Posted by Lance Bowden I've traced my own ancestors to Accomack Co & the Eastern Shore, so the Isle of Wight Bowdens may be an offshoot or a separate line altogether from mine, or some combination. I was pretty sure there were some Bowdens there from the early 1700's, plus there is the John Bowden I mentioned in my post as having died at Isle of Wight in 1788 (b. 1725 in Delmarva, MD - although the boundaries of counties and even VA/MD on the Eastern Shore were not so well defined then). Anyway, I'm not even certain I'm related to that particular John Bowden. I've reached a dead end in Accomack with Arthur Bowden (born around 1776). He married a woman named Sophia Ann, had 3 sons and then moved to North Carolina (Currituck and Knott's Island) around 1815. If you've ever run across him I'd be very interested. I have no idea who his parents were, although I've picked up a couple of lines that are possibilities. There is an interesting Bowden/Bowdoin issue in VA also. Some "Bowdens" seem to have come directly from England, and some "Bowdoins" came from France by way of Massachusetts. Both types seem to have settled in Maryland and VA. The Bowdoin's eventually changed the spelling to Bowden, sparking quite a bit of debate on some of the rootsweb pages about who is related to what line. Apparently the French line can be traced back to a king at some point. What is interesting is that I also found some sources that claim the French and English versions actually have a common origin dating back to the Norman conquest. Anyway, I'm still interested in "Bowdens in Virginia" overall though, especially any connections you may know of, or come across, relating to Accomack County or the Eastern Shore.
on 12/15/2005, 1:22 pm, in reply to "Re: Bowden's of Wight Co."
70.187.249.166
Thanks for posting a reply to my inquiry. The guy you mentioned sounds a little familiar, but it's been a while since I was digging through my genealogy info. I remember finding either that John Bowden, or another one, who was an English ship captain. I think he owned land at Isle of Wight or nearby although I don't remember if he ever lived there.
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