History & local legend
Bowman’s Hill in Bucks County takes its name from an early settler, Dr. John Bowman, whose reputation became entangled with pirate treasure. In the tradition recorded by historian William W. H. Davis in 1876, Bowman had been a surgeon sailing with Captain William Kidd and had joined him in piracy.
The tale follows Bowman to Bucks County after Kidd’s execution. His solitary habits and visits from mysterious strangers encouraged rumors that he knew where pirate wealth was hidden. He eventually left a heavy oak chest, but opening it revealed no hoard of Kidd’s gold.
Bowman was said to have requested burial on the hill he liked to visit. A second story developed around his grave: someone lying quietly beside it could ask, “Bowman, what killed you?” and hear the answer, “Nothing.” Davis recorded that exchange decades before the lookout tower was built on the hill.
Sources
- William Watts Hart Davis, The History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania (1876), Part 45, the Bowman tradition
- History of Bucks County, chapter XVI, Buckingham and Solebury, J. H. Battle, ed.
- Pennsylvania DCNR, Washington Crossing Historic Park sightseeing and 1931 tower
- Wikimedia Commons, Bowman’s Hill Tower, object coordinates
