Rezin Pleasant Bowie (1793 - 1841)

Born 8 Sep 1793 in Elliott Springs, Sumner County, Tennessee

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 17 Jan 1841 at age 47 in New Orleans, Orleans, Louisiana, United States

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THE BOWIES by John Jones Bowie De Bow's Review of the Southern and Western States. ... v.13 1852: Jul-Dec. page 378

Biography

Rezin Pleasant BOWIE Jr., (1793-1841) was born on September 8, 1793 in Elliott Springs, (near Gallatin) Sumner County, Tennessee.

He was at the Battle of New Orleans with the regiment of Col. Coleman Martinez in 1815. ^[1]

Rezin Jr., married Margaret NEVIL, on September 15, 1814 in the Saint Landry Parish Roman Catholic Church. Rezin Jr., was probably best known as the inventor of the Bowie knife, made famous when used by his brother Jim in the 1827 "Sandbar Fight" on the banks of the Mississippi. He served in the War of 1812, and later was a three term Louisiana legislator for Avoyelles Parish.

With his brothers James and Stephen, Rezin established Acadia, a sugar plantation of some 1,800 acres near the town of Thibodaux (Terrebonne Parish). There the Bowies established the first steam-powered sugar mill in Louisiana.

He was involved with his brothers in slave trade and land speculation in the Territory of Louisiana and the Republic of Texas. After James moved to Texas, Rezin accompanied him on an expedition to find the Lost San Saba Mine. They did not find the mine, but their adventures in fending off a much larger Indian raiding party became widely known.^[2]

Bowie and Gen. John Wilson acquired the Pintado papers. Capt. Vicente Sebastián Pintado, the royal surveyor for the Spanish government, took these important surveys and record of deeds and grants to Havana as his personal property, and the Spanish government supported him. From there he sold needed land information and confirmations back into Louisiana, parts of Mississippi, and Alabama. Pintado told his wife to continue selling the valuable data after his death, but not the documents. The United States government wanted the papers, but Pintado would not sell. After Pintado's death his widow set a price of $20,000 and then $24,500 on the papers. The United States decided not to purchase them. Access to the Pintado papers gave a land speculator like Rezin Bowie a trump card.^[3]

He married (1) Margaret Frances Neville September 15, 1814 in Opelousas Parish, Louisiana. She was born August 7, 1796 in Opelousas Parish, Louisiana, and died August 26, 1876 in New Orleans, Orleans Parish, Louisiana. He married (2) Nancy Fereebee Lattimore January 15, 1843 in Helena, Arkansas.

More About Reason Bowie and Margaret Neville: Marriage: September 15, 1814, Opelousas Parish, Louisiana

More About Reason Bowie and Nancy Lattimore: Marriage: January 15, 1843, Helena, Arkansas

Children of Reason Bowie and Margaret Neville are:

i. John14 Bowie, born 1814.

ii. Matilda Eleanor Bowie Moore, born August 15, 1817; died Aft. 1891. Married Joseph Hickman Moore of PA.

iii. James Seaborne Bowie, born Abt. 1818; died Abt. 1820.

iv. Elvie Anna Bowie, born September 8, 1820 in Opelousas Parish, Louisiana; died 1872 in Claiborne County, Mississippi.

v. Martha Andrewella Bowie, born February 15, 1831; died February 6, 1853 in New Orleans, Orleans Parish, Louisiana.

vi. Reason A. Bowie, born 1839.

Child of Reason Bowie and Nancy Lattimore is:

i. John14 Bowie, born 1844. ^[4]

Rezin Jr., died on January 17, 1841, in Port Gibson, Claiborne County, Mississippi at age 47. He was originally buried in San Gabriel Catholic Church Cemetery in Louisiana, but about ten years later his remains were moved to the cemetery behind Saint. Joseph Catholic Church in Port Gibson, Mississippi, a church built between 1849 and 1851 largely through the funding of Elvie Bowie Moore, Bowie's daughter. ^[5][6]

Sources

1. ↑ U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970 for Elve Ap Catesby Jones by Joseph Moore Soniat du Fosset M.D. Nat #7808
2. ↑ Bowie, Rezin P.; Samuel C. Atkinson (1833), Rezin Bowie's 1833 account of 1831 Indian fight in Texas from Atkinson's Casket., Samuel C. Atkinson
3. ↑ http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fbo46
4. ↑ http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/m/o/n/Elton-M-Montgomery/GENE3-0040.html
5. ↑ http://www.linton-research-fund-inc.com/James_BOWIE_1739_1789_Descendants.html (bio by: Natalie Maynor)
6. ↑ Williamson, William R., Rezin P. Bowie, Handbook of Texas,

CONVEYANCE RECORDS OF CATAHOULA PARISH, LA. - BOOK C (Continued)

193C 23 October 1820 - JOHN J. HARVEY sells three lots of ground in Harrisonburg to PLEASANT BOWIE,-for $500, being Lots #7., Sq. #3, Lot #4 in Sq. #2, and Lot #5 in Sq. 2... which lots were conveyed to JOHN J. HARVEY by MRS. NANCY HARVEY, wife. of - B. HARVEY... /s/ JOHN J. HARVEY, PLEASANT BOWIE- Witness: J. WALLACE, WM. BOYCE

194C 23 October 1820 - PLEASANT BOWIE acknowledges he is indebted to HENRY SMITH for $550 and for the security of his debt he mortgages three town lots in Harrisonburg ... /s/ PLEASANT BOWIE