Representative Charles Calvin Bowman

Charles Calvin Bowman served as a Representative from Pennsylvania in the United States Congress from 1911 to 1913. A member of the Republican Party, Charles Calvin Bowman contributed to the legislative process during 1 term in office.

Charles Calvin Bowman’s service in Congress occurred during a significant period in American history. As a member of the House of Representatives, Charles Calvin Bowman participated in the democratic process and represented the interests of constituents.

Charles Calvin Bowman (November 14, 1852 – July 3, 1941) was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania. Charles Calvin Bowman was born in Troy, New York. He attended Lansingburgh Academy in Troy, and learned the woodworking trade. He graduated in civil engineering from Union College in Schenectady, New York, in 1875. He was engaged in civil engineering work for the State of Massachusetts at Danvers, Massachusetts, in 1875. He organized the western shipping department of the Pennsylvania Coal Company of Pittston, Pennsylvania, in 1876, which he managed the company until 1883. He served as general manager of the Florence Coal Co., in 1883 and 1884, later operating as an independent miner and shipper of anthracite coal. He served as mayor of Pittston in 1896, and served as a member of the city council for sixteen terms. He was a delegate to the Independent Republican State convention in 1890 and to the Republican State convention in 1898. Bowman presented credentials as a Republican Member-elect to the Sixty-second Congress, but his election was contested by his opponent George B. McLean. McLean argued that Bowman reported only $7,000 in campaign expenditures but actually spent more than $9,000. The House Committee on Elections found that this was not an error, but active fraud as evidenced by “erasures on check stubs and alteration of memoranda”. As a result, the House declared that Bowman had not be elected. Bowman served from March 4, 1911 until December 12, 1912, when the seat was declared vacant. He was an unsuccessful candidate for election in 1912. He resumed the coal business, and died in Pittston in 1941 at the age of 88. He was interred in Pittston Cemetery.