Granville Bowman of Kentucky - 52 Ancestors #10

For this week's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks writing challenge from blogger Amy Crow Johnson of No Story Too Small, the theme is "Stormy Weather." I couldn't find an appropriate ancestor to write about under this theme, so I am writing about an ancestor from my Kentucky branch.

Bowman vital records in
Gorin family bible

Granville Bowman is my 4th great grandfather who was likely born in Virginia and lived in Kentucky most of his adult life.

According to the Gorin Family Bible that I have, (see several family pages here and a closeup at left), Granville was born on March 21, 1786, and he died on August 11, 1841. (Note that this bible was published in 1856, which means that these birth and death dates were entered much later than the event.) Based on some Kentucky land grants given to a Granville Bowman in 1799, there is either another man by the name of Granville Bowman (possible), or my 4th great grandfather was born by 1778 (maybe 1776).

Granville was born in Virginia, probably Chesterfield County, where his father owned land and was listed in tax records. Kentucky became a state in 1792 and I believe Granville Bowman arrived in Cumberland County, Kentucky within a decade of statehood.

Cumberland County, Kentucky
Courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Granville married Polly Walthall on May 16, 1809, presumably in Kentucky. I find Granville Bowman in Cumberland County in each of the decennial United States censuses from 1810 through 1840, which list only the head of household and tick marks for the other household members. Following is a summary of what those censuses contain:

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun ~ Matrilineal Line

Randy Seaver's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge is a repeat, but one that can be repeated on a different line. The details of the challenge are as follows:

1) List your matrilineal line - your mother, her mother, etc. back to the first identifiable mother. Note: this line is how your mitochondrial DNA was passed to you!

2) Tell us if you have had your mitochondrial DNA tested, and if so, which Haplogroup you are in.

3) Post your responses on your own blog post, in Comments to this blog post, or in a Status line on Facebook or in your Stream at Google Plus.

4)  If you have done this before, please do your father's matrilineal line, or your grandfather's matrilineal line, or your spouse's matrilineal line.

5)  Does this list spur you to find distant cousins that might share one of your matrilineal lines?

My matrilineal line is listed here, and I shared the results of my mtDNA test here.

So today, I will show my father's matrilineal line.

a) Charles McAlpin Pyle, Jr. (1924, NY - 1993 MA)
b) Elizabeth (Libby) Adsit (1897, IL - 1983, MA) married Charles McAlpin Pyle
c) Mary Bowman Ashby (1863, KY - 1956, MA) married Charles Chapin Adsit
d) Mary Elizabeth Gorin (1833, KY - 1891, IL) married Daniel Morgan Ashby
e) Mary Ann Bowman (1814, KY - 1870, KY) married Thomas Jefferson Gorin
f) Polly Walthall (1793 - 1850) married Granville Bowman
g) This line goes back into Virginia and is a line I need to research.

My grandmother, Libby, passed along her mtDNA to Dad, but as a male, he could not have passed it along to any of his children.

The closest cousin who could share this matrilineal line would be a descendant of the sister of my second great grandmother, Mary Elizabeth Gorin.

Any descendants of the daughters of Emma Gorin and Henry C. Murrell: Mamie Murrell, b. 1866 in Kentucky and Florence Murrell, b. 1873 in Kentucky out there?

Amanuensis Monday ~ Gorin Family Bible

An Amanuensis is a person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another. Family bible records are unique items, and following is a bible which contains information that links me to a Revolutionary War ancestor (that I used in my application to the DAR, Daughters of the American Revolution). Not only do the documents contain genealogical information, the words breathe life into kin – some we never met – others we see a time in their life before we knew them.

Inside front cover, left

The bible was published in Philadelphia by J.B. Lippincott & Co., 1856.


Pasted inside the front cover are obituaries of my third great-grandparents, Thomas Jefferson Gorin

Inside front cover, right

and his wife, Mary Ann (Bowman) Gorin.