The Bowens Family
The Critical Role of Oral History
Caesar Bowens
Caesar Bowens was likely born around 1840. Records show a "Caesar" as a slave here in 1855, and after emancipation, Caesar and his brother John and sister Catherine officially took the surname "Bowens." Like other enslaved people, they may have had an unofficial surname during slavery.By the time of the Civil War, Caesar was one of few enslaved people still at Drayton Hall, and his reasons for staying after emancipation are not known. After the war, Caesar Bowens worked as caretaker for the property and lived in the north flanker. He became one of the founders of Springfield Baptist Church on Ashley River Road, a congregation that still exists today.
|
