Our Ancestor from Germany

 Jane Judd Bowman & John Boman/Bowman

John's Story

pictures from Descendants of John & Matilda Judd

from History of Shiawassee and Clinton Counties [Michigan], 1880

(in Google Books)

JOHN BOMAN

 

John Boman was born April 18, 1831, in Bavaria, Germany, and traces his ancestry among the wealthy representative people of their time, and is the only member of that family who has adopted this country as a home, excepting a nephew, Godfritz Happ, who accompanied Mr. Bowman on his return to America from a visit to his native land. At the breaking out of the German Rebellion, in 1848, Mr. Boman was drafted to serve in King Ludwig’s army of Bavaria for a period of six years. Soon after joining the command to which he was assigned, the entire regiment forsook the king’s cause and joined the revolutionists. After a brief struggle they were compelled to seek safety in another land. Still following the fortunes of his leaders, Hecker, Carl Schurz, Sigel, and others more prominently known in this country, he came to America, arriving in New York, Aug. 1 1850, a stranger in a strange land, with only one dollar, one-half the sum of his available possession. He came to Buffalo, N.Y., where he succeeded in finding employment at four dollars per month, and continued in that vicinity for a period of four years, when with his accumulated wages he purchased eighty acres of his present property. 

            The following year he came to Michigan, working at lumbering and also making some small improvements upon his farm. On July 19, 1857, he married Miss Jane M. Judd, the history of whose family is given in this work. Together they began the labor of subduing the forest and establishing a home. We need not comment upon their success further than by calling attention to the view of their home presented in this work. In politics Mr. Bowman was Democratic, but at the breaking out of the Rebellion enlisted in the Second Michigan Cavalry, participating in several small engagements, and was discharged with the regiment, thoroughly convinced that the party and principle that had so successfully closed the struggle should be sustained, and when elections occur a straight ticket can be counted upon from him. 

            Mr. Boman is not a church member, but favors the Methodist Episcopal Society, of which Mrs. Boman is a member, and has been since her girlhood days. Together they have contributed largely to the building up and sustaining that institution in their vicinity. The family consists of six children, - Louisa and Alice, dying in infancy; Matilda, born Oct. 2, 1858, wife of A. Campbell, and resides in Saginaw; Charles, born Sept. 23, 1867; Ida A., born April 9, 1869; Jamie, born Dec. 8, 1877.

Harry Floyd & Mildred Browne

My grandparents were in the same graduating class at Saginaw High School, Saginaw Michigan

Harry Edmond Floyd and Mildred Jane Browne

Class of 1913

Harry and Mildred married in 1922 

Their children - Jane Elizabeth Floyd (1923) & Mary Floyd (1926)

images - 1913 Saginaw High School Yearbook

MyHeritage.com

Skipper At Camp

Joe (left) & Friend at camp 

I went to Camp Frisbie summer camp for one or two weeks in 1943 (9 years old) and 1944 (10 years old). Camp Frisbie was somewhere in Michigan, but I don’t know where.*  I don’t recall if it was for one week or two. I know I spent a Sunday there. 

We swam in some lake. Some guys got to go boating, but I don’t recall that my turn ever came.  I also spent one night and a day in the infirmary for some reason. The part that impressed me most were the evening flag lowering ceremony and the morning flag raising ceremony.  Oh, I also received a sailor hat with Camp Frisbie printed on it which I wore around the neighborhood for a few days.  Along with my nickname Skipper and the sailor hat - maybe, that is why I joined the U.S. Navy in 1953. But, then again my nickname left me rather abruptly at the end of the 5^th grade when I became Cadet Todd and went for a two year long camp out.~

I remember when my parents came to pick me up, I proceeded to sing “Bringing in the Cheese”+ which I insisted were the words we sang in church that Sunday. I sang that song and “My Darling Clementine” all the way back to Grosse Pointe. I couldn’t sing then any better than I can sing now. I am certain my parents were relieved to arrive at home

The evening we arrived home after the 2^nd year, I announced that the whole family should get up and perform the flag raising ceremony along with me – my parents were most unenthusiastic about this wonderful exciting idea and they suggested I get my buddies together to do it. I arose very early in the morning very excited about my new life style. I figured my friend would not come to my backyard, so I went to the front of his place on St. Clair and rang his doorbell for him to come out. He did very sleepily and stood there and stared at me. I stood there and saluted the small flag I brought with me and I forget what else I did, but it must have been very impressive - my friend said, “Is that all there was?”  My father drove by on the way to work and waved.  I must have lost interest in this new activity as I passed up the opportunity to introduce the flag lowering ceremony to the neighborhood and didn’t get up so early the next morning. We all went on to some other exciting adventure.

I enjoyed Camp Frisbie, but I was happy to return home to my family and friends. 

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Written by Joe Todd – August 2006

Notations added by Julia Todd January 2018

*Thomas Lake, Waterford, Michigan   

~ Howe Military School  

+Bringing in the Sheaves

Browne - Floyd - Graduated Together

Mom's parents Harry Edmond Floyd and Mildred Jane Browne Floyd were in the same graduating class in Saginaw, Michigan June 1913

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Thursday, June 19, 1913 Saginaw News (Saginaw, Michigan)

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(OFFICIAL)

BOARD OF EDUCATION

Regular Monthly Meeting of the Board 

Of Education of the City of Saginaw,

East Side, Michigan, Held Wednes-

Day Evening, June 18, 1913

“The annual graduation exercises of the High school will be held in the Auditorium Thursday evening, June 26, at 8 o’clock. The address of the evening will be delivered by Hon. O.T. Corson, ex-State Superintendent of Public Instruction of Ohio. Members of your honorable body are respectfully asked to be present and to occupy seats on the platform.

  The following names pupils have been recommended to me by the Principal and teachers of the High school as having completed the required number of hours of work to entitle them to receive diplomas. I therefore, recommend that they be granted diplomas by your honorable body. The total number is: boys 62, girls 69, in all 131. I have the honor to say that this is the largest number ever graduated in one year from the High school, the next largest class having been 115 in number. The pupils recommended are as follows:

… [all 131 students are named]

Mildred Jane Browne

…

Harry Edmond Floyd

…

Respectfully submitted,

E.C. WARRINER,

Supt. Of Schools.

June 18, 1913

************     Genealogybank.com, accessed April 18, 2016

Mildred Jane Browne

This might be her high school senior picture - 1913

Harry Edmond Floyd ca 1918

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The article was on this page, columns 1, 3, 4

Check out the stove & dress!

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11/14/20 removed notation that it might be Mildred's senior picture; it isn't

Grandparents on High School Dance Committee

An article in the November 30, 1911 Saginaw News (Saginaw, Michigan) indicates the Junior Class at Saginaw High School was hosting the annual "junior hop" at the Masonic temple, December 22. Gram, Mildred Brown,* was on the decorations committee. Poppie, Harry Floyd, was on the music committee. 

I wonder if they were high school friends or high school sweethearts? They graduated in 1913 and didn't marry until 1922 so they might not have even been friends in high school. I don't recall Mom ever talking about this.

Mildred

*Browne on her birth certificate; spelled with and without the e on various records

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11/14/20 removed notation that it might be Mildred's senior picture; it isn't

Keepsake - Joe's Footstool

This footstool went with a wing-back chair that belonged to Joe's mother, Mary Elizabeth Neely Todd Pepper aka Betty & Maude (check out the stories Joe posted to learn about her names). 

Joe has memories of sitting on this stool when he was very young. When Ray's and Maude's house was sold, Joe let the chair go but kept the footstool. 

Joe about 1937, probably on family vacation in Pentwater, Michigan

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This picture brings another memory to mind. When the family was vacationing in Pentwater (probably when this picture was taken), Joe was at the cottage with his nanny, Miss Ging. They decided to go to the beach after his nap to join his parents. Joe, who was called Skipper, decided to "hitchhike." A car stopped and the man said, "Who are you?" Joe/Skipper replied, "I'm Pipper Tahee." The man said, "I'm not going your direction." Then another car stopped. It was Joe's father. He gave them a ride to the beach. 

January 2016 - Joe says he remembers this "as clearly as if it were yesterday." 

Family Connections

Southwest's February 2015 magazine has articles connected
to two of our family's cities. 

Shakespeare in Detroit

Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams

GPS & Maps - Stories from the Class of 1964

Joe and I have been using a GPS for a number of years and have had some adventures and misadventures with it. Right before my recent trip to Ohio and Michigan I learned how to use Siri with Apple Maps and Google Maps on my phone. I had varying amounts of success with voice navigation on my travels. I like old-fashioned paper maps and usually have one on hand for a trip to unfamiliar territory. I also print out directions from MapQuest, just in case the GPS doesn't work. I like to be prepared. 

My generation started with manual typewriters. We are now using computers, smartphones, GPS, and all sorts of devices that didn’t even exist when we graduated from high school. I joined a few of my classmates for lunch on the weekend of of our 50th reunion and traded stories. Some of the funniest tales concerned our experiences with the transition from maps to GPS devices. Here are three of the funniest stories from the Class of 1964. I wish you could hear them being told - hilarious!

One woman started her trip in Philadelphia where she was visiting her daughter. She told her daughter to give her directions to Interstate 70. From there she knew how to get to London, Ohio. She followed her daughter’s directions and thought something was wrong because she wasn’t getting to I-70. So she stopped at a gas station to get a map. “A map???” said the gas station attendant. It was as though she was asking for some long buried artifact! I can’t remember if they located a map or not. It was just funny that something as common as a map (common when we were in high school) is no longer common. 

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Another woman had an adventure with her brother. They set off on a trip from Ohio to the East Coast. For some reason their GPS quit working (or they couldn’t figure out how to use it). They too stopped at a gas station to get a map. No maps at the station. They were referred to a nearby Cracker Barrel. Cracker Barrel had maps, but only for the surrounding area. She hilariously told about traveling across country, stopping at a Cracker Barrel every time they “drove off their map” and needed a new one!

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Another classmate and her husband were in a major city visiting their son and his family. They stayed at a hotel and were looking forward to the young granddaughters staying with them overnight at the hotel. Everything was going fine and people got ready for bed. The youngest girl started crying, wanting her parents. Eventually the older girl said, “Grandma, it’s not going to get any better. You’d better take her home.” It was midnight. My classmate put her coat on over her PJs and asked the hotel person to get her car. She programmed her son's address into the GPS and started driving. After driving a while she knew she was lost. She knew there were parts of this city she shouldn’t be in at night but didn’t know where those parts were or if she was in them. The little girl whined for her mother. The older girl asked if they were lost. My classmate was worried about being lost in this city at that time of night. In her PJs with her young granddaughters in the car! Finally she saw a street name she recognized so she exited the freeway and eventually found her way to her son's. Their street is very narrow with cars parked on both sides. Backing out of driveways can be tricky. Since it was the middle of the night she “parked” in the middle of the street, took the girls up to the porch and timidly knocked on the door so she wouldn’t wake the baby. No one came to the door so she finally pounded on the door which brought her son to the door. Then a neighbor, who had been at a late party, drove up behind her car and was irate that she was blocking the street. She got back in her car, put in the address of the hotel into her GPS and found that she had to make just two turns and she was at the hotel!

So it goes. 

Travel Observations

I recently went back to Ohio to visit family and friends and attend a high school reunion. Then I drove to Michigan to see our daughter and her family. 

One of the wonderful parts of traveling is the people you meet. I took a cab to the airport because I had to leave so early in the morning, 4:45. The cab driver moved here from Ethiopia about 6 years ago. We had an interesting discussion about Islam and Christianity in Ethiopia.

From Detroit to Las Vegas (on the way home; that’s a pretty southern route to take when trying to get to Seattle) – the man and woman next to me were going to Las Vegas to “people watch.” She said they don’t gamble. As we talked I found out she not only knows where Juddville, Michigan (the little deserted crossroads town started by our ancestors in the mid1800s) but she drives by the Juddville Methodist Church every day! What are the chances that any of the 175 people on that plane would know about Juddville much less end up sitting next to me! Waiting in line to board in Las Vegas, I spoke with a couple who ran the marathon in Detroit the previous day. They said they really enjoyed Detroit. Their goal is to run a marathon in every state. Michigan was state #35.

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My phone contains my watch, my alarm clock, my scriptures, my camera, flashlight, a GPS - and a multitude of other goodies. Lightens the load in the suitcase for sure. 

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It's interesting to compare the various airports I visited on this trip. I’ve been through Chicago Midway so many times over the years that I know the lay of the land. We won't even talk about the gambling machines in the Las Vegas airport. It's always interesting to see the variety of ethnic groups in the Detroit airport. 

 

Seattle’s airport has some unique features. Where else would you find Bigfoot paraphernalia? Or salmon swimming on the floor, leading to gurgling water fountains? Or a seafood place open at 5:15 am!!I love Ivar's clam chowder but that was a bit too early in the morning for me. 

The color scheme depends on the home town team 

blue and green for Seattle and scarlet and gray for Columbus

Prescreening - what bliss. I’m not sure how I got on the prescreening list, but it’s certainly nice. It prints out on my ticket and I get waved into a separate line. Don’t have to take anything out of my bag, don’t have to take off my shoes, … I don’t know if I’m prescreened just for Southwest or if it’s for all airlines. This relieves a huge part of the airport hassle.

How travel has changed - we make our own reservations online instead of going through a travel agent. I remember when all that changed and how it took a while to get used to not having a "real" paper ticket. 

People dress differently now too. People used to dress up to travel. People dress much more casually now. I switched from dresses or skirts to slacks when a friend died in a plane crash and there were articles about dressing so you could easily exit a plane. No nylons because the material melts onto your legs; skirts make it difficult to climb over seats and so forth. Most of the people in that crash died not from the crash but from the resulting fire because they didn’t get out of the plane quickly enough.

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Remember when you had to search high and low in airports to find outlets for recharging computers – often ending up sitting on floors to access an outlet? Now there are charging options in abundance. 

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Flying into Columbus I didn't see much color in the treetops. Fortunately the trees in other parts of Columbus and in Michigan were much further along in their gorgeous fall beauty. 

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It was raining when we landed in Columbus. I smiled since everyone talks so much about Seattle and rain. The red sign on the side of the terminal also made me smile - "Leave parking brake set." I had visions of a huge airplane drifting into the building if someone forgot to set the brake. 

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Home - It’s still strange to come into the Columbus airport as a visitor and not be coming “home.” Driving through Worthington and past our North Street house is interesting. It's still a wonderful community and a very nice place to live but it's no longer "home." 

These visits felt more like I'm on the other side of a major transition than I have been in previous visits. I guess it's about time since we're almost through our fourth year in Kirkland. On the drive to Michigan I saw many out of state license plates. When I saw the familiar Washington plate on a truck, I thought "home." 

I am thankful for the abundance of family, friends, and good memories that fill Ohio and Michigan. We are creating good memories in Washington. 

Book - Orphan Train

Orphan Train: A Novel 
by Christina Baker Kline

"Penobscot Indian Molly Ayer is close to 'aging out' out of the foster care system. A community service position helping an elderly woman clean out her home is the only thing keeping Molly out of juvie and worse. As she helps Vivian sort through her possessions and memories, Molly learns that she and Vivian aren't as different as they seem to be. A young Irish immigrant orphaned in New York City, Vivian was put on a train to the Midwest with hundreds of other children whose destinies would be determined by luck and chance. Molly discovers that she has the power to help Vivian find answers to mysteries that have haunted her for her entire life -- answers that will ultimately free them both."     

image & summary from WorldCat

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According to the National Orphan Train Complex, about "250,000 orphaned, abandoned, and homeless children were placed throughout the United States and Canada during the Orphan Train Movement" from 1854-1929. When the train pulled into a station, the children would be lined up so they could be "inspected" by the people looking for a child or cheap labor. A local committee was supposed to make sure the new parents were fit. 

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Our Stuff

Much of the story revolves around cleaning the attic in 90+ year old Vivian's attic. Molly helps her as part of a community service project. I can relate to this with our trek across country and our effort to go through family keepsakes and pass them along to family. 

The book starts with this quote from Women of the Dawn by Bunny McBride
“In portaging from one river to another, Wabanakis had to carry their canoes and all other possessions. Everyone knew the value of traveling light and understood that it required leaving some things behind. Nothing encumbered movement more than fear, which was often the most difficult burden to surrender.” 

I've never mastered the art of traveling light. It was a major test to go through our North Street home and decide what things to leave behind when we moved across the country. 

As teenaged Molly helps Vivian go through her possessions in the attic, Molly comes to understand they might not dispose of anything.
"After all, what does it matter? Why shouldn’t Vivian’s attic be filled with things that are meaningful to her? … Maybe it doesn’t matter how much gets done. Maybe the value is in the process – in touching each item, in naming and identifying, in acknowledging the significance of a cardigan, a pair of children’s boots.” (173) 

This resonates with me because we've spent much time and effort this year going through family keepsakes - naming, identifying, and acknowledging the significance of various items. We're taking pictures and recording stories so future generations will know. There is great value in the process. 

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“Vivian has given Molly’s community service sentence meaning. Now Molly wants to give something back. No one else knows Vivian’s story. There’s no one to read the documents of indenture, of adoption; no one to acknowledge the significance of the things she values, things that would be meaningful only to someone who cares about her. But Molly cares.” (177) 

This made me think of Joe and and his step-father, Ray. Ray didn't have any biological children. Joe is telling Ray's story because he cares greatly about him and wants him to be remembered. 

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Here are some family connections - 

Molly, one of the main characters, is a Penobscot Indian from Maine. Our ancestors were in Penobscot County, Maine - the Rowes beginning in the early 1800s. John Floyd arrived probably in the 1820s. Louisa Rowe and John Floyd married in 1831. Their son Edmond Floyd went to Michigan, married Elizabeth Allan. Their son, Harry Floyd was Mom's father. 

Vivian/Dorothy/Ne, the orphan with numerous names, had red hair. Prejudices and commonly held beliefs about red heads are mentioned in this book. Seems that many books I read have main characters with red hair. Curious. I'm glad we celebrate red heads in our family!

On one of my visits to Sidell, Illinois I spoke with a local historian who said the Cathcart family might have taken one of the children from the orphan trains. This source mentions that about 150 orphans found homes around Danville, Illinois. Danville isn't far from Sidell. I need to do more research on this topic. 

Reunion - Imports

The Griffins came to the reunion bearing gifts from east of the Mississippi. 

Hellmann's Mayonnaise, the REAL mayonnaise, as it says on the jar, isn't sold in this part of the country. Read more about that here. 

Sander's is a Grosse Pointe institution. Joe remembers going to Sander's ice cream stores when he was a boy in Grosse Pointe. Click here for a picture of the store Joe frequented on Kercheval in Grosse Pointe. These tasty ice cream toppings are delicious!

John Boman - Civil War Soldier

John Boman/Bowman

 source

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John Boman’s first wife was Jane Judd. John and Jane are parents of our Great Grandmother Idah Bowman  (Idah Bowman married Harry Brown(e). They were parents of Mildred Browne Floyd). At some point John and Jane divorced. In some censuses Jane lists herself as a widow (when John was still alive). In another census she lists her marital status as divorced. 

John served in the 2nd Michigan Calvary, Company E. His name is on the roster here.  Read about the history of the Second Calvary here. 

This image shows John Boman on the draft registration. The entry indicates he's 35 years old, living in Hazelton, Michigan, born in Germany where he served in the military in Germany for two years and he's a citizen of the United States. 

 whole page

*see note below

After John's death, both wives applied for his military pension. 

More research is needed to determine who, if anyone, received the pension. 

John is buried in Flushing Cemetery in Flushing, Michigan. 

This is the home John & Jane Boman built. 

We have an 1880 drawing of the house. Not much has changed. 

While John and Jane built this house they lived in a 

log house that's been covered with red siding. 

I took the house and cabin/shed photos in October 2013. Read about my Michigan adventures here. 

A heart felt thank you to all who have served in the military. Click on "Military" label to the right to see who has served. 

*Note: 38 year old Jacob Brown, also from Hazelton, registered along with John Boman. I wonder if he's related to Harry Brown who married John Boman's daughter Idah. 

One Tune - Multiple Songs

One Sunday Juli and I were passing out hymnals at the beginning of Relief Society (women's meeting). Juli's husband completed dental school at The Ohio State last year and they moved to Kirkland. The pianist was playing prelude music. The music caught my attention. I looked at Juli and asked, "Why is she playing the Ohio State song?" Juli responded that she was thinking exactly the same thing!

The pianist was playing "Come Ye Children of the Lord." Click here and listen to it. Then click here and listen to "Carmen Ohio." (Click on the first play button after the lyrics for the instrumental version.)

Doesn't that bring a smile to your whole self?

Both songs use the melody "Spanish hymn" or "Spanish Chant." The tune was also used for the hymn "Come Christians, Join To Sing", Text: 1843 by Christian H. Bateman (1813-1889). Click here to listen.

When I mentioned this to a Worthington friend, she related the following experience. She and her husband moved from Utah to Columbus to attend school. The first Saturday they were in town they went to their first OSU football game. They experienced the Buckeye madness as they walked into the the stadium with thousands of Buckeye fans. She said to her husband, "They're playing 'Come Ye Children of the Lord.'" She was very impressed and surprised that the band would be performing this hymn for thousands of fans at a football game!

As I was sharing all this with Joe, we wondered, for the first time ever, why it's called "Carmen" Ohio. All you Buckeye fans probably already know that carmen is the Latin and Spanish word for song or poem. "Carmen Ohio" means "song of Ohio."

There's more -  "Carmen Ohio" has a Michigan connection. I found two accounts. Here and here. I like the version at the second link. In 1902, OSU freshman football player, Fred Cornell, was in Ann Arbor for the OSU-Michigan game. OSU was undefeated. Excitement was high. Amidst all the game hoopla and football songs, the crowd quieted and sang solemnly when the Michigan band played "The Yellow and  Blue." Fred Cornell decided Ohio State needed the same sort of song. On the train back to Columbus he wrote "Carmen Ohio." Ohio State had lost the game. They were "beaten and bloodied, but unbowed."

And now you know.

image

Moving and Music

Mormon Tabernacle Choir sings 

"God Be With You Till We Meet Again"

March 1, 2011 a crew arrived at 52 West North Street to pack up for our move out west. Recently I came across a draft for a blog post about moving and a connection to the hymn "God Be With You Till We Meet Again."

from that draft written in March 2011 - "God Be With You Till We Meet Again" is one of my favorite hymns. My heart is touched every time I hear and sing it. It has been sung at many important times of transition for me - including several times in church not long before we moved out west. I thought of family and friends left behind in Ohio and Michigan and of family and friends who have gone to the other side.  When I last heard it in Worthington Ward I was struck by being “folded” with God’s sheep. As long as I stay in that fold with God's sheep and Him as my shepherd, I’ll be OK - better than OK. Each time it’s sung I feel it’s a personal message from Heavenly Father to me - one of those “tender mercies”  spoken of by David Bednar."

Back to present day - 

The "solemnities of eternity" often come into my heart when I ponder the words of this hymn. They have taken on even more meaning with the death of our son as he joined family on the other side. 

Here's some history of the hymn from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's blog - 

"Many of the popular songs we know and love have a special story behind them. That being said, “God Be With You Till We Meet Again”, which was written by Jeremiah Rankin, was simply composed so his church choir could have something to sing when they parted each week. Rankin was the minister for the First Congregational Church in Washington, D.C. and said this about the hymn, “Written…as a Christian goodbye, it was called forth by no person or occasion, but was deliberately composed as a Christian hymn on basis of the etymology of “goodbye,” which is “God be with you.” He got the idea for the first stanza of the song when he saw the dictionary definition of "good-bye" was short for "God be with you." The song was written in 1882 when Rankin was 54 years old." 

Click here for the rest of the story and a clip of the song performed by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Orchestra at Temple Square. 

God Be with You Till We Meet Again

1. God be with you till we meet again;

By his counsels guide, uphold you;

With his sheep securely fold you.

God be with you till we meet again.

Till we meet, till we meet,

Till we meet at Jesus’ feet,

Till we meet, till we meet,

God be with you till we meet again.

2. God be with you till we meet again;

When life’s perils thick confound you,

Put his arms unfailing round you.

God be with you till we meet again.

Till we meet, till we meet,

Till we meet at Jesus’ feet,

Till we meet, till we meet,

God be with you till we meet again.

3. God be with you till we meet again;

Keep love’s banner floating o’er you;

Smite death’s threat’ning wave before you.

God be with you till we meet again.

Till we meet, till we meet,

Till we meet at Jesus’ feet,

Till we meet, till we meet,

God be with you till we meet again.

Written By: Jeremiah E. Rankin

Music By: William G. Tomer

Click here for another post about this hymn