To understand my family’s distant connection to the Bowman Distillery, we first need to look at the initial settlement of Bowman’s Station in the wilds of western Virginia that would later become Kentucky.
In the mid-1990s, the newsletter The Society of the Descendants of Bowman's Station Settlers provided information regarding the establishment of Bowman Station. The catalog on the FamilySearch.org website describes it as a “Newsletter for the interchange of genealogical data and history of the families whose ancestors settled between 1779-1780 at Bowman's Station, in Fayette County, Kentucky." [1] This area was named for Col. Abraham Bowman (1749-1837), who acquired several thousand acres in the western part of Fayette County for his Revolutionary War service there. Plantations and homes were established at Bowman's Station by Col. Abraham, and several of relatives and associates, including: Charles Alford, James Allin, William Allin, Joseph Aikers, Thomas Aikers, Benjamin Berry, Abraham Bowman, John Bowman, Jacob Bowman, Robert Bowmar, William Bryant, Joel Collins, Joseph Collins, Stephen Collins, James Cox, James Darnall, Thomas Ferrier, Richard Foley, George Helms, Archibald Marlan, William Morrow, Edward Pirtle, Edward Polley, James Polley, Peter Polley, Elisha Prewitt, Joshua Prewitt, Robert Prewitt, and William Robinson. Some of these were part of the large migration to the Ohio River Valley in the late 1700s. Earlier ancestors lived in Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Some descendants remained in Kentucky, and others moved to Missouri, Montana, Oregon, Tennessee, and elsewhere in the United States.” [2]----------Other sources indicate that Abraham Bowman and his brother Col. Johannes "John" Bowman, who grew up in the northern Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, were the co-founders of Bowman Station. [3] Interestingly, although he was not a resident of Bowman Station, my maternal fourth great-grandfather, John G. Carney, served a six-month term alongside Captain Henry Paulding of Botetourt County (Virginia) in Colonel John Bowman's regiment.
[1] Bowman's Station is the current site of the Burgin School Parking Lot, 440 E. Main Street, Burgin, KY 40310. This is in present-day Mercer County, not Fayette, as the article notes. The source lists John’s wife’s name as Elizabeth Bryan. https://www.jamesharrodtrust.org/tours/rural-mercer-driving-tour/john-bowmans-station/ [2] Source: https://www.familysearch.org/en/search/catalog/769581 [3] See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bowman_(pioneer) ----------Below is a 1995 article from the Polley Pointers newsletter in my research files. The footnotes are listed at the end of the article.
The Polleys of Bowman's Station, Kentucky - A Brief Look at Their OriginsBy Richard C. Randt and Wanda (Polley) AdamsPublished in the 1995 Special Issue of Polley PointersEdited for this article by Jeff Pauley
The hard winter of 1779-1780 covered a wide geographic area [1]. The ice was three feet thick on the Delaware River at Philadelphia, Long Island Sound was frozen, and Chesapeake Bay was iced over so solidly that loaded sleighs could cross it. Cattle crossed the Cumberland River at Nashville on a solid sheet of ice. Ice on the Kentucky River was said to be two feet thick.
The author describes the situation in Kentucky thus: "In the interior of Kentucky, around Harrodsburg [2], from the middle of Nov. to the middle of Feb. snow and ice continued on the ground without a thaw, and snowstorms, accompanied with bleak, driving, and piercing winds, were wonderfully frequent. Not a drop of rain fell: the rivers, rivulets, and springs were all frozen solid, and water for drinking, cooking, and washing was obtained only by melting snow."It was this horrendous winter and frequent attacks by the Indians that greeted the first 30 families who came to settle at the fort built two years earlier by Colonel John Bowman. Bowman's Fort, later called Bowman's Station, several miles east of Fort Harrod, was the first of a series of smaller outlying stockades or stations that were built surrounding Fort Harrod to offer protection to the influx of settlers to the western wilderness of Virginia that was to become the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
In Chinn's Kentucky Settlement and Statehood 1750-1800 [3], we find: "By spring, 1780, about thirty cabins had been built and thirty families lived on the small branch between the Dick's River and Cane Run ... Among those who made their first homes in Kentucky [then Kentucky County, Virginia) at Bowman's Station were the families Foley, Aikers, Bryant, Alford, Polly, Ferrier, Marlan, Robinson, Darnall, Bowmar, Allan, Cox, Morrow, Berry, Allen, Collins, Holmes, and Bowman." A contemporary account by Elijah Foley, son of settler Richard Foley, provides the full names of the settlers. The Polly (or Polley) heads of household at Bowman's Station were Peter, James, and Edward [4]. However, their relationship to one another is unclear. Their origin is presumably Virginia, since Bowman, Harrod, and other leaders of the growing Kentucky settlements were sponsored by Virginia. [5]
Excerpt from Elijah Foley’s Interview“We started from Frederick County, Virginia and settled Bowman’s Station, fall 1779, about the middle of December. My mother was the first white woman that was there for some time; and our coming was the first settling of the station. There was nothing but a camp there till sometime in March, because it was too cold to work. As soon as we had gotten a good camp, Colonel (Abram or Abraham) Bowman brought his family from Harrodsburg, and by Spring we had 20 families that had camped in the snow and remained during that winter [he then lists #6 Peter Polly, #7 Edward Polly, #8 James Polly. All these were heads of families and wintered there in camps. In June. By planting time, there were 31 or 32 families there. There were that many cabins; over 30. The cabins were built on each side of a hollow, in the form of a half “H”. The main lines were probably 150 yards apart, to give the stock room to get in. The Run went down through the “H”, and then in about a mile, emptied into Cane Run. The cabins were not stockaded in. The stream ran a North course and was rather between Cane Run and Dick’s River.”
The question this article addresses is where each of the three Polleys originated in Virginia. Foley states, "We started from Frederick County, VA ... ." [See box for excerpt.] However, it is highly unlikely that all 30 families had previous roots in Frederick Co. More likely, Frederick Co. was a mustering point for the journey to Bowman's Station, with each family responsible for making its own way there from its current home in Virginia. Regarding James, we do have documentary evidence of his land acquisition in Kentucky. An entry in Certificate Book of the Virginia Land Commission 1779-1780 [6] reads as follows:" ...(Cert iss for 4OO pd D.D.) James Polly this day claimed a preempt of 40O Acres of Land at the State price in the District of Kentucky on account of making an Actual settlement in March 1779, lying on the South side of Kentucky about 8 Miles from Col. Bowman and about 5 Miles above the Mouth of Dick's River in a large Bent of Kentucky to include a Spring. Satisfactory proof being made to the Court, they are of the Opinion that the sd Polly has a right to a preempt of 400 Acres of Land to include the above Location & that a Cert. issue accordingly. ...” [7]
Little else is found among early Virginia records pertaining to a James Poll(e)y, Paul(l)ey, etc., that appears to lead logically to a James in Kentucky.We find a Peter Polley in the Virginia Militia in Montgomery Co., VA., sworn to service in the company of Captain Joseph Cloyd, on Christmas Day, December 1777. [8] There is also an indication that he served an earlier stint, starting in February 1777, under Captain McCorkle. Here again, there is little else in the way of Virginia records regarding a Peter Polley.
Edward, on the other hand, seems somewhat better documented in both Virginia and Kentucky. However, there is some doubt that all the references to Edward Poll(e)ys pertain to the Edward of Bowman Station.
The name of Edward Polley appears as a signatory on a petition to the Virginia General Assembly seeking repeal of an October 1788 act of the Virginia legislature that provided for the establishment of the District of Kentucky as an independent state, [9] However there is no indication of where that Edward lived at the time he signed the petition nor where he was from in Virginia.
The most well-documented Edward of Virginia is the Revolutionary War veteran from Pittsylvania Co., VA. His records in the National Archives tell us that he was born on 21 December 1758. He enlisted six weeks after the Battle of Camden, SC, on 16 Aug 17801 and served 18 months as a private in the companies commanded by Captains Burton and Isaac Webb of Colonel Steven's 1Oth Virginia Regt. [12 Nov 1776-31 Jan 17781 and Colonel Gibson's 8th Virginia Regt. 14 Sep 1778 to 12 Feb 1781, participating in a number of skirmishes. [10]
Edward married Mary (also called Agnes) Mullen (or Mullens; also Mullins) in Pittsylvania Co., VA in 1784. They had twelve children, enumerated in the records: Sally, Andrew, Polly, Agnes, and Henry, who were all born prior to 1794, plus Raney [prob. Lorena], Joseph, Edward, Vind or Vina [prob. Levina] (b. 1803), Nancy, David (b. 1809), and Susannah (b. 1814).
Edward applied for his pension on 17 Nov 1825 from Perry Co., KY. He died on 19 May 1845. His widow applied for her pension on 7 June 1847 from Letcher Co., KY. Edward, at age 84, appears in the special 1840 census of pensioners, in Perry Co., KY., listed in the household of David, presumably his son. In this reference, the surname is given as Pally. He is also documented in 1835, at a stated age of 76, as being a pensioner residing in Pendleton Co., KY. [11] Thus, we have a range of probable birth years, 1756, 1758, and 1759, for an Edward who is supposed to be the same person. However, a window that narrow is reasonable for records of this vintage and geographic area.
There is, however, some conflicting evidence regarding whether the Revolutionary War veteran was indeed the Bowman Station settler. Edward, the soldier, is documented as married in 1784, raising the question of why he was referred to as "head of household" at Bowman Station during the winter of 1779-80, unless that meant "independent of the other two Polley settlers." However, given that he initially came to Bowman Station alone, there appears to be no documentary evidence of a return journey back to Virginia to marry, followed by a return to the Kentucky District.
To further compound the doubt about the identity of Edward of Bowman Station, we find in the records of Henry County, VA (created in 1776-77 from Pittsylvania Co.) [This is not correct. Pittsylvania was formed from Halifax] a John Polley and an Edward Polley are listed as tax assessors for the years 1778, 1779, and 1780. [12] It gives one cause to wonder how Edward could seemingly be in two places at once. However, one can speculate that he could have been elected or appointed to a three-year term and left after the first year, perhaps on a "temporary" basis with the intention of returning.
John Polley's name is also important in the early history of Virginia/Kentucky. He, too, was a Revolutionary War veteran and, based on his birth year and location, appears to be a close relative of Edward, quite possibly a brother. His war records indicate that he was likewise born in Pittsylvania Co., VA, in 1760 [Pittsylvania County was formed in 1767 from Halifax County]. After the war, he is said to have lived in Camden, SC, for 12 years. He was married there to Susan (last name unknown), and they later moved to Washington Co., NC (now in TN). In 1803, they moved again to Kentucky and remained there. In 1833, John applied for his pension from Adair Co., KY. His widow later applied for her pension from there in 1843 at age 79. Later that same year, she was located in Russell Co., KY, which is adjacent to Adair Co. In 1845, Susan Polly again made application for additional widow's benefits under the Act of 30 April 1844. This application states that John Polly died on 4 September 1840. The affidavit was sworn to "this 12 day of March 1845 at her daughters in Adair County, Kentucky." The record states the couple had eight children, although no names are given in the claim. [13] In the 1840 special census of pensioners, John is picked up as living in Russell Co., KY, aged 80. In the 1835 Report to the Secretary of War, he is also listed as living in Russell Co., aged 73.
The records of Pittsylvania Co., VA, also yield information on a probable family for Edward, John, and others. The Federal Census of Virginia for 1790 (based on the Tax Lists of 1782 and 1785) shows the information in the accompanying box. This information, coupled with an indicator of the 1785 death of David Polley, Sr. [14], paints a picture of a family headed by David, Sr., with sons Edward, John, David, and others. By 1785, Edward, possibly the oldest, is already off on his own. John and David are living separately. A 1785 record for David's marriage to Elizabeth Justice, 21 Mar 1785, coincides with his establishing his own household. [15]
p. 41 “David Polley (1782) Pittsylvania Co., 9 White souls, 0 Black”p. 42 “John Polley (1782) Pittsylvania Co., 1 White soul, 0 Black”p. 98 “David Polley (1785) Pittsylvania Co., 1 White soul, 1 dwelling and 1 outbuilding” “David Polley Jr. (1785) Pittsylvania Co., 1 White soul
Several other Polley marriages in Pittsylvania County in the same general time frame indicate additional siblings. Lurane [Lorena?] Polley married John Watson, 24 Oct 1782. Joseph Polley married Viney Midcalf [Levina Midkiff?], 13 June 1785. Lydia Polley married John Swinney on 15 Aug 1796, and Sally Polley married James Elliott on 30 Dec 1805. Note that many of these names are identical to the children of Edward as enumerated in his pension records. Although based on assumed ages of early 20s at the time of marriage, they appear to have all been born too early to be Edward's children.
According to another source, although undocumented, many of the Pittsylvania Co. Polleys (or Pauleys) migrated to the Coal River region of Kanawha Co., now West Virginia, during the period 1805-1820, although an Edward, Sr., is said to have been there as early as 1753. [16] Again, from the same source, Edward, Jr., is supposed to have bought land in 1762 and to have administered his father's estate in 1771. However, suppose we believe the birth year for Edward. In that case, the Revolutionary War veteran, 1758, conventional wisdom tells us he could not be the same Edward as Edward, Jr. in Kanawha Co. Perhaps the Edward Sr. of Kanawha Co. was a brother of the David Sr. recorded in Pittsylvania Co.
What appears to be emerging from the intensive sifting of several folders of unrefined Virginia and Kentucky data on the surname Polley (and all its variants) is a very murky picture of two or more Polley/Pauley families that coexisted in the same broad region at the same time. To further confound future generations' research, it seems the principals conspired to limit the assignment of male names to Edward, David, John, and Joseph!
But what of James and Peter? Without further research and the uncovering of additional documentation, it isn't easy, at best, to even speculate on their origins and any relation, if any, to Edward. In the limited time devoted to preparing this article, armed only with incomplete raw data collected by others, one fact has become clear. The Polley settlers at Bowman's Station were the first Polleys to pioneer into the Kentucky District. Others came later, via the Cumberland Gap and transmontane (JLP note: there's a word I've never heard of, but according to the Oxford Dictionary, it means "traveling to, situated on, or living on the other side of mountains") migration, but Peter, James, and Edward were the first.
The second thing to emerge from preparing this article is an understanding of the difficulty of pinpointing a specific progenitor within Virginia. In many cases, records are unavailable, and when they are, they are more often than not ambiguous.
References for the Polley Pointers article1 . Collins, Lewis, Collins' historical sketches of Kentucky. History of Kentucky, by the late Lewis Collins, rev. and enl. ,.. by his son, Richard H. Collins. 1874 ed. reprinted by Kentucky Historical Society, Frankfort, 1966. Available on microfiche. 19 sheets. Lost Cause Press, Lexington, KY. [Lewis Collins lived between 1797 and 187O. Richard H. Collins lived between 1824 and 1889.
2. First visited by a party of surveyors under the leadership of James Harrod in 1774, Harrodsburg was settled in June 1775. It is located in present-day Mercer County, in the state's approximate center. The area was accessed via the Kentucky River, a south-to-north-flowing tributary of the Ohio River.
3. Chinn, George Morgan, Kentucky, Settlement and Statehood. 1750-1800, The Kentucky Historical Society, Frankfort, KY, 1975, p.22O. Also quoted in "Bowmans in Kentucky,' by Dan M. Bowman, Descendants of Bowman's Station Settlers Newsletter, Vol. 1, No. 2, Spring 1994, p. 14.
4. The names of the three Polly heads of household are recorded with 19 others in a transcription of an interview of Elijah Foley (of Fayette Co., KY) by Rev. John D. Shane, circa 1855. (Draper Mss. 1 1CC133-35). Transcribed for publication by Lucien Beckner and published in The Filson Club History Quarterly, Vol. 11, No. 4, Oct 1937, page 255.
5. An early incursion in 1775 by Daniel Boone for the Transylvania Company, sponsored by North Carolina, established Boonesboro. However, under the leadership of George Rogers Clark, Virginia gained the upper hand in the settlement of Kentucky, and the Transylvania Company was declared illegal. Kentucky County was made part of Virginia.
6. The Kentucky Register, publ. by the Kentucky State Historical Society, Vol. 21, p. 257
7. Note that the date of March 1779 appears to conflict with the Elijah Foley account. One might speculate that this record is an after-the-fact entry and the product of faulty memory. It could also be an Old Style reckoning of the first of the year, which used to be the 25th of March, although that practice was officially discontinued in 1752. Then again, Foley, when speaking in the second person, may not have been speaking collectively about all the settlers. He may have been referring only to the Foley family. Polly may, in fact, have arrived there in the Spring, ahead of the rest. Your editor has seen a photocopy of the handwritten record, Land Office Treasury Warrant No. 503, dated 31 Mar 1780, which cites a settlement in March 1779. Other similar records also bore issue dates a year or more after the cited settlement date.
8. Bales, Hattie Muncy, Early Records of Lee Co., VA and Adjacent Counties, Media, Inc., Greensboro, NC, 1977. Volume l, p. 373: "Original papers of Stephen Trigg, one of the first landowners of Montgomery Co., listing the 190 Revolutionary soldiers sworn to service by him between Sept. 5, 1777 & April 1778 - Sworn to Capt. Jos. Cloyd's Company ... Peter Polly ..." The same author, in her work Early Settlers of Lee Co., VA and Adjacent Counties, Media, Inc., Greensboro, NC, 1977, clarifies the first item on Peter by citing a specific swearing-in date. Volume II, p. 1 181: Revolutionary War Records of Fincastle and Montgomery Counties, 1777-1778 - Sworn of Capt. Joseph Cloyd's Co.1777 ... Peter Polly - 25th December 1777, ..."
9. Robertson, James Rood, Petitions of the Early Inhabitants of Kentucky, John P. Morton & Co., Louisville, KY, 1914, pp. 121-122, No. 58. The petition is not dated. However, since Kentucky became the 15th state in 1792, there is a four-year window during which it would have been signed.
10. Revolutionary War Pension Records, National Archives, Washington, DC., File Nos. 8-8873 and W9263. The dates cited for the 10th Virginia Regt. appear not to relate to Edward Polly, given the date of enlistment keyed to the Battle of Camden, SC. Anomalies such as this continue to be the bane of genealogists.
1 1. Report of the Secretary of War. 1835, Pension Rolls at the Virginia State Library, Richmond, VA. Vol. 3, Part l, p. 56, Pendleton Co., KY: “Edward Polly, Private, $96.OO/allowance/year, sums received - $582.45, service in the Virginia Line. Placed on the roll 15 Feb 1828, pension commenced 10 Feb 1828, his age was 76."
12. Adams, Lela C., 1778-1780 Tax Lists of Henry Co., VA, Sherwood Forest, Bassett, VA 24055, 1975.
13. Revolutionary War Pension Records, National Archives, Washington, DC, File No. W3036
14. Torrence, Clayton, Virginia Wills and Administrations, 1607-1 800, Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore, 1965. - Polley, David, Pittsylvania County, 1785, inventory."
15. Knorr, Catherine L., Marriages of Some Virginia Residents, 1607-1800, Duplicating Service, Perdue Co., Pine Bluff, AR, 1957. "David Polley married Elizabeth Justice on 21 March 1785 by Rev. David Barr, Pittsylvania County Minister's Returns."
16. Cornell, Ruth Williams, My Family Connections, Volume l, The Pauleys, self-pub., 1980----------Based on the above article, the Polly (or Polley) heads of household at Bowman's Station were Peter, James, and Edward. These are most likely my 6th great-uncles, the sons of my 6th great-grandfather, David Polly, and Agnes Adkins. David and Agnes had ten children that I am aware of, including eight boys: Joseph (b. Abt 1757), Edward (b. 1758), John (b. 1760), George (b. 1763), David Jr. (b. 1765), William (b. 1766), Henry (b. 1767), and James (b. 1780).----------A History of the Bowman Distillery“In 1927, A. Smith Bowman [a descendant of Abraham Bowman] purchased the 7,200-acre Sunset Hills farm in [then-rural] Fairfax County, Virginia, to open up a dairy and granary. Shortly after bringing the idea to life, his fields became so abundant that he needed a use for the excess grain. This one defining moment changed the entire course of the Bowman legacy.
In 1934, A. Smith Bowman built a groundbreaking distillery on the farmland and turned it into a family-owned business. In 1964, the farm was among the properties that became the planned community of Reston, Virginia. The historic family-owned distillery relocated to Fredericksburg, Virginia, where it continues today.
John J., Abraham, Joseph, and Isaac Bowman were Virginia militia officers in the American Revolutionary War. This hand-crafted bourbon whiskey is a tribute to their heroism. Our Bowman Brothers Small Batch Bourbon is distilled three times using the finest corn, rye, and malted barley, producing distinct hints of vanilla, spice, and oak.”Source: https://www.sazerac.com/our-brands/sazerac-brands/bowmans-small-batch.html
Note: Reston, Virginia, was developed as a planned community in 1964 by Robert E. Simon Jr., who based its design on principles of integration and inclusiveness. The initial vision was a "live, work, and play" community focused on pedestrian access and a sense of community. Note that his initials are the basis for the name.