J. Hartley
Bowen

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 1901 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 and 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.

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.

CAMDEN COURIER-POST - FEBRUARY 7, 1928