ensuing Masonic year.
The Lodge at that time was in a flourishing condition, and its most active members were such men as John N. Conyngham, George M. Hollenback, Jesse Fell, Garrick Mallery, Benjamin A. Bidlack, Andrew Beaumont, Charles D. Shoemaker, Benjamin Reynolds, and Pierce Butler.
General Bowman continued a member of the Lodge until its Warrant was vacated by the Grand Lodge in February, 1837. He was one of the petitioners to the Grand Lodge in 1843 for the restoration of the Warrant, and was ap- pointed by the Grand Master to re-constitute and re-open the Lodge in January, 1844. He continued a member of the Lodge until December 27th, 1845, when he withdrew from active membership; whereupon a committee was ap- pointed to express to Brother Bowman the regard enter- tained for him by the Lodge. The committee prepared a letter in the following form, which was adopted by the Lodge and presented to Brother Bowman :
" WILKESBARRÉ, December 28th, 1845. " GEN. ISAAC BOWMAN.
" Friend and Brother :- Appointed as a committee by LODGE No. 61, on the occasion of your application for leave to withdraw your membership, and to sever that relation which has subsisted between you and that Lodge these many years ; and charged with the duty of expressing to you the sentiments awakened in the bosoms of its mem- bers in anticipating this painful separation, we feel sensibly the poverty of human language to express truly what the heart prompts. The past is full of pleasurable recollections of the uniform kindness, amenity, generosity, and honor with which you have sustained the character of a Mason in all its relations.
" Be assured, dear sir and Brother, that the Lodge deeply deplore the painful necessity that impels your separation from that Society which has been honored and embellished by your virtues, and
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strengthened by your fidelity. Permit us, on behalf of the Lodge, to express the deep sympathy they feel in the recent suffering through which it has been the will of an inscrutable Providence you should pass, and the sincere hope they cherish that the sufferings will be speedily mitigated, and the evening of your days-which we de- voutly pray may be long-may be gilded by health and hope, and soothed by the warm affection of friends.
"And, finally, through the favor of that Almighty Being, whose power all must obey, and who sets limits to the lives of all his crea- tures which they cannot pass,-when that great day shall arrive which sooner or later comes to us all, when we shall have finished our jour- ney of life and passed 'that bourne whence no traveller returns'- may we all find acceptance into those realms where all is order and harmony, where pain and sorrow come not, and where we may be permitted to dwell together in love forever.
"Affectionately and fraternally, " ANDREW BEAUMONT,
" PIERCE BUTLER,
" JONATHAN BULKELEY,
Committee."
General Bowman had, by industry and thrift, accumulated much valuable real estate in and about Wilkesbarré. Un- fortunately in his old age he endorsed notes and became security in a large amount for a friend, who, incurring heavy financial losses, met with disastrous failure in 1845. His failure caused that of General Bowman, and nearly all the property of the latter was swept away. This explains the reference to his " sufferings " in the foregoing letter.
On the occasion of the celebration by the Lodge of St: John the Baptist's Day (June 24th), 1846, a committee was appointed to wait on Brother Bowman and invite him to attend and take part in the services and pleasures of the day as the especial guest of the Lodge.
Probably the last Masonic service performed by Brother Bowman was on the 17th of May, 1848. On that day, at- tended by twelve members of LODGE 61, he constituted St. John's Lodge No. 233, A.Y. M., at Pittston, Luzerne county, and installed the officers thereof.
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He died at Wilkesbarré July 30th, 1850. For several years prior to his death his previously uninterrupted good health had been broken by a gradual ossification of the lower extremities, accompanied by acute suffering. The removal of one of his limbs, below the knee, for a time in- terrupted the progress of the disease; but in the Spring of 1850 the other limb became seriously affected, and his death ensued.
His remains were accompanied to their final resting place in St. Stephen's church-yard by the largest concourse, and with the most abundant award of honors-civic and military-ever beheld in Wilkesbarré on a similar occasion. The two military companies of the town-the "Yeagers " and the " Artillerists "-commanded by Maj. Gen. E. W. Sturdevant, escorted the procession. The Brethren of LODGE 61, and other Lodges, appeared in full Masonic dress, and in large numbers, and Bro. the Hon. John N. Conyngham acted as Chaplain.
The following encomium of Brother Bowman is from The Farmer and Fournal (Wilkesbarré) of August 7th, 1850:
"Transplanted at the early age of 21 years to scenes and associa- tions so attractive to hardy and enterprising youth, he became one of the marked and leading spirits in a community which grew daily in importance and magnitude. He enjoyed, from nature, energies and endowments with which few are blessed. A constitution of iron was marked by a physical organization of remarkable perfection. A presence the most agreeable and attractive was added to an address that won favor from all. Frank, bold, manly and spirited, he was the charm of every circle in which he moved.
With a memory of remarkably retentive power, an intuitive sense of the ludicrous, and an elasticity of spirits that never flagged-and in themselves inspiring-there were few indeed who possessed a more genial power of communicating enjoyment to others.
In form and stature the model of a soldier, General Bowman pos- sessed, naturally, a keen relish for military pursuits, and devoted much time, expense and attention to the local military organizations of the country. Free as air and water with his means, he was ever the idol of all whose tastes were similarly inclined."
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General Bowman was married April 9th, 1806, to Mary Smith of Weathersfield, Conn. They had five children, three of whom are now living. Mrs. Bowman died at Wilkesbarré in January, 1876, aged 95 years.
JAMES MUNROE BOWMAN, the eldest child, graduated from the West Point Military Academy in 1832. Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee were his fellow-students and in- timate friends at the Academy. He died at Fort Wayne, Indian Territory, in July, 1839, being at the time First Lieutenant in the Ist U. S. Dragoons.
HORATIO BOWMAN, the second child, has resided for many years in Alton, Ill.
FRANCIS L. BOWMAN, third child, was the organizer and first Captain of the "Wyoming Artillerists," organized at Wilkesbarré in the Spring of 1842. In the Mexican War he served as Major of the Ist Regiment Pennsylvania Vol- unteers. Returning to Wilkesbarré, at the close of the war, he engaged in mercantile business. He also interested him- self in military matters, and from 1849 to 1855 was Brigadier General of the 2d Brigade, 9th Division, Pennsylvania Mil- itia, the position and rank formerly held by his father. In 1855, through the friendship of Jefferson Davis, then U. S. Secretary of War, he was commissioned Captain in the 9th U. S. Infantry.
He was made a Mason in LODGE 61 September 8th, 1851, was Secretary of the Lodge in 1852 and 1853, and Wor- shipful Master in 1855.
He died in Oregon in 1856, and was interred at Wilkes- barré with the honors of war and of Masonry.
SAMUEL BOWMAN, fourth child, was at one time Captain of the "Wyoming Artillerists," and in 1859 was elected Brigadier General of the brigade of Pennsylvania Militia first commanded by his father and afterwards by his brother ; but owing to certain informalities with which the election
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had been conducted it was declared illegal and void, and Captain Bowman was not commissioned General.
He was Lieutenant Colonel of the 8th Regiment Penn- sylvania Volunteers in the three months' service in the War of the Rebellion. From December, 1867, to December, 1870, he was Clerk of the Courts of Luzerne county.
MARY L. BOWMAN, fifth child of General Bowman, resides in Wilkesbarré.
COL. ELIPHALET BULKELEY.
The ancestor of the Bulkeleys of New England was the Rev. Peter Bulkeley, " the Puritan," born at Woodhill, Bed- fordshire, England, January 31st, 1583, and of honorable and noble descent. He was educated at St. John's College, Cambridge, where he obtained a fellowship, and from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Divinity. He succeed- ed his father, Dr. Edward Bulkeley, in the living of Wood- hill, where he remained for twenty-one years, until he was silenced for nonconformity by Archbishop Laud. On this he converted his estate into money, and about the year 1635 came with a few companions to America and settled in a place first named by them Concord (Middlesex county, Mass.).
From Neal's "History of the Puritans" we learn that " Peter Bulkeley was a thundering preacher, and a judicious divine, as appears by his treatise 'Of the Covenant,' which passed through several editions and was dedicated 'To the Church and Congregation at Concord,' and to the author's nephew 'the Rt. Hon. Oliver St. John, Lord Ambassador of England to the High and Mighty Lords, the States General of the United Provinces of the Netherlands ; also Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas.'" He also wrote some Latin poems which were published in Mather's His- tory of New England.
He died at Concord March 9th, 1659.
Gershom Bulkeley-minister, soldier, surgeon, magistrate, and man of affairs-was the son of the Rev. Peter Bulkeley, and was born December 6th, 1636. He married in 1659 Sarah Chauncey, daughter of President Chauncey of Har- vard College. He was the second minister of the church
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at New London, Conn. In 1675 he acted as surgeon in the Narragansett War. He died at Weathersfield, Conn., De- cember 2d, 1713.
The Rev. John Bulkeley, first minister of the church at Colchester, Conn., and one of the original proprietors of the town, was the son of Gershom Bulkeley. He graduated from Harvard College in 1699, and was ordained minister at Colchester December 20th, 1703. Shortly after his settle- ment there the people of the town (as the old records show) " voated to beuld a meeting hows of forty foots square pro- vided that thare be money given enouf to procure the nailes and Glass." The following is another extract from the town records of Colchester : "Decr. 31 : 1712. the * towne voated & granted to the reverent mr bulkley for his salery for this yeare insuing sixty pownds as mony-further the town voted to add 8 pownds to mr bulkleys salery for the year now past which sd 8 pownds is to pay for his fire wood for the year Insewing."
The Rev. John Bulkeley was " skilled in physick, and an eminent divine, who ruled his church and the town with an iron hand." His wife was Patience Prentice, and they had twelve children, one of whom was the "Hon. Col. John Bulkeley, Esq., of Colchester, New London county, Conn.,- who for a number of years was a great honor to an uncom- mon variety of exalted stations in life." He was born April 19th, 1705, graduated from Yale College in 1726, and mar- ried October 29th, 1738, Mary, widow of Jonathan Gardiner, and third child of the Rev. Eliphalet Adams, M. A., pastor of the First Church of Christ, in New London, Conn. He was the son of the Rev. William Adams of Dedham, Mass., and died at New London, Conn., September 9th, 1753, after serving in the ministry for forty-three years and eight months.
Col. John Bulkeley married for his second wife Abigail Hastings, who presented him with one son, Charles, born
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May 22d, 1752. Colonel Bulkeley was a man much like his father-a lawyer by profession, and also a physician. He represented the town of Colchester in the Connecticut Legislature for twenty-eight sessions, and was, for nine years before his death, one of the Governor's Assistants (the State Senators of the present day).
ELIPHALET BULKELEY, born at Colchester, Conn., August 8th, 1746, was the second son and fifth child of Col. John and Mary (Adams) Bulkeley.
After the requisite preliminary studies he entered Yale College-his father's Alma Mater-about the year 1762. In the college it was his fortune to have for his room-mate the celebrated Oliver Ellsworth,* of whom it was often his delight, in after life, to repeat many interesting anecdotes. Like Ellsworth he did not graduate from the college, but remained there as a student only two or three years.
After leaving college he settled in Colchester, and Sep- tember 16th, 1767, married his cousin Anne, daughter of Maj. Charles Bulkeley, of New London, Conn. At the age of twenty-seven he was commissioned a Captain in the Con- necticut Militia, his commission reading as follows :
"JON'TH TRUMBULL, EsQ., Capt. Gen'l and Commander-in-Chief of HIS MAJESTY'S COLONY OF CONNECTICUT in New England,
"To Eliphalet Bulkeley, Gent., GREETING : You being by the Gen- eral Assembly of this Colony accepted to be a Captain of the 3d Com-
* OLIVER ELLSWORTH, a native of Connecticut, entered Yale Col- lege in 1762, at the age of seventeen years. He abandoned the college after a two years' residence, " in consequence of some boyish disgust or irregularity," and entered " Nassau Hall," Princeton, N. J., where he graduated in 1766.
In 1787 he was a member of the Convention for the formation of the Constitution of the United States, and as one of the foremost men of his state he was, in March, 1789, elected by the Connecticut Legis- lature to the first Senate of the United States.
From 1796 to 1800 he was, by appointment of President Washing- ton, Chief Justice of the United States.
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pany or train-band in the 12th Regiment in this Colony,-reposing special Trust and Confidence in your Loyalty, Courage, and Good Conduct, I do, by virtue of the Letters Patent from the Crown of Eng- land, to this Corporation, Me thereunto enabling, appoint and im- power you to take the said Company into your care and charge as their Captain, * * for HIS MAJESTY'S service. * % *
"Given under my hand and the Seal of this Colony, in Hartford, the 25th day of May, in the 13th year of the Reign of Our Sovereign Lord GEORGE the Third, KING of Great Britain, &c., Annoque Domini 1773."
"By His Honor's Command, Į Geo. Wyllys, Sec'y." >
" JON'TH TRUMBULL."
When the troubles between this country and Great Britain assumed a threatening aspect, Captain Bulkeley became a firm and spirited advocate of the rights of his native land ; and in March, 1776, when the American troops were col- lecting to drive the British from Boston, he led a full com- pany of sixty men to join the standard of Washington.
Having been appointed by the General Assembly of Con- necticut " to be a captain of a company ordered to be raised for the defense of the Colony," he was commissioned by Governor Trumbull June 10th, 1776; and May 29th, 1780, he was commissioned by the same, Lieutenant Colonel of the 25th Regiment of the Connecticut State Militia.
Colonel Bulkeley was very prominent in his day among the citizens of Colchester, and of New London county. Always faithful to his duty, very active and intelligent, extremely pleasant as a companion, he was respected and beloved. He held a commission of the peace in his native town for more than twenty years, and represented Colches- ter in the General Assembly of Connecticut during the years 1778, 1780, and from 1788 to 1794. As a member of the Assembly of 1789 he labored for the election of his old friend and college-mate, Oliver Ellsworth, as United States Sen- ator from Connecticut.
In May, 1792, he was appointed, by Governor Hunting- ton, " Notary Public in and for New London county."
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June 25th, 1799, the corner-stone of Free Masons' Hall, New London, Conn., was laid with imposing ceremonies. In less than a year the building was completed, and July 15th, 1800, Col. Eliphalet Bulkeley announced that he had " opened a house of entertainment at that elegant new build- ing, Free Masons' Hall, New London, where the man of business, of pleasure, or the valetudinarian, may be equally gratified." Colonel Bulkeley kept "open house" in this place for several years.
In the Spring of 1807 he moved to Wilkesbarré, Penn'a, where his son Jonathan had settled a few years before, and here he resided until his death.
In 1810, and probably during 1808 and 1809, he kept the tavern owned by Isaac Carpenter at the north-west corner of the Public Square, Wilkesbarré, where now stands the " Luzerne House."
From May, 1814, to January, 1816, he was President of the Wilkesbarre Borough Council.
Colonel Bulkeley was very zealous and active as a Free Mason, and for a number of years stood in the foremost ranks of the Fraternity in this country. At a stated com- munication of Wooster Lodge No. 10, A. F. and A. M.,* Colchester, Conn., January 6th, 1790, " the Worshipful Master proposed Col. Eliphalet Bulkeley to be made a Ma- son in this Lodge ; and seeing his particular circumstances be such, the Lodge agree to dispense with the By Laws and ' make' him this evening. He was accordingly balloted for
* Wooster Lodge was constituted at Colchester, Conn., June 6th, 1781, its Charter having been granted January 23d, 1781, by the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts. The Grand Lodge of Connecticut was or- ganized July 8th, 1789, Wooster Lodge being one of its subordinates. It was the fifth Lodge in seniority in the State. It ceased to work in 1838, and its Charter was burned in 1840. When the Lodge began work again in 1851 the Grand Lodge gave it the oldest number va- cant-No. 10.
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and accepted, and was, by the Worshipful Master's orders, immediately prepared and duly initiated into the First degree of Masonry, and paid for the degree £3, 3s., od." He was " passed " February 3d, 1790, paying 15s., and "raised " March 3d, 1790, paying 18s.
He was elected Junior Warden of the Lodge June 2d, 1790, (elections in the Connecticut jurisdiction then being held semi-annually,) and served one year ; elected Worship- ful Master May 4th, 1791, and served continuously in that office until June 4th, 1800, not being absent from a single meeting of the Lodge. In 1797 and 1798 he was R. W. Grand Junior Warden of the Grand Lodge of Connecticut.
He was also prominent in Royal Arch Masonry, and the first High Priest of Vanden Brock Chapter No. 5, Colches- ter, which received its Charter from the Grand H. R. A. Chapter of New York, April 9th, 1796. * The old records of the Chapter show that the first meeting held (December 24th, 1795,) was a Mark Masters' Lodge, and that Com- panion Eliphalet Bulkeley was Master. He held the office of M. E. High Priest until 1800.
He is supposed to have been a Charter member of Wash- ington Encampment No. I, Knights Templar, of Connecti- cut, as his name appears on an old printed list of members and by-laws as having been one of "the first six Com- panions knighted at Colchester in July, 1796,"-but by whom is not positively known. It is believed, however, that the orders were conferred by the then Grand Master of England, Thomas Dunkerly, who was in Connecticut at that time, and had been there on one or two occasions pre- viously. Meetings were held in Colchester in 1798 and 1799, and June 9th, 1801, four candidates were received
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