When he was sixteen years of age, he attended school in Lexington, Kentucky.
In approximately 1800, he studied law in the office of John Breckinridge in Lexington and was admitted to bar.
[2] After two years Bowen returned home and began practice of law in Gallatin, Tennessee and soon gained prominence.
[4] He then continued to engage in the practice of law in Gallatin until his death there.
The eldest, Mary, married Judge Jacob S. Yerger of Greenville, Miss.