Isaac Erb Bowman was an Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

 businessman and political figure. He represented Waterloo North

Waterloo North

Waterloo North was a federal electoral district represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 1968. It was located in the province of Ontario...

 in the Canadian House of Commons

Canadian House of Commons

The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...

 as a Liberal

Liberal Party of Canada

The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...

 member from 1867 to 1878 and from 1887 to 1896.

He was born Isaac Erb Baumann in Woolwich Township

Woolwich, Ontario

The Township of Woolwich is a rural township in Ontario, Canada. It is part of the Region of Waterloo, immediately to the north and east of the City of Waterloo. Its 2006 census population was 19,658.-Communities:*Bloomingdale*Breslau*Conestogo*Elmira...

 in Upper Canada

Upper Canada

The Province of Upper Canada was a political division in British Canada established in 1791 by the British Empire to govern the central third of the lands in British North America and to accommodate Loyalist refugees from the United States of America after the American Revolution...

 in 1832, the son of John B. Bowman; his parents had come there from Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

 in 1820. He attended school at the Rockwood Academy

Rockwood Academy

Rockwood Academy was a private school in Rockwood, Ontario. It was founded in 1850 by William Wetherald, a Quaker. Wetherald had previously taught pupils privately in the evenings, and the number of these had grown to an extent that he decided to open a school for older boys and young men...

 in Rockwood, Ontario. For a time, he taught school in the region. Bowman was a partner in a business that sold books in Berlin (later Kitchener, Ontario

Kitchener, Ontario

The City of Kitchener is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada. It was the Town of Berlin from 1854 until 1912 and the City of Berlin from 1912 until 1916. The city had a population of 204,668 in the Canada 2006 Census...

) and in a tannery

Tanning

Tanning is the making of leather from the skins of animals which does not easily decompose. Traditionally, tanning used tannin, an acidic chemical compound from which the tanning process draws its name . Coloring may occur during tanning...

 in St. Jacobs

St. Jacobs, Ontario

The community of St. Jacobs is located in southwest Ontario, just north of Waterloo in Woolwich Township, Waterloo Region. It is a popular location for tourism, due to its Mennonite heritage and retail focus. The Conestogo River, which powered the village's original gristmill, runs through the...

. He served as clerk and treasurer for the township and was also postmaster for St. Jacobs. He served as president of the Ontario Mutual Life Insurance Company and the Mercantile Fire Insurance Company. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada

Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada

The Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada was the lower house of the legislature for the Province of Canada, which consisted of the former provinces of Lower Canada, then known as Canada East and later the province of Quebec, and Upper Canada, then known as Canada West and later the...

 in an 1864 by-election for the North riding of Waterloo and he was acclaimed in the same riding after Confederation

Canadian Confederation

Canadian Confederation was the process by which the federal Dominion of Canada was formed on July 1, 1867. On that day, three British colonies were formed into four Canadian provinces...

. He was defeated by Hugo Kranz

Hugo Kranz

Hugo Kranz was a German-born businessman and political figure in Ontario, Canada. He represented Waterloo North in the Canadian House of Commons from 1878 to 1887 as a Conservative member....

 when he ran for reelection in 1878; Bowman defeated Kranz to win the seat in 1887 and 1891.

Bowman married Lydia Bowman. His son Charles Martin

Charles Martin Bowman

Charles Martin Bowman was an Ontario businessman and political figure. He represented Bruce North from 1898 to 1914 and Bruce West from 1914 to 1919 as a Liberal member....

later became a member of the Ontario provincial assembly.