Col John Bowman
(1738-1784)

Died aged c. 46

Col. Johannes "John" Bowman (17 December 1738 – May 4, 1784) was an 18th-century American pioneer, colonial militia officer and sheriff, the first appointed in Lincoln County, Kentucky. In 1781 he also presided as a justice of the peace over the first county court held in Kentucky. The first county-lieutenant and military governor of Kentucky County during the American Revolutionary War, Col. Bowman also, served in the American Revolution, many times, second in command to General George Rogers Clark, during the Illinois Campaign, which, at the time, doubled the size of the United States. He and brothers Joseph, Isaac and Abraham Bowman were excellent horsemen and later known as the "Four Centaurs of Cedar Creek", all of whom were among the earliest pioneers to settle in Kentucky and prominent officers in the Continental Army. He was the brother-in-law of frontiersmen Isaac Ruddell, Lorentz Stephens, Peter Deyerle, George Wright, Henry Richardson and George Brinker. His grandnephew, Abraham's grandson John Bryan Bowman, founded Kentucky University and the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky. He is the younger brother of Jacob Bowman.

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Commemorated on 1 plaque

Bill Eichelberger on Flickr All Rights Reserved

The Point. Confluence of Ohio and Licking Rivers. Christopher Gist, Agent of the Ohio Company, was first white man known to have set foot on Point, 1751. The Lieutenant of Kentucky Co., Va., Col. John Bowman, led expedition from here against Shawnee Indians in Ohio, 1777. Gov. Isaac Shelby rendezvoused 4,000 Ky. troops here before his victory at the Thames, 1813. Over. [full inscription unknown]

Riverside Street, Covington, KY, United States where they set forth (1777)