An Irish-born tailor, Caven Bowe (c.1765-1798) was indentured to George Washington in 1786, "Received from on board the Brig Ann, from Ireland, two Servant Men for whom I had agreed yesterday—viz.—Thomas Ryan a Shoemaker, and Caven Bowe a Tayler redemptioners for 3 years Service by Indenture if they could not pay, each, the Sum of £12 Sterg. which sums I agreed to pay."1
Later in life, Bowe ran a shop located at Prince and Washington Streets in Alexandria. Among the personal effects sold after his death were "merchandize [sic] of various kinds, kitchen furniture," and two enslaved people.2 Bowe died in 1798 and was buried at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Alexandria.3
Notes: 1. "4 June 1786," The Diaries of George Washington, National Archives, Founders Online, [Original Source: The Papers of George Washington, 4:340 & 340n]; See entry dated "10 June 1786," in George Washington Cash Memoranda, Dec. 1784-July 1786 (original manuscript, Library of Congress; bound photostat, A-55, Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association), 29.
2. Quoted in Michael T. Miller, Artisans and Merchants of Alexandria, Virginia, 1780-1820 (Bowie, Maryland: Heritage Books, Inc., 1991), 1:37-8.
3. Mollie Somerville, Washington Walked Here: Alexandria on the Potomac, Midway between Mount Vernon and The White House (Washington, DC: The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, 1970), 110.
