Submitted by Descendant: Virginia Caroline Bowman LAND
Edwin Thomas Bowman was born 17 September, 1857 in Schuylkill Haven, PA. When he was 21 he left his Pennsylvania relatives and moved to Florida, settled in Hernando County, at Fairmount. There he built a wood-shingle roofed log cabin and planted an orange grove. He was granted a homestead, in 1885, by the United States, about 160 acres of land. Citrus County and Pasco County were formed when Hernando County divided, 2 June 1887.
On 20 October, 1888, Edwin Thomas Bowman married Jane Lide Rumph from Carlowville, Alabama, in the Mannfield courthouse. Then it was the county seat before it was moved to Inverness, but no longer exists. The couple had three sons and one daughter. The same year Edwin was elected the first mayor of Crystal River, Florida, his wife Jane died, 19 November 1903, leaving four school-aged children. On 23 August 1905 Edwin was remarried to Anna Virginia Martz (2nd wife) in Lebanon, Pennsylvania.
Edwin Thomas Bowman enjoyed a long career in county and local affairs, serving three terms as mayor of Crystal River, Florida. Judge Bowman, a title he was given while serving as Justice of the Peace, has lived on to the present time. He died at age 89 having lived a long full life of 68 years in the area. He showed the strength and leadership of a real pioneer.
Edwin Thomas Bowman was first established as a Florida Pioneer in 2001