The Bowens Family

The Critical Role of Oral History

Since the establishment of Drayton Hall in 1738, African Americans have played a vital role in its development. According to oral history, the ancestors of one family, the Bowens, arrived as slaves in the 1670s with the Draytons from Barbados. These Bowens ancestors would have seen the house under construction, the lands being cleared, and may well have contributed to the building of the house, to the making of the bricks, or to the crafting of the elegant plaster and woodwork. No doubt they would have heard the languages of enslaved Africans newly arrived into the colony and would have borne witness to and participated in the transmission of culture from one generation to another amidst the rigors of slavery. However, little is known about the first few generations.

Caesar Bowens, the first Bowens of whom we are certain, along with his brother and sister John and Catherine, Catherine's son Cleveland, Caesar's grandson Richmond Bowens, and many other African Americans who lived and worked at Drayton Hall are buried at the cemetery that is located about 100 feet from Drayton Hall's main drive.

Many of the Bowens descendants still live in the Charleston area; in fact, the great-granddaughters of Catherine Bowens, Catherine Braxton and Rebecca Campbell, live not far from Drayton Hall.