Robert Gilmor Bowie (1808-1881), the son of Colonel Washington Bowie (1776-1825) and Margaret Crabb Johns (1774-1840), was born in the District of Columbia. He later served as a civil engineer on the Alexandria, Loudoun and Hampshire Railroad Company, which began construction on its line in 1855. According to the Board of Director's fourth annual report, issued in Oct. 1856, Bowie and another member of the engineering corps were to head contracts for cross-ties between Alexandria and Fairfax Counties following the resignation of the firm's chief engineer. The railway sought to include these regions as well as the city of Winchester, Loudoun and Clarke Counties; by 1860, its tracks had reached Leesburg. In Aug. 1865, faced with the confiscation of his estate because of the American Civil War, Bowie signed an amnesty oath. In his petition to President Andrew Johnson, he notes that he had "never been in the service of the so-called Confederate States." On a list of pardons and abandoned property issued 5 May 1866, it is noted that 150 acres were restored to him. Bowie died in Loudoun County in July 1881.
From the description of Bowie family papers, 1847 and undated. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 665169634
