Lemuel Henry Bowden (1821 - 1891)

Born 5 Sep 1821 in Catahoula, Louisiana, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Mary Sarah (Brown) Bowden — married 31 Dec 1841 in Chicot County, Arkansas

Husband of Alley Eliza (Whatley) Bowden — married 4 Oct 1853 in Franklin Parish, Louisiana

Husband of Mary Linus (Draughon) Bowden — married 18 Dec 1872 in Franklin Parish, Louisiana

Descendants

Died 5 Sep 1891 at age 70 in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, United States

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Lynn Wiggers [send private message], Curtis Whitney [send private message], and Debra Fuller [send private message]

Lemuel Bowden served in the United States Civil War.
Side: CSA
Regiment(s): 2nd North Carolina Artillery

Biography

Lemuel Henry Bowden was born on 5 Sep 1821 in Catahoula Parish, Louisiana and died on his 70th birthday, 5 Sep 1891 in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana.^[1]

His father, Jesse Bowden is living in Boeuf Prairie, Catahoula (later Franklin) Parish in 1810, 1820, dec'd in 1826,^[2] when Lemuel was about 5, leaving an estate, for which extensive probate records are available in Catahoula Parish Clerk of Court office.

Elizabeth Bowden, age 40 - 50, is living in Catahoula Parish in 1830, with three sons and four daughters, the middle son is Lemuel.^[3] Elizabeth died about 1837 when Lemuel was approximately 16, and there is another significant collection of records in Catahoula regarding probate and tutorship of her minor children. Lemuel is tutored by Wiley Blount Grayson until he is emancipated.

Marriage, Family and Household Records

First Marriage - Mary S. Brown

• Dec 31, 1841 he married Mary S. Brown, both residents of Catahoula Parish, Louisiana, in Bayou Mason Township, Chicot County, Arkansas. ^[4] It is noted that their ages would be 21 and 16 in the following year.
• Three days later, Jan 3, 1842 in Catahoula Parish, Louisiana, Samuel H. Bowden married Mary S. Brown.^[5] It is almost assured that transcribers have misinterpreted the original handwriting from "Lemuel" to "Samuel" since the alternative is that this young lady married two men in three days with the same name with the exception of two letters. This has been noted in several instances.
  • Also note that their residence is recorded as Catahoula Parish, Louisiana. Additional references to their residence should be viewed in the light that Franklin Parish was formed in 1843, taking parts of Carroll, Catahoula, Madison, and Ouachita Parishes.^[6] Their primary residence was in what would become Franklin Parish.

Second Marriage - Alley Eliza Whatley

• On 4 Oct 1853, he married Alley Eliza Whatley in Franklin Parish, Louisiana.^[7]

Third Marriage - Mary Linus Draughan

• 18 Dec 1872 He married Mary L. Draughan in Franklin Parish, Louisiana.^[8]

Issue

Issue of Lemuel Henry Bowden and Mary Brown

• Mary Elizabeth Bowden McDonald b. 1844^[9]
• Andrew Jackson Bowden b. 1846^[9]

Issue of Lemuel Henry Bowden and Mary L. Draughan

• Lottie Bowden b. 1874^[10]
• Harry Bowden b. 1878^[10]
• Jessie Bowden Stephens b. 1879^[10]
• Lemuel Bowden b. Aug 1881^[11]
• Nichols Bowden b. Mar 1888^[11]
• Mary Bowden b. Nov 1890^[11]

Census Records

1850

• In the 1850 Census Lemuel is living with wife Mary, daughter Mary E. and son Andrew .J, all born in Louisiana.^[9]

1860

• In the 1860 United States Census, Franklin Parish, he is living with wife Eliza, Mary E, A.J. and L.J. Whatley, age 7.^[12]

1870

• In the 1870 Census, he is living with only two domestic servants, Julia Blades and Sam Johnson and states that he was born in Louisiana. ^[13]

1880

• In the 1880 Census, he is living with wife Mary L. age 28 having been born in Mississippi, daughter Lottie, age 6, son Harry age 2, and son Jessie, 11 months. At the time of this census he tells us that his father was born in Alabama and his mother in Georgia.^[10]

Property Records

• Purchase of 283.83 Acres 1 Jul1859^[14]
• Tax Assessment 1866^[15]

Fact and Fiction

Lemuel is one of those colorful characters, a local celebrity still a topic of conversation more than a 120 years after his death, to whom every wonderful and nefarious deed for a century is attributed. Here I will try to sort fact and fiction.

• Came to Louisiana from Georgia in 1812 or 1816 by boat^[16]
  • Lemuel himself tells us in every Federal U.S. Census that he was born in Louisiana^{[9][12][13][10]}
  • He was born in 1821^[1]
• Colonel in the Civil War^[16]
  • Lemuel Henry Bowden entered the Civil War as a Senior Lieutenant and exited as a First Lieutenant^[17] in the 2nd Regiment of the North Carolina Artillery
• L.H. was a founding member of the Franklin Parish Police Jury.^{[18] [19]}
• L.H. was a contributor to the establishment of the Boeuf Prairie Methodist Church.^[18] (He was 12 years old in 1833 when the church was established and 16 when the building was completed in 1837)
• L.H. was elected to be the Representative from Franklin Parish to the Louisiana House of Representatives in 1876 - 1878.^[20]
  • It is possible that he was also the first recorded person to hold this office, 1848 - 1850. The reference lists that honor as going to S. H. Bowden, but L. H. is the only Bowden in Franklin Parish 1850 Census and the Lemuel / Samuel / handwriting ambiguity may be in play.
• Sadly, L.H. is best remembered for killing the Outlaw John Word. ^[18][21]
  • Interestingly, Wylie Grayson testified about this event before U.S. Congress in 1869 and attributed the killing to his son, Andrew Jackson Bowden. ^[22]

Letter in possession of University of Texas, Austin

• Letter from Bowden of Beouff Prairie to James G. Taliaferro of Harrisonburg, Louisiana, concerns Bowden's choice of W.B. Grayson for his garden ... ^[23]

Final Resting Place

Lemuel Henry Bowden died on his 70th birthday, 5 Sep 1891 and is buried in Tangipahoa Cemetery, Tangipahoa, Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, USA.^[1]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Find A Grave # Find A Grave: Memorial #34116713
2. ↑ USGWArchive Catahoula Parish, Louisiana #[1]
3. ↑ "United States Census, 1830," database with images, FamilySearch (#[2] : 14 August 2015), Louisiana > Catahoula > image 12 of 28; citing NARA microfilm publication M19, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
4. ↑ Arkansas, County Marriages, 1837 - 1857 #[3]
5. ↑ Catahoula Marriage Records #[4]
6. ↑ Genealogy 3 #[5]
7. ↑ Franklin Parish Marriage Records #[6]
8. ↑ Hunting For Bears, comp.. Louisiana, Marriages, 1718-1925 #[7]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3} 1850 United States Census, Franklin Parish #[8]
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4} 1880 United States Census, Franklin Parish #[9]
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1 11.2} Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [10]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.
12. ↑ ^{12.0 12.1} 1860 United States Census, Franklin Parish #[11]
13. ↑ ^{13.0 13.1} 1870 United States Census, Franklin Parish #[12]
14. ↑ United States, Bureau of Land Management. Louisiana, Homestead and Cash Entry Patents, Pre-1908 [13]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1997.
15. ↑ Ancestry.com. U.S. IRS Tax Assessment Lists, 1862-1918 [14]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008.
16. ↑ ^{16.0 16.1} USGW Archives #[15]
17. ↑ National Park Service. U.S. Civil War Soldiers, 1861-18650# [16]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007.
18. ↑ ^{18.0 18.1 18.2}
19. ↑ USGWArchives #[17]
20. ↑ Louisiana House of Representatives | History #[18]
21. ↑ Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census [19]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.
22. ↑ Congressional Serial Set: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1870, United States House of Representatives, Testimony taken by the Sub-Committee of Elections in Louisiana, Testimony of Wylie Grayson referencing the killing of Outlaw John Word p. 371 #[20]
23. ↑ University of Texas Austin, Briscoe Center for American History Manuscripts #[21]

• Purchase of Land in 1859

• See also A Short History of Franklin Parish from 1937, Blanche Oliver #[22]