James Bowie

Abt 1795 - 1836  (~ 41 years)

• Name	James Bowie  [1]
  Birth	Abt 1795	Logan County, Kentucky   [1]
  Gender	Male
  Death	6 Mar 1836	The Alamo, San Fernando de B?xar, Coahuila And Texas, United Mexican States   [1]
  Notes	The Handbook of Texas Online article about the family of James Bowie states that "In his teens James Bowie worked in Avoyelles and Rapides parishes, where he floated lumber to market. He invested in property on the Bayou Boeuf and traded in 1817-18 at what is now Bennett's Store, south of Cheneyville. He was fond of hunting and fishing, and family tradition says that he caught and rode wild horses, rode alligators, and trapped bears. When grown, Bowie was described by his brother John as "a stout, rather raw-boned man, of six feet height, weighed 180 pounds." He had light-colored hair, keen grey eyes "rather deep set in his head," a fair complexion, and high cheek-bones. Bowie had an "open, frank disposition," but when aroused by an insult, his anger was terrible. During the War of 1812, James and Rezin joined the Second Division, Consolidated, a unit that contained the Seventeenth through Nineteenth regiments, drawn from Avoyelles, Rapides, Natchitoches, Catahoula, and Ouachita parishes. In January 1815, according to family records, the brothers were on their way to join Andrew Jackson's forces at New Orleans when the war ended. After the war they traded in slaves. They bought them from the pirate Jean Laffite, who captured slave shipments in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico and ran a slave market on Galveston Island. Laffite landed slaves at Bowie's Island in Vermilion Bay, and the Bowies took the slaves up the Vermilion and sold them in St. Landry Parish. When they had $65,000 they quit the business. James and Rezin also dabbled in land speculation and developed friendships with local wealthy planters. James became engaged to Cecelia Wells (b. 1805), who died on September 7, 1829, in Alexandria, two weeks before their wedding was to take place. He also made enemies. Norris Wright, Rapides parish sheriff and local banker, refused to make a loan that Bowie sorely needed. In 1826 Bowie met Wright in Alexandria, where tempers flared and Wright fired point-blank at Bowie; but the bullet was deflected. After this encounter, Rezin gave his brother a large butcher-like hunting knife to carry. On September 19, 1827, near Natchez, Jim Bowie participated in the Sandbar Fight, which developed at a duel between Samuel Levi Wells III and Dr. Thomas Maddox. After the principals had exchanged shots without effect, two observers continued the affair. Alexander Crain fired at Samuel Cuny, and when Cuny fell, Bowie fired at Crain but missed. Wright shot Bowie through the lower chest, and Bowie, said an eyewitness, "drew his butcher knife which he usually wears" and chased Wright. The Blanchard brothers shot Bowie in the thigh, and Wright and Alfred Blanchard stabbed him in several places. As Wright bent over him, Bowie plunged the knife into his assailant's breast, then raised himself and slashed Blanchard severely. All the witnesses remembered Bowie's "big butcher knife," the first Bowie knife. Reports of Bowie's prowess and his lethal blade captured public attention, and he was proclaimed the South's most formidable knife fighter. Men asked blacksmiths and cutlers to make a knife like Jim Bowie's. During the late 1820s Bowie's land speculations centered on the southern Louisiana parishes; he lived in New Orleans, enjoying its excitement and pleasures. James and his brothers Rezin and Stephen established the Arcadia sugar plantation of some 1,800 acres near the town of Thibodaux, where they set up the first steam-powered sugar mill in Louisiana. Rezin was elected to the Louisiana state legislature. James spent little time at Arcadia, however; in the late 1820s he traveled to the eastern cities, as well as Arkansas and Mississippi. On February 12, 1831, the brothers sold Arcadia and other landholdings and eighty-two slaves to Natchez investors for $90,000. On January 19, 1836, Bowie arrived in Bexar from Goliad with a detachment of thirty men. He carried orders from Houston to demolish the fortifications there, though some historians believe these orders were discretionary. The situation was grim. Col. James C. Neill, commander of a contingent of seventy-eight men at the Alamo, stated that his men lacked clothing and pay and talked of leaving. Mexican families were leaving Bexar. Texas volunteers had carried off most of the munitions and supplies for the Matamoros expedition. On February 2 Bowie wrote Governor Smith, urging that Bexar be held because it was a strategic "frontier picqet guard." Travis, promoted to lieutenant colonel, arrived with thirty men on February 3; David Crockett rode in with twelve men on the eighth. The garrison had some 150 men. On February 11, Neill gave his command to Travis and left. The volunteers preferred Bowie as commander and insisted on holding an election on February 12. The volunteer vote placed Bowie in command, and he celebrated by getting drunk. While under the influence Bowie ordered certain prisoners set free and paraded the volunteers under arms in Bexar. Travis took his regulars from the Alamo to the Medina River to escape implication in the disgraceful affair. On February 13 Bowie and Travis worked out a compromise giving Travis command of the regulars, Bowie command of the volunteers, and both men joint authority over garrison orders and correspondence. On February 23 Bowie and Travis learned that some 1,500 Mexican cavalrymen were advancing on Bexar, and sent a dispatch to Goliad asking Fannin for help. Within hours the Mexicans marched into Bexar and requested a parley. Without consulting Travis, Bowie asked for and received terms: the Texans must surrender. These terms were rejected. On February 24 Bowie, who was suffering from a disease "of a peculiar nature," which has been diagnosed as pneumonia or typhoid pneumonia but probably was advanced tuberculosis, collapsed, ending his active participation in commanding the garrison. Most historians no longer believe that he fell from a platform while attempting to position a cannon. He was confined to a cot and urged the volunteers to follow Travis. He was occasionally carried outside to visit his men. On March 6 the Mexicans attacked before dawn, and all 188 defenders of the Alamo perished. Santa Anna asked to see the corpses of Bowie, Travis, and Crockett, and Bexar mayor Francisco Ruiz identified the bodies. Bowie lay on his cot in a room on the south side. He had been shot several times in the head. During his lifetime he had been described by his old friend Caiaphas K. Ham as "a clever, polite gentleman...attentive to the ladies on all occasions...a true, constant, and generous friend...a foe no one dared to undervalue and many feared." Slave trader, gambler, land speculator, dreamer, and hero, James Bowie in death became immortal in the annals of Texas history." BIBLIOGRAPHY: James L. Batson, James Bowie and the Sandbar Fight (Madison, Alabama: Batson Engineering and Metalworks, 1992). William Campbell Binkley, ed., Official Correspondence of the Texan Revolution, 1835-1836 (2 vols., New York: Appleton-Century, 1936). Walter W. Bowie, The Bowies and Their Kindred: A Genealogical and Biographical History (Washington: Cromwell Brothers, 1899). J. Frank Dobie, "James Bowie," American West, Spring 1965. John S. Ford, Memoirs (MS, John Salmon Ford Papers, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin). Heroes of Texas: Featuring Oil Portraits from the Summerfield G. Roberts Collection (Waco: Texian Press, 1964). John H. Jenkins, ed., The Papers of the Texas Revolution, 1835-1836 (10 vols., Austin: Presidial Press, 1973). A. R. Kilpatrick, "Early Life in the Southwest-The Bowies," DeBow's Southern and Western Review 1 (October 1852). Walter Lord, A Time to Stand (New York: Harper, 1961; 2d ed., Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1978). Raymond W. Thorp, Bowie Knife (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1948). http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/BB/fbo45.html
  Person ID	I17502	Strong Family Tree
  Last Modified	17 Aug 2014

  
  

  Father	"Reason" "Rezin" Bowie,   b. Abt 1758, Maryland d. Between 1819 and 1821, Opelousa, St. Landry Parish, Louisiana (Age ~ 61 years)
  Mother	Elve Catesby Jones,   b. Abt 1762, Savannah, Chatham County, Georgia d. Abt 1837, Shreveport, Caddo Parish, Louisiana (Age ~ 75 years)
  Marriage	8 Mar 1782	Savannah, Chatham County, Georgia   [1]
  	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.
  Family ID	F6497	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Ursula De Veramendi,   b. Abt 1811, Mexico d. Sep 1833, Monclova, Coahuila And Texas, United Mexican States (Age ~ 22 years)
  Marriage	25 Apr 1831	San Fernando DE B?xar, Coahuila And Texas, United Mexican States
  	Charles Robinson emailed on July 13, 2008 a link to the information below: April 25, 1831 338 D[on] Santiago Buy con D[o?]a Ursula de Beramendi Abril En la ciudad de San Fernando de B?jar ? 25 de Abril de1831 Yo el Presb?tero D. Refugio dela garsa cura propio de esta ciudad practicadas las diligencias de estilo y amonestados en tres d?as festivos inter missarum solemnia quelo fueron el 11=17, y 24 de dho mes, y no haviendo resultado can?nico impedimento alguno, aun pasadas mas de 24 horas despu?s de le?da la ?ltima cas? y vel? in facie eclesie a D. Santiago Buy natural de la Luiciana de la am?rica del norte hijo lego de D. Ram?n Buy y de Da Alvina Yons: con Da Ursula de Beramendi natural de esta Ciudad hija lega de D. Juan Mart?n de Beramendi y de Da Ma Josefa Navarro: fueron sus pads fueron sus padres; y testigos al verlos casar D. Jos? ?ngel Navarro y D. Juan Franco Bueno y pa qe conste lo firm?. Refugio dela Garsa [r?brica] [Translation] [Entry No.] 338 Mr. James Bowie with Miss Ursula de Veramendi April In the city of San Fernando de B?xar on April 25, 1831, I, Don Refugio de la Garza, parish priest of this city, [having] performed the customary measures and published banns on three holy days in solemn mass which were the 11th, 17th and 24th of said month, and no canonical impediment having resulted, even though more than 24 hours have passed after having read the last one, married and veiled within the church don Santiago Buy [James Bowie], native of Louisiana in North America, legitimate son of don Ram?n Buy [Rezin Bowie] and do?a Alvina Yons [Alvina Jones]: with do?a Ursula de Beramendi, native of this city, legitimate daughter of don Juan Mart?n de Beramendi and do?a Mar?a Josefa Navarro: their sponsors were her parents and the eyewitnesses to the marriage [were] don Jos? ?ngel Navarro and don Juan Francisco Bueno, and in witness thereof I signed it. Refugio de la Garza [rubric] Source: Marriage records of San Fernando Church, 1798-1856, microfilm duplicate, roll no. 4, copy located in the Spanish Archives, County Clerk's Office, B?xar County Courthouse, San Antonio, Texas; transcription and translation by Robert L. Tar?n, Jr., October 1991. Steve Goodson, in his article entitled "Bowie," wrote that : "Early in 1828 Bowie came to Texas. His principal motivation appears to have been land speculation. He settled in San Antonio and lost little time in introducing himself to the upper class residing there. On June 26 he was baptized into the Roman Catholic Church and became a Mexican citizen. After a trip back to the United States, Bowie returned to San Antonio and invested between $1,000 and $1,500 in Texas land. He became popular in both social and business circles. On April 22, 1831, he married Ursula Maria de Veramendi, daughter of Don Juan Martin de Veramendi, the lieutenant governor of Texas and Coahuila. To all appearances, the young couple seemed to be a perfect match. The memoirs of a prominent Mexican citizen of San Antonio alludes that Bowie adopted his wife's people as his own, and even at the time of his death, he considered himself one of the Veramendi sons. Bowie was said to be "consistently courteous, sympathetic, kind and affectionate, and they returned his affection in full measure." Bowie entered a partnership with his father-in-law to develop textile mills in Saltillo, Mexico. In San Antonio, Bowie learned of the numerous silver mines said to be found to the north and west. Bowie obviously made several trips to the old Spanish presidio on the San Saba River. Early settlers say that an inscription carved into the gatepost of the old fort read "Bowie con su tropa 1829." This carving was altered sometime around 1900 to read "Bowie Mine" with the numbers 1829 being cut over to read "Mine."
  Family ID	F6510	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	8 Aug 2010

  
  

• Event Map

  Birth - Abt 1795 - Logan County, Kentucky Marriage - 25 Apr 1831 - San Fernando DE B?xar, Coahuila And Texas, United Mexican States Death - 6 Mar 1836 - The Alamo, San Fernando de B?xar, Coahuila and Texas, United Mexican States  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Sources

  [S667] RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project, (The WorldConnect Project is a set of tools, which allow users to upload, modify, link, and display their family trees as a means to share their genealogy with other researchers. The program used to day has a genealogy of its own. RootsWeb announced the launch of the World Connect Project on November 10, 1999 after staff members and users submitted 5.5 million records during a four-week beta-testing period. The WorldConnect Project continues to grow, and as of January 2004 had more than 312 million records. GEDCOM is an acronym for GEnealogical Data COMmunications. It is a file format developed by the Family History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). It provides a flexible and uniform format for exchanging computerized genealogical data, and allows you to share files with other researchers who may not use the same genealogy program.), Lawrence, David (david.lawrence@sdsu.edu) "Lawrence, Lyons , and Allied Families" (http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi -bin/igm.cgi?db=samlyons) Ver. Fri Apr 4 08:55:13 (Reliability: 3).