Mattaponi (John Bowie Jr. House)
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| Mattaponi | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Interactive map of the Mattaponi area | |
| Former names | Brooke's Reserve |
| Alternative names | John Bowie, Jr. House |
| General information | |
| Coordinates | 38°44′20″N 76°44′36″W / 38.73889°N 76.74333°W |
| Completed | c. 1820 |
Mattaponi, also known as the John Bowie Jr. House, is a historic home in Croom, Maryland, built c. 1820 on the foundation of an earlier house dating to the 1730s,[1] three miles northwest of Nottingham, Prince George's County, Maryland.[2]
John Bowie, Sr., who emigrated to colonial Maryland in 1705 from Scotland, purchased a large tract of land called "Brooke's Reserve" about two miles west of Nottingham for a son, Captain William Bowie, when the son was twenty-one years old. A large brick house was erected there that was called Mattaponi, the name of the nearest creek and a Native American word meaning "meeting of the waters".[1] The tract of land later became known by the name for the house.[3] The current house is the second, being built on the foundation of the first. A tribe by the name Mattaponi resided in what would become colonial Virginia.
The Bowie family had extensive landholdings in the county and were important politically.[4] They settled in and near Nottingham during the colonial period, building a number of homes including Mattaponi.[3]
Robert Bowie, Governor of Maryland from 1803 to 1806 and 1811–12, is buried at Mattaponi and is believed to have been born there as well,[3] although this is not proven; as an adult, he made his residence at "The Cedars" in Nottingham on the Patuxent River.[1] Mattaponi is very similar in styling to the home he built nearby for his daughter, Bowieville, also brick covered with stucco.[4]
Walter Bowie also was born at Mattaponi.[3][5]
In December 1846, Richard Lowndes Ogle married Priscilla Mackall Bowie at Mattaponi.[6]