Rash's Surname Index
Notes for Bowers FURBEE
Source; unpublished manuscript written by Madison Stathers ca. 1935
In 1759 Bowers Furbee bought from Daniel Brinkloe a tract of 225 acres for $267.10, located on the east side of the kings Highway beyond the draw bridge over the Murderkill.
Here he was to erect a mansion and develop the family fortune to their highest point. This was a wonderful property and well-suited for the great plantation which it became. The land extends east for almost a mile along the Murderkill and varies in width from a quarter to half a mile. Along the south extends a marsh which was and still is covered by a great forest. The tillable land back of the mansion was divided into four great sections and was surrounded entirely by a private road running the full length of the property along the Murderkill and marsh. The land is almost as level as a floor and very fertile. A short distance back of the location of the mansion, one still sees traces of the private landing for vessels plying the Murderkill, and the point where the slaves seined the enormous quantity of fish which supplied, in part, the tables of the Plantation.
The mansion, which was destroyed by fire about half a century ago, was built of brick in the style of the English country estates of the period. The story that the bricks were from England, often reported in regard to other old houses along the eastern seaboard, is of doubtful authenticity, although it is a fact that bricks from English brickyards were often used for ballast on the western voyage. The house stood at least a hundred feet back from the highway and at a later date was surrounded by great trees.
The mansion had two stories and an attic with a high steep roof as well as many dormer windows. An ell of the same was built on the rear and was probably added in extent as time went on. Both Bowers and his wife, Anna, speak of it in their wills-not without a touch of pride-as the 'mansion'. To judge from other houses of the period, which are still standing in the region, one would say that they were quit justified in the use of the word. Perhaps, Delaware had few finer at that date.
The wealth of Bowers Furbee came to him by ancestral inheritance in his own family, by the succession of his wife, Anna Sipple, to her share in the wealth of her family; and especially by his own efforts.
During the period of the Revolutionary War, his properties included over a thousand acres. With these vast holdings and with slaves enough to exploit them, he rose to a high position of wealth in this community. The easily-accessible and excellent markets of Philadelphia assured him ready sale for all his products. Especially was this true during the period 1760-1780, which included the most important parts of the French and Indian, and the Revolutionary Wars.
However, he was not to be permitted to enjoy his wealth and his ease to a ripe and healthy old age. In his will made March 6, 1775, abut a month before the battle of Lexington which precipitated the Revolutionary War, he speaks of himself as being well in health and of perfect mind and memory. The next five or six years were of the most action of his life, and we have no record of final illness. His will was probated at Dover on February 12, 1781. His death probably occurred a few days before that date. Calandar of Kent County Delaware Probatr Records; 1680-1800 page 328. furbee, Bowers, Will made may 5, 1775. Heirs; wife Anna; sons Waitman, Caleb, Jonathan & john; duaghters Mirriam Davis, Anna & Elizabeth Furbee; grandson Bowers Davis. Exec'x Anna. Wits., Philip Barritt, Caleb Sipple, Elizabeth Sipple. Prlb. Feb. 12, 1781. Arch. vol. A18, page 148. Reg. of Wills, Liber L, folios 2230224.
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