RICHARD T. BOWEN, LT, USN

Richard Bowen '53

Date of birth: May 7, 1832

Age: 28

Loss

Richard Thomas Bowen was lost sometime after September 18, 1860, when USS Levant (1837) disappeared after leaving Hilo, Hawaii, for Panama. He was appointed from Ohio.

A report from the Pomeroy Weekly Telegraph on June 28, 1861 alleged that Richard and other officers aboard had protested being assigned to Levant, which was "widely known" to be an "unseaworthy tub."

Other Information

Richard's Find A Grave page is here.

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Richard was on the Fredonia when he wrote a letter on January 18, 1851, requesting 3 months leave. He wrote again from Cincinnati on March 5, 1851:
“Having but just returned from a long, arduous, cruise on the California, Station, and being summoned as a witness in the case of Commodore Jones, which detained me some time, and after my return (?) of another call during the pending of that case having deterred me from visiting some new relations, I would if consistent with the good of the service most respectfully request a revocation of any orders to the Jamestown.”
His request was declined on March 11, 1851.
From the New York Daily Herald, September 2, 1860:

The Levant was in the Honolulu harbor in August 1860. The King and his suite had visited the ship, and in return the officers were presented at Court. A grand ball was given on board, at which “all the world” was present. The Levant was soon to sail for Lahaina, and next to proceed to Hilo. She would probably afterwards return to Honolulu.
Commander Hunt, on the Fourth of July, and the officers of the United States ship Levant, received the visits of a large number of their countrymen on board, and at noon fired a splendid salute of twenty-one guns, which was returned by the fort on a Hill; and in return for this mark of attention, the Levant fired another salute. . . A private ball was given by Dr. Guillon in the evening, to the officers of the Levant, and a select ball by Mr. W. E. Cutrell, of the Merchants' Exchange Hotel, to native ladies . . .

Richard’s father was Captain Aaron Seymour Bowen, a pioneer steamboat agent. His mother was Martha Augusta (Barrett.) His sisters were Eliza, Clara, Mary (Mrs. Robert Brown,) and Blanch.

Career

From the Naval History and Heritage Command:

Midshipman, 24 December, 1847. Passed Midshipman, 10 June, 1853. Master, 15 September, 1855. Lieutenant, 16 September, 1855. Lost in Sloop-of-War Levant, 18 September, 1860.

Navy Directories & Officer Registers

The "Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps" was published annually from 1815 through at least the 1970s; it provided rank, command or station, and occasionally billet until the beginning of World War II when command/station was no longer included. Scanned copies were reviewed and data entered from the mid-1840s through 1922, when more-frequent Navy Directories were available.

The Navy Directory was a publication that provided information on the command, billet, and rank of every active and retired naval officer. Single editions have been found online from January 1915 and March 1918, and then from three to six editions per year from 1923 through 1940; the final edition is from April 1941.

The entries in both series of documents are sometimes cryptic and confusing. They are often inconsistent, even within an edition, with the name of commands; this is especially true for aviation squadrons in the 1920s and early 1930s.

Alumni listed at the same command may or may not have had significant interactions; they could have shared a stateroom or workspace, stood many hours of watch together… or, especially at the larger commands, they might not have known each other at all. The information provides the opportunity to draw connections that are otherwise invisible, though, and gives a fuller view of the professional experiences of these alumni in Memorial Hall.