James Alfred Bowley (c.1844 – January 30, 1891) was a teacher, lawyer, judge, school commissioner, politician, and newspaper publisher in South Carolina. He escaped slavery in Maryland with help from Harriet Tubman. He served in the U.S. Navy. After the American Civil War he moved to Georgetown, South Carolina taught in schools and was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives. His former home in Georgetown, South Carolina, where he lived with his wife Laura Clark (1854–1932), is a historic site.
Early life, escape, and education
Bowley was the son of John Bowley and Kessiah Bowley. His mother was Harriet Tubman's niece, and the two were so close in age and had such a close relationship that they considered themselves sisters. Kessiah Bowley, James, and his sister Araminta were owned by Eliza Ann Brodess in Dorchester County, the woman whom Harriet Tubman had fled from just two years earlier. Upon hearing that Kessiah and her children would be placed on the auction block in December 1850, Tubman quickly departed for Baltimore and concocted a plan with Kessiah's husband, John.
During the auction, John Bowley somehow managed to secure the highest bid without being identified. By the time Dorchester County officials realized what had happened, the three slaves had been secreted to a nearby safe-house. Amazingly, the Bowley's were able to sail a small boat up the Chesapeake Bay to Baltimore, where Tubman reunited with them. From there, they were guided to Philadelphia. However, the newly passed Fugitive Slave Act made it increasingly dangerous for Eastern Shore runaways to reside in nearby "free" states. Kessiah, John, and Araminta made their way to Canada soon after the escape, settling in Chatham, Ontario where a black fugitive community had developed. However, James remained in Philadelphia with Tubman for some time, in order to go to school. She was estimated to have spent about half her income towards her nephew's education during that time, though it is unknown where he attended or for how long.
In a letter to his "Aunt" Harriet in 1868, [Bowley] noted he was one of her "first passengers from the house of bondage." His words were intended to be a part of Sarah Bradford's biography, Scenes in the Life of Harriet Tubman, but for some reason they were not included.
Civil war
In 1863 James joined the Union Navy and served as a Boatman on the vessel USS Genessee during the Civil War.
Career
After the Civil War ended, James chose to help newly emancipated slaves by working as a teacher [c.1867] for the Freedmen's Bureau in Georgetown, South Carolina. Bowley was about to enter a successful, but highly controversial, second phase of his life in the Reconstruction era. Bowley quickly established himself as an influential figure, more than just an educator, in this tumultuous period in South Carolina. By 1870, he had married Laura Clark, a mulatto native of Georgetown. He is listed as the "school commissioner" and owned a small amount of property, living amongst other civil servants of both races.
In 1869, Bowley ran in a special election for the Georgetown state representative to fill a seat vacated by the death of Henry W. Web. He ran as a Radical Republican and won the seat by a majority of 1,000 votes and over 85% of the cast votes. He was re-elected in 1870 and 1872.
Bowley's legislative position ultimately became the source of many of his difficulties, as it was for many Republicans, who were constantly accused of corruption or incompetence. For some time, Bowley chaired the Committee on Ways and Means, a prominent body that determined tax codes and other revenue building actions of the state assembly. The Anderson Times, a politically conservative and Democratically leaning newspaper, reported in 1872 that "Hon. Mr. Bowley, from Georgetown, is a colored man, and judging from his craniology, physiognomy and tautology, we fear he will make the ways and means very easy." The implication, which was reflected in many Reconstruction era southern papers' discussion of black politicians, was that James was mentally unfit for the position and would likely be susceptible to bribery.
In 1872, Bowley was the second black lawyer to appear in the courts of Georgetown. Bowley read law under Macon B. Allen in Charleston for two years, and in 1872 passed the bar examination administered by Allen, John G.Mackey, and C.W. Buttz and was admitted by circuit judge R.F. Graham.
In 1873, Bowley founded a weekly newspaper the Georgetown Planet, with a focus of politics, literature and science. It was a Republican paper, the only one in Georgetown.