Rafe & Josephine Fagan
This is the story of our lineage
Rafeal Fagan
Born: February 1864, Louisiana
The earliest documents we have for Rafeal Fagan are found in the 1900 US Census. He was 36 years old and had been married for 18 years to Josephine Fagan. Together they had 12 children of whom 7 survived. We have very little information about his childhood. Both of his parents were born in Louisiana. Rafeal was lovingly known as “Rafe” to friends and family and “Grandpa Rafe” to his grandchildren
Josephine Bowman Fagan
Date of Birth: April 1866 (Texas)
Parents: Harry Bowman (DOB: 1837)
Siblings: Augustus “Gustin” (1862), Stephen (1868), Richard (1870), Joseph (1873), Betty (1877), Emmanuel (1878), Martha (1879), Mariah (1880), Ellen (1886), Harry (1887), and Lewis (1892)
Marriage: Rafael “Rafe” Fagan (1882)
Children (7): Mariah (1886), Sam (1888), Fannie (1889), Millie (1891), Rafe (1895), Mose (1897),Atlanta (1903)
Date of Death: February 6, 1945 (age 79)
Burial: Ackland Creek Baptist Church Cemetery (Jonesville, Catahoula Parish, Louisiana
Born Josephine Bowman in 1866. She was born after the Emancipation Proclamation and a year after both the thirteenth amendment and Juneteenth. Josephine’s parents likely had been enslaved and she and her siblings were to be raised in a new world. Her father relocated to Louisiana and married a younger Charlotte Bowman. There is no mention of her biological mother. Because both Harry Bowman and Josephine’s mother had been enslaved it is difficult to gather additional information about their life experiences.
The first record we have of Josephine Fagan is the 1880 US Census. Josephine was 15 and lived with her father, Harry Boweman, and whom we can anticipate was her stepmother, Charlotte (age 24). They lived in the Catahoula Parish, 9th Ward. In the home at that time were also her siblings – Augustus “Gustine” /18, Joe/7, Emmanuel/8, Martha/2 and Marriah/1. We don’t have enough information to confirm the mother for all of the children. In the home was also her grandfather, Joe Bowman, Sr/80 and her uncle Stephen Bowman/12.
There is so much we do not know about Josephine’s early life. We do not know her biological mother’s name. We can’t confirm that the man with whom she traveled to Louisiana was her biological father or a kind elder that escorted her to safety along with his family.
Census data for 1890 is not available due to a fire that took place at the Commerce Department in Washington DC on January 10, 1921. Of the almost 63m people recorded only the records of approximately 6K have survived.
In 1900, at age 34, Josaphine continued to live in Ward 8, Catahoula Perish in Louisiana. She and Rafe had been married for 18 years and lived with their five children (Mariah/14, Sam/12, Fannie/11, Millie/7, Rafe/5). This may have been the year that Mose Fagan passed away. In 1910, Josephine was 54 years old, Rafael and Millie were the only children living in the home at this time. Josephine’s father, Harry (80), continued to live near by and remained married to Charlotte Bowman. He worked as a farmer and continued to rent his property.Reportedly, Elizabeth (30) and Lewis (17) lived in the home and were possibly their child and grandchild.
