Ursula Bowie (b. unknown - d. 1824)
MSA SC 5496-050668
War of 1812 Claimant, Prince George's County, Maryland, 1828

Biography:

Ursula Burgess was born to Richard Burgess and his wife Elizabeth Magruder Burgess.¹ Ursula Burgess married William Bowie in 1777.² Together they had five sons John Burgess, Robert Pottinger, Dr. Richard, William Mordecai, and Charles Bowie.³ Ursula's and her husband William lived at the family home Thorpland in Prince George's County, Maryland.⁴ William Bowie died intestate September 13, 1807, followed by the deaths of two of their sons, Robert and Richard, in November.⁵ Thorpland became the property of Ursula and her youngest son Charles.⁶ 

In 1814, three enslaved men Osbourne Wheeler, Toby Forester, and Samuel Beanes escaped from Ursula Bowie and her son Charles.⁷ The three men fled to the British who were in Prince George's County. Ursula Bowie's son John Burgess Bowie and his wife also lost an enslaved man Phil to the British.⁸ Following the war, Ursula and her son Charles submitted a claim to receive reparations for the loss of their enslaved men.⁹ Ursula Bowie would die before the reparations were awarded to Maryland slave owners.¹⁰ However, her son Charles was later compensated $280 for each of their enslaved men that fled to the British.¹¹

Ursula Bowie died July 11, 1824 and was buried at Thorpland.¹² In her will she left to her son William M. Bowie, "5 negro slaves" Jane, Nell, Mariel, Eliza, and Maria. Bowie's son Charles with whom she lived recieved the residue of her estate and was appointed executor of the estate.¹³ 

^{1.    Effie Gwynn Bowie, "Across the Years in Prince George's County," (Richmond: Garrett & Massey, 1947), 684.}

^{2.    Constance P. Ackerson, "Holy Trinity-Collington: Her People and Their Church," (Maryland: Belair-Bowie, 1978), 68.}

^{3.    Bowie, 686.}

^{4.    ibid, 684.}

^{5.    ibid, 683}

^{6.    ibid, 732.}

^{7.    Claim of Charles and Ursula Bowie, Prince George's County, Case No. 834, Case Files Ca. 1814-28, entry 190, RG 76, National Archives, College Park.} 

^{8.    Claim of Catherine Bowie, Prince George's County, Case No. 834, Case Files Ca. 1814-28, entry 190, RG 76, National Archives, College Park.} 

^{9.    Claim of Charles and Ursula Bowie, Prince George's County, Case No. 834, Case Files Ca. 1814-28, entry 190,  RG 76, National Archives, College Park.} 

^{10.    Bowie, 684}

^{11.    Claim of Charles and Ursula Bowie, Prince George's County, Case No. 834, Case Files Ca. 1814-1828, entry 190, RG 76, National Archives, College Park.}

^{12.    Bowie, 684.}

^{13.    PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY REGISTER OF WILLS (Wills) 1820-1833, "Ursula Bowie," Liber TT1, Folio 361.}

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