Shenandoah Valley, 1820s

Shenandoah Valley, 1820s. Early United States. , Settling the Valley , Colonial authorities encouraged Protestant immigrants to move to the Valley of Virginia starting in the 1720s and 1730s. Over the next decades, mostly Ulster Scot, German, English, and Virginian settlers established farmsteads of about 300 acres along the Great Wagon Road, pushing European settlements deep into the Valley and beyond., From Bauman to Bowman , George and Barbara Bauman, together with their four children, immigrated to Pennsylvania from Baden in southwest Germany in 1749. They were among an estimated 100,000 Germans who came to the English colonies during the 1700s. After spending two decades in Berks County, PA, they sold their 100-acre tract and purchased 260 acres in Augusta County, VA, in 1772., From German to English to American , George Bowman was naturalized on October 16, 1765, which made him a subject of the Kingdom of Great Britain. A decade later, his son John Bowman joined the Augusta Militia and fought in the American Revolution. Like the family, the house changed over time and evidence of German, English, and American influences are visible., [Captions:] , Farm Location: The Forrest settlement outside of Timberville in Rockingham County, VA.