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Halifax Connection at the G.A.R. Encampment in Washington, 1902?
Posted By Norman Gasbarro on September 15, 2018
In 1902 when the Annual Encampment of The G.A.R. took place in October 1902 in Washington, D.C., Henry C. Bowman was 66 years old and recently retired from his position of lamplighter of Halifax, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. The annual national encampments drew Civil War veterans from all over the country and were usually well-documented in the newspapers and with the production of an elaborate, printed volume with the title Journal or Proceedings. The books contained the names of the official delegates from each G.A.R. Post attending the encampment as well as the text of speeches delivered and the official actions of the G.A.R. at the annual event. An unsuccessful attempt was made to locate a e-copy of the 1902 report to determine if Henry C. Bowman was a 1902 delegate from the Gen. H. W. Slocum Post of Halifax and no news articles were located from 1902 mentioning Bowman or the G.A.R. Post at Halifax.
But, based on a story told by Henry C. Bowman‘s grandson Raymond E. Bowman (1906-1998) and told to his grandson, an event took place that same year which may have placed the Civil War veteran in Washington, D.C. in 1902. The story is of the love by Henry C. Bowman for President Teddy Roosevelt , his politics and his passion for the great outdoors.
Henry was the retired lamplighter for the town of Halifax, but he also took pride in his own, hand-made lamps…. So it was one day that Henry made his finest lamp for Theodore Roosevelt and insisted on delivering it personally.
Back then, there was little of the the security you see today. One would just enter the grounds and go to the side door and wait on the stairs. So that’s what he did, took horse and buggy and headed to Washington, D.C. On arriving, he was met by an assistant of the president. The assistant said that he could relay the gift. Henry declined insisting on waiting for the president and to give it to him in person.
And wait he did. Till the wee hours of the morning when the assistant finally came out one last time to say the president will not be able to see you. Henry finally agreed to go if he assistant would deliver his precious lamp personally. The assistant finally, after hours of going back and forth reluctantly agreed and so Henry left the White House to return to Halifax, his gift to be delivered to his hero.
The story is believable except for one small detail. If Henry C. Bowman traveled to Washington at the time of the Encampment, he probably would have gone via the Pennsylvania Railroad Northern Central Railroad), which had a station in Halifax. News reports at the time of the Encampment noted that the two biggest railroads, the Pennsylvania and the Baltimore and Ohio, were overwhelmed with veterans heading to the capital city, but nevertheless met the task.
Photographs of the Encampment are available on-line from the Library of Congress, and a few are presented here:
One delegation of veterans at the grand opening parade.
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Reviewing Stand erected for Pres. Roosevelt.
According to information from the Library of Congress, the president did not use the stand due to an abscess on his leg but instead rode in a carriage to review the troops.
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Dispensary at “Camp Roosevelt,” named for the the president..
Veterans had to sleep in tents on the National Mall in less than ideal conditions and more veterans arrived in the city than were expected.
Due to bad weather, many veterans had to be treated for illness and some events were cancelled.
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Henry Bowman was briefly profiled on this blog in a post entitled Civil War Burials in Halifax United Methodist Church Cemetery. Much new information has been located about him and his family since that posting – but much more needs to be done to research this veteran.
As confirmed on the Pension Index Card, shown above from Fold3, Henry died on 1 March 1903, just a few months after the Washington G.A.R. Encampment. Was he one of those who became ill from the effects of the weather?
A brief obituary from the Harrisburg Patriot of 4 March 1903 may provide an answer:
Halifax
From the Patriot’s Correspondent
HALIFAX, 3 March [1903] — Henry Bowman, for many years a resident at this place died at his home on Market Street on Sunday evening, of pneumonia, after a short illness. He was born 25 May 1938. In 1866, he married Rebecca Frunk [sic*]. Mr. Bowman enlisted in the Civil War in 1865. He is survived by his wife and nine children — seven girls and two boys. The funeral will be held on Thursday morning at 10 o’clock, Rev. G. W. Shires officiating. The interment will be made in the Methodist Episcopal Cemetery.
*Rebecca’s maiden name was Frank. She was the daughter of Frederick Frank and Elizabeth [Boyer] Frank.
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Photograph of Henry Bowman from a family collection. Lamp story by Steven Feite and publicly posted on Ancestry.com. News clipping from the on-line resources of the Free Library of Philadelphia
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