|
|
uncle was Edward Sprigg (1697-1751); his great-
aunt was Priscilla Sprigg, who married Ralph
Crabb (?-1733). MARRIED on May 16, 1771, Mary
(1747-1812), daughter of Benjamin Brookes (?-
1787) and wife Mary Townley; stepdaughter of
Sarah Johnson. Her brothers were Ma j. Benjamin,
who married in 1785 Margaret (1765-?), daughter
of William Bowie (1721-1791); John Smith, who
married first, Ann Bowie, and second, (first name
unknown) Harwood. CHILDREN. SONS: William
(1776-?), who married in 1802 Kitty Duckett;
Daniel (1777-?); and Walter, Jr. (1785-?), who
married in 1812 Amelia Margaret Weems. DAUGH-
TERS: Margaret (1772-1797), who married in 1792
Isaac Duckett; Elizabeth (1781-?), who married in
1803 Thomas Brooke; and Juliet Matilda (1788-?),
who married in 1812 James B. Brookes. PRIVATE
CAREER. EDUCATION: attended Rev. John Evers-
field's school, common schools in Annapolis, and
Craddock's school in Baltimore County RELI-
GIOUS AFFILIATION Anglican. SOCIAL STATUS
AND ACTIVITIES: Gent., 1800; horse racer. OCCU-
PATIONAL PROFILE: planter; merchant, owned the
firm of Walter Bowie & Company of Bladensburg,
Prince George's County. The company shipped
tobacco to England and imported goods from En-
gland and India. PUBLIC CAREER. LEGISLATIVE
SERVICE: Conventions, Prince George's County,
2nd-3rd, 1774, 4th, 1775, 5th, 1775, 9th, 1776
(election voided on August 15, 1776, because the
freemen illegally appointed election judges after
the ones officially appointed failed to act; reelected
and seated); Lower House, Prince George's
County, 1777, 1777-1778, 1778-1779 (Elections 2;
Grievances 3), 1781-1782 (Claims 1), 1782-1783,
1783 (elected, but did not attend), 1784, 1785,
1786-1787, 1787-1788, 1788, 1789, 1790, 1791-
1792, 1792, 1793, 1794, 1795, 1796, 1797; Senate,
Western Shore, Term of 1801-1806: 1801 (did not
serve), 1802 (did not serve; probably declined).
OTHER STATE OFFICES: associate justice, First
District, appointed 1791, resigned 1792. LOCAL
OFFICE: Maryland Senate elector, Prince George's
County, elected 1786, 1791, and 1801. OUT OF
STATE OFFICE: representative, U.S. Congress,
1802-1803 (elected to fill vacancy; seated on
March 24, 1802), 1803-1805. STANDS ON PUB-
LIC/PRIVATE ISSUES: a leader in the affair that re-
sulted in the burning of the Peggy Stewart, 1774.
WEALTH DURING LIFETIME. LAND AT FIRST
ELECTION: 674 acres in Prince George's County
(529 acres from his father). SIGNIFICANT
CHANGES IN LAND BETWEEN FIRST ELECTION
AND DEATH: purchased considerable additional
property during the 1790s, all in Prince George's
|
County. WEALTH AT DEATH. DIED: on November
9, 1810, intestate, in Prince George's County, after
a long illness. He was buried on his plantation
"Locust Grove," Prince George's County. PER-
SONAL PROPERTY: TEV, $24,984.60 current
money (including 71 slaves, 75 oz. plate, and
books); FB, estate overpaid $2,961.19. LAND:
2,359 acres in Prince George's County. ADDI-
TIONAL COMMENTS: his annual income at death
included rents totaling $774.18. He owed almost
$10,000, with his largest creditors being the Farm-
ers Bank, Charles Carroll of Carrollton (1737-
1832), Robert Bowie (ca. 1750-1818), Charles
Ridgely, and John Turnbull.
BOWIE, WILLIAM (1721-1791). BORN, in 1721
at "Brooke Ridge," near Nottingham, Prince
George's County; fourth son. NATIVE: second gen-
eration. RESIDED: at "Brooke Reserve" (later
called "Mattaponi"), Prince George's County.
FAMILY BACKGROUND. FATHER: John Bowie, Sr.,
Gent. (ca. 1688-1759), who probably immigrated
from Scotland ca. 1706. MOTHER: Mary, daughter
of James Mulliken. BROTHERS: John, Jr. (1708-
1753), who married first, Mary Offet, and second,
Elizabeth Pottinger; James (1714-1744); Allen
(1719-1783), who married first, Priscilla Finch (?-
1747), and second, Anne Fraser (1718-1779); and
Thomas (1723-?), who married first, Esther
(1730-?), daughter of Osborn Sprigg (1707-
1749/50), and second, Hannah, daughter of Philip
Lee (ca. 1681-1744). SISTERS: Eleanor (1709-?),
who married first, Benjamin Brookes, second, Ed-
ward Clagett, and third, (first name unknown)
Skinner; Mary (1726-?), who married William
Beanes, Jr. NEPHEWS: Allen Bowie, Jr. (1737-
1803); Fielder Bowie (ca. 1745-1794). MARRIED ca.
1745 Margaret (1726/27-1804), daughter of Os-
born Sprigg (1707 -17 49/50); stepdaughter of Ra-
chel Belt (1711-?); granddaughter of Thomas
Sprigg (ca. 1670-by 1739); stepgranddaughter of
Joseph Belt(ca. 1680-1761); niece of both Edward
Sprigg ( 1697- 1751) and Priscilla Sprigg, who mar-
ried Ralph Crabb (?-1733). Her half brothers were
Joseph Sprigg (1736-1800); Osborn Sprigg (ca.
1741-1815); and Thomas Sprigg( 1747- 1809). Her
first cousins were Thomas Sprigg (1715-1781);
Edward Sprigg (1723-1758); Henry Wright Crabb
(1722/23-1764); Edward Sprigg (?-?), and Francis
King (1724/25-1771). CHILDREN. SONS Walter
Bowie (1748-1810); Robert Bowie (ca. 1750-1818);
William Sprigg (1751-1809), who was commis-
sioned a captain in the Fourth Battalion of the
Maryland Line in January 1777 and was severely
wounded at the Battle of Germantown on October
153
|
|
