NINTH GENERATION

239. Joseph BOWLBY ^{(3)(816) (6)(7) (8)} was born on 13 Mar 1782 in Beth. Twsp. N.J..⁽¹⁵⁴⁸⁾ He died on 22 Oct 1846 in Indiana.⁽¹⁵⁴⁹⁾ Joseph's father bought and inherited a large tract of land that included part of Junction Village, now Hampton, and it was there that Joseph married, raised his family, and farmed over a period of 62 years.

Records show that Joseph Bowlby of New Hampton, Hunterdon County, was enlisted as a private in Captain Samuel W. Fell's company of light infantry, 3rd Regiment, New Jersey Militia, 9 September, 1814, and discharged 5 December, 1814.

The record of Joseph's marriage to MARY BONNELL was misplaced until the following entry was found in Marriage Records of Hunterdon County New Jersey compiled by Hiram E. Deats: "Bolsby, Joseph and Mary Bonnel, Feb. 24, 1814, 2-24 (Hunt)." The original marriage document made by Hunt notes: "...Mary Bonnel, daughter of Clement Bonnel..." There can be no doubt of the misspelling of both last names when the record is compared with the following in the will of Clement Bonnell, Bethlehem Township, Hunterdon County, New Jersey, 1 April, 1834, proved 4 February, 1836: "I give and bequeath to my Daughter Mary wife of Joseph Bowlby her heirs and assigns the sum of two thousand five Hundred Dollars..."

It was not until 1844, when Joseph was in his sixties, that he and his family left New Jersey, and moved to Richland Township, Rush County, Indiana. Rush County Probate Court records that Joseph purchased 120 acres of land for $1,950 on 12 July, 1844, and that he then purchased another 160 acres for $3,000 on 2 May, 1845.

Probate records show that it took almost three years to settle Joseph's estate. Mary surrendered administration to her oldest son, Dennis. The five eldest children entered a Plea of Partition of their father's land which named the two youngest children, who were minors,
as defendants. In the final settlement, the land was divided into seven portions and given to the seven surviving children.

He was married to Mary BONNELL on 24 Feb 1814 in Hunterdon County, New Jersey by Rev. Hunt.⁽¹⁵⁵⁰⁾ Mary BONNELL^{(3) (816)(6) (7)(8)} was born on 7 Oct 1788 in Old Bonnell Tavern Clinton, N.J..⁽¹⁵⁵¹⁾ She was buried in Feb 1852 in Richland Cem., Rush Co., IN. She died on 6 Feb 1852.⁽¹⁵⁵²⁾ Mary was the daughter of Clement Du Mont and Rachel Stockton, (Woolverton) Bonnell. Her grandfather, Abraham Bonnell, was a member of the Sons of Liberty, and proprietor of the tavern where they first met; he served as a lieutenant colonel during the American Revolution. Mary's father lived in his father's tavern where be became a judge and member of the town council. He served in the militia in 1792 with Joseph's father, Thomas Bowlby, and was then from Bethlehem Township.

Mary Bonnell's ancestry is delineated by three genealogies appearing in Virkus' Compendium of American Genealogy. Her mother's line descended from Captain Francis Drake (1615 - 1687/8) an early settler at Strawberry Bank, New Hampshire, through Mary Drake who married Charles Woolverton in 1763. The Woolverton family descended from Judge Charles Woolverton, a Quaker from England who became the first judge in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, in 1721. The Bonnell family descended from William Bonnell (1617 - 1669) who came from Cheshire, England, in the James in 1630 then moved to New Haven, Connecticut, in 1738. William Bonnell's son, Nathaniel, built what is today the historic Bonnell home in Elizabeth, New Jersey; he was Mary's great-great-great grandfather.

With the support of her children, Mary survived eight years in her new home in Indiana. She was living with her son Dennis during the 1850 census, but she died 6 February, 1852, aged 64 years and four months. There are five Bowlby graves in Richland Cemetery, Richland Township, Rush County, Indiana, representing Joseph, Mary, their daughter Sarah, and two grandchildren by their son Dennis. The last name on four of the gravestones is spelled "Bowlby," and though Mary's stone rests next to that of her husband's, the inscription reads: "Mary, Wife of Joseph Bolby." Early Rush County records were destroyed by fire, so the gravestones, the probate records, and the 1850 census in which the name is spelled "Bolba" are all that remain as evidence of their family's life there.
Joseph BOWLBY and Mary BONNELL had the following children:

+565 i. Rachel BOWLBY.
+566 ii. Olivia BOWLBY.
567 iii. Sarah BOWLBY^{(3) (816)(6) (7)(8)} was born on 5 Nov 1818 in Hunterdon County, New Jersey.⁽¹⁵⁵³⁾ She died on 20 Aug 1845 in Rush County, Indiana. ⁽¹⁵⁵⁴⁾
+568 iv. Dennis W. BOWLBY.
+569 v. Abner Parke BOWLBY.
+570 vi. Elizabeth Carhart BOWLBY.
571 vii. Mary C. BOWLBY^{(3) (816)(6) (7)(8)} was born on 1 Dec 1827 in Hunterdon County, New Jersey.⁽¹⁵⁵⁵⁾ She died on 4 Dec 1827 in Hunterdon County, New Jersey. ⁽¹⁵⁵⁶⁾
+572 viii. William BOWLBY.
+573 ix. Lydia BOWLBY.