THE LOWMANS IN CHEMUNG COUNTY COMPILED BY SEYMOUR LOWMAN ELMIRA, NEW YORK 1938 COPYRIGHT 1939 BY SEYMOUR LOWMAN, EL:MffiA, N. Y. Ii:ngravings by Ithaca Engraving Co., Ithaca, N. Y. Printed by The Commercial Press, }~lmira, N. Y. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Introduction 13 CHAPTER I Jacob Lowman, Senior . 23 Jacob Lowman Sr. Family Tree . 124 CHAPTER II Elizabeth Lauman Landis . 136 CHAPTER III Martin Lowman . 143 Martin Lowman Family Tree . 232 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Following Page Grave Stones of George and Esther Lauman 14 George Lauman's House ( 1936) . 14 Old St. Peter's Lutheran Church 20 The Croll House 20 The Grim Hoµse 20 The Baum House 20 The Bauder Home 22 Jacob Lowman, Sr. House (1853) 30 Jacob Lowman, Sr. House ( 1936) . 30 The Mantel, Jacob Lowman, Senior, House . 36 Chair, Jacob Lowman, Senior, House . 36 Riverside Cemetery, Lowman, N. Y. 38 Typical Log Cabin . 38 Buck's Hotel, Chemung, N. Y. 42 Home of J. B. Clark, Chemung, N. Y. 44 Judge John G. McDowell Residence 46- Hon. John G. McDowell and Laurinda Lowman McDowell. 46 Major Robert Morris McDowell . 50 Residence of George Lowman . 76 George Lowman and Lillis Herrington Lowman 76 Group of Furniture, Property of George and Lillis Lowman 76 Residence of William Lowman, Lowman, N. Y. 76 William and Mary Ann Beers Lowman . 78 Fields where the Battle of Newto\vn took place . 78 John G. Lowman . 92 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Following Page Old Baldwin Family Cemetery . 92 Residence of Dr. Hovey Everitt . 104 Doctor Hovey Everitt and Cynthia Lowman Everitt 106 Site, Battle of Chemung, Aug. 13, 1779 . 106 Marker, Battle of Chemung, Aug. 13, 1779 106 Doctor Hovey Everitt's one-horse gig . 108 The First Monument Erected to Commemorate the Battle of Newtown, 1879 . 118 Road Leading from Route 17 to Sullivan's Monument . 120 Granite Marker, Newtown Battlefield . 122 Newtown Battlefield Monument . 122 Peter Landis House, ( 1936) . 138· Catherine Elizabeth Landis 140 Riverside Cemetery, Lowman, N. Y. 142 Martin and Lydia Jenkins Lowman. 144 Martin Lowman House, Built 1820 · 146 Old Hand-Made Chair, Property of Martin Lowman 148 ''Taufschein" . 150 Dining room chairs that belonged to Martin Lowman. 150 Old Chest of Drawers, used by Martin and Lydia Lowman 150 A Receipt signed by Martin Lowman, 1835 . 150 Furniture owned and used by Martin Lowman . 152 Sullivan's Road . 152 Frederick Cassel Low·man and Catherine Everitt Lowman 156 The Old Wells Homestead, Wellsburg, N. Y. 162 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Following Page George S. Lowman and Isabel Burt Lowman 164 Old Lowman Clock . 164 John Lowman and Fanny Bixby Lowman . 168 The Marriage Certificate . 168 Henry B., George Francis and Seymour Lowman, 1877 176 Seymour Lowman, taking oath of office· . 178 Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Lowman with assistants 178 Rum Runner and Coast Guard Vessel 178 Caught in the Act . 180 Under Coolidge and Mellon . 180 Under Hoover and Mills 180 Present Home of Mr. and Mrs. Seymour Lowman. 184 Former Home, Seymour Lowman . 184 Seymour and Kate Smith Lowman, 1893 . 186 Seymour and Kate Smith Lowman, 1930 . 186 Seymour and Kate Smith Lawman's Grandchildren . 188 Lieut. Abner Marshall Lowman . 188 Abner Marshall Lowman and Camilla Bryan Lowman . 190 Wm. K. Lowman . 208 INTRODUCTION Several rnembers of our fan1ily have undertaken from time to time to n1ake a comprehensive record of interesting facts and traditions concerning the Lowmans of Chemung who were among the first white people to permanently settle in the valley. Unfortunately their ef­ forts never came to full fruition. The seventh generation are now, 1938, making their appearance among us and it is feared by some that unless the work is done soon much important material for such a narrative might be lost or for gotten. I am of the third generation to live in Chemung County; and while Jacob Lauman, Senior, Elizabeth Lauman Landis, his twin sis­ ter, and Martin Lauman, his brother, the pioneers, and the first of the family to come to this locality died before my time, I have personally known most of their descend­ ants. For that reason I have been urged to compile for future generations a brief outline of the family genealogy and record the more important historical events con­ cerning them. The work has been fascinating, and I have had the ready cooperation of those members of the family to whom I have applied for assistance in gathering records and docun1ents as well as dates and pictures. In the latter half of the Eighteenth Century, there lived in Middletown, Pennsylvania, a small town on the banks of the Susquehanna River, just below the City of Harrisburg, Ludwig George Lauman and Esther Maria 14 LOWMAN GENEALOGY (Konig) Lauman, his wife. They were both of full German extraction and devout members of the Lutheran Church. Their people were among that large group of Palati­ nate Germans who from 1730 to 1760 sold their little farms in the homeland and fled to Pennsylvania by the thousands to escape the tyranny of their war lords and also from religious persecution prevalent at that time in South Germany. In other words they were ''Pennsylvania Dutch.'' George Lanman served in the Revolutionary War a-s a member of Captain Jonothan !IcClure's Company of Lancaster County Militia. This fact can be found recorded on page 391, Vol. 13, Pennsylvania State Archives. 2nd Series. The Daughters of the American Revolution have placed their official insignia on his grave showing that he served his country in the struggle for independence. By trade, he was a stone mason and I remember having seen on my grandfather Lowman's farm a funny, old German mason's trowel which was said to have been used by him. The trowel was very much wider near the handle and much shorter in length than the English type of trowel used in America. George Lanman was born August 26, 1743, and died June 26, 1809, at Middletown, Pennsylvania. He married Esther Maria Konig at Middletown September 26, 1768. She ~as born there August 6, 1750, and died December 18, 1831. They are buried side by side in the grave yard surrounding the little old Lutheran Church in Middle­ town. The picture herewith shows their last resting place very clearly. (;R1\ \IE STONES OF GE()RGE ANl) ESTHER LAUlvL\N 1 ~ THE CEl\1ETEI<-Y SlJRR<)lJNDING ()LD ST. PETER'S LUTHER.AN CHLTRCH. MIDlJLET<)\V~. PA. GEORGE LAUMAN'S HOUSE AS IT LOOKED IN 1936 LOWMAN GENEALOGY 15 ·They had issue as follows: 1. Jacob: Born October 11, 1769; died February 5, 1840; married H uldah Bosworth. 2. Elizabeth : Born October 11, 1?69 ; died October 13, 1854 ; married Peter Landis. 3. William: Born June 18, 1772; died December 13, 1832; married Elizabeth Myers. 4. Esther: Born October 19, 1773; died November 22, 1830, unmarried. 5. Mary: Born September 25, 1779; died December 30, 1841; married Henry Etter. 6. George: Born May 4, 1781 ; died May 23, 1848; married Christina Conrad. 7. Catherine: Born April 4, 1784; died October 13, 1842; married Jacob Hise. 8. John: Born September 25, 1786; died April 30, 1835, married Catherine Hise. 9. Martin: Born February 21, 1794; died January 13, 1862; married Lydia Jenkins. George Lanman was a thrifty man and made a sub­ stantial living for his very large family. He did not live to a great age, because of an accident. He died at the age of sixty-five. He was handling a team of horses and was kicked in the stomach by one of them, which injury caused his death shortly thereafter. His house on Pine Street, Middletown, Pennsylvania, was a log cabin and is still standing. It has been modern­ ized, but the frame of the building is the same. His will, proved August 14, 1809, is of record in the Probate Court in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Because of its simplicity and the fact that it shows much solicitude for the welfare of his wife, a crippled 16 LOWMAN GENEALOGY daughter, Esther, and a young son, Martin, it clearly proves his love of family and home, a characteristic of most German people. The will was evidently made on the day of his death; and because of physical incapacity, he signed it with ''his mark.'' The will in full is as follows: "In the name of God, Amen, "I, George Lauman, Senior, of Middletown in the County of Dauphin and State of Pennsylvania, mason, being sick and weak in body, but sound in mind, memory and understanding, Blessed be the Almighty God for the same do make and publish this my last will and testament in manner following, to wit: "Principally and first of all, I commend my soul into the hands of God. who gave it, and my body to the Earth to be buried in a decent Christian manner by my executors herein after named, as soon as convenient after my decease. "I give and bequeath to my son, Martin, one new suit of clothes, not of the best kind, nor not of low price, but of a reasonable good quality to be given to him within three months after my decease. "I give and bequeath to my beloved wife, Esther, the whole of my personal estate, movable property, live stock ( except as before excepted) to use as she pleases, allowing her the liberty of selling such parts thereof as she may not have use for or to keep the whole as she may choose, which she is to enjoy during her natural life and also the use of my real estate during her natural life, she is however to keep the same in reasonable good repair and good state of cultivation.