Jehdeiah Bowen

Connections made in Carbondale, Pennsylvania, brought an early settler and Ripon College founder to Ripon. Jehdeiah Bowen had clerked in a store in eastern Pennsylvania owned by Capt. David P. Mapes and in 1850 followed Mapes west to Ripon and became one of the community’s earliest settlers when there were but four buildings in town.

“Ripon College a History” states: “Among his successful business ventures was a knitting works that survived until the late 1960s, occupying the corner of Watson and Seward Streets, where Ripon Drug now stands. He was active in politics as (Alvan) Bovay’s chief ally in forming the Republican Party in Ripon, as mayor of the city, and as a member of the state legislature. Of the original Lyceum (a precursor of Ripon College) directors, he served on the college board longest, until 1882, during which time he twice served as treasurer, 1855-61 and 1865-82.”

Bowen was born July 19, 1817, in Llanelly, Brecknockshire, Wales, and moved to the United States in 1830. In Ripon, his home was on the western edge of what is now called Bowen’s Woods, between Scott and Johnson halls. The land was owned by Bowen until 1880 and given to Ripon College in 1929.

Bowen operated a general store on the northwest corner of the public square, worked in the banking industry in 1864, was elected mayor of Ripon in 1859 and 1868, and served as postmaster from 1861-1866, among many other civic commitments.

“… He has erected more buildings than any other man in Ripon, averaged one a year for the 30 years he has resided in this city,” it was stated in 1880 in “The History of Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin.”

Actively involved with establishing the newly formed anti-slavery Republication Party in 1854, Bowen was lauded by Alvan E. Bovay, the movement’s leader: “Jehdeiah Bowen was my chief helper, a merchant of high standing, a man of intelligence, position and influence; his assistance was of the utmost importance.”

After Bowen was one of the successors in the first party election, Bovay said, “The election of that first Republican meeting … was a solemn act. Every man present firmly believed that he was helping to make a permanent piece of history. And he was.”

Bowen died in Ripon, Wisconsin on November 19, 1891.

Bowen’s descendants with Ripon College connections include his great-grandson, Richard Thrumston, Class of 1947; his great-great-grandson, Geoffrey Thrumston, Class of 1978; and Geoffrey’s wife, Erika Doss, Class of 1978, daughter of Professor Emeritus of Philosophy Seale Doss.

“At some point, every person in my family line had something to do with Ripon College ever since 1851,” Geoffrey Thrumston said.