Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection open for research .

Use Restrictions

Physical characteristics and conditions affect use of this material. Photocopying not permitted.

Preferred Citation

Bowie Family Collection, 1847 (SC 0045), Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, VA..

Acquisition Information

Unknown, transferred to Town of Leesburg by Loudoun County in July 1994.

Alternative Form Available

None

Accruals

1989.0005

Processing Information

Processed by Emily Hershman, 15 August 2010

Formerly catalogued as part of the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth Century Miscellany Collection 1772-1956, NUCMC 65.

Biographical Information

Robert Gilmor Bowie (1808-1881), the son of Colonel Washington Bowie (1776-1825) and Margaret Crabb Johns (1774-1840), was born in the District of Columbia. He later served as a civil engineer on the Alexandria, Loudoun and Hampshire Railroad Company, which began construction on its line in 1855. According to the Board of Director's fourth annual report, issued in October 1856, Bowie and another member of the engineering corps were to head contracts for cross-ties between Alexandria and Fairfax Counties following the resignation of the firm's chief engineer. The railway sought to include these regions as well as the city of Winchester, Loudoun and Clarke Counties; by 1860, its tracks had reached Leesburg.

In August 1865, faced with the confiscation of his estate because of the American Civil War, Bowie signed an Amnesty Oath. In his petition to President Andrew Johnson, he notes that he had "never been in the service of the so-called Confederate States." On a list of pardons and abandoned property issued May 5, 1866, it is noted that 150 acres were restored to him. Bowie passed away in Loudoun County in July 1881.

Scope and Content

The Bowie Family Collection includes a bill of sale for various house furnishings, stamped covers from business and personal correspondence, as well as an autograph letter signed from Evan Lyons (1806-1876), a miller and business associate of Bowie.

The bill totaling $257.70, due 13 February 1847, was for purchases of furniture and building materials, such as curl maple banisters, flooring, shingles, and rosewood chairs. Written inside of the folded sheet is a memorandum from an agent of John L. Pascoe (1810-n.d.) noting the sum was withdrawn from Bowie's account. The six envelopes are addressed to Bowie, with postmarks from Alexandria, Leesburg, and Georgetown; one has a heading from the Alexandria, Loudoun and Hampshire Railroad. The letter from Evan Lyons on 29 November 1847 refers to a breach in the canal preventing boats from reaching Edwards Ferry and describes an alternate route.

Adjunct Descriptive Data

Bibliography

Other Finding Aid

None

Technical Requirements

None