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| Our Namesake, John Bowman |
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Of Pirates, Treasures, Mountains and Men
Visitors to Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve often ask about
the origin of the Preserve's name. The "Wildflower Preserve"
part of
our name is easy-that's what we do! But dig into where the
"Bowman's Hill" came from, well, that's quite another
story-or two.
The short story is that the Preserve is named for Bowman's
Hill, which rises 380 feet above sea level to the north of
the Preserve. As you drive into the Preserve and follow the
entrance road to the left, pull over, look up, and Bowman's
Hill will pop into view. What will probably catch your eye
first is Bowman's Hill Tower, a 100-ft-tall stone tower built
in 1930 in commemoration of what is considered the lookout
of the American Revolution. Before George Washington's historic
crossing of the Delaware River on Christmas night 1776, his
sentries watched from the top of Bowman's Hill to check for
enemy troops crossing from New Jersey. (Today, you can go
up to the top of the Tower via elevator for a fee and enjoy
an amazing view of the surrounding land up and down the Delaware
River, including Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve. The Tower
is managed by Washington Crossing Historic Park.)
A Pirate's Treasure
Now, on to the origin of the name, Bowman's Hill. While there
seems to be no single historical document that pinpoints the
origin with absolute certainty, several explanations have
emerged over the years.
The most colorful story says that Bowman's Hill is named
after Dr. John Bowman, a surgeon in an English fleet that
went out in 1696 to capture the pirate Captain William Kidd.
Perhaps lured by the prospect of treasures, Dr. Bowman became
a pirate himself, and traveled with Kidd as his surgeon. When
Captain Kidd was captured, Dr. Bowman and the others from
the fleet sailed to the Delaware River, where Dr. Bowman parted
company with them and came up the river on his own, settling
in the area that is now Solebury/Upper Makefield Township
around 1700.
Eventually, the tale continues, Bowman built a cabin at the
foot of the hill now named after him. In his final years,
Bowman lived in a house he built on the edge of Newtown, a
community about 6 miles (on today's roads) from Bowman's Hill.
According to a Miss Sallie N. Boyd, quoted in the History
of Bucks County, before Bowman died he asked to be buried
at the top of the hill that bears his name, "…as
that would be as near heaven as he ever expected to get."
Folklore associated with Bowman's Hill abounds. As told by
Charles Burr Todd in a brochure describing the historic areas
along the Delaware, "…it is popularly believed that
his [Bowman's] unquiet ghost haunts the hill top, and that
the shrieks, groans and gibberings which in certain conditions
of the atmosphere reach the valley are his." Others told
that if you put your ear to the ground next to Bowman's grave
and ask "Bowman, what killed you?", you'll hear
the reply, "Nothing."
Several stones believed to mark Bowman's grave are said to
have once stood near the top of the hill, not far from a black
oak tree, now also gone. Even the ground around the oak took
on a mythic aura. In describing the mighty tree, Todd says,
"There must be pyrotechnics up here in a thunder storm
for the trees all about are blasted, torn, riven and barked
by lightning bolts-as if heaven were trying to purify the
earth to which the ashes of the wicked pirate had returned."
A "massive oaken chest" was found among Dr. Bowman's
possessions, but none of Captain Kidd's gold was found in
it. Treasure hunters presumed Bowman buried the loot from
his escapades with Kidd on top of the hill, and many have
tried unsuccessfully to recover the treasure. According to
Burr, these fortune seekers employed a variety of ingenious
methods to find its location, from use of a witch hazel divining
rod, to seeking advice from an astrologer, a spiritualistic
medium, a fortune teller and a clairvoyant.
After reading this story, if any of you are feeling an urge
to go after the treasure, restrain yourself. You can visit,
but not dig up, Bowman's Hill, which is protected land. Perhaps
you'll take comfort in the fact that many before you tried
without luck to dig up a treasure that may have been only
an imaginary one after all.
As you might expect, details of the story have been questioned.
For example, apparently there is no note of a Dr. Bowman as
the ship surgeon in the records from Kidd's trial in London
in 1701, according to a brochure about Bowman's Tower from
Washington Crossing Historic Park. Based on this, it is theorized
that Dr. Bowman probably left Kidd's company before Kidd became
a pirate.
A Merchant
A less romantic story about the naming of Bowman's Hill is
as follows. As a major waterway in the region, the Delaware
River was an important route for transport of goods. One itinerant
English merchant who engaged in ferrying goods and trading
up and down the Delaware River in the 1600's was Thomas Bowman.
His name is first found in Bucks County records in 1684. According
to Dr. J.E. Scott's "Historic Account of Bowman's Hill"
in 1913, "The stories of Bowman's love for and wanderings
on the lonely hill and his subsequent burial on its summit,
fit in so nicely with such documentary evidence as we have
of Thomas Bowman that there can be no question as to the latter's
identity with the [traditional] Bowman of Bowman's Hill."
A Man and a Mountain
The last tale suggests that the name of the hill originally
was Beaumont, perhaps somehow connected to Belle Mont, another
similar hill on the New Jersey side of the Delaware. In this
account, the name "Bowman" is a corruption of "Beaumont."
There was in fact, a John Beaumont who owned considerable
acreage extending southward from the Solebury Township line
at Bowman's Hill, but this explanation is generally thought
to be the least credible.
All Roads Lead to the Wildflower Preserve
No matter which story you choose to believe, a Dr. John Bowman
did indeed live in the area according to historical accounts.
Based on traditional information handed down in the locally
prominent Pidcock family, "John Pidcock together with
a more or less mysterious personage, generally known as Dr.
John Bowman, settled here. A house, gristmill and sawmill
were built, and a copper mine was opened. The creek took its
name from the owner of the land and is still known as Pidcock's
creek."
The gristmill still stands today, once powered by the waters
of Pidcock Creek, which flows along the foot of Bowman's Hill
through what is now Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve. Come
visit and see for yourself!
A special thank you to librarian Katherine Ludwig at The
David Library of the American Revolution (www.dlar.org)
and to Washington Crossing Historic Park (www.phmc.state.pa.us),
both located in Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania.
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