Franklin Welsh BOWDON, Congress, AL (1817-1857)

BOWDON, Franklin Welsh, (uncle of Sydney Johnston Bowie), a Representative from Alabama; born in Chester District, S.C., February 17, 1817; attended the common schools and was graduated from the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa in 1836; studied law; was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Talladega, Ala.; member of the State house of representatives in 1844 and 1845; elected as a Democrat to the Twenty-ninth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Felix G. McConnell; reelected to the Thirtieth and Thirty-first Congresses and served from December 7, 1846, to March 3, 1851; chairman, Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds (Thirty-first Congress); was not a candidate for renomination in 1850; moved to Henderson, Rusk County, Tex., in 1852, where he resumed the practice of his profession; died in Henderson, Tex., June 8, 1857; interment in the City Cemetery.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present