High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! John Jacob Bowman (17 Dec 1738 – May 4, 1784) was an 18th century American pioneer, colonial militia officer and sheriff, the first appointed in Lincoln County, Kentucky. In 1781 he also presided as a justice of the peace over the first county court held in Kentucky. The first county-lieutenant and military governor of Kentucky County during the American Revolutionary War, Bowman also served as a Colonel and was second in command under General George Rogers Clark during the Illinois campaign.