{Posted by: Larry Lincoln
Date: May 08, 2000 at 15:31:04
In Reply to: Re: Jerathmeel b 1649, son of George? by Ginny Barker
of 1835
Ginny!
Sorry to take so long to follow up on my message of Feb. 24,2000. Assume you read my message of July 17,1999. Here is what I have. George Bowers, who came over to Scituate,Mass. around 1636, had several children by his first wife, Barbara, who died in 1644. In 1649, he married Elizabeth
Worthington, by whom he had a son, Jerathmeel, born in Cambridge, Mass. on May 2, 1650. This name appears again in a later generation, but through one of George's sons by his first wife. The line goes like this:
George-1 __ died 1656 in Cambridge
Benanuel-2 married Elizabeth Dunster in 1653, resided in Charlestown, Mass.
Jonathan-3 born 1673 died 1750
Jerathmael-4 married Mary Sherburne.

Concerning Mary Sherburne: She was wealthy in her own right, had lived on Somerset Square in Boston. When Somerset separated from Swansea, Jerathmael wanted to name the town Sherburne in her honor, but there was already a town by that name (present Nantucket), so the name Somerset was chosen, in recognition of where she had lived in Boston, prior to her marriage. A portrait of her by Copley in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, painted in 1673-74, was acquired by the museum in 1915 from Mrs. Mary Isabel Jencks, widow of Mrs. Jerathmael Bowers' great, great grandson. I have a copy of Jonathan Bowers' will, as well as a copy of the will of Jerathmael Bowers, in which Jerathmael mentions his daughter Mary Jenks, wife
of Joseph Jenks.
Hope this makes up for my tardiness!
Larry Lincoln.
==========
Posted by: Larry Lincoln
Date: August 19, 2000 at 11:37:16
In Reply to: Re: Jerathmeel b 1649, son of George? by Bob Yorks of 1835

Bob!
I don't have any record of Benanuel having a son Jerathmeel. George and Elizabeth (Worthington) Bowers had a son by the name of Jerathmael, born May 2,1650.
Benanuel was a son of George and his first wife, Barbara (Smyth) Bowers, and he (Benanuel) and his wife, Elizabeth (Dunster) had nine children, among them a Jonathan. Jonathan, who was married to Ann (Sylvester) Bowers, also had nine children, among them a Jerathmael. In Somerset, MA,
there is a Bowers family cemetery with a stone wall surrounding it, in which there is a bronze plaque listing Jonathan Bowers born 1673 died 1750; children: Benanuel; Henry; George; David; Benjamin; Jerathmael; Jonathan; Mary; Elizabeth. I saw this myself in 1994.

Also, James E. Bradbury, Curator of the Somerset Historical Society, gave me a copy of the will of Jonathan Bowers, presented to Probate on June 6, 1750, in which his son, Benjamin Bowers, is named sole Executor of the will. In it, Jonathan makes bequests to his seven sons and two daughters
(Elizabeth Dean and Mary Swasey), as well as to his grandson, Silvester Bowers, and to his granddaughter, Elizabeth Bowers. Benjamin Bowers succeeded his father in his shipbuilding business, while his brothers, Jonathan and Henry, used the ships to expand "commerce and
build (their) father's business to new dimensions and prosperity."* Jerathmael apparently was not on good terms with his father or brothers, and established his own business, becoming very wealthy on his own. He married Mary Sherburne of Boston, whose portrait by John Singleton Copley was acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 1915 from Mrs. Mary Isabel Jencks, widow of Mrs. Bowers' great, great, grandson.

I have much more information about Jerathmael, most not very complimentary, contained in a publication of the Somerset Historical Commission, and in a history of the town of Somerset.
* "Somerset, Massachusetts - Portrait of the American Experience in a New England Town" a Somerset Historical Commission Publication by Mary Ann McDonald; and "History of the Town of Somerset, Massachusetts" by William A. Hart, published by Town of Somerset.
Hope this helps you!

Larry
========
Posted by: Larry Lincoln
Date: July 17, 1999 at 15:56:16
In Reply to: Jerathmeel b 1649, son of George? by Natasha of 1835

I have been doing some research on the Bowers family, descended from George Bowers, who settled in Scituate, Mass. in 1636. He later sold his land at Scituate and located in Cambridge, Mass. His first wife Barbara died there March 25, 1644, and he married Elizabeth Worthington on April 15, 1649.
Jerathmeel was born in Cambridge May 2, 1650 and died April 2, 1724. This information was given to me on July 1, 1994 by James E. Bradbury, Curator of the Somerset Historical Society in Somerset, Mass., and the source is listed as "Genealogical and Personal Memoirs" (relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts) editor William Richard Cutter, A.M., published by Lewis Historical Publishing Company, New York, 1910, 4 volumes.
Volume 2, page 1040. A line of this family became very prominent in shipbuilding in Somerset, Mass., starting in 1695, and also engaged in overseas trade. A later branch of the family went south and settled in Georgia.
======
Posted by: M. Natale
Date: March 30, 2001 at 08:00:20
In Reply to: Re: Johnathan Bowers, town clerk,Somerset,MA by Becky Heginbotham of 1835



Jerathmeel Bowers (May 2,1650 -April 23, 1724 in Groton, MA) was the son of George Bowers and his second wife Elizabeth Worthington. He married Elizabeth Wilder (b. 1648 in Charlestown, MA and died on March 4, 1720 in Chelmsford, MA
Children:
Hannah b. abt 1671
Elizabeth b. abt 1672
Jonathan (1674-1745)
Mary b. abt 1680
Samuel b.abt 1682
John (abt1684-1718)
Jarathmeel b. 1684

!"Dutch Uncles and New England Cousins" by Wilson Ober Clough 1977
!BIRTH-DEATH: from Richard Smith (MBBP25A)

!"Dutch Uncles and New England Cousins" by Wilson Ober Clough 1977
!BIRTH-DEATH: from Richard Smith (MBBP25A)