Archives of Maryland
(Biographical Series)

F. Bowie (b. 1812 - d. 1877)
MSA SC 5496-015605
Property owner and slave holder, Marlborough District, Prince George's County, Maryland

Biography:

On February 12, 1812, Francis Magruder Bowie was born in the Marlborough District of Prince George's County to William Mordecai Bowie and Martha Magruder Bowie. Following his mother's death in June 1812, Bowie lived under the guardianship of aunts Louisa and Eleanor W. Magruder. When Louisa died, she bequeathed Bowie the family home,Dunblane. 1 His great-grandfather John Magruder had constructed the home in the early 1720s, making it one of the oldest houses in Prince George’s County.On March 17, 1833 (some records state October 17),2 Bowie married Sarah Coates. They had one daughter, Martha Magruder Bowie, in 1835.

By 1850, Bowie owned seventeen slaves and $10,000-worth of real estate.3 In 1860, the census recorded him as owning eighteen slaves and 580 acres. Bowie's farm produced $20,000 in tobacco that year, along with smaller amounts of wheat and Indian corn.4 In 1862, his slave Minty escaped with her two children with the help of a Montgomery County slave named Lewis Swams.5 Records for the Prince George’s County Circuit Court did not specify if Minty and her children were captured along with their accomplice.

Upon his father's death in 1863, Bowie inherited one more slave, Washington, along with $2,000.6 Following the emancipation of Maryland's slaves, an African American servant named Mollie Young lived at the Bowie residence. Then in 1870, three African American farm laborers named Leonard Sales, Christopher Cooper, and James Young lived next door. Several other black families lived and worked nearby, including those with the surnames Bowie, Hood, Simms, and Kerby.7

In contrast with his antebellum wealth, Bowie owned only $7,000 in real estate in 1870, which he continued to farm. Since Bowie had lost approximately $5,000-worth of slaves following emancipation, the loss of unpaid labor likely contributed to his financial decrease. Three years earlier, he had sold twenty-five acres to John H. Beall for $1,000.8 In 1877, Bowie disposed of all of his real estate in a single transaction. Bowie explained that he was “now indebted unto Sundry Persons in various Sums of Money and … unable to pay the same."9 He appointed a trustee, Joseph Kent Roberts Jr., a lawyer and a member of the Bowie family by marriage,10 to divide the remaining four hundred and thirteen acres among Bowie's creditors. The deed stated that Bowie's wife, Sarah, had even relinquished her right of dower, by which she would have received her husband’s property when he died. Francis Magruder Bowie died intestate in 1877 and was buried at Dunblane. He was the second cousin of the Montgomery County slaveholder and landowner Dr. William Bowie Magruder.

1.     Magruder, Jr., Caleb Clarke. "Nathaniel Magruder of 'Dunblane.'" Year Book of the American Clan Gregor Society. American Clan Gregor Society. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin, 1916: 27-28.

2.     Magruder, Jr., 28.

3.     U.S. Census (Census Record, MD) for Francis M. Bowie, 1850, Prince George's County, Marlborough District, Page 10, Line 3 [MSA SM61-143, M 1499-2].
        U.S. Census (Census Record, MD) for Francis M. Bowie, Slaves, 1850, Prince George's County, Marlborough District, Page 8, Line 10 [MSA SM61-169, M 1505-6].

4.     U.S. CENSUS BUREAU, (Census Record, MD), 1860, Agriculture, [MSA S1184-7]. Francis W.(or M.) Bowie, Marlborough District, Prince George's County. Pages 23 to 24.

5.     PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, CIRCUIT COURT, (Minutes), 04/1862, C1267, Date: 04/1862, Location: 01/20/12/037, MdHR Number: 5964-2, MSA Citation: C1267-21. State of Maryland vs. Lewis Swams, April 11, 1862. Page 18.

6.     PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, REGISTER OF WILLS, (Wills), 1854-1873, Liber WAJ 1, Folio 236, Film Reel: CR 20-1, [MSA CM816-5]. William M. Bowie, March 12, 1861.

7.     U.S. Census (Census Record, MD) for F.M. Bowie, 1870, Prince George's County, Marlboro District, Page 30, Line 29 [MSA SM61-276, M 7257].

8.     PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT (Land Records), Liber HB 1, Folio 259,  [MSA CE 64-13]. Francis M. Bowie and Sarah M. Bowie to John H. Beall, November 26, 1867.

9.     PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT (Land Records), Liber HB 12, Folio 98, [MSA CE 64-25]. Francis M. Bowie and Sarah M. Bowie to Joseph Roberts, Jr., February 12, 1877.

10.   PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT, (Marriage Record), [MSA C1262-1], Marriage Record for Joseph K. Roberts, Jr., and Edith P. Bowie, June 6, 1866, Prince George's County.
 

Researched and written by Rachel Frazier, 2010.

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