INTRODUCTION
The following research for James Bowie, FMC home site developed as a result of my ongoing family genealogy research. I began my family research in 1978 and soon found that my family connections lead me to Catahoula Parish, Louisiana.
To learn more about my ancestors, I visited the Catahoula Parish in 1981. At that time I reviewed two wonderful publications, "The First Settlers of Catahoula" and "Hunting for Bears". This was during the time you had to visit specific depositories to review such document. Fortunately, current researcher can access this information online courtesy of Catahoula Parish and other depositories.
Much to my surprise my great-great-great-great-grandfather, James Bowie, FMC was listed in "The First Settlers of Catahoula". I jumped for joy only to realize that my family story just became more complex. Who was this James Bowie, FMC? What was his story? Can the documents give me some idea of who my ancestors were and how did they lived?
After years of research I began to answer some of those questions and have shared my findings online through Ancestry.com and on the James Bowie, FMC website. This website is owned and maintained by Steve Bowie, a descendant of James Bowie, FMC as well.
Over the years there has been a collaboration of information from many descendants of James Bowie, FMC. But one thing kept eluding me, where did my ancestors live?
Well it took me many years to get around to it and now was the time to follow through on this research. So, I began my research early in 2007 and now I'm ready to share what I have found.
METHODOLOGY
1. Research and Review the publications "First Settlers of Catahoula Parish, Louisiana 1808-1839, Self-Published by Carol Young Knight (C) 1985, "Hunting for Bears", Catahoula Parish, to achieve a better understand of the land ownership in early Catahoula. Special note Many of the names are spelled incorrectly. I have corrected the names according to the approved and recorded documents and plat maps.
2 Research and Review Catahoula Parish Court Documents of Land Ownership and Property Taxes.
3. Re-examine Catahoula Parish Census Records 1810-1860 to determine if James Bowie, FMC and his family lived adjacent to neighboring families listed in Catahoula Parish land records.
4. Review Land Patients to determine legal ownership of said property. These records can be obtained online from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
5. Review Parish Plat Maps and Surveys to determine approximate location of the property. Examine the maps of the time period and translate that to today’s land maps.
6. Review other records to determine if there were any legal documentation on James Bowie, FMC and/or other family members.
CONCLUSIONS
Land Documents
After many, many, many hours of reviewing about 40 to 50 maps and 20 to 25 land patents, I have developed the following conclusions
A. John J. Bowie land developments have been identified in parish records, Maps, and land documents.
B. John J. Bowie claimed over 23,000 acres of land in Catahoula Parish around 1805. Although John J. Bowie laid claim to over 23,000 acres of land, he ended up owning about 2000 of the original acres. Family members remained on parts of the land for about 50-60 years.
C. The original land was subdivided into smaller parcels and sold to many settlers in the area. Some of the major land owners were, Andrew Franks, Abraham Bird, John McLaughlin, John J. Bowie, Rhesa/Reason Bowie, William Doss, John Burnett, John Hamberlain (the Elijah Ford land) , James Wright, John Wall, Jonas Scoggins, and Samuel Lightner.
D. John J. Bowie’s private deals in Catahoula Parish resulted in the development of his land as far south below the Town of Manifest, Louisiana and past Deer Creek. Some folks were already occupying the land and made claims to the fact i.e., Santiago Del Rio and Pedro Poso.
E. John J. Bowie sold Catahoula land to his brother, James Bowie "Alamo". The land has been identified as the Deer Creek land. The James Bowie, FMC and family never lives on this land. James Bowie leaves Louisiana to join the "fight" in Texas and gives all rights to John J. Bowie to dispose, sell, etc., his land.
F. John J. Bowie sold land to his brother, David Bowie, which is now a part of the Town of Manifest, Louisiana.
G. John J. Bowie and Rhesa Bowie purchases John Henry land that will become William Bowie land. The William Bowie land is now owned by the Manifest Oil Company. There is a major oil operation on the land to this present day.
H. Since 1810, Rhesa Bowie has been consistently identified as someone who is close to the James Bowie, FMC through land and legal documents. James Bowie, FMC lived with Rhesa Bowie and John J. Bowie for a significant amount of time on their land.
I. Since 1810 to about 1820, John J. Bowie and Rhesa Bowie lived on the Rhesa Bowie, land, Section 44 and 52. Then John J. Bowie moves to his southern site next to Santiago Del Rio. The Reason Bowie land, Section 54 was used as prime farm land that has creeks and rivers. You can see the cultivation effects of the farming from an aerial view.
J. Around the 1820, James Bowie, FMC is given some of the Rhesa Bowie land to raise his family and to continue to farm. James Bowie, FMC is also involved with the Reason Bowie land, Section 54. This could mean that some of the other family members may have lived on this land with workers and slaves.
K. Some time in the 1830’s, John J. Bowie leaves Louisiana and moves to Arkansas. Probably to escape his business dealings and gives power of attorney to Rhesa Bowie and Rezin Bowie for the purpose of disposition of John J. Bowie’s remaining Catahoula Parish land.
L. In October 1832, James Bowie, FMC, leaves his land to his heirs. The Inventory of Assets of "James Bowie" outlines the fact that he had possession of 640 acres located on Bushley Creek and 50 acres that has been determined to be the Daniel K. Mayo land.
M. In the 1840’s, Rhesa/Reason is aging and gives Power of Attorney to his brother, Rezin Bowie. Rezin Bowie gains control and takes steps to reaffirm his claim to the land and re-file the map and is approved as Map No. B-559. This map identifies all the Bowie land that Rezin is in control, as well new owners and site configurations.
N. In the 1850’s and 1860‘s, the family of James Bowie, FMC splits up and the sons live in different areas of Catahoula Parish. Stephen Bowie lives on the Daniel K. Mayo land, Heman and Rufus live on the Rhesa Bowie and Reason Bowie land.
O. In the 1870’s, my ggg-grandfather lives with Stephen Bowie on the Daniel K. Mayo land, 7N-6E, Section, 14, Lots 5, 6, 7 and 8.
P. The Rhesa Bowie and the Reason Bowie home sites may have been damaged or destroyed during the construction of Highway 126 and Highway 8. The Highway 8 construction took place on the northern section of the Reason Bowie land. The Highway 126 construction took place on the eastern side of the Rhesa Bowie land.
Q. The current day survey maps still identify the William Bowie land, the Rhesa Bowie land, and the Reason Bowie land. Portions of the Rhesa Bowie land appears to be public land. The old William Doss land has a cemetery located on it and can be used as a reference in locating the Rhesa Bowie land. This will be determined on my site visit.
Census Data
A. The Census district changed over the course of years and boundary lines also changed. One thing that was consistent was the fact that the people lived next to each other for long periods of time. That worked to my advantage in trying to locate a home site for James Bowie, FMC.
B. I could follow the family trail through examining the census. This effort was relatively easy since our family was enumerated since 1810. But after the Civil War, freed slaves were now being enumerated along with free whites and free people of color. This made the household grow but the main property owners pretty much stayed the same.
When you think about it, most families back then didn’t move around a lot. They tended to stay on their land, work their farms and raise their families. Therefore, it was easy to follow the routes but it was very time consuming. There are some family members that leave and some that arrived, but overall you can find at least one relative on the original land.
C. The census data also supports the fact the James Bowie, FMC and family members lived adjacent to the William Doss family and it’s descendents from 1810 until 1870’s. The Doss remained a key indicator in locating the home sites for the family.
D. The census supported my conclusion that the family lived on the Rhesa Bowie land, the Reason Bowie land, and the Stephen Bowie lived on the Daniel K. Mayo land in the 1870's.
The complete report of my research is available on request. I also have maps of the locations.
