The history of Camden county, New Jersey, Part 80

Author: Prowell, George Reeser, 1849-1928
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : Richards
Number of Pages: 1220

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1886 .- President, Walter M. Patton; Vice-Pres- ident, E. M. Howard, M.D .; Recording Secretary, John F. Seymour ; Treasurer, Harry M. Anderson ; Directors, Carlton M. Williams, Oscar C. Molan, E. H. Bryan, E. A. Armstrong, S. G. Wallace, B. L. Bonsall, W. F. Rose, J. E. Roberts, Charles L. Reeves, Christian Schrack, A. E. Street.

"The Ladies' Auxiliary of the Young Men's Christian Association," one of its noblest supports, was organized in the hall on the 15th of January, 1883, a preliminary meeting having been held on the 10th. At the second meeting the following officials were chosen for the year : President, Mrs. H. L. Hotchkiss; Vice-President, Mrs. Wilbur F. Rose; Treasurer, Mrs. Harris Graffen ; Secretary, L. W. Hurlbut. The Auxiliary from that date steadily grew in power for good, and it is now a most effective agency for the promotion of the ob- jects of the association.

CHURCH OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION .- The few Catholics residing in Camden nearly forty years ago were content to attend divine service in a poorly-furnished room in the old City Hall, which stood on the south side of Federal Street, above Fourth, where the present market is located.

There are not many now living who participated in those services, but the few who still remain have had the satisfaction of seeing the little mission grow to a congregation numbering four thousand souls, and possessing church property valued at two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

Rev. E. J. Waldron, who was attached to the Cathedral Parish, Philadelphia, is the first priest who is known to have attended to the spiritual wants of the Catholics of Camden. He celebrated, on every other Sunday, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in the old City Hall for some time, but it was deemed wise to select another place of wor- ship. The residence of the late Henry M. Innis, on the south side of Bridge Avenue, above Third

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HISTORY OF CAMDEN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

Street, was used for the purpose until more com- modious quarters were secured in Starr's Hall, which stood on Bridge Avenue, below Second Street, and was demolished some years ago to make room for the Pennsylvania Railroad yard. Mr. Jesse W. Starr kindly gave the worshippers the use of the room and divine service was celebrated there every other Sunday until a church was erected on the southeast corner of Fifth and Taylor Avenue, in 1859.

The laborious efforts of Father Waldron to secure funds for the erection of the Philadelphia Cathe- dral necessitated the transfer of the Camden mis- sion to Rev. William Donahoe. The latter suc-

CHURCH OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION.

ceeded in advaneing the work of his predecessor and was then called away to take charge of a church at Norristown, Pa.

From October, 1850, until the spring of 1853, Rev. H. B. Fiuigan, who was stationed at Glouces- ter, celebrated Mass in Camden and was succeeded hy Rev. J. N. Hanigan, also of Gloucester, who continued to attend the mission from May 1, 1853, until November 11th of that year. On this date Camden was formed into a separate parish, with Rev. James Moran as its first resident pastor. In 1857 a lot of ground on the southeast corner of Fifth and Taylor Avenue was purchased of W. D. Cooper, Esq., on which to erect a church. Ground was broken for the same on June 9, 1859, and in three months' time the building was completed. It

was built of brick and amply answered the wants of the growing congregation. The building is still standing and is now used as a Grand Army of the Republic hall.

It was called the Church of the Immaculate Conception and was dedicated by Right Rev. J. R. Bayley, Bishop of the Diocese of Newark, on No- vember 5, 1859. Father Moran continued in charge until 1863, when he was succeeded by the Rev. Patrick Byrne. The latter was not satisfied with the church at Fifth and Taylor Avenue and he wisely selected the lot of ground on the sontheast corner of Broadway and Market, upon which to erect a new and much handsomer edifice. Its cor- ner-stone was laid by the Right Rev. Bishop Bay- ley, on May I, 1864, and the name of the old church was transferred to the new one. It is one hundred and fifty-two feet long, sixty-five feet wide, is built of Trenton brown stone, with Con- necticut stone trimmings and represents the Eng- lish decorated Gothic style of architecture. Fath- er Byrne subsequently secured the entire block upon which the church stood and also a large plot of ground on the Moorestown pike, two miles from the Delaware River, for use as a cemetery.

In May, 1873, Rev. P. Byrne was transferred to St. John's Church, Trenton, by Right Rev. M. A. Corrigan, D.D., and Rev. P. Fitzsimmons took charge of the Church of the Immaculate Concep- tion, in this city, of which he is still rector. For some years previous to his coming the children of the parish were tanght in a brick building on Fed- eral Street, between Seventh and Eighth Streets. Seeing the urgent need of better accommodation, .he commenced, in May, 1874, the erection of a new school and Sisters' house on Broadway, and com- pleted them at a cost of nearly forty thousand dol- lars.

In September of the same year the Sisters be- longing to the Order of St. Joseph, having their mother's house at Chestnut Hill, Pa., opened the school in the new building and continued in charge till the summer of 1885, at which time they were succeeded by the Sisters of Mercy, from Borden- town, N. J.

During three years the membership of the congre- gation had been increasing and it was found neces- sary to make some addition to the church property. For this reason a square of ground was purchased in the Eighth Ward, on which was erected the Church of the Sacred Heart. A separate parish has been formed and Right Rev. M. J. O'Farrell has appointed Rev. William Lynch rector.

In 1880 Rev. P. Fitzsimmons engaged as teach- ers the Brothers of the Holy Cross, from Notre

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THE CITY OF CAMDEN.

Dame, Ind. They came to reside in the house he had specially built for their use on the church grounds, and have had charge of the boys' school since their arrival. By constant efforts this prop- erty has been improved, and at this moment it is acknowledged that no other congregation in this city possesses a church property equal to it in val- ue. The church members are not wealthy, but out of their slender means they have paid off a large debt and supported schools having an average at- tendance of four hundred and fifty children.

REV. P. J. FITZSIMMONS, of this church, was born in the year 1840, near the town of Virginic, County Cavan, Ireland, and received his early education at a national school in that town. At the age of sixteen he commenced his classical course in Mr. O'Reilly's school, and in 1859 entered All Hallows College, Dublin, and after three years' study there came to America, located in Quebec, Canada, and entered the Grand Semi- nary, where he was ordained to the priesthood in December, 1853. His first mission was in King- ston, Ont., where he worked two years and began his useful career. He was then promoted to the parish of Centreville, in that diocese, where he labored with success ; but owing to ill health and the severity of the climate, he was forced to seek another field of labor, and coming to New Jersey, entered upon mission work in Mount Holly. After some months he was transferred to St. Joseph's Church, Jersey City, to assist the Rev. A. Venuta, by Rt. Rev. Bishop Bayley. Two years later he was appointed to the parish of Dover, N. J., but ill health soon compelled him to go to Europe, where he remained nearly a year. After his return he went to St. John's Church, Trenton, and upon the death of Rev. John Mackin, the Rt. Rev. Bishop Corrigan appointed Rev. P. Byrne, rector of St. John's, and Father Fitzsimmons was trans- ferred in 1873 to the Church of the Immaculate Conception, where he has since labored zealously and effectively and done much to advance the interests of the parish, spiritually and materially.

ST. PETER'S AND ST. PAUL'S GERMAN CATHO- LIC CHURCH .- In 1867 a number of the German people of Camden, who had been worshipping in the Church of the Immaculate Conception, of this city, with a few persons who had been connected with other Roman Catholic Churches, met at the house of Anthony Kobus, at No. 419 Spruce Street. This meeting was under the supervision of Rev. Father Joseph Thurnes, of Egg Harbor, and was called for the purpose of appointing a commit- tee to select and purchase a suitable location for building a church, or a suitable building already

erected, for a place of worship. John Welsh, Val- entine Voll, Anthony Kobus and Anthony Voll were appointed as a committee. Soon after, hear- ing that the church property of the Second Baptist Church, on Fourth Street, could be obtained, the committee purchased it for the sum of four thou- sand dollars, in January, 1868. After a few alter- ations were made, the church was dedicated by Vicar-General McQuade, of the Diocese of New Jersey. Rev. Father Joseph Thurnes was placed in charge, and in a short time seventy families united with the congregation. A Sunday-school was organized, which meets in the basement of the church building. In 1869 the committee was au- thorized to enlarge this building. An extension of twenty feet to the rear was built, and other altera- tions and improvements were made the same year. Rev. Father Thurnes remained with the church until 1833. Under his care and supervision a parsonage, school-house and hall were built, and a day-school established, in which English and Ger- man were taught to a large number of pupils. Rev. Father Francis Neubauer and Rev. Father Peter Scharoun, of the Franciscan Order, then as- sumed charge of the church, and under their care the congregation has prospered and increased, and the schools have gained in numbers. All indeht- edness on the church has beeu canceled. About one thousand persons form the congregation, and three hundred children are taught in the Sunday- school and day-schools. The congregation is now preparing to erect a large and commodious house of worship.

CHAPTER VI.

THE SCHOOLS.

Early Schools in Camden-The Public-School System-The New Era-Progress since 1879-Newton Debating Society-Tbe Worth- ington Library-Private Schools-West Jersey Orphanage.

EARLY SCHOOLS IN CAMDEN .- It is impossible to give an accurate history of the earliest schools in Camden. The plan for the original town of Camden provided a site for a school-house, which was built during the period of the Revolutionary War. Some of the churches in early days sup- ported schools, and the Friends at all times, and even to-day, have supported excellently-managed schools in connection with their Meetings.

The old Camden Academy was the most prom- inent educational institution in the city for half a century. The building was erected in 1803, and stood on the site of the Genge school building at

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HISTORY OF CAMDEN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

the corner of Sixth and Market Streets. The land upon which it was situated was given hy George Genge. The schools in it were conducted by a number of teachers with varied success, frequent changes being made. Edward Bullock taught in this building for a time.

In 1835 John M. Souler took the upper room of the academy and taught all the English branches, at $2.50 per quarter.

The Hatch School-house was one of the early educational institutions of Camden. It was situ- ated near what is now the corner of Seventh and Pearl Streets, a short distance from the Diamond Cottage, and was the place where many of the youths of Camden and vicinity, half a century or more ago, obtained the rudiments of an educa- tion. The school-house was within a dense grove, through which were paths leading to it. Among the prominent teachers of this school was Edward Butcher, who became postmaster of Camden in 1838. Benjamin F. Davis was another of the teachers at this school.

In 1825 Jacob L. Rowan taught a school at the southeast corner of Third and Market Streets. Benjamin Ferris opened a singing-school in the "Town House," December 11, 1835. Oliver Cox, a graduate of Cambridge University, England, in March, 1836, opened the Camden Classical School, 'designed to fit young men for college. The same year and month Sarah and Hannah Eastlack opened a seminary for girls, on Cooper Street, opposite the residence of Richard M. Cooper.

Ira Bisbee, in 1835, advertised that he would open an English school, for both sexes, in the basement of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and announced that those who wished " to attend to the science of Grammar could be taught in the eve- ning-not parrotorically, but by Brown's American System-according to the constructive genius of our language." Isaiah Toy, Edward D. Roe and John K. Cowperthwait announced that they, as a committee, had visited Mr. Bisbee's school and were highly pleased.

At the general town-meeting, held March 10, 1835, the subject of the public schools was discussed, and a committee to consider the matter was ap- pointed,-John K. Cowperthwait, Richard Fetters, J. L. Reese, Isaiah Toy, Rev. S. Starr, Rev. Wil- liam Granville, Rev. T. C. Teasdale, Benjamin Allen, Charles Kaighn, William Ridgeway and J. W. Cooper.

In 1835 Rev. T. C. Teasdale opened a French and English Boarding and Day-School, of which Demorris was teacher of French and "Musick."

Isaiah Joy in 1837 advertised for a teacher to

conduct a primary school in the "basement of the Methodist Church."

Rev. M. Shepherd conducted a Female Academy in 1835, his daughter assisting him as a teacher.

The Seminary of St. Paul's Church was con- ducted by Miss Mary M. Archer in 1837.

In 1837 P. M. Gowen was principal of the " Writing, Mercantile and Mathematical School" in the Camden Academy. The same year Oliver Cox became principal of a school in the "base- ment of the Methodist Church."

"A Select Classical and English Boarding- School" was started by W. S. Barton, September 19, 1838. In May, 1838, Camden was divided into two school districts.

A school-house and house of worship was dedi- cated in Fettersville in May, 1840. Miss Turner had a school "near the Market" in 1842. Mr. Hough had a classical and mathematical school, which was afterwards conducted by Rev. F. Knigh- ton in 1845.

In 1852 F. H. Rothpletz was principal of the Camden Academy ; Miss Henrietta Rothpletz was assistant.

The Young Ladies' Institute, with H. T. Tims- dale as principal, was opened in 1852.

The Camden "High School for Boys" was opened by J. D. Higgins in 1854.

The "Camden Grove School," taught by Rev. Knighton, was taken by Rev. Northrop in 1854.

Lafayette and Talleyrand Grover, the former of whom became Governor of Oregon, and later United States Senator from the same State, taught a select school in Camden for a number of years.

At the request of State Superintendent Apgar, in 1879, Henry L. Bonsall, who for several years served as city superintendent of schools, prepared an historical sketch of the rise and progress of the public school system of Camden. Having very kindly allowed the use of it, the information em- bodied in the following pages, containing the his- tory of the public schools to 1879, was mostly com- piled from his work :

THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM .- The first re- corded evidence of intention to better this con- dition of things occurs in the minute of a meeting of the "School Trustees of the Township of Camden," at the house of Dr. Isaac S. Mulford, April 6, 1843, when Richard Fetters was ap- pointed chairman and treasurer, and B. A. Ham- mell secretary. J. C. De La Cour and the secre- tary were appointed to provide books for the officers, and "Jesse Smith was employed to assess the number of children that may be eligible to the schools." The schools were ordered to be opened

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THE CITY OF CAMDEN.

about the 11th of May, the yearly salary of the male teacher not to exceed six hundred dollars, and of the female, four hundred dollars. Cobb's school-books were adopted. Messrs. De La Cour and Rhees were appointed to procure one hundred and seventy-four large and seventy-four small slates. Mr. Miller was chosen teacher, and Messrs. Cole, Cowperthwait and Rhees directed to inquire into character and qualifications.

On the 26th of April, 1843, it was ordered that a colored school be opened under the same regu- lations as the white school, and George Shreeve was appointed its teacher at a salary of seventeen dollars per month. On May 8th rooms in the academy were fitted up, and in it the first public school in Camden was inaugurated. This school continued with varying success. In 1845, the trustees met at the Niagara Fire Company's engine- house, with Dr. Isaac S. Mulford as president, Philander C. Brinck secretary, and J. C. De La Cour treasurer.

The trustees then went to work in earnest, and this is the point the progress of the schools properly dates from. The members of the Board of Educa- tion then were Franklin Ferguson, Joseph C. De La Cour, Samuel H. Morton, Philander C. Brinck, Jesse Smith, Joseph Taylor, David Brown, Isaac S. Mulford, and Thomas Chapman. David Brown reported the census of children of school age in Camden to be nine hundred and seventy-four white and fifty-nine colored. An examination of teachers was ordered to be held ou the 14th of the ensuing month, the president of the board to con- duct the same, when Messrs. English, Plotts and Hall and Miss Thomas were passed as candidates. Following this report came a resolution of the board, which reads strangely in the light of this . generation : "Resolved, That the circumstance of Mr. English being a foreigner, we will decline ex- amining his papers or credentials," the president alone dissenting, when Mr. English, who passed first, was ignored, and Conly Plotts was elected principal of the first grammar school, at a salary of four hundred and fifty dollars a year, Miss Thomas being chosen for the primary school. This action concerning Mr. English was taken when party spirit ran fiercely, about a year after the Philadelphia riots of 1844.

A school was now opened at Kaighns Point, and a tax of one dollar and a quarter levied on the North Camden grammar scholars, and seventy- five cents for the North and the South Primary Schools. The tax was to be paid in advance when the permits were given out, and as but seventy permits were reported issued for the entire juris-

diction, it shows that the tax did not work satis- factorily, not one-tenth of the eligibles attending the schools. As it kept children out who would otherwise have been in, after a few years' imposi- tion, it was abandoned. In 1847 the colored school designed for South Camden had not yet been estab- lished, "owing to the difficulty of procuring a room at a moderate rent." Sarah Kaighn devised a lot for school purposes. In response to repeated peti- tions for the school, Ishmael Lack was appointed to take charge of and secure pupils at the rate of the aforesaid sum of seventy-five cents per capita, but one year thereafter the school was discontinued, owing to the lack of funds, though shortly after this the treasurer's annual report showed three hun- dred and seventy-eight dollars received from the State and five hundred and fifty-four dollars from the county, which report, in the invariable phrase of Ebenezer Nicholls, secretary, was " excepted," his successor, F. Fleisner, crediting James Elwell for " cole." In 1850 the schools of North Camden were opened and Pardon Davis was elected the male and Harriet L. Hauptman the feinale teacher The propriety and necessity of the City Council paying to the board the amount of money due for school purposes was argued before that body by the committee, Isaac Porter, Thomas W. Mulford and Matthew Miller, Jr., who also proposed a two mill tax for the same purpose.

In 1851 the board opened a school for female pupils at Washington Hall, South Camden, and one for male pupils at Kaighns Point. H. W. Chadwick, M. E. Thomas, Pardon Davis, Elizabeth Brown, A. Rudderow, H. L. Hauptman, Harriet N. King and E. A. Evans were the eight teachers then employed in the city.

The second census was taken in June, 1852, when there were in the North Ward, between the ages of five and eighteen years, 656 pupils ; Middle Ward, 890; South Ward, 1262, and this increase, from about 1000 to nearly 3000, necessitated the discon- tinuance of the renting of rooms, whereupon a committee was appointed to wait on the City Coun- cil and ascertain whether that body would borrow money for the purpose of building school-houses. The committee also reported that a building capa- ble of accommodating six hundred pupils, includ- ing all necessary heating and ventilating appara- tus, could be had for from six to seven thousand dollars ; the size of such building would be about forty-five feet front by seventy-five feet deep, and two stories high. The committee further suggested that application be made to the Council for such loan, and in case of refusal, that the board apply to the Legislature for power to borrow. Isaac W.

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HISTORY OF CAMDEN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

Mickle thereupon moved that the Legislature be notified of the intention of the board to draft a bill modifying the school system of the city, which was the first intimation of a declaration of inde- pendence on the part of the board. Notice was then given of two acts: one to incorporate the Board of Education of the City of Camden, and the other to enable the City Council to borrow eight thousand dollars for the erection of the new school-house in the South Ward, a contract for which had already been entered into by Mr. Shroff; which acts were subsequently granted, and the board became an independent body, from which time the progress of education kept pace with the increase of population. The "Kaighn School," covered by the contract of Mr. Shroff, was the first building erected by the board, the land for which was donated by the Kaighn family-giving rise to the reflection that while the Friends, or " people called Quakers " prefer to educate their own chil- dren rather than avail themselves of public tuition, they have nevertheless been liberal and zealous in promoting the cause of public education, and their names live in the Kaighn School, the Cooper School and the Mulford School.

THE NEW ERA .- The first meeting of "The Board of Education of the City of Camden " was held April 3, 1854. Messrs. Drury, of the former, and De La Cour, of the newly-organized board, were enrolled, and Mr. Drury became principal of Cooper Hill School. A census of the children for that year showed in the North Ward 816 pu- pils; Middle Ward, 1193; Sonth Ward, 1559,- total, 3668. The Kaighn School was finished and opened with eight teachers, the only one of whom remaining is the estimable and efficient principal of Mulford Grammar and Kaighn Primary, Harriet N. King. . The Kaighn School building cost eight thousand six hundred and eighty-eight dollars. The contractor was Mr. Shroff.

At this period the board passed a resolution directing principals to refrain from the use of the rod as a means of correction, and if used at all, that it he after school hours. Near the close of the year Messrs. Ott, Trimble and Nicholls were appointed to consider the best arrangements for erecting a school in the North Ward, from which, in due time, came the George Genge School. Clayton Truax, treasurer, in his pub- lished statement, on February 11th, credited him- self with $16,142, as against $12,337 expended, and a balance of $3804, certified to by Joseph Trim- ble, Lewis Seal and Sylvester Burdsall. Twenty- two years after (1876) the receipts were $152,626, and the expenditures $120,485, twelve new school-

houses having been erected in that time, In this year James M. Cassady commenced an active career in the interests of public education. His first missionary labor was the finally successful attempt to convert the City Council into a disposition to hand over to the board the amount of two thousand four hundred and eighty-one dollars, which was adjusted by Benjamin Browning, Samuel Lytle and William Sharpe, on the part of the Council, and Messrs. Cassady, Dorman & Nicholls, repre- senting the board.

In 1858 Mr. De La Cour was elected president, S. Burdsall secretary, and Clayton Truax treas- urer. Mr. Dorman reported the census of school children to be 4005,-North Ward, 1098 ; Middle Ward, 1325 ; South Ward, 1591. Kaighn School building was the only one owned by the board. At the November meeting Charles Cox was ap- pointed to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resig- nation of Dr. Sartori, in Berkley Street School ; and it is a noteworthy fact that many of the early principals afterwards occupied the foremost social and political positions in the city.

In 1859 Mr. Cassady was elected secretary of the board, the old officers, with this exception, being re-elected. The number of school children had increased to four thousand three hundred and seventy-four. Messrs. Dorman, Cassady and Sides, as a committee on qualifications, reported that " very little can be accomplished without a proper organization and classification of the schools, and believing that much improvement can be made by a reorganization of the schools of the Middle Ward, asked for author- ity for that purpose." The same committee sub- sequently reported Grammar, Secondary and Pri- mary Departments as indispensable, the whole to be under the direct supervision of the male prin- cipal. A system of examinations and promotions was also devised, and the first attempt at a more complete and systematic arrangement inaugurated. At the end of the vacation Datus Drury resigned. David W. Bartine was appointed to the North Ward Grammar School; Charles A. Singer, Middle Ward Grammar School ; Kate L. Rudderow, prin- cipal of Berkley Street Secondary ; and Anna M. Stack, Paper-Mill School. In April, 1860, a com- inittee was authorized to procure a room for a Primary School at Coopers Point, rent not to ex- ceed six dollars per month, and teacher, two hun- dred and fifty dollars per annum ; the number of scholars in room being limited to sixty-four. The subject of corporal punishment evidently bothered the board as much as it did the teachers, a number of resolutions and suggestions being

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The history of Camden county, New Jersey, Part 80

Author: Prowell, George Reeser, 1849-1928 Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Philadelphia : Richards Number of Pages: 1220

Author: Prowell, George Reeser, 1849-1928
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : Richards
Number of Pages: 1220