Captain William Bowie was the son of John Bowie, Senior and Mary Mulliken. Bowie was born in 1721 at the home of his parents, Brookridge a few miles from Nottingham in Prince George"s County, Maryland. His father purchased a large tract of land about two miles from Nottingham for him when he was twenty one years called "Brooke"s Reserve" which later became known as "Mattaponi".
Here he erected a large brick house. lieutenant is probable that William Bowie commanded one of the militia organizations maintained by the Province though no record of his commission has been discovered. In 1770 it was rumored that ships were en route from Great Britain loaded with European goods and might soon be expected to reach the Patuxent River.
The inhabitants of Prince George county thought it necessary to prohibit the landing of these cargoes and called a meeting for April 10, 1770 at Upper Marlboro, selecting representatives to keep an eye upon events and to provide guards at points on the Patuxent where ships were likely to land.
William Bowie was a delegate sent from Prince George"s County to the Annapolis Convention, June 22, 1774 which passed strong resolutions in favor of upholding the rights of the Province if necessary by force of arms against Great Britain. The latter was also placed on a committee of correspondence and it was further resolved that Captain William Bowie and Walter Bowie with others are selected as delegates of this county to attend a convention to be held at Annapolis and are authorized to vote in the convention for delegates to attend a congress which will assemble at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on the 10th of May the next year.
In June 1775 these representatives met at Annapolis and on July 26, 1775 this convention issued the Declaration of the Association of the Freemen. What further part William Bowie took during the Revolution is unclear.
In 1753 he was appointed tobacco inspector for Nottingham and later a justice of the peace, a member of Street Paul"s vestry, and in 1767 warden of the parish.
