Bowling Township is bordered on the east by Rural, Edginton on the west ,   Blackhawk is on the north and the south is bordered by Mercer County . The township was known for it’s splendid farms, plentiful timber prairies.

The first settlers to Bowling township were Mr. Bowling, John Tyndall, William Tyndall and Edmund Cropper in 1838   William Tyndall came to the county in 1835, living in Stephenson( Rock Island ) for two years before moving.

In 1841 John Johnston, Christopher Armstrong and James, David and John Clarke all formed the next   settlement known as the Clarke settlement located in the southeastern part of the township. These men were emigrants from Ireland . Curtiss McKnight settled there soon after.

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