John Myer Bowers

John Myer Bowers (September 25, 1772 – February 24, 1846) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a U.S. Representative from New York during the early nineteenth century. He was born in Inden, in the Province of Massachusetts Bay, the son of Henry Bowers and Mary (Myer) Bowers. Raised in the waning years of the colonial period and coming of age during the formation of the new republic, he was educated in the common schools, which provided the foundation for his later collegiate and legal studies.

Bowers pursued higher education at Columbia College in New York City, one of the leading institutions of learning in the early United States. After completing his studies there, he read law and prepared for admission to the bar, following the customary path of legal apprenticeship of the period. He was admitted to the bar in 1802, marking the formal beginning of his professional career in the law.

Following his admission to practice, Bowers commenced his legal career in Cooperstown, New York, an emerging community in Otsego County. In 1805 he moved to his country home, known as “Lakelands,” near Cooperstown, from which he continued to build his practice and local standing. His work as an attorney in this growing region of upstate New York helped establish his reputation and provided the platform for his later entry into national politics.

As a member of the Federalist Party representing New York, Bowers contributed to the legislative process during one term in office. He was declared elected as a Federalist to the Thirteenth United States Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Representative-elect William Dowse. He served as United States Representative for the Fifteenth District of New York from June 21, 1813, to December 20, 1813, a significant period in American history marked by the War of 1812 and intense partisan conflict. During this brief tenure, he participated in the democratic process and represented the interests of his constituents in the House of Representatives.

Bowers’s service in Congress ended when his election was successfully contested. Isaac Williams Jr., who had challenged the result, was ultimately declared entitled to the seat on December 20, 1813, thereby terminating Bowers’s term. After leaving Congress, Bowers resumed the practice of law in Cooperstown, returning to the profession that had first brought him prominence. He continued to live and work in the Cooperstown area, maintaining his residence at “Lakelands” and remaining a figure in the legal and civic life of his community.

John Myer Bowers died in Cooperstown, New York, on February 24, 1846. He was buried in Lakewood Cemetery in Cooperstown, near the community where he had spent most of his professional life and from which he had briefly gone to serve in the national legislature.