"He came with his father to Burlington, New Jersey, in 1727. In 1731,h e became coexecutor of his father's will, and responsible to heirsin E ngland and New Jersey. John probably married his wife Mary_______ befo re 1735, the estimated birth of his eldest son, Samuel.In 1737, the fa mily moved to the junction of two large tracts of landsurveyed to John 's maternal grandfather, Samuel Barker, in 1680. Theplace became known a s Imlaydale, which is still inhabited and liesacross the Musconectcong f rom New Hampton, New Jersey.
In Traditions of Hunterdon, pg. 85 THE BOWLBYS OF HAMPTON (copied byFl orence Bowlby, transcribed by Cynthia Katzman Bowlby)
The land from Asburry to Hampton Junction and extending over theMuscon etonz into Warren County, a tract of 5,088 acres was purchasedby John B owlby from the first proprietors about the year 1740. JohnBowlby came f rom England and selected this spot as favorable for amill site.
His house stood near where Peter Cramer now lives. It was onceconsider ed as the grandest house in the settlement. It consisted oflogs hewn o n two sides and notched at the ends; was 1 1/2 storieshigh and had two l arge rooms below stairs, while the other houses hadonly one. It was th e first house built here.
John Bowlby was quite young when he came to this country. His 2brother s, Thomas and Richard, and their sisters came with them.Joseph Bowlby, n ow 83 years old, living at New Hampton, can rememberwhen there was not hing but log houses in the whole valley.
When John Bowlby was running the boundaries of his land, Col. DanielCo xe was also laying out a tract to the east of him. There seems tohave b een some strife between them as to who should get his surveyextended o n record first, and at the same time, get as much of thecreek as possi ble.
Coxe became alarmed, mounted his horse and rode towards Burlington asf ast as he could, while Bowlby ran his lines so far as to take up thewh ole stream, keeping Coxe out of every foot of it. He then mounted ahor se and followed Coxe, who rode one horse to death, and borrowedanother , and thus reached Burlington first. But Bowlby, "kept him outof the c reek" and that was all he desired, for he now had the millsite, and th e most valuable portion of the land. Before the mill wasbuilt, Bowlby w ent to Pittstown to mill, a distance of 10 miles,through the wildernes s, following an Indian path. Sometimes he had towait his turn, and wou ld not get back for 2-3 days.
p. 86 THE BOWLBY LAND DEALS.
John Bowlby had 3 sons, Samuel who lived at the homestead, and ownedth e mill; John who took a part of the land that lay in Warren County,and T homas or "Esq Tom" as he was called, by virtue of his office,who lived o n the side of the stream, where Jacob Skinner now lives.
John Bowlby sold many hundreds of acres for 2s, 6d per acre, becausehe d id not want to pay tax on it. Parties now living tell about thetime th ey could have bought land from Bowlby for 50 cents an acre."
Depending on John's actual death date, the following from the Historyo f Washington Twp, Warren Co, NJ may pertain to his son John:
1780s – John Bowlby, Colonel William McCullough and Mark Thomsonlocate d farms along the Musconetcong River. Other families were theLaceys, V an Horns, Van Nattas, Crevelings and Van Dorens.
c. 1792 – Imlaydale, first settled by John Bowlby, began to expandafte r the erection of a gristmill by Samuel Bowlby and HenryDusenberry.
John's will, dated 12/7/1779 was proved 12/31/1782 and said ( withpunc tuation added to make easier reading):
"In the name of God Amen: I, John Bowlby Senior of the County ofSussex a nd Township of Mansfeldwood Hous and State of New Jerseybeing weak in b ody but of sound mind and memory, thanks be to Godtherefore I do make, o rdain, publish, and put in writing this my lastwill and testament in t he following manner.
And first of all I recommend my soul to God who gave it and my body tot he earth to be buried in a christianlike and decent manner at thediscr etion of my executors herein after named and as for such worldlygoods a s it hath pleased God to bless me with in this life I give andbequeath i n the following manner.
And first I will that all my just debts and funeral charges be paidand s atisfied.
Also I give and bequeath onto my beloved wife Mary Bowlby all andsingu lar my personal estate during her natural life and it is my willthat m y said wife shall dispose of such part of my personal estate asshe sha ll not want to home.
She will and I also will and order that six acres of land adjoiningSam uel Johnston Mills be divided into 12 equal parts to be dividedamongst m y granddaughters by lot.
My son Samuel's daughter Mary Bowlby half an acre also his daughterHan nah Bowlby half an acre also his daughter Sarah Bowlby half anacre and a lso his daughter Ann Bowlby half an acre also I order thatmy son John B owlby's daughrer Mary Bowlby half an acre and I alsoorder that my son T homas Bowlby's daughter Olive Bowlby half an acre;
I also will and order that my daughter Hanah Palmer's son PhilipPalmer h alf an acre and I also order her daughter Mary Daley half anacre and a lso her daughter Sarah Palmer half an acre and also herdaughter Ruhann ah palmer half an acre and I also order that mydaughter Sarah Coleman' s Mary Coleman half an acre and also mydaughter Hannah Palmer's daught er Hannah Palmer half an acre.
I also will and order that all the remainder part of my land andproper ty rights undisposed of her to for, I order to be divided intothree eq ual parts and I give and beq1ueath unto my beloved son SamuelBowlby on e equal third part of said lans and rights.
And I also order bequeath to my beloved son Thomas Bowlby one equalthi rd of said lands and rights and I also will and order that theother th ird part be equally divided between my two grandsons John andJames Bow lby Suns of my beloved Sun John Bowlby and I also bequeathunto my neph ew Edward Bowlby son of my brother Jordan Bowlby the sumof five shilli ngs;
Also I constitute my beloved wife Mary Bowlby my Executrix and I alsoc onstitute and appoint my trusty and well beloved friend JosephLaning m y Executor of this my last will and testament herby revokingand annull ing all wills by me heretofor made ratify and confirmingthis and no ot her to be my last will and testamen herof I have set myhand and seal t his 7th day of December in the Year of Our Lord 1779.
(Signed) John Bowlby
Signed, Sealed, and Delivered,
By the Hand of John Bowlby,
In the Presence of us.
Edward Laning
Isaac Laning
Altiye? Laning
He died between 7 Dec 1779 and 31 Dec 1782 in Imlaydale, Mansfield,Woo dhouse Twp., Sussex Co., NJ.
