John Joseph Bowman
Wells, Cherokee County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(Aug. 15, 1807-Mar. 30, 1890) Tennessee native John Joseph Bowman came to Texas with his family in 1822 and settled in Stephen F. Austin's colony on the Colorado. He later resided in Matagorda County, where, in 1835, he enlisted in the Texian Army, and served in the Texas War for Independence with his father, Joseph, and his brother James, who also is buried here. After the war, Bowman lived in Nacogdoches County before making a permanent home in Cherokee County.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
John Joseph Bowman came to Texas from Tennessee in 1822 as a boy, settling with his family in Stephen F. Austin's colony on the Colorado River among the very first Anglo-American colonists. In 1835 he enlisted in the Texian Army and fought in the war for independence alongside his father and brother. He later put down permanent roots in Cherokee County, where he is buried near his brother James.
Why it matters
Bowman's life spans the whole early arc of Anglo Texas—from Austin's colony through revolution to statehood—embodying the settler generation that transformed the region.
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Related people
- · John Joseph Bowman
- · Stephen F. Austin
- · James Bowman
Related events
- · Texas Revolution
- · Austin's Colony
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Mt. Hope Cemetery
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Joseph and Mary Bowman brought their family through Missouri and Mississippi to Texas as part of Stephen F. Austin's colony, and their sons Joseph, John, and James fought for Texas independence from Mexico. In 1875 James H. Bowman offered a hundred acres to draw the Rev. W. D. Lewis to establish a Methodist church at Mt. Hope, giving adjacent land for this cemetery. The first burial came that November; when the railroad passed through Wells in 1886, the church moved to town and Bowman himself was laid to rest here.
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