Rees Bowen

{{short description|American politician}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}} {{Infobox officeholder | birth_name = Rees Tate Bowen | image = ReesBowen.jpg | state=[[Virginia]] | district=[[Virginia's 9th congressional district|9th]] | term_start= March 4, 1873 | term_end= March 3, 1875 | preceded=[[John T. Harris]] | succeeded=[[William Terry (congressman)|William Terry]] |office2 = Member of the [[Virginia House of Delegates]] for [[Tazewell County, Virginia|Tazewell]], [[McDowell County, Virginia|McDowell]], and [[Buchanan County, Virginia|Buchanan]] |term_start2 = September 7, 1863 |term_end2 = December 4, 1865 |predecessor2 = [[Thomas H. Gillespie]] |successor2 = [[G. W. Deskins]] | birth_date = {{Birth date|1809|01|10}} | birth_place = [[Tazewell County, Virginia|Tazewell]], Virginia, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1879|8|29|1809|1|10}} | death_place = Tazewell, Virginia, U.S. | party = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] | spouse = Marie Louisa Peery | alma_mater = | signature = Signature of Rees Tate Bowen (1809–1879).png }}

'''Rees Tate Bowen''' (January 10, 1809 – August 29, 1879) was a nineteenth-century American [[United States House of Representatives|congressman]], magistrate and judge from [[Virginia]]. He was the father of [[Henry Bowen]].

==Biography== Born at "[[Maiden Spring]]" near [[Tazewell, Virginia]], Bowen attended Abingdon Academy and later engaged in agricultural pursuits. He was appointed a [[brigadier general]] in the [[Virginia Militia]] by [[Governor of Virginia|Governor]] [[Henry A. Wise]] in 1856 and served in the [[Virginia House of Delegates]] from 1863 to 1865. Bowen was magistrate of [[Tazewell County, Virginia]], for several years prior to the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] and was presiding judge of the county court a portion of that time. He was elected as a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] to the [[United States House of Representatives]] in 1872, served from 1873 to 1875 and afterward resumed his agricultural pursuits. Bowen died at his estate called "Maiden Spring" in [[Tazewell County, Virginia]], on August 29, 1879, and was interred in the family cemetery on the estate.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bioguide Search |url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/b000685 |access-date=2025-06-30 |website=bioguide.congress.gov}}</ref>

Bowen was among the over 1,800 members of Congress who enslaved human beings at some point in their lives.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Weil |first1=Julie Zauzmer |last2=Blanco |first2=Adrián |last3=Dominguez |first3=Leo |title=More than 1,800 congressmen once enslaved Black people. This is who they were, and how they shaped the nation. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/interactive/2022/congress-slaveowners-names-list/ |access-date=2025-06-30 |newspaper=Washington Post |language=en}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{CongBio|B000685}} *[http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~bowen/generalrtbowen.html Information on Rees Bowen]

{{s-start}} {{s-par|us-hs}} {{US House succession box | state=Virginia | district=9 | before=[[John T. Harris]]<sup>(1)</sup> | after=[[William Terry (congressman)|William Terry]] | years=March 4, 1873 – March 3, 1875 }} {{s-ref|Because of [[Virginia]]'s secession, the House seat was vacant for twelve years before Bowen succeeded Harris.}} {{VirginiaRepresentatives09}} {{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowen, Rees}} [[Category:1809 births]] [[Category:1879 deaths]] [[Category:Democratic Party members of the Virginia House of Delegates]] [[Category:Virginia lawyers]] [[Category:Democratic Party United States representatives from Virginia]] [[Category:People from Tazewell County, Virginia]] [[Category:19th-century American lawyers]] [[Category:19th-century Virginia state court judges]] [[Category:United States representatives who owned slaves]] [[Category:19th-century United States representatives]]