John Jones Bowie

Notes:

The son of Reason Bowie. Reason and his twin Rhesa brought their families on rafts down the Mississippi River and settled in Catahoula Parish, LA. (White and Toole, pp 42-43).

Louisiana records mention the "Widow Bowie" circa 1820, which would indicate he died prior to that time. However, the Samuel Lyons Study Group tree instead shows that John J. Bowie remarried an Americus Watkins on 8 Aug 1831, and that he did not die until 1859, in Arkansas. This discrepency needs to be resolved.

John married Nancy Scoggins about 1806 in Louisiana. Nancy was born before 1795; died about 1833. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Married:
On Sept 15, 1817, John Jones Bowie and wife Nancy Scoggins Bowie (whom he married in 1806, the dtr of Jonas Scoggins) bought cattle, a saddle, and bridle at the Succession sale of Jonas Scoggins. The record states that John J. Bowie was bro-in-law of John Scoggins, son of Jonas. In Dec, 1817, John and Nancy moved to Harrisonburg according to Catahoula Parish records. (White and Toole, p 43).

1. Malinda Bowie was born in 1813 in Louisiana; was buried in Macune Baptist Church Cemetery, Macune, San Augustine County, Texas.
2. John Bowie was born about 1817 in Louisiana; died about 1840.

Notes:

The Handbook of Texas Online article about the family of James Bowie states that ". In 1794 Reason Bowie had moved his family from Tennessee to Logan County, where he farmed and operated a gristmill with the help of eight slaves. In February 1800 he moved to Madrid, in what is now Missouri. On May 2, 1801, at Rapides, Louisiana, Reason Bowie and his brothers David, Rhesa, and John swore allegiance to the Spanish government. In October the families settled on farms in what is now Catahoula Parish. There Reason's sons, James, John J., Stephen, and Rezin P. Bowie, grew to manhood. The family took an active part in community affairs and the elder Bowie reportedly became the largest slaveowner in his locale, with twenty slaves. About 1809 the Bowie clan moved to the Atakapa country in southeastern Louisiana; there Reason purchased 640 acres on the Vermilion River near the mouth of Little Bayou. He then developed a plantation near Opelousas, where he grew cotton and sugarcane, raised livestock, and bought and sold slaves. Reason Bowie died there around 1821."

"Reason" married Elve Catesby Jones on 8 Mar 1782 in Savannah, Chatham County, Georgia. Elve was born about 1762 in Savannah, Chatham County, Georgia; died about 1837 in Shreveport, Caddo Parish, Louisiana. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Married:
Excerpts from Steve Goodson's article "Bowie"

http://www.texfiles.com/texashistory/goodsonbowie.htm


Reason, had served in the Revolutionary War and was captured in Savannah. Savannah prisoners were allowed visits from sympathizers who often brought them food and clothing. One such sympathizer, a young lady named Elve Jones, of a prominent Georgia family, became acquainted with Reason and after the war in 1782, married him. Elve bore Reason ten children, five girls and five boys. Reason Bowie left Kentucky for Louisiana where he first went to Catahoula, the Bayou Teche and Opelousas, where he died in 1819. Elve Jones Bowie died in Shreveport in the home of her youngest daughter in 1837.