Captain Johannes (John) Jacob Bowman, Sr., (December 2, 1733 - June 20, 1781) was an 18th-century American pioneer, grandson of Jost Hite, Colonial Militia officer of Virginia Colony, veteran of the French and Indian War, City of Strasburg Trustee, large land owner in Virginia and South Carolina, a South Carolina State Representative (Third Whig), District 96 Road Commissioner and Revolutionary War Patriot noted for supplying mill goods to the Continental Army.
Isaac Bowman were excellent horsemen and later known in John Wayland's book as the "Four Centaurs of Cedar Creek", and all of whom were among the earliest pioneers to settle in Kentucky and serve as prominent officers in the Continental Army.
[1] While his younger brothers were in Kentucky, Jacob Bowman and brother-in-law George Wright had earlier removed to the old 96th District in the Province of South Carolina where he owned a grist mill and trading post on the Reedy River.
Within a year after his father's death in March 1768, Jacob Bowman sold his remaining real estate, including 500 acres on Linville Creek and his part of the Cedar Creek Estate which he inherited from his father, and finally settled next to the Wrights on the Reedy River, Laurens County, Province of South Carolina near Greenville where he built a mill and trading post.
During the war he took a leading role in the new colonial government and in November 1778, (John) Jacob was elected to the South Carolina Legislature as a state Representative for the Ninety-Six District.
Pendleton Thomas and wife vs George Bowman, Mercer County Circuit Court, yrs 1840, 1841 & 1842, File Box #39.)
As of 2024, however, the DAR states that future applicants must prove Bowman's patriotic service and lists him as serving in the Tory militia in 1775 and 1780.