Rezin Pleasant Bowie, Jr.

Fought as an independent at he Battle of New Orleans. Was Colonel of the Avoyelles Battalion. Served three times in the Louisiana legislature

Source the Bowies & their kindred by Walter Worthington Bowie.

He removed with his parents to Louisiana in l800. was a successful cotton and sugar-planter, and jointly with his celebrated brother, Col. James Bowie, owned the magnificent "Arcadia" Sugar plantation, whereon was erected the first steam plant for grinding cane in the State. This fine estate was afterwords sold by the brother of Wilkins & Walker for ninety thousand dollars. In l821 Rezin P. Bowie lived in La Fouche Parish, and later in Avoyelle Parish, which he three times represented in the State Legislature. Although his father was a Presbyterian and his mother a Methodist, Rezin P. Bowie at an early age became a member of the Roman Catholic Church. During the war of l8l2-l4 he entered the army and served as a private soldier in Col. Colman Martins company, and took part in the Battle of New Orleans. That same year he was elected Colonel of the Avoyelle Mounted Riflemen and was commissioned by Gov. Isaac Johnson. While in the Legislature he was distinguished for his eloquence and clear forcible reasoning. He held other public positions, and with his brother James was very active in his efforts to assist Texas in her revolt against Mexico. He participated in several desperate engagements with the Indians on the Texas border, and his intrepid bearing in the battle of Nacogdoches is especially described in Brown's History of Texas. Fond of hunting, it was he who designed that celebrated weapon on known as the "Bowie Knife" It was fashioned from and old file under his personal supervision by the plantation blacksmith, Jesse Cliffe, and was intended as a hunting instrument not for war. He finally gave the knife to his brother James, when the latter was peculiarly exposed to assaults from certain personal enemies, telling him that "in the hands of a strong man, the knife was more effective than a pistol, as the latter sometimes missed fire, the knife never." Rezin P. Bowie was in many respects one of the most remarkable men who have borne the name. Calm, fearless, and talented, at an early age he rose to distinction among the men of intellect who emigrated to Louisiana, eager to make their fortunes in that promising new State. He is described by his contemporaries as possessing wonderful originality, genius and numerous accomplishments. A fluent linguist, he spoke both French and Spanish like a native. His polished manners, genial nature and social disposition won the admiration of all who knew him. Fond of adventure, careless of the present as indifferent of the future, ever quick to serve a friend and to defy a foe, as ready to fight as to forgive, he was little in nothing, and noble even in his faults. Always cool and courteous, he never sought a difficulty, but never quailed if a quarrel was thrust upon him. He liked politics and indulged his taste both in Louisiana and Texas. In private life, was a fond husband and father,a faithful friend. He is described as tall and graceful. His portrait, now owned by his granddaughter, shows a thoughtful, determined face, with broad, massive forehead, firm chin and mouth. For a number of years his eyesight was bad,and his health became much broken from brooding over the death of his brother James, to whom he was devotedly attached. He seldom went out during the last year of his life, and died in New Orleans, Jan. l8,l84l.

Rezin Pleasant Bowie (September 8, 1793 – January 17, 1841) was an American inventor and designer of the Bowie knife. He also served three terms in the Louisiana Legislature.

With his brother James, Bowie smuggled slaves and worked as a land speculator. The brothers set up the first steam mill in Louisiana to be used for grinding sugar cane. Bowie took credit for inventing the Bowie knife, which came to prominence when used by James in the Sandbar Fight in 1827. After James Bowie moved to Texas, Bowie accompanied him on an expedition to find the Lost San Saba Mine. They did not find the mine, but their adventures in fending off a much larger Indian raiding party became widely known.

In his later years Bowie suffered from poor eyesight. He lived with his wife and daughters on a plantation in Louisiana.

Rezin Bowie was born September 8, 1793, near Gallatin, Tennessee,[1] one of ten children born to Rezin Bowie and Elve Ap-Catesby Jones.[2] Bowie was one of twins, with brother Rhesa.[1] His father had been injured while fighting in the American Revolution, and, in 1782, married the young woman who had nursed him back to health. The Bowies moved a great deal, first settling in Georgia, where they had six children, and then moving to Tennessee.[2] The year after Bowie's birth, the family moved to Logan County, Kentucky.[1] By 1796, his father owned 8 slaves, 7 horses, 11 head of cattle, and 1 stud horse. The following year the family acquired 200 acres (80 ha) along the Red River. In 1800, Rezin Bowie sold his property and the family spent two years in Missouri. They moved to Spanish Louisiana in 1802, settling on the Bushley Bayou in Rapides Parish.[2]

The Bowie family moved again in 1809, settling on Bayou Teche in Louisiana before finding a permanent home in Opelousas, in St. Landry Parish, in 1812.[3] Each of their homes was on the frontier, and even as a small child Bowie was expected to help clear the land and plant crops. He and his siblings were educated at home, and learned to read and write in English. With his younger brother James, Bowie learned to speak, read, and write Spanish and French fluently.[4] The children were also taught how to survive on the frontier, as well as how to fish and run a farm and plantation.[5]

Bowie converted to Roman Catholicism in 1814 and married Margaret Nevil in the St. Landry Parish Catholic Church on September 15, 1814. Later that year he and James enlisted in the Louisiana militia in response to Andrew Jackson's plea for volunteers to fight the British. The War of 1812 ended on December 24, 1814 with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent, and the Bowie brothers arrived in New Orleans too late to participate in the fighting.[6] Bowie later joined the Avoyelles Battalion, and was commissioned a captain of the Mounted Rifles in 1825, later becoming a colonel.[1]

Land speculator

Shortly before Bowie's father died in 1818 or 1819 he gifted Bowie and his brother James each 10 servants, horses, and cattle. For the next seven years the brothers worked together to develop several large estates in Lafourche Parish and Opelousas Parish.[7] Louisiana was gaining population rapidly, and the brothers wished to take advantage of rising land prices by speculating in land but did not have the capital required to buy large tracts.[8] To raise money they entered into partnership with pirate Jean Lafitte in 1818. The United States had previously outlawed the importation of slaves, and, to encourage citizens to report the unlawful activity, most southern states allowed anyone who informed on a slave trader to receive half of what the imported slaves would earn at auction. They made three trips to Lafitte's compound on Galveston Island, where they bought smuggled slaves, then brought the slaves directly to a customhouse and informed on himself. The customs officers offered the slaves for auction, and the Bowies would buy them back. Due to the state laws, they would receive half of the price paid. They could then legally transport the slaves and resell them in New Orleans or areas further up the Mississippi River.[9][10] The brothers continued this scheme until they had collected $65,000, then began speculating in land.[10][11]

In 1825, the two brothers joined with their younger brother Stephen to buy Acadia, a plantation near Thibodaux. Within two years they had set up the first steam mill in Louisiana to be used for grinding sugar cane.[7] The plantation became known as a "model estate", but on February 12, 1831 they sold it and 65 slaves for $90,000. With their profits, Bowie and James bought a plantation in Arkansas.[7] In this time period Bowie served in the Louisiana legislature three times.[1]

Bowie knife

One afternoon in 1826, Bowie's brother James was attacked by the sheriff of Rapides Parish, Norris Wright, after a confrontation in Alexandria. James Bowie vowed from then on to carry a hunting knife on his person at all times.[12] The knife he carried had a huge blade that was nine and one-quarter inches long and one and one-half inches wide.[13]

The following year, on September 19, 1827, James Bowie and Wright attended a duel on a sandbar outside of Natchez, Mississippi, supporting opposing sides. The duel was resolved with a handshake,[14][15] but other members of the groups, who had various reasons for disliking each other, began fighting. James Bowie suffered several serious injuries, and was repeatedly shot and stabbed, but managed to pull his knife and use it to disembowel Wright, who died instantly.[16][17]

Newspapers picked up the story, which became known as the Sandbar Fight. Bowie's fighting prowess and his knife were described in detail.[18] There is disagreement among scholars as to whether the knife used in this fight was the same kind of knife now known as a Bowie knife. Many different accounts exist of who designed and built the first Bowie knife. Some claim that James Bowie designed it and others attribute the design to noted knifemakers of the time.[19] However, in a letter to The Planter's Advocate, Bowie claimed to have invented the knife,[20] and many Bowie family members and "most authorities on the Bowie knife tend to believe it was invented by" Bowie.[21] His grandchildren, however, claimed that Bowie merely supervised his blacksmith, who actually created the knife.[22]

After the Sandbar Fight and subsequent battles in which James Bowie successfully used his knife to defend himself, his knife became very popular. Many craftsman and manufacturers made their own versions of the knife, and many major cities of the Southwest had "Bowie knife schools", which taught "the art of cut, thrust, and parry."[23] His fame, and that of his knife, spread to England, and by the early 1830s many British knife manufacturers were producing Bowie knives, shipping many of them to the United States for sale.[24] The design of the knife continued to evolve, and it is generally agreed to have a blade 8.25 inches long and 1.25 inches wide, with a curved point. It had a "sharp false edge cut from both sides" and a cross-guard to protect the user's hands.[25]

Lost San Saba Mine

James Bowie moved to Texas in 1830 and became fascinated with the story of the "lost" Los Almagres Mine, said to be west of San Antonio near the ruin of Santa Cruz de San Sabá Mission.[13] The mine had been operated by the local Indians before being seized by the Spanish. After Mexico won independence from Spain, government interest in the mines waned. A number of hostile Indian tribes roamed the area, including Comanche, Lipan Apache, and Karankawa, and without government troops to keep the tribes at bay, mining ceased. It was believed that after the Mexican citizens left the area, the Lipan Apaches took over the mines.[26]

On November 2, 1831, Bowie accompanied his brother and nine others on a search for San Saba. Six miles (ten kilometers) from their goal the group realized that they were being followed by a large Indian raiding party and stopped to negotiate. The attempts at parley failed, and Bowie and his group were forced to fight for their lives for the next thirteen hours. When the Indians finally retreated Bowie had reportedly lost only one man, while over forty Indians had been killed and thirty more wounded.[11][13][27]

In 1832, Bowie began having trouble with his vision. Accompanied by his brother James, he travelled to New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. to seek medical treatment. While in Philadelphia, the publisher of the Saturday Evening Post persuaded Bowie to write an account of the San Saba fight, which was reprinted in 1833 in the book Atkinson's Casket or Gems of Literature, Wit and Sentiment.[1]

Later years

After returning home, Bowie and his family moved to a plantation in Iberville Parish. While there, Bowie, along with General John Wilson, acquired the papers of Captain Vicente Sebastian Pintado, the royal surveyor for the Spanish government. Pintado had kept his surveys and records of deeds and grants in the Louisiana Territory as his personal property and refused to sell them to the United States. After Pintado's death, his widow sold the papers to Bowie and Wilson for $24,500 (the United States declined to pay the high price). Bowie wanted the papers to help him in his land speculation dealings, but it is unknown whether he derived any benefits from them.[1]

Bowie died in New Orleans on January 17, 1841, leaving his wife and three daughters. He was originally buried in the San Gabriel Catholic Church cemetery, but in the 1850s his body was disinterred and reburied at St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery in Port Gibson, Mississippi, the home of his daughter Elve.

http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fbo46

Rezin P. Bowie, son of Reason (or Rezin) and Elve Ap-Catesby (Jones or Johns) Bowie, was born on September 8, 1793, on a farm one mile west of Gallatin, Sumner County, Tennessee. In 1909 the standing chimney was the only testimony that remained of the Bowie cabin. Neither Rezin P. nor his brother James Bowie, of Alamo fame, was born at Elliott's Springs, Tennessee, as some sources claim. In 1794 Reason Bowie moved his family to a farm he acquired by grant on Terrapin Creek in Logan County, Kentucky. There the family farmed, operated a gristmill, and likely distilled bourbon whisky. The Logan County property was sold in 1800. After a short stay in Livingston County, Kentucky, the family moved to the Spanish-held District of New Madrid, now in Missouri, and remained until 1802. That year they sold the Missouri property and established themselves in the future Catahoula Parish, Louisiana. Reason Bowie, according to Rezin's brother John J., fled "the refinements of civilization" and "retired to wilder regions, where he could enjoy those sports and stirring adventures peculiar to a frontier life." The Catahoula region was wild country, and the Bowie boys, especially Rezin and Jim, gloried in the life. They acquired the survival skills of an Indian and developed expertise in use of weapons. The Bowies lived on Bushley Creek; Reason's twin brother Rhesa and brother David developed land grants nearby. The Bowies' first economic endeavor was a whiskey still that garnered needed cash and trade until it was abandoned in favor of cotton cultivation. Reason had some twenty slaves, more than any other man in the Catahoula area. In 1809 the family moved to the Atakapa country of southeastern Louisiana. Rezin was sixteen, James thirteen, and Stephen twelve. They settled on a 640-acre property, Bowie's Woods, purchased from John Grecian years before on the Vermilion River. The family's last move was to St. Landry Parish, where Reason purchased a large tract of land, a portion of which is in Opelousas today. There the Bowies engaged in land speculation, farming, lumbering, sawmilling, and the slave trade.

Rezin Bowie married Margaret Nevil (Nevill, Neville) on September 15, 1814, at St. Landry's Catholic Church in Opelousas. At this time he adopted Catholicism and chose the name James for the ceremony. The name "James Rezin Bowie" in the church records has been the source of some confusion. War of 1812 rolls list Rezin and James as privates and volunteers in the Second Division Consolidated. The Second Division was composed of the Seventeenth through the Nineteenth regiments, which represented Avoyelles, Rapides, Natchitoches, Catahoula, and Ouachita parishes in 1814 and 1815. Bowie family records state that Rezin and James were en route to the battle of New Orleans and were bitterly disappointed that it ended before they arrived. Rezin was commissioned captain of the Mounted Rifles in the Avoyelles Battalion in 1825 and later became a colonel. The Bowie brothers were involved for a time with the pirate Jean Laffite in the illegal importation and sale of slaves in Louisiana. In 1852, John J. Bowie described the operation: "James, Rezin and myself fitted out some small boats at the mouth of the Calcasieu and went into the trade on shares. We first purchased forty negroes from Laffite at the rate of one dollar per pound, or an average of $140 for each negro; we brought them into the limits of the United States, delivered them to a custom house officer, and became the informers ourselves; the law gave the informer half of the value of the negroes, which we put up and sold by the United States Marshall, and we became the purchasers of the negros, which entitled us to sell them within the United States. We continued to follow this business until we made $65,000, when we quit and soon spent all our earnings." Laffite delivered slaves from Galveston Island by ship to the river mouths. The bayou waterways, at the time, allowed transportation from the Calcasieu River into Rapides Parish. Another route was to deliver the slaves to Bowie Island in Vermilion Bay, where they were received and brought up the Vermilion River and then overland to St. Landry. Both Rezin and James Bowie moved north up Bayou Boeuf from Opelousas and acquired property in St. Landry, Avoyelles, and Rapides parishes. Land speculation in Louisiana properties and land titles became their occupation. Both acquired numerous holdings in various areas and became well established and successful in their endeavors. Their young brother Stephen bought property and farmed in Avoyelles.

Rezin Bowie was best known in the nineteenth century, perhaps in this, as the inventor of the famous Bowie knife. His brother James brought fame to himself and notoriety to the knife when he killed Maj. Norris Wright with it in the noted Sandbar Fight on September 19, 1827. In 1838 Rezin wrote concerning the Bowie knife, "The improvement in its fabrication, and the state of perfection which it has since acquired from experienced cutlers was not brought about through my agency." Rezin's actions belie his words, however, for he had a number of superior Bowie knives made by experienced cutlers that he carried himself and gave to friends. Several of these have been located and documented. Were it not for Rezin's continuing interest and pride, precious little would be known concerning the origin, features, and appearance of the first Bowie knives.

With his brothers James and Stephen, Rezin established Arcadia, a sugar plantation of some 1,800 acres near the town of Thibodaux (Terrebonne Parish). There the Bowies established the first steam-powered sugar mill in Louisiana. Rezin was elected to the Louisiana legislature three times. On February 12, 1831, the Bowie brothers sold Arcadia and other holdings to investors from Natchez for $90,000.

By 1830, James Bowie had moved to Texas. He soon became interested in the "lost" Los Almagres Mine, said to be near the Santa Cruz de San Sabá Mission ruin west of San Antonio. James obtained permission from Mexican authorities for an expedition into Indian country. Rezin rode in from Louisiana, and on November 2, 1831, James, Rezin, and nine others left San Antonio. On the nineteenth, learning that a large Indian war party was following them, they camped in an oak grove six miles from the ruin. Rezin Bowie and David Buchanan sought to compromise with the Indians, but they were fired upon. A thirteen-hour fight known as the San Saba Indian fight ensued. The Indians finally retreated, and the party returned to San Antonio. In 1832 Rezin and James traveled to New York, Philadelphia, and Washington. Rezin was seeking expert medical treatment for his eyes. In Philadelphia Samuel C. Atkinson, publisher of the Saturday Evening Post newspaper induced Rezin to write an account of the San Saba battle. "An Indian Fight" was reprinted in a book entitled Atkinson's Casket or Gems of Literature, Wit and Sentiment in 1833. Rezin's version, the only one in public print, became the only widely read account of the subject.

Following the sale of Arcadia, Bowie and his wife moved for the last time to a plantation on the west bank of the Mississippi River in Iberville Parish. The location was south of Plaquemine across the river from San Gabriel Catholic Church. While living there Bowie and Gen. John Wilson acquired the Pintado papers. Capt. Vicente Sebastián Pintado, the royal surveyor for the Spanish government, took these important surveys and record of deeds and grants to Havana as his personal property, and the Spanish government supported him. From there he sold needed land information and confirmations back into Louisiana, parts of Mississippi, and Alabama. Pintado told his wife to continue selling the valuable data after his death, but not the documents. The United States government wanted the papers, but Pintado would not sell. After Pintado's death his widow set a price of $20,000 and then $24,500 on the papers. The United States decided not to purchase them. Access to the Pintado papers gave a land speculator like Rezin Bowie a trump card. But Rezin's health was poor, and his eyesight had continued to deteriorate. Whether he derived the expected benefits from the Pintado papers is unknown. He died in New Orleans on January 17, 1841, leaving his wife and three daughters. He was buried in the San Gabriel Catholic Church graveyard. In the early 1850s his body was disinterred and moved to St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery in Port Gibson, Mississippi. St. Joseph, also known as the Bowie Church, was financed by funds raised by Rezin's daughter Elve and her husband, John Taylor Moore. Margaret Bowie purchased property and donated it for the cemetery.