The son of John Reynolds Sarvis and Elizabeth Ruth “Ruthie” Hardee Sarvis, Bowden Sarvis was born on September 5, 1859 in Allsbrook, Bayboro, Horry County, South Carolina and had ten siblings. He and his brothers George and Eahmon Sarvis were killed in a sawmill fire in 1871, and they are probably buried in unmarked graves near their parents in Pleasant Meadow Baptist Church Cemetery in Horry County. The presence of sawdust in the air and wood shavings and wood chips on the floor at sawmills can lead to situations where a single spark or heat from friction can cause a rapid moving fire or explosion. Bowden’s sister Sharlotte’s son, Joseph Bowden Neely, Sr. (born 1888), and grandson, Joseph Bowden Neely, Jr. (born 1923), were named after Bowden. Bowden’s brother James’ grandson, Bowden James Sarvis (born 1927), was also named for him. Through both his mother and father, Bowden was of French Huguenot and English descent. Sarvis is a coastal Carolina Native American surname. In this case, however, the Sarvis surname may have originally been Serivens, a French Huegenot name.

An important point about American Indian (Native American) DNA ancestry should be made. Anthropologist Mary Helms created the term “colonial Indian tribes” in the 1960s to refer to societies which originated as recognizable entities only as a direct result of colonial policies. Colonial tribes are often a racially mixed people that over time became identified more with their Indian ancestry rather than their African or white ancestry. These groups are culturally Indian while ultimately having little, if any, Indian DNA. Colonial tribes include groups as diverse as the Miskito Indians of eastern Nicaragua, various Amazon tribes in Brazil, the Lumbee Indians of North Carolina, the Black Seminoles of Oklahoma, Mexico, and the Bahamas, and many others. The term colonial tribe attempts to get at the idea that someone can be culturally something (American Indian, for example) without being biologically something. So, it should not be surprising that someone with, for example, a Lumbee Indian ancestor would not necessarily test as having significant American Indian DNA.

I hope someone will add a photo of Bowden. Thanks so much to Sarvis family researchers for much of this information. Any errors, however, are mine alone. Please go to the "edit" link on this site with any corrections or additions. If a closer relative than I would like to take over management of this site, please let me know.