Talk:William Augustus Bowles

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March 14, 2008- Made some corrections regarding typo's and sentence structure. Added a sentence about Bowle's pirate fleet. There is much more we can add, the best source for information is of course what is already listed as references and J. Leitsh Wright's book "William Augustus Bowles, Director General of the Creek Nation". Silverplate (talk) 00:36, 15 March 2008 (UTC)

Lulu source

I added the bit about him being known as "Billy Bowlegs", citing Two Egg, Florida: A Collection of Ghost Stories, Legends and Unusual Facts published by Lulu. While I know that self-published works are generally not considered reliable sources, the author in question is known to be a respected historian of the Southeastern U.S. howcheng {chat} 19:53, 25 July 2010 (UTC)

"Head of state" categories

I've reverted the the addition of of various "head of state" categories to this article. Bowles may have schemed to create a "State of Muscogee", but it was never recognized, and never exercised effective control over any significant area for a significant period. Bowles was a filibusterer, not a head of state. -- Donald Albury 13:33, 2 March 2011 (UTC)

British v American English

I'm torn over which English standard to apply to this article. Bowles was an American and spent almost his entire life in territory that is now the United States, but of course he chose allegiance to the British Crown over the Continental Congress. (One could make the argument that by pursuing the creation of an independent American Indian state after the war that, while still being an ally to Britain, he had essentially rejected both national affiliations.) But the article switched back and forth between using American quotation marks " and British inverted commas ' so I opted to standardise to the American style. If someone feels strongly it should be the other way round, I've no objection to changing it. Binabik80 (talk) 16:06, 14 November 2019 (UTC)

Consistency in style within an article is to be desired. I see no reason to switch styles, now. - Donald Albury 19:03, 14 November 2019 (UTC)

Oxford English (single quotes but Oxford commas and -ize spellings) is usually a good compromise but it's always possible someone might use the word meter or color so, sure, standardize to US. — LlywelynII 03:12, 21 May 2023 (UTC)

Sources for future article expansion

The most important missing bit is that this guy is either the brother or nephew of Carington Bowles of an extended legacy of very well-off British print and map sellers. Ditto the lawyer John Bowles, who was a major pamphleteer against the Stuarts and the French Revolution.

These limited sources make him the brother:

Major Bowles, who died lately in the cells of the Moro Castle, Havannah, was brother to the famous Carrington Bowles, of print-shop memory, of Ludgate Hill, London. The major had lived so long among the Canadian tribes of Indians, as to become more than half savage himself. Long employed by the American ministers, and the American governors, he had perpetuated a number of mischiefs and cruelties on the peaceful and defenceless frontier inhabitants of the United States; went to England for a few years; after the revolutionary war, was again noticed and employed; but a few years back was landed out of a British sloop of war on the shore of the Bay of Mobile; made his way towards our southern frontier; and after alternately committing many excesses on the subjects of the United States, urging the savages to the war, and committing open hostilities against the Spaniards, he was betrayed, taken up by a party of his brother savages, and delivered to the Spanish commandant, who soon had him confined in the Moro Castle. He was there shut out from light and air, fed upon bread and water only, until, being deprived of all hope of delivery, he refused to take all kind of sustenance whatever, and died April 1806.

• "Domestic Events", The Monthly Mirror..., vol. XXII, London: Vernor, Hood, and Sharpe, August 1806, pp. 136–7.
• "Deaths Abroad", The Universal Magazine, New Series..., vol. VI, London: H.D. Symonds, August 1806, p. 187.

This much longer source makes him the son of the brother, who moved to colonial Maryland to be a schoolteacher and 'plantation' owner

• "General Bowles", Public Characters, or, Cotemporary Biography, Baltimore: Bonsal and Niles, 1803, pp. 332–359.

and should be used to greatly flesh out the article. — LlywelynII 03:12, 21 May 2023 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: HIST3443 The Frontier Before 1850

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 21 August 2023 and 14 December 2023. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): HeatherSchimming (article contribs). Peer reviewers: Gg808, Wsprad74, Sgs052901.

— Assignment last updated by Afh1858 (talk) 14:31, 10 November 2023 (UTC)