Bowman's Creek

Variant name of place

Bmans Creek

Geographic position

42.9031° N, 74.5711° W

Sources

"Villages of the Town of Canajoharie." http://montgomery.nygenweb.net/canajoharie/canafeature.html. Accessed 9/28/14. "The Town of Canajoharie." http://montgomery.nygenweb.net/canajoharie.html. Accessed 9/29/14. "Metal Detecting in Canajoharie." http://www.metaldetectingworld.com/metaldetecting_with_rodney_p3.shtml. Accessed 9/29/14. https://www.google.com/#q=geographic+coordinates+of+canajoharie+ny.

General note

Bowman's Creek is a small village about four miles long within the town of Canajoharie in central New York's Montgomery County. Canajoharie (also known as Indian Castle or Upper Castle for the Mohawk fortifications surrounding the town) was a major Mohawk village that became a central location for the missionary activity of Wheelock and others. By the time Occom visited the area in the late 1780s, disease and war had decimated the Mohawk population and only around 250 Indians remained in the area. The village is named for Jacob Bowman, an English colonist who purchased land at the head of the creek in 1760. Occom notes the village as a location distinct from Canajoharie, which he also mentions visiting, and it was a frequent stop on his preaching tours of the 1780s. While in Bowman's Creek, Occom preached to the town's residents, likely at the Presbyterian church. In one entry, he notes baptizing a resident.