Oden Bowie
Encyclopedia
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.
in Collington
, Prince George's County, Maryland
, the oldes son of Colonel William Duckett Bowie
and Eliza Mary Oden.
He spent the bulk of his childhood at Fairview where he was educated by a private tutor until his mother died when he was nine years old. After his mother's death, he was sent to the preparatory department of St. John's College
in Annapolis, Maryland
where studied for three years. At age twelve, he enrolled in St. Mary's Seminary and University
and graduated in July 1845 as valedictorian of his class.
" by Captain Taylor and eventually promoted to the rank of Captain by President James K. Polk
, commanding the Votigeur Regiment. At the time he was the youngest Captain in the army.
, followed by the Maryland Senate from 1867 to 1869. On November 5, 1867, he became
the first Governor of Maryland
to be elected under the post Civil War
Maryland Constitution of 1867, and as such, he did not assume the office of Governor until January 13, 1869. Bowie's term of Governor ended on January 10, 1872 ending his career in politics.
Planter. After significant lobbying together with Thomas Fielder Bowie
, William Duckett Bowie, and Oden Bowie, the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Company was organized. Two of the charter members were Walter Bowie and Thomas F Bowie. Directors included William Duckett Bowie and Oden. Oden became the first president of the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad around 1853 and also president of the
Baltimore City Passenger Railway in 1873.
In 1868, at a dinner party in Saratoga, New York
, Bowie and associates agreed to hold a horse race in 1870 for the yearlings
owned by attendees at the party. A wager was placed and the winner of the race would host the losers for dinner. Both Saratoga and the American Jockey Club made bids for the event, but Bowie pledged to build a grand racetrack in his home state if the race were to be run in Baltimore. The Dixie Stakes, (also known as the Dinner Party Stakes) and Pimlico Race Course
were the results.
. He married Alice Carter on December 3, 1851. She was the daughter of Charles H. Carter and Rosalie Eugenia Calvert Carter of Goodwood, Prince George's County. Alice's mother was a descendant of George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore
the first colonial proprietor of the Province of Maryland
.
Before the civil war, Fairview had many slaves. Charles Branch Clark wrote in 1946 in the Maryland Historical Magazine that seventy of Oden Bowie's slaves enlisted in the Union Army
.
The Bowies were among the state’s largest slaveholders. Growing tobacco, Oden’s father, William D. Bowie (sometimes known as “Colonel” because an affiliation with militia) increased his holdings from 42 enslaved persons held in 1830 to 93 by 1860. Thus, Oden Bowie had always known slavery and came to be a large holder of enslaved persons once he assumed control of Fairview. His 47 enslaved blacks placed him in the top 40 slaveholders for Prince George’s County in 1850 (out of a total slaveholding population of 879). During the next decade he more than doubled his slaveholdings, with 103 counted by 1860.
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,...
State of 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...
in the United States from 1869 to 1872.
Childhood
He was born in 1826 at Fairview PlantationFairview 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 Collington
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:...
, Prince George's County, Maryland
Prince George's County, Maryland
Prince George's County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland, immediately north, east, and south of Washington, DC. As of 2010, it has a population of 863,420 and is the wealthiest African-American majority county in the nation....
, the oldes son of Colonel William Duckett Bowie
William Duckett Bowie
William Duckett Bowie , was an American politician. The eldest child of William Bowie and Kitty Beanes Duckett, he was born at Fairview Plantation in Prince Georges County, Maryland.-Career and Wealth:...
and Eliza Mary Oden.
He spent the bulk of his childhood at Fairview where he was educated by a private tutor until his mother died when he was nine years old. After his mother's death, he was sent to the preparatory department of St. John's College
St. John's College, U.S.
St. John's College is a liberal arts college with two U.S. campuses: one in Annapolis, Maryland and one in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Founded in 1696 as a preparatory school, King William's School, the school received a collegiate charter in 1784, making it one of the oldest institutions of higher...
in Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County. It had a population of 38,394 at the 2010 census and is situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east of Washington, D.C. Annapolis is...
where studied for three years. At age twelve, he enrolled in St. Mary's Seminary and University
St. Mary's Seminary and University
St. Mary's Seminary and University is a Roman Catholic seminary in Baltimore, Maryland; it was the first seminary founded in the United States of America.-History:...
and graduated in July 1845 as valedictorian of his class.
Military
In 1846 Bowie enlisted in the U.S. Army as a private at the outbreak of the Mexican-American war. He was promoted through the ranks, cited with "conspicuous bravery at MontereyMonterey, California
The City of Monterey in Monterey County is located on Monterey Bay along the Pacific coast in Central California. Monterey lies at an elevation of 26 feet above sea level. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 27,810. Monterey is of historical importance because it was the capital of...
" by Captain Taylor and eventually promoted to the rank of Captain by President James K. Polk
James K. Polk
James Knox Polk was the 11th President of the United States . Polk was born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. He later lived in and represented Tennessee. A Democrat, Polk served as the 17th Speaker of the House of Representatives and the 12th Governor of Tennessee...
, commanding the Votigeur Regiment. At the time he was the youngest Captain in the army.
Politics
In 1849, he was elected to his first political office, as a member of the Maryland House of DelegatesMaryland 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...
, followed by the Maryland Senate from 1867 to 1869. On November 5, 1867, he became
the first Governor of Maryland
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,...
to be elected under the post Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
Maryland Constitution of 1867, and as such, he did not assume the office of Governor until January 13, 1869. Bowie's term of Governor ended on January 10, 1872 ending his career in politics.
Railroading
Walter Bowie was a major advocate of expanding the railroad system into southern Maryland, and wrote articles lobbying for this under the pen name PatuxentPatuxent
-People:* Patuxent people, an Algonquian people indigenous to what is now the Mid-Atlantic United States-Places and geological features:* Patuxent, Maryland, an unincorporated community in Charles County* Patuxent Range, a mountain chain in Antarctica...
Planter. After significant lobbying together with 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...
, William Duckett Bowie, and Oden Bowie, the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Company was organized. Two of the charter members were Walter Bowie and Thomas F Bowie. Directors included William Duckett Bowie and Oden. Oden became the first president of the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad around 1853 and also president of the
Baltimore City Passenger Railway in 1873.
Thoroughbred racing
Oden Bowie was an avid horseman who served for nineteen years as President of the Pimlico Jockey Club, and as President of the Maryland Jockey Club. At Fairview Plantation he bred Thoroughbred racehorses. Among his successful runners, Crickmore was voted the retrospective American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt of 1880.In 1868, at a dinner party in Saratoga, New York
Saratoga, New York
Saratoga is a town in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 5,141 at the 2000 census. It is also the commonly used, but not official, name for the neighboring and much more populous city, Saratoga Springs. The major village in the town of Saratoga is Schuylerville which is...
, Bowie and associates agreed to hold a horse race in 1870 for the yearlings
Yearling (horse)
A yearling is a young horse of either sex that is between one and two years old. Yearlings are comparable in development to a very early adolescent, they are not fully mature physically, and while they may be in the earliest stages of sexual maturity, they are considered too young to be breeding...
owned by attendees at the party. A wager was placed and the winner of the race would host the losers for dinner. Both Saratoga and the American Jockey Club made bids for the event, but Bowie pledged to build a grand racetrack in his home state if the race were to be run in Baltimore. The Dixie Stakes, (also known as the Dinner Party Stakes) and Pimlico Race Course
Pimlico Race Course
Pimlico Race Course is a horse racetrack in Baltimore, Maryland, most famous for hosting the Preakness Stakes. Its name is derived from the 1660s when English settlers named the area where the facility currently stands in honor of Olde Ben Pimlico's Tavern in London...
were the results.
Family and private life
Bowie spent most of his life at Fairview PlantationFairview 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...
. He married Alice Carter on December 3, 1851. She was the daughter of Charles H. Carter and Rosalie Eugenia Calvert Carter of Goodwood, Prince George's County. Alice's mother was a descendant of George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore
George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore
Sir George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore, 8th Proprietary Governor of Newfoundland was an English politician and colonizer. He achieved domestic political success as a Member of Parliament and later Secretary of State under King James I...
the first colonial proprietor of the Province of Maryland
Province of Maryland
The Province of Maryland was an English and later British colony in North America that existed from 1632 until 1776, when it joined the other twelve of the Thirteen Colonies in rebellion against Great Britain and became the U.S...
.
Before the civil war, Fairview had many slaves. Charles Branch Clark wrote in 1946 in the Maryland Historical Magazine that seventy of Oden Bowie's slaves enlisted in the Union Army
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
.
The Bowies were among the state’s largest slaveholders. Growing tobacco, Oden’s father, William D. Bowie (sometimes known as “Colonel” because an affiliation with militia) increased his holdings from 42 enslaved persons held in 1830 to 93 by 1860. Thus, Oden Bowie had always known slavery and came to be a large holder of enslaved persons once he assumed control of Fairview. His 47 enslaved blacks placed him in the top 40 slaveholders for Prince George’s County in 1850 (out of a total slaveholding population of 879). During the next decade he more than doubled his slaveholdings, with 103 counted by 1860.
Legacy
- The city of Bowie, MarylandBowie, MarylandBowie is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. The population was 54,727 at the 2010 census. Bowie has grown from a small railroad stop to the largest municipality in Prince George's County, and the fifth most populous city and third largest city by area in the state of...
was founded as Huntington in 1870 at a junction of the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad. The town was renamed Bowie in the 1880s after Governor Oden Bowie. - Odenton, MarylandOdenton, MarylandOdenton is a census-designated place in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States. The population was 20,534 at the 2000 census. The town is named after former Governor of Maryland, Oden Bowie. It is bordered by Gambrills to the east, Severn to the north, Fort Meade to the west, and Crofton to...
began as a junction of the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad and the Annapolis and Elk Ridge RailroadAnnapolis and Elk Ridge RailroadThe Annapolis and Elk Ridge Railroad, later the Annapolis, Washington and Baltimore Railroad, once provided rail service to Annapolis, Maryland and was one of the earliest railroads in the U.S. It later merged into the Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Electric Railway and was finally abandoned...
, named after Oden Bowie in 1872.