William Duckett Bowie
Encyclopedia
William Duckett Bowie was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 politician. The eldest child of William Bowie and Kitty Beanes Duckett, he was born at Fairview Plantation
Fairview Plantation
Fairview Plantation was built around the year 1800 by Baruch Duckett in Collington, Maryland. The house is a transitional federal/Greek revival design considered to be a significant part of the Prince George's County heritage. Fairview is a two-story stuccoed brick plantation house with flush end...

 in Prince Georges County, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

.

Career and Wealth

His maternal grandfather, Baruch Duckett left him Quarter Plantation near Collington, Maryland
Collington, Maryland
Collington, Maryland is a now defunct settlement in Prince George's County, Maryland dating from colonial times. Collington has been subsumed by the city of Bowie, Maryland.-Geography:...

 where he settled after leaving college as well as a sizeable number of slaves
After the death of his two brothers, Robert Bowie in 1818 and Walter Baruch Bowie in 1832, and by purchasing the interests of his sisters, he became the owner of Fairview where he then made his home.

Upon the death of his father in 1810, William Duckett Bowie was made the executioner of his will which increased his wealth significantly and his uncle, Daniel Bowie bequeathed to him all of his land upon his death as well which combined, made him one of the wealthiest planters in Prince Georges County.

In 1830, he and his uncle Walter Bowie Jr. were appointed by the Governor
Governor of Maryland
The Governor of Maryland heads the executive branch of the government of Maryland, and he is the commander-in-chief of the state's National Guard units. The Governor is the highest-ranking official in the state, and he has a broad range of appointive powers in both the State and local governments,...

 Thomas King Carroll
Thomas King Carroll
Thomas King Carroll served as the 21st Governor of the state of Maryland in the United States from 1830 to 1831. He also served as a judge, and in the Maryland House of Delegates from 1816 to 1817.-Biography:...

 as members of the Levy Court for Prince Georges County. In 1838 and 1839 he was nominated by the Democrats for the state Legislature but defeated by his cousin Thomas Fielder Bowie
Thomas Fielder Bowie
Thomas Fielder Bowie was an American politician.Born in Nottingham, Maryland near Queen Anne, in Prince George's County, Maryland Bowie attended Charlotte Hall Academy in St. Mary's County, Maryland and Princeton College. In 1826, Bowie was elected to the New York Alpha of Phi Beta Kappa...

 the Whig
Whig Party (United States)
The Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. Considered integral to the Second Party System and operating from the early 1830s to the mid-1850s, the party was formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic...

 candidate. in 1840, he overcame the large Whig vote and was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates
Maryland House of Delegates
The Maryland House of Delegates is the lower house of the General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland, and is composed of 141 Delegates elected from 47 districts. The House chamber is located in the state capitol building on State Circle in Annapolis...

 in which he served two terms. After that, he beat the Whig leader Robert Bowie
Robert Bowie
Robert Bowie served as the 11th Governor of the state of Maryland in the United States, from 1803 to 1806, and from 1811 to 1812....

 of Mattaponi, Maryland for the Maryland Senate seat. He was re-elected at the end of his first term.

Family

On February 8, 1825, William Duckett Bowie married Eliza Mary Oden, daughter of Benjamin Oden Sr. and Rachael Sophia West. They had five children, Oden Bowie
Oden Bowie
Oden Bowie , a member of the United States Democratic Party, was the 34th Governor of the State of Maryland in the United States from 1869 to 1872.-Childhood:...

, born December 10, 1826, Catherine Bowie in 1828, William Duckett Bowie, Jr. in November 1830, Christiana Sophia Bowie in 1835 and Walter Baruch Bowie on August 26, 1836. Eliza died in 1849.

On January 7, 1854, William Duckett Bowie married his first wife's half-sister, Mary Black West. They had three girls, Harriet Oden Bowie, Mary Eliza Bowie and Laura Bowie.

After his second marriage Bowie gave Fairview to his eldest son, Oden Bowie and moved to Bellefield near Croom, Maryland which was the old Colonial home of his second wife. Bellefield had originally been the property of Patrick Sim, ancestor of Governor
Governor of Maryland
The Governor of Maryland heads the executive branch of the government of Maryland, and he is the commander-in-chief of the state's National Guard units. The Governor is the highest-ranking official in the state, and he has a broad range of appointive powers in both the State and local governments,...

 Thomas Sim Lee
Thomas Sim Lee
Thomas Sim Lee was an American planter and statesman of Frederick County, Maryland. Although not a signatory to the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation or the US Constitution, he was an important participant in the process of their creation...

. Bowie died at Bellefield July 18, 1873 and is interred at Fairview.
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