Walter Bowne

Walter Bowne
59th Mayor of New York City
In office 1829–1833
Preceded by	William Paulding Jr.
Succeeded by	Gideon Lee
Personal details
Born	26 September 1770 Flushing, New York
Died	31 August 1846(1846-08-31) (aged 75) Queens County, New York
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Southgate

Walter Bowne (26 September 1770 – 31 August 1846) was the 59th Mayor of New York from 1829 to 1833.

Walter Bowne was born on Flushing, Long Island, New York, the son of James Bowne and his wife Caroline Rodman. He was a descendant of John Bowne who, with other fellow Quakers was part of the Flushing Remonstrance, one of the earliest establishments of the freedom of religion in North America and one of the predecessor documents on which the First Amendment to the United States Constitution was based.^[1]

He was a New York State senator from the Southern District from 1816 to 1822, and from the 1st District 1823 to 1824.

He was a member of the Council of Appointment at Albany from 1817 to 1820.

He was Mayor of New York City from 1829 to 1833. Faced with reports of cholera in neighboring towns in 1832, he implemented a strict quarantine policy, regulating travel to and from New York City, and restricting ships to a distance of 300 yards from port, and carriages from within 1.5 miles of the city. His attempt to prevent an epidemic failed - because it was based on the mistaken but then-accepted notion that transmission of cholera was through personal contact rather than through contaminated water and food, The actual means of transmission was not discovered until 1883.

Bowne was also the first President of 7th Ward Bank of New York City.

He married Elizabeth Southgate in 1803. They had two children, Walter Bowne, Jr., and Mary King Bowne, who married John Watson Lawrence.

Bowne Park (bounded by 29th and 32nd Avenue and 155th and 159th Streets in Flushing, Queens) is named for Walter Bowne. It is the site where his summer residence stood until a fire destroyed it in March 1925.^[2]

References

The front side of a $3 bill issued by the 7th Ward Bank of New York when Walter Bowne was president of the bank.

Mayors of New York City from inception to consolidation (June 12, 1665 – December 31, 1897) T. Willett Delavall T. Willett Van Steenwyk Delavall Nicoll J. Lawrence Dervall De Mayer S. Van Cortlandt Delavall Rombouts Dyre Van Steenwyk Minvielle N. Bayard S. Van Cortlandt Delanoy J. Lawrence A. de Peyster Lodwik Merritt J. de Peyster Provost De Reimer Noell French Peartree Wilson J. Van Cortlandt Heathcote Johnstone J. Van Cortlandt Walters Jansen Lurting Richard Cruger S. Bayard Holland Cruger, Jr Hicks Mathews Duane Varick Livingston Clinton M. Willett Clinton Radcliff Clinton Ferguson Radcliff Colden Allen Paulding Hone Paulding Bowne Lee C. Lawrence Clark Varian Morris Harper Havemeyer Mickle Brady Havemeyer Woodhull Kingsland Westervelt Wood Tiemann Wood Opdyke Gunther Hoffman Coman Hall Havemeyer Vance Wickham Ely Cooper Grace Edson Grace Hewitt Grant Gilroy Strong