USA > New Jersey > Cape May County > Ocean City > Ocean City [N.J] guide book and directory 1895 > Part 3
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Councilman S. B. Sampson.
Councilman Sampson was born at Smith's Landing and educated in the public schools of Atlantic county. His early
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life is marked by close and quiet attention to all his undertak- ings. He came to Ocean City in 1880 and was the first con- tracting builder to locate on the island. The first house of any considerable size, the Bellevue, was built by him for I. B. Smith. Councilman Sampson bought the first lots and erected a beauti_ ful home on Fourth street, near Asbury avenue, in 1880. This he is constantly improving and adorning. He was for awhile a member of the firm of Sampson, Steelman & English, but sub- sequently withdrew and is now conducting business for himielf. He has a thorough practical knowledge of his pursuit and has built up his trade upon the merits of his own labor. He lias been twice elected to the office which he now fills. Councilman Sampson is slow in encouraging questionable enterprises, never giving his vote until the matter has been well considered, thus frequently bringing about the result of a great saving of the city's money, while every substantial improvement at once calls forth his full sanction and aid. His effective work has been felt and acknowledged by the community and has invariably inet with approbation.
Councilman Henry Clay Sutton.
Councilman Sutton was born near the old historic land- mark, the Red Lion, dear to the hearts of all Delawarians, and located about twelve miles from Wilmington, August 22, 1849. While yet in his infancy his parents removed to Greenwood farın, at Sınyrna, Delaware, where he grew to man's estate, receiving the educational advantages of the public schools of his day. His natural ability as a railroader was early demonstrated, and he became one of the most efficient employees of the West Jersey Railroad. When very young, he made application and secured a position as clerk with the Adams Express Company, in Philadelphia, subsequently entering railroad service as train baggage-master, which position he held many years. Mr.
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Sutton became a permanent resident of Ocean City in 1884, the year of its incorporation. He has identified himself with the First Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he is an active and honored member. As a citizen, Mr. Sutton was fully alive to all those ineasures which tend toward the growth and pros- perity of the city. He is thoroughly conscientious, and in the work which lies before him, aided by keen discrimination and fine ability, he will be relied upon by the reputation lie lias earned in the past for honest, earnest councilmanic labor.
Councilman I. S. Champion.
No city, 110 matter how great her natural resources, ever rose to any degree of prosperity that did not owe the credit of hier position to the men within her limits, their ability to develop these resources and create new enterprises. To those who have faith in her future, who contribute substantially toward her prosperity by investing capital and identifying themselves in every possible manner with her interests, the question of failure is not only improbable, but impossible. Councilman Champion is a staunch believer in a bright future for Ocean City. He is a Philadelphian by birth and education ; he pursued a course of study at Pennington, N. J., and subse- quently graduated from Eastman's National Business College, Poughkeepsie, N. Y. He was elected to the office of Council- 111a1 in the Spring of 1895. Equipped with a fine business education, his surroundings are such as to call into play every faculty in that line. Councilman Champion is the proprietor of the most popular Ice Cream Parlors in the city, and conducts tlie largest inilk route. His ice cream has a reputation that makes any other kind almost unsalable, while the demand else- where has created an extensive wholesale trade.
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Ex-Mayor H. G. Steelman.
Ex-Mayor Steelman was born at Weymouth, N. J., and educated in the public schools of that town. He came to Ocean City in 1888, and immediately engaged in the grocery business at 705 Asbury avenue. The building in which he commenced was soon too small to meet the requirements of a rapidly grow- ing trade, and a large building was then erected on the site of the old one ; the second floors are fitted up for a public hall and Council Chamber and private offices, and the third floor for lodge rooms. In 1884 he sold out his grocery business, and with A. Bourgeois established tlie fırın of H. G. Steelman & Co., lumbermen. The large yard and offices are located on Eighth street below the West Jersey Railroad station. Ex- Mayor Steelman held the position of City Treasurer and was otherwise made the recipient of public confidence previous to the time of holding the highest municipal office, when, to a great extent, the city was in a formative state and new questions of policy continually presenting themselves. When we take into consideration to how great a degree the growth of a city depends upon the quality and amount of energy and vitality with which the men controlling her destiny must be imbued, we have some idea of the confidence reposed in him by his many friends.
Ex-Councilman J. C. Steelman.
Ex-Councilman Steelinan has served the city in the capacity mentioned for two terins, the last one expiring in the spring of the present year. He was born in South Jersey and lias always lived near the island upon which Ocean City is located. He learned his trade in Atlantic City and is the senior member of the firm of Steelman & English, carpenters and builders. Mr. Steelman is well versed. both by thorough training and the
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advantages of practical experience, in the principles and details of this branch of industry. The most creditable results of his work may be seen in a large number of the cottages, stores and hotels that adorn the streets and avenues. Four years ago he designed and built the present board-walk along the strand. Previous to that time the close proximity of the structure to the ocean, and the constant encroaching of the water upon the land, made the destruction of the board-walk at some tme dur- ing the year almost a certainty. This is the first one in the history of the city that has withstood the ravages of the ocean storms. It stands to-day intact, though it has undergone in tliat time some severe tests.
Ex-Councilman J. F. Hand.
In all cities, whether inland or on the seaboard, there are 110 more efficient and substantial factors toward their comfort and beauty than the work of those engaged in the building inter- ests. In growing cities, especially, men who are conversant with architecture and building in a practical sense are valuable acquisitions. Ex-Councilman Hand is one of these. The first work for which he was called to the city was the erection of the artistic little cottage, "Holiday." Among the buildings which he has erected since are the M. E. Church and Rev. B. H. Sanderlin's handsome residence and many others whose beauty of workmanship at once denotes the builder. Mr. Hand was born at Tuckerton, N. J., attended the public schools, but fin- ished his education at Pennington Seminary. He is a nephew of the late Mrs. S. J. C. Downs, State President of the Women's Christian Temperance Union of New Jersey. He lias travelled extensively up and down the coast, was engaged by the Long Island Railroad Company and also by the United States Gov- ernment to erect buildings.
WILLIAM LAKE, C.E.
RESIDENCE OF HENRY REINHART, Eleventh St. and Central Ave.
VEE
R. H. THORN, POSTMASTER.
1
R. H. THORN'S STORES AND RESIDENCE.
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W. Lake, C. E.
When new land is to be utilized, Nature, in her economny, calls forth inen best adapted to the work-those fearless of heart, strong of arm and skilled in the peculiar craft of a pro- cess of evolution which changes it into the streets and avenues of a well-planned city. Mr. Lake was born at Bargaintown, April 27, 1838. Not satisfied with the educational advantages of the day, he pursued a course of study by himself, and at an early age was teaching in the public schools. He chose the profession of a civil engineer, received an appointment when very young, and has successfully followed this calling ever since. Mr. Lake has held numerous township offices, and in 1863 was appointed Commissioner of Deeds. In 1875 he was appointed Master in Chancery, and the same year elected to the office of Justice of the Peace of Atlantic county, which position he held till his removal to Ocean City. His pioneer work in this place is best estimated by a knowledge of the fact that lie has surveyed every foot of the island and examined every origi- nal title from 1695 down to 1879, at which time it was purchased by the Ocean City Association, and has drawn off 2,000 deeds. Surely, he may be termed one of the city fathers. The position which he has attained is an illustration to the rising generation of the power that lies within one's self to develop the attributes with which Nature has endowed him, and bring forth brilliant and lasting results.
Postmaster R. H. Thorn.
Mr. Thorn was born and educated in Frankford, Philadel- phia, and became a resident of Ocean City, May 4th, 1885, at which time he opened a hardward and furnishing store at the corner of Eighth street and Asbury avenue. In 1887, he pur- chased two lots adjoining the one lie then occupied, and built 3
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store No. 805 Asbury avenue. In 1890, he bought the stand where he commenced business, and in 1891 built another store (No. 803 Asbury avenue) between the two already completed, together with a dwelling house facing on Eighth street. Thus, in less than seven years, from a foundation cautiously but firmly laid, has grown one of the most brilliant business enterprises of the city. His large stores contain everything in the line men- tioned, and are very largely patronized by the summer residents in furnishing their cottages, as well as by the local trade. Possessed of keen, demonstrated business ability, he has risen to the position he now occupies by his own efforts. Public- spirited movements are tendered his endorsement and support. Every new project and enterprise calculated to benefit the com- munity, or prove conducive to the public welfare, is aided and encouraged. He has served as councilman, and on October 10th, 1887, was appointed to the position of postmaster. He was again appointed to the position he now holds September 16th, 1893. Mr. Thorn is most efficiently aided in all his work by the faithful and untiring efforts of his wife, a daughter of the late E. Smith, recently a large property holder in Ocean City.
R. C. Robinson.
Mr. Robinson, editor and proprietor of the Ocean City Sentinel, and of the Ocean City Daily Reporter, is among the pioneers of the city. The latter paper is the first daily ever issued in the city and its wide circulation tells of the need felt by the public for a newspaper of its kind. Mr. Robinson was born in Atlantic County, N. J., in 1862. At sixteen years of age he entered a wholesale dry-goods house, but finding the business distasteful he engaged to learn the printing business in the Banner office, at Beverly, N. J. He then accepted a posi- tion with A. L. English, of the Atlantic Review, Atlantic City. Mr. Robinson was first in the employ and was then associated
R. C. ROBINSON,
Editor and Proprietor of the Ocean City Sentinel and the Ocean City Daily Reporter.
--
-
1
-
RESIDENCE OF R. C. ROBINSON.
C. MYERS, Eso.
RESIDENCE OF C. MYERS.
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with Mr. English in business for over six years. During this time he was editor and manager of the Mays Landing Record, and assistant editor of the Philadelphia journal Over the Moun- tains and Down by the Sea. He came to Ocean City in 1885, and forming a partnership with W. H. Fenton, purchased the Ocean City Sentinel, and in a short time became sole proprietor. In 1888 he represented Ocean City in the Board of Freeholders of Cape May county. He was appointed postmaster in 1889. Upon assuming the duties of this position, he immediately set about having the mail service extended and the office designated a money-order office, succeeding in both. He has recently added real estate and conveyancing to his business, and with an established reputation for just and honorable dealing, the outcome cannot but be already decided.
Charles Myers, Esq.
No more eloquent illustration can be given of the appreci- ation of the benison bestowed upon its people by a Republic, than in the respect and admiration given to its self-made inen. 'Squire Myers is one of these. He resides in a beautiful home at the corner of Eighth street and Wesley avenue, and is a large real estate owner in Ocean City. "By reason of strength," he has passed beyond the milestone of the allotted time of man nearly a sufficient number of years to attain his second majority, and yet little trace of age discloses itself in the carriage of his well-knit frame or the brilliancy of his mind. The 'Squire was born in France, but came to America in his early boyhood. He first obtained employment at Darby, Pa., and then in Philadel- phia, and was among the newsboys who sold the first edition of the Philadelphia Ledger. He learned his trade and profession, that of a printer, with W. S. Young, of Philadelphia, and was engaged with him for twenty-four years, eighteen years of the time in the capacity of superintendent. He afterwards engaged
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in business for himself. Forty-eight hours after the firing on Fort Sumter he was engaged in formning a military company. This company went to the front in the battles of Antietam and Gettysburg, and continued its organization till the surrender of Lee. He was afterward largely interested in coal oil and poli- tics, and was one of Philadelphia's aldermen, and a prominent real-estate agent and conveyancer of that city. Through vicis- situdes in youth which the present generation are unable to understand, over apparently insuperable barriers, he has won his way to success. Shorn of its presence in his own outward ap- pearance, he stands to-day amid patriarchal surroundings ; chil- dren to the fourth generation listen to reminiscences of his youth. His experience and wisdom of mature years lend a sparkling light to his rare gifts of genius, as the work of the lapidary develops the brilliancy of the diamond.
Gilbert E. Palen, Ph. B., M. D.
Dr. Palen, President of the Niagara Mining and Smelting Company, is a member of the Ocean City Association and has been its treasurer for a number of years. He invested largely in real estate, owns a number of handsome cottages and has been a regular summer resident since 1880. He was born at Palen- ville, N. Y. Dr. Palen first attended Brown University, going from thence to Yale, where he graduated with the degree of Ph. . B. in the famous class of '53. He pursued a medical course at the New York University which he subsequently completed at the Albany College, graduating from the latter in 1855 as a doc- tor of medicine. Dr. Palen is an inherent leader in the rugged work of laying the foundation of new enterprises and develop- ing interests in hitherto unexplored fields. The spirit of enthu- siasını which he diffuses into his work is tempered by cool delib- eration and clear, keen foresight. He also possesses an invalit- able attribute in a determination which submerges the barriers
G. E. PALEN, PH.B. M.D.
....
DR. PALEN'S RESIDENCE.
DR. PALEN'S WESLEY AVE. COTTAGE.
DR. PALEN'S OCEAN FRONT COTTAGES.
RUSH E. COX, GROCER.
CUPL WEST END. CO
THE ILLINOIS, MRS. H. D. CANFIELD, PROPRIETRESS.
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and sweeps away the obstructions which impede his progress toward success. In early life he obtained a thorough knowledge of the tanning business and in 1856, in what was then the pri- meval forests of northern Pennsylvania, amid the haunts of bear, deer and panther, he, together with G. W. Northrop, felled trees, cleared the land and built an oak tannery, at the same time laying out the town of Canadensis. In partnership with his brother he afterwards built tanneries at Tunkhannock, Pa. In 1876 he entered into partnership with Dr. Starkey, under the fırın name of Starkey and Palen, the former bringing into the concern the perfected compound oxygen system and the latter the requisite capital. From this time the business received an impetus which has carried it all over the world. Dr. Palen is an active and honored member of the M. E. Board of Church Ex- tension. He is also a great worker in the cause of temperance. His popularity is shown in the fact of his having been several times candidate for Mayor and Recorder on the Prohibition ticket. He gave his name and labor to a cause in which he knew that defeat only could be the present outcome, but with a fırın faith in the knowledge that these efforts are rapidly ad- vancing the work toward the time when the sword of legisla- tion shall be turned against the great evil of intemperance.
Rush E. Cox.
In reviewing the commercial interests and advantages of Ocean City, one is confronted by many enterprises worthy of extended notice and consideration. It is a fact, and one which merits more than passing observation, that in this thriving resort there are located inany establishments whose operations would reflect credit upon much larger cities. Again and again, in every calling and pursuit, examples are brought before our notice of the success of our young men.
Mr. Cox, son of A. E. Cox, one of the pioneer hotel keep-
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ers of the city, is one of these examples. He was born in New Egypt, N. J., and came to Ocean City December 10th, 1880. He was then but a boy under the paternal roof, and engaged in such work as the peculiar circumstances and surroundings of the place called for. He soon entered steamboat service, where he was employed but a short time, when he engaged in railroad work, in which he was rapidly promoted to the position of con- ductor of a passenger train, which position he held for five years on the W. J. R. R.
April 15th, 1893, he opened a grocery store in a mnuch- needed locality of the city, Twelfth street and Asbury avenue, where he is doing a thriving business. Mr. Cox carries a heavy stock of only the best groceries, and caters to the demands of the public in this direction in the most careful manner. Cour- teous and affable in his bearing, together with prompt and reli- able service, the result can only be success.
H. M. Kalbach, Electrician.
Mr. Kalbach, a nephew of the famous Gerinan Artist, Win. Von Kalbach, was born in Philadelphia, Pa., March gtlı, 1853, and educated in the public schools of that city. He early dis- played an inclination toward the study of the most powerful of the forces of nature, and first engaged in telegraphy. He soon developed by close application to the revelations made by science of this invisible agent, a knowledge which placed him on a high plane in the field of practical experimental observation, and he was given control of the first plant established to light Chestnut street, Philadelphia, from the Delaware river to the Schuylkill. The success of this well known venture estab- lished his reputation as an electrician, and lie afterwards spent a number of years traveling through Pennsylvania, New York and Ohio establishing plants. Mr. Kalbach came to Ocean City June, 1893, to assume control of the plant in this place,
H. M. KALBACH, ELECTRICIAN.
RESIDENCE OF JORDAN MATHEWS, 712 WESLEY AVENUE.
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and has since made great improvements in the facilities for lighting the city ; he has patented a lightning arrester for the protection of buildings, and is now engaged in perfecting an electro-magnetic railroad for running cars without overhead wires. Genial and affable in his bearing, he wins his way among men, while the inventive genius with which he is gifted must ever hold for him the admiration which the "magic of the mind " calls forth.
Ex-Mayor Dr. James E. Pryor.
Dr. Pryor, though a comparatively young man, may be classed among the pioneer residents of Ocean City, having lo- cated here in the summer of '88. He was born April 24, 1861, near Logansport, Indiana. His ancestors were among the sturdy, rugged settlers of what was then the western frontier. He re- ceived his preliminary education in the public schools of his city, and at the age of nineteen entered that department in the capacity of a teacher. While thus engaged he was also fitting himself for the medical profession, and subsequently entered the University Medical College, of Detroit, Michigan, receiving his degree in 1888. He commenced the active practice of medicine upon his arrival in Ocean City, and by his skill arose rapidly in popularity as a physician, and as a citizen as well, which fact was shown by his being elected to the office of Mayor of the city in 1890, on an Independent ticket, defeating his opponent, who had held the office for six consecutive years. During the winter of '90 and '91 he pursued a post-graduate course of medi- cine at the Philadelphia Polyclinic, and later a course of instruc- tion at the Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia. Dr. Pryor is earnestly devoted to his profession and is at all times an in- tense student. He has contributed largely to medical journals, and is well on the road to that success which is only reached in a physician's life by unremitting toil.
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Wrecks.
" Then 'rose from sea to sky the wild farewell- Then shrieked the timid and stood still the brave.
* * * Then all was hushed, Save the wild wind and the remorseless dash of billows."
OLLOWING the nature of a continent-building sea, the channels about Great Egg Harbor Bar, the treacherous shoals upon which incalculable damage has been done to life and property, are gradually closing up and new ones forming further out. It has not been many years since the salt-water pond, near the sand hills between Second and Third streets, was in the path of the old ship's channel ; the line of high water is dis- tinctly marked a number of feet back of the sand hills, by shells and drift, the entire length of the island. It seems impossible, while listening to the never-ending drama of the winds and waves, that we cannot wrest from the ocean some history of the havoc it has wrought, but never for a moment do the waters, in their ceaseless murmurs or deep-voiced thunders, reveal the tragedy of the ship that went down in a solitude so great that it was the only object, an infinitessimal speck, that varied the waste of waters from its appearance at the dawn of creation. Nor do the broken echoes along the shore bear any intelli- gence to us of those which, while not recorded, foundered in full view of human succor along the shore, powerless to reach them save by an appalled vision. As if in mockery of our desire to discern these mysteries, crushed and battered fragments are cast up, and we trace in these characters of drift-
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wood as best we may the secret the sea withholds. In this ·unbroken line, strewn with shattered spars, half-petrified or covered with shells, or perhaps still bearing the mute appeal for help in the tatters of the red flag upon the splintered top- mast, with portions of taffrail, keel and rudder, cordage covered with seaweed, rude, hand-wrought wooden pins and shining copper bolts, broken compasses, sailors' jackets and ship's furni- ture, fruits and merchandise from every country and nation in the world, fancy is powerless in her wildest flights to reach the truth. Slowly the caravels and fellucas of the early mariners pass before us in their creeping, timorous course. Of these there is little doubt but that the Dolphin, commanded by the dauntless Florentine navigator, Verrazzani, while skirting the coast of New Jersey, in 1524, turned her prow toward the Inlet and entered Great Egg Harbor. The triple-decked galleon plunges clumsily in her wake, and of these the Spanish Lagadere, with her freight of gold and silver coin, sank near Great Egg Harbor Inlet. The African slaver sails past with her freight of human souls, and we watch till she passes beyond the line of vision, knowing that the barracks and shackles of Perth Amboy will receive the living cargo. The low-built corsair or lugger of the Moorish pirate steals silently along with her swarthy crew, and glancing across the bay to Somers Point we remember an almost obliterated path leading near the old hos telries, that could tell strange tales of shipwreck, on out into the fields till it reaches a tiny graveyard surrounded by a low stone wall. In the centre stands an unpretending monument reared to the memory of Capt. Richard Somers, who perished in the famous attempt to rescue the crew of the Philadelphia in Tripolitan waters when Algerine piracy was at its height in the early part of the present century, while the lone cedar at the Anchoring Point near-by marks the spot where lie the bones of one of the most noted pirates of our own country. The name of Capt. Somers also recalls the well-known vessel which became the
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