The history of Camden county, New Jersey, Part 89

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

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Three months later the enterprise seems to have been accomplished, and Camden's first market- house was ready for use December 28, 1837. At a meeting of Council, held at the house of William S. Paul, these bills were ordered paid :

"For iron pipe for posts. $72.00

Porterage

1.56

Captain Mickle's bill for lumber 155.9712

James Gahan's bill, work on market 13.3312

Achilles Betts' bill, work on market

2.25 "

These amount to $245.12, and as nothing further appears concerning the matter, the presumption is that this was the total cost. This was Camden's first and only market-house until 1856, when, March 28th, City Council passed an ordinance providing for the erection of a market-house on Third Street, between Arch and Federal Streets. This was done the same year, at a cost of one

thousand eight hundred dollars, and the structure was used for this purpose until 1876, when it was removed. In the mean time several schemes for building market-houses were projected. In 1855 Richard Fetters, John Troth, Richard W. Howell, Samuel Andrews, Maurice Browning, William J. Hatch and Abraham S. Ackley procured a charter for the Camden Market Company, but failed to com- plete the organization, and in 1856 the Washington Market Company was incorporated, with John S. Read, Ralph Lee, James M. Cassady, Isaac W. Mickle, Lewis Seal, Matthew Miller, John Ross, John K. Cowperthwaite, Henry Fredericks, Joseph T. Rowand and William P. Tatem as the company. The design was to build a market-house on the west side of Third Street, between Arch and Fed- eral, the structure to be about one hundred feet square, but the erection of the market-sheds on Third Street, by the city, caused the company to abandon the project. In 1874 John S. Read, Jonathan Burr, William P. Tatem, Randal E. Morgan and Edmund E. Read were incorporated as the Farmers' Market Company, with a capital of one hundred thousand dollars, but the enter- prise failed to mature.

The next attempt in this line, however, was more successful. Thos. A. Wilson, Rudolphus Bingham, Abraham Rapp, James W. Wroth and Charles Stockham, as the Farmers' and Butchers' Market Company, in 1877, constructed a large building of brick, one hundred and fifty by one hundred and seventy feet on Bridge Avenue and West Street, extending to Mickle Street. It was intended for a wholesale and retail market, but did not prosper, for the reason that, with Philadelphia so near, the wholesale trade could not be gained, and the loca- tion was unsuited for retailing. It was used as a market-house for two years, when it was fitted up for theatrical purposes, with a capacity for seat- ing a thousand persons, and was subsequently se- cured by the Sixth Regiment National Guards and fitted up as an armory.

In 1878 John S. Read and Wm. S. Scull built the Federal Street Market, on Federal Street above Fourth, on the site of the old City Hall, construct- ed in 1828. This is now the only building in the city used exclusively as a market-house. It is well adapted to the purpose and the market is well pat- ronized.

THE READ FAMILY.

DAVID READ, the ancestor of the Read family of Camden, was a son of Joseph Read, who died at his home in Greenwich, Gloucester County, N. J., Nov. 12, 1755, and his remains were interred in the Presbyterian burying-ground in that town. He was

Ineph I Read

541

THE CITY OF CAMDEN.

born at Greenwich, and while yet a young man, at the outbreak of the Revolution enlisted in the army under General Washington and remained in the military service during the entire period of that war, participating in the campaigns of New Jersey, the battle of Brandywine, and during the last year of that struggle for independence was transferred with his regiment to the Army of the South, under General Lincoln, in order to impede the progress of the invading British, who had transferred the seat of war to the Southern States. At the close of the war, when David Read and his comrades were discharged and paid off in Conti- uental money, three of them, of whom he was one, went to the wharf at Charleston, S. C., in order to secure passage on a sailing-vessel for Philadelphia. Their money being comparatively worthless on account of its depreciation in value, the captain of the vessel would take them only on consideration that they would pay the amount of passage money by working, which they accordingly agreed to do. Upon sailing around Cape Hatteras, well-known as a dangerous place to mariners, the vessel was foundered and every soul on board was drowned except David Read and his two soldier companions, who clung to a broken spar and after being forty- eight hours in that perilous position were eventu- ally drifted to the shore and landed on the coast amid the darkness of night. They were nearly exhausted for the want of food and drink. Seeing a light a distance from them along the shore, they began to wend their way thither in hopes of meet- ing some one who would assist them in their dis- tress. The feet of one of the comrades trod upon a bottle which, upon examination, was thought to be Jamaica rum. The two companions drank of it to excess, against the protest of David Read, who feared dangerous results, on account of their being so long deprived of food. The draught proved fatal to them, and the war-scarred veterans for fifteen minutes struggled for their lives and then died near the stormy shores of Cape Hatteras. David Read continued onward, and the place toward which they were going proved to be a light-house. Upon arriving at it he was tenderly cared for by the occupants, and given food to revive his enfeebled condition. He then, in com- pany with others, returned and buried the remains of his unfortunate comrades at the place where they had taken the fatal draught. David Read soon thereafter returned to Charleston, where money was given him by some patriotic persons, and he set sail for Philadelphia. Upon arriving here he returned to Greenwich, where he married Rachel Peck, and the records of the Presbyterian

Church of Greenwich show that of the children of this union, David, James and Joel were bap- tized there. Toward the latter part of the last century he moved with his family to Camden when it was but a small village, and engaged in the pork business and sausage-making for the city trade. His place of business was on Plum Street (now Arch), below Third, where he continued his occupation and died in 1842, at the advanced age of eighty-four years, five months and sixteen days being probably the last representative in Camden County of the soldiers of the Revolutionary War. He ever delighted to narrate to his children and grandchildren the perilous scenes and incidents in which he was a participant during that historic period. His remains were interred in the Newton burying-ground.

Joel Read, his third son, was born in 1786. He was baptized at Greenwich, July 8, 1787, and at the opening of the second war with Great Britain, in 1812, imbued with the patriotism of his father, and following his precedent, he joined a military company known as the Jersey Blues and during that war was stationed with his regiment at Bil- lingsport, along the Delaware River in Gloucester, opposite Fort Mifflin. In 1812 he married Mary Jones, a member of a prominent family of the Society of Friends, and a descendant of the Thackaras, who were influential people in the early annals of New Jersey. By this union were born six children,-Charlotte, Joseph J., Rachel, William Thackara, John S. and Edmund E.

Joel Read was a brush-maker by trade. He followed his occupation for a few years in Camden and then moved to Philadelphia, where he con- tinued in it with success. Later in life he re- turned to Camden and lived on Plum Street, but after the death of his wife he lived in Penn Street with his daughter Charlotte.

JOSEPH J. READ, the eldest son of Joel and Mary Read, was born in Camden, on Arch Street west of Second Street, March 24, 1815, and when eight years old moved with his parents to the district of Southwark, and immediately thereafter was em- ployed at Jasper Harding's printing-office in Phil- adelphia, at one dollar a week, continuing there two years. He was next hired at one and a half dollars per week with Thomas Watson to work in a biscuit and cracker bakery. The foreman treated him harshly and, unknown to his mother, he left his position with one week's wages, and with characteristic ingenuity invested it in buttons, tape, needles and pins, and before noon of that day had disposed of all his goods at a profit of fifty cents. With the two dollars of capital now at command he

542

HISTORY OF CAMDEN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

invested again in the afternoon and cleared in all one dollar and twenty-five cents the first day of his mercantile career. At the end ofa week he cleared ten dollars. By the middle of the succeeding week his capital was increased to twenty dollars and with it he purchased gilt buttons and in one day disposed of them at a gain of fifty per cent., his amount of cash being then increased to thirty dollars. Two weeks having now expired since he left his employer in the bakery, his mother, who was a woman of noble bearing and excellent moral traits, asked for his wages. To her astonish- ment, he pulled out his thirty dollars in gold and silver and handed it to her. She, fearing he would get into bad company, took the money and secured for him a place on a farm in Burlington County, N. J. He again was under an employer who did not treat him well, and at the expiration of two years, of his own accord, he returned to his home in Philadelphia, and at his own expressed wish was secured a position to go to sea at a salary of six dollars per month. One month's wages was paid in advance, half of which was given to his mother and with the other three dollars he purchased manufactured tobacco and took it on board the vessel, which was bound for Cuba. He there traded his tobacco for a barrel of molasses, which failed to be placed on the manifest, and when the vessel returned to Philadelphia it of necessity went with the general cargo, and the ingenious young trader lost all of his available assets except the two months' wages which were given to his mother. His desire then to learn the trade of a cooper was gratified, and he was bound as an apprentice for the term of six years with a man who proved to be a hard master. On one occasion, when under the influence of liquor, he beat young Read so badly that he afterwards gave him fifty cents to go up to Independence Hall to see a new bell placed on it. This present was granted in order to in- duce the boy not to tell his mother of the ill-treat- ment. Joseph Read accepted the fifty cents, board- ed a sloop, upon which he worked his passage to Bordentown, walked from thence to New Bruns- wick, where he secured a passage on a sailing-ves- sel and arrived in New York with his fifty cents, but did not know any one in that city. He soon secured employment at the cooper's trade with a firm that discontinued business after he was with them two years and he finished his trade with another party in the same city. At the age of twenty-one years he returned to Philadelphia for one year and then went back to New York, where he became foreman of a large cooper-shop, serving for one year, when he went to Brooklyn and for

three years was manager of a large oil manufac- tory. While there, in 1837, he joined the First Baptist Church of that city, under the pastorate of Rev. Ilsley. In 1840 he returned to Philadelphia, and with a cash account of two hundred dollars and one thousand dollars of borrowed money, em- barked in the coopering business on Penn Street, and the first year cleared five hundred dollars, but the next year lost all he had, including the bor- rowed money. He then lived over this cooper- shop for nine years. By business sagacity and characteristic energy he secured credit and soon made up the amount of the losses, returned the borrowed money, erected a fine dwelling-house in 1851, costing ten thousand dollars, on Pine Street, lived in it ten years, until 1861, when he moved to Camden. In the mean time, while living in Phil- adelphia, he purchased and owned all the prop- erty from Penn Street to Delaware Avenue and other property adjoining his cooper-shop on the north side.

In 1861 Mr. Read moved his family to Camden, his native place, continuing his business in Phila- delphia until 1864, when he retired. Meeting with some losses the next year, in order to retrieve them, he re-embarked in his former business at the same place in Philadelphia, and continued thus successfully engaged until 1867. He then perma- nently retired from the coopering business, which he had successfully carried on for a period of thirty-one years. He has since been engaged as a broker and general real estate agent and now owns a large amount of real estate in Philadel- phia, Camden and Atlantic City. He is an excel- lent judge of values and a careful and judicious business man.

Since 1837 Mr. Read has been a member of the Baptist Church and is now connected with the First Baptist Church of Camden. He is a mem- ber of Integrity Lodge, A. Y. M., No. 187, of Philadelphia, since 1846, and a member of Veteran Lodge of the same city.

Mr. Read was married, in 1840, to Cecelia, daugh- ter of John R. Rue, a Frenchman, born in the town of Nancy. Mrs. Read, who died in 1878, was a wo- man of noble Christian virtues, an earnest worker in the church and greatly devoted to the interests of charity, a good wife and a good mother. By this marriage were born seven children,-Mary, mar- ried Joseph L. Bush, of Newport, Rhode Island, where they now live; John R. Read, Esq., a law- yer of Philadelphia; Cecelia, married to Abraham C. Tallman, now deceased; Annie, married to Wil- liam B. Knowles, of Philadelphia, now deceased; Katie, married to Edwin B. Powell, of Brooklyn,

John & Pean

543

THE CITY OF CAMDEN.

N. Y .; Emily, who died at the age of two years ; and Joseph F. P. Read, now a real estate broker of Camden.

Mr. Read was married a second time, in 1881, to Elizabeth M. (Etris) Schellenger, of Camden, widow of the late Captain Henry Schellenger.

JOHN S. READ, the third son and fifth child of Joel and Mary Read, was born March 11, 1822, in the old district of Southwark, Philadelphia. At the age of fourteen years he became an apprentice of Charles F. Mansfield, in his wall-paper store, at 275 South Second Street, Philadelphia, and re- mained in that position until the age of twenty- one years, during which time he was industrious, energetic and economical, traits which character- ized him through life. Soon after attaining his majority he began business for himself on Second Street, Philadelphia, between South and Lombard, where he continued in the wall-paper business several years, and then removed his store to the northeast corner of Second and Lombard Streets. He remained there until 1845. About this time Camden received a new impetus to its growth, and Mr. Read removed to Camden, having previously associated with him in business his brother, Ed- mund E. Read, as the firm of Read & Brother, who for a time continued their store in Philadel- phia, and erected buildings on Arch Street, Cam- den, though they conducted business mainly at 3d and Federal. Here they also conducted an exten- sive and prosperous business until his death, and which is still continued by his brother Edmund.

John S. Read was called upon to fill a large number of positions of trust and responsibility. For twenty-five years he served as director and treasurer of the Camden Fire Insurance Associa- tion ; was one of the directors of the First National Bank of Camden; was one of the projectors of the Camden Building and Loan Association, the first in the city, and was subsequently treasurer of several other building associations; at the time of his death he was one of the commis- sioners of the Morris Plains Insane Asylum of New Jersey, and a State director of the Camden and Amboy Railroad Company, appointed by the Legislature. In 1870 he was elected a member of the City Council, and took an active part in the deliberations of that body ; was re-elected in 1873 and made president of City Conncil. While a member of Council he was greatly instrumental in securing the purchase of the water-works by the city authorities, and also obtained the passage of an ordinance for the system of culverts now in use in Camden ; served for several years as a member of the Board of Education, and was chosen its

president. With his brother, Edmund E., he built Read's Hall, at the corner of Third and Federal Streets ; with William S. Scull he built the Mar- ket Honse, on Federal Street; and with Jonathan Burr, built the row of stores and dwellings on Federal street, above Fifth. He also erected and owned the Camden post-office building.

In politics Mr. Read was originally an Old-Line Whig, in the days of that party, and afterwards be- came an ardent supporter of the principles of the Re- publican party, taking an active interest in the administration of public affairs. He was a mem- ber of Camden Lodge, No. 15, A. F. and A. M., and Royal Arch Chapter, No. 91, of Philadelphia.

With the hope of recruiting his failing health, he went to Stroudsburg, Monroe Connty, Pennsyl- vania, and died there August 6, 1882, at the age of sixty years. His remains were interred in the Colestown Cemetery, in this county. He was highly honored and respected for his many virtues and recognized as a man of fine executive and administrative abilities.

Mr. Read was twice married. By his first mar- riage, with Margaret Mason, who died early in life, he had two children : Elizabeth M. Read, married to John Campbell, of Camden (they have two children, John and Mamie); William T. Read, married to Lucretia McCormick, and have one child, William.

By his second marriage, with Harriet Peak, of Camden, he had one child, Edmund E. Read, Jr. a member of the Camden County bar, who, on December 27, 1882, was married to Margaret Mnl- ford. They have one child, John S. Read.

EDMUND E. READ was born in Southwark, now the consolidated part of Philadelphia, April 19, 1824. He first attended a public school, for many years taught hy Mr. Watson, on Catharine Street, Philadelphia, in a building which is still standing. He was next sent to a school taught by Mr. Crozer, on Third Street, below Catharine. At the age of fourteen years he became a clerk in a gro- cery store on the corner of Second and Christian Streets; but, after remaining there six months, was given a position on the United States Coast Sur- vey, under Engineer Warner, and was nine months located in the State of Connecticut. Re- turning home, he attended a school under the instruction of James Crowell, in Philadelphia, six months, and began to learn the cooper trade in the same city, which he finished under his elder brother, Joseph J., with whom he remained five years. At the expiration of this time he went to the island of Cuba and was placed in charge of the cooperage establishment on a large sugar planta-

544

HISTORY OF CAMDEN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

tion, and there, during four years' assiduous labor and strict economy, laid the foundation for his fu- ture prosperous business career. Upon returning home, at the time of the sickness of his brother, John S. Read, he was induced to take charge of his paper-store, and soon thereafter became associated with him in business, under the firm-name of Read & Brother, on the corner of Second and Lom- bard Streets, Philadelphia.

In 1855 Edmund E. Read removed to Camden, retaining his interest in the Philadelphia store, and, together with his brother, opened a store on Arch Street, Camden, and later they built the large store building, on the corner of Third and Federal Streets known as Read's Hall, and also the large store- building on the corner of Third and Arch Streets, occupied theu and to this date by Dr. De La Cour as a drug-store. In the Federal Street store Mr. Read has done a large and prosperous business, and since his residence in Camden, has been identified with nearly every interest which has added to the material growth and prosperity of the city. His brother, with whom he was so long and success- fully associated in business, died in 1882, and the firm is now Read & Smith.

The business success and executive ability of Mr. Read is shown from the number of responsible positions to which he has been chosen by various corporations and associations. He is now a direc- tor of the Camden and Atlantic Railroad, of the Marlton and Medford Railroad, of the First Na- tional Bank of Camden, of the Camden Fire In- surance Association and treasurer of the same, of the Sea View Hotel Company of Atlantic City, aud of the Coopers Point and Philadelphia Ferry Co. He has served as a member of the City Council, a member of the County Board of Freeholders and State Prison director. Since the organization of building and loan associations in Camden he has been a director in a number of them, and, up to the present time, he is a member of Camden Lodge, No. 15, Free and accepted Masons, Sylome Chapter, No. 19, and Cyrene Commandery of Camden. He has been an active worker in the church, was a member of the building committee, and, for many years, a trustee, of the First Baptist Church of Camden, and later a trustee in the Trinity Baptist Church, of which he and his family are now members.

Mr. Read was married, in August, 1844, to Anna Peak, daughter of Thomas and Abigail Peak, of Camden. They have four children,-Harriet P. Read, John S. Read, Jr. (who died au infant), Sallie L. Read (who is married to Harry L. Jones, of Camden, and they have one child, Mary Read

Jones), and Anna P. Read, the youngest daugh- ter.

THE CAMDEN INSURANCE COMPANY was char- tered by the Legislature March 16, 1832. The capital stock was fixed at fifty thousand dollars, with the privilege of increasing it to one hundred thousand dollars. The shares were twenty-five dol- lars each. The persons named in the charter who became the first directors of the company were Joseph W. Cooper, Robert W. Ogden, Richard Fetters, Thomas Lee, Jr., Nathan Davis, Morris Croxall, Isaiah Toy, John K. Cowperthwaite, Jo- seph Kaighn, Ebenezer Toole, Jeremiah H. Sloan, John W. Mickle and Isaac Smith. This company continued to exist for several years with varied success. The management of it eventually passed into new hands, and on March 2, 1849, Abraham Browning, Thomas H. Dudley and Isaiah Toy were, by an act of the Legislature, created trustees to settle the affairs of the company.

THE CAMDEN FIRE INSURANCE ASSOCIATION was incorporated by an act of the State Legisla- ture approved March 12, 1841, as the " Camden Mutual Insurance Association." The incorpora- tors, who also, under the same act, were constituted the first directors of the company, were Gideon V. Stivers, Isaac Cole, Richard Fetters, Ebenezer Toole, Nathan Davis, Charles S. Garrett, Joab Scull, John Knisell, Edward Daugherty, Thomas Peak, Charles Bontemps, Richard Thomas and John K. Cowperthwaite. This company began business under the most favorable auspices, and ever since its origin, has prospered even beyond the expectation of its originators. Its plan of promptly paying losses gave it a prestige and pop- ularity which it has since continually maintained. The directors of this company in 1868 were Wil- liam P. Tatem, Jonathan Burr, Samuel H. Morton, Christopher J. Mines, Ralph Lee, John S. Read, Henry B. Wilson, Charles Wilson, Josiah D. Rogers, James H. Stevens, Clayton Truax, Jesse E. Huston and Thomas A. Wilson.

'The association did business on the mutual plan until July 1, 1870, and afterwards on the stock plan. The amount of premiums received since or- ganization is $227,470; losses paid, $35,599; the amount of insurance in force now is $3,050,538; and the amount of losses paid during the past year, $1910.34. Business is done principally in West and South Jersey.

The officers from the organization to the present have been as follows:

Presidents.

Isaac Cole, 1841 to 1849. Richard Fetters, 1849 to 1853. Edward Daugherty, 1853 to 1859. William P. Tatem, 1859 to 1871. Henry B. Wilson, 1871 to date.

Edmund &

545

THE CITY OF CAMDEN.

Vice-President ..

Jonathan Burr, 1885 to date (created in 1885).

Secretaries.

J. K. Cowperthwaite, 1841 to 1853. Jonathan Burr, 1853 to 1885. Rud. W. Birdsell, 1885 to date.

Treasurers.

Nathan Davis, 1841 to 1853. John S. Read, 1853 to 1861.

Charles Pine, 1861 to 1862. John S. Read, 1862 to 1882.

Edmund E. Read, 1882 to date.

Surveyors.

Gideon V. Stivers, 1841 to 1853. Josiah D. Rogers, 1853 to 1861. Samuel H. Morton, 1861 to 1870. Charles Wilson, 1870 to 1872. Chris. J. Mines, 1872 to date.

DIRECTORS .- Following is an alphabetical list of those who have served as directors :

Thomas B. Atkinson.

Isaac S. Mulford.

Adam Angel.

Samuel H. Morton.

Charles Bontemps. .

William B. Mulford.

William W. Bozorth.

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The history of Camden county, New Jersey, Part 89

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