John C. Bowers
| John C. Bowers | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
February 9, 1811 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Died | October 5, 1873 (aged 62) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Resting place | Eden Cemetery, Collingdale, Pennsylvania |
| Occupation | Entrepreneur, organist, vestryman |
| Organization | St. Thomas African Episcopal Church, |
| Movement | Colored Conventions Movement |
| Spouse(s) | Mary C. Collins |
| Parent(s) | John and Henrietta Bowers |
| Relatives | Sarah Sedgwick Bowers (sister) Thomas Bowers (brother) |
John C. Bowers (February 9, 1811 – October 5, 1873) was an African American entrepreneur, organist and vestryman at St. Thomas African Episcopal Church, and a founding member of the first Grand United Order of Odd Fellows for African Americans in Pennsylvania. He was active in the anti-slavery movement in Philadelphia, and involved in the founding of several organizations including the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society. "A fervent abolitionist and outspoken opponent of colonization, [he] was much in demand as a public speaker."
John C. Bowers was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to John and Henrietta Bowers. His father, John C. Bowers, Sr. (1773–1844), was a secondhand clothing dealer, a vestryman and school trustee at St. Thomas African Episcopal Church, and one of the founders of the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society.
The younger Bowers was also a member of St. Thomas African Episcopal Church, where he became the organist. Two of his siblings pursued singing careers. Bowers trained his brother, Thomas Bowers, in the piano and organ; eventually his brother pursued voice training with famed African American concert artist Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield, and embarked on a solo career as a concert tenor. Their sister Sarah Sedgwick Bowers studied as a concert soprano and toured professionally in 1856.
John C. Bowers trained as a tailor and became the proprietor of a clothing shop at No. 71 South Second Street, Philadelphia.Martin Delany describes him as the owner of a "fashionable merchant tailor shop" together with his brother, Thomas, catering to upper class gentlemen and businessmen in Philadelphia, while Henry M. Minton characterizes him as "the most prominent" of 15 tailors in the city.
Bowers was a member of several literary societies. He was one of the signatories of the constitution of the Philadelphia Library Company of Colored Persons, instituted on January 1, 1833. The Company's object was "the collection of a library of useful works of every description, for the benefit of its members, who might there successfully apply without comparatively any cost, for that mental good which they could not readily obtain elsewhere". For a membership fee of $1, African Americans of all classes were afforded an opportunity to further educate themselves. The library's members adopted a system of organized reading and weekly debate that enabled its members to practice elocution and public speaking. In spite of its name, the Library Company was a male institution. Bowers also supported the education of women, writing to the Liberator in 1834 in praise of women's literary groups. Bowers was involved in starting the Gilbert Lyceum, instituted on January 31, 1841, which enabled women and men to work together in literary and scientific pursuits. He became secretary of the weekly newspaper The Colored American in 1841.
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