Photos courtesy of Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve.
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Our Namesake, John Bowman
Of Pirates, Treasures, Mountains and Men
by Nancy Beaubaire/ Bowman's
Hill Wildflower Preserve
Visitors to Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve in Pennsylvania
often ask about the origin of the Preserve's name. The
"Wildflower Preserve" part of our name is easy-that's
what we do! But dig into where the "Bowman's Hill" came
from, well, that's quite another story…or two.
The short story is that the Preserve is named for Bowman's
Hill at the north of the Preserve, which rises 380 feet
above sea level. As you drive into the Preserve and follow
the entrance road to the left, pull over, look up, and
Bowman's Hill will pop into view. What will probably catch
your eye first is Bowman's Hill Tower, a 100-ft-tall stone
tower built in 1930 in commemoration of what is considered
the lookout of the American Revolution. Before George
Washington's historic crossing of the Delaware River on
Christmas night 1776, his sentries watched from the top
of Bowman's Hill to check for enemy troops crossing from
New Jersey. (Today, you can go up to the top of the Tower
via elevator for a fee, and enjoy an amazing view of the
surrounding land up and down the Delaware River, including
Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve. The Tower is managed
by Washington Crossing Historic Park.)
A Pirate's Treasure
Now, on to the origin of the name, Bowman's Hill. While
there seems to be no single historical document that pinpoints
the origin with absolute certainty, several explanations
have emerged over the years.
The most colorful story says that Bowman's Hill is named
after Dr. John Bowman, a surgeon in an English fleet that
went out in 1696 to capture the pirate Captain William
Kidd. Perhaps lured by the prospect of treasures, Dr.
Bowman became a pirate himself, and traveled with Kidd
as his surgeon. When Captain Kidd was captured, Dr. Bowman
and the others from the fleet sailed to the Delaware River,
where Dr. Bowman parted company with them and came up
the river on his own, settling in the area that is now
Solebury/Upper Makefield Township around 1700.
Eventually, the tale continues, Bowman built a cabin at
the foot of the hill now named after him. In his final
years, Bowman lived in a house he built on the edge of
Newtown, a community about 6 miles (on today's roads)
from Bowman's Hill. According to a Miss Sallie N. Boyd,
quoted in the History of Bucks County, before Bowman died
he asked to be buried at the top of the hill that bears
his name, "…as that would be as near heaven as he ever
expected to get."
Folklore associated with Bowman's Hill abounds. As told
by Charles Burr Todd in a brochure describing the historic
areas along the Delaware, "…it is popularly believed that
his [Bowman's] unquiet ghost haunts the hilltop, and that
the shrieks, groans and gibberings which in certain conditions
of the atmosphere reach the valley are his." Others told
that if you put your ear to the ground next to Bowman's
grave and ask, "Bowman, what killed you?" you'll hear
the reply, "Nothing."
Several stones believed to mark Bowman's grave are said
to have once stood near the top of the hill, not far from
a black oak tree, now also gone. Even the ground around
the oak took on a mythic aura. In describing the mighty
tree, Todd says, "There must be pyrotechnics up here in
a thunder storm for the trees all about are blasted, torn,
riven and barked by lightning bolts-as if heaven were
trying to purify the earth to which the ashes of the wicked
pirate had returned."
A "massive oaken chest" was found among Dr. Bowman's possessions,
but none of Captain Kidd's gold was found in it. Treasure
hunters presumed Bowman buried the loot from his escapades
with Kidd on top of the hill, and many have tried unsuccessfully
to recover the treasure. According to Burr, these fortune
seekers employed a variety of ingenious methods to find
its location, from use of a witch hazel divining rod,
to seeking advice from an astrologer, a spiritualistic
medium, a fortune teller and a clairvoyant.
After reading this story, if any of you are feeling an
urge to go after the treasure, restrain yourself. You
can visit, but not dig up, Bowman's Hill, which is protected
land. Perhaps you'll take comfort in the fact that many
before you tried without luck to dig up a treasure that
may have been only an imaginary one after all.
As you might expect, details of the story have been questioned.
For example, apparently there is no note of a Dr. Bowman
as the ship surgeon in the records from Kidd's trial in
London in 1701, according to a brochure about Bowman's
Tower from Washington Crossing Historic Park. Based on
this, it is theorized that Dr. Bowman probably left Kidd's
company before Kidd became a pirate.
A Merchant
A less romantic story about the naming of Bowman's Hill
is as follows. As a major waterway in the region, the
Delaware River was an important route for transport of
goods. One itinerant English merchant who engaged in ferrying
goods and trading up and down the Delaware River in the
1600's was Thomas Bowman. His name is first found in Bucks
County records in 1684. According to Dr. J.E. Scott's
"Historic Account of Bowman's Hill" in 1913, "The stories
of Bowman's love for and wanderings on the lonely hill
and his subsequent burial on its summit, fit in so nicely
with such documentary evidence as we have of Thomas Bowman
that there can be no question as to the latter's identity
with the [traditional] Bowman of Bowman's Hill."
A Man and a Mountain
The last tale suggests that the name of the hill originally
was Beaumont, perhaps somehow connected to Belle Mont,
another similar hill on the New Jersey side of the Delaware.
In this account, the name "Bowman" is a corruption of
"Beaumont." There was in fact, a John Beaumont who owned
considerable acreage extending southward from the Solebury
Township line at Bowman's Hill, but this explanation is
generally thought to be the least credible.
All Roads Lead to the
Wildflower Preserve
No matter which story you choose to believe, a Dr. John
Bowman did indeed live in the area according to historical
accounts. Based on traditional information handed down
in the locally prominent Pidcock family, "John Pidcock
together with a more or less mysterious personage, generally
known as Dr. John Bowman, settled here. A house, gristmill
and sawmill were built, and a copper mine was opened.
The creek took its name from the owner of the land and
is still known as Pidcock's creek." The gristmill still
stands today, once powered by the waters of Pidcock Creek,
which flows along the foot of Bowman's Hill through what
is now Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve. Come visit and
see for yourself!
A special thank you to librarian Katherine Ludwig at The
David Library of the American Revolution and to Washington
Crossing Historic Park both located in Washington
Crossing, Pennsylvania.
For more information visit Bowman's
Hill Wildflower Preserve.
Photos:(from top)
Fritillary butterfly on swamp milkweed
Pidcock Creek Bridge at Wildflower Preserve
Purple coneflower
New England aster
Dutchman's pipevine flower
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