Jesse B. Bowman
Manchester, Red River County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Alamo defender Jesse B. Bowman was born in Tennessee about 1785. By 1811 he was living in Illinois where his son Joseph T. Bowman was born that year. Bowman and his family settled in Ouichita County, Arkansas, until it became more populated and they moved to Hempstead County. In the 1830s Jesse B. Bowman and his family moved with his brother and other family members to this area of Texas, where they soon qualified for a league and labor of land. On February 23, 1836, Bowman answered the roll call at the Alamo garrison in Bexar. He was listed as a private and permanent volunteer under the command of Jim Bowie. On March 6, Jesse Bowman lost his life at the fall of the Alamo. His body and those of the other Alamo defenders were burned by the Mexican Army under General Santa Anna. (1999)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Born in Tennessee around 1785, Jesse B. Bowman drifted west with his family through Illinois and Arkansas before claiming land in Texas in the 1830s. In early 1836 he answered the roll at the Alamo as a private under Jim Bowie, and he died in the mission's fall on March 6. Like the other defenders, his body was burned by Santa Anna's army, leaving this marker near his old homestead as his memorial.
Why it matters
The Alamo's defenders became the founding legend of Texas, and remembering ordinary men like Bowman keeps that revolution rooted in real, migrating frontier families.
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Related people
- · Jesse B. Bowman
- · James Bowie
- · Antonio López de Santa Anna
Related events
- · Battle of the Alamo
Themes & tags
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