James Alfred Bowley (b.1844 - d.?)
MSA SC 5496-51330
Fled from slavery, Dorchester County, 1851
Biography:
James Alfred Bowley was one of two children smuggled out of Maryland with their parents in early January, 1851. His mother Kessiah was Harriet Tubman's niece, but the two had such a close relationship that they considered themselves sisters. James' father John was a shipbuilder and blacksmith, who had been manumitted by his owner sometime in the 1840's. Kessiah, James, and his sister Araminta were owned by Eliza Ann Brodess in Dorchester County, the same woman whom Harriet had fled from just two years earlier. Upon hearing that she and her children would be placed on the auction block in December of 1850, Tubman quickly departed for Baltimore and concocted a plan with Kessiah's husband.1
During the auction, John Bowley somehow managed to secure the highest bid without being identified. By the time Dorchester County officials realized what had happened, the three slaves had been secreted to a nearby safehouse. Amazingly, the Bowley's were able to sail a small boat up the Chesapeake to Baltimore, where Tubman reunited with them. From there, they were guided to Philadelphia.2 However, the newly passed Fugitive Slave Act made it increasingly dangerous for Eastern Shore runaways to reside in nearby "free" states. Kessiah, John, and Araminta made their way to Canada soon after the escape, settling in Chatham, where a black fugitive community had developed. However, James remained in Philadelphia with Tubman for some time, in order to go to school. She was estimated to have spent about half her income towards her nephew's education during that time, though it is unknown where he attended or for how long.3
James was only 7 or 8 years old when he was separated from his parents. He did ultimately join them in Canada, appearing in the 1861 Census along with five new younger siblings.4 Little is known about the Bowleys' time in Chatham, except that they must not have viewed it as a permanent home. The group went on the move once again in 1865, living with Tubman in Auburn briefly, before returning back to Dorchester County. This time James' brother Harkless remained with Aunt Harriet to receive an education he most likely would not have gotten in post-war Maryland. James chose to help newly emancipated slaves by working as a teacher for the Freedmen's Bureau in Georgetown, South Carolina. Bowley was about to enter a successful, but highly controversial, second phase of his life in the Reconstruction era south.5
In a letter to his "Aunt" Harriet in 1868, stated accurately that he was one of her "first passengers from the house of bondage." His words were intended to be a part of Sarah Bradford's biography, Scenes in the Life of Harriet Tubman, but for some reason was not included. First-hand accounts of the Bowleys' experience as fugitives would have been a valuable addition to the narrative. Soon after writing James came to visit Auburn again, this time meeting with Tubman's antislavery associates, perhaps to help fundraising efforts on behalf of the freedmen.6 Bowley quickly established himself as a influential figure, more than just an educator, in this tumultuous period in South Carolina. By 1870 he had married Laura C, a mulatto native of Georgetown. He is listed as the "school comissioner" and owned a small amount of property, living amongst other civil servants of both races.7
James Bowley had quickly become active in all phases of African-American life, despite still only being in his late 20's. He had already been elected to the State House of Representatives by 1869, where he served until at least 1874. In 1872, he and several other legislators sponsored the enactment of the Union Savings Bank of Georgetown. Presumably its purpose was to supplement the services provided by the floundering Freedmen's Bank, providing African-Americans with a safe place to deposit money and seek advice on other economic matters.8 It is unclear how long the bank was sustained, or how successful it was in achieving those ends.
Bowley's educational forays soon extended to the university level, where South Carolina was having yet another race-based, Reconstruction controversy. James was named a trustee of the University of South Carolina in 1873, just as it was to enter a brief phase of integration. Fear of black inclusion had caused enrollment to plummet to just eight students, the majority of which were professor's sons. The legal impediments to black enrollment had been removed in 1869 but the first African-American student, South Carolina Secretary of State, Henry E. Hayne, did not register until October of 1873. Even after making tuition free, Bowley and the other trustees were unable to fill seats at the university. They ultimately had to convince Howard University students and others to transfer, resulting in a more respectable number that was about 90% black by 1875. However, this all changed again when the Democrats returned to power in 1876 and ended the university's experiment with integrated education.9,10 James A. Bowley was likely embroiled in these processes, but his exact role and length of tenure are unknown.
Bowley's legislative position ultimately became the source of many of his
difficulties, as it was for many Republicans, who were constantly
accused of being corrupt opportunists or dim-witted former slaves
unworthy of public office. Bowley chaired the Committee on Ways and
Means for some time, a prominent body that determined tax codes and
other revenue building actions of the state assembly. The Anderson Times,
a politically conservative and Democratically connected newspaper,
reported in 1872 that "Hon. Mr. Bowley, from Georgetown, is a colored
man, and judging from his craneology, physiognomy and tautology, we
fear he will make the ways and means very easy." The implication, which
was reflected in many Reconstruction era southern papers' discussion of black politicians, was that
James was mentally unfit for the position and would likely be
susceptible to bribery.11
The state senator may have been considering this type of treatment when he decided
to establish and publish his own newspaper in 1873. The Georgetown Planet,
ran for only about two years and had an explicitly partisan agenda. The
publication purported to "advocate the great principles of the
Republican Party, the party which guarantees to every citizen liberty,
equal rights [and] justice before the law." However, Bowley differed
from most in supporting the Independent Republican Party of South
Carolina, which was formed in 1872 as an alternative to the embattled
mainstream Republicans. The Planet further
sought to drum up multi-racial appeal for the party, even endorsing a
white and a black candidate for the 1874 gubernatorial ticket.
Unfortunately, Bowley's paper never reached more than 501 subscribers
and was forced to disband the next year.12
James A. Bowley's politics also led to a great deal of trouble during the 1874 election season in Georgetown. He was not only a media figure, but also a local candidate in his right. Bowley became involved in an highly publicized fued with fellow Republican figure, William H. Jones, which further damaged the image of Reconstruction era black politicians. South Carolina whites jumped at the opportunity to chastise the "war between colored factions." An account from the Charleston News, reproduced in the New York Times, reflected this eager judgement on the part of white Democrats. In mid-August, it claimed that "the town ... was entirely at the mercy and in the possession of a mob of mad negro savages." The altercation apparently began at a meeting of the delegates to the state Republican Convention, which ended in a bullet-riddled melee.13
Jones represented the rural, former plantation slaves of local birth, and he also held control of the local militia. Bowley, the more educated northerner, aligned with the mixed-race Republicans who lived in Georgetown proper. The night after the initial fight, attacks spread into the streets and ultimately to the men's homes. William H. Jones' house had been shot full of bullets, leaving him with a wounded thumb and several others hurt. By this time, James Bowley had been taken to jail for safekeeping, which proved to be a wise decision. A mob of Jones' supporters came upon their opponent's home, inflicting significant damage but falling short of burning it down, as they threatened to do. Bowley was escorted out of town soon after, as the state militia worked to restore order in the town. The author seemed to revel in the chaos, claiming that "their savage impetuosity ... is a feature of Republican government." No opportunity was lost to emphasize the negative characteristics of African-Americans that allegedly drove them to such measures. The account also included thinly veiled accusations of corruption against Bowley, asserting that he "in two years, made a handsome fortune of $50,000 or $60,000 on a salary of $600 a year."14 Seemingly he was not charged for inciting the violence, and the political outcome for both men is unclear from the sources.
However, James A. Bowley, like many other Reconstruction era public officials, could not escape the accusations of corruption or other political guile. In 1878, was implicated by former Governor Franklin J. Moses Jr. in a bribery case, which had originated during the "ku klux prosecutions" in the early part of the decade. White Democrats ironically lamented that the legal system at that "white men, charged with crime or injustice toward negroes, had no rights which they(the negroes) were bound to respect." The state legislation which created funding for the prosecutions was allegedly passed with substantial bribes at the highest levels of the local government. After the governor took his share, "a further warrant for twenty-five hundred dollars was put in his hands, to be given to Bowley." However, James Alfred was not convicted in this, or in a prior case of a similar nature. Opponents would claim that political connections had shielded Bowley from prosecution.15 In this highly polarized climate, it is difficult to determine how much truth each case carried, especially when using explicitly partisan newspaper accounts.
James Bowley seems to have exited the political arena by 1880, when he is again listed as a school teacher in the census. He was still only 36 years old at the time.16 However, there is scarce documentation of Bowley's life after that year. James Alfred is mentioned in his mother's 1888 will, which was officially filed in filed 1897. Therefore, he likely died some time between 1890 and 1900, when his wife Laura is listed as a widow in the census. Only two of his eight children survived into adulthood, Henry and James Alfred Jr., both of whom moved to northern states after their father's death.17,18 In 2009, South Carolina Historic Preservation Office designated the Bowley home in Georgetown as a nationally registered site of importance in the state's African-American history. This collection states that he was also a probate judge in later years, but incorrectly asserts that he was "born free in Maryland." The house was built in 1890.19
Footnotes -
1. Kate Clifford Larson. Bound for the Promised Land: Harriet Tubman, Portrait of an American Hero. New York, NY: Ballantine Books, 2004, pp. 89-90.13. "A Democratic Account of the Georgetown Riot," New York Times, 20 August 1874.
14. Ibid.Researched and Written by David Armenti, 2012.
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