The Hildreth In-Laws: The Bowens of Virginia
The Hildreth In-Laws: The Bowens of Virginia In this post, we briefly depart from our discussion of the Hildreths and their migration across America to discuss the families that were joined with the Hildreths by the marriage of Jeffrey Hildreth and Lily Bowen in 1785. The Bowens and their related families were fierce defenders of the settlements in the New World, fighting and dying to protect their new lives. According to the chapter entitled “The Bowens of Tazewell” contained in History of Tazewell County and Southwest Virginia, 1748-1920 , by William Cecil Pendleton, (link) the Bowens were Celtic Welsh. Moses and Rebecca Rees Bowen (7th great-grandparents to my generation) migrated from Wales to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania “a good many years before the Revolution.” Their son John was a Quaker and married Lily McIlhany. John and Lily McIlhany Bowen (6th great-grandparents to my generation), moved to Augusta County, Virginia (now Rockbridge County) shortly after the first settlem