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 Bowen Coat of Arms Hicks Bowen Hicks Bowen of the County of Mecklenburg. Written 22 Jan 1787, recorded 10 Sept. 1787 Lend to my dear and Loving wife Elizabeth Bowen the use of my whole Estate during her natural life and after her death I desire that all my estate be sold to the Highest bidder ... equally divided between my three God children Wm Ladd Hicks Eldridge Bowen and Polley Thomerson. William Drumright and John Thomerson executors. [No signature indicated, only {Seal}] Assigned in presence of (Georgia) Little Berry Bowen Eldest brother & heir - David Bowen, Wm. ^ Bowen, Alexander Bowen, John Bowen (Hughberry), John Thomerson and Mary his wife, Matthew Millsass, Agness his wife, William Drumright At a Court held for Mecklenburg County the 10th day of September 1787 This writing purporting the last will and Testament of Hicks Bowen decsd being produced to the court to be admitted to record and John Bugg Samuel Kirks and Bressie Bowen being sworn depose that the said writing is an exact copy of the last will and Testament of the said Hicks Bowen decsd which appears by the Oath of William Drumright to have been burnt with the House of the said Drumright; Said Littleberry Bowen the Heir at Law appearing and consenting to the Validity of the same. It is ordered that the said writing be recorded and on the motion of William Drumright and John Thomerson the executors therein named who made oath thereto and together with John Bugg their security entered into and acknowledged their bond...  The wording is very important here. Notice that no names appear as "witnesses". Where the witnesses usually appear, you find the phrase "Assigned in the presence of...", not "Signed in the presence of..." Is this because this was a copy of the will and the signature of Hicks Bowen could no longer be obtained and witnessed? Most of these people always signed with their marks, and there is no notation about marks, but sometimes the clerks neglected to include those notations. Most wills are signed by two to four witnesses, two of whom have to prove the will. There are ten names here, far more than you would expect for witnesses. Witnesses usually appear as a list of individual names with no reference as to their relationship to the deceased or to each other. None of the wives of the Bowen men appear in the list, but, with the exception of William Drumright, the wives for all the non-Bowens are included. This is similar to the listing of names you might find in a deed by legatees in which the sons, sons-in-law, and their wives (daughters of the deceased) had to sign. The fact that William Drumright's wife wasn't included indicates she was deceased. Hicks Bowen left no children of his own to inherit his estate. His original will had been destroyed by fire and only this copy remained. Without a valid will, Hicks' estate would normally have reverted to his father if he were living. Otherwise his siblings would have been his heirs. Apparently Hicks' siblings were assigning any interest they might have in the estate so that the estate might be loaned to Hicks' widow Elizabeth and then sold with the proceeds going to the godchildren as Hicks had wished. From this, we can determine a set of siblings. We know Littleberry Bowen was the oldest surviving sibling at this time. The birth order of the others is unknown. Littleberry Bowen William Bowen David Bowen Alexander Bowen Hicks Bowen John Bowen (perhaps called Hughberry, or perhaps living in Hughberry, GA) Mary Bowen m John Thomerson/Thomason Agness Bowen m Matthew Millsass Miss ??? Bowen, d by 1787, m William Drumright It's not likely that any of these were nieces or nephews of a deceased brother or sister since Littleberry Bowen's oldest son Eldridge Bowen (named as one of the godchildren in this will) didn't appear on the tax lists as age 16 until 1789. John Thomason was the son of James Thomason d 1781 (Mecklenburg WB 1 p 347) and wife Frances. William Bowen Jr and wife Lucrecy, James Thomason and wife Frances, and Abraham Merrimoon and wife Ann together sold 91 acres to Hutchins Burton and Noah Dortch in 1775. A John Bowen, originally from Mecklenburg Co, later appeared in the records of Abbeville Co, SC and Gwinnett Co, GA, but that was many years after this will was written. His Revolutionary pension application mentions various places he had lived, but there was no mention of Georgia until the late 1820's. He stated that he moved to Greenville Co., SC about 1784, and the 1790 Greenville Co., SC census indicates he was still there at that time. Another John Bowen appeared in the records of Lunenburg Co between 1750 and 1754 and then disappeared. He was certainly an adult at that time and was born too early to have been a younger sibling to Littleberry Bowen who was the eldest son in the family. John Bowen, brother to Littleberry and Hicks, must have been a totally different person who has not yet been found and traced. Since there were no commas to separate the names of the godchildren, it is possible that one was named William Ladd Hicks and another Eldridge Bowen. It is also possible that one was named William Ladd and the other Hicks Eldridge Bowen. Littleberry Bowen's later will did name a son Eldride [sic] Bowen. However, I also remember seeing the name William Ladd in the Mecklenburg records. According to Ladd research, a William Ladd lived on Taylor's Creek in Mecklenburg Co. The name William Ladd was repeated many times in that family. A 1766 deed by William Bowen Jr and wife Lucrecy involves land patented by George Vaughan on Taylor's Creek, so the Bowens and Ladds must have lived relatively near each other. Hicks Bowen's widow Elizabeth Bowen appeared on the tax records in 1787. Listed under her was Epps Merryman [probably some kin to Abraham Merrimoon] who married Amy Kirks in 1790 [relationship to other Kirks unknown] and Elizabeth Thomerson [Thomason] in 1803. Widow Elizabeth Bowen was listed again in 1788 alone, and in 1789 with William Kirks, a son of Samuel Kirks whose wife Edith was apparently a daughter of William Bowen Sr and Amy. Elizabeth Bowen was listed again alone in 1790 but disappeared from the tax records after that. She may have remarried since Hicks' estate wasn't sold for many more years. Hicks' will made no provision in the case that Elizabeth should remarry. The estate was hers to use during her lifetime and was to be sold at her death. Hicks Bowen's estate remained on the land tax records for many years. Perhaps Elizabeth died around 1821 or 1822 as the following notation was found in the tax records in 1822. P. Benjamin Pennington to Hicks Bowen estate conveyed by Benfords ex. _______? for Robert Singleton: 50 acres These tax notations were stated "backwards" from what you'd expect. If land was sold by X to Y, the tax notation would say Y to X. Therefore, this notation would seem to indicate that the Hicks Bowen estate had been sold to P. Benjamin Pennington at some time during the previous year. Hicks' estate land was in the possession of Robert Singleton and wife Polly who deeded it to Richard J Benford 27 October 1818. Polly Singleton may have been the same as Polley Thomerson. Although Hicks Bowen left no children, the name Hicks appeared in later Bowen families. Edwin H Bowen b ca 1805 named a son Mortimer Hicks Bowen. Unfortunately, it's unknown what the H stood for in Edwin's name. Even more unfortunately, Edwin traces back through two Bowen lines. His father was Asa Bowen, son of Charles Bowen and Amy. His mother was Charlotte Bowen, daughter of Isham Bowen and Amy. Neither the fathers of Charles nor Isham have been proven and neither would seem to have been siblings to Hicks Bowen according to this will. The name of William Drumright's wife has never been found in the records. The Drumright Family Tree by Gracie Drumright Dowland says "her given name is thought to be Nancy" and the marriage occurred ca 1769/70, but no records were cited other than Hicks Bowen's will, and it sounded like the name Nancy had simply been passed down in the family with no documentation. William Drumright later married twice more, once to Stacy Andrews, daughter of Ephraim Andrews and wife Ann, and last to Sally Gilliam Bradley on 24 Sept 1811. One of the siblings listed in Hicks Bowen's will was named William Bowen. This William Bowen was certainly born too late to have been William Bowen Sr or William Bowen Jr. However, a son of William Bowen Jr and Lucrecy, also named William, can be proven by the land tax records in which he was referred to as "William Bowen son of William". In 1787, the same year as Hicks' will, "William Bowen son of William" was listed with 50 acres. William Bowen III, son of William Bowen Jr and Lucrecy, named a daughter Martha Hicks Bowen. Since William Bowen III appeared in this list of siblings, all of the siblings involved must have been the children of William Bowen Jr and Lucrecy. There were only two David Bowens who appeared in the Mecklenburg Co records - David Bowen Sr, son of William Bowen Sr and Amy - and David Bowen Jr who married Savory Bowen, daughter of Charles Bowen. Unless the David Bowen mentioned in Hicks' will was a third David Bowen who left the county without leaving any records behind, he would have to be the same as David Bowen Jr. A James Hicks owned land on Smith's Creek and sometimes appeared in the Bowen records. He left his will in Brunswick Co dated 1789, proved 1793, leaving 860 acres on Smith's Creek in Mecklenburg to son Isaac Hicks. In 1757, Robert Wooding sold a tract of land to Field Jefferson described as 245 acres in Lunenburg on Taylors Cr, Meherrin River, purchased of Jas Hix (Lunenburg DB 4 p 337). John Ingram's 1757 patent was for land on both sides of Taylor's Creek adjoining the Hicks land. Patent to John Ingrum [Ingram]. 10 August 1759. Beginning at House's upper corner Spanish oak on the said creek thence along his line north forty five degrees west one hundred and seventy three poles to Twitty's corner hiccory in the same thence along south forty degrees west one hundred and fifty two poles to Hix's corner pointers in the same thence along his line south forty five degrees east one hundred and thirty three poles to a white oak on a branch thence down the water courses thereof as it meanders to a branch just below a lick thence up the other branch as it meanders to a poplar thence a new line north seventy five degrees east two hundred and eighty eight poles to a black jack in Pennington's line thence along his line north ten degrees east thirty four poles to a red oak thence a new line north thirty degrees west sixty six poles to a black jack in Mize's line thence along his line south twenty five degrees west seventy poles to a black jack north seventy degrees west one hundred and eighty four poles to a white oak on the said creek and thence down the same as it meanders to the first station. Patents 34, p 456, 457 According to the 1801 will of John Bugg (Mecklenburg WB 4 p 262-264), the land he left to son John Bugg was land "on Taylors Creek adjoining the land of Daniel Cheatham, James Lett, Isaac Hicks, and Robert Nance". He left land totaling 350 acres purchased of John Ingram to sons Zachariah Bugg and William Bugg. This was the Ingram land that adjoined Hicks above. David Bowen clearly owned land that adjoined this Hicks land which he sold in 1790. Notice that the deed was witnessed by Robert Nance who also held land near the Bugg and Hicks land. Mecklenburg DB 7 p 572 9 February 1790. David Bowen of Mecklenburg to Jones Gee. 45L about 75 acres. Beginning at a corner white oak on Balaam Jones line thence from the said Joneses line up a small branch to the head and thence along Samuel Hopkins's line an east course to the head of another small branch thence down the said branch as it meanders to a bend of the said branch and thence along a line of markd trees an east course to a corner on Hix & Bowens line thence along the said Bowen line to a corner on William Thomassons line thence along the said Thomassons line to a corner white oak on James Marimans line thence along the said Marimans line to Balaam Joneses line thence along the said Joneses line to the first station. Signed David (X) Bowen Wit William Walker, Robert Nance, Wyatt Nance Mecklenburg DB 5 p 104 10 October 1777. Abraham Merrimoon & William Bowen of the Parish of St James & county of Mecklenburg to David Bowen of same. 10L about 70 acres. Beginning at James Tomerson's line thence along James MCan's line to a branch thence up the branch west to the head from thence a new cut to Balaam Jones line from thence north to James Merrimoon's line east to William Tomerson's line thence along Wm Tomersons lines to James Thomerson's line thence south along James Thomersons line to the beginning. Signed Abraham + Merrimoon, William X Bowen Wit James Hicks, David Bowen, Little Berry Bowen Rec 13 October 1777 Anne wife of the said Abraham having been privily examined voluntarily relinquished her right of dower. Even though the name Hicks appeared at least three times in the Bowen family and we can place James Hicks' land near the Bowen land, no connection to this Hicks family has been proven. |