Robert Bowie, son of Captain William and
Margaret Sprigg Bowie, was born March, 1750,
near Nottingham. During the American
Revolution, he was commissioned First Lieutenant and
then Captain in the County militia, and saw action in the
early engagements around New York City and later in
the southern campaigns. Bowie was elected to the
Maryland House of Delegates for six terms, from 1785
through 1790. He was re-elected to the House of
Delegates in 1801, but resigned in November, 1803,
when he was elected Governor of Maryland. Bowie was
re-elected Governor in 1804 and 1805, and again in
1811. In 1812, Governor Bowie supported Congress'
declaration of war against England, but in November of
that year was defeated in his effort to retain the governorship.
Bowie's subsequent attempts to regain this
office were unsuccessful and, in January, 1818, he died
at his home in Nottingham.
Prince George's County: 