Emery Henry (?) Bowen

According to his Civil War pension file he was born in Monroe countyNew York. He was 5'11" tall, had a light complexion, blue eyes, andsandy hair. He was injured but his pension requests were refused. Hemarried Elizabeth GORDON on May 22 1831. She was 16. The ReverandFrancis Smith of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in Minden,officiated. Among the people present were, Polly ELLMAN of West MindenNY, and Sally PATNUM, Elizabeth's sister, of Georgetown (Youngstown),Niagara, NY. Other people in attendance were Mrs. Polly Ellmer,William and Jane Grundy of West Mendon, Monroe NY, Mr and Mrs Thompsonalso of West Mendon. svcygnusoriginally submitted this to LenaRoles Family on 10 Jun 2008 Emory Bowen was born in East Mendon,Ontario County, New York, [ he was born in what became Monroe Countyin 1821 ] about 1814 ± 5 years [he may have been born as early as1810]. On 22 May, 1831, Emory married Deborah Elizabeth Gordon. Hiswife was usually called Elizabeth. They were married in theMethodist-Episcopal Church in West Mendon, Monroe, New York byReverend Francis Smith. Elizabeth was born somewhere in New Yorkabout 1815, and was sixteen at the time of her marriage. The Bowen’sfirst child, James Harrison Bowen, was born somewhere in New Yorkaround 1832 or a little after. Their second son, Andrew Bowen, diedin infancy and may have been born around 1835. Their firstdaughter, Nettie Emily Bowen was born around 1840. These threechildren were probably all born in Monroe County, NY. In the 1840 UScensus there was an Emery [sic] Bowen living in Rush, Monroe, NewYork. His household consisted of 1 white male 5 to 9 years old[James ?], 1 white male 30 to 39 years old, a white male who waslisted as a Revolutionary War Pensioner, Eliphalet Gordon, 82 yearsold, two white females 20 to 29 years old. If this was my great-great grandfather’s family, then Eliphalet Gordon was probablyElizabeth Gordon’s father, or more likely her grandfather consideringhis age. The second woman may have been a sister of either Emory orElizabeth. Nettie Emily is not accounted for. Perhaps she wasn’tborn until sometime after the census in 1840. Emery’s age in the1840 census suggests he was born in 1810 or earlier which is aconflict with Emory Bowen’s birth year [ca 1814] when calculated fromhis stated age at the time of his enlistment in June, 1863. [perhapshe lied about his age when he enlisted ... 45 was the maximumenlistmentage]. [The M Company Roster shows Emory Bowen as 44 yearsold, which would have made him born in 1819. He would have been onlytwelve years old when he married Elizabeth !!! No member of hiscompany is shown as being older than 44, so it is probable that 45 wasthe cut off age, and Emory lied about his age to enlist]. Whileliving in Grove Township, Allegany County, New York, their fourthchild, Della Louisa Bowen, was born on 2 July, 1841. Their fifthchild, Lewis Addison Bowen, was also born in New York, probably earlyin 1844. The Bowen's lived in Allegheny County, New York until about1844 when they moved to Michigan, settling down in Ray Township,McComb County. While in Ray Township the Bowen’s added to theirfamily. William Wallace Bowen was probably born there around 1846 and Clara Elizabeth Bowen was born ca 1848. Around 1850 the family movedto Adrian, Lenawee County, Michigan, then to a farm in the same county[in Woodstock Township ?]. Their son Joseph Winfield "Scott" Bowenwas born in Blissfield, Lenawee County (?), Michigan, on 11 August,1851 [info from Clare Bowen~Molina]. The daughters Emma May Bowen andAlice Luella Bowen were also born in Lenawee County. The Bowen’smoved to St. Johns, Clinton, Michigan, ca1860. On 6 June, 1863, Emoryenlisted in the 7th Michigan Cavalry at Bingham, Clinton, Michigan,for a three year term. He received a $25 bounty plus a $2 premium. He was mustered into the Army at Grand Rapids, Michigan, on 12Jun, 1863, as a private assigned to Company "M" under the command ofCaptain Robert Sproul . Emory was sent to a base near Washington,D.C., for his training. He was still at Washington onthe 2nd of Julyand therefore did not participate in the Battle of Gettysburg whichwas on the 2nd ~ 4th of July, 1863. The 7th Michigan was in thebattles of Hagerstown, PA, on 6 July, Boonsboro, MD, on 8 July,Snickers Gap, VA, on 19 July, and Parmerville, VA, on 25 July, 1863.The unit apparently returned to Washington after the last battle andremained there until late August or early September, 1863. In July orAugust, 1863 [most likely 22 or 23 July], Emory’s company was crossinga bridge from Washington, D.C. to Alexandria, Virginia, when thehorses were spooked by a train. Emory's horse reared and threw it'shead back striking Emory in the face and knocking him unconscious.The horse then trampled Emory in the groin. When he regainedconsciousness he was blind in the right eye, and his vision wasblurred in the left eye which continued to deteriorate throughout theremainder of his life. The trampling resulted in double scrotalhernias. His military records show that during July & August, 1863,Emory Bowen was "absent … left sick at Camp Wyndham". In November &December he was at "… Camp Stoneman since July 22nd ~ Detachedservice". While he was in the hospital at Camp Stoneman, Elizabethand their younger children traveled to Washington and rented a"..small house.." in Giesboro Point, near Washington so they couldtake care of him and also their son Louis who was also in the Army andwas sick. Emory continued on "Detached Service" at Camp Stonemanuntil he was discharged from the Army for disability on 15 June, 1864. Incredibly, the Army Doctor, John Higgins, who signed the dischargeauthorization wrote as reason for disability: "Hernia, Defective Eyes,and Old Age - all of which existed prior to his enlistment" ![Perhaps Emory had admitted his true age to the doctor ?]. Hisdischarge papers described Emory as 5’ 11" tall, light complexion withblue eyes and sandy hair. [Emory didn’t receive his final dischargepapers until 9 June, 1865. This may have been his discharge from the"Veteran Reserves"]. After his discharge from the Army, Emory and hisfamily apparently stayed at Giesboro Point until sometime after theend of the war in 1865. He seems to have been employed by the Armyas a civilian guard watching over the horses while the war continued,although he was sometimes unable to show up for work due to illness.Army records suggest he may have been attached to the Veteran Reserveportion of the 7th Michigan Cavalry after his discharge, or possiblyafter the end of the war in 1865. The Bowen’s youngest daughter,Alice Luella, contracted an illness and died while the family was atGiesboro Point. After the war, the Bowen’s returned to St. Johns,Clinton, Michigan, where they remained for about a year. They thenmoved to Port Huron, St. Clair, Michigan, where they lived for aboutfour years. From Port Huron they moved to Port Austin, Huron, Michiganwhere they remained until Emory's death. Emory applied for an InvalidPension on 12 June, 1865, but his pension was denied. Emory againapplied for a pension on 5 December, 1867. That application was alsorejected. Once again, on 6 April, 1869, Emory applied for anInvalid Pension and it was again rejected on 3 June, 1871. Reuben B.& Della L. Franklin signed as witnesses on the notarized affidavit hesubmitted with the last request. On 12 June, 1876, Emory filedPension claim # 74, 527 and it was again rejected It appears thatEmory reapplied for a pension, or a review of his case, in October,1877. Elizabeth made a notarized sworn statement on 6 October, 1877,that Emory’s eyesight and health were good prior to his enlistment,and that he had no hernias. Elizabeth also referred to losingletters from Emory when they "…were shipwrecked several years ago".Apparently, the pension was again denied. Because of health problemsassociated with his injuries he was unable to work at anything except"light chores" after his discharge from the Army. Around the middleof February, 1880, Emory slipped and fell injuring his hip. He thencontracted pneumonia. Emory Bowen died in Port Austin, Huron,Michigan, on 3 March, 1880. Cause of death was shown as "Hernia anddefective vision contracted while in ... service, augmented by chronicdiarrhea and inflammation of the lungs". After Emory’s death,Elizabeth appears to have hired a lawyer to try to get Emory’s pensionclaim approved so that she could qualify for a widow’s pension. Sheapplied for a Widow’s Pension on 27 December, 1884. Her claim wasreviewed by the Pension Bureau and rejected on 5 June, 1886. It ispossible that she re-applied between December, 1884 and June, 1886.A review of her application was requested and it was again rejected on7 April, 1887. She seems to have applied for some sort of benefitsfor service related death of her husband as well as his disabilitypension. A special investigation was conducted by Special Examiner,D.M. Greene between 17 December, 1887 and July, 1888. Mr. Greeneimmediately (on 20 December, 1887) recommended rejection of the claimfor service related death "… since cause of death was not servicerelated …". He also expressed reservations about the disabilityclaim and recommended further investigation. The claim was againrejected. Elizabeth hired a different lawyer who apparently put outthe effort to track down Captain Robert Sproul, Emory’s CompanyCommander, and get a deposition from him concerning the accident onthe bridge and Emory’s physical condition before and after theaccident. He also got a statement from the doctor who gave Emory hisenlistment physical who stated that he had been "in surprisingly goodhealth for a man of his age" at the time of his enlistment. Itappears that on 20 May, 1889, the Bureau of Pensions finallyacknowledged that Emory should have been getting a pension fordisability caused by "injury of head and eyes and scrotal hernia ofthe left side" , but they then investigated Elizabeth’s situation tobe sure that she actually qualified for a widow’s pension.