Thomas Bowman and Sallie Bowman Caldwell papers

Thomas Bowman was born in Berwick, Pennsylvania in 1817. In 1837 he was among the first graduating class of Dickinson College where he remained for a time studying law and preaching and teaching in an elementary school related to the college. He worked on the family farm and flour mill before becoming principal of Dickinson Seminary (now known as Lycoming College). He became the fourth president of Indiana Asbury University, now DePauw University, in 1858.

As Bowman served during the Civil War years, he was also chaplain of the U.S. Senate from 1864-1865. After the war he presided over the admission of women and the planning and beginning of the construction of East College. His reputation in the Methodist Episcopal Church was such that in 1872 he was elected bishop on the first ballot with the greatest number of votes cast to that time. He served in the episcopacy for the next 24 years, but continued an his interest in DePauw, serving as chancellor from 1884-1899 and president of its Board of Trustees from 1887-1895. He retired from active duties in 1896 and died at age 96 in 1914.

Thomas Bowman and his wife, Matilda Hartman, had eleven children, eight sons and three daughters. One, Sallie Bowman Caldwell, provided the organ for Meharry Hall in East College and a large portion of the funds for Bowman Gymnasium. A son was lost in tragic circumstances in 1871. Thomas Bowman's name is memorialized today with Bowman Park.