James Bowser, Revolutionary Soldier
James Bowser, a free African American born in Nansemond County about 1763, was one of many black Virginians who served in the army or navy of the United States during the Revolutionary War. He enlisted in the 1st Virginia Regiment of the Continental Line under Col. William Davies on 1 Jan. 1782 in Shenandoah County for the duration of the war. After the war ended in 1783, he returned to Nansemond County where he lived nearby, married, and raised a family of freeborn citizens. For his service to his country, Bowsers heirs were granted a bounty land warrant in 1834.
Marker is at the intersection of Nansemond Parkway (Virginia Route 337) and Outlaw Lane on Nansemond Parkway.
Courtesy hmdb.org
