USA > New Jersey > Biographical, genealogical and descriptive history of the first congressional district of New Jersey, Volume I > Part 7
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Woodbine Improvement Company expends eleven hundred dollars a month in salaries to its employes and nine hundred dollars monthly to pupils for food and clothing. In the last two years thirty thousand dollars has been expended annually for buildings. The tax realized on the land in its unim- proved state was seventy-two dollars, and now the sum of eighteen hundred dollars is paid, not including the industries, which are not taxed. The Wood- bine Improvement Company has invested altogether about three hundred and fifty thousand dollars at Woodbine, and, in addition to this, private in- vestments have been made in town property to the value of one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars, and in farm property forty thousand dol- lars. In 1897-8 sixty houses were built, and these are sold on the installment plan at reasonable rates. In the former years fifteen thousand dollars was expended for school improvements; in 1898 twenty-three thousand more; and in 1899 twenty-six thousand dollars additional. An agricultural school building is now being erected, at a cost of twenty-three thousand dollars, and will accommodate two hundred and fifty pupils, while cottages for the teach- ers are being erected, at a cost of thirty-five hundred dollars. Other im- provements being made are a laundry and greenhouses, costing two thousand and fifteen hundred dollars respectively.
HISTORY OF THE SCHOOL.
The work which is being done in the school under the able direction of Professor Sabsovich is most valuable to the community. In the winter of 1893 a few of the brightest boys of the neighborhood, the sons of the Wood- bine farmers, were engaged in clearing and improving the land of the present school-farm, No. 60, and private lessons in English, arithmetic and other general subjects, were given them. For the benefit of these boys and their parents, a series of lectures on practical agricultural subjects, accompanied by stereopticon views, were given once a week during the winter months. The result of these lectures was so encouraging that it was decided to build a large barn on the farm, and use the upper floor as a lecture room. During the erection of the building in the spring of 1894 it was deemed advisable to change it to its present shape. The space for the stables was reserved for a woodwork shop, and the remainder of the first floor converted into a tool room, office and shed. The upper floor was divided into a storage room and a lecture room, each twenty-five by thirty feet. Later two greenhouses, a root cellar, a barn for six head of cattle and some poultry houses were built. With the exception of the main building all the others were erected with the aid of pupils. The improvements on the farm, including the planting of trees and of standard crops, were also made by them. From the beginning
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continual improvement has been made in the course of study and the work carried on. The students are instructed in the English language, arithmetic, drawing, history, geography, physics, chemistry, botany, bookkeeping and correspondence, geometrical drawing, land measuring, zoology and ento- mology, meteorology, and anatomy and physiology. All these gave them an understanding of the underlying principles of the practical work which is done on the farm, and, in addition, instruction is given concerning soils and crops, manures and fertilizers, feeds, the selection and care of domestic animals, horticulture, floriculture, landscape gardening, market gardening, dairying and farm implements and machinery, and the relation of forestry to agriculture. All this is accompanied by practical instruction in field, meadow, garden and orchard, together with work in the shops, so that a knowledge of mechanics, so necessary to the farmer in the care and repair of machinery, may be acquired. The girls in the school largely study the same course save that some of the instruction pertaining more to man's outdoor work is omitted and that pertaining to the work of the household is substituted, in- cluding instruction in the chemistry of foods and cookery, hygiene and nurs- ing and household economics and household sanitation. Many of the prod- ucts and productions of the farm, prepared or raised by the pupils of the school, have won prizes at the Cape May county fairs, and no other agency has done so much to promote the interests of the farmer in this section of the state as the Baron de Hirsch Agricultural and Industrial School. Its super- intendent is a man of broad general as well as scientific knowledge, and underlying his intellectual achievements is a genuine and deep-rooted sym- pathy for his fellow men and a kindly spirit that prompts him to put forth strong efforts to promote the welfare of the race and to introduce such meas- ures and improvements as will contribute to their general happiness and prosperity.
WILLIAM J. THOMPSON.
Perhaps no citizen of New Jersey is more widely known than this gentle- man, who in the affairs of life has won a remarkable success and is now numbered among the millionaires of his adopted state. His prosperity has come to him as the reward of careful management and sound judgment that is rarely, if ever, at fault, of unabating energy and honorable business meth- ods. He is to-day one of the extensive land-owners of Camden county, and is connected with many of the most important business interests of this sec- tion of the state. It is said that the man who each night pays over his counters hundreds of employes, does more for his country than the com-
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mander who leads a regiment forth to battle, for the former furnishes the means of life to hundreds of families and promotes the general prosperity and welfare of the community in which his enterprises are centered.
Ireland has furnished to America many of her very successful men, and W. J. Thompson is one of the native sons of the Emerald Isle, his birth hav- ing occurred in county Derry, October 15, 1848. His father was Patrick Thompson, also a native of county Derry, where fourteen generations of the family were born in the same house. The grandfather, Dominick Thompson, was a prominent citizen of that community and a well-known contractor. He took part in the Irish rebellion of 1798, and on account of his activity in the hostilities was forced to flee to the United States, where he became one of the contractors who constructed the Market street bridge in Philadelphia. His brothers William and John served in the colonial army in the war of American independence. For many generations the family owned a large tract of land, which was purchased of Captain Murry, one of Cromwell's offi- cers, who had received it from the great commoner. Patrick Thompson, the father of our subject, was also a prominent man in his day and generation and for some time served as a tax collector in the town in which he lived. He died in 1887, and his wife, who bore the maiden name of Bridget Mallon, passed away in 1892.
W. J. Thompson, of this review, was only thirteen years of age at the time of his emigration to America. He landed in New York and thence proceeded to Boston, where he was employed in a store for a short time. He then entered a soda-bottling establishment, and before leaving that place a few months later, he was given charge of the works. After a year spent in New York he came to Philadelphia and had charge of the billiard tables in the Continental Hotel, and later was made the manager of the billiard room. In 1867 he entered the employ of Captain Frank T. Osborne, a well known restaurant proprietor, who soon placed him in charge of the business, where he remained for two years. He next became a bar-keeper in the American House, and in 1869 opened a hotel on Chestnut street, which became famous as "The Hole in the Day" and was a great resort for politicians.
In February, 1870, Mr. Thompson married Miss Sarah E. Sweeny, and on the 17th of March of that year, leased the Buena Vista Hotel in Glouces- ter, Camden county, New Jersey. In 1872 he built the Thompson House of the same place and about this time leased the shad-fishing grounds in the Delaware river. A little later he purchased these, together with the whole front of the Delaware river from the Gloucester Ferry south to a point beyond Washington Park,-a valuable fishing water front of three and a half miles.
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In 1888 he purchased the Gloucester Ferry and built the Camden, Glou- cester & Woodbury Street Railway. For many years one of his principal interests has been the development of Washington Park, a beautiful resort, in many ways unparalleled throughout the entire country. He first visited the place in 1866, and recognizing its possibilities determined that some day he would buy it and transform it into the park which now furnishes enjoy- ment to so many thousands of people annually. He has here five hundred acres of land, and the place is supplied with merry-go-rounds, chutes and all kinds of amusements which contribute to the pleasure of both old and young. One of the most noted bands of the country, Libretti's New York Band, of one hundred pieces, has been engaged for the past four years to give after- noon and evening concerts in the park, at the rate of two thousand dollars a week. An electric fountain was constructed, at a cost of seventy-five thou- sand dollars. Fire-works add to the attractiveness of the place, and nothing for the comfort and convenience of the patrons is lacking. This park is un- equaled by any other park in the entire country. It is celebrated for the good order always maintained there, and for this reason is patronized by the best class of people. On the Fourth of July, 1899, there were one hundred and twenty-five thousand people upon the grounds! The park is a favorite resort with the Philadelphia people, being easily reached by electric cars and by steamboats. It is beautifully located on the Delaware river, just across the Gloucester county line, and several fine steamers carry passengers to and from the city. Every summer Mr. Thompson sets aside two days for the entertainment of the poor at the park. One day he entertains the poor chil- dren of Philadelphia, another of Camden and Gloucester, while each of the charitable homes of Philadelphia have a day set apart for their special use. On these days the steamers and trolley cars bring the visitor to the grounds free of charge, and no charge is made for any of the amusements, everything being free for the use of thousands to whom fate has not vouchsafed great happiness. He has had sixty thousand poor children from Philadelphia here in a single day. The improvements made on the park have cost altogether one million dollars. He uses as a hotel the old colonial mansion of General Howell, the first governor of New Jersey, and it is still in a perfect state of preservation.
Mr. Thompson also has two hundred and fifty acres of land in the South Jersey Jockey Club Race Track, which he reclaimed from the river Delaware. He conducted races there, very successfully, for many years. He also owns a seaside resort of several hundred acres near Long Branch, on which are many beautiful cottages and hotels, the place being called Harvey Cedars. He is the proprietor of Fort Nassau, near Gloucester, where the first settle-
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ment of the Delaware river was made in 1662, and his home, located in Gloucester, is one of the most beautiful residences in the southern part of the state. It is located on the Delaware bank and commands a beautiful view of the stream and surrounding country. On his three and a half miles of water front he has two shad fisheries, with nets three miles long, which they haul four times a day, catching four thousand shad at a haul. People come for miles to see this wonderful fishing, which indeed is a marvelous catch.
With many other enterprises Mr. Thompson is also associated. He is largely interested in the lumber business in Alabama, being the president of the Mobile Sawmill & Lumber Company, which has the finest plant of the kind in the country. He is an extensive stockholder in many mines in the west, is the treasurer and the heaviest stockholder in the Camden, Glouces- ter & Woodbury Electric Railway, is the treasurer and the principal owner of the stock of the Philadelphia & Gloucester Ferry Company, and has been the supporter of other business interests which have contributed largely to the general welfare.
In his political affiliations Mr. Thompson is a stalwart Democrat, and was the recognized leader of his party in this section of the state for many years. He served as a delegate to the national conventions in St. Louis and Chicago, when President Cleveland was nominated for the second and third times. In 1892 he was elected to the New Jersey legislature, where he served for two terms, during which time he was the controlling spirit in the house. He deserves great credit for the fact that he was instrumental in inaugurating the stone-road movement in Camden county, which resulted in securing good roads throughout the southern section of the state. He did this while serving as a member of the board of freeholders from the second ward of Gloucester, which position he filled for fourteen years. He has also been a representative of that ward in the city council for seventeen years. Many times he has refused to accept federal offices, preferring to devote his ener- gies to his business interests, but was in the New Jersey legislature during one of its most memorable sessions.
By his marriage to Miss Sweeny, Mr. Thompson became the father of ten children, five of whom are living, as follows: W. J., a lawyer of Camden; Sadie E., John S., Leon A. and Rufus B., all at home. One son, Rich J., now deceased, was a very bright boy and greatly assisted his father, having charge of the finances of the park. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson are very chari- table people and are devout members of the Catholic church. In the sum- mer time they distribute many vegetables among the poor, and in the winter many loads of coal sent by them find their way to the homes of the needy ones in Camden and Gloucester. Mr. Thompson rightly believes in giving
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CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY. 67
work to the poor when they desire it and never refuses to furnish some kind of employment to the man who seeks it. He has had as high as one thou- sand men in his employ, and throughout the past ten years has always had at least six hundred men in his employ. He is very kind-hearted, yet when necessity demands it can be very stern in his dealings with others. He never in any way discourages or ill-treats the man who is down, believing it to be the duty of people to raise the fallen rather than to force them to remain in the depths which they have reached. He contributes most liberally to chari- table and benevolent associations, yet his giving is not ostentatious, and much of it is never known to the public. His success has been truly remark- able, but is largely due to his honesty in all business transactions. Though he started out in life as a poor boy, he is to-day a millionaire, and being a man of broad humanitarian principles many thousands have benefited by his pros- perity.
THOMAS J. CRAVEN.
In the picturesque old country of Yorkshire, England, the Craven family has been established for many generations, and its representatives have figured not inconspicuously in the history of the British empire, holding prestige on the score of sterling worth of character and marked intellectuality. From the Cravens of Yorkshire the immediate subject of this review is descended, and while he may well feel a distinctive pride in his English lineage, yet even greater may be the satisfaction with which he reverts to the ancestral iden- tification with annals of the American republic, for the original American representative of the name took up his abode here in the early colonial days, and through successive generations the name has granted honor to and received honor from this nation.
Thomas Craven, the emigrant ancestor, came to the New World from London, England, in 1730. He was a mån of fine intellectual gifts, having received his education in Oxford College. He was by profession a tutor after coming to America and was employed in that capacity in the College of New Jersey, at Princeton, attaining a position of distinction in connection with educational work. He died in Amwell, Hunterdon county, New Jer- sey, after a long and useful life. Thomas Craven married Elizabeth Walling, of Monmouth county, New Jersey, and they became the parents of eight children, of whom we make brief record as follows: Anna, who was born in 1737, died unmarried, at Ringoes, New Jersey, at an advanced age; Thomas, born in 1739; John, who was born July 3, 1741, was the great- grandfather of the subject of this sketch: Miriam, was born in 1743 and
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died in 1785; Gershom, who was born in 1745 or 1746, married Rebecca Quick. He was a physician by profession and won distinction as a surgeon in Washington's army during the war of the Revolution. It is worthy of note that certain of Gershom Craven's descendants have won dis- tinction in connection with military and naval affairs, the Cravens in the navy of the United States at the present time being representatives of the line, while others have become prominent as engineers. Dr. Gershom Cra- ven resided for many years at Ringoes, New Jersey, where he was a prom- inent member of St. Andrew's Protestant Episcopal church. Samuel Craven, the sixth child in the family of Thomas and Elizabeth (Walling) Craven, was born in 1749 and died in infancy. William, born in 1751, became a purser in the United States navy. Joseph, born in 1754, was accidentally killed while a student at Princeton College.
John Craven, the great-grandfather of him whose name initiates this article, was an official in the navy department of the government during Madison's administration and many years afterward. His death occurred in the capital city of the nation, where his remains were interred in the Congressional cemetery. He married Ann Stewart, a daughter of Dr. David Stewart, of Port Penn, Delaware, and they became the parents of one son and three daughters, namely: Thomas, Mary, Isabella and Eliza R. After the death of his first wife Mr. Craven consummated a second union, being united to Ann Richardson, who bore him one son, Elijah R., who was a physician at the city of Washington, but who died early, leaving a son of the same name, who is a prominent Presbyterian clergyman. He had charge of a church for forty years at Newark, New Jersey, but is now on the presbytery board at Philadelphia. John Craven died November 5, 1829. Thomas Craven, grandfather of Thomas J., was a prominent and influential farmer of Newcastle county, Delaware. He married Nancy Aspril, and they became the parents of the following named children: Thomas, William, David S., Ann, Jefferson, Lydia, Jones, John, Mary and Joseph. The father was born in 1761, and his death occurred in 1814; his wife, who was born in 1775, died in 1851.
David Stewart Craven, the father of our subject, was born at Port Penn, Delaware, on the 28th of July, 1802, and his death occurred February 17, 1862. On the first of March, 1831, he married Rebecca Jane Vandegrift, of Dutch extraction, and they became the parents of three children, namely: Mary, who was born in 1831, died in 1878, unmarried; John E., born in 1834, died in the same year; and John V., who was born January 18, 1840, is associated in business with Thomas J., our subject.
Thomas Jenkins Craven was born at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on the
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY. 69
29th of October, 1837, but was reared in Newcastle county, Delaware, where he received his preliminary education, after which he completed a course of study at Delaware College, at Newark, Delaware, graduating at that insti- tution in 1858. On leaving college he became prominently identified with agricultural interests in Newcastle county, but came to Salem, New Jersey, in 1880, and in this place has become recognized as a representative citizen and business man, being identified with one of the most important industrial enterprises of the thriving and beautiful little city. There is no industry for which Salem is more justly and widely celebrated than that of the manufac- ture of glass. The greatest progress has marked the history of the leading concerns engaged in the business, and their works, in extent and equipment, rival any found in New Jersey.
The Salem Glass Works, of which Mr. Craven is at present the president of the operating company, were founded in 1862 by Hall, Pancoast & Craven, who were succeeded in 1879 by John V. Craven. The expansion of the enterprise led to the incorporation of the present company in 1895. The subject of this review became identified with the business in 1881, associating himself with his brother, John V. Craven, under the firm title of Craven Brothers, which obtained until the incorporation of the present stock com- pany, styled the Salem Glass Works. The officers of the company are as follows: Thomas J. Craven, president; D. Barton Bullock, treasurer; Louis Pancoast, secretary; while the directorate comprises John V. Craven, D. Stewart Craven, Thomas J. Craven, D. Barton Bullock and Louis Pancoast. The company have two large plants, one on Third and one on Fourth street, covering an area of nearly eight acres. The five large factory buildings are thoroughly equipped with the latest improved machinery and appliances for the rapid and economical production of hollow glass-ware. The works combined have a capacity for turning out about five hundred gross of various- sized bottles each day, and an average force of four hundred skilled opera- tives is regularly employed. The output of the great factory is of superior quality, and the products find a ready demand in all sections of the Union. Fronting on Fourth street, the company have a general store, which is stocked with a complete assortment of dry goods, groceries, provisions, fur- nishing goods, boots and shoes and miscellaneous merchandise, and here the employees of the concern, as well as the general public, are able to secure reliable goods at most reasonable prices, this adjunct of the business being one which is duly appreciated by the many workmen employed in the fac- tories of the company. The enterprise is one which has marked influence on the progress and material prosperity of the city, and Salem's position as a
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manufacturing center has been greatly advanced by the operations of the Salem Glass Works.
In the year 1862 Mr. Craven was united in marriage to Esther C. How, the daughter of Rev. James C. How, for twenty-five years the pastor of the Presbyterian church of St. George's, Delaware. and they became the parents of seven children: Henry, who was born in 1863, died in 1888; John, born in 1865, died in 1866; Samuel H., born in 1867, died within the succeeding year; Letitia H. was born in 1871; David Stewart was born in 1873; Mary B. was born in 1875; and Jane V. was born in 1877. The death of Mrs. Craven occurred in the year 1879, and on the 27th of September, 1882, Mr. Craven was united in marriage to Mrs. Isabel James, nee Ford, a daughter of David Ford, a prominent manufacturer of Philadelphia, where his death occurred in 1858, at the age of forty years. He was a representative of one of the old families of Newcastle county, Delaware, where he was born. He mar- ried Miss Lydia Donnally, and they had three children: Albert M., who resides in Salem, New Jersey: Irene, who died at the age of seven years; and Isabel (Mrs. Craven), who was born in Philadelphia, September 13, 1847. Mrs. Craven was educated at Wilmington, Delaware, and is widely known as a woman of many accomplishments and gracious dignity. She holds a position of distinct prominence in social circles of various orders, and her talent and gentle refinement have given her a marked popularity. She is a member of the Society of Colonial Dames, and is the president of the New Jer- sey branch of this organization. Mrs. Craven is also the president of the board of lady visitors of the Training School for Feeble- Minded Children at Vine- land, this state, an institution in which she takes much interest, together with other philanthropic and charitable work. She has taken a very lively interest in the work of the society, and has been a leader in other organiza- tions. She was formerly vice president of the State Federation of Women's Clubs of New Jersey, and was one of the founders of the Woman's Club of Salem, of which she formerly served as president. Mrs. Craven also repre- sents the first congressional district of New Jersey in the George Washing- ton Memorial Association, whose principal object is to secure the establish- ment of a memorial university at the national capital.
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