Canton (OH) Repository, June 3, 1880, p. 2.
ONE HUNDRED AND FOUR
Life and Death of a Remarkable Woman
Corydon, Indiana, June 3-Before the capital of Indiana Territory was
established at Corydon, and while the now populous county of Harrison-name
in honor of the hero of Tippecanoe, Ft. Meigs and the Thames-was an unbroken
wilderness, Elizabeth Bowman, then a young wife, took up her residence here
with her husband. The Piankashaws and Shawnees had their hunting grounds in
the county at that time, but these pioneers continued in peaceful possession
of their frontier home until the confederation of all the Indian tribes
under Tecumseh when the Indians began to raid the settlements and slaughter
the inhabitants. On two occasions, in the absence of her husband, Elizabeth
Bowman and Polly Miller defended the Bowman cabin successfully against
Indian attacks, on one of these occasions killing two of their assailants.
Elizabeth Bowman continued to reside in this county all the balance of her
life. A few days ago, at the residence of her grandson, a man in the middle
of life, she passed peacefully away, full of simple faith in the atonement
made for her by the Savior in whom she believed. At the time of her death
she was over 104 years old, being born in 1776.
Elizabeth Bowman was a remarkable woman. She was intimate in the family of
General Harrison and Governor Posey, the first governor of Indiana
Territory. She knew Governor Jennings well. She frequently visited the
convention that sat at Corydon and framed the constitution of Indiana. She
saws the cornerstone laid for Indiana's first capital, still standing at
Corydon. Peace to her ashes.