About 1780s–1820s · Cyrus and Jinny
The early family history begins with Cyrus, born around 1783 in Virginia, and Jinny, born around 1782. Family traditions remember sailors, blacksmiths, and boatbuilders and connections between Virginia and Maryland. Dates and some early relationships remain approximate.
The family’s freedom-related records refer to the manumission of Jinny and Susan during the April 1825 court term. These individual histories should be followed person by person rather than inferred from the family surname.
1830s · Following the family
An early Cyrus household appears in the 1830 census. Cyrus Jr.’s September 1835 freedom certificate identifies Jinny as his mother and Cyrus Sr. as a witness. Such connections help trace the family through names that sometimes appear as Bowley or Boley.
Accounts of other early relatives include questions about movements and relationships that remain unresolved. Those uncertainties are retained in the family story.
1863–1865 · Civil War service and loss
Cyrus Bowley Jr. served in Company E of the 4th United States Colored Infantry. His family history gives an enlistment date of July 28, 1863 and records that he became a sergeant and was killed on September 29, 1864.
Cyrus Sr. died on June 7, 1865 and was buried at Waugh Chapel in Cambridge. These years brought profound loss to the family.
1876 onward · A Lina’s Road connection
Harriett Spicer married William James Bowley on December 1, 1876, joining the Bowley and Spicer histories. Later marriages, households, and community ties carried the connection forward.
The Bowley surname also appears in the story of Harriet Tubman’s niece Kessiah and her husband John. A direct genealogical connection between every Bowley branch and that couple has not been established.
Today · Remembering across generations
Descendants preserve the Bowley story through family gatherings, photographs, military remembrance, and research into the people behind the names. It belongs within the larger story of Lina’s Road’s connected families.