PODCAST
MAYOR WALTER BOWNE AND THE OUTBREAK OF 1832
In this episode, we discuss Mayor Walter Bowne and his handling of a cholera outbreak in 19th-century New York City.
Walter Bowne, Mayor of New York City from 1829 to 1833. Engraving by J. Rogers, circa 1830. Source: New York Public Library Digital Image Collection via Wikimedia Commons.
Walter Bowne was born in Flushing, New York in 1770 to James Bowne and Caroline Rodman. He married Eliza Southgate in 1803.
Bowne served as New York State Senator from 1817-1822, and later as Mayor of New York City from 1829-1833. During his tenure as Mayor, there was an outbreak of cholera, in which he attempted to quell the spread of illness by instituting a quarantine.
He maintained a summer residence in Flushing, which survived until a fire in 1925. The New York City owned Bowne Park now encompasses the former grounds.
The furniture currently on display in the Bowne House parlor is from Mayor Bowne’s office suite in Manhattan.
EPISODE
Video Credits:
Research by Kieran Gannon, Bowne House Educator
Audio and Transcript by David Silvernail & Emily Vieyra-Haley, Bowne House Educators
Video by Elise Helmers, Executive Director
Text by Emily Vieyra-Haley, Bowne House Educator
A Young Walter Bowne (1770-1846). From A girl's life eighty years ago; selections from the letters of Eliza Southgate Bowne (1887). New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. Source: University of California Libraries via The Internet Archive.
WALTER BOWNE TIMELINE
1770: Walter Bowne is born on April 26.
1803: Marriage to Eliza Southgate (b. 1783-d. 1809).
1817-1820: Member of the Council of Appointment at Albany.
1817-1822: New York State Senator.
1829-1833: Mayor of New York City.
1833: Becomes the first President of the Bank of New York City.
1846: Walter Bowne dies at age 75.