From: Pati Date: Tue, 31 Aug 2004 14:00:01 EDT Here's another email that I've received from another Bowlby cousin Melva..... Hi, Pati, So glad you came through the storm intact. Do you have access to Pioneer Families of Northwestern New Jersey by William Armstrong? There is no documentation of his sources but his information has generally been found to be pretty reliable. There was a Sarah Lake shown as a daughter of Thomas Lake Sr. of Amwell (he died in 1765) and his wife Jane. I suspect that she was the wife of Abraham Bowlby, son of Richard and Mary Drake Bowlby. Sarah had a brother, Thomas Lake Jr., whose wife's first name was Eleanor. His will, written in 1787, was witnessed by Richard Lacey, Joseph Lanning and Thomas Bowlby. (Richard Lacey was married to one of Samuel Bowlby (8)'s daughters; his brother married one of her sisters). One of the sons of Thomas Lake Jr. was Abraham Lake (will dated 1796; his wife was Elizabeth) of Bethlehem Twp., Hunterdon Co.. Abraham had a son Richard who married Elizabeth Lanning, a daughter of Joseph Lanning, as shown in the will of Joseph Lanning who died in 1814. You probably already have this but if not, thought it might add a little understanding of the intertwining among these families. It seems strange that the Bowlby's would have wanted to add to their holdings when they were trying to get rid of land that they had to pay taxes on with little income being derived from them. Melva C. I just received this reply from one of our many Canadian Bowlby cousins in reply to your query....... it is from Fred Potter. If you have any more questions for Fred please let me know. I hope that this helps you some. Hi Pati, Yes, several of us cousins in the Canadian Branch are aware of Abraham and Sarah and we can confirm that he was the son of Richard and Mary (Drake) Bowlby, although Calnek calls him a 'brother'. There was a handwritten correction by Newbold Woolston (Richard's son-in-law) copied by a W.A. Reeves, Esq. of Clinton, NJ. listing the eleven children of Richard and Mary. Abraham is listed as the third child, (eldest son) followed by Mary 1754-1834, (Mrs. Newbold Woolston) There is much speculation that James Bowlby 1779-1862, was the son of Abraham and Sarah, although he was acknowledged as a Grandson of Richard, and raised by Newbold and Mary Woolston. Of course he could have been the illegitimate son of one of the older sisters, or the son of George or Richard Jr. who were teen aged in 1779. Personally, I would think Abraham and Sara are the most likely candidates in 1779, Loyalists, driven out of NJ with an infant, and heading for New York city to be taken away by the Royal Navy to some as yet unknown place, leave the baby safely with his aunt, whose husband was NOT a Loyalist. I wish we could find out more, and Ewart Bowlby and I have been following any new clues but so far that is about as far as we can go. Have fun with this, Fred. From: Pati Date: Sun, 29 Aug 2004 23:03:13 EDT 162. Abraham BOWLBY (368)(965) (5)(6) (7)(8) was born in 1755 in Mansfield, Warren County, New Jersey. (966) He resided in Shelburne, Nova Scotia. (368) The name is now extinct in Shelburn. Abraham was sent to Philadelphia by his father, probably for the purpose of education. It is probably there that he joined the rebels and served in the American militia against the will of his father. He later, in December of 1776, joined the British at Pennytown with his father. Abraham was in Nova Scotia when he signed a certificate of loyalty for Christopher Harrison on 9 Jan 1784, and his name is listed for 100 acres of land on the Digby grant of 29 January 1801. He was married to Sara LAKE on 28 Feb 1779 in United Brethern Congregation, Staten Island, New York. (967)(968) (969) The NEW YORK GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD, Volume xxxix, 1908, page 106 records this marriage. From: "Fred Potter" Date: Mon, 13 Sep 2004 20:33:28 -0400 The problem of course is that we really have very little actual data on Abraham and Sarah, His birthdate about 1755, a year after his sister Mary, no death date. Sarah has no dates at all. Their marriage 28 Feb 1779, United Brethern congregation on Staten Island, NY. and James b. 2 or 21 March 1779, Ewart Bowlby writes that Abraham went against his father's will and joined the local militia unit, but did not stay long, as he was with his father when he joined the British at Pennington. Richard and his family were forced off his property in December 1776. His property, both real and personal, were confiscated by the state 20 June 1778, and finally sold at public auction 22 March 1779. It is likely that the family resided in NYC. from Dec 1776, until May/June 1783, and were probably evacuated to NS. aboard the transport ship "Mars". Details of family are scarce but it is known that they resided in Annapolis County, NS. 22 Dec 1783. Richard received a grant of 400 acres in Digby Twp. which was then part of Annapolis county (Digby County was formed later) in Feb 1784. At the same time, Abraham was granted 100 acres in the same Twp. It is not known if Abraham ever set foot on the property, however he is said to have gone to Shelburne, NS. and had not been heard from since. And that is about all we know about Abraham, Sarah, and James. What happened to Sarah, was James their son, or was he a late-in-life child of Richard and Mary? Who were Sarah's parents? did Sarah go to NS. with Abraham? So many questions and so many speculations can be made. If you have any ideas or any additional data, I'd be happy to hear about them and share them with Ewart as we have been working together on this.