Bowman, Thomas (Methodist Episcopal Minister)
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BISHOP THOMAS BOWMAN
I S'l~- J 'Oqb
Ann Arbor, Michigan,September 10,1879. Detroit,Micbigan,September 20,1893 .
BishoE Thomas Bowman was born at Berwick, Pennsylvania,July,l5,1817
and died at Orange , New Jersey, March 5, 1914, in his 97th year.
In 1837, he graduated from Di ckinson College and entered the
Conference a year l ater.
from 1840 to 1843.
H~
Balt~ore
taught in the Grammar School of Dickinson
He was the founder of Dickinson Seminary at
Williamsport, Pennsylvania, of which he was President from 1848 to
1858, when he became President of Indiana Asbury University (now
DePauw) for fourteen years.
Senate 1864,1865.
He was chaplain of the United States
He was elected General Superintende nt in 1872, at
Brooklyn, New York, and remained in that effecti ve relationship for
·twenty-four years .
An optimi s t in spirit he wa s a genuine lover of Christian
fellowship.
He truly "walked with God" in his personal experience .
Three ideals have been described as the background of his Christian
character, Purity, Simplicity and Love l
The Methodist Year Book
I
MEMORIAL
BISHOP THOMAS BOWMAN, D.D., LL.D.
BY FRED CLARE B ALDWI N, D.D.
This man of God was born nca r Berwick, Pa., July 15, 1817, and died
in Orange, N. J.. a t the home of his daughter, Mrs. Burns D. Caldwell,
Tuesday morning, March 3, 1~14. We ma ke special note of the fact that
BISHOP THOMAS BOWMAN
he was translated during t he morning hours, for t hat was a fi t ti ng circumsta nce. His a ssurance of heaven was as ra dia nt as t he sun .
·
The merest resume:! of T homas Bowma n's more than successful career
5
6
THE 1lETH ODIST YEAR BOOK
is all that can here be attempted. After his graduation from Dickinson
College, in 1837, he remained a year in Carlisle studying law. This is
significant: the judicial temperament throuRh which he served the church
so long and so faithfully was reinforced by that year of study. H e entered
the Methodist ministry in 1839; and therefore at the time of his release he
had been seventy-five years an ambassador of Christ. In 1848 he became
president of Dickinson Seminary a t Williamsport, Pa., which instit ution
he practically found ed. Thomas Bowman was that type of man whose
strength is revealed by the very test which reveals weakness in othersthe extended tenure of office or trust. H e remained at \Villiamsport ten
years. In 1858 he was made president of Indiana Asbury (now DePauw)
University. Here he remained and rendered efficient service during a
period of fourteen years. It was while president of De Pauw that he
served ( I86.J.- I86s) as chaplain of the U,nited States Senate. In the
beautiful friendship that existed between himself and Abraham Lincoln
the honors were equally divided. In 1872, without personal effort or
desire, he became bishop in the church of his early choice and lifelong
devotion. That he brought no reproach upon that great office would be
small praise. That he brought great honor and dignity to the office is the
literal fact. That he enriched its t raditions with the memory of a life
which for sweetness, beauty, and power has had few equals and no superiors among men is our last and most grateful cause for rejoicing. Cult ured, courteous, conscientious, comprehensive (it is not often that the
method ·of alliteration serves so natural and true a f.IUrpose)-there was
our Thomas Bowman in administration!
The last fifteen years of his life, a lmost, were spent in. the. fellowship
of Calvary Church, East Orange. Here was that rare aftermath whose
exquisite glory will continue to mold the lives of others until the representatives of three generations have passed from earth away. For he kept
to the King's business unto the end.
BISHOP JOHN MORGAN WALDEN, D.D., LL.D.
BY DAVIS WASGATI CLA RK, D.D.
A religion that can p roduce such a character need not resort to a rgument to show what it stands for.-RADDl Loms GROSSMAN, Cincinnati.
J ohn Morgan Walden was a direct descendant from a titled family of
England, although he himself was never known to mention the fact . So
far from detracting from the fame and honor of his line, he added substantially to it in spite of the hardships a nd privations of his youth. Like
the late Bishop Mcintyre, he was apprenticed to a t rade. In the library
of the Ohio Wesleyan University there is preserved a well-wrought panel
door which he made by hand before the days of machine mill work. He
was also practically familiar with the printer's craft, with which knowledge he was destined to serve the church in its publishing interests so long
a nd well. By his indomitable will he wrested a creditable education from
his penury. With the ardent enthusiasm of a true re~ormer he threw
hin1self into the struggle to keep the soil of Kansas free from the stain of
slavery. At this period, if he had chosen the sphere of statesmanship he
would have unquestionably attained high position, possibly the very
highest. Just then came his conversion and a heavenly vision, to which,
like the apostle, he W!IS not disobedient . It was then that he tumed to
the ill-paid hardships of a n itinerant ministry. He was destined to serve
in every form of that many-sided vocation: circuit rider, city missionary,