Robert Bowie, the third son of Capt. William and Margaret (Sprigg) Bowie, was born at "Mattaponi", near Nottingham, March 1750. As a captain of a company of militia organized at Nottingham, he accompanied the Maryland forces when they joined Washington in his early campaign near New York. He and Washington became friends. In 1791, when Captain William Bowie died, his son Robert inherited "Mattaponi". He was the first Democratic governor to be elected, one of the presidential electors for Madison, and a director of the first bank established at Annapolis.
Williams recalls hearing his father say that when Washington died, December 14, 1799, many paid reverence by wearing mourning scarfs and hatbands.
He recalls many interesting incidents during slavery days. He said that slaves could not buy or sell anything except with the permission of their master. If a slave was caught ten miles from his master's home, and had no signed permit, he was arrested as a runaway and harshly punished.
There was a standing reward for the capture of a runaway. The Indians who caught a runaway slave received a "match coat." The master gave the slave usually ten to ninety-nine lashes for running off. What slaves feared most was what they called the "nine ninety-nine" or 99 lashes with a rawhide whip, and sometimes they were unmercifully flogged until unconcious. Some cruel masters believed Negroes had no souls. The slaves at Bowie, however, declared "Parson" Williams, were pretty well treated and usually respected the overseers. He said that the slaves at Bowie mostly lived in cabins made of slabs running up and down and crudely furnished. Working time was from sunrise until sunset. The slaves had no money to spend and few masters allowed them to indulge in a religious meeting or even learn about the Bible.
Slaves received medical attention from a physician if they were seriously ill. When a death occured, a rough box would be made of heavy slabs and the dead Negro buried the same day on the plantation burying lot with a brief ceremony, if any. The grieving darkeys, relatives, after he was "eased" in the ground, would sing a few spirituals and return to their cabins.
Familiar old spirituals were composed by "Parson" Williams, including Roll De Stones Away, You'll Rise in De Skies, and Ezekiel, He'se Comin Home.
Following is one of Williams' spirituals:
When dat are ole chariot comes,
I'm gwine to lebe you:
I'm bound for de promised land
I'm gwine to lebe you.
I'm sorry I'm gwine to lebe you,
Farewell, oh farewell
But I'll meet you in de mornin
Farewell, oh farewell.
Still another favorite of "Parson" Williams, which he composed on Col. Bowie's plantation just before the Civil War, a sort of rallying song expressing what Canada meant to the slaves at that time, runs thus:
I'm now embarked for yonder shore
There a man's a man by law;
The iron horse will bear me o'er
To shake de lion's paw.
Oh, righteous Father, will thou not pity me
And aid me on to Canada, where all the slaves are free.
Oh, I heard Queen Victoria say
That if we would forsake our native land of slavery,
And come across de lake
That she was standin' on de shore
Wid arms extended wide,
To give us all a peaceful home
Beyond de rollin' tide.