He was an inveterate reader and pored over a vast amount of theological discussion which attracted so much attention in his day.

The family moved from Cheshire to a suburb of Adams called Bowen's Corners.

Near their house was the tavern, its proprietor known to all the people roundabout as "Uncle Sam" Bowen.

He and Daniel Read never wearied in setting forth the merits of "free salvation." They were the only two persons in all that section of the country who did not believe in a literal hell.

It was the common sentiment then that only those disbelieved in endless punishment who had reason to be afraid of it, and, since both these men were exemplary in every other respect, it was impossible for their friends to understand their aberration.