Bowen family web
The Bowens' in Tennessee
The Muster rolls of the 48th Illinois volunteer infantry states that Green Bowen(1) b abt 1837 and Andrew Bowen b abt. 1828 sons of Joshua Bowen Jr. and Petney Gann were both born in Tennessee. Greens'(1) "Nativity" is listed as Cannon County Tennessee which was formed in 1836 from parts of Warren, Smith and Rutherford counties. Andrew's nativity is just listed as Tennessee.Perhaps we can assume then that these Bowen's traveled between the frontier of Tennessee & Bertie county North Carolina, then on to Illinois.
On the 1880 Census for District 72, Guadalupe county, Texas, William M. Bowen records his father's birthplace as Tennessee. William's father Green Bowen(2) was born ca 1812, and later removed to Illinois then on to Texas.
related pages : Tennessee county formation dates |
Tennesse historical and county formation information :
Tennessee Became a State of the Union in 1796 ,annexed from the western frontier lands of the state of North Carolina.
In 1777, North Carolina annexed its western reserve (now the state of Tennessee), established Washington County, and opened a land office there to issue purchase-warrants for lands ceded by the Indians. That office was closed in 1781. In 1783, North Carolina set aside a military reservation in what is today upper middle Tennessee, out of which bounty lands were to be issued as payment to its revolutionary war soldiers. In its land-grab action of 1783, North Carolina opened for entry its entire western reserve outside the military and Cherokee reservations. At a price of £10 for every one hundred acres, nearly 4 million acres were entered, mostly by speculators, and to a large extent for lands not yet relinquished by the Indians. In that same year North Carolina enacted laws permitting military warrants to be satisfied outside the reservation; and some 8 million acres of Tennessee lands eventually were taken up in this fashion, again largely by speculators who had bought up the soldiers warrants. In 1789, North Carolina ceded its western reserve to the U.S. government but continued to issue grants for lands in the area during the years of federal control (1790-1796). Disputes involving North Carolina, Tennessee, and the United States prevented Tennessee from opening offices for the sale of public lands for more than a decade after statehood. In terms reached in the Compact of 1806, the United States set aside a Congressional Reservation lying mostly west of the lower Tennessee River, on lands still claimed by the Chickasaw. The United States withheld settlement from that area and disallowed the satisfying of outstanding North Carolina warrants and entries there. Tennessee was permitted to open land offices for the sale of its own lands outside the Congressional Reservation but was required to continue honoring outstanding North Carolina warrants in those areas.
Beginning in 1806, Tennessee enacted laws that addressed and defined the rights of those who had squatted on vacant and unappropriated lands. Occupant grants sought to encourage immigration and recognize the rights of actual settlers by granting small amounts of land based on residence and improvements made to the property. The remainder of the grants issued by the state of Tennessee, representing the bulk of the total, were based on general land sales. These purchase grants eventually sold for as little as one cent per acre. The lands of West Tennessee were opened in 1818, when the Chickasaw surrendered their rights. This district was laid out on a grid system, preferential rights were given to occupants, and offices were opened for land sales. Once again, however, Tennessee was required to satisfy outstanding North Carolina warrants and entries.
The Cherokees had relinquished their rights to the lands of Tennessee in piecemeal fashion, giving up the lands along the southern boundary in 1805 and 1806. The remainder of their lands, the Cherokee Reservation, was ceded in treaties dated 1819 and 1835; the resulting Hiwassee and Ocoee districts were laid out under the GLO land system. Because this area had been exempt from military warrants and from entries under the 1783 act, it was the only section unencumbered by North Carolina claims that had caused so much confusion in the rest of the state.
As Indian treaties opened up the land that is now Tennessee for settlement, settlers rushed in to clear farms and establish communities. The new inhabitants sought protection for life and property and other benefits of government & courts of law, militia organizations, and legal title to newly acquired land. Counties were quickly organized once migration into the frontier region had begun. Access to the seat of government was a main difficulty for the pioneers, since it was necessary to travel to the county seat to conduct legal business or present oneself to the court. Over time, residents in areas remote from the county seat would petition the General Assembly for a new county centered closer to their homes. Twenty-two new counties were formed between 1806 and 1819, and twenty-five between 1820 and 1840. This process of carving counties out of the land began in the 1780s and ended a century later. Counties were named for military heroes, American statesmen, physical features, European noblemen, Indian tribes and settlements, and one for a woman. Some counties were authorized but never organized, some organized and were abolished. At present Tennessee has ninety-five counties, each with its own unique story to tell. Cannon County lies almost exactly in the center of Tennessee, approximately half way between Chattanooga and Nashville. It contains an area of some 270 square miles and was created on January 31, 1836, from parts of Rutherford, Smith, and Warren Counties. The original bill (as drafted) named the County, "Marshall", after Chief Justice John Marshall, but before its passage, the word "Marshall" was penned out and the word "Cannon" was inserted, for Newton Cannon, the governor of Tennessee. Around 1806, when settlers first came to the area along the Stones River that later became Woodbury, the tiny settlement had no name. It was finally named "Woodville" in 1815. On February 25, 1827, the name was changed to"Danville". Then, in 1836, it was chosen as the County Seat for the new county and was renamed Woodbury, in honor of Levi Woodbury, the Secretary of the Treasury under President Andrew Jackson. In 1836, the town had a population of probably no more than 100. In 1837, a portion of Northeastern Cannon Co. was used in the forming of the new Dekalb Co., and in 1838 a portion of Wilson County containing the area around Auburntown was added to Cannon. The County is bounded on the west by Rutherford County,Created 1803 from Davidson, Williamson and Wilson counties; named in honor of Griffith Rutherford (1721-1805), North Carolina legislator, Indian War soldier, chairman of the legislature of the Territory South of the River Ohio (later Tennessee, the north by Wilson County,Created 1799 from Sumner County; named in honor of David Wilson (1752-1804?), Revolutionary War soldier, member of the North Carolina legislature and the legislature of the Territory South of the River Ohio (later Tennessee) and DeKalb County,Created 1837 from Franklin, Cannon, Jackson and White counties; named in honor of Johann DeKalb (1721-1780), German baron who came with Lafayette to America in 1777, became a Revolutionary army officer and was killed in action at Camden., on the east by Warren County,Created 1807 from White, Jackson, Smith counties and Indian lands; named in honor of Joseph Warren (1741-1775), Revolutionary War officer who sent Paul Revere on his famous midnight ride to Lexington in 1775, and who was killed at Bunker Hill. and on the south by Coffee County,Created 1836 from Bedford, Warren and Franklin Counties; named in honor of John Coffee (1772-1833), Creek War and War of 1812 cavalry commander, frontiersman, congressionaly-appointed surveyor-general, land dealer and prosperous planter.White County is in Middle Tennessee, in the Cumberland Mountains, midway between Nashville and Knoxville, and covers an area of 377 square miles. Called "the Mountain District", it's scenery is said to rival the Swiss Alps. The Center Hill Lake and Recreation Area lies at the eastern boundry of the county, the "Calf Killer" River runs through the middle of the county, and the beautiful Caney Fork River runs around the southwestern border, near the Warren and DeKalb County lines. Earliest migration was by frontiersmen coming through the Cumberland Gap, but later settlement was due in part to a highway between Knoxville and Nashville that was opened in 1785. Many of the early settlers of White County came from Hyde County, NC. White County was Created 1806 from Jackson and Smith counties; named in honor of John White (1751-1846), Revolutionary War soldier who saw action at Brandywine, Germantown and Stony Point, and was the first white settler of White County.
From 1820 census , White County Tn.
Bowen, Arthur
in house 2 males under 10
1 male aged 26-45 -
2 females under 10
1 female aged 26-45
Bowen, Charles :
1male over 45
Notes and Misc. Tennessee Information
Warren County, Tennessee tax listing from 1854
Van Hooser Civil Disitrict 7
Bowen, Margaret 100 Acres 1 slave
Tennessee State File - Post Offices and Postmasters in 1816 - Jackson County Tennessee
TENNESSEE POST OFFICES 1816
Compiled from American State Papers, Blue Book Register, 1816
Jackson Court-house, John Bowen.
Note : while the vast majority of the listing of post offices and postmasters contained birthplace and yearly compensation information,John Bowen's listing did not.
Jury duty in 1811!WHITE COUNTY COURT MINUTES
1812-1814 November 13, 1811
(p 28) Ordered by Court that the following persons here in after Named be summoned to attend as Jurors at the Next Circuit Court to be holden for the County of White at the Court house in the town of Sparta, on the first Monday of March Next Towit: Alexander Irwin, Thomas Taylor Snr. James Townsend, John Briggs, Joseph Smith, John Robinson, Alijah Crane, John W. Simpson, Robert G, Anderson, John Dodson Junr. John Dale, Benjamin Burden, John Jett, George Saunders, Peter Carter, Garrette Fitsgerald, Reuben Ragland, John Crook, Junr. Jacob Ryder, Joseph Upchurch, James Bowen, Jesse Dodson, John Bryan Snr. William Shaw, Benjamin Weaver, Andrew McBride, William Belcher, Samuel Weaver Jnr. Pierce Coody, (Continued)
(p. 29) William Hays, Joseph Anderson, Thomas Horne. Andrew Birk, Jesse Babb, John Trapp, Robert Harris, Levi Sweat, Alexander Lowery, and David Thompson, and that they attend from day to day until discharged by Court and that a Venire facias issue accordingly- and that it is ordered that Isaac McGuire and John H. Anderson be appointed as Constables to attend there on &c. Issd Nov, 26th 1811
Charles Bowen called to jury duty January 21,1814 White County Tn.
(p 346) Ordered by Court that Benjamin Lewis, Isham Bradley, Marshal Duncan, Abraham Broyls, John Yoakum, William Griffith, John Yockman, John Ogle, William Lewis, John Hawkins, John Watson, James Knowles, John Townsend, Abel Hutson, Thomas Gist, Henry Lyda, Joseph Crabb, Frederick Miller, Andrew Smith, Charles Smith, Jesse Babb, Jesse Dodson, William Gracy, Jonathan C. Davies, David Thompson, Andrew Gamble,Thomas Lawson as Jurors John Dale,Ephraim Shockley as constables to attend next Court
ordered by Court that Charles Bowen, Thomas Branson, John England, Thomas Wilson, James Anderson Sr. Wm. Daniel ,John Dodson, Thomas Barnes, William J. Smith, John James, John Ellison, William Crain, Smith Hutchings, Jesse Conway., John Crook, Sr. William R. Cole, Andrew McBride, Benjn. Weaver, John L. Glenn, John Hawkins, Joseph Cummings, Joshua Leonard,Joseph Smith, Alexander Cook, Joseph Franks Isaac Midkiff as Jurors
Isaac McGans,Elisha Swift ,Pleasant C. Farley as constables to attend the next Circuit Court &.&.--
WHITE COUNTY COUNTY COURT MINUTES 1817-1819
July 21, 1817
(p 8) Ordered by court the following persons be appointed to hold the next stated election for a number to Congress Governor of the State and members to the General assembly at the following place to wit
at Sparta.Messrs,Elijah Chisums.Senr., David Mitchell and William Patton
at James Cole's, John Crooks Senr.,William R.Coles;Jacob Robertson
at Jno.McElhaineys,Spence Mitchells,William Dearing and Charles Bowen
all on the first Thursday and suceeding day in August next.
1812 Tax List White County,Tn.
[FROM MICROFILM ROLL 123 BOOK 1812]
ISAAC TAYLOR JR. SHERIFF OF WHITE CO., TN 18TH NOVEMBER 1812.
-
- CAPT. JAMES RANDAL'S CO.
- Taken by David Mitchell (Randal, James owns 7159.25 acres in the John Wallilng vicinity)
- CAPT. JAMES RANDAL'S CO.
Bowen,James
- CAPT. ISAAC PREWIT'S CO.
- taken by Joseph Smith, Esq .(Prewit, Isaac owned 4078 acres on the South side Caney Fork)
Bowen, Arthur
Bowen, Charles
1804 Warren County Tennessee tax list
CAPT. CANNON'S DISTRICT: John Bowen
Notes from "History of Woodbury and Cannon Co." by Sterling S. Brown, 1936.FROM LORETTO DENNIS SZUCS AND SANDRA HARGRAVE LUEBKING, EDS., THE SOURCE: A GUIDEBOOK OF AMERICAN GENEALOGY, REV. ED. (SALT LAKE CITY, UT: ANCESTRY, 1997) , PP. 281-282.See Shirley Hollis Rice, The Hidden Revolutionary War Land Grants in the Tennessee Military Reservation (Reprint. Lawrenceburg, Tenn.: 1992).Grants issued by Tennessee, as well as those North Carolina grants issued for Tennessee lands, are on microfilm along with a card file that indexes and summarizes them. Surviving warrants, entries, and surveys are available on microfilm at the Tennessee State Library and Archives Record Group 50. For further discussion of Tennessee's land history and laws, see Thomas Abernethy, From Frontier to Plantation in Tennessee (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1932); L.D. Smith, ìLand Laws of Tennessee,î Tennessee Law Review, vols. 1ñ3 (Knoxville: Editorial Board of Tennessee Law Review Association, 1922ñ25); Daniel Dovenbarger, ìLand [p.282] Registration in Middle Tennesseeî (M.A. thesis, Vanderbilt University, 1981); Thomas B. Jones, The Public Lands of Tennessee, Tennessee Historical Quarterly 27 (1): 13ñ36 (Spring 1968); and Henry D. Whitney, The Land Laws of Tennessee (Chattanooga: J.M. Deardorff Sons, Printers, 1893)
links
[| Bowen family web index |] [| Photo album & document Archives |] [| Origins |]
Archaeologists
digging into the past of enslaved blacks
at the old William Bowen plantation ( The Bowen - Campbell
house)
have discovered what is believed to be the kitchen of a slave cabin.
Accounts of The Battle of Kings Mountain and the over mountain men October 7,1780
http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~bowen/reesbowen.html
An excerpt from: (1906) Appendix C.
A
History of the Middle New River Settlements and Contiguous Territory By
David E. Johnson
The Bowen family web : The Rootsweb edition 2000-2004
Search Ancestry.com "B" Surnames Database
Ancestry.com's - Free 14-Day Trial
