Martha Jane Trowbridge
Born: 1839 or Dec. 17, 1842, New Providence, New Jersey
Died: Aug. 23, 1905, Warren Co., New Jersey
Buried: Belvidere New Cemetery, Belvidere, Warren Co., New Jersey
Note: Listed in the 1880 census living in nearby Knowlton, Warren Co., New Jersey as a servant for the Quick family, and 1870 in Newark as ahousekeeper.
Occupation: House Keeper

Joanna Trowbridge
Born: 1841, New Providence, Union Co., New Jersey
Died: still living, 1850, New Providence, Union Co., New Jersey
Notes: Listed in the 1850 census living with the John Stites family with her sister in New Providence, Union Co., New Jersey.

(Augustine & Mary W. Trowbridge)

Elizabeth "Lizzie" E. Trowbridge
Born: 1859 or 1860, New Providence, Union Co., New Jersey
Died: still living, 1870, New Providence, Union Co., New Jersey
Notes: Listed in 1880 census in Chatham, Morris Co., New Jersey, as a cook working for the Thornton household.

 

AUGUSTINE TROWBRIDGE

According to Francis Bacon Trowbridge in "The Trowbridge Genealogy", Augustine Trowbridge was a cattle dealer who lived in New Providence, New Jersey. One day he Left home with a large amount of money to purchase stock, and was never seen again. He was presumed the victim of foul play, perhaps robbed and killed by bandits. Augustines Wife Phebe came from a prominent New Providence family, the Parrots. Upon review of Census records from 1850 through 1870; it would appear that Francis Bacon Trowbridge Had incomplete information regarding the fate of Augustine Trowbridge, as he appears very much alive. He may have ran out on Phebe, although the Trowbridge's certainly knew where he was, as well as his in-laws, because in the 1850 census he was caring for his elderly mother, Jane Lewis, and possibly mentally challenged sister Ruth in New Providence, living near a member of the Parrot family, not exactly keeping a low profile, if indeed he did abandon his family. At the same time, Augustine was caring for his mother and sister; his two daughters by Phebe were living with the John Stites family, who also lived in New Providence. And from the census information, Augustine does not seem to have had anything to do with his two daughters. Twenty years later, in the 1870 census, Augustine is stillliving in New Providence as a farmer/laborer named "Augustus", remarried to 47 year old Mary A. Trowbridge (maiden name unknown), with 10 year old daughter Elizabeth. Augustine must have died sometime during the 1870s, because he does not show up anywhere in the 1880 United States Census.

By 1850, Augustine & Phebe's two daughters, Martha Jane and Joanna, do not live with their grandfather, Joseph Parrot, who certainly was young enough (50 years old), and the means to take care of the girls. Joseph Parrot and his second wife, Abigail Jones, appear in the 1850, 1860, and 1870 census still living in the same farm in New Providence. It is unknown what happened to the girls until 1870, where Martha Jane reappears in the census as a housekeeper working in Newark with a widow Mrs. Samuel Clark, and again ten years later in Knowlton, Warren Co., working as a servant for the Quick family. She died in Warren County around 1905, apparently having never married. It is unknown what happened to her sister, Joanna, because she seems to disappear after 1850,although it is possible she may have married. So what was thought to have been a murder mystery for several decades, at least since the publication of the "Trowbridge Genealogy" in 1909 could have been a simple case of abandonment, but also simply been a time that Augustine was not caring for his daughters. Francis Bacon Trowbridge's source of information could've been Martha Jane or her sister, it is possible that this could have been the story that was told to them, if it was the Stites, the Parrots or whoever else may have raised them.

Home