Waterloo Public Library Digital Collections

Henry W. Bowman Biography

Description
Creator
Little, Ellis, Author
Media Type
Text
Item Type
Articles
Description
This is a handwritten biography of Henry Bowman from the Ellis Little Papers. This biography has been transcribed exactly as written. Ellis Little was a local historian, who was the principal of Elizabeth Ziegler Public School.On his retirement, he invested much of his time in researching and writing about Waterloo's history. The Ellis Little Papers consist of extensive notes, papers and historical works.
Notes
To see the original document please visit the Ellis Little Local History Room at the Main Branch of the Waterloo Public Library
Subject(s)
Personal Name(s)
Bowman, Henry W. ; Lewis, Amanda ; Snyder, Daniel ; Bowman, William ; Bowman, Daniel, Zimmerman, Henry
Local identifier
ELP 51.24 and ELP 63.41.20
Collection
Ellis Little Papers: Men and Women of Our Past
Language of Item
English
Geographic Coverage
  • Ontario, Canada
    Latitude: 43.4668 Longitude: -80.51639
Copyright Statement
Uses other than research or private study require the permission of the rightsholder(s). Responsibility for obtaining permissions and for any use rests exclusively with the user.
Location of Original
Ellis Little Papers
Contact
Waterloo Public Library
Email:askus@wpl.ca
Website:
Agency street/mail address:

35 Albert Street, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, N2L 5E2

Full Text

Born 1815, Died 1883
Married: Amanda Lewis

Henry Bowman, born in 1815, was the son of Christian Baumann (Bowman) who had moved to the early village of Waterloo. Henry married Amanda Lewis, the adopted daughter of Daniel Snider who had also moved to early Waterloo and in 1830 opened a general store on King St N near Erb St. A year later Snider established the first Waterloo post office in this store. In 1835 Bowman bought, from his father-in-law, a large lot on the corner of King and Erb Sts. And there erected the first hotel in Waterloo. The establishment was first called the “Farmer’s Inn” indicating the hoped-for clientele who would be coming in to town to have their grain ground into flour at the Union Mills. Unfortunately in 1850 the Bowman Hotel, as it was then called, burned to the ground but was soon rebuilt in the same style. As his large family grew up, first son William and then Daniel tried their hand at running the hotel but did not persevere. The hotel was finally sold to Henry Zimmerman of Bamberg and other owners followed. Recently the hotel was purchased by Bill and his wife and the renovated building, now called The Waterloo Hotel, is again serving the travelling public.

Sources:
1. Hannes Schneider, His Descendants and Times, Published by Miriam Helen Snyder, Kitchener 1937
2. Obituary, Waterloo Chronicle, August 13, 1896.
3. Marg Rowell, Ed Devitt and Pat McKegney, Welcome to Waterloo.
4. Waterloo Mount Hope Cemetery Records
5. Ezra E Eby. A Biographical History of Early Settlers and Their Descendants in Waterloo Township, 1895 and 1896, (Kitchener, reprinted by Eldon Weber, 1971).
6. Ellis Little, Early Waterloo Hotels, Unpublished.
7. Historical Atlas of Waterloo and Wellington Counties

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