Magdalene Woods was said to have been strikingly beautiful, a tall woman with long blond hair, dazzling white skin and blue eyes. She was known to have a witty tongue. Apparently, she possessed high intelligence and abundant personal charm. There is one description of her riding a black stallion, dressed in a hunter’s green riding coat sporting gold buttons, and a bonnet with many plumes atop her head. Born in Meath County, Ireland about 1716, she traveled with her family as a young girl to the New World, settling first in Pennsylvania and then spending most of her adult life in the lower Valley of Virginia.
Magdalene’s first husband was John McDowell, whom she wed in about 1734. They were married in Pennsylvania, but three years later, they made their way into the northern Valley of Virginia, traveling with an extended family group. Much of the Valley of Virginia, situated as it is between the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Alleghenies, had just begun to be settled at this time. The McDowells had a relation, John Lewis, who had settled in an area called Beverly’s Manor near present day Staunton. It is presumed that the McDowell group was also planning to settle in this area. About a day before they reached the home of John Lewis they encountered a man by the name of Benjamin Borden. Borden, a New Jersey native, asked if he could share their camp for the night. The party agreed and over the course of the evening he told them about the large grant of land he had obtained from the colonial governor of Virginia. The grant was located south of the Beverly Grant, in an area near present day Lexington, Virginia. The problem Borden faced, as he related to the group, was that he was unsure how to locate the land correctly. Doubts were apparently cast by the group, as to the validity of his claim to such a large grant of land. But, he presented them the legal documents that backed up his story. Borden then offered 1,000 acres to any in the group who would guide him to his property. John McDowell promptly pulled out survey equipment that he had brought, and convinced Borden that he could indeed accomplish the task of locating the land.
The next morning the group moved on to the John Lewis residence and there drew up official papers testifying to the agreement between Benjamin Borden and John McDowell. Others in the area were informed of the new Borden Grant and Borden encouraged them to locate there. Any settler, who came and built a cabin, would be given 100 acres of free land. These were known as “cabin rights.” As a patentee Borden was required to get settlers onto the land in order for him to receive his own full allotment. It appears that for every family that settled onto the Borden Grant, Benjamin Borden himself would be entitled to 1000 acres. So, in effect the grantee acted as a land agent and promoter.
Within two years 92 cabins were erected in Borden’s Grant. This translated into 92,000 acres of free land for Borden! Of course like any big business deal, as we have especially seen recently, there is always room for corruption. Some settlers built multiple cabins in order to increase their holdings, claiming the 100 acres for each. One man apparently sent his servant girl to go from cabin to cabin when an accounting was made. She is said to have dressed as a man and although she used the same surname at each cabin, she changed “her” first name, causing suspicion when no one could recall that there were that many families with the same last name in the area. It is quite possible that Borden, aware of these schemes, looked the other way, since the additional “cabin rights” claimed increased his own holdings. The other tricky thing and a bit of a problem for many was the paying of quit rents. Quit rents were kind of like property taxes, and although they were suspended during the first two years of the settlement, after that they were difficult to collect. Some of the new landowners raised the money for the quit rents by sending butter and other goods to the large markets in Virginia cities, and some just didn’t pay. The system of quit rents is difficult to understand but it seems as if initially it was Borden’s task to collect these rents. It also became a burden for Borden who had quit rents due on the property that he had been granted. Of course an important source of income for Borden was the sale of his own land, which helped pay the quit rents. But as sales of Borden’s lands became less brisk, the payment of quit rents on his large land holdings became difficult.
John McDowell and his lovely wife Magdalene chose an area of land near present day Lexington, Virginia. There they built their log cabin in a style that was unusual for the times. The bark was stripped from the logs and then the logs were stained red with either ocher or berries. It was thereafter known as the “Red House.” Why the McDowells decided to do this is beyond understanding and I have read of no other similar practice among pioneers in any of the colonies. Maybe Magdalene just like the color red.
A couple of years after the McDowells were settled in the red house, there was a conflict between the settlers and some local Indians. John McDowell was killed in this conflict that took place in mid December of 1742. His body, stripped and scalped, was collected by his surviving colleagues the next day and returned to the Red House. This left Magdalene a widow at the age of about 26. She had five young children. We know nothing about how Magdalene dealt with her husband’s death, but it is presumed that the various relatives that lived nearby lent a hand and helped her through the tragedy.
In 1743, Benjamin Borden Sr. died. He left several heirs, including a wife who had remained in Rhode Island. His oldest son Benjamin Jr. took control of the real estate interests in Virginia and began to try to settle his father’s estate. This was no easy task! Tangled up in this complex estate were the various properties and land deals, the overdue quit rents, and the beginnings of disputes concerning land ownership. Apparently Benjamin Sr. often did not provide buyers with signed deeds until they had completed their payment to him, and this was the cause of a number of disputed titles and lawsuits. Those who claimed that according to deals made with Benjamin Sr., they owned land despite the lack of an official title sued Benjamin Jr. in an attempt to keep their land. And, there were lawsuits initiated by Benjamin Jr., against landowners who had not finished paying for their property. I believe that there were further law suits between Benjamin Jr. and his siblings.
Soon after Benjamin Jr. returned to Virginia to take charge of the Borden grant, he became Magdalene’s second husband. The marriage was a surprise to some, because when Benjamin Jr. had visited the area a few years earlier, and actually stayed with the McDowell family, Magdalene had let others know that she didn’t think too highly of him and even remarked that she thought him “quite illiterate.” Well, perspectives change and circumstances can color one’s views. Benjamin Borden Jr., now in control of much of the Borden Grant, was possibly the wealthiest man around. And the reality was that most widows on the frontier did not stay unmarried for long. Life was just too hard to survive without the partnership of a marriage. The couple continued to live in the red house near Timber Ridge.
In May of 1746, Magdalene gave birth their first daughter, Martha Borden. In 1753 another daughter, Hannah was born. But that year brought tragedy when a smallpox epidemic broke out across the area. Smallpox, an infectious virus, has been eradicated in our lifetime, but back in those days it meant almost certain death for many. Benjamin Borden Jr., was the first of the family to contract the disease. His younger brother Joseph Borden, who was staying with the family, was struck also. Some of the McDowell children and both Martha and baby Hannah Borden also were afflicted. Magdalene’s sister in law, Mary McDowell Greenlee, came to nurse the family, but both Benjamin Borden Jr. and his baby daughter Hannah perished.
Once again Magdalene was a frontier widow, but this time she was left with a substantial inheritance. Some say, that at this time, she was the wealthiest woman in Virginia, but that claim is hard to prove. She was certainly land rich, but as we have learned recently land value is closely tied to demand. Because of the Borden Grant land deeds and deals, and the past due quit rents, the estate was still a complicated mess. The best land parcels, of Borden’s allotment, had been sold in earlier years. The remaining unsold portions, even though they totaled a vast amount of acreage, were not the most desirable for settlement. I suspect that it must have been overwhelming for Magdalene, despite her intelligence and fortitude.
In 1753, several months after the smallpox deaths, a new schoolteacher arrived in the area. His name was John Bowyer and apparently he came possessing only a horse and the few clothes he carried. He was probably about 20 years old when he starting teaching in Borden’s Grant. He taught school for only several months, but seems to have been busy during that time wooing the widow Magdalene, who was getting close to 40 years old. Remember that she was supposedly quite a beautiful woman, and I would guess that her newly inherited wealth might have also contributed to his interest in her.
John Bowyer became Magdalene’s third husband in February of 1754. The gossip about their age difference was likely fierce. There is a story that before the marriage Magdalene had the young John Bowyer sign what we would call a “pre-nup” today. She wanted to insure that her children would get a portion of her vast wealth if she should die. It is also rumored that John Bowyer at some point after the marriage grabbed this document from her hands and threw it into a blazing fireplace.
Like today, money often buys power and prestige. After the marriage, John Bowyer took control of the tangled Borden estate affairs and some believed he conducted matters to his own greedy advantage. He eventually qualified as the captain of the militia and later was granted the rank of Colonel. He also became one of the justices of the county.
In 1759, 14-year-old Martha Borden chose John Bowyer as her legal guardian even though some in the community gave court testimony warning her that to do so would be foolish, as John Bowyer would certainly waste her rightful inheritance to her father’s estate. In 1764, at the age of 17, Martha Borden married Benjamin Hawkins. John Bowyer paid Benjamin Hawkins a sum of money at the time of this marriage; apparently this was Martha’s share of Benjamin Borden Jr.’s estate. It is possible that the couple was also given some of the unsold Borden estate lands also. Later, after being widowed, Martha Borden Hawkins married Robert Harvey.
The red tape comes in the form of several lawsuits that were initiated over the following years. Joseph Borden and his sister Lydia Peck brought suit against Martha (Borden) and Robert Harvey for lands they thought were entitled to them from their father, Benjamin Borden Sr.’s estate. Martha and Robert Harvey, along with some of Madalene’s “McDowell” children, sued John Bowyer for property they thought was due them from their mother’s estate. There were other suits that pertained to property that was in the original Borden Grant and many of these legal battles lasted years.
Meanwhile what happened to Magdalene? Did she regret her marriage to the young John Bowyer? Was she estranged from her daughter Martha and her McDowell children who clearly did not look favorably upon her husband?
We don’t know the exact date of her death but it is likely that Magdalene died sometime between 1790 and 1804. It is said that she was an elderly woman when she died and some say that she was over 100, but I think it more likely that she was in her 80’s at the time of her death. Some thought that if Bowyer had married Magdalene hoping she would soon die and leave him a rich man for the remainder of his life, then she proved him wrong by her long life. We do know that in 1792 John Bowyer built a large 2-story home, Thorn Hill. I have discovered no records to indicate if Magdalene was still alive at this time. I'd like to believe that she did get to live here, at least for a while, as surely it would have been an improvement over the red log cabin. One source says that John Bowyer married a second time after Magdalene’s death. John Bowyer died in 1806. He left no blood descendants and his estate was divided among his extended Bowyer family. His nephew inherited the Thorn Hill property and lived there for many years. For those of you who might win the lottery in the coming weeks, Thorn Hill is up for sale. The asking price is about 2.9 million for this 17-acre estate, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Properties.
I have found no record or reference as to the burial place of Magdalene. It seems like such a formidable woman should have a beautiful tombstone but it looks as if none exists. She had a number of notable descendants, including her son Samuel McDowell who moved to Kentucky, served as a judge and presided over most of that state’s constitutional conventions. A grandson, Dr. Ephraim McDowell was one of Kentucky’s most famous pioneering surgeons. A great grandson, James McDowell, became Virginia’s 25th governor.
Some day I'd love to visit this area of Virginia where Magdalene lived and stop and see the sign that marks the site of the old "Red House." And if I do, I'll try to imagine Magdalene riding her black stallion across the rolling green hills. A strong and beautiful pioneer woman who created her own destiny from the experiences life threw at her.
-Mary
Like much of history, there are various versions of this story. Perspective often depends on the teller of the story. Much of our information about the Borden Grant and Magdalene comes from testimony given during the various court cases. A wealth of descriptive detail is revealed in the testimony of Magdalene’s sister in law Mary McDowell Greenlee, a woman with her own colorful past and also a woman with strong opinions. Imagine how others, friends and family, might tell your story and the ways those versions might differ from your own recounting.
I am Magdalene’s 6th G granddaughter:
Magdalene Woods & Benjamin Borden---Martha Borden & Benjamin Hawkins--- Sarah Hawkins & William T. Mitchell---Thomas Mitchell & Mildred A. Julian---Thomas P. Mitchell & Hannah Burton --- Florence N. Mitchell & Goslee Geiger --- Thomas Mitchell & Emma Fairleigh (my grandparents)
