HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.
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farmer and followed that occupation in Blackberry Township until the spring of 1900, when he retired and removed to Aurora, where he has since resided. He was married to Miss Malinda Acres, and their children are Gordon A. and Elbritige S.
GEORGE S. BOWEN, retired merchant, manufacturer and capitalist, Elgin, Ill., born at Ingham's Mills, Herkimer County, N. Y., Nov. 30, 1829; was educated in the public schools, and obtained his first business experience in the office of the Wool-Growers' Manufacturing Company, of Little Falls, N. Y., where he was employed six years. He came to Chicago in 1849, and soon after entered into the employment of N. H. Wood, a leading dry-goods merchant of that period. In 1853, in company with his brother, Chauncey T. Bowen, and others, he purchased the establishment of his employer, Mr. Wood, and founded the firm of Mills, Boweii, Dillenbeck & Co., which three years later was changed to Bowen Brothers, the latter for many years conducting one of the leading wholesale dry-goods and notion houses of Chicago. Col. .1. H. Bowen, another brother, became a member of the concern in 1857, tlie firm some time before the fire of 1871 becoming Bowen, Whitman & Winslow. and still later Bowen, Hunt & Winslow. After the fire, in which Mr. Bowen was a heavy loser, having retired from trade, he removed to Elgin, which has since been his home, in the meantime maintaining his connection with business and financial affairs in Chicago. While a resident of Chicago Mr. Bowen was active in the advancement of many enterprises calculated to promote the commercial, manufacturing and educational interests of the city. Among these may be mentioned the Woolen Manufacturers' Association of the Northwest, of which he was the President for many years, and under whose auspices a number of expositions of woolen goods were held in Chicago, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, St. Louis and other cities. He also inaugurated the movement which resulted in the organization of the Chicago Manufacturers' Association and the Chicago Exposition, which was carried on successfully for a number of years, and in support of which, by his personal efforts, he succeeded in raising $150,000 for the erection of the Exposition buildings. In 1861 he was chosen President of the Chicago Library Board, and after the fire of 1871 organized the movement which resulted in the founding of the present Public Library. In 1871 he took part in the organization of the Chicago & Pacific Railway Company, serving as Treasurer, Vice-President and President, and after his removal to Elgin was an active factor in promoting the construction of this line, now a part of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul system. His connection with this enterprise continued during the life of the original corporation, and he negotiated the sale which resulted in the transfer of the property to the St. Paul line. Mr. Bowen has since represented various financial interests and railroad enterprises, and has spent much time in Europe in negotiation with capitalists and investors. He has been largely interested in the introduction of the tower system of electric lighting, establishing plants in New Orleans, Detroit, Evansville, Ind.; Macon and Savannah, Ga.; La Crosse, Wis.; Fargo, N. D.; the City of Mexico, Elgin and other cities. In 1879 he conducted a manufacturers' excursion to Mexico, the results of which have been apparent in the increase of trade with that country, and has also been active in promoting more intimate commercial relations with South American States. He is now the President of the North Pacific Trading Company of Chicago and Tokio, importers and exporters of Japanese and American goods. Mr. Bowen was one of the founders of the Elgin Board of Trade, and served as Mayor of that city two years (1872-3), his administration being remembered as one of the most businesslike and progressive in the history of the city. In 1896 he was an unsuccessful candidate for Congress in opposition to present United States Senator A. J. Hopkins. His long and active business career and his interest in public affairs have brought him in contact with many leading men in public life, financiers and men of affairs, and few men now living in the West have had more interesting and varied experiences. Mr. Bowen was married in 1854 to Miss Julia E. Byington, at Salisbury Center, N. Y.
CAPT. FRANCIS H. BOWMAN, retired merchant and banker, St. Charles, Kane County, Ill., born in Binghamton, N. Y., May 9, 1816, son of Ebenezer and Sylvia (Barnaby) Bowman, of English ancestry; was educated in the schools of his native place, and in 1834 went to Ithaca, N. Y., where he entered upon a course of training for mercantile pursuits in the gen-
