J. M. Bowman (1) (1859–1944)

John a member of the United Brethren Church. John began the study of music at an early age, and age 18, attended his first “normal” at New Market, Virginia, conducted by Benjamin C. Unseld and P. J. Merges. He later attended other normals and studied with many of America’s foremost teachers, including Anthony Showalter. It was from Showalter’s Southern Normal Musical Institute (SNMI) in Dalton, Georgia, that Bowman received his diploma. Bowman was an assistant teacher at the SNMI, and later opened his own American Normal School of Music. As of 1904, he was living in Harrisonburg, Virginia, and was a stockholder in the A. J. Showalter Company, a Gospel music publisher. He had taught at Singing Schools and Normals for over 40 years.