NJGenWeb ~ Morris County, New Jersey

Charles W. Bowlby
Morris Co. Up

Source: History Morris County New Jersey, Volume II, Lewis Publishing Co., 1914

December 13, 1911, Charles W. BOWLBY was elected to the office of superintendent of weights and measures for Morris county and in that capacity his is serving with the utmost efficiency at the present time, 1913. He was born in Hunterdon county, New Jersey, October 30, 1854, son of Joseph and Sarah (MILLEROY) BOWLBY, the former of whom was likewise born in Hunterdon county, the date of his nativity being 1809. The father was reared on a farm and was engaged in agricultural operations during the entire period of his active career. He was summoned to eternal rest in 1893, at the venerable age of eighty-four years. Mrs. BOWLBY was born at New Oxford Furnace, Warren county, New Jersey, 1814, and she passed away in 1883, aged sixty-nine years. There were fifteen children born to Joseph and Sarah BOWLBY as follows:

  • Lydia A., who celebrated her eightieth birthday on the 2nd of June, 1913, is the widow of Charles WHITE and she has maintained her home in the city of Dover for the past fifty-five years;
  • David, who is in his seventy-ninth year, is a widower and he is engaged in farming operations in Hunterdon county, this State;
  • Eben died in 1862, aged forty-one years;
  • Caroline, widow of Rev. Robert M. HENDERSON, who died in Nebraska in 1912;
  • John, a farmer in the vicinity of Pattenburg, Hunterdon county;
  • Kate, was the wife of Daniel EAGY at the time of her demise;
  • Margaret, wife of Justice MOORE, of Sand Brook;
  • Robert, a retired farmer and lives near Hampton Junction, this State;
  • Edgar, enlisted for service in the Union army as a very young boy and he died in the Civil War at the age of seventeen years and four days;
  • Mary, wife of William VLIET, of Bloomsbury, Hunterdon county;
  • Sarah, widow of William COLLARD and she resides in Dover, where she is the owner of an up-to-date furniture store that is conducted by her son;
  • Belle, married George HOLCOMB and she passed to the life eternal in Hunterdon county, New Jersey;
  • Garrison, purchased the land and laid out the present suburb of Bowlbyville, adjoining Dover, and there he makes his home;
  • Charles W., the immediate subject of this review;
  • Jennie, married (first) Josiah BOWDEN, and (second) William EGGERTS, she lived in the city of Hartford, Connecticut, for a period of twenty-four years, but is now a resident of Westfield, New Jersey.

Under the invigorating influence of the old homestead farm Charles W. BOWLBY was reared to maturity and he early began to assist his father and brothers in the work and management of the estate. He was educated in the public schools of Hunterdon county and remained at home until he had reached his legal majority when he married and located at York, Hunterdon county, there conducting a restaurant for a period of two years, at the end of which time he removed to Dover. This city has represented his home for the past thirty-six years. At the time of his advent here, in 1877, he began to clerk for John LYON, in whose employ he remained for three years. In 1880 he formed a connection with the Singer Sewing Machine Company and he was with that concern for the ensuing fourteen years, during the twelve years of which time he was manager of the company’s business in Morris county and had sixteen salesmen working under him. In 1894 Mr. BOWLBY became interested in local politics and was an important factor in the election of George PIERSON for the office of mayor of Dover. Shortly after he was appointed chief of police for this city and he served as such with considerable distinction for one year. In his political faith he is a stalwart supporter of the principles of the Democratic party. In 1893 he engaged in the piano business at Dover and subsequently he went to Plainfield, New Jersey, to assume charge of the sales department of the Singer sewing machine. In 1906 he entered the employ of the United States Leather Company as a purchaser of hides in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, following that line of enterprise for four years. During most of this period he sold pianos and sewing machines on his own account and for three years wrote insurance for the Continental Casualty Company. December 13, 1911, he was appointed superintendent of weights and measures for Morris county by the board of freeholders, his term of office covering a period of three years. For fourteen years he was a valued and appreciative member of the Dover fire department and his activity in public affairs has always been characterized by intrinsic loyalty to all matters projected for progress and improvement. He is conscientious in discharging his duties as a public official and he is honored and esteemed by his fellow citizens as a man of mark in all the relations of life.

In 1875, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. BOWLBY to Lydia H. LEONARD, whose birth occurred in Hunterdon county, daughter of Curtis LEONARD, of Everittstown, New Jersey. There have been five children born to Mr. and Mrs. BOWLBY and concerning them the following brief data are here incorporated:

  • Clara, wife of John T. HOWELL, a proprietor of the Bon Ton Theatre at Dover and a prominent business man in this city, they have one daughter,
    • Gladys, sixteen years of age;
  • Lulu, married Edward LEATHERMAN, a traveling salesman, his headquarters being in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania;
  • Edgar, a resident of White Plains, New York, a talented musician and leader of the theatre orchestra at White Plains, married Mary GANO, of Pattenburg, New Jersey;
  • Mary, likewise an accomplished musician and leader of the orchestra at the Bridgeport Theatre in Bridgeport, Connecticut, unmarried;
  • Hazel, bookkeeper in the Peters Overall Factory at Dover, resides at home with her parents.

In religious faith the BOWLBY family are devout members of the Methodist church, and in a fraternal way he is affiliated with the Maccabees of the World. The family home is at No. 19 Fairview avenue and Mr. and Mrs. BOWLBY are known as generous and hospital neighbors.

This biography was transcribed by John Cresseveur (1949-2003).

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