John Bowie, Sr.

Who was John Bowie, Sr.?

John Bowie, Sr. was born in Scotland in 1688 and died in Maryland in April 1759. He was the first of the Bowie family to arrive in colonial Maryland, emigrating from Scotland between 1705 and 1706 and settling near Nottingham, Prince George's County, Maryland on the Patuxent River. He and his wife established the colonial manor, Brookridge near Nottingham.

John Bowie, Sr. purchased a large tract of land about two miles from Nottingham for Captain William Bowie when his son was twenty one years called "Brooke's Reserve" where he erected a large brick house called Mattaponi. The tract later became known by the name for the house