(b) Who did Matthias Lampman marry?

Matthias’ daughter Catherine’s baptism record from 1793 states that Matthias Lampman’s wife’s given name was Eve. There has been no evidence found that her maiden name was Bowman. Nevertheless, we have identified four Eve Bowmans in Lincoln County and shown that none of them married Matthias Lampman.

There is documented evidence that there were two Jacob Bowmans in the area in the 1780’s. At least one of them had a daughter Eve and she married John Morden. It is unknown whether the other Jacob Bowman, who went from Newark to Thorold, had a daughter Eve. Perhaps he did and perhaps she married Matthias Lampman. Those are unanswered research questions.

(c) Closing remarks

Resolving a genealogical conflict is difficult. First, one must discover a well-grounded fact that contradicts an established belief.  Second, and this is the more difficult, one must successfully challenge the established belief.

It is always difficult to prove a negative, e.g., something did not happen. Instead, it is best to trace back in time the history of the established belief to discover its foundation. If no foundation exists, then we can confidently replace the old belief with the well grounded fact. That is what we have found to be the case in this research.

On the other hand, if a sound foundation were to be discovered for the established belief then a true contradiction would exist that only further research could resolve. Until that was completed, the question would have to remain unresolved and all conclusions based on either position would have to remain tentative.

In the case examined here, a single unproven statement in a sixty year-old book, “Matthias Lampman married Eve Bowman”, was built into a rather complete mythology. As the myth was developed, it was systematically massaged to fit inconvenient facts ignoring a serious anachronism.

It is tempting to explain this away with the shibboleth that researchers of the past did not have access to the information available today. Unfortunately, that doesn’t apply in this case. The information that burst the myth became widely available when the Upper Canada Land Books were microfilmed in the mid-1950’s.

This work was done in concert with several individuals without whose help it would never have been completed. It leaves unanswered the ultimate question of who Matthias Lampman married. It clears up the confusion around four 18^th century Eve Bowmans of Lincoln County and eliminates those that have been found from further consideration as the wife of Matthias Lampman.

Rod MacDonald
Niagara Falls, Ont.
15 July 2009