Chapter 2 - Municipal History | Camden County, NJGenWeb

Incorporation - Supplements to Charter - New Charter - The First City Hall - The New City Hall - Civil List - Water Department - Fire Department.

INCORPORATION.- Camden was incorporated as a city under a charter granted by the General Assembly February 14, 1828, the bounds being thus described:
"That such parts of the Township of Newton as are contained within the following limits: beginning at the Pennsylvania line, in the river Delaware, opposite the mouth of a small run of water below Kaighnton, which run is the line between lands late of Isaac Mickle, deceased, and Joseph Kaighn, and running thence east to the mouth of said run, and thence up the same, the several courses thereof, crossing the public road leading to Woodbury from the Camden Academy; thence northerly along the east side of said road, to the road leading from Kaighnton to Coopers Creek Bridge; thence along the eastwardly side of said last-mentioned road, and the southwardly side of the causeway and bridge to the middle of Coopers Creek; thence down the middle thereof to the river Delaware; thence due north to the middle of the channel between Pettys Island and the Jersey fast land, or shore; thence down said channel and river to the nearest point on the line established between the States of Pennsylvania and New Jersey; thence down said line to the place of beginning, shall, and the same are hereby erected into a City, which shall henceforth be called and known by the name of Camden."

These bounds above described contained three and nine-tenths square miles, or two thousand four hundred and ninety-six acres, of fast land, and a population of eleven hundred and forty-three, separated into five groups or villages, each with one or more appellation applied to it. Coopers Point was known as "William Cooper’s Ferry," Kaighns Point as "Kaighnton." "Pinchtown" was the term applied to Edward Sharp’s settlement, on the river-shore, south of Federal Street. "Dogwoodtown" was the term applied to a cluster of houses near Isaac Vansciver’s carriage factory, at Tenth Street and Federal, the name coming from the fact that many dogwood trees grew in the large grove in that locality. Camden was the title of that portion of the present city lying between the river and Sixth Street and between Cooper Street and a line between Market Street and Arch. This last was the most considerable and contained a population greater than all the others combined. Outside these villages all was farm land and woodland. Extending from the mouth of Coopers Creek in a southwest direction to Fourth Street and Line, was a fine grove of oaks and pines, many of them of large size. The remains of this grove are yet to be seen at the "Diamond Cottage." It was a mile from Kaighnton to Pinchtown, and in summer corn-fields covered the interval. With such rural belongings there seemed little in the conditions surrounding these eleven hundred and forty-three people demanding municipal government, more than had existed during the one hundred and forty-six years that had elapsed since William Cooper’s first talk with Arasapha at Coopers Point, in 1682, soon alter settling there on his arrival from Burlington. Nor, indeed, was it for the purpose of laying out and improving the roads through the fields, orchards and forests covering most of the surface within the limits of the city that a charter was desirable. The township committee could mend and make roads as well and as cheaply as a committee of the City Council; and the township government was not superseded by the charter. Yet it was because of these very conditions that a city government became a necessity. The woods and orchards lured multitudes of Philadelphians to these shores in search of shade, air and recreation, and the police force of a township afforded little restraint upon those inclined to turbulence, and there were many such. Besides the Vauxhall Garden and the Columbia Garden, every ferry had its pleasure garden, the profits of which arose largely from the sale of apple brandy and other intoxicants, which caused frolics and disturbances, and life and property became insecure. It was to suppress these troubles that led to the incorporation, with the belief that the police protection provided by a city government would accomplish the object desired. John Lawrence, Richard Fetters, John K. Cowperthwaite and other large property-owners interested in the rule of order and quiet, sought for and, in defiance of strenuous opposition on the part of ferry-masters, succeeded in procuring a charter providing for the election of a mayor and other officials to restrain and arrest, and a Court of Quarter Seasions to convict and punish the unruly within the city’s bounds. It was a police government, little else was sought after, and that was secured. The Quarter Sessions Court under the city charter did very effective work; but a certain authority says "It took thirty years before turbulence in Camden succumbed to the authority of the law."

The provisions of the charter of February, 1828, were few and simple. With the supplement of March 1st of the same year, it provided for the election of one recorder and five aldermen at a joint meeting of the Legislature, and the election of five Common Councilmen by the people, who, with a mayor elected by the Common Council, "shall be one body politic, in deed, in fact, name and law, by the name, style and title of ‘The Mayor, Aldermen and Common Council of the City of Camden.’" The mayor and recorder presided at the meetings, the latter in the absence of the former, and both voted on all questions, but were without veto power.

As thus constituted, the Common Council was empowered
"To make each by-law, Ordinances and regulations, in writing, not repugnant to the Constitution and laws of the State of New Jersey or of the United States, and the same to enforce, revoke, alter or amend, as to them shall appear necessary for the well ordering and governing of the said City and its inhabitants; to appoint a City Treasurer, Marshall and such other subordinate officers as they may think necessary for the good government of the said City."

Section 8 provided that Common Council
"Shell have the sole and exclusive right of licensing every inn-keeper and retailer of spirituous liquors residing within the City."

These provisions embrace all the powers expressly granted, and, as will be seen, were police powers merely. Although a city, Camden was under the jurisdiction of Newton township, and so continued until 1831, when it was erected into a township called Camden township, thus presenting the peculiarity of a dual government, city and township, each competent to exercise prerogatives both attempted to assume, the conflict of seeming authority leading at times to confusion, the same men sometimes acting in two bodies, the Common Council and the township committee, both of which were trying to mend the same piece of road, and both city and township levying a tax to raise money for the same purpose. The authority to levy taxes was not vested in the City Council, and that body never exercised such power until authorized by the charter of 1851. The tax levy was fixed at the town-meeting, when city and township officers were elected, and the Council acted as the disbursing agent merely; yet in the first year of its existence that body built the City Hall, and borrowed two thousand five hundred dollars of Jacob Evaul to pay for it. The only sure income of the city was derived from tavern licenses, and these, taxed at rates ranging from ten to twenty-five dollars each, amounted to one hundred and eighty-two dollars in 1829.

SUPPLEMENTS TO CHARTER.— Various supplements to the charter were passed by the Legislature. Those of 1833 and 1837 were unimportant, while that of 1844 (the year Camden County was erected), in addition to the provision making the mayor elective by a direct vote of the people, gave the Council the exclusive authority to grade, curb and macadamize the street, and to compel owners to pave their sidewalks.

The supplement of 1848 divided the city into three wards- that portion lying north of Arch Street and Federal to be called the North Ward; the district between the above-named streets and Line Street to be called the Middle Ward; and all south of Line Street to be called the South Ward. Each ward was entitled to elect two Councilmen and one chosen freeholder. These six Councilmen the five aldermen provided for in the charter of 1828, with the mayor and recorder, constituted the Common Council, with little increase of power over that conferred by the act of incorporation of twenty years before. There was no authority to survey and regulate the grades of the city. Houses were built in swamps and on hilltops, each sidewalk had an altitude of its own, and adjoining pavements would vary in height. The city was laid out in sections. Jacob Cooper laid out the town of Camden, in 1773, on a regular plan, which, if it had been followed, would have resulted in some approach to uniformity, but, unfortunately, the city was planned in sections, each regular within itself but irregular in relation to the others. Joseph Kaighn laid out Kaighnton, and Richard Fetters planned Fettersvllle. Robert Stevens made his plat, south of Bridge Avenue and west of Fourth Street, to correspond with Jacob Cooper’s original plan of a town, but the streets running south from Camden, and the streets running north from Kaighnton, reached Line Street two hundred feet apart. William D. Cooper laid out Coopers Hill into lots without regard to any of the streets to the north, south or west. The result is that Second Street is the only street west of Eighth continuous in its course from the northern to the southern bounds of the city. The Council had no power to prevent such an untoward state of affairs. The city was growing rapidly, with a population of nearly ten thousand. The old charter, intended only to confer police powers, was inadequate to present needs, which required prerogatives of a more enlarged character.

NEW CHARTER.— A new act of incorporation, which should cover present and future requirements, was drafted, which served its purpose, with a few simple modifications, for twenty-one years, and until the population had increased three-fold. This was known as the Dudley charter, being drawn up by Thomas H. Dudley, and was passed by the Legislature at the session of 1850. The bounds of the city, under this charter, were left unchanged, and the division into North, Middle and South Wards was maintained. The officers were a mayor, a recorder, six aldermen, six Councilmen, a clerk, a treasurer and a marshal, besides ward officers. The mayor and Councilmen were elected annually, the recorder and aldermen triennially. The mayor, aldermen and Councilmen, or a majority of them, constituted the City Council of the city of Camden. The mayor or, in his absence, one of the aldermen presided, but the mayor had no vote save when there was a tie. By the supplement of 1851 the mayor and aldermen were eliminated, and each ward elected six Councilmen for three years, two each year, and the Council thus constituted elected a president from their own number to preside. Among the new and essential powers granted by the new charter to the City Council were these,— To cause the city to be surveyed and mapped, and compel persons opening streets to open them in accordance with the survey; to regulate the erection of buildings and prescribe their character; to raise by tax money for municipal purposes, and also for school purposes; to appoint police officers; to regulate the water supply, appoint fire wardens and regulate firemen. The power to raise money for school purposes was transferred to the school trustees by the supplement of 1853. Under the charter of 1828 farm lands and improvement, were not taxable for city purposes, but it was to be assessed at its true value, and taxed for all purposes. The authority to grant liquor licenses was omitted, but the omission was supplied by the supplement of 1852, which also enlarged the powers concerning the construction of houses, and authorized the appointment of building inspectors. Other supplements to the charter were made from time to time, as new wants, suited to the new conditions attending rapid growth, made it necessary. One, in 1860, conveyed authority to construct culverts and abate nuisances, while that of 1866 divided the city into culvert districts, and, under its provisions, more drainage has been accomplished than in most cities of the size, and the cost so distributed as to be scarcely felt. In 1864 power was given to build a work-house and to borrow money, limiting the sum to not more than one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and not more than twenty-five thousand dollars in any one year. The same act provided for the election, by the people, of a city treasurer, city surveyor and a city solicitor for terms of two years. They had been elected annually by the City Council.

These comprise the principal amendments to the Dudley charter of 1850, which had served its purpose well and under it the city had made phenomenal advances, but in 1870, with a population of over twenty thousand and over eight thousand people in Stockton and other contiguous settlements, whose wants were identical with those within the corporate limits, it was deemed wise to extend the borders, and so enlarge the prerogatives of the city government as to enable it to meet exigencies sure to arise and increase with its growth.

Alden C. Scovel was city solicitor and to him was assigned the task of preparing a fundamental law broad enough to provide for the present and future requirements of the metropolis of West Jersey. The result was "An act to revise and amend the charter of the city of Camden: Approved February 14, 1871," precisely forty-three years after the first charter was granted, in which time the population had increased over seventeen-fold, or, including the annexed suburbs, twenty-five-fold.

The revised charter extinguished the ancient township of Newton. Camden was taken from it in 1831, Haddon township in 1865 and what remained was annexed to Camden in 1871. The new bounds of the city are thus given in the charter:
"Beginning at a point in the river Delaware, as far westerly as the jurisdiction of the State of New Jersey extends, opposite to the mouth of a dread water called Newton Creek; thence running easterly to the mouth of said Newton Creek; and thence up the centre of said creek, the several courses thereof to the North branch if said Newton Creek; thence following the centre of said North branch ,its several courses thereof to the middle of the Mount Ephraim turnpike road; thence in a northwesterly course along the middle of said Mount Ephraim turnpike road to the intersection of said Mount Ephraim turnpike road and the Stockton and Newtown turnpike road, also known as Kaighns Point ferry road; thence along the middle of the said Stockton and Newtown turnpike road, in a northeasterly along the middle of the Haddonfield turnpike road; thence northeasterly along the middle of said Stockton and Newton turnpike rend to the middle of the Haddonfield turnpike road ;thence, in a northeasterly direction in a straight line with the middle line of the said Stockton and Newton turnpike road to the middle of Coopers Creek; thence down the middle of said creek in a northwesterly direction along the several courses thereof to the river Delaware; thence due north to the middle of the channel between Petty’s Island and the Jersey fast land or shore; thence due west to a point as far west as the jurisdiction of the state of New Jersey extends; thence down the Delaware river on a line as far westerly as the jurisdiction extends to the place of beginning"

The area within these bounds was six and a half square miles, and the population in 1870, 28,482. That census shows a remarkable similarity in the population of the three old divisions of the city: North Ward, 6666; Middle Ward, 1684; South Ward, 6695.

The city was divided into eight wards, Fourth Street serving for the north and south line between the three— North, Middle and South- wards, and forming of North Ward, the First and Second; of Middle Ward, the Third and Fourth; and of South Ward, the Fifth and Sixth Wards; while Kaighn Avenue, extended in a straight line to Coopers Creek, forms the division line between the Seventh and Eighth Wards.

Each ward, besides ward officers, an assessor, constable, overseer of the poor, ward clerk, commissioners of appeal and election officers, was entitled to elect one chosen freeholder, one alderman, two members of the Board of Education and three Councilmen.

The mayor, recorder, city treasurer, receiver of taxes, aldermen and councilmen were made elective by the people for three years, and members of the Board of Education for two years. The City Council was empowered to appoint a city clerk, city surveyor, building inspector, city solicitor, sealer of weights and measures and such other officers as might be deemed necessary for the proper conduct of the affairs of the city. Under this provision, the Council has established the offices of superintendent of the water-works, clerk of the Water Department, chief of the Fire Department, supervisor of highways, city controller and subordinate offices in these various departments. The appointment and control of the police and a chief of police was with the Council, but was transferred to the mayor by a Supplement in 1872. By a supplement passed in 1874, provision was made for the election of three city assessors, who shall have sole charge of the valuation of property for taxing purposes, and the ward assessors, who previously performed that duty, all of whom were constituted a court of appeal from unjust taxation. The ward office of judicious freeholders or commissioners of appeal, was abolished.

In the spring of 1872 there was a deadlock in the City Council on the election of a president, and the Legislature passed a supplement, providing for the election of a Councilman-at-large, making the number of Councilmen twenty-five.

By the supplement of March 12, 1878, the city debt was limited to one million dollars, and loans for any one year should not exceed twenty-five thousand dollars. Statutes have since been enacted enlarging these limitations.

In 1876 an act was passed amending the charter by transferring the power to grant tavern licenses from the City Council to the Court of Common Pleas, on an appeal to the Supreme Court, the act wits declared to be unconstitutional, because special, and therefore, void.

The revision of 1871 was an amplification of the charter of 1850, enlarging the powers of the City Council in some cases and making them plainer in others, and is sufficiently elastic, while stringent, to secure good government under good management.

The enlargement of the city bounds included a large amount of farm land, chiefly in the Eighth Ward, the owners of which objected to paying a tax-rate demanded by urban improvements, and desired to sever the connection. To this end an act was passed by the Legislature setting off that portion of the ward lying east of a line running from Tenth Street and Kaighn Avenue, south to Vanhook Street, east to the west line of Evergreen Cemetery, and south to the north branch of Newton Creek, to Haddon Avenue. The terms of the act were: that the set off portion should pay a pro rata share, estimated by assessed values of the city debt incurred and unpaid subsequent to the annexation of Newton township in 1871; three of the Haddon township committee and three citizens of Camden appointed for the purpose, to ascertain and reports and if the amount apportioned was not paid within three months after such report was made, the act was to be null and void. The assessment was made and the report rendered, but the residents failing to pay within the time specified, the transfer failed.

THE FIRST CITY HALL.— The charter incorporating the town of Camden into a city was obtained in 1828. After the election of members to form the Council of the new city had taken place, they met for the first time and organized in a building used for the meeting of various societies within the limits of what was long known as the Vauxhall Garden. Soon thereafter a room on the second story of Richard Fetters’ store, at the southeast corner of Third Street and Market, was rented as a "Council-room and Court Hall." This place was used but a short time. On May 14th of the same year three lots were purchased on the south side of Federal Street, and the building committee, composed of John K. Cowperthwaite, Samuel Laning and Richard Fetters, was empowered to borrow two thousand five hundred dollars on the credit of the city, with which to erect an appropriate "City Hall, Court-House and Jail." The money was obtained from Jacob Evaul, a well-to-do farmer, who lived a short distance from town. The building then erected was of stone, with a brick front of forty feet on Federal Street, and two stories high, with an attic. It was completed by the early part of 1829. Gideon V. Stivers was the carpenter; William Fortiner, the mason; David B. Lock, now (1886) engaged in the produce business in the market on the site of the old City Hall, was one of the workmen employed by the master carpenter. The basement of the building contained the prison. The court-room, used also for the sessions of the Council, and for public meetings, was in the second story, and the attic served the purpose of a jury-room. A broad stairway on the outside led to the second story, where an entrance was gained through a double door. The "third story" was let to Camden Lodge, No. 45, at twenty dollars per year, but if the Council saw fit to put in "Dormand" windows, the lodge was to pay four dollars additional, and the Council was to have the use of the room on "said third story at all the Courts of Quarter Sessions." This unpretentious structure served the purpose for which it was designed during a period of half a century, undergoing, but few changes. About thirty years after it was

erected, a one-story building was added on either side of the front stairway. One was used as an office for the mayor, and the other for the clerk. This historic old building, in which the "city fathers" discussed the great questions pertaining to the public good and the successful growth and development of the city and her people, served its purpose for a period of half a century. In 1877 it gave place to the market-house then erected on the same site. Could the old hall of justice and legislation have told its own history, and described the scenes and incidents that took place within its walls before its demolition, it would have furnished much that is interesting.

THE NEW CITY HALL.— This massive structure of imposing appearance is the second building which Camden has owned and used for the transaction of municipal affairs and for keeping the records of the city. It is constructed of a fine quality of brick, is trimmed in brown-stone and has large, airy and convenient apartments. Its situation is on an elevation and from its summit is afforded a fine view of the two cities, of the scenery up and down the noble Delaware and a large area of the surrounding country. The original hall was insufficient for the demands of a rapidly-growing and prosperous city, which, after the annexation of the township of Newton, had a population of nearly thirty thousand. The demands for a new city hall became urgent. An act of the Legislature was paused giving the city authorities power to issue and dispose of bonds to the amount of seventy-five thousand dollars, and in 1871, Jesse W. Starr offered to donate four and one-half acres of land upon which to construct the building. After considerable discussion, resulting from the location of the land which was then and is yet without the limits of the built-up portion of the city, the generous offer was not accepted until 1874. Frederick Bourquin, Claudius W. Bradshaw, James S. Henry, Charles S. Moffett, John S. Read, William C. Figner, Joseph H. Hall, Augustus J. Fuliner, Charles S. Archer, William T. Bailey and James A. Parsons were appointed a building committee. The plans and specifications of the building were prepared by Architect Samuel D. Button, of Camden, and the contract for the construction of the building was given to E. Allen Ward for the sum of one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars. Preparations were immediately made and the work of erection progressed rapidly and soon after the completion of the building the first session of the City Council was held in it during the month of December, 1875. Of the exact cost of this building the truthful historian sayeth not. A committee appointed to inquire into the subject in 1883 estimated the cost at one hundred and forty thousand dollars. This estimate included the cost of construction only and not the internal fixings required to fit up and furnish the apartments within the building. The increase of the cost above the amount originally reported was caused by changes being made in the plans during the time the building was in the course of erection.

MAYORS OF CAMDEN.- The following is a complete list of the mayors of Camden with the terms of their services. Following this list are biographical sketches of each of them:

* Richard W. Howell was elected for the term beginning 1845 but declined to sane.

SAMUEL LANING, the first mayor of Camden, was elected by the Council in 1828 and 1829, resigning in February, 1830, a few weeks before the expiration of his term. He was long a prominent wan in public affairs, a builder by occupation, supervising the erection of the old City Hall, on Federal Street, in 1828. In 1840 he built the row of three-story brick houses on the south side of Federal Street below Second, then regarded as an important improvement. For several years he and his son Paul conducted a livery stable at Front Street and Federal. He was an alderman for a number of years.

GIDEON V. STIVERS, elected by the Council in 1830, and each succeeding year until 1837, inclusive, was born in Bellville, Essex County, in 1786, and learned his trade of carpenter in New York City. When free he followed his trade in Newark for a short time and then came to Camden. The first house he built in this city, was for Edward Sharp, in 1810, Silas Willitts doing the mason work. The house still stands on the southeast corner of Second and Cooper. He also built St. Paul’s Church and many other buildings. His shop was on Fourth Street below Market. After he came to Camden he turned his attention to bridge-building, his first effort in that line being the bridge over the Delaware between Lambertville and New Hope. David Locks and Benjamin M. Farrow, now residing in Camden, worked for him, the latter as an apprentice. In 1838 he removed to Philadelphia, returning to Camden in 1856. In 1859 he was the Democratic candidate for mayor, but was defeated. In 1865 he again removed to Philadelphia, where he died February 26, 1870.

ELIAS KAIGHN, the third mayor, elected by the Council in 1838 and re-elected in 1839, was born September 23, 1799, at Clarksboro’, Gloucester County, and when of age came to Camden, locating at Kaighne Point, where he engaged in industrial pursuits. He was made an alderman and as such took his seat in the Council in 1835 and many subsequent years, being elected by the people in 1841, when his commission had expired, but resuming his office as an alderman the following year. He was elected a member of the City Council by the Democrats of the South Ward in 1853 for three years. He was also a member of the Camden township committee and of the Board of Chosen Freeholders. He was a member of the Methodist Church when located at Fourth and Federal, and was one of the organizers of the Union Methodist Episcopal Church, Fifth and Mount Vernon, with which he remained until his death, holding various official positions, as steward and class-leader, being as energetic in his religious life as in his business enterprises. He died November 4, 1864.

LORENZO F. FISLER, M.D., was elected mayor by Council in 1840 and re-elected in 1841—42 and ‘43, he being one of the aldermen of the city and as such taking his seat in the Council in 1839. He was a candidate for mayor on the Whig ticket in 1848, but was defeated by Benjamin A. Hammell, American. The vote was, Hammell, 269; Fisler, 248; Jonathan Burr, Democrat, 249.

In 1851 he was elected as the American candidate, receiving 440 votes to 345 votes for John Sands, Democrat, and 135 for Dr. Othniel H. Taylor, Whig. In 1852 he was defeated by Charles D. Hineline, Democrat, the vote being, Hineline, 514; Fisler, 512; Walter Patton, Whig, 60.

He was the Whig and American candidate in 1853, and was elected, his vote being 649 to 477 for Albert W. Markley, Democrat, and was re-elected in 1854 as the American and anti-Nebraska nominee, receiving 833 votes to 450 for John K. Cowperthwaite. He was the Republican candidate in 1859, but was defeated, as he was in 1866 and 1869, when on the Democratic ticket. He was born in Cumberland County in 1797, came to Camden in 1836 and died in 1871.

(For sketch of Judge John K. Cowperthwaite, the fifth mayor, see page 215, and for sketch of Richard W. Howell, Esq., a prominent lawyer, see page 217.

CHARLES KAIGHN was the sixth mayor. Richard W. Howell was elected by the people in March, 1845, but refused to serve, and City Council elected Chas. Kalghn. He was born June 30, 1806, in the Ferry House, Front and Kaighn Avenue, and was the great-grandson of John Kaighn, the first settler at Kaighns Point. In the division of the estate of his father, Joseph Kaighn, his share included the lands lying east on Locust Street, and this he sought to improve by wharfing the riverfront, where the ship-yard now is, providing better ferry facilities and filling up the low grounds, and it was to aid the last improvement that he projected a railroad upon which to haul earth from the high lands, the road-bed of which, along Atlantic Avenue, is used by the Gloucester Railroad. He was member of City Council, township committees and Board of Chosen Freeholders. He was a stanch advocate of education, a friend to the poor and a philanthropist. He removed to Philadelphia. He was secretary of the Camden Gas Light Company when he died, February 19, 1868.

THOMAS B. WOOD, elected mayor in 1846 and reelected in 1847, was born at Allowaystown, Salem County, and worked on a farm until he removed to Williamstown, Gloucester County, where he was employed in a store and afterwards kept one of the hotels in that village. In 1843 he was elected to the State Assembly by the Democrats. During the session of 1844 the county of Camden was set off from Gloucester, and Williamstown, included in Washington township was embraced within the limits of the new county, of which Wood was appointed the county clerk, when he removed to Camden and was made mayor. When his term as clerk expired in 1849, he engaged in business at the foot of Cooper Street, and afterwards kept a store on Pine Street below Fourth, where he died.

BENJAMIN A. HAMMELL was mayor twice: In 1848, when, as the Native American candidate, he received 269 votes to 259 for Jonathan Burr, Democrat, and Lorenzo F. Fisler, Whig, and in 1857, when, as a Democrat, he received 576 votes to 529 for Joseph J. Moore, American, and 295 for Charles Reeves, Republican. He was a member of Council in 1845 and in 1851; was a member for three years for the Middle Ward. He was engaged in the sausage business, and died August 26, 1869.

CHARLES SEXTON was born near Jacobstown, Burlington County, and came to Camden in 1824. He worked for Isaac Cole as a coach-trimmer, and later was in the employ of the Camden and Amboy Railroad Company, at the shops at Bordentown. He was an ordained Baptist minister. Although never settled as a pastor, he preached in many of the pulpits in this section of the State, and assisted in establishing several churches. He became a man of influence, and was well known for his exemplary life. He was elected to the City Council in 1845, and was elected mayor, as the Whig and American candidate, in 1849, receiving 421 votes to 376 for Charles D. Hineline, Democrat. He was re-elected in 1850, by a vote of 477 to 849 votes for George Smith, Democrat. He died in 184, at an advanced age.

CHARLES D. HINELINE, elected in 1852, was an erratic but brilliant man. He was born in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, and learned the trade of a printer in Philadelphia. He came to Camden in 1842, and purchased the Tribune, a weekly paper, of Harrison & Ferguson; took in with him as partner Henry Curtz, now of 413 Federal Street, and changed the name to the American Star. In a few months he sold out his interest to a man named Crane, and went West. Returning in 1845, in the following year he established the Camden Democrat, which he conducted with success until 1853, when he sold it to Isaac Mickle, the lawyer and historian, and returned to his birth-place, in Northampton County, where he kept store and engaged in the liquor business.

Ill success attended him, and in 1855 he again came to Camden and established a weekly paper called the Spirit of ’76, which, in a few months, was merged into the Camden Democrat. Shortly afterwards he, with Henry L. Bonsall and William Van Nortwick, established the Mechanics’ Own, a labor paper, in Philadelphia, and a few years later Charles D. Hineline died. He represented Camden County in the Assembly in 1850 and 1851, and was largely instrumental in securing the passage of the law limiting the hours of labor to ten each day. He was an earnest advocate of the rights of the workingman, and with voice and pen advocated laws calculated to lighten the exhaustiveness of labor.

SAMUEL SCULL was elected mayor by the American party in 1855, by a vote of 641 to 544 votes for Thomas B. Atkinson. He was born in Camden in 1816, and worked for a time at carriage-making, his father, Samuel Scull, being one of the earliest and most extensive carriage-makers of the city. He afterwards engaged in the sausage business, his factory being on the southeast corner of Locust and Kaighn Avenue. He was elected to Council in 1851, and re-elected in 1854 and 1856, and served Three terms in the Assembly. He was one of the pillars of the Union Methodist Episcopal Church. He died January 4, 1864.

JAMES W. SHROFF, mayor in 1856, was elected by the Democrats, his vote being 752, to 730 for Joseph Myers, American and Anti-Nebraska. He was a carpenter and builder, and for many years had charge of the moulding loft at Starr’s Iron Works. He died in 1864.

CLAYTON TRUAX, the thirteenth mayor, was born in Gloucester City December 11, 1814, and came to Camden in 1833, when eighteen year sold, to learn the trade of shoemaking with Reilly Barrett, which avocation he followed with success for many years, his shop and store being on Arch Street, below Fourth. In 1855 he was elected to represent the Middle Ward in the City Council, and in 1860, having served as mayor, was again elected to Council, and re-elected in 1863, making nine years of service, during which time he was a leading and influential member.

In 1858 he was the candidate of the American party for mayor, receiving also the support of the Republicans, and was elected by a vote of 879, to 768 for Samuel Doughty, the Democratic nominee. He was re-elected in 1859, having as competitors Gideon V. Stivers, Democrat, and Dr. Lorenzo F. Fisler, Republican. The vote was, Truax, 863; Slivers, 353; Fisler, 374. He died July 19, 1876, and was the first public man in whose honor the new city hail bell was tolled.

THOMAS B. ATKINSON was elected to Council from the Middle Ward in 1853, and recorder in 1856, as a Democrat, his vote being 777 to 647 for William J. Miller, American. He was defeated for mayor in 1855 by Samuel Scull, and in 1867 and 1869 by Charles Cox, but was elected in 1860, receiving 608 votes to 578 for Paul C. Budd, American, and 547 for William F. Colbert, Republican; in 1861, the vote being,— Atkinson, 904; Budd, 634; Samuel Hufty, 480.

Mr. Atkinson was born in Camden in 1815, and was a son of Josiah Atkinson, a prominent citizen and a magistrate of the county. He was a carpenter and builder, and a number of large buildings in the city were the result of his handiwork; among them, the Third Street Methodist Episcopal Church, Third and Bridge Avenue. He became connected with the church during the great revival of 1837—38, and to the end remained a consistent member. He died January 3, 1886.

PAUL C. BUDD was born in Philadelphia in 1804, and came to Camden twenty years afterward, where he worked for Isaac Vansciver, the carriage-maker, as a coach-painter. House-painting was also in his line, and he worked at it for many years. In 1852 he was elected justice of the peace in the North Ward, and re-elected five successive times, making a total service of thirty years. He was appointed crier of the county courts in 1859, and held the position until within a short time of his death, a period of nearly twenty-two years. He was seven times a candidate for mayor, being defeated three times— in 1860 and 1861 by Thomas B. Atkinson, and in 1863 by Timothy Middleton.

The following is the vote cast when he was elected mayor: 1862— P.C. Budd, American-Republican, 987; James M. Cassady, Democrat, 716. 1864— P.C. Budd, Republican, 1159; Timothy Middleton, Democrat, 868. 1865— P.C. Budd, Republican, 1126; Wesley P. Murray, Democrat, 857; 1866, P.C. Budd, Republican, 1804; Lorenzo F. Fisler, Democrat, 1188.

In 1874 he was elected city recorder for three years. During his term (1876), John H. Jones, the mayor, died, but before Recorder Budd could take possession, by virtue of his office of recorder, the City Council held a special meeting and elected John Morgan to fill the vacancy. Paul C. Budd died in 1881.

TIMOTHY MIDDLETON, elected mayor in 1863 over Paul C. Budd, Republican, by a vote of 958 to 948, was born January 21, 1817, in the stone house, on the Kaighn farm, now standing on Sixth Street, north of Kaighn Avenue. His father, Ames A. Middleton, worked some of the Kaighn land and afterwards the William Cooper farm, and was a member of the City Council for ten consecutive years,— 1838 to 1848. On these farms young Middleton was brought up, obtaining his education In slack seasons at the Camden Academy, or in the Hatch school-house. On November 19, 1840, he married Hester A.R. Jenkins, daughter of Andrew Jenkins, and rented the Johnson farm at Pea Shore, and then the Johnson farm at Gloucester City. He removed to Camden in 1857. In 1861 he was elected city marshal by the Democrats, and, in 1863, mayor. He was a candidate for the latter office in 1864, but was defeated by Paul C. Budd. He was of kindly disposition and generally loved and respected. He died April 15, 1867.

CHARLES COX was elected mayor in 1867, on the Republican ticket, by a vote of 1173 to 1107 for Thomas B. Atkinson, re-elected in 1868 by 1408 to 1289 for Dr. Lorenzo F. Fisler, in 1869 by 1575 to 1280 for Thomas B. Atkinson; and in 1870 by a vote of 1640 to 1575 for William H. Jeffreys. In 1871 he was the Republican candidate for city recorder, and was elected by a vote of 2420 to 2221 votes for John Goldthorpe.

Charles Cox was born at White Horse, Camden County, February 15, 1820, and worked at farming until fifteen years of age, when he was apprenticed to Jacob Shafer to learn the painters’ trade, which he pursued when he came to Camden, in 1839, and followed for twenty years afterwards. He then engaged in the milk business, with his depot on Bridge Avenue, below Fourth Street, at the house he built for his residence many years before. When his term as recorder expired, in 1884, he opened a magistrate’s office, associating with it the real estate business. He was elected assessor of the city in l844 as a Whig. He has been a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church for years.

SAMUEL M. GAUL, elected mayor in 1871 by a vote of 2415 to 2297 for William H. Jeffreys, Democrat, is a native of Philadelphia, where he was born June 2, 1822. He learned shoemaking, came to Camden in 1858, and in 1861 enlisted in the army as first lieutenant of Company G, Fourth New Jersey Volunteers; served through the war and won the captaincy of Company F, same regiment. The only other political office he has held was that of assessor of the South Ward, to which he was elected by the Republicans in 1870.

JOHN H. JONES was elected mayor in 1874, by the Democrats, over Henry L. Bonsall, Republican, the vote being, Jones, 2789; Bonsall, 2748. He died before the completion of his term. He was born in Queen Anne’s County, Md., in 1809, and, at the age of fourteen, went to Philadelphia, became a book and job printer, and later published the Daily Sun, a Native American organ. He afterwards published the American Banner, a weekly advocate of Native American principles, and which found extensive patronage in West Jersey. He came to Camden and assumed the leadership of the American party, which, for several years, was dominant in the city and strong throughout this section of the State. In 1858 he was the nominee of a section of the party in the First District for Congress, but was defeated, and, in 1859, was the unsuccessful candidate of that party for sheriff of Camden County. He served in the Board of Chosen Freeholders from the Seventh Ward, and there, as elsewhere, was progressive in his views. In 1870, when the Camden Democrat was struggling for life, Mr. Jones was given charge of it and his vim and ability soon placed it in the van of Influential journals in this part of the State. As a politician and journalist, he advocated the rights of the working men, and, as an employer, practiced his precepts, always paying high wages. He was childless, but no waif was turned from his door, and there were always happy children in his house. He left the mayor’s office on the evening of October 27, 1876, and went to his home at Seventh Street and Pine, and, shortly after entering, died without a word.

JOHN MORGAN was appointed mayor by the City Council to serve the unexpired term of John H. Jones upon his death, October 27, 1876, and he filled the office until the following March, when, as the Democratic candidate, he was defeated by James W. Ayers. He was a silver-plater, born in Philadelphia, and, coming to Camden in 1841, he carried on an extensive business in his line. He died some years ago.

JAMES W. AYERS, elected mayor on the Republican ticket in 1877, over John Morgan, by a vote of 3907 to 3030, was born in New York City, November 24, 1822, of New Jersey parents, and, when ten years of age was apprenticed to the hair cloth and curled hair trade, serving six years. At sixteen he was employed as a journeyman. In 1841 he came to Camden, and, for sixteen years, worked for Samuel Ross, the hair cloth manufacturer, at Fourth and Federal. He was on the police force in 1861, and again, from 1864 to 1874, under Mayors Budd, Cox and Gaul. When not on the police force, he was employed by the Pennsylvania Railroad in various capacities, as also since the expiration of his term as mayor, in 1880. He was chief engineer of the Volunteer Fire Department, and was elected a member of council from the Middle Ward in 1859.

CLAUDIUS W. BRADSHAW was born in Sheffield, England, October 29, 1835; came to America with his parents in 1840, who located in West Philadelphia, and in 1843 removed to Camden, where, after obtaining his education, the son learned the trade of a wood-turner. He worked at this business for many years; in the meantime was an active member of the Independence Fire Company. In 1870 he was elected city marshal by the Democrats, and in 1872, at a special election, he was elected Councilman-at-large, and broke the deadlock in the Council, which had continued for several weeks. In 1876 he was appointed chief of the Fire Department by the City Council. In 1880 the Democrats elected him mayor by a vote of 3511 to 3470 for Benjamin F. Archer, Republican, and reelected him in l883 by a vote of 4317 to 3342 for Henry H. Davis, Republican. He was again a candidate in 1886, when Mayor Pratt was elected.

JESSE PRATT, the present mayor, who illustrates in his success what can be accomplished in even a short career, was born at Blackwood, Camden County, March 27, 1848, and was a son of William and Deborah Pratt. He obtained his education at the public schools of his native village, and worked as a farmer near by until he became of age. In November, 1869, he opened a store in Stockton (now the Eighth Ward of Camden), and, after doing business there six years, went to Lower Providence, in Montgomery County, Pa., where he engaged in farming. In February, 1876, he returned to Camden and entered the provision business at his present store, 122 North Third Street, and took up his residence in the Eighth Ward. In 1883 Mr. Pratt was elected to the City Council. He had always entertained pronounced temperance views, and he voted against license In the municipal body to which he was chosen; hence it was not unnatural that upon the expiration of his term, in 1886, he was elected mayor as the Prohibition-Republican candidate. He received five thousand seven hundred and fifty-eight votes, to the three thousand nine hundred and ninety cast for Claudius W. Bradsshaw, Democrat.

Mr. Pratt was married, November 28, 1868, to Jane, daughter of John and Ann Thornton, of Roxborough, Philadelphia. Their children are William Henry, Walter T., Edna, Thomas B. and Byron B. Pratt.

THE CITY COUNCIL.— The following are those who, as aldermen, acted as members of Council from 1828 until 1851, when aldermen ceased to be Councilmen:

1828.	Ebenezer Toole. Richard Fetters. John Lawrence. Edward Daugherty. William Ridgway.	1858.	Samuel Andrews. Joseph R. Hamell. Joshua M. Lindale. Samuel McLain. George W. Watson. Wm. F. Colbert.
1829.	Ebenezer Poole. Edward Daugherty. Isaac Wilkins. John Lawrence. Joseph W. Cooper.	1859.	Charles P. Stratton. Ralph Lee. Joshua W. Roberts. James W. Ayers. Mark B. Wills. Christopher J. Mines. Charles Sharp.(***)
1830.	Charles H. Ellis. Ebenezer Toole. John Lawrence. Richard Fetters. Charles Stokes.	1860.	Jacob H. Sides. Alden C. Scovel. Clayton Truax. James H. Stevens. John R. Thompson. Wm. Sharp.
1831.	John Lawrence. Richard Fetters. Charles H. Ellis. Ebenezer Toole. Joseph W. Cooper.	1861.	Aaron Ward. David M. Chambers. Jesse E. Huston. Samuel McLain. John W. Stutzer. John G. Neff.
1832.	Joseph W. Cooper. Isaiah Toy. Ebenezer Toole. Richard W. Howell. Robert W. Ogden.	1862.	Ralph Lee. Samuel C. Cooper. James Elwell. John T. Davis. Mark B. Wills. George W. Watson.
1833.	Isaiah Toy. Richard Fetters. William Ridgway. Ebenezer Poole. Isaac Vansciver.	1863.	John S. Read. Alexander T. Wilson. Henry M. Innis. Clayton Truax. John R. Thompson. Thomas Shields.
1834.	Isaiah Toy. Richard W. Howell. Isaac Vansciver. Joshua Burrough. John Thorne.	1864.	David L. Taylor. John Begary. Samuel McLain. Grundy Hindle. Henry B. Wilson. Jesse Hall.
1835.	Isaac Vansciver. John W. Mickle. Isaac Wilkins. William Ridgway. Isaac M. Everly.	1865.	Samuel C. Cooper. Benjamin F. Archer. John S. Lee. Wilson Fitzgerald. Charles B. Coles. Levi B. Newton.
1836.	Isaac Vansciver. John W. Mickle. Isaac Wilkins. Isaac M. Everly. Benjamin Burrough.	1866.	Alexander T. Wilson. Henry L. Moulton. John Hood. James Elwell. Henry Pierson. Thomas Merryweather.
1837.	John W. Mickle. Isaac Vansciver. Isaac Wilkins. Peter R. Walker. Benjamin Burroughs.	1867.	William Stiles. Thomas C. Knight. Ebenezer Wescott. John Fine. John Goldthorpe. Mayberry E. Harden. Job Channel.(4*)
1838.	Isaac Wilkins. Isaac Vansciver. John W. Mickle. Benjamin Springer. Amos A. Middleton.	1868.	Wilson Fitzgerald. William H. Cole. George W. Watson. Charles W. Sutterly. Thomas McDowell. Henry B. Wilson.
1839.	Richard Fetters. Isaac Vansciver. Isaac Wilkins. Amos A. Middleton. Benjamin Springer.	1869.	William Calhoun. Samuel C. Harbert. Jonathan Kirkbride. Samuel Iszard. Richard Parks. Jehu Osler.
1840.	Seth Matlack. Isaac Vansciver. Isaac Wilkins. Amos A. Middleton. Benjamin Springer.	1870.	David H. Munday. John S. Read. Josiah S. Hackett. Charles Pine. John Goldthorpe. Alonzo B. Johnson.
(The revised charter of 1871 divided the city into eight wards, each ward having three elected for three years, each ward electing one every year).
1841.	Richard Fetters. Amos A. Middleton. Elias Kaighn. Joab Scull. Charles S. Garrett.	1871.	Charles A. Sparks. William Stiles. William H. Cole.(5) Charles Mayhew. Frederick Bourquin. Jacob C. Daubman. Charles C. Moffett.(6) Horace Hammell. Thomas H. Albright. James Kennedy. Anthony Voll. Andrew Cunningham. Ellis Boggs. John Dobbins.
1842.	Gideon V. Stivers. Richard Fetters. Amos A. Middleton. Charles S. Garrett. Joseph Sharp.	1872.	William T. Bailey. James A. Parsons. Augustus J. Fulmer. Samuel E. Radcliff. Charles C. Moffett. Alfred H. Mead. Thomas McDowell.(7) James S. Henry. Joseph H. Hall. John Dobbins. (8)
1843.	Benjamin Springer. Amos A. Middleton. Isaac Cole. Joab Scull. Charles S. Garrett.	1873.	William S. Scull. John S. Read. Josiah S. Hackett. George Johnson. William W. Mines. William C. Figner. Edward Martin. John M. Harden.
1844.	Isaac Cole. John L. Rheese. Amos A. Middleton. Charles S. Garrett. Clayton Truax.	1874.	Charles S. Ridgway. John T. Bottomley. Charles H. Riceman. Frederick Bourquin. Jacob C. Daubman. John Guthridge. Caleb F. Rogers. Thomas B. Wood.
1845.	Charles J. Hollis. Benjamin A. Hammell. Charles Sexton. Amos A. Middleton. Jacob W. Sharp.	1875	Wm. D. Middleton. (9*) Emmor D. French. James A. Parsons. Augustus J. Fulmer. Thomas J. Mason. Edward Lewis. Henry B. Francis. James S. Henry. Winfield S. Plank.
1846.	Charles S. Garrett. John Thorne. Isaac Cole. John K. Thompson. Amos A. Middleton.	1876.	E.D. French. James P. Michellon. Josiah S. Hackett. George Johnson. Samuel P. Dubois.(10*) William Evans. Alonzo D. Nichols. Joseph Smith. John Heim.
1847.	Isaac Mickle. Joseph P. Huyck. John Thorne. Charles S. Lewis. Amos A. Middleton.	1877.	Charles P. Stratton. John T. Bottomley. Frederick P. Pfeiffer. Charles N. Pelouze. Henry B. Wilson. Thomas Fields. John Stone. Joseph H. Hall.
1848.	Richard W. Howell. Charles S. Lewis. Charles S. Garrett. Matthew Miller, Jr. John R. Thompson. William B. Mulford.	1878.	Richard Perks.(11*) William Ables. J. Willard Morgan. Angus B. Cameron. Crawford Miller. Edward D. Knight. John H. Dialogue. Elwood W. Kemble. John W. Donges.
(In 1848 a change in the charter divided the city into North, Middle and South Wards, each to elect six Councilmen).
1849.	Florence M. Bingham. John Sands. Wm. D. Hicks. James W. Shrof. Joseph Sharp. Joseph J. Moore.	1879.	Joseph McAllister. James P. Michellon. Andrew Rabeau. Alexander J. Milliette. Henry B. Francis. Edward J. Dougherty. James A. Worrell. Benjamin H. Smith.
1850.	Richard Fetters. Joshua J. Benson. Wm. D. Hicks. Wm. Lore. Josiah Swain. George F. Ross.	1880.	Daniel R. Smith. Wilbur F. Rose. Frederick P. Pfeiffer. William T. Mead. Lewis Holl. William Y. Sloan. James S. Henry. John Stone. (12*) John Heim.
(The new charter of 1851 dispensed with the mayor, recorder and aldermen as municipal legislators, and confined them to the duty of administering the law as magistrates, and judges of the city sessions of court. It continued the division into three wards, and made the council consist of eighteen members,— six from each ward, elected for three years, two from each ward annually, and, instead of the mayor or recorder, Council elected a president).
1851.	Richard M. Howell. Aula McAlla. Joseph W. Cooper. Samuel Lummis. Ralph Lee. Samuel Anderson. Wm. H. Hood. Benjamin A. Hammell. Wm. Pinyard. Joseph N. Emery. Wm. Lore. Charles Sartora. Josiah Sawn. Robert Y. Bannin. Samuel Scull. Lambert F. Beatty. Walter Nangle. Benjamin G. Peck.	1881.	John W. Branning.(13*) Charles F. Hollinshead. Frederick A. Rex. Angus B. Cameron. Goldson Test. Robert C. Baker. John H. Dialogue. James S. Henry. John W. Donges.
1852.	Samuel Andrews. Wm. D. Hicks. Samuel Lytle. John R. Thompson. George W. Watson. Robert Folwell.*	1882.	Joseph McAllister. James M. Stradling.(14) John Campbell. John W. Wartman. D. Cooper Carman. Frederick Bourquin.(15) George Harneff. B. Franklin Bailey.(16*) Edward J. Dougherty. John Hughes. William W. Smith.
1853.	Joseph W. Cooper. Andrew W. Adams. Matthew Miller. Thomas B. Atkinson. Thomas A. Wilson. Elias Kaighn.	1883.	Frank A. Kendall. J. Willard Morgan. George H. James. William T. Mead. Maurice A. Rogers. George Pfeiffer, Jr. David T. Campbell.(17*) Francis F. Souders. Jesse Pratt.
1854.	Jesse Townsend. Grundy Hindle. Ellwood K. Fortner. Wm. Lore. Samuel Scull. Wm. J. Miller.	1884.	William B.E. Miller.(18*) James M. Stradling. Frederick A. Rex. Samuel A. Murray. Jonathan Duffield. Henry C. Moffett. John H. Dialogue. John Stone. Thomas Harman.
1855.	Samuel Andrews. Wm. J. Hatch. Clayton Truax. Edmund E. Read. George W. Watson. John G. Hutchinson.	1885.	George Barrett. John Campbell. Henry M. Snyder.(19*) William Myers. Mahlon T. Ivins. John D. Leckner. David T. Campbell. James Godfrey. Charles H. Heimbold.
1856.	Benjamin Browning. David Corson. Abraham W. Nash. Jesse E. Huston. Josiah D. Rogers.** Josiah F. Dorman. William Sharp.	1886.	Isaac C. Githens. Henry M. Snyder. Robert M. Barber. George S. West. Maurice A. Rogers. David C. Vannote. Joseph R. Ross. William Dorell.
1857.	Joseph Trimble. John Ambruster. Isaac W. Mickle. Samuel Lytle. Samuel Scull. Joseph H. Peck.

(6*) Contested and was given Mead’s seat, and Josiah Matlack was elected vice Hammell, resigned.

(7*) Was elected vice Boggs, resigned. Claudius W. Bradshaw was elected councilman-at-large under a supplement to the charter.

(14*) Contested and attained the seat, holding it until ousted by the Supreme Court, a short time before the term expired.

Presidents of City Council.— Previous to 1851 the mayor or recorder presided over the deliberations of City Council, and since then the Council elected a president annually.

City Recorders.— Until 1850 the recorder wan chosen by the Legislature, since then by the people,—

City Treasurers were appointed by Council annually until 1866, when they were made elective by the people for terms of two years, changed to three years in 1871.

* Samuel Hufty died in 1874, and the City Council appointed Randal E. Morgan to act until the election, in 1875.

FRANK F. MICHELLON, present city treasurer, was born in Philadelphia November 7, 1844, and was the son of Anthony and Elizabeth (Dorr) Michellon, both of old families in this country, that of the former originally from France, and that of the latter from Germany, and long settled in Lancaster County, Pa. The family removed to Camden in 1848, and the father was for many years cashier of the old Kaighns Point and Philadelphia Ferry Company. Young Michellon, after leaving school, became a clerk in the hardware store of Henry B. Wilson, and, later, was in the office of Peter L. Voorhees, Esq. In 1862 he entered the office of Benjamin F. Glenn, a real estate agent and conveyancer of Philadelphia, and there learned conveyancing. He constantly maintained his residence in Camden, and, in 1877, was elected city clerk and clerk of Council, which office he held for five years. In 1884 he was elected on the Republican ticket to the more responsible position of city treasurer, for the duties of which his services in the lesser place had indicated his fitness. Mr. Michellon was united in marriage, May 4, 1881, to Elizabeth L. (daughter of Alfred and Catharine) Vandegrift, of an old Bucks County, Pa., family.

Receivers of Taxes.— Prior to 1871 taxes were gathered by the ward collectors, but the charter of that year abolished the office of ward collector and provided for the election of a receiver of taxes by the people for terms of three years,—

WILLIAM H. RIGHTMIRE is of Holland extraction, being a grandson of James Rightmire, who resided in Middlesex County, N.J., where he was both a farmer and a school-teacher. Among his six children was Jacob V., born March 4, 1800, who also resided in Middlesex County, where he filled the double role of farmer and merchant. He married Isabella Franks and had twelve children— nine sons and three daughters— all of whom reached mature years. The death of Mr. Rightmire occurred in October, 1880. He was in his political predictions a Whig, and later a Republican. Though averse to office, he was the recipient

of many distinctions conferred by citizens irrespective of party. A man of public spirit, he was liberal with his means in enterprises pertaining to both church and state. His son, William H. Rightmire, was born May 19, 1845, in Middlesex County, N.J., where his youth was spent. At the age of seventeen he entered the army as a soldier in the Twenty-eighth Regiment New Jersey Volunteers, and remained in service ten months. He was taken prisoner at Chancellorsville and confined for three months at Belle Isle, opposite Richmond, enduring meanwhile many privations. Having effected an exchange, he was sent to the convalescent camp at Annapolis, Md., and soon after returned to his home. On recovering, he removed to South Amboy, and later came to Camden as an employee of the Camden and Amboy Railroad. He subsequently entered and was graduated from the Eastman’s Commercial College, Poughkeepsie, when, having made Jersey City his residence, he remained for four years associated with the Jersey City and Bergen Railroad. Mr. Rightmire then returned to Camden and embarked in the marble business. In 1883 he was elected receiver of taxes for Camden for a term of three years, and re-elected in 1886 by the largest majority ever given in Camden, his support not being confined to the Republican party, whose principles he espouses. He is a member of T.M.K. Lee Post, No. 5, Department of New Jersey, Grand Army of the Republic. Mr. Rightmire is a supporter of the Baptist Church, of which his wife is a member. He was, on the 9th of June, 1869, married to Miss Lydia A., daughter of Augustus Vansciver, of Camden, whose mother, Mrs. Rebecca Stow, granddaughter of ----- Stow, a member of the firm of Percival & Stow, who cast the Independence bell. The Stows came originally from Edinburgh, Scotland. Their children are Maud and Harry K.

FRANK S. JONES is of Welsh descent. His great-grandfather was Nathaniel Jones, who, on his emigration, settled in Kalamazoo, Mich. His children were seven sons, among whom was Theophilus, born in Michigan, who married a descendant of General Israel Putnam, of Revolutionary fame. Their children were seven sons, among whom was William D., born in Utica, N.Y., where he followed the trade of a painter. He later removed to Philadelphia, and there conducted business for several years. In 1855 he located in Camden, where his death occurred in 1862. He married Elizabeth D., seventh daughter of Benjamin Grover, a tanner of Salem, Mass. His children were seven sons,— Philip H., Benjamin D., Charles, Marcus T., John W., Charles P. and Frank S. The last-named, and only survivor, was born in Philadelphia, May 21, 1845, and spent his youth in that city, whence he removed to Camden in 1855. His early education was received at the Southeast Grammar School, Philadelphia, and he afterward entered the Northwest Grammar School, in the same city. In August, 1861, he enlisted in the Fourth New Jersey Regiment, and remained in the service until May, 1862, the date of his discharge as a consequence of a wound received at Annandale, Va. In 1863 he re-enlisted in the Twelfth Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment, was wounded a second time, and, being discharged after one year of service, returned to Camden. Mr. Jones then resumed his trade— that of a painter. He was, in 1876, employed by the government in the clothing department of the Schuylkill Arsenal, Philadelphia, and, in 1884, appointed by the Board of Assessors of Camden, as clerk of the board. He was, in 1876, elected justice of the peace, which office he holds for the third term, and alderman, in which capacity he is serving his second term. He was appointed, in 1886, assistant receiver of taxes for the term of three years, and is now filling that office. As a Republican, Mr. Jones has been actively engaged in politics. He is a comrade of T.M.K. Lee Post, No. 5, G.A.R., and held for three years the office of adjutant. He is secretary of the Veteran Charitable Association, of Camden, and a member of the Improved Order of Red Men, and of the Heptisophs. He was appointed by Governor Ludlow, in March, 1881, notary public. Mr. Jones worships with the congregation of the Protestant Episcopal Church, of which he is a supporter. He was, on September 12, 1870, married to Mrs. Hannah S. Pierce, daughter of John W. Sapp, of Camden. Their only surviving child is a son, William H. Jones.

City Assessors.— Ward assessors were continued under the charter of 1871 until 1874, when an amendment called for the election of three assessors for the city at large, whose duties are to make the assessments, while the duty of the ward assessors is to sit as a court of appeal in cases of unjust assessments. The city assessors are elected for three years, and the first elected drew lots for the one, two and three year terms.

1874. Edw. H. Bolgiana, 2 years. 1874. E. Allan Ward 3 years. M.E. Harden, 1 year.

City Solicitors were appointed annually by the Council from 1851 to 1864, when they were made elective by the people for terms of two years. Under the revised charter of 1871 the duty of selection was made to rest with the City Council,—

City Surveyors were chosen by the City Council until 1870, when they were elected by the people for two years. The charter of 1871 restored the power to Council. Edward H. Saunders was elected city surveyor in 1851, and re-elected annually until his death, in May, 1869, when Jacob H. Yocum was appointed until the election in March, when he was elected for two years, and on the expiration of his term, 1872, was elected by the Council for three years, and re-elected in 1875. In 1878 John S. Shults was elected, re-elected in 1881, and again in 1884.

JOHN S. SHULTS.— When Charles Shults, the progenitor of the family in America, arrived in New York, in 1750, he brought with him a wife and three children. He died two weeks after his arrival, which caused the separation of the family; His children were Charles, Richard and Anna. Charles moved to Philadelphia, where he was employed in a bakery situated on Arch Street, above Front. On one of his daily trips to the public pump he met a young lady of his own name, and upon inquiry he was astonished to know she was his sister, lost when a child, and from her he learned that his mother, who was then dead, had accompanied Richard to North Carolina where he had married and at his death had a large family. Charles was married to a Miss Kelly, by whom he had two children,— Charles and Sarah. A few years after the death of his first wife he was married to Mrs. Richmond, of Salem County, N.J., and two children were born to them,— Nancy and Rebecca. His son Charles became a prominent citizen of Philadelphia; was a supervisor of streets and highways and one of those who assisted in laying out Washington Square. He was married to Anna M. Bussier, of Huguenot ancestry. Her father, Dr. Bussier, graduated in Paris and fled from France on account of his religious convictions. On the passage he met Miss Reybold, a Swiss lady, to whom he was married on his arrival in this country. He served in the Revolution in 1776 with distinction. The children of Charles and Anna M. Shults were Charles, Richard, Philip M., Jane, Rebecca, Eliza, Susanna and Maria. The eldest of these children, Charles, was married to Charlotte Spangenberg, daughter of John and Charlotte Spangenberg, who were natives of Philadelphia, but whose parents came from Germany. They had eleven children,— Charles, Alfred, Leonard (who died an infant), John; Anna M., Mary S., Charlotte K., Theodore B. and Sarah C. About 1832 Charles moved to Berks County, Pa., where, as a clergyman in the German Reformed Church (English branch), he preached for a number of years and then removed to Reading. He lived in that city until 1857 and then removed to Atlantic County, N.J., near Absecom, and from thence to Camden in 1860.

John S. Shults was born in Reading, October 27, 1836, and has made Camden his home since 1860. Upon coming to Camden he taught school in the country until the winter of 1861, when he was appointed a clerk in the quartermaster’s department in Alexandria, Va. Sickness compelled him to return home, but the next year he was attached to the Sanitary Commission and moved with the Army of the Potomac till the war closed, when he returned to his Camden home. About this time Mr. Shults entered the office of Ed. H. Saunders, where he studied surveying. During the winter he taught school. Mr. Saunders died in 1869 and he was succeeded by Jacob H. Yocum, who held the office for six years and for whom Mr. Shults was assistant. At the expiration of his term Mr. Shulte was elected city surveyor and is now serving his third term.

By his efficient and faithful discharge of duty ha has won and retained the confidence and respect of his fellow-citizens. In politics Mr. Shults is an ardent Republican. He is a member of the Pine Street Presbyterian Church, of Camden.

Building Inspectors are appointed by ordinance of City Council for such term as the ordinance may specify,—

City Marshals acted as chiefs of police under the charter of 1851, and were elected annually by the people,—

The Chief of Police is appointed, by the mayor, and holds office during the pleasure of that officer under the charter of 1871,—

Surveyors of Highways.— This office was established in 1871, and the incumbents have been Leonard Repsher, Jonathan Kirkbride, Alonzo B. Johnson, Benjamin F. Sweeten, William H. Shearman, Richard C. Thompson.

Engineers of Water-Works.— Jacob H. Yocum, Wm. F. Moody, William Calhoun, Robert Dunham. In 1877 the office of engineer was abolished and that of superintendent substituted. These have been superintendents,— William D. Middleton, Harry Stetson, William W. Mines.

THE WATER DEPARTMENT.— The Camden Water Works Company was chartered April 2, 1845. The names of the incorporators were Isaac Cole, Benj. W. Cooper, Charles Kaighn, Henry Allen, Wm. Folwell, Nathan Davis, Benj. T. Davis, John W. Mickle, who were authorized and empowered "to introduce into and supply the city of Camden with pure water under such terms and conditions as the City Council shall ordain and establish." The original capital stock of the company was fifty thousand dollars, divided into shares of one hundred dollars each, of which Isaac Cole, Henry Allen, Wm. Folwell and Nathan Davis each took one hundred shares, Wm. N. Jeffries eighty, Chas. Kaighn ten, and James Elwell and Jasper Harding each five shares.

On June 2d the company was organized by electing Isaac Cole, Henry Allen, Wm. Folwell, Nathan Davis and Wm. N. Jeffries directors, who selected Isaac Cole to serve as president, Henry Allen treasurer and Wm. Folwell secretary. A lot of ground, thirty by ninety feet, at the foot of Cooper Street, on the site of the Esterbrook Steel Pen Works, was purchased of Wm. D. Cooper for four hundred dollars, and Isaac Cole, Nathan Davis, Henry Allen and Wm. Folwell were appointed to procure a draft and plan of the intended building, which, when completed, was thirty by forty-eight feet in dimensions.

With the increase in the growth of the city, and the erection of a large number of factories within its limits, the amount of water furnished by the company was found insufficient. To provide for a better arrangement, a supplement to the original charter was passed on the 9th of February, 1854. Hence the company secured an eligible location at Pavonia, near the city, as under the original charter it could not hold real estate in Camden. The capital stock under the supplement to the charter was authorized to be increased to a sum not exceeding one hundred thousand dollars.

At a meeting held on the 24th of April, 1854, three hundred and sixty-five shares were subscribed as follows: Henry Allen, two hundred and sixty-one shares; Richard Fetters, twenty shares; Nathan Davis, eleven shares: Jesse Smith, Benj. Hammell, Joel Bodine and Joseph Fifield, each ten shares; Charles S. Garrett, nine shares; James Elweil and Wm. P. Tatem each six shares; James McCloskey and Isaiah Bryan, each five shares; and Ralph Lee, two shares.

In 1854 the water works were completed and put into operation at Pavonia, on the Delaware River front. They are now owned and controlled by the city authorities. The engine-house is two stories high with mansard roof; built substantially of brown stone and thirty by forty feet in dimensions. The engine-house is fitted up with two pumps, one being a Blake pump of five million five hundred thousand gallons capacity daily; the other, a Cornish bull pump, capable of pumping two million five hundred thousand gallons of water daily. The boiler-house is supplied with four return tubular boilers eighteen feet long and fifty-six inches in diameter, making two complete sets, each set being capable of running either engine, and when all are fired up and both engines running, has a capacity of nine million gallons of water daily. The water works wharf is eighty feet wide and extends seven hundred and fifty feet into the river from the meadow banks. The supply-pipe is thirty inches in diameter, leading to the forebay under the pumps and in the basement of the engine-house. Before entering the forebay the water passes through three screens and filters, and from the bay is pumped by the engines and forced into the stand-pipe upon the engine-house, which is made or boiler iron, is five feet in diameter and one hundred and twenty feet high. When forced above the level of the reservoir the water flows by a discharge pipe, thirty inches in diameter, into the basin.

The reservoir is built upon the highest ground in Pavonia, which is forty-seven feet higher than the level of the city of Camden, and is three hundred and forty-four feet long by one hundred and eighty feet wide and twenty-one feet deep, with sloping sides at an angle of one to one and a half degrees, and when filled, contains eight million gallons of water. In 1885 the greatest amount of water pumped in one day was four millions eight hundred and seven thousand one hundred and forty gallons; In 1886, five millions one hundred and fifty-seven thousand and forty-eight gallons. Before these works were purchased by the city the pumping and distributing mains were twelve inches in diameter, but now have a diameter of thirty inches. Forty-six and one-half miles of water-pipe are now in position within the city limits, and three hundred and twenty-two fire-plugs for the use of the Fire Department are located at the most desirable points in the city. The collections of the Water Department for rents and permits for the year 1885 amounted to seventy-eight thousand six hundred and fifty-nine dollars.

Until 1810 wells, pumps and buckets were the only appliances Camden had for the extinguishment of fires. On March l5th of that year the Perseverance Fire Company was organized. Thirty years later the Fairmount, afterwards named the Niagara, and, later still, the Weccaeoe, was formed. In case of fire, the water used to extinguish it was obtained from wells by means of buckets filled with it and passed from hand to hand. When the engine was reached and its well received the water, the bucket was returned for a fresh supply. Meanwhile a number of strong men grasped the lever-arms and worked them up and down, thus forcing the water upon the flames. To fight a fire was the work of the entire community a half-century ago. An alarm was followed by a general turn-out of the people— old and young, of both sexes— each secured a bucket, and, when the scene of action was reached, long lines of people were formed between the engine and the nearest well. The empty buckets were moved toward the wells along one line and the full ones towards the engine on another.

A fully-equipped fire company possessed an engine and a cart to carry buckets, and householders were expected to keep a supply of buckets on hand. Wells and pumps were equally essential, hence the City Council encouraged the digging of wells and the placing of pumps in public places by paying part of the cost. In 1884 Joseph Kaighn was paid sixteen dollars as part cost of placing a pump in a well he had dug on Kaighn Avenue, and George Genge’s bill for a pump on Market Street was also paid, while Abraham Browning was allowed part cost of enlarging a well near Front Street and Market. Richard Fetters, Richard W. Howell and Auley McAlla presented a bill of fifty dollars at a Council meeting, held August 27, 1830, for a fire-engine purchased of the Fairmount Company, of Philadelphia. It was but five feet high, and eight men could barely get hold of the levers. In 1835 this engine was repaired, and its name changed from Fairmount to Niagara. In 1848 it was bought by the Weccacoe, and in 1851 came into possession of the reorganized Fairmount Company. It was eventually, after long usage, stored away until 1864, when Robert S. Bender purchased it for twenty dollars, and sold it in Woodbury for fifty dollars. It was accidentally burned soon afterward.

In 1834 the city was divided into three fire districts, Cooper Street and Line Street being the dividing lines. There was virtually no Fire Department, however, for several years later. In 1848, after the erection of water-works, a better fire system was put into effect. The Council appointed a committee on fire apparatus, who exercised supervision over the companies, which, by the year 1851, hid increased in number to six. In 1864 the Independence procured the first steam fire-engine; the Weccacoe, the Shiffler and the Weccacoe Hose Company also soon after purchased steam-engines. More prompt, daring and efficient firemen than those of Camden were hard to find, but each company was independent of the others, and misdirection often caused loss of property, to remedy which the City Council, 1866, reorganized the system, and, by an ordinance, provided for the selection, subject to its approval, of a chief marshal, by the companies. James W. Ayers, of the Weccacoe Engine Company, was elected and served two years, when, in 1868, he was succeeded by Wesley P. Murray, of the Weccacoe Hose. Both were popular men and good organizers, but the volunteer system, with its rivalry and frequent insubordination, was supplanted in 1869 by the Paid Fire Department under an ordinance passed September 2, 1869, which provided for the appointment, annually, of five fire commissioners, one fire marshal, and two assistant fire marshals. The commissioners were empowered to appoint the firemen, and the city was divided into two districts. For the First District the city purchased the three-story building of the Independence Fire Company, at Fourth Street and Pine, and for the Second District erected a two-story brick building at Fifth Street and Arch. Each station was supplied with a fire-engine and all necessary apparatus, at an entire cost of thirty thousand dollars. William Ables was appointed fire marshal; William W. Mines assistant for the First, and William H. Shearman assistant for the Second District. The organization has since been modified. The department is now under the control of five members of the City Council, called "The Committee on Fire Apparatus," who are appointed annually by the president of the Council, with a chief and an assistant engineer each appointed for three years by the Council. In 1874 the department purchased the Independence fire-engine, and now (1886), owns three steam fire-engines, two hose-carriages, one hook-and-ladder truck, one supply-wagon, nine horses, three thousand two hundred feet of serviceable hose, twenty-one fire-alarm boxes, with twelve miles of wire, a connecting electric battery, with eighty-one gallon jars to create power necessary for long distance alarms, striking the gongs, lighting gas-jets, unhitching the horses in the stalls and stopping the clock.

The department consists of one chief engineer, at a salary of one thousand dollars per annum, one assistant engineer, seven hundred and twenty dollars per annum, eighteen regular men and twelve call-men. The regular men devote their whole time to the service. The engineers receive sixty dollars per month, and the hosemen, tillermen and laddermen each fifty dollars per month. The call-men pursue their regular vocation, but are required to be present at every fire, to assist, for which they are paid seventy-five dollars per year. A full record is kept of all fires, with time, duration, location, owner of property, occupant, business, value of real and personal property, insurance, and with whom, cause of fire, etc. The department is in a high state of efficiency, and the expenditure sixteen thousand dollars per annum.

THE CAMDEN HOOK-AND-LADDER COMPANY, No. 1, with headquarters at N.W. corner of Fifth Street and Arch, was organized in 1869, and is connected with Camden Engine Company, No. 2. The building is a two-story brick, twenty-four by fifty-five feet, adjoining the building of the engine company. The company is equipped with one ladder-truck (forty-five feet long, mounting nine ladders, one being an extension ladder, of the "Leverich Patent," sixty-three feet in length), one battering ram, two fire extinguishers, four buckets, two axes, four pitchforks, one crowbar, four lamps, etc. In the stables are two large and well-trained horses. The roster of the company is as follows: Tillerman, Amedy Middleton; Driver, Benjamin L. Kellum; Laddermen, Thomas Walton and John W. Toy; Cell-men, William Doughten, Peter S. Gray, John Gray and Charles A. Todd.

THE CAMDEN STEAM FIRE-ENGINE COMPANY, No. 1, was organized in 1869. Their building, on Pine Street, near Fourth, is a three-story brick, twenty by ninety-four feet in dimensions, and was formerly used by the Independence, but is now owned by the city. The equipments consist of one second-class steam fire-engine, made by the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company, of Manchester, New Hampshire; one hose-cart, made by the Silsby Company, of Seneca Falls, N.Y.; three horses, sixteen hundred feet of good hose, axes, lamps, etc. The third story of the building is used as a lodge-room, and the second story used by the company, with sitting-room, bunk-room, etc. The roster of the company for 1886 is as follows: Foreman, John A. Stockton; Engineer, G. Rudolph Tenner; Driver, William Deno; Stoker, William W. Laird; Hosemen, Wilson Bromley and Jacob F. Nessen; Call-men, William Deith, Andrew Miller, William Bogia and W. Elwood Campbell.

CAMDEN STEAM FIRE-ENGINE COMPANY, No. 2, is located at the corner of Fifth Street and Arch, the head-quarters of the Paid Fire Department. The building is a two-story brick, twenty-four by seventy feet. The ground floor has two connections with the hook-and-ladder building. The outfit consists of one steam fire-engine, second-class, made by the Gould Machine Company, of Newark, N.J., one No. 2 Amoskeag steam fire-engine, one carriage and a supply-wagon. In the second story is a large reception-room, a sleeping-room with thirteen beds, and a battery-room. The Gould steam fire-engine is only used on extra occasions, or when the urgency of the case demands. The following is a complete roster of officers and men at headquarters:
Chief Engineer, Samuel S. Elfreth; Assistant Engineer, Samuel S. Buzine; Extra Engineer, Jacob W. Kellum; Foreman, Harry C. Grosscup; Engineer, William Morris; Driver of Engine, C.B. Harvey; Stoker, Frank Turner; Hosemen, Chas. Robinson, Isaac Shreeves; Call-men, James Carey, Logan Bates, William Lyons, Howard Currie.

The chiefs of the Paid Fire Department have been William Ables, Robert S. Bender (second term), Robt. S. Bender, Claudius W. Bradshaw, Henry F. Surault, Samuel S. Elfreth, Daniel A. Carter, Samuel S. Elfreth (2d term). The committee on fire apparatus for 1886 are— Chairman, Saml. R. Murray; Wm. B.E. Miller, Geo. S. West, David B. Campbell, James Godfrey; Clerk, D. Cooper Carman.

VOLUNTEER COMPANIES.— The Perseverance was organized March 15, 1810, and was composed of leading citizens. A hand-engine, made by "Pat." Lyons, of Philadelphia, was bought and placed in a building on Front Street, above Market, subsequently removing to a frame, one-story house on Second Street, adjoining the State Bank, where it remained until the company erected the two-story brick building on the east aide of Third Street, below Market. The eldest living member of the company is Samuel Elfreth, father of the present efficient chief of the Fire Department. On March 15, 1832, the company was incorporated; the names appearing in the charter are Nathan Davis, Gideon V. Silvers, Jeremiah H. Sloan, John Lawrence, Samuel D. Weasels, Isaac Cole, Ledden Davis, Joha Browning, Joab Scull, Richard W. Howell, Auley McAlla, Dr. Thomas Lee, William H. Ogden, Richard Fetters, Abraham Browning and other prominent citizens.

The charter of 1832 having expired, a new one was obtained in 1852, with the following-named persons as incorporators: James C. Morgan, William E. Gilmore, Samuel Hanna, William Hanna, Lewis P. Thompson, Joseph D. Folwell, Pancoast Roberts, Alfred Hugg, Richard H. Lee, William Matlack, Alfred Wood, Frederick Benedict, William Hugg, Amos Stiles, Jr., Samuel Cooper, Nathan Davis, Jr., Samuel Ashurst, Andrew Zimmerman, David Sheppard, John W. Carter, Henry Kesler, John Warner, John Ross, Charles A. Garret, Thomas Sulger. The company prospered until the breaking out of the war, in 1861, when most of the able-bodied members enlisted in the company commanded by Captain Richard H. Lee.

The Fairmount Fire Company was organized October 7, 1830, and purchased an engine of the Fairmount Fire Company, of Philadelphia. The name "Fairmount" was painted on the sides of the engine, and it was then the Camden company decided to assume the same appellation, which was continued until 1835, when the word "Fairmount" on the engine became dim and needed repainting, which would cost as much as to have something else painted, and they changed the name to Niagara. By this name the company was known until it was reorganized as the Weccacoe, in 1848. In 1845 the headquarters was moved to the City Hall lot, on Federal Street. John Laning, Josiah Atkinson and Samuel Jenkins were among the origiInal members of the Fairmount. William Hanna joined in 1835, James M. Cassady in 1838 and James W. Ayers (afterwards fire marshal) in 1843.

The Weccacoe Fire Company No. 2, was the result of the reorganization of the Niagara in 1848. At a meeting of the City Council, September 1, 1848, Richard Fetters presented the names of Edward Steer and thirty-two other persons who had organized as a fire company, with a constitution and by-laws. The Council then recognized them and gave them the old Niagara fire-engine, which was used for a few months, when the company was supplied with a better one in 1850, when a second-hand one was bought of the Southwark commissioners for seven hundred and fifty dollars and was rebuilt, in 1853, by John Agnew at a cost of eight hundred and fifty dollars. A steam-engine was procured in 1864. At the headquarters of the Weccacoe, between a pair of high poles, was hung a bell weighing thirteen hundred pounds, which served to alarm the town in case of fire. The house used as the headquarters was enlarged, but, after several incendiary attempts, the building was burned February 17, 1854. In 1856 the company moved into their two-story brick house, on the site of the old Columbia Garden, on Arch Street, above Fifth. In 1852 the company was incorporated as the Weccacoe Fire Company, No. 2, by John Laning, James M. Cassady, James W. Ayers, Isaac Shreeve, Wesley P. Murray, Joseph F. Murray, Joshua S. Porter, Daniel B. McCully, Richard G. Camp, James Doughten, Stone H. Stow, Charles H. Thorne, Matthew Miller, Jr. James W. Ayers was made president of the Niagara in 1845, continued as such under the reorganization, and, except in 1854, when he was absent from the city, held the office until the company was disbanded. Richard G. Camp was the secretary and Charles Thompson treasurer until 1854, and Joseph L. Bright was his successor until the end. Efficiency and good order were the characteristics of the Weccacoe from the beginning to the ending of their career as firemen.

The Mohawk Fire Company was formed in the spring of 1849. It had a short and turbulent life, and in the confusion the record of its birth was lost. The meeting-place of the company was in the three-story building northeast corner of Third Street and Cherry. Lambert F. Beatty was president and William S. Fraser secretary. The company was strong in numbers and contained many excellent men, giving promise of a career of usefulness, but a lawless element gained admission, after a time, and brawls, riots and, it was feared, incendiarism, resulted. On April 23, 1851, it was determined to disband.

The Independence Fire Company No. 8, organized with Lambert F. Beatty, president; William S. Fraser, secretary; and Joseph Wagner, treasurer. Among the early members were Jacob Prettyman, David Page, Thomas Stites, Andrew Stilwell, Francis E. Harpel, Restore Cook, John Wallace, Claudius W. Bradshaw, William H. Hawkins, Christopher J. Mines, Henry Bradshaw, William E. Walls, William Howard, Albert Dennis, Elwood Bounds, Samuel H. Stilwell, Albert V. Mills, Robert S. Bender, Lewis Yeager, Thomas McCowan and William W. Mines. The company met in a building at Third Street and Cherry for a year, when it was burned. Lewis Yeager gave the company free use of a lot on Third Street, above Cherry, where an engine-house of slabs, donated by Charles Stockham, was built. In 185e a lot on Cherry Street, above Third, was purchased and on it a frame house was built. This was used until 1859, when, owing to a defect in the title, the sheriff advertised the property for sale. When he reached the ground on the day of the sale he found the house, with its contents, and a number of the members of the company, on an adjoining lot belonging to James B. Dayton, who permitted the action. The following year, 1860, they bought and built, on the north side of Pine Street, above Fourth, a three-story brick, then the most complete fire-engine house in Camden, and which was sold for four thousand five hundred dollars to the city. The Independence was a hose company until June 4, l864, when they secured an Amoskeag engine, being the first fire-engine in use by the fire companies of Camden. Early in 1869 they purchased a larger engine and when the volunteer firemen were scattered, in the latter part of that year, they sold the Amoskeag to Millville, and the later purchase was kept until 1874, when it was sold to the city. Lambert F. Beatty and Timothy C. Moore were presidents of the Mohawk, and L.F. Beatty, John Wallace, William H. Hawkins, J. Kelly Brown, W.W. Mines and Edward Gilbert were presidents of the Independence, while its secretaries have been William L. Fraser, William W. Mines, Mortimer C. Wilson and Thomas McCowan; and the treasurers Joseph Wagner and Robert S. Bender, who, elected in 1854, served until October 13, 1874, when, with a roll of sixty members, they met, President Gilbert in the chair, paid all claims against them and formally disbanded.

The Shiffer Hose Company No. 1, was organized March 7, 1849, and recognized by the City Council August 30th of the same year. The original members of the company wore George W. Thompson, president; George F. Ross, secretary; Joseph Brown, W.W. Burt, Charles Cheeseman, Robert Maguire, Samuel Brown, John G. Hutchinson, Armstrong Sapp, Richard Cheeseman, Albert Robinson, George F. Ross, William Wallace. A fine hose-carriage was obtained from the Shiffler Hose Company, of Philadelphia, for the nominal sum of ten dollars. It was placed in a carpenter shop on Sycamore Street, below Third, and that remained the headquarters of the company until the two-story brick house on Fourth Street, below Walnut, was built. In March, 1852, the company was incorporated by William W. Burt, Armstrong Sapp, George W. Thompson, Robert Maguire, James Sherman, William Wallace, John G. Hutchinson, Samuel Brown and William Harris. John G. Hutchinson became president, and in 1857 was succeeded by Jacob C. Daubman, who held the position during the continuance of the company. On March 29, 1864, a new charter was obtained under the name of the Shiffler Hose and Steam Fire-Engine Company. A steam-engine was purchased, and the company maintained a high state of efficiency until disbanded, in 1869.

The New Jersey Fire Company was organized May 1, 1851, by James Carr, Samuel Ames, Thomas Butcher, Aaron Giles, John Wood, David H. Sparks, William Garwood, E.B. Turner, William Woodruff, Henry Coombs, Adam Newman and Caleb Clark. Henry Coombs was elected president and David H. Sparks secretary. On July 21, 1851, the company secured the engine which previously belonged to the Mohawk, and placed it in a stable near Broadway and Spruce Street, where it remained a considerable time, until better accommodations were secured on Walnut Street, above Fourth. A lot was subsequently bought on the south side of Chestnut Street, above Fourth, where a two-story, brick engine-house was built. The company was incorporated in 1854 and ceased to exist as an organization twelve years later. The presidents of this company in order of succession were Henry Coombs, James Carr, John Crowley, Joshua L. Melvin, Samuel Hickman, John Warrington, Jeremiah Brannon, Richard C. Mason, C. De Grasse Hogan.

Fairmount— United States.— On July 4, 1852, the Fairmount Fire Company was organized by William C. Figner (president), William J. Miller (secretary), Frederick Breyer (treasurer), William H. Hawkins, John W. Hoey, Henry A. Breyer and Alfred H. Breyer. They rented a one-story frame building on Pine Street, below Third, which the Shiffler had vacated, and the City Council gave them the old Fairmount engine. George W. Watson, Anthony R. Joline, Thomas Francis, John L. Ames, George W. Howard, William F. Colbert, Francis Fullerton, John S. Ross, Joshua Spencer, Lawrence Breyer, William H. Lane and James Scout were enrolled as additional members. On February 17, 1853, a charter of incorporation was obtained, and on February 10, 1854, the name of the company was changed to "United States Fire Company, No. 5." James Scout was chosen president, and George Deal, secretary. They secured a first-class engine, bought ground and built a commodious two-story frame house at No. 239 Pine Street, which continued to be the headquarters of the company until it disbanded, with the other volunteer fire companies, in 1869.

The Weccacoe Hose Company No. 2, was organized on March 15, 1858, by Allan Ward, Edward T. James, Edward J. Steer, John W. Garwood, George W. Thomas, Simeon H. Pine, Thomas C. Barrett, Thomas Ellis, John Thornton, and the following officers were elected: Thomas D. Laverty (president), Allan Ward (vice-president), Edward T. James (secretary) and E.J. Steer (treasurer). The headquarters of the company were with the Weccacoe Fire Company for nearly two years, and they removed to a stable belonging to Isaac Shreeve, near Hudson and Bridge Avenues, and later to De La Cour’s laboratory, on Front, near Arch. In 1863 they bought ground on Benson, above Fifth, at a cost of four hundred and fifty dollars, and erected a two-story building of brick, costing two thousand two hundred dollars. On February 2, 1860, the company was incorporated. In 1868 the company purchased a steam fire-engine at a cost of five thousand eight hundred dollars, which they expected to pay, by subscription, but the agitation of the question of a paid department prevented the collection of the money, and when they went out of service, in 1869, they were five thousand dollars in debt. Instead of disbanding, they resolved to maintain the organization until every obligation was liquidated and the honor of the company sustained. To do this they utilized their assets, met regularly and contributed as if in active service, and after fourteen years of honest effort, September 8, 1883, they met, and after paying the last claims against them, amounting to $14.25, adjourned.

SOURCE: Page(s) 425-444, History of Camden County, New Jersey, by George R. Prowell, L.J. Richards & Co. 1886
Published 2010 by the Camden County Genealogy Project

1828-30 Samuel Laning.	1857-58. Benjamin A. Hammell.
1830-38 Gideon V. Stivers.	1858-60. Clayton Truax.
1838-40 Elias Kaighn.	1860-62. Thomas B Atkinson.
1840-44 Lorenzo F. Fisler.	1862-63. Paul C. Budd.
1844-45 John K. Cowperthwaite.	1863-64. Timothy Middleton.
1845-46 Charles Kaighn.*	1864-71. Paul C. Budd.
1846-48 Thomas B. Wood.	1867-71. Charles Cox.
1848-49 Benjamin A. Hammell.	1871-74. Samuel M. Gaul.
1849-51 Charles Sexton.	1874-76. John H. Jones.
1851-52 Lorenzo F. Fisler	1876-77. John Morgan.
1852-53 Charles D. Hineline.	1877-80. James W. Ayers
1853-55 Lorenzo F. Fisler.	1880-86. Claudius W. Bradshaw.
1855—56 Samuel Scull.	1886. Jesse Pratt.
1856-57 James W. Shroff.

1851. Richard W. Howell.	1873. John S. Read.
1854. Samuel Andrews.	1874. William C. Figner.
1859. Samuel Scull.	1876. Charles S. Ridgway.
1860. Samuel Andrews.	1877. John T. Bottomley.
1863. John R. Thompson.	1880. William Ables.
1865. Jesse Hall.	1881. James P. Michellon.
1867. Benjamin F. Archer.	1882. John W. Donges.
1868. Thomas C. Knight.	1883. John H. Dialogue.
1870. Henry B. Wilson.	1884. James M. Stradling.
1871. Samuel Iszard.	1885. Frederick A. Rex.
1872. Josiah S. Hackett.	1886. Jonathan Duffield.

1828. John K. Cowperthwaite.	1862. Joseph J. Moore.
1840. James W. Sloan.	1865. Isaac L. Lowe.
1848. Philip J. Grey.	1866. Robert Folwell.
1850. Jonathan Burr.	1868. Levi B. Newton.
1853. Wm. D. Hicks.	1871. Charles Cox.
1856. Thomas B. Atkinson.	1874. Paul C. Budd.
1859. Eleazer J. Toran.	1877-86. Benj. M. Braker.

1828. Samuel Ellis.	1858. Alexander A. Hammell.
1829. William W. Butler.	1859. Samuel W. Thomas.
1831. Thomas Green.	1866. Joseph C. Nichols.
1832. Josiah Harrison.	1872. Frederick W. Tarr.
1843. Thomas H. Dudley.	1873. Joseph C. Nichols.
1844. Thomas W. Mulford.	1874. Joseph Bontemps.
1850. Alfred Hugg.	1876. Frederick W. Tarr.
1851. Joseph Myers.	1877. Frank F. Michellon.
1856. Alfred Hugg.	1882. Richard C. Thompson.
1857. William J. Miller.	1884. D. Cooper Carman.

1828. Reuben Ludlum.	1858. Charles S. Garrett.
1829-38. Isaac Smith.	1859. Reilly Barrett.
1838-42. Josiah Harrison.	1860. Isaac H. Porter.
1843. Thomas H. Dudley.	1861-63. Reilly Barrett.
1844. Thomas W. Mulford.	1864-65. Abner Sparks.
1845. Jesse Smith.	1866-74. Samuel Hufty.
1846-50. Thomas W. Mulford.	1874. Randal E. Morgan.*
1851. Thomas H. Dudley.	1875. James W. Wroth.
1852-53. Alfred Hugg.	1878. Joseph A. Porter.
1854-55. Isaac H. Porter.	1881. Richard F. Smith.
1856. James B. Dayton.	1884. Frank F. Michellon.
1857. Isaac H. Porter.

1828.	Samuel Laning, James W. Sloan, John K. Cowperthwaite, Gideon V. Stivers.	1839.	Wm. J. Hatch, Lorenzo F. Fisler.
1829.	Isaac Smith.	1844.	Charles Kaighn.
1833.	Joseph W. Cooper.	1846.	Thomas B. Wood.
1834.	Robert W. Ogden, Richard Fetters.	1848.	Philip J. Grey, Edward Browning.
1835.	Elias Kaighn.	1849.	Aula McAlla, Ellis B. Hall.
1837.	Isaac Wilkins.	1850.	Charles Sexton, James W. Shroff.
1838.	Isaiah Toy.

1871-77 A. Clifford Jackson.	1883-86. William H. Rightmire.
1877-83. George M. Thrasher.

1851-54. James B. Dayton.	1864-66. George M. Robeson.
1855. Thomas P. Carpenter.	1868-70. Alden C. Scovel.
1856-57. Thomas H. Dudley.	1872-75. Alfred Hugg.
1858. Peter L. Voorhees.	1878-81. James E. Hayes.
1859-63. George M. Robeson.	1884. J. Willard Morgan.

1871. William W. Mines.	1880. James S. Woodward.
1872. Thomas B. Atkinson.	1883. John E. Smith.
1874. Christopher J. Mines.	1886. William H. Cole.

1851. John W. Potts.	1861-62. Timothy Middleton.
1852. James H. Lowery.	1863. Samuel Conrow.
1853. Peter S. Elliott.	1864-66. John W. Campbell.
1854-56. Henry Belsterling.	1867-69. J. Kelly Brown.
1857-58. John Y. Hoagland.	1870. Claudius W. Bradshaw.
1859-60. Edmund Shaw.

1871. Daniel W. Curliss.	1880. Josiah Matlack.
1874. William H. Hemsing.	1886. Harry H. Franks.
1877. Charles F. Daubman.

Chapter II Municipal History

Chapter II
Municipal History