Charles Sumner Bowman was born in in Mississippi. He and his three siblings were raised by his single mother Mattie (or Marta) Bowman, who was widowed, and worked as a maid in
Vicksburg. He taught courses in carpentry, woodworking, machinery, architectural drawing, mechanical drawing, and cabinetmaking. Bowman worked for Western University from 1898 until 1902, followed by opening his own architecture firm in Kansas City. Bowman was married to Etta B. Buford for less than one year, she had been a student at Western University. Many of the biographical details of Bowman's life are unknown, including his circumstances in death, which was sometime during or after 1925. Bowman's profile was included in the biographical dictionary
African American Architects: A Biographical Dictionary, 1865–1945 (2004). == Works ==