He lived in Fredonia, New York, until age 15, when he was moved to Ashtabula County, Ohio.

On February 7, 1838, the Legislature elected him Presiding Judge of the Second Judicial Circuit for seven years, to which he was re-elected.

In this capacity, Judge Bowen was most famous for delivering a decision on August 27, 1839, that freed a fugitive slave named Bill Mitchell, sparking a battle between proslavery and anti-slavery forces known as The Marion Riot.

[2] In 1856, Charles Cleveland Convers resigned from the Ohio Supreme Court due to poor health.

[1] He was elected later that year with a plurality in a three-way race over Democrat Carrington W. Seal and American Party nominee Samuel Brush to the remainder of the term.