The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1877-06-04

seat in the council. He was commissioner
of sequestration judge of the Rutland
county court from its organization in 1871
until 1888 judge of probate for the Rut-
land probate district from its organization
until his death, and, also, remained men,
Der eff the council Until his death.
From that day to this, no man in Yer
mont has been moro highly esteemed /;
upon none have more honors been heaped
in the same space Of time; and none have
been more worthy of respect and conf
dence, or have more worthily filled the sew
eral stations to which he has been called !;
yet no man knows the place or date of his
birth, the year of his coming to Vermont !;
or even the exact spot where his ashes re-
pose. The public records, briefly summar-
lied above, give nearly all that is certainly
known of Joseph Bowker, and even tradi-
ton sheds but ray of light on this brief
outline.
An old resident of Rutland, who came to
Rutland within three or four years after
Bowker's death, was under the impression
that he was a native of Sudbury, Massa-
chusetts; while lady, who knew him,
stated, some years ago, that he was early
left an Orphan was brought up in the fam
lily of prosperous farmer named Taintor /;
was privately betrothed to his daughter
Sarah was, during the French war, draft
ed into the army, and was connected with
the garrison at Ticonderoga for year or
two and that, on his return, with the con-
sent of Mr.. Tsintor, bis secret betrothal
was contaminated by an open marriage
with Sarah Taintor, and that they, soon
after, came to Rutland.
How much of fancy, or how much of
truth, there is in this narrative, will never
be known; 1t is certain, however, that he
was in Rutland, with "5arah," bis wife, as
early as October, 1773, as we find that on
the twentieth day of October, of that year,
Joseph Bowker, Sarah Bowker and twelve
others "were incorporated into a church at
Rutland, on the Otter creek :" and on
the second Tuesday of the same month, at
a meeting Of the proprietors of the town of
Rutland, it was "Voted that Capt. Bowker
8" bee Comilee Man with the old Comitee
d" to find the Senior of the Town" Subse-
quently, and almost continuously until his
death, he was town treasurer and Justice of
the peace, and occasionally one of the
selectmen.
In l774, he made his fist purchase of
real estate, buying farm on the east side
of Main street, one hundred rods front, ex-
tending from near the present Green street
to Handpole, or Moons, brook, and run
ming nearly half mile east. The house,
built of plank, was located about fifty rods
| north of the brook and fronted to the south,
instead of on the street. In 1880, in connec-
ton with James Claghorn, Henry Strong
and John Smith, he built saw mill on the
brook on his farm, some eighty rods from
the street and it would seem that he, also,
had brick yard-the farm still abounds in
good brick clay-as in the probate office is
or was, the inventory of his estate =,
| Ing, among InN s.-~s~, .-V.c LOT three
pounds given by John Forbes for three
thousand brick.
He died at Rutland July II, 1884, and
the following notice appeared in the Yer.
| me-. udzette, July 10:
We hear from Rutland, that the Hon.
Joseph Bowker, esq.,. of that town, died on
the 18th instant. He was member of the
Honorable Council of the State, acted in
several other public and important capaci.
ties, and did honor to them, having fire.
| quently since the first settlement of this
| country, had the honor to preside over com.
mittees and conventions of this people be-
fore the formation of regular govern.
ment. And even at the very important
crisis of framing the Constitution, on
which day the unhappy event of evacua-
| ting Iiconderoga took place, and the enc
my committing the most horrid ravages on
our innocent inhabitants, he was observed
to act with the greatest coolness and DELHI
Grafton until the frame of government was
| completed.
We need only say, in justice to his char
acter, that he was truly pious, faithful,
diligent, upright man, and discharged eyery
trust both public and private with honor
and integrity. The community at large, as
well as his family and friends, have reason
to lament the loss of 80 eminent a charac-
ter
1t is stated, on the authority OF tradition,
that his funeral was attended by the Rev.
Jacob Wood, an itinerant revlyalist, and
that the funeral procession, as 1t neared
the old Center Rutland burial ground, was
suddenly stopped by Wood who leaped to
stump by the roadside, and addressed
those present as follows "Hark at the
"day of judgment it will be an honor to
be a christian" And this is about the
only honor Joseph Bowker will receive,
for he has been suffered to lie in an IN.
marked and unknown grave for nearly a
century, and even his memory has we'll
nigh persisted from among the people.
Upon this centennial morn, we recall his
name, and ask If his name and fame and
acts are not as worthy of commemoraiion
as are those of the men who fought at Ben
nington
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Washington Notes.