USA > New Jersey > Cape May County > The history of Cape May County, New Jersey : from the aboriginal times to the present day > Part 32
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Next, and the last that we shall name, though perhaps not the least in its bearing upon the ultimate success of our municipal enterprise, is to be considered the interests, com- fort and wishes of the annual visitors to the city. Some of them own property here, and are actual residents with us during the summer season, while the vast majority only re- main a few weeks in the capacity of boarders, at the hotels and private houses. That it will be an important point with the authority of the city to consult their advantages and preferences is evident from the fact that from this class of people has come the principal part of the money that has thus far built up our city: and from them must still come the
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funds indispensable to the continued life and activity of our business operations. If. therefore, through carelessness or an arrant disregard of the comfort, safety, and gratification. of these visitors, they should be turned off in some other direction, our hope of prosperity to our youthful city must end in bitter and remediless disappointment. Such a catas- trophe we should not only deprecate, but endeavor to avoid ..
"Having thus presented to your consideration some of the leading objects at which I hope it will be our united purpose to aim, in our administration of the public affairs of the city, your indulgence is asked while I take the liberty of recommending the means which to me seem best adapted to attain these desirable ends. Not only is the public good as a whole to be sought by us, but it is to be sought in the easiest and best way we can devise. And first of all, it will be essential to an effective government that each officer connected with it acquaint himslf thoroughly with the du- ties, privileges, and responsibilities of his office. And that he hold himself ready at all times to act expeditiously and de- cidedly as occasion may require. Without prompt and energetic action on the part of officers, no stability or force can be given to the municipal transactions; and the whole organization would soon be treated with the disrespect its childish indecision would merit. But we will not give place to the fear that any one has, or will take upon him, an office merely for its honor or emoluments, who are still unresolved as to its duties. For may the Lord deliver me from an as- sociation with men in office who wilfully neglect the duties they are sworn to perform.
"Another point of importance will be a vigilant endeavor to preserve unanimity of sentiment and concert of action in the deliberations and decisions of Council. United coun- sel will be the best guarantee that the city government can give for the perpetuity and practical benefits of our charter. Of course, it will be both proper and expedient, when dif- ferent views are entertained on subjects under consideration, to compare and discuss their relative merits, to advocate measures with all your several abilities. Only let this be done in a friendly manner, and with due respect to each other's judgment. And though majorities should always ..
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be submitted to cheerfully, yet they should never carry points with an overbearing and exulting spirit; rather let a conservative spirit predominate and regulate the whole proceedings. To secure this, compromises will sometimes require to be made to minority views, which is well enough, where it can be done without encroaching upon important rights and principles. But if sectional or personal prejudices and jealousies are allowed to produce embittered controver- sies, and control the consultation and enactments of the". Council, the arm of its strength will be palsied. 'For a house . divided against itself cannot stand;' while its wranglings : will soon become the by-word of those who will treat its . ordinances with contempt. In your legislative movements, . you will have a noble trio of well-established landmarks by which to steer your course. The highest and broadest of these is the Constitution of the United States, which it will ever be the duty and pride of every good American citizen, whether in office or private life, to preserve inviolate by a faithful adherence to its requisitions, prohibitions and prin- ciples. Next to this is the Constitution of our own State, which expresses the fundamental laws by which we are governed as Jerseymen. And where is the Jerseyman worth the name that does not regard it an honor either to live under or assist in maintaining, unimpaired, the majesty of. that purely republican document. Then as the inside di- rectory of our enactments, we have our city charter, which. defines our rights, privileges, and duties as citizens of Cape Island, and more particularly as officers chosen by said, citizens to take the supervision and prosecution of their public concerns. In our enactment and execution of local law, therefore, it will be indispensable to keep our eye upon : the limitations of those higher and more general laws al- ready established. These we are bound to respect as su- preme, to obey them faithfully, to abide by them immovably; in doing which we shall not be liable to overreach our proper jurisdiction, but will secure all due reverence to the city authority.
"I will now detain you, gentlemen, no longer than will be necessary to make a few special recommendations. Your independent and judicious judgment will need to be imme-
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diately exercisd in the choice of a Councilman to fill the vacant seat, the election of a City Clerk, and Street Com- missioner. After these selections are made, it will be requi- site to draft and adopt suitable Kuies of Order, By-Laws, etc., for your own convenience in expediting the correct transaction of business. These preliminaries disposed of, I would recommend the early appointment of an efficient police, with definite instructions as to their duties, that they may be ready to operate whenever needed; but that they be not called into service until actual occasion requires. It will be well for the Council, soon as practicable, to take measure for ascertaining the amount of money sufficient to meet the ordinary expenses of maintaining the poor, re- pairing the streets, supporting the schools, etc., which, +5- gether with the State and county tax, will constitute the sum which the Assessor will have to raise by a tax levied on the inhabitants and property holders of the city, accord- ing to a fair valuation of their respective possessions. T'e amount needed to meet the current expenses of the City Government, and for internal improvements, I would recom- mend to be derived from a revenue that shall be produced from various sources. Of these, the following are proposed : First, let a light tax be laid upon all vehicles that come from without the bounds of the city, to be used here as pleasure carriages during the boarding season. I would suggest that the owners or drivers of all such be required to obtain a written permit from the Mayor, or City Clerk, for the sea- son before commencing operation. The sum to be paid for said permits will be fixed by the wisdom of the Counc.1. Probably something like the following rates might be an equitable demand: for each two-horse carriage belonging to the line, one dollar; for each of the same description not connected with the line, two dollars, and for each of like kind coming from without the county, five dollars. As a further source of revenue, let all transient shop-keepers of whatever kind, before opening for sale, be required to pro- cure license of the city authorities, to pay therefor such sum as the discretion of the Council shall designate. I w9 11 also recommend that all kinds of exhibitions, farces, shows, fireworks, etc., be prohibited, except they first procure li-
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cense in like manner, and that the respective charges be ad- justed to their probable income. And further, that the same principle be undeviatingly applied to all bowling alleys. pistol galleries, archeries and whatever other places of amusement the Council may see proper to allow within the limits of the city. In their number and character, we hope the Council will not overlook the moral interests of the community. You are aware that the Legislature have seen fit in the passage of the bill to authorize the Council to grant license to inns, bars, etc., within the city, and this right shall be discretionary, sole and exclusive, and that it may also 1,e applied to defining the period of such license to any term not exceeding one year. Now, if the Council shall deem it expedient to grant license for the sale of ardent spirits, I recommend that the term of said license be fixed to three months only, from the tenth of June. You will find by a reference to the statutes of the State that in determining up- on the amount demanded for tavern licenses, you have the range between ten and seventy dollars to select in.
"We confidently think that the revenue derived from these several sources will be sufficient to meet the necessary ex- penditures. We earnestly recommend that immediate ac- tion be taken by the Council for the prevention of the de- struction of property by fire. Let the Marshal be authorized to institute a speedy and thorough examination of all chim- neys, stovepipes, flues, etc., in the city, and report those he regards as unsafe. It might be well to pass an ordinance re- quiring every house to be furnished with a certain number of leather fire-buckets, according to its number of rooms, to be kept in good repair and in a conspicuous place. We should entertain the plan favorably, of your encouraging the formation of a hook and ladder company, who could oper- ate to good advantage in case of fire.
"Regulations will be needed also, in regard to suitable wagon-stands, that the public passage way to boarding and other houses be not obstructed. It is further recommended that timely and stringent measures beadopted to prevent any indecent or improper behavior on or about the bathing- grounds at any time, especially during bathing hours. While from the necessity of the case, the observance of economy
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will be required in arranging your expenditures, still we hope that a due degree of public spirit will characterize your ap- propriations. Some improvements will doubtless be expect- ed and demanded by the public; and it is hoped that they will not be altogether disappointed in their wishes. Our streets and sidewalks need repairing. But as to Public Build- ings, I would suggest that for the present the Council rent or lease some suitable room, that will answer all practical purposes for a city hall. In addition to this, I should favor your proceeding at once to build a small jail. We think the time is not far distant when a market-house will be needed. I would merely notify you that some of the stockholders have proposed to offer the school house and lot on which it stands, for sale. which would be a very good site for city buildings. Especially do we recommend that the educa- tional interests of the city receive your liberal patronage. 'Better pay for the tuition of the boy than for the ignorance and vice of the man!' We hope that school appropriations will be made to such an extent as will render it an object of interest to the Superintendent of Common Schools to look well to its judicious and profitable outlay. This he can do by giving his sanction only to competent teachers, vis- iting the schools, giving lectures, etc.
"As to the salaries and fees of officers, a proper medium between meanness on one hand and extravagance on the other should be preserved. While it is not reasonable to expect that men can devote their time and energies to the public benefit without compensation, neither is it to be supposed that office-holding in an infantile city like ours can be a very lucrative employment. Equity and good policy would dictate that paid officers receive a fair and proper remuneration for the time they occupy and the services they render in public affairs. And as this cannot at present be ascertained in the case of most of them, I would recom- mend that the Council defer their decision upon this ques- tion until the first of October, and that they require each officer to keep a faithful account of the time they have been in actual service during the interim, and present said ac- counts to the Council at the time specified.
"It will add much to the respectability and comfort of the
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city that no horses, cattle, sheep, goats or swine be allowed to roam at large as commoners within the incorporated bounds.
"In conclusion, allow me to express my fond hope that a year's trial of the new arrangements under which we now enter will prove to the satisfaction of all concerned the utility and advantage of our city charter. And it is our earnest desire that all who have been chosen by the suffrages of their fellow citizens to bear a part in the government of our young city will honorably acquit themselves in meeting the responsibility under which they are laid, and thereby credit- ably sustain the confidence reposed in them. If this is done, voters will have no occasion to regret the result of their choice.
"We should now fervently invoke upon you, and the city you represent, the continued and special blessing of Him, without whose favor and protection the 'watchmen of a city but waketh in vain.'"
Isaac Miller Church, the first Mayor of Cape Island, and a Baptist clergyman, was born in Philadelphia, Pa., April 8, 1814. He was taken by his father, Isaac Church, in 1818, to Lancaster, Ohio. The lad returned to Philadelphia alone and on foot in 1834, being followed shortly by his father, who settled near the steamboat landing in Lower township, now Cape May Point. Mr. Church was ordained at the meeting house of the West Creek Baptist Church, Cumber- land county, N. J., Saturday, April 24, 1841, as licentiate of the First Baptist Church of Cape May.
He had been laboring for a few years before ås a mis- sionary under the patronage of the State Convention in the West Creek field.
On June 11, 1848, he was extended a call to become pas- tor of the Cape Island Baptist Church, accepting the call on the 7th of October, and remained its pastor until he left Cape May in October, 1851. On the 20th of October he delivered his valedictory to the Council, having resigned as Mayor, and a resolution of "thanks" was tendered him "for the judicious manner in which he had conducted the af-
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fairs of the city." On October 27, the new Mayor, James Clark, was sworn into office.
Mr. Church commenced his pastorate with the First Bap- tist Church of South Kingston, Washington county, R. I., April 1, 1853, and continued for one year to April 1, 1854. Mr. Church continued to reside in Rhode Island until he died.
Mr. Church, who was a chaplain in the Civil War, entered Company E, Second Rhode Island Infantry, as second lieu- tenant, and on June 6, 1861, was made first lieutenant of Company H, same regiment. On July 21, 1861, he was tak- en prisoner at the battle of Bull Run and borne as a prisoner of war to Richmond, Va., where he was confined in Libby Prison for about a year. He afterwards published a diary of three hundred pages on his confinement in that nefarious place. He was afterwards made captain of Company G, Fourth Regiment, Rhode Island Infantry.
Mr. Church was a very industrious and useful man; be- sides his work as a minister in South Kingston, R. I., he carried on the business of house painting, photographing. taught school, was agent, committee, manager and counsel for the town in road cases and other important matters. He was town surveyor, then chairman of their School Commit- tee and in 1859 and 1860 was president of the town Council. He died at his son-in-law's house in Davisville, R. I., Octu- ber 28. 1874, and is buried at Riverside Cemetery, in Wake- field, R. I. He married Judith Swayne Thompson, of Cape May, N. J., October 16, 1834, who died at Millville, N. J., August 19, 1887.
The Presbyterian Church was organized June 25, 1851, by a committee of the Presbytery of West Jersey. The pres- ent church was erected in 1853. St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church was erected about 1848, on the opposite side of Washington street from where it stands to-day. It was in about 1870 removed to its present location.
James Clark, the second Mayor of Cape Island, was born June 7. 1798, at Cedarville, Cumberland county, New Jer- sey. He lived some years in Philadelphia before coming to Cape May, where he passed the remainder of his life, identi- fying himself with all that pertained to the welfare of the
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place. He was related to the Fithian and Bateman families, of Cumberland county. His father was Charles Clark, born January 1, 1772. His fire. office was that of postmaster of the village of Cape Island, which he held by appointment of President Polk from July 7, 1845, to May 9, 1849, when he was succeeded by George W. Hughes. This was before the city was incorporated.
At the meeting of Council on October 20, 1851, when Isaac M. Church tendered his resignation as Mayor, M ... Clark was chosen by Council on the fifth ballot to fill the
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CAPE MAY CITY BAITIST CHURCH.
unexpired term. His opponents on that occasion were John K. F. Sites and Dr. Sanitel S. Marey. Ile was sworn in and assumed the duties of his office on October 27, 1851, and served as Mayor until March. 1653, having been elected by the people in 1852.
He was an ardent Democrat of his time. and was appoint- ed postmaster a second time by President Buchanan, and served from March 13, 1857, to December 5, 1859, being succeeded by Samuel R. Magonagle. Five days after, on December 10, 1859, he passed from this earth to the world beyond, aged 61 years and 6 months.
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It is said of him that he was very fond of music and in- terested in the improvement of church music. To that end he worked in the Baptist Church here, having charge of the choir for quite a period. He married Eliza Bennett, a sister of Jeremiah and Stephen Bennett. Delaware River pilots of their day.
John Kake Church, the third Mayor of Cape Island, was born at Lancaster, Ohio, on Christmas Day, in the year 1818. He was a son of Isaac Church, a prominent Baptist and preacher, who removed with his family to Cape May when John was a lad of sixteen years. With them came his elder brother, Rev. Isaac M. Church, the first Mayor. Both the father and John K. Church on April 6, 1844, at the organization of the Cape Island Baptist Church, became members of the church, with twenty-three others. The father was blind, but nevertheless was the first regular pastor of the church, and served from May 17, 1844, to Oc- tober 7, 1848.
While young, the subject of our sketch learned the car- penter trade and followed it throughout his life.
The first office which Mr. Church held was that of City Clerk, to which he was elected by Council in March, 1852. At the charter election, in the following year, he was chosen Mayor of the city, and re-elected in 1854 and 1855.
In 1856 he was elected to the City Council, and held the office for a year.
He died of apoplexy in his boat at Schellenger's Land- ing, while returning from a pleasure trip in the sounds with a party of men, on Saturday afternoon, July 30, 1859, being in his 4Ist year. His widow still lives.
The Cape May Ocean Wave of the Thursday following his death said of him:
"Mr. Church was respected and esteemed by every one who knew him for his calmness of disposition, his honesty, uprightness and veracity of character in all his dealings and intercourse with the world; and, above all, his consis- tent Christian walk. He needed but to be known to be appreciated. He was for several consecutive years (for- merly) elected Mayor of Cape Island, which office he filled
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with the same uprightness with which he has ever performed all the other duties of life."
Joseph Ware, the fourth and tenth Mayor of Cape Island, was a son of Joseph Ware, who came from Cumberland county, and a brother of Samuel Fithian, of Lower town- ship, and of James W., Mashel, John G. W., Daniel C., Wil- mon W., of Cape May City. He was born May 16, 1809. In early life he learned the carpenter's trade. In 1851 he was a member of the Board of Freeholders, in 1852 As- sessor, 1854 Recorder, and 1855 Assessor. In 1856 he was chosen Mayor and re-elected three times, serving until 1861. Again he was chosen in 1871, and served a term of two years. He died on April 30, 1890, in the Mount Vernon Hotel, the latter at the time being the largest hotel in the United States. It was never completed, being burned in 1855. The Mansion was destroyed by fire, in 1856, and the Atlantic, United States and American hotels were burned in 1869. The proprietors of the Mount Vernon Hotel were Samuel Woolman and M. Cain, who was burned to death in the fire, with five others.
In the advertisement of summer resort hotels in 1858 the following were the houses and their proprietors: Colum- bia House, L. Harwood; Atlantic House, J. and B. Mc- Mackin; Ocean House, Israel Leaming: Delaware House, James Mecray; National Hall, Aaron Garretson; Washing- ton Hotel, S. G. Woolman; Merchants' House, John Lyons; Tontine Hotel, George L. Ludlam; White Hall Hotel, S. S. Marcy. In 1859 Congress Hall and the Morphy House were added to the list of advertisers.
A writer in "The Knickerbocker Magazine," New York, of August, 1859, says: "The neighborhood of which we are speaking is none other than that most charming of ocean summer resorts and watering places, that famous refuge from the heat and dust of the weary city-the beach at Cape May. * * * We speak literally, for it is a city, and not a village or town merely, at which the traveler will land when he debarks at Cape May. In this census we speak, of course, of the permanent residents only, and not of the summer visitants. These may, in their season, be counted not only by hundreds, but by thousands, and with their
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help and that of the dozen to twenty imposing hotel edi- fices, and the infinite tail of restaurants, barber shops, ice cream saloons, bowling alleys, billiard rooms, pistol gal- leries, bathing houses and temporary houses of all names -the little city really grows metropolitan in aspect; and the 'gas works' and the 'Mayor's office,' which at other times seem to have been sent there merely on storage, now ap- pear quite in place."
James S. Kennedy, M. D., who was one of the first drug- gists of Cape May City, was born in Philadelphia. January 16, 1807, and came to Cape May when a small boy. He studied medicine under Dr. Brooks, of Philadelphia, and graduated at the Pennsylvania College of Medicine, Phila- delphia, March 7. 1843.
The same year he opened the first drug store kept in Cape May City, in a small building on Washington street, near Jackson street, where he continued the practice of his profession for one year, when he built a drug store on La- fayette street, near Decatur street, which he afterwards moved to Washington street, near Decatur street. On Sep- tember 3, 1844. he married Miss Charlotte R. Swain, a daughter of Lemuel Swain, Sr. For many years he was owner and proprietor of the Franklin House, and during the early days of the incorporation of the city he was an influential member of Council, and well known and highly respected citizen. When Isaac M. Church, the first Mayor of Cape Island, resigned in October, 1851, Dr. Kennedy came within one of being elected Mayor by the City Coun- cil. In 1851 he was elected he first Assessor of the city, and also a member of the first Council, and was twice again elected to the position of Assessor in 1856 and 1857. He was for many years continuously a member of Council, being first elected in 1855, and served during the years of 1857, 1861, 1862, 1869, 1870 and 1875. He was chosen Alderman in 1863, and five years continuously. At that time the Alderman was a member of Council, as well as a committing magistrate. He was a member of the county Board of Freeholders from Cape May City during the years 1864 and 1865. He served as Overseer of the Poor six
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years from March, 1862. In 1868 he associated with him- self in business his son, Dr. Henry A. Kennedy, and they afterwards conducted the business under the name of Dr. J. S. Kennedy & Son, in the same place, until 1873. That year they purchased the ground at the corner of Decatur street, where the United States Hotel had formerly stood, which was destroyed by fire August 29, 1869. He, Dr. Kennedy, remained in business a the United States Phar- macy until he died. June 20, 1876. He was a prominent member of the Presbyterian Church of Cape May City, and a member of Evening Star Lodge of Odd Fellows, which then flourished in Cape May.
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