John Eliot Bowen (June 8, 1858 – January 3, 1890) was an American writer.

Early life

John Elliot Bowen was born on June 8, 1858, in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...

, N. Y. He was the fifth of seven sons born to

Henry Chandler Bowen Henry Chandler Bowen (September 11, 1813 – February 24, 1896) was an American businessman, philanthropist, and publisher. He was an influential member of Plymouth Church in Brooklyn, where he resided much of his life, and the founder of the ...

(1813–1896) and Lucy Maria Tappan (1825–1863). He was a direct descendant, on his father's side, from the Apostle Eliot, whose name he bore. On his mother's side, he was a great-grand nephew of

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a m ...

. His elder brother was Clarence Winthrop Bowen (1852–1935). Bowen graduated from

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

in 1881.

Career

On July 16, 1881, he sailed with his brother Herbert Wolcott Bowen (1856–1927) on the ''

SS City of Chester The SS ''City of Chester'' was a steamship built in 1875 that sank after a collision in a dense fog with at the Golden Gate in San Francisco Bay on August 22, 1888. She was owned by the Oregon Railroad Co. and leased by the Pacific Coast Steams ...

'' for a year of travel in Europe, and other countries, including

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...

, going up the

Nile The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin language, Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered ...

into

Nubia Nubia () (Nobiin language, Nobiin: Nobīn, ) is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the Cataracts of the Nile, first cataract of the Nile (just south of Aswan in southern Egypt) and the confluence of the Blue Nile, Blue ...

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East J ...

, Syria and

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth ( Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

. He then studied for a few months in Germany. After his return to America became a member of the editorial staff of ''The Independent'', in special charge of its literary correspondence and enterprise. At the same time he pursued a course of study in political science in

Columbia College Columbia College may refer to one of several institutions of higher education in North America: Canada * Columbia College (Alberta), in Calgary * Columbia College (British Columbia), a two-year liberal arts institution in Vancouver * Columbia In ...

, where he received the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in 1886, presenting a thesis on "The Conflict between the East and West in Egypt," which was published afterwards. In 1888, he also published a volume of poetical translations of

Carmen Sylva Pauline Elisabeth Ottilie Luise of Wied (29 December 18432 March 1916) was the first queen of Romania as the wife of King Carol I from 15 March 1881 to 27 September 1914. She had been the princess consort of Romania since her marriage to then-Pr ...

's ''Songs of Toil''. In 1888, Bowen visited

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, with his father, mother, sister Grace Aspinwall Bowen (1850–1940), his fiancé Ethel, and cousin Fanny Lincoln to watch the inauguration of

Benjamin Harrison Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833March 13, 1901) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 23rd president of the United States from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia–a grandson of the ninth pr ...

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...

. After the inauguration, there was a small informal reception at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington, D.C., NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. preside ...

that Bowen attended. Purportedly, the families of the Cabinet officers did not know each another and because Bowen did know most of them, he acted the part of introducer for the officers as well as for the President and his wife.

Personal life

On January 3, 1890, in his 32rd year of life, he died in Brooklyn, after six weeks' illness, of

typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over severa ...

. His death was particularly sad, as the previous evening had been fixed as the date of his marriage to Ethel.

References

External links

Books by Bowen
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bowen, john eliot 1858 births 1890 deaths Writers from Brooklyn Yale College alumni Columbia College (New York) alumni American male writers