My great grandmother, Emma May Bowen passed away 4 July 1933 in East Tawas, Michigan. She married George Henry Brown on 20 March 1876 in Port Austin, Michigan. On her death certificate it said that she was born in Washington, DC on 22 May 1859, with her father's name as William and her mother's name unknown. In the 1880 Census, however, it was stated that she was born in Michigan (both parents born in New York) but in 1900 and 1930 it says she was born in Michigan with father born in Vermont and mother in Pennsylvania. I have done extensive searches of William Bowen and variant spellings with a daughter named Emma in that time frame, and cannot locate them in Michigan. I do find a Wm and Sarah Bowen in Washington DC in the 1860 Census, but no daughter listed. It says "Unknown" in the place of birth column, and they are listed in someone else's dwelling/house number, so I suspect that the information was given to the Census taker by the people that owned the house and not by William or Sarah directly. I cannot locate either William, Sarah, or an Emma in Washington DC at any other time, nor do I know for certain that William and Sarah are Emma May's parents. If anyone can shed light on Emma May Bowen I would greatly appreciate it. Bill Carney

Good luck with this Bill. I too have conflicting info on the various census records about my mysterious BOWENs, from the birth location of John (NY vs. Nova Scotia -- a big difference!) and year of entry, which of course is in a column that is smudged. Combine that with the fact that my GG GM gave her birth year as a different year in nearly every record -- first to probably hide the fact that she was 13 and pregnant. (Oh god; Henry was 39), and later to collect a widow's pension from the C. War. You might want to post this separately -- BOWEN in Michigan; Bowen in DC, etc., to see if you get a better response on the Message Boards, rather than on the list? Just a thought. (I've had my postings up for years, but no luck on this line, but have done better with others, so it is worth a try.) I have sometimes been contacted years later by a very surprised and distant relative. It's been fun. (I'd try both the Rootsweb and genealogy.com boards. I'm pretty much resigned to not knowing more about my own Bowens, and suspect they may have been Bone or Bohan and illiterate, as I've gone through the Pictou, Nova Scotia census records -- page by page -- twice looking for this family. Probably why I have bifocals! Another thought -- have you tried to get her birth certificate from DC? Another thought is to find a Reverse Directory for DC and see what other people named Bowen may have been at that address and also in the area. That helped me find a line of Bowens in Boston -- living down the street from Henry, but not related to mine, although I "met" several wonderful people on the list as we tried to work through our possible Nova Scotia-Boston connections. Also, is there more information via the cemetery records and/or her obit??? I've sometimes had better luck in tracking some of the siblings and descendants, ultimately leading to the "path" of my own ancestor. Also, who was the informant on the DC? Best wishes, Marilyn Arnold ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bill Carney" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, October 06, 2009 1:38 PM Subject: [BOWEN] Bowen, Emma May b. 1859 > My great grandmother, Emma May Bowen passed away 4 July 1933 in East > Tawas, Michigan. She married George Henry Brown on 20 March 1876 in Port > Austin, Michigan. > > On her death certificate it said that she was born in Washington, DC on 22 > May 1859, with her father's name as William and her mother's name unknown. > In the 1880 Census, however, it was stated that she was born in Michigan > (both parents born in New York) but in 1900 and 1930 it says she was born > in Michigan with father born in Vermont and mother in Pennsylvania. > > I have done extensive searches of William Bowen and variant spellings with > a daughter named Emma in that time frame, and cannot locate them in > Michigan. > > I do find a Wm and Sarah Bowen in Washington DC in the 1860 Census, but no > daughter listed. It says "Unknown" in the place of birth column, and they > are listed in someone else's dwelling/house number, so I suspect that the > information was given to the Census taker by the people that owned the > house and not by William or Sarah directly. > > I cannot locate either William, Sarah, or an Emma in Washington DC at any > other time, nor do I know for certain that William and Sarah are Emma > May's parents. > > If anyone can shed light on Emma May Bowen I would greatly appreciate it. > > Bill Carney > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes > in the subject and the body of the message -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.420 / Virus Database: 270.14.4/2417 - Release Date: 10/06/09 06:50:00