Sketch LXXIV

The Old Woodhouse Squire Who Kissed the Bride

Thomas Bowlby was one of the pioneer magistrates of Woodhouse. Before the Rev. Francis Evans came to Woodhouse, Squire Bowlby was frequently called upon to tie conjugal knots, and the knots tied by him were, no doubt, as securely tied and as productive of connubial bliss as the ones tied nowadays by the more dignified spiritual advisers of the people. Many leading Norfolk citizens of by-gone generations were launched on the sea of matrimony by Squire Bowlby. On one occasion a young German and his buxom sweetheart came to the Squire’s to be made husband and wife. The blushing bride was very plump and pretty, and when the little formality was gone through with, the Squire could not resist the temptation of planting the first kiss on her rosy lips. The “smack” that resounded through the room made poor Hans grind his teeth, and clinch his fists. Any Dutchman placed in like circumstances, who could witness such a scene without entering a vigorous protest, wouldn’t be a Dutchman.

“Py shimminy! Meester, vot for you do dot?” yelled Hans, as he beat the air in a paroxysm of rage.

“Why, my dear fellow,” exclaimed the Squire, smacking his lips so as not to lose any of the stolen nectar, “it is customary for the official performing the marriage ceremony to take precedence in saluting the bride.” But Hans was in no mood for being pacified by an explanation he did not understand, and while the Squire tried to explain the situation, the irate husband made a hasty preparation to leave. Placing Barbara between himself and the open door, he faced the Squire and, gesticulating wildly with both hands, gave that officer of the peace the following farewell salute:

“Ef you was not bigger ash I, Meester Squire, I vood knock you mit mine fisht down. You vos no shentlamens. You got no pishness mit kissing dot Barbara, und I git eben mit you fur dot pishness. Py shimminy! You git from your ped oud von mornings und your parns und dot udder pildings you vill not see. You old fools, I get eben mit you fur dot pishness, und I not pay you von t—m cent fur dot marrish pishness.”

During this outburst of pent up wrath, Barbara tugged away at his coat tails, but Hans was determined on giving the Squire a piece of his mind, and he gave it. But the Squire did not grieve over the loss of his fee—the delicious flavor of that kiss was ample satisfaction for his magisterial services. Years afterwards, while in the western part of the county, he met the man who had threatened to “git eben mit him,” and Hans took a handful of silver from his pocket and wanted to pay Mr. Bowlby any sum he chose to name for marrying him. He also begged pardon for threatening to burn his barns. “Ash to don kish,” said the now middle-aged man of matured sense, “I wood do de same thing mineself now, ef I got a goot shance.”

The old Government deed for the Bowlby grant of 400 acres in the 1st and 2nd concessions of Woodhouse has been preserved with its massive pendent seal, and is in possession of Mr. Bradford Bowlby, present occupant, in part, of the old homestead. It was approved and signed by Peter Russell, October 24th, 1798. It was a grant made in consideration of certain settling duties to be performed by the grantee. It is said by members of the family that it was a U.E. Loyalist grant. If this be correct, Thomas Bowlby must have been the son of a U.E. Loyalist, as he was but a young child during the war of the Revolution.[1] It is claimed by some that the American grand-ancestor of the family settled in Nova Scotia, and that Thomas, while a mere lad, was put on board an English vessel for the improvement of his health, and that the vessel was captured by a French war ship, and that subsequently he was landed at a New Jersey port.[2] It is claimed further, that Thomas fell in with a New Jersey planter named Axford with whom he lived for a time; that he wooed and won the affections of the planter’s ninth daughter, and married her, and that after their eldest child was born, in 1796, they came to Canada, and settled in Woodhouse. If this tradition be true, it leaves the connection between Thomas Bowlby and the U.E. Loyalists in the dark. A U.E. Loyalist was a subject of Great Britain who lived in one of the thirteen colonies, and who remained loyal to the Crown when the colonies threw off their allegiance in 1776. If it was Thomas Bowlby, of Woodhouse, who was on the vessel captured by a French man-of-war, he must have been a mere child, as the event must have occurred previous to the treaty of peace, in 1783, and even at this date Thomas Bowlby could not have been more than thirteen years old. It is said that Adam Bowlby, of Waterford, a nephew of Thomas Bowlby, also came from New Jersey. In view of the above alleged fact, and also the U.E. Loyalist claim, it would seem that a part of the story, at least, must relate to the father of Thomas Bowlby. These old family traditions have lost many material connecting links since the old arm-chairs became vacant, and in the absence of positive documentary evidence we must make a wide allowance for them.

It is said that Mr. Axford—Thomas Bowlby’s father-in-law—was wealthy, and kept a number of colored servants, or slaves, as they were virtually at that time, and that he presented Mrs. Bowlby with one named Dinah. They brought this slave to Long Point with them, and it is said she was the first one of her race that came into the county. Before they left New Jersey, Dinah was as much the lawful property of Mrs. Bowlby as was the horses, and the cow that her father gave her, but if she came into Long Point settlement as such, she must have been smuggled in, for three years previous to this the new Legislature passed a law prohibiting the bringing in of any more slaves, and providing for the final extinction of slavery in the Province. In after years Dinah wanted to marry, and there being no one of her own color here she went to New Jersey, and married. After her husband’s death she returned to her old place with Mr. Bowlby’s family, and subsequently married a white man, who kept a tavern somewhere in the western part of the county. After her second marriage she used to say that her first husband was much the better man. Dinah was an expert cook and a neat housekeeper, and it is said the sight of a hair in the butter would completely destroy her appetite for two weeks.

It is said that Mr. Axford gave his daughter a considerable sum of money for investment in the new country, and a housekeeping outfit that was considered elaborate at that time, yet a like outfit would not be accepted as a gift in our day, by any girl in quite moderate circumstances. A wagon load of household goods drawn by a span of horses; a cow tied to the rear end of the wagon; a young man occupying the driver’s seat; a young woman with a babe in her arms, and a colored female servant ensconced in a nicely arranged alcove—this was the pioneer Bowlby outfit that came to a halt where the old Bowlby homestead is located, in the second concession of Woodhouse. It is said the pioneer log-cabin was erected in 1797, just a hundred years ago. The cow—a present from Mrs. Bowlby’s father—furnished the little party with milk and butter during the long, tedious journey. As in all similar cases, the jolting of the wagon churned the milk into butter, giving them a fresh supply each day. But the poor cow trudged that 500 miles only to meet a horrible death in the Canadian forest. She browsed in the woods, and generally came home at night; but one night she failed to put in an appearance, and the family supposed she had wandered away. After searching for her several days her dead body was found in the woods. Her tail had caught fast to the branch of a tree, and the poor brute had slowly died with thirst and starvation.[3]

Thomas Bowlby married Sarah Axford, daughter of a wealthy planter in New Jersey.[4] He had six sons—Axford, Richard, Thomas, Woolster, John Alexander and Abraham; and one daughter, Martha Ann. The eldest was born in New Jersey, and the others in Woodhouse.

Axford Bowlby, eldest son of Thomas, was born in 1794. He married Hannah, daughter of Philip Beemer, and settled near Port Dover. He succeeded John Decew in the first Talbot District Council. He had two sons—Lewis and Hiram; and two daughters—Sarah Ann and Helen.[5]

Richard Bowlby, the second son, died young.

Thomas Bowlby, third son of Thomas, was born in 1801, married Harriet Lymburner, and settled near the old home. He left one daughter, Sarah.

Woolster Bowlby, the fourth son, died young, as did also Abraham, the youngest son.

John Alexander Bowlby, fifth son of Thomas, was born in 1808, and died in 1881, in his 74th year. He married Rachel Ann Birdsall, and succeeded to the old homestead. He had three sons—Alexander, Thomas and Bradford; and six daughters—Sarah, Martha Ann, Francis Almena, Annie Maria, Emma and Phoebe. Bradford succeeded to, and at present occupies, the old homestead.

Martha Ann Bowlby, only daughter of the old pioneer, was born in 1803, married Andrew Dobbie, and settled in Bayham. She had two sons—Thomas and Andrew.

Squire Bowlby, the pioneer head of this family, was one of Norfolk’s pioneer Freemasons. He was the means of saving the little Russell mill at Vittoria during McArthur’s raid in the war of 1812, as described in sketch “Pioneer Freemasonry.”

In the early years of the settlement the nightly depredations of the wolves occasioned much loss and annoyance to the settlers. Tight pens built of logs had to be provided for the herding of sheep during the night time, and, in spite of the utmost diligence, an occasional wolf would steal into the fold. One morning the Squire found a wolf in his sheep pen, and shot at it, but failed to kill it. In its efforts to escape, its tail accidentally whisked through a crack between the logs, and quick as a flash the Squire caught hold of it and called for his wife. When Mrs. Bowlby arrived on the scene she seized the caudal appendage with a death grip, and clung to it, while the Squire went inside and despatched the sheep thief with a murderous club.

Some time during the first quarter of the present century, Adam Bowlby, a nephew of Thomas Bowlby, came to Canada from New Jersey. He was a poor boy, and lived with his uncle for a number of years. He married Elizabeth Sovereign, of Waterford, and settled at that place. He had five sons—Dr. Alfred, Dr. David, Ward, John the lawyer, and William; and one daughter, Arsula. This family distinguished themselves with a good education.

[1] Thomas Bowlby was indeed young during the American Revolution. His gravestone in Doan’s Hollow Cemetery shows that he died on 16 Feb 1848 aged 82 years old which would make him born about 1766 and just nine years old at the start of the war. By the end, in 1783, he was aged about seventeen years old and apparently saw youthful service. Thomas filed an Upper Canada Land petition dated June 20, 1796 stating that he was a volunteer in Captain Thomas’ Company during the American Revolution. He was given the recommendation of the Executive Council for a land grant in Lot 4, Concessions 1 and 2, Woodhouse Township (Upper Canada Land Petition “B” Bundle 2, Document Number 34). All of Thomas’ surviving children applied for, and were given land grants as the children of a United Empire Loyalist.

[2] Morley Thomas in The Families of the Five Stakes gives a better account of the Bowlby family in colonial America: “Before the American Revolution there were many Bowlby families in or near Sussex County, New Jersey and John was a common first name. For taking the Loyalist side in the war, several Bowlbys had their lands seized. They joined the Loyalist armies in 1777 and, in 1783, after the war, were transported with their families from Long Island to Nova Scotia and granted lands. In Nova Scotia archival documents and in Loyalist histories there are several references to Bowlby land grants and to their claims for property confiscated in New Jersey.”

[3] Thomas Bowlby arrived in Norfolk County by June 20, 1796 when he filed a Land Petition stating that he was “one of Mr. Francis’ settlers”. He was recommended by the Executive Council for 400 acres of land on the west side of Patterson’s Creek in Woodhouse Township (Upper Canada Land Petition “B” Bundle 2, Doc. No. 34. Bowlby’s patent for Lot 4, Concession 2 was dated October 24, 1798 and recorded in the Abstracts of Deeds Register of Woodhouse Township.

[4] The background of Sarah (Axford) Bowlby is included in William C. Armstrong, “The Pioneer Families of Northwestern New Jersey” published in Hackettstown Gazette; and in William C. Armstrong The Axfords of Oxford, NJ (p.p. Blairstown, NJ: 1931). Sarah was born at Oxford Twp., Sussex Co., New Jersey in 1780 to John and Abigail (Hunt) Axford.

[5]Axford Bowlby had an additional daughter, Marilla Bowlby, born c. 1832 who married on 12 Dec 1850 to William Henry Ryerse, their marriage recorded in the Talbot District Marriage Register.