Boggy Community
Flynn, Leon County, Texas
Marker Inscription
With limited resources and many challenges, the Boggy Community was established in 1865 by Robert (Bob) Bowers, a former slave, and Celia North Bowers of the Keechi tribe. The Keechi Indians, until around 1835, maintained an agricultural village on the banks of the Middle Creek north of Centerville. Celia brought to Boggy her agricultural heritage and knowledge which contributed to their success as a community. The area produced cotton, Irish potatoes, corn, peas, tomatoes and watermelon. A typical day in Boggy included working long hours in the fields planting, removing bare grass and harvesting crops. Education in Boggy was an important facet of life and a desire many parents had for their children. The first school was established in 1865 and met in a log building under a hill. Later buildings were shared by Bethana Baptist Church, Masons and Order of the Eastern Star. Bethana Baptist Church was established in 1883 under a brush arbor near Boggy Cemetery. The current church building was built around 1892. The Bowers were one of the first families to settle in Boggy and they had seven children, although two died in infancy. Their son, Newton Amos Bowers, relocated to the Mackay Community near the Pierce Ranch just outside of Wharton. There he established a community very similar to Boggy with a church, school and cemetery. Boggy's founders, Bob and Celia Bowers, and many of its original citizens, veterans, church and family members are buried in the Boggy Cemetery. (2014)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The Boggy Community was founded in 1865 by Robert Bowers, a former slave, and his wife Celia North Bowers of the Keechi tribe, whose Indigenous agricultural knowledge helped the settlement thrive on cotton, corn, and garden crops. From its first year the community prized education, opening a school in a log building and later sharing structures with Bethana Baptist Church, the Masons, and the Order of the Eastern Star. The Bowers family, their descendants, veterans, and many original citizens rest in the Boggy Cemetery, and their model of church, school, and cemetery was carried to other Texas communities.
Why it matters
Boggy braids together African American and Native American heritage at the moment of emancipation, showing how freed people and Indigenous families built enduring communities out of shared knowledge and faith.
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Related people
- · Robert Bowers
- · Celia North Bowers
- · Newton Amos Bowers
Themes & tags
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