The Bowser Family

Chapter One of "The Bowser Family History"

A Buncha' Bowsers
These distinguished looking gentlemen are the 1918 committee to organize the annual Bowser family reunion -unfortunately, it looks as if women weren't allowed to get involved until it was time to prepare all the goodies that adorned the consistently yummy buffet table...

History has its sources, like the ancient Nile, hidden in the mysterious and impenetrable reache of the unexplored and unknown.

The painter trails his art backward to the crude sketches left on the rocks by the aborigines. Back of that the unknown. The writer of human history begins at the boundary of mythology. On this side we have tangibilities. features. forms. facts though scanty, coutries, names nad periods of time.

In preparing a family history such as is undertaken in this work, the writer's first task is to know from what race his forebearers sprang. What native land reared them. What valleys grew golden with their annual harvests? What cities educated their children? What rivers bore upon their bosom their rugged crafts of commerce? What sort of government ruled them? What ideals inspired them with heroic manhood, and lastly, what religious impulses moulded their characters and awkened the innate love of justice and liberty and hatred toward depotism whether of government or religion?

 

We have a deeper regard for Christian denominations, when we are acquainted with the tyranny and persecution against which they revolted. In peaceful America where all creeds and names alike are under the same kindly protection of the state we would little suspect how dearly the pioneers of these Christian bodies paid for the right to breathe and think and worship God according to their consciences. And there is a soul stirring history back of these European emigrations to the new world. We think with pride of our heroic ancestors who braved the perils of the sea, and the uncertainties of a life in a wilderness, in a strane land, rather than submit to oppression. We regret that space will not permit us to yield tothe inclination to marshal a greater array of the terrific iniquities our brave people suffered across the seas.

When the writer began the task of collecting data for this history there was no one of our people so far as he could discover who know from what land the Bowsers emigrated. There was a tradition that we came from Germany; others said from Holland, yetothers, from France. Following the clue of the first we were happy to discover the truth. It seemed most reasonable to begin with the language. A people's language would, it would seem obvious, be a direct index to their nationality. If, for example, an emigrant came to America speaking the Welsh language we would rightly conclude he cam from Wales. That our people were not Hollanders was evident because they did not speak Dutch. They were not French for the same reason; and if from Germany, certainly not from the North German States. The people of Europe, though dwelling in comparatively small areas, have distinctive languages. And their languages have been fixed in literature, books of history, science, poetry, and especially in the Bible. Our Bowser forefathers therefore left a homeland in which the same language was spoken which they spoke in this country, which, as all know, has been called "Pennsylvania Dutch." The term "Pennsylvania Dutch" is a misnomer.


Elizabeth Fluke, Wife of Valentine Bowser (see Chart #3)

There is no such language. It has been supposed nby many as we ourselves once thought, that "Pennsylvania Dutch" was a corrupted German, the result of natural variation due to ignorance and long separation from its pure springs. We know now it is not a corrupted tonguebut native to a part of Switzerland and the Rheinish Palatinate, a principality in the Southern part of Germany. From the Palatine, then, came the "Pennsylvania Dutch." Let us henceforth give them their right name "Palatine German."

"We speak of the German language or 'Deutsche Sprache' as embracing, generally, the different languages spoken in all their stages fro th earliest history to the present, the languages spoken by the related Teutonic tribes, as the Austrians, Swiss, Alsations, Bavarians and the like. What Dr. J. A. H. Murray has pointed out about the origin of the principal English dialects may equally well be true of these Germanic idioms. Having no specimens of the languages of the Germans for nearly three centuries after their final settlement, we cannot tell to what extent they originally agreed some dialectal differences to begin with, which were afterwards increased and multiplied. But, however scanty our means of illustrating the earliest history of these idioms may be, there is no doubt that they were not all related to each other in the same degree. Three main groups are easily distinguishable.

  The Frisian and Saxon, whose nearest relation is English
  Frankish, Hessian and Thuringian, and
  Alemanni and Bavarian

"The Frisian is generally regarded as a separate language" (Brittannica.) These represent the Low, Middle, and High German.

"the Alemanni is divided into the three main groups, Swabian, Alsatian, and Swiss, while Bavaria is constituted by several dialects spoken in Bavaria and austria. the members of the thinrd group. Upper German, conbined with the midland dialects, Hessian and Thuringian, and part of the Frankish dialects, are sources of the High German. The greatest difference prevails between the first group and the third. The southern Frankish dialects are very closely akin to the adjacent Upper German idioms. Where German words are incorporated many have changes as the German Schlaf becomes Schlof; fragen, froge, waagen, woge." (Britannica.) The influence of Luthe upon the German language has been trmendous as his writings, especially his translation of the Bible, were accepted as the best pattern of High German and imitated. Switzerland and Lower German clung for a long time to their native dialects, but the differnet German states were gradually brought nearer to a common language.

The Palatinate was inhabited by descendants of the group of German tribes called the Rheinfranken with an admixture of the Alemanni, the latter of whom had occupied the land until 496 A.D., when Chlodwig, King of the Franks, defeated them in battle fought somewhere on the Upper Rhine. Wurtemburg and Swtzerland were practically pure Alemanni while the Palatinate is Frankish with a strong infusion of Alemanni blood in certain parts. Hence it follows that "Pennsylvania Dutch," is a dialect --an admixture of Frankish and Alemanni. There are subdivisions in these dialects, the Swabian of Wurtemburg being different from Switzerland, and the mixed speech of the Paltine different from both. The "Pennsylvania Dutch" then has as a basis certain characteristics derived from all of these dialects, modified and harmonized. In brief, the language of our forefathers was a mixture of the original Alemanni, French and German words. The Palatinate, Frankish, Wurtemburg and Switzerland Alemanni -- from these stems grew the people who later cam to Pennsylvania specaking the Palatine German." (Swiss and German Settlements in Pennsylvania)

Matthias and Elizabeth voyage to America
Matthias and Elizabeth arrived in Philadelphia 1733 September 18 aboard the Richard and Elizabeth. Also on board were all four of their parents and some brothers and sisters and others of unknown relationship. Since many of the passengers were from Alsace, we hope we can learn something about the live and times of the Bausser and other families by collaboration with decendants of the other familes on this voyage.

The Passenger List of the Richard and Elizabeth
A List of the Passengers imported in the Brigantine Richard and Elizabeth, Captain Christopher Clymer, from Rotterdam and Plymouth, Sept. 28, 1733 (From Names of Foreigners who took the Oath of Allegiance and Pennsylvania German Pioneers)

* = took oath of allegiance; if spelling of name differs, the name in ( ) is from the oaths of allegiance spelling. Numbers are age of the person.

The letters m, w, b, g before the age are for man, woman, boy, girl. When I got the list it was in four parts and I added the gender prefix to theages because in two instances the person's age was too great to be a girl. Also some names might not indicate gender. The ship list (men, women, boys, girls), and the notes from Burgert's book were provided by William Rodney Eddleman.

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Ship List follows, with notes added, reference is given for each note. A bar separates possible families. See eg927 for complete list of passengers on the Richard and Elizabeth.

Mattheus Bausser* (Matthes Bouser) m63 and wife Esther Bouser w49 - Parents
Christian Bausser* (Christian Bewser) m18 - Son? of Mattheus and Esther
Daniel Bewser b11 1/2 - son? of Mattheus and Eshter
Jacob Bewser b9 1/2 - son? of Mattheus and Esther
Magdalena Bewser g7 1/2 - dau? of Mattheus and Esther
Anna Maria Bewser g4 - dau? of Mattheus and Esther
Elisabetha Bewser g7 - Who is this?

Matheis Bausser, Jr.* (Matthes Beser) m22 & wife Anna Elisabeth (Edelmann) Bewser w20 --
Anna Catherina Bewser g1 1/2 Anna Catherine b. 1731,
Anna Maria Bewser g17 weeks Anna Maria b. 1733