Oden Bowie (November 10, 1826December 4, 1894),
a member of the
United States Democratic Party
The Democratic Party is one of the Two-party system, two Major party, major contemporary political parties in the United States. Founded in 1828, it was predominantly built by Martin Van Buren, who assembled a wide cadre of politicians in eve ...
, was the
34th Governor of the State of Maryland in the United States from 1869 to 1872.
Childhood
He was born in 1826 at
Fairview Plantation
Fairview construction began around the year 1788 on an expanse of land owned by Baruch Duckett in Collington, Maryland (now the census-designated place of Fairwood). The house is a transitional federal/Greek revival design considered to be a signi ...
in
Collington, Maryland
Collington is a now defunct settlement in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, dating from colonial times. Collington has been subsumed by the city of Bowie.
Geography
Collington is located at 38°58'6" North, 76°45'35" West (38.9684 ...
, the oldest son of Colonel
William Duckett Bowie
William Duckett Bowie (7 October 1803 – 18 July 1873), was an American politician. The eldest child of William Bowie and Kitty Beanes Duckett, he was born at Fairview Plantation in Prince George's County, Maryland.
Career and Wealth
His m ...
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
Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...
where he 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.[
]
Career
Military
In 1846 Bowie enlisted in the U.S. Army as a private at the outbreak of the Mexican–American War
The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...
. He was promoted through the ranks, cited with "conspicuous bravery at Monterey
Monterey (; es, Monterrey; Ohlone: ) is a city located in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under both ...
" by Captain Taylor and eventually promoted to the rank of Captain by President James K. Polk, serving in the Voltigeur 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 Delegates
The Maryland House of Delegates is the lower house of the legislature of the State of Maryland. It consists of 141 delegates elected from 47 districts. The House of Delegates Chamber is in the Maryland State House on State Circle in Annapolis, ...
, followed by the Maryland Senate
The Maryland Senate, sometimes referred to as the Maryland State Senate, is the upper house of the General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. Composed of 47 senators elected from an equal number of constituent single- ...
from 1867 to 1869. On November 5, 1867, he became
the first Governor of Maryland
The Governor of the State of Maryland is the head of government of Maryland, and is the commander-in-chief of the state's National Guard units. The Governor is the highest-ranking official in the state and has a broad range of appointive powers ...
to be elected under the post-Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
Maryland Constitution of 1867
The current Constitution of the State of Maryland, which was ratified by the people of the state on September 18, 1867, forms the basic law for the U.S. state of Maryland. It replaced the short-lived Maryland Constitution of 1864 and is the fourt ...
, 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 "Patuxent Planter". After significant lobbying together with Thomas Fielder Bowie
Thomas Fielder Bowie (April 7, 1808 – October 30, 1869) was an American politician who served in office from 1842 to 1859.
Early life
Born in Queen Anne, in Prince George's County, Maryland, Bowie attended Charlotte Hall Military Aca ...
, William Duckett Bowie, and Oden Bowie, the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad
The Baltimore and Potomac Railroad (B&P) operated from Baltimore, Maryland, southwest to Washington, D.C., from 1872 to 1902. Controlled by the Pennsylvania Railroad, it was the second railroad company to connect the nation's capital to the Nor ...
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 The Baltimore City Passenger Railway began operation on July 12, 1859 using horse-drawn cars.
Oden Bowie was elected president of the railroad in 1873. Remaining Structures
* Baltimore City Passenger Railway Power House and Car Barn, 1711-1719 Nort ...
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 The American Champion Two-Year-Old Male Horse is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor awarded annually in Thoroughbred flat racing. It became part of the Eclipse Awards program in 1971.
The award originated in 1936 when the ''Daily Racing F ...
of 1880.
In 1868, at a dinner party in Saratoga Springs, New York
Saratoga Springs is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 28,491 at the 2020 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area, which has made Saratoga a popular resort destination for over 2 ...
, 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
Pimlico Race Course is a thoroughbred 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 Ol ...
were the results.
Slavery
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
During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...
.
Family and private life
Bowie spent most of his life at Fairview Plantation. 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 (; 1580 – 15 April 1632), was an English politician and colonial administrator. He achieved domestic political success as a member of parliament and later Secretary of State under King James I. He lost mu ...
the first colonial proprietor of the 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. state of Maryland ...
.
Death
Bowie died after a brief illness[ on December 4, 1894 and was buried at Fairview.][
]
Legacy
*The city of Bowie, Maryland
Bowie () is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 58,329. Bowie has grown from a small railroad stop to the largest municipality in Prince George's County, and the fifth most populous c ...
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, Maryland
Odenton ( ) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States, located approximately 10–20 minutes from the state capital, Annapolis. The population was 37,132 at the 2010 census, up from 20,534 at the 2000 ce ...
began as a junction of the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad and the Annapolis and Elk Ridge Railroad
The 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 ...
, named after Oden Bowie in 1872.
*A 1,800-home subdivision, Fairwood, was built on the land of Oden Bowie's thousand acre plantation, Fairview, in Prince George's County, Maryland
)
, demonym = Prince Georgian
, ZIP codes = 20607–20774
, area codes = 240, 301
, founded date = April 23
, founded year = 1696
, named for = Prince George of Denmark
, leader_title = Executive
, leader_name = Angela D. Alsobroo ...
. The Fairwood community, which was approximately 73 percent African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
in 2015, was heavily impacted by the Subprime mortgage crisis
The United States subprime mortgage crisis was a multinational financial crisis that occurred between 2007 and 2010 that contributed to the Financial crisis of 2007–2008, 2007–2008 global financial crisis. It was triggered by a large decline ...
of 2007–2008, despite its affluence. Bowie descendants lived in the large Federal-style plantation house until 2015.
References
Further reading
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowie, Oden
Bowie family
Democratic Party governors of Maryland
Democratic Party Maryland state senators
People from Bowie, Maryland
St. John's College (Annapolis/Santa Fe) alumni
American racehorse owners and breeders
1826 births
1894 deaths
Democratic Party members of the Maryland House of Delegates
American military personnel of the Mexican–American War
19th-century American politicians