Conrad Bower

Biography

Conrad arrived from Saxony, Germany on the Neptune with Capt. John Mason on Tuesday, Sept 24, 1751. He took the oath of allegiance upon his arrival."

Conrad Bower's biography as prepared by Arlene F. Mansfield in her book, Descendants of Conrad Bower, Martin Easterday, Sr., John Hoover Sr., and Gabriel Swinehart Sr. Families from Colonial Maryland to Ohio in The Early 1800's. The following is a complete quote of the biography as found on page 23 of the aforementioned book:

Conrad Bower is the immigrant ancestor of the Bower family which founded Bowerston, Ohio. Early Lutheran Church records in Bowerston, state that Conrad Bower arrived from Saxony, Germany, on the ship "Nepture" with Captain John Mason, sailing from Rotterdam to Philadelphia and arriving on Tuesday, 24 September, 1751. Conrad took the oath of Allegiance upon his arrival. He settled first in Frederick County, Maryland. The first primary documentation for Conrad Bower in Frederick County, Maryland is the baptism records of his children near Middletown. Evidence of his first land, purchased in Frederick County, is recorded in Book L p.597 on December 24, 1768. There is no record in Frederick County, where he sold the land. Conrad Bower was living in Washington County, Maryland, in 1790. He is listed in Frederick County on the 1800 Census. The Maryland Lutheran Church records spell his surname Bauer. The Maryland Land Records use the English spelling Bower.

There is another Bower family in Washington County, Maryland, listed in the Distribution of Estate 1778-1805. Jacob Bower and his widow, and their children, Barbara, Conrad, John, Catherine, Mary, George, and Susanna. The relationship of this Bower family to Conrad Bower is unknown.

There was a Christian Bauer living in Frederick County, Maryland before 1763. He arrived on the same ship as did Dietrich Bauer. Christian Bauer was naturalized in Frederick County on 28 September, 1763. He signed the Oath of Fidelity in Maryland in 1776. Dietrich Bauer named one of his sons Conrad. His children remained in Maryland, except for Elizabeth, who married Matthias Schild. Matthias and Elizabeth lived in Tuscarawas County, Ohio. The relationship among Christian, Dietrich and Conrad Bauer is unknown.

Conrad Bower settled, along with several of his children, south of New Hagerstown on the north side of Conotton Creek in Carroll County, Ohio. At that time the area was part of One Leg Township in Tuscarawas County, Ohio. Conrad died in 1810. He is the first one buried at the old Lutheran Cemeteryin Bowerston. The cemetery was renamed Longview Cemetery. The cemetery is located on land once owned by John Bower and Jacob Easterday. According to a historical section reported in the Cadiz REPUBLICAN newspaper in 1940, Conrad Bower's gravestone is flat on the ground and can be found only by those who know its exact location. Crudely carved in the native stone are the date 1810 and the initials, C.B. The court records for Conrad Bower in the State of Ohio are missing.

Conrad Bower married Eva, whose maiden name is unknown. Evidence of their children is found in the Frederick Evangelical Lutheran Church records in Frederick County, Maryland. There is no record as to where Eva Bower died."

Note: Three daughters of Conrad Bower/Bauer married the three sons of Martin Easterday, Sr. as follows: Margaret Bower married John George Easterday; Barbara Bower married Martin Easterday II and Magdalena Bower married Jacob Easterday. Magdalena and Jacob Easterday had no children. The Easterdays in Ohio are, for the most part, descendants of John George and Martin Easterday II and their Bower wives.

Conrad married Eva Maria Schnitz. Together they had the following children:
Catherine Bower;
Christine Bower;
Maria Barbara Bauer;
Moses Bower;
George Adam Bower;
Eva Bower;
Margaret Bower;
Barney Bower;
Barnhart Bower;
John Bowers;
Johann Andreas Bauer;
Anna Maria Bower;
Magdalana Magenkena Bower;
Elizabeth Bower;
Joseph Bower.

notes

possible brother or other close relative of Elizabeth Huston? Tope (seeing that her son George married this Conrad's daughter Elizabeth)

comments

Date and place of marriage have been erroneously reported to be circa 1755 at Tuscarawas, Tuscarawas County, Ohio (Ohio was still part of the Northwest Territory at that time, the Tuscarawas Valley was not settled by people of European stock until 1761>.

Sources

• Arlene F. Mansfield, Descendants of Conrad Bower, Martin Easterday, Sr., John Hoover & Gabriel Swinehart, Sr. (1993, Los Alamos, N. M., Coyote Tales Publishing , , Repository: Copy in Ronald Whitney's genealogy files). Photocopies from The Tuscarawas County Genealogical Society, New Philadelphia, Ohio - Copy of book in possession of Ronald Whitney.
• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Apr 23 2024, 2:06:26 UTC