Introduction
JOSEPH HARTLEY BOWEN was born in Port Elizabeth NJ on January 3, 1885. He was educated in the public schools of Glassboro NJ, his father being an educator there himself. After leaving school he took a job with the Camden National Bank in 1901 as a messenger. He eventually worked his way up to the paying teller’s desk. On November 3, 1909 he married, and at the time of the 1910 Census, was living in Collingswood NJ with his wife Florence. A son, J. Hartley Bowen Jr. was born in 1914.
J. Hartley Bowen left the Camden National Bank on July 1, 1917 to join the new Parkside Trust Company. On January 12, 1918 he was named secretary of the new bank, and soon afterwards the duties of treasurer were added to his work.
When the 1920 Census was enumerated, J. Hartley Bowen, his wife Florence and son J. Hartley Jr. were living at 300 South 5th Street, the corner of 5th and Stevens Streets, in Camden.
J. Hartley Bowen played a role in the fundraising drive that culminated in the building of the Walt Whitman Hotel at Broadway and Cooper streets in 1925. By 1930 he had moved to 307 Seventh Avenue in Haddon Heights NJ.
J. Hartley Bowen was engaged in the real estate business in Camden for many years, with offices at 431 Market Street. In the late 1940s he was still living in Haddon Heights, where he was serving as the president of the Borough Council. He was still living and working at the Haddon Heights and Camden addresses as late as the fall of 1959.
J. Hartley Bowen passed away in 1960. When the 1970 New Jersey Telephone Directory was compiled, his widow, Florence Bowen, still resided at 307 Seventh Avenue at the time. She died in 1971.
J. Hartley Bowen’s brother, Orlando Bowen, was also a well known figure in Camden banking and real estate circles. The brothers were president and secretary, respectively, of the Community Building & Loan Association in the 1920s.
South Jersey: A History 1624–1924
J. HARTLEY BOWEN—Filling various positions of trust, socially popular and prominent in fraternal circles, J. Hartley Bowen, of Camden, New Jersey, is a significant personality in his community. He was born in Port Elizabeth, New Jersey, January 3, 1885. He was educated in the public schools of Glassboro, New Jersey, and leaving school entered the Camden National Bank in 1901 as a messenger, and worked his way up to the paying teller’s desk. He left that institution July 1, 1917 to assist in the organization of the New Parkside Trust Company. On January 12, 1918 he was officially made secretary of this institution, and the duties of treasurer were added to his work. Mr. Bowen is very prominent in monetary enterprises, also being secretary of the Friendship Building and Loan Association, secretary of the American Building and Loan Association, treasurer of the Civic Building and Loan Association, president of the Community Building and Loan Association, and a director in the Northern Building and Loan Association.
Mr. Bowen has been highly honored by his fellow-citizens of Camden, having held the position of councilman from 1915 to 1923. In fraternal association he is a member of Camden Lodge, No. 293, of Elks; a member of Ionic Lodge, No. 94, Free and Accepted Masons, as well as of Excelsior Consistory, Crescent Temple, Tall Cedars of Lebanon, of which he is Past Grand Tall Cedar. His clubs are the Camden Club and the Rotary Club. Mr. Bowen and his family are members of the First Methodist Church, of which he has been trustee and is now chairman of the property committee.
He married, November 3, 1909, at Camden, Florence Kirkbride, who was born in that city. Her father, Josiah R. Kirkbride, is living at the age of eighty-three, and her mother is also living. Mr. and Mrs. Bowen have one child, J. Hartley Bowen, Jr., who was born December 26, 1914. Mr. Bowen’s father, Frank W. Bowen, is deceased, having died in 1914. He was an educator, having taught school for many years, and at the time of his death was principal of schools in Glassboro, New Jersey, and was the New Jersey representative of the D.C. Heath and Company, school book publishers. He was a member of Glassboro Lodge, No. 85, Free and Accepted Masons.
B. & L. Makes Offer to End Foreclosure
Camden Courier-Post —
Wins Court Verdict But Agrees to Hold Mortgage if Costs Are Paid
Although the Community Building & Loan Association has won its legal battle to foreclose a mortgage it holds on the home of A. Edward Friedberg, 1126 Princess avenue, the latter may retain possession if he pays the cost of the legal proceedings.
Vice-Chancellor Leaming advised a decree against Friedberg when the building and loan association officers testified that the home owner had broken his agreement by persistently refusing to show his tax receipts for 1926.
According to J. Hartley Bowen, president of the association and his brother, Orlando Bowen, secretary, they loaned $3,000 on mortgage to Friedberg in 1922. The officers testified that Friedberg was not only to make regular payments, but agreed to show his tax receipts every December 31.
Despite the agreement, Friedberg did not show his receipts for 1926 taxes, the officers said. He refused to produce the receipts after they threatened him with foreclosure, they testified, and even after the proceedings were started.
Friedberg testified that he had lost his receipt and told the secretary. He didn’t think the showing of a duplicate was necessary, he said, but he obtained one. He said the first he knew foreclosure proceedings had been started, was when Orlando Bowen refused to take a check for his building and loan dues.
The home owner also declared he had $12,000 in bank and offered to pay off the entire mortgage. His offer was refused, he said, unless he would also pay the costs of the proceedings.
The court mildly rebuked the litigants.
“This is much ado about nothing,” the vice chancellor stated. “as the real root of this trouble is not the disposition of the house and mortgage, but the payment of about $30 costs. In order to uphold the dignity of the Chancery court, it was determined in the early English days that no case under 30 pounds, or $150, should be heard. Perhaps the dignity of the court has shrunk.”
“The mortgage agreement is so plain that no one could be mistaken about its terms. I can do nothing else but advise a decree of foreclosure.”
Orlando Bowen further revealed that the association will not foreclose if Friedberg will pay the costs of the search, filing of the proceedings and the trial.
Judge Boyle Rites Held After 600 Pay Tribute
Camden Courier-Post —
Nearly 600 persons including jurists, lawyers and business associates paid their respects Tuesday night at the bier of former Common Pleas Judge William T. Boyle.
The viewing was held in a funeral home at Kings Highway and Haddon avenue, Haddonfield.
Requiem high Mass was sung today in Christ the King Church, Haddonfield. Burial was in Calvary cemetery.
Judge Boyle, one of the most revered members of the bar in this state, was a member of the City Lyceum and a member of the Notre Dame Society. He had been a patient 13 weeks. He was 79. He resided at 45 Linden avenue, Haddonfield.
Admitted to the bar in 1894, he was appointed Camden county prosecutor in 1912. A year later, he was named to the common pleas court where he served until 1917. He was a director of the First Camden National Bank & Trust Co.
Headed Bar 10 Years
President of the Camden county Bar Association for 10 years, Judge Boyle was president of the Bar Association in 1932 and 1933; he was an official of the American Bar Association for six years and a member of the American Law Institute.
A Rotarian and life member of the Knights of Columbus, Judge Boyle served as president of the Catholic Lyceum and was a member of the Holy Name Society. Judge Boyle had been a member of Christ the King Church since its organization.
In 1947, Judge Boyle was made a Knight of St. Gregory by Pope Pius XII in recognition of service to his community and the Catholic Church.
Members of Christ the King Church Holy Name Society participated in services for Judge Boyle at the viewing with the Rt. Rev. Msgr. Joseph B. McIntyre, pastor, officiating.
The Camden County Bar Association adjourned its meeting Tuesday night so members could attend the viewing. Also present were members of Camden Council Knights of Columbus and of the Camden Rotary club.
Judges at Viewing
Among those attending the viewing were Supreme Court Justice Albert E. Burling, Superior Court Judge Elmer F. Woods, Superior Court Judge Ralph W. E. Donges, retired; County Judge Bartholomew J. Sheehan, and District Judge Edward J. Martino, county bar association president.
Also Edward J. Currie, state bar association vice president; Mayor Donald Connolly, of Trenton; Dr. Emma Dillon, state bar association secretary; William C. Gotshalk, assistant prosecutor; Prosecutor Cohen, Assistant Prosecutor Asbell, Ralph W. Wescott, Frederick A. Reeder, F. Morse Archer Jr. and Frederick Greiner, law partners of Judge Boyle.
Also Gene R. Mariano, former prosecutor; John J. Crean, city solicitor; Miss Maude Lawrinson, assistant trust officer of First Camden National Bank & Trust Co.; J. Hartley Bowen, Haddon Heights; Eugene Verga, administrator; Emmons G. Elizey, real estate broker; William B. Macdonald, former court stenographer; Sylvan Fletcher, Camden Trust Co.; Isadore Herman, assistant city solicitor.
Also Fred Albert, court stenographer; Howard C. Wickes Sr., Camden industrialist; Herbert Richardson, former chancery court sergeant at arms; Dr. Everett H. Hemphill, of Haddonfield, Robert Y. Garrett Jr., Haddonfield school board president; William Lipkin, federal referee in Bar.
Bar Group Present
Bar Association members and attorneys attending included: John H. Reiners Jr., J. Claude Simon, J. Norman Brierley, Carl Geiman, Carl Geiges, Frank M. Travaine, Vincent L. Gallaher, Lawrence White, Henry Stockwell and Grover C. Richman Sr., Byron Seabrook, William Zink, Robert Deighan Jr., S. Robert Teitelman, Bryan B. McKernan, William F. Hyland Jr., Donald Wolverton and Joseph Lipkin.
Also present were members of the Bishop Bayley Building & Loan Association of Camden.
Judge Boyle is survived by a daughter, Mrs. Mary B. Armstrong, Haddonfield; three sisters, Mrs. Morris Hertz and Mrs. J. Goldman, both of Camden, and Mrs. B. F. Gillespie, Atlantic City; a brother, Frank Camden; and three grandchildren, Judge Boyle’s wife, Emma W. Boyle, died in April 1950.