Hello, I think I have found an elusive BOWEN connection..... A year or so ago, a cousin mailed me a packet of "This and That" notes she had collected on BOWEN and some allied lines in the Culpeper environs. Most entries were notes and anecdotes that older, now deceased, relations had passed on to her. I know that the Bowen surname is Welsh (and a couple of notes refer to James' "Welsh temper") but I had been advised that they came from other states previous to settling in VA....possibly Pennsylvania, as there were other Bowens in Augusta and Boutetort Co that came from PA and it was thought that the Culpeper Bowens were related to them (and I still have no definite proof of the connections to other VA Bowen lines: King George/Old Rappahannock, Augusta, Boutetort....) So, one of the "This and That' notes I have kept in mind as I search for when my Bowen line came to Culpeper. It relates that a "Major Bowen" came to Culpeper County during the Civil War and that he was the son of the brother of James Bowen (James Bowen, b. 1790, in Culpeper?, d. 1870; mrd. Ann T. Foushee. I presently only list one brother for James: Joseph Bowen who mrd. Sally Nalle......I don't know if Joseph and Sally had any children - does anyone on this list know? ) and that he gave "aunt Tie Bowen" (Vashti Catherine Bowen, a granddaughter to James Bowen) "...a golden ring." The note doesn't say WHERE Major Bowen came from..... Recently, a Jett researcher, Bob Kammen, posted a great URL for Cornell University's "Making of America" special collection and I have enjoyed it immensely (It's at http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/moa/index.html - have fun!) While searching for Bowen & Culpeper, I get a hit from the book "The war of the rebellion: a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies. / Series 1 - Volume 29 (Part I)" published in 1890. Pages 756/7 has a journal report from "Major Edward R. Bowen, One hundred and fourteenth Pennsylvania Infantry." He lists his HDQRS as "...Brandy Station, A. and A. R. R., Va., Dec. 6, 1863...marching up Mine Run, some distance beyond Robertson's Tavern....on the 29th ultimo....I rejoined the brigade in the woods at my right...marching at dark to the plank road and on that to Culpeper's crossing on the Rapidan, which place we reached at daylight...we moved a short distance...when we marched to Brandy Station and went into our former camp, a detail of 75 men and 3 officers....am happy to be able to report no casualties in my regiment...E. R. Bowen, Major, Commanding 114th Pennsylvania Volunteers." There are also other references to the Bowen home being used by some officers and troops.....There is a Bowen home in Brandy, right behind what is known as Bailey's Store, just 1/8 of a mile from the RR tracks and Station! My father was born there in 1919. Does the fact that this Major Edward R. Bowen commanded a Pennsylvania unit (the 114th) indicate he was from Pennsylvania? I know many of the enlisted folks of the Civil War in my Virginia lines all seemed to belong to Virginia units/companies....but would it work similarly for officers fo that era? Here are 2 census citations for an Edward Bowen in 1850 in PA: Bowen, Edward PA Armstrong Freeport Township 1850 749 119 (Labourer, age 46, val of RE = $500, b, PA) Bowen, Edward PA Chester Tredyffrin Township 1850 764 363 (Laborer, age 39, val of RE = $200, b. PA) So, if anyone has any ideas or suggestions, I would love to hear them! Thanks for any help or information anyone may be able to share..... Kathleen in Ridge Manor, Florida - Genealogy: It's Relative!! katbowen@earthlink.net or kbowen@hotmail.com http://www.familytreemaker.com/users/b/o/w/Kathleen-E-Bowen http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=katbowen