[2] John Bowie, Sr., who emigrated to colonial Maryland in 1705 from Scotland, purchased a large tract of land called "Brooke's Reserve" about two miles west of Nottingham for a son, Captain William Bowie, when the son was twenty-one years old.

A large brick house was erected there that was called Mattaponi, the name of the nearest creek and a Native American word meaning "meeting of the waters".

[4] They settled in and near Nottingham during the colonial period, building a number of homes including Mattaponi.

[3] Robert Bowie, Governor of Maryland from 1803 to 1806 and 1811–12, is buried at Mattaponi and is believed to have been born there as well,[3] although this is not proven; as an adult, he made his residence at "The Cedars" in Nottingham on the Patuxent River.

[1] Mattaponi is very similar in styling to the home he built nearby for his daughter, Bowieville, also brick covered with stucco.