Capt. Jonathan Bowers (1673-1750)

Some of the Bowers of Somerset, MA 

Happy birthday to my great times six grandfather, Captain Jonathan Bowers. (A repost that's been edited from 2018)

Somerset was where many of my ancestors lived and died, back in the eighteenth century. Captain Jonathan was born Aug. 11, 1673 in Charleston, Middlesex County, MA to Benanuell and Marie (Elizabeth Dunster?) Bowers. (There is some doubt whether his mother was the sister (here) of the first president of Harvard University. See HERE where I talked about his mother and father. I don't know the actual facts, so am still going with what I found on Ancestry)

In 1695 in Boston MA, Capt. Jonathan Bowers posted his intention to wed Ann Sylvester of Shelter Island NY. They apparently settled in Swansea/Somerset sometime before 1705 when their 3rd child was born. (The 2 towns didn't separate until 1790.)

The Bowers family has a cemetery on South St, but there are many unmarked graves.  I'm sure the bones of many of my uncles and aunts and cousins lie there.

A commemorative plaque remembers Jonathan Bowers (1673-1750), and lists 9 children.  

This is the private cemetery. The address is on South St. Somerset.

Son, Jonathan Bowers Jr.'s home on the left facing the river. Another son, Henry Bowers home with a cupola shows between the masts of the whaling vessel Sullivan, (and will be seen in more detail below.) (There's no date for this photo unfortunately.)

Jonathan Bowers, Jr. 1708-1775) home (also shown with the whaling ship)

Capt. Jonathan Bowers (1673-1750) had named an earlier son Jonathan, who died young. They lost several of their children as infants.  Since Capt. Jonathan Bowers built the oldest house (still standing) in Somerset in 1723 it was part of a commemorative quilt made for the bicentenial (1976, I assume.)

This photo even gives each house's address in Somerset.  Captain Jonathan Bower's home is third down in second to the right column, 616 Main St, built in 1723.

Earliest house built in Somerset, MA, the Jonathan Bowers home.

Henry Bowers' (1716-1790) home in 2009 as it was being renovated, (see photo of whaling ship above where this house is viewed between the masts)  This house was also included on the quilt, (247 Main in the exact center of the quilt)  One person on Ancestry commented:

"Burgess House." Captain John A. Burgess was a later occupant of the house. In addition to the Clipper Ship, the Davy Crocket, he was the master of many clipper ships, including the Governor Morton that was built in Somerset."

An article about the Bowers family homes from the Boston Sunday Herald, Oct. 1905, with some interesting stories (probably the kind of things Boston society pages liked to print.)

"Top left to right: David Bowers house, Phillip Bowers house,  Henry Bowers house; second row, Lloyd Bowers house, Benanuel Bowers House, Jerathmiel Bowers House; bottom row, Benjamin Bowers house, Somerset Hotel, formerly a Bowers House."

Well, as you can see, they are not correctly labeled.  Henry Bower's house has a cupola above many windows, and I believe it's the one on the second row attributed to Lloyd (whoever he might be).  The photo attributed wrongly to Henry is the exact same one that we've got for Jonathan Bowers Jr. house posted above.

The google air view shows the Henry Bowers /Burgess home with all its shutters back on again, also a 2009 photo...after the renovation, I'd guess!

Of the 11 children born to Jonathan and Ann Sylvester Bowers,  9 lived to be adults. These adult children all married and had children.  Mary Bowers was the next to youngest child, and she married Joseph Swasey, who's birth anniversary is tomorrow!

Joseph and Mary Bowers Swasey are my great times five grandparents. 

Ann Sylvester Bowers and Jonathan Bowers - their children

a continuation from yesterday's post on Ann Sylvester Bowers birthday, my great times 6 grandmother

The Family Bowers (repost from 2018):

Jonathan Bowers (Capt.) (1673-1750) and his wife, Ann Sylvester Bowers, (1669-1745) had their first child, Anne Bowers in 1695, who died in 1696.

Second, Benanuel Bowers was born in 1699 and lived till 1752, having 3 children of his own.

Third child of the Jonathan and Ann Bowers family was Jonathan Bowers Jr (1) born 1701, died 1702.

Fourth born was Benjamin Bowers (Rev.) who had 10 children before dying in 1775.

Their fifth and the second Jonathan Bowers Jr. was born in 1708 and lived till 1775, having 2 daughters.

Sixth born was George Bowers, in 1710-1752, with one child noted.

Seventh, Elizabeth Bowers married but had no children, and she lived from 1711-1771.

Eighth Henry Bowers (Esq.) married and had 8 children with his first wife. He lived from 1716-1790 and married a second time at age 44.

Ninth, Mary Bowers was born in 1719 and married Joseph Swasey in 1744...to become my ancestors.  She died sometime after 1823, when she was in a census of Boston living in a boarding house, age 104, listed as widow of Joseph Swasey.  They had 6 children. (She became my 5 times great grandmother.)

Tenth and the last child of Jonathan and Ann was Jerathmel Bowers, born in 1720, lived until 1799 and had 4 children.

This week I've enjoyed getting to know the Bowers of Somerset.  By the time Jonathan and Ann Bowers might have counted their grandchildren (had they lived to see them all) they had at least 34.

I'm sorry to have left out the names and dates of the wives and husbands of most of these Bowers...not to mention those of the grandchildren.  But I want to check out a few more in my direct line which I don't know enough about, before going astray again to learn about cousins!

Somerset MA with Jonathan Bowers Jr. home on l, and Henry Bowers Esq. home between the masts of the Sullivan.  Of note is that Ann Sullivan Bowers was the mother of Jonathan and Henry. Perhaps the ship was named for (or owned by) her father.

Ah the Somerset Bowers (edited repost from 2014)

Alexander G. Swasey Sr.'s father was Jerathmel Bowers Swasey. That Bowers is the direction we go today...

His mother of course was a Bowers of Somerset, MA, married to Joseph Swasey (1714-1801)
She was daughter of Jonathan Bowers; he had been born in Cambridge, Charlestown, MA, but lived in Somerset, and he was one of the well to do founders of the town. 

His wife was Ann Sylvester Bowers.

Jonathan and Ann Bowers house, 616 Main St, Somerset, built 1723

And there was a quilt done of the various historic homes which includes this view of the house.

It's third down from the top, second column from right, if you can try to focus upon it.\

Part of the original Bowers property is the grave yard, established in 1708.

Mary is bottom of right hand column.


There are some wonderful original census reports of Somerset, which will give me a glimpse at how the Bowers and Swaseys were living close to each other...and perhaps I can guess at birth date for Mary.  I only know she appears in 1823 in the Boston directory as a resident of a boarding house, as widow of Joseph Swasey.

Ann Sylvester Bowers 1669-1745 Great times 6 grandmother

(Note, my grandchildren are generation 1) in the numbering system in this post, so higher numbers are further back in history. Thanks to the comment below, I need to clarify that the Great times 6 is not using my children or grandchildren's generations at all. It is starting with me and not having any "great" until we go up to the 4th generation before mine.)

Ann Sylvester Bowers was a link between two well-to-do families, the Sylvesters of Shelter Island (at the tip of Long Island NY), and her husband, Jonathan Bowers, whose father became a Quaker in Cambridge MA.

Jonathan and Ann Bowers settled in Swansea, Bristol County, MA.  They also lived in Somerset, MA - probably the same area which changed names as they lived there.

I've honored her life before on blogs. I"ll patch some of them here for a summary. First, going back as far as I can, to a pinnacle person who I know no more about.  (Sometimes known as a brick wall, but sometimes more information can come along, and bing bang, there's someone from further back in history.)

While these women were pinnacles on my tree, they also appear as brick walls, and so I'm adding them to my 52 Ancestors, 52 weeks post for this week, sharing them at Generations Cafe on FaceBook, with this week's topic "The Brick Wall".  (This is a closed group, so check with Amy Johnson Crow.)

Two more matriarchs from 16th Century (edited repost from March 16, 2015) 

10) Ann Sylvester Bowers is daughter of 11) Grissell Brinley Sylvester and 11) Nathaniel Gascoigne Sylvester Capt.

11) Grissell Brinley Sylvester's parents were 12) Thomas Reeves Brinley, (born 1591 in Exeter, Devon, England died 15 Oct 1661 in Datchett, Buckinghamshire, England) and 12) Anna Wase Brinley (b. 1606 in Petworth, Sussex, England, d. 13 Jun 1687 in Datchet, Buckinghamshire, England).  

12) Thomas Reeves Brinley is well documented as the "Auditor General of the Revenues of King Charles I and II."  He left England during the English Civil War by Cromwell, and returned to his post for King Charles II but died a year later.

12) Anna Wase Brinley had 8 children, and also went with her husband when the revolution of Cromwell made Royalists unpopular, and lived into her 80s probably back in her home of Datchet.

Her parents were 13) William Wase (b. May 1580 in Petworth, Sussex, England, d. 19 September 1642 in Datchet, Buckinghamshire, England) and 13) Ann Cole Wase (b. 1582 as recorded in St. Leonard, Heston, London, Middlesex, England, death unknown.)  Apparently she married 13) William Wase when she was 16 in Petworth, Sussex, England.  There is no other information on her at Ancestry at this time.  But she is one of  the earliest matriarchs that I'll be mentioning today (a pinnacle ancestor.)

12) Thomas Reeves Brinley's mother was 13) Joanne Reeves (his middle name from her) (b. 1567 in Exeter, Devon, England, Death in (?) Exeter, Devon, England.) She's my other pinnacle ancestor.

An illustration of Exeter in 1563, entitled Civitas Exoniae (vulgo Excester) urbs primaria in comitatu Devoniae

Exeter has a wonderful history, dating from Roman times and before...and I can't begin to explore all that is in this town.  The map above would have been how it looked during Joanne Reeves lifetime.   

Exeter Cathedral, completed 1400

Looking back to the Sylvesters of Shelter Island, I just want to show their connection to my family.  Their daughter 10) Ann Sylvester married 10) Capt. Jonathan Bowers in 1695.

Their daughter, 9) Mary Bowers married 9) Joseph Swasey, my grandmother's great great something grandparent. (Grandmother was Ada Swasey Rogers.)

And...

The Family Bowers (repost from 2018):

to be posted tomorrow...

The Bowers children of Somerset

I shared some photos of houses of the Bowers families in Somerset, MA yesterday.

Here's an older post with some more photos that might be of interest. Ah, the Somerset Bowers!

Jonathan Bowers (Capt.) (1673-1750) and his wife, Ann Sylvester Bowers, (1669-1745) had their first child, Anne Bowers in 1695, who died in 1696.

Second, Benanuel Bowers was born in 1699 and lived till 1752, having 3 children of his own.

Third child of the Jonathan and Ann Bowers family was Jonathan Bowers Jr (1) born 1701, died 1702.

Fourth born was Benjamin Bowers (Rev.) who had 10 children before dying in 1775.

Their fifth and the second Jonathan Bowers Jr. was born in 1708 and lived till 1775, having 2 daughters.

Sixth born was George Bowers, in 1710-1752, with one child noted.

Seventh, Elizabeth Bowers married but had no children, and she lived from 1711-1771.

Eighth Henry Bowers (Esq.) married and had 8 children with his first wife. He lived from 1716-1790 and married a second time at age 44.

Ninth, Mary Bowers was born in 1719 and married Joseph Swasey in 1744...to become my ancestors.  She died sometime after 1823, when she was in a census of Boston living in a boarding house, age 104, listed as widow of Joseph Swasey.  They had 6 children.

Tenth and the last child of Jonathan and Ann was Jerathmel Bowers, born in 1720, lived until 1799 and had 4 children.

This week I've enjoyed getting to know the Bowers of Somerset.  By the time Jonathan and Ann Bowers might have counted their grandchildren (had they lived to see them all) they had at least 34.

I'm sorry to have left out the names and dates of the wives and husbands of most of these Bowers...not to mention those of the grandchildren.  But I want to check out a few more in my direct line which I don't know enough about, before going astray again to learn about cousins!

Somerset MA with Jonathan Bowers Jr. home on l, and Henry Bowers Esq. home between the masts of the Sullivan.  Of note is that Ann Sullivan Bowers was the mother of Jonathan and Henry. Perhaps the ship was named for her father.

Some of the Bowers of Somerset, MA

Somerset was their home and where many of my ancestors lived and died, back in the eighteenth century.

The Bowers family has a cemetery on South St, but there are many unmarked graves.  I'm sure the bones of many of my uncles and aunts and cousins lie there.

A commemorative plaque remembers Jonathan Bowers (1673-1750), and lists 9 children.  There seem to be more that Ancestry trees have, which may be a mistake, or not.  This is the private cemetery, but doesn't seem to be kept up. The address is on South St., Somerset.

Jonathan Bowers Jr.'s home on the left facing the river. Henry Bowers home shows between the masts of the whaling vessel Sullivan.

Jonathan Bowers, Jr. 1708-1775) home (also shown with the whaling ship)

Father Jonathan Bowers (1673-1750) had named an earlier son Jonathan, who died young. They lost several of their children as infants.  Since Father Jonathan (also called Captain) Bowers built the oldest house in Somerset (in 1723) it was part of a commemorative quilt made for the bicentenial (1976, I assume.)

This photo even gives each house's address in Somerset.  Father's home is third down in second to the right column, 616 Main St, built in 1723.

Earliest house built in Somerset, MA, the Jonathan Bowers home.

Henry Bowers' (1716-1790) home in 2009 as it was being renovated, (see photo of whaling ship above where this house is viewed between the masts)  This house was also included on the quilt, (247 Main in the exact center of the quilt)  One person on Ancestry commented:

"Burgess House." Captain John A. Burgess was a later occupant of the house. In addition to the Clipper Ship, the Davy Crocket, he was the master of many clipper ships, including the Governor Morton that was built in Somerset."

An article about the Bowers' homes from the Boston Sunday Herald, Oct. 1905, with some interesting stories (probably the kind of things Boston society pages liked to print.)

Top left to right: David Bowers house, Phillip Bowers house,  Henry Bowers house; second row, Lloyd Bowers house, Benanuel Bowers House, Jerathmiel Bowers House; bottom row, Benjamin Bowers house, Somerset Hotel, formerly a Bowers House.

Well, as you can see, they are not correctly labeled.  Henry Bower's house has a cupola above many windows, and I believe it's the one on the second row attributed to Lloyd (whoever he might be).  The photo attributed wrongly to Henry is the exact same one that we've got for Jonathan Bowers Jr. house posted above.

The google air view shows the Henry Bowers /Burgess home with all its shutters back on again, also a 2009 photo...after the renovation, I'd guess!

Grissell Brinley Sylvester's ancestors

More matriarchs from 16th Century (a repost and extended edit from March 2015)

Yesterday I shared information about the Sylvesters of Shelter Island, Capt. Nathaniel and Grissell Brinley Sylvester.  Note I'm spelling her name as it is documented as her signature, presumably by her own hand.  She had many sisters and brothers, and moved to America after her sister Anne Brinley married the Governor of Rhode Island, William Coddington.

11) Grissell Brinley Sylvester's parents were 12) Thomas Reeves Brinley, born 1591 in Exeter, Devon, England, died 15 Oct 1661 in Datchett, Buckinghamshire, England and 12) Anna Wase Brinley b. 1606 in Petworth, Sussex, England, d. 13 Jun 1687 in Datchet, Buckinghamshire, England.  

12) Thomas Reeves Brinley is well documented as the "Auditor General of the Revenues of King Charles I and II."  He left England during the English Civil War by Cromwell, and returned to his post for King Charles II, but died a year later.  (I think I need to dedicate a post to this man, since there must be source material telling about his life)

12) His wife, Anna Wase Brinley had 8 children, and also went with her husband when the revolution of Cromwell made Royalists unpopular, and lived into her 80s probably back in her home of Datchet.

Her parents were 13) William Wase b. May 1580 in Petworth, Sussex, England, d. 19 September 1642 in Datchet, Buckinghamshire, England and 13) Ann Cole Wase b. 1582 as recorded in St. Leonard, Heston, London, Middlesex, England, death unknown.  Apparently Ann married 13) William Wase when she was about 16 in Petworth, Sussex, England.  There is no other information on her at Ancestry at this time.

12) Thomas Reeves Brinley's mother was 13) Joanne Reeves Brinley (his middle name from her) b. 1563 in Exeter, Devon, England, Death in Exeter, Devon, England. His father was 13) Richard Brinley, b.1559 Willinghall, Stafordshire, England. 13) Joanne Reeves Brinley's father was 14) Richard Reeves, about whom we know nothing.

An illustration of Exeter in 1563, entitled Civitas Exoniae (vulgo Excester) urbs primaria in comitatu Devoniae

Exeter has a wonderful history, dating from Roman times and before...and I can't begin to explore all that is in this town.  The map above would have been how it looked during Joanne Reeves lifetime.   

Exeter Cathedral, completed 1400

Looking back to the Sylvesters of Shelter Island, I just want to show their connection to my family.  Their daughter 10) Ann Sylvester married 10) Capt. Jonathan Bowers in 1695. (Yesterday I showed some pictures of their home in Somerset, MA, built in 1723.)

 Their daughter, 9) Mary Bowers married 9) Joseph Swasey, my five times great grandfather on my  grandmother Ada Swasey Rogers Tree. (My numbering system has my grandchildren as generation 1), thus I'm 3). I am not sure it's always accurate however!)