Jacob G. Shoup

Jacob G. Shoup was born April 16, 1835, in Rockingham County, Virginia, the third son of Joseph Stover Shoup and his wife, Caroline H. Lincoln.  (Do not confuse this woman with other women named Caroline Lincoln in the same time period and place.  We only know that her mother was Elizabeth Homan, aunt of David Harrison Homan, to whom the letters were written.  Elizabeth married Jacob Gochenour.)  Jacob Shoup was listed in the 1860 census as George (not sure where that came from, as we think his middle name was Gochenour).

In 1861 Jacob and his brother Cal (John Calvin) Shoup enlisted in the Confederate Army at Point of Rocks, Virginia, and were originally part of Company B (the Brock’s Gap Rifles) under Capt. John Q. Winfield.  Shortly after it’s formation in the Confederate Army the Rifles were transferred to the cavalry and became Company B of the Seventh Regiment of Virginia Cavalry, serving under the overall command of Turner Ashby.  With the reorganization of the Army in 1862, Capt. Winfield resigned his commission for reasons of health, and many in Company B reorganized into Company H.  Cal Shoup was elected Captain, and his brother, Jacob was elected 2^nd lieutenant (later promoted to 1^st Lt.).  The two brothers fought together for the next year.  After the death of Ashby in June of 1862, the troop fell under the command of General William (Grumble) Jones’s brigade, and ended up at Gettysburg. 

At the battle of Fairfield on the afternoon of July 3^rd, the Seventh fought an action against Union Cavalry that caused the Seventh to fall back.  In trying to rally the troops, Cal Shoup was severely wounded in the leg and Jacob Shoup was killed instantly by a bullet to his head.  Jacob was buried in the Flohr's Church Cemetery near Cashtown until after the war.  On September 9, 1872 his remains were exhumed and sent to Richmond for burial in Hollywood Cemetery with other Confederate dead from Gettysburg.  The stone pictured does not rest exactly where he is buried, but is placed with others in an orderly fashion atop the graves of all the Confederate dead at Gettysburg.

(His brother Cal would recover from his wound, marry his sweetheart, Sallie V. Shirkey, in August of 1863, and return to lead Company H. On October 9, 1864, after having been wounded four times during the war, Cal would be killed in action at the Battle of Tom’s Brook, two days after Sheridan’s burners burned his family’s barns and grain near Timberville.  He left his parents, his widow and a 14 month old daughter to mourn him.  He was buried behind his home on Linville Creek and later reinterred with his family parents and grandparents at the Linville Creek Church of the Brethren Cemetery.)  

For further information contact Christine M. Smith at cmsmith@butler.edu 

Mary Homan Bowman

Mary Homan Bowman was the daughter of Michael and Leannah Thomas Homan and was born in Rockingham County on April 19, 1825.  On May 20, 1856, she married Benjamin D. Bowman, son of John and Elizabeth (Dundore) Bowman.  Benjamin D. and Mary Homan Bowman had no children, and lived in the area between Harrisonburg and Mt. Clinton.  He was a farmer and stockman, and also a partner in developing Liberty Springs.  Mary Homan Bowman died in 1902, Benjamin in 1901 and both are buried in the Cook’s Creek Presbyterian Church cemetery.  The Susan Hill, who is mentioned in Mary’s letter was a family servant, and is listed with Abigail and John J. Bowman in one census and with Mary and Benjamin in a later census.  She is buried near the Bowman’s at Cook’s Creek.

J.J. (John Jacob) Bowman

John Jacob Bowman (October 28, 1816-April 17, 1895; son of Samuel and Catherine Garber Bowman) married Abigail Homan (October 1, 1822-January 31, 1892), sister of David Harrison Homan, on April 5, 1841 in Rockingham County, Virginia.                                            

He owned the large mill at Broadway, Rockingham County, Virginia, which became known as Bowman’s Mill and Upper Mill, and served as post office for the area.  They had several children:

Samuel H. Bowman

Michael H. Bowman

Catherine E. Bowman

Sallie Bowman

In her booklet, Stone Houses on Linville Creek and Their Communities, Agnes Kline says that John Jacob Bowman was “a man of considerable service to his community”.

Other sources indicate that he helped found what was known as Cedar Run Academy.

He was also an enumerator for the devastation of “the burning” in his area of the Valley in October of 1864. His loss of $9850.00 in 1860 U.S. money was considerable at that time, and would be even more so today, given today’s valuation on the dollar. 

John J. Bowman  and Abigail Homan Bowman are buried in the Linville Creek Church of the Brethren Cemetery, behind the church, in Broadway, Rockingham County, Virginia.

Caroline Thomas Homan Lincoln

Caroline Thomas Homan Lincoln was the daughter of Michael and Leannah Thomas Homan.  She was born in Rockingham County, Virginia, on July 19, 1829.  She married Jacob Nicholas Lincoln, son of Lt. David Lincoln and his wife Catherine on October 16, 1849.  Their children were Virginia, Jacob T., Nora A., Caroline H., Effie A., Mary L., (Elizabeth) Teresa, and H. Preston Lincoln.  The Lincolns lived at Lacey Spring, and Jacob Nicholas Lincoln ran a large mill on property now vacated by the interstate highway.  The house in which they lived was built by John Koontz and was torn down in 1928.  It may have been on its front porch that the picture accompanying was taken.

Jacob Nicholas Lincoln was assaulted at the Mill and died at his home on February 21, 1880.  Two men were tried and convicted of his murder.  Caroline died on May 2, 1916.  She and Jacob are buried in the cemetery on the hill above Lacey Spring.  Their gravesite offers a wonderful view of the Valley.

For further information contact Christine M. Smith at cmsmith@butler.edu