Sometimes you have an ancestor who really touches your heart and I am fortunate to have a few women that survived some terrible times. One of these is my great-great grandmother, Mary Elizabeth Chinn, daughter of Dr. Joseph Graves Chinn and Barbara Garland Graves.Mary was born November 2, 1821 in Bourbon county, Kentucky. She married John Parker Bowman on September 26, 1837 in Fayette county, Kentucky. This marriage produced 6 children: Isabella, John, Joseph, Edwin, Frank and Clifton, born between 1838 and 1858. On March 16, 1862, her husband Lt. Col. John Parker Bowman died from exposure after the battle of Elkhorn Tavern (Pea Ridge.) Of her surviving children - son John died in 1858 at the age of 18 - Isabella was married and the rest were still in her care. Mary Elizabeth never remarried. In 1904 at the age of 82, she died in Lexington, Missouri.
From the
Higginsville Advance, Higginsville, Missouri, obituary, 4 March 1904, p1
Died in Lexington, February 26, 1904, Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Bowman, aged 82 years. Mrs. Bowman has resided in Lexington since 1844. She was an exemplary Christian lady most highly respected by her many acquaintances. Funeral services were held at 2 o'clock Saturday afternoon from the home of G. M. Mountjoy.
Monument reads "In Memory of Mary E. Bowman. Born Nov. 2, 1821. Died Feb. 26, 1904. 'Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.'"
Copyright 2011, ACK for Gene Notes
I'd love to find out more about her. Would like to know if why she never remarried.Waiting to hear the fate of her other little ones and why they were not mentioned in the obituary.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing.
I see a followup coming ...
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