from The History of Hendricks County (Indianapolis: B.F. Bowen & Co., 1914)----pages 685-687
Many states in the Union have contributed to the present population of Hendricks County, Indiana, but it is probably North Carolina furnished as many of the early pioneers of this county as any other state in the Union. Most of the people who came from North Carolina to Indiana in the early history of the state were members of the Friends Church, who left the state of their nativity because of their opposition to slavery. When North Carolina changed her constitution in the early part of the nineteenth century, she permitted slaves to be held in that state, and as soon as the Friends found that slavery was to be tolerated they made preparations to leave the state. Wayne County, Indiana, was practically settled by North Carolina Friends, and other counties in the state received large delegations of native citizens of North Carolina. Whereever these native sons of North Carolina settled, they became prosperous and influential citizens.
Among the Friends of North Carolina who settled in Hendricks County, there is no one who has led a more highly respected and honorable career in this county than William Romulus Bowman, who was born March 22, 1850, in Guilford County, North Carolina. His parents were Richard and Polly Ann (Little) Bowman, natives of Guilford County, that state. Richard Bowman was a farmer in his native state and spent all of his days there. His wife was born in 1823, and died in October, 1910, in her native state. Mr. and Mrs. Richard Bowman were the parents of ten children: Leroy W.; Lysandry A., deceased; Mary, deceased in infancy; William Romulus, whose history is here presented; Cornelia, deceased; Edmond, a resident of North Carolina; Martha, deceased; Rufus, of North Carolina; Victor, deceased, and Mrs. Nanna Emma Hoggins, who lives in North Carolina. Richard was a great worker in the church, as was his wife.
William R. Bowman spent his boyhood days on his father's farm in North Carolina, but upon reaching his majority he came to Henry County, Indiana, and shortly afterwards went to Rush County, this state, where he remained a year. He then removed to Hamilton County, Indiana, and three years later came to Hendricks County, where he remained for the next three years, later going to Morgan County, Indiana, where he married, after which he returned to Hendricks County in 1881 and settled on his present farm.
William R. Bowman was married on December 12, 1878, to Jane Rachel McCollum, the daughter of Joseph and Matilda (Weesner) McCollum. Joseph Milton McCollum was born April 24, 1828, in Randolph County, North Carolina, and when a young man, came to Guilford Township, Hendricks County, Indiana, where he worked for Mr. Blair and others. When he came to the county he had sixty-five cents and two suits of jeans and spent thrity cents of his capital for a Bible. He worked for a short time in this county, then went to Morgan County, where he worked two years for Mr. Weesner, and while working there he became acquainted with Mr. Weesner's daughter, and subsequently married his employer's daughter in Morgan County, and began farming for himself in that county. He bought eighty acres of land in Monroe Township, that county, and by diligent effort and thrift he and his wife accumulated nearly three hundred acres before his death, which occurred on July 15, 1908, at the advanced age of eighty. Joseph Milton McCollum was a great Bible student all his life and was a prominent worker in the Friends Church at West Union, Morgan County. Throughout his life in that county he was an active worker in the church and attributes his success to the fact that he was one of the tithers of his denomination. Mr. McCollum was a prosperous farmer and specialized in the raising of Poland China hogs. Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Milton McCollum were the parents of nine children: Mrs. Delphiana Lawrence, who is living in Kansas; Mrs. Elmina Johnson, of Liscomb, Iowa; Mrs. Mary Page, who residies on the old home place in Morgan County, Indiana; Jane, the wife of Mr. Bowman; Louisa, deceased; John L., who lives in Michigan, and twins who died in infancy. Mrs. McCollum, now eighty-nine years of age, is living with Mr. and Mrs. Bowman. She came from her home in North Carolina to Henry County, Indiana, when a small child with her parents and soon afterwards the family came to Morgan County, Indiana, where they both died. The father lived to the advanced age of ninety, and her mother passed away at the age of sixty-six. Mrs. McCollum is now an invalid, and has been for eight years, but is kindly cared for by Mr. and Mrs. Bowman.
William R. Bowman and wife are the parents of five children: John Alfred, who died at the age of fourteen months; Urban, who married Elsie Thompson and has three children, William Harold, Blanche Maria and Richard Merlin; Urban is a farmer living in Marion County, near Bridgeport; Milton Richard, the third child of Mr. and Mrs. Bowman, married Ione Dillon; he is a skilled machinist at Bridgeport, Indiana; William Gurney died at the age of twenty years, and Jennie died in infancy.
Mr. Bowman and his wife are both faithful and loyal members of the Friends Church and give to it their earnest and zealous support. Politically, Mr. Bowman is a Prohibitionist, feeling that the principles as advocated by that party, if put into effect, would insure the more rapid advancement of civilization in this country. Mr. Bowman has been a resident of this county for about forty years, and in that time has impressed his individuality upon his community. He is a man of generous impulses and a firm believer in those principles of honesty and integrity which he has always employed in his business. He is a man essentially of domestic taste and is devoted to his family and to his church, and because of the clean and wholesome life which he has lived in this county he has won the esteem of his friends and neighbors.