Introduction
Edward Adam Preisendanz was the son of Rudolph and Annie Preisendanz. He was born in Camden, NJ, on November 14, 1883. Rudolph Preisendanz worked in the wagon-building trade. He first worked for Jacob Rettberg, then opened his own shop, and later bought Rettberg’s West Jersey Wagon Works at 15–17 Market Street. The business grew to 15–21 Market Street and built and repaired both light and heavy wagons for many Camden businesses. The firm also kept a lumber and storage yard across the street at 14 Market Street. Rudolph later acquired Jacob Rettberg’s wagon showroom, like a car dealership, at the northwest corner of Delaware Avenue and Market Street.
When Edward was born, the family lived at 122 Elm Street. The 1887–1888 Camden City Directory shows Rudolph had moved to 109 Linden Street, and his business was then a short walk away at 111 Front Street. Another son, Rudolph Jr., was born in 1890. The family was still at 109 Linden Street then. By the turn of the century, the family had moved to 211 Pearl Street.
The wagon business did well, but Rudolph Preisendanz Sr. had heart trouble. He suffered a near-fatal attack around Christmas 1907 and recovered, but then had a fatal heart attack on January 28, 1908. His sons Edward and Rudolph Jr. (known as Rud) took over the business. Mrs. Preisendanz, daughter Henrietta, and Rud Jr. were still living at 211 Pearl Street when the 1910 Census was taken.
Edward married in 1907. At the time of the 1910 Census, he and his wife Claudia lived at 215 Elm Street. Their daughter Annie was born in 1910. The house had been damaged when a tree fell during a tornado that hit Camden on April 2, 1903. The family remained at 215 Elm Street at least until 1914.
Edward registered for the draft in September 1918. He and Claudia were then living at 636 Penn Street, across from prominent Camden attorney Howard M. Cooper. They lived on Penn Street through at least 1927. By 1929, Edward, his family, and his widowed mother had moved to 1381 Kenwood Avenue in Parkside.
By 1917 the family business had moved to 34–44 North 5th Street. That property was taken during the construction of City Hall and became the park known as Roosevelt Plaza. The business, then called Rudolph Preisendanz Sons and run by Rud Preisendanz Jr., later moved to 1706–1716 Federal Street in East Camden, where it made truck bodies. That site had been an automobile dealership as late as 1929.
In the 1920s, Edward and his brother Rud joined Lee J. Gill, a contractor from Merchantville, to form the Gillanz Company, a real estate firm. Their office was at 4 North 2nd Street.
Edward and Rud Jr. ran the family business through 1930. Both brothers helped with the Fundraising Drive that led to building the Walt Whitman Hotel. Edward was a charter member of Camden’s Rotary Club. Their father, Rudolph Preisendanz Sr., had been active in civic groups like the Camden Lodge of Elks, and both sons followed him in the Elks.
In 1930 the brothers sold the body business to longtime employee Robert Becker. Edward and Rud Preisendanz Jr. then started the Broadcast Advertising Company. In the 1930s this firm leased the city-owned radio station WCAM.
Edward Preisendanz died suddenly on October 6, 1933. Newspapers reported he had been stricken with what they called acute indigestion. He was 49 years old. He was survived by his daughter Anna, his mother Mrs. Anna C. Preisendanz, and his brother Rud Jr. By January 1938, Rud Preisendanz Jr. had passed away. By 1947 the body works had closed, and a Food Fair grocery store stood at 1706–1716 Federal Street.
North Camden Hit by a Great Cyclone; Homes Wrecked
Philadelphia Inquirer —
NORTH CAMDEN HIT BY A GREAT CYCLONE; HOMES WRECKED
Hundreds of Houses Ruined by Violent Wind and Rain and Two Persons May Die. Streets Strewn With Debris
Two lives will probably be sacrificed, property valued at at least a hundred thousand dollars, was virtually destroyed and the northwest section of the city was laid in ruins when a storm of cyclonic intensity swept over Camden last night. It continued hardly fifteen minutes, but in that time more havoc was wrought than by any storm that has ever visited that section, even including the locally historic cyclone of 1885.
Those who will likely offer up their lives as a sacrifice to the tremendous force of wind include Miss Anna Cleary, a nurse in the Cooper Hospital, whose house is at 317 Vine street, and Miss Anna Gebrend, of 2359 Amber street, Philadelphia. Both were taken to the Cooper Hospital crushed.
WERE IN TROLLEY CAR
The two women were in a Crosstown trolley car. It was going up Fifth street, when, at Elm, it encountered the full force of the storm. It was the centre of a maelstrom of flying roofs, falling telegraph poles and trees and odds and ends of debris.
Miss Cleary and Miss Behrend were seated in a section of the car over which a tangled mass of debris fell, the great weight crushing in the top like so much paper. Both were pinned beneath a weight of hundreds of pounds and notwithstanding the fierce wind and air, filled with every conceivable sort of material, the police worked until the women had been released. At the hospital it was found that they had been cut, bruised and cut all over their bodies and it seemed impossible that they could recover.
Many Houses Wrecked
Scores of houses were wrecked, many beyond all hope of repair, and the miracle was that there were no more fatalities. This is attributed to the fact that the force of the wind spent itself along the tops of the structures, otherwise hundreds would have been killed.
The great force of this wind was evidenced at the plant of the Orford Copper Company at Tenth and Elm streets. This concern has a structure about 50 by 100 feet. Five great boiler stacks graced the main building until the wind came. Then these stacks went over like so many tenpins, being blown hundreds of feet away. In addition the roof was doubled up and sent through the air until it landed in an adjoining vacant lot.
Got the Full Force
The full intensity of the wind was felt on Fourth street from Vine to Elm street. Beginning at the butchershop of former Councilman Edward Francis at the southeast corner Fourth and Vine and going on both sides of Fourth street the cyclonic blast took off every roof, filling the thoroughfare with a mass of debris a dozen feet high.
The homes of Mrs. Mills, 417; Albert Roberts, 423; Mrs. Mary Goldy, 425, and Charles Houser, 427 North Fourth street, were among those unroofed and wrecked. The home of Edward Trappe, 619 North Fourth street, was completely blown out, nothing standing but the party walls, everything being hurled into the street. The family escaped miraculously. Virtually the same was with respect to the home of Joseph Layton, 632 North Fourth street.
Wind Took a Leap
Four two-story dwellings stood on North Fifth street, between Vine and Elm, including those of August Weber, 715; Mrs. George Waldis, 717; John Presher, 719, and Mrs. Susie Aborn, 721. These were sheltered by higher buildings, but the storm seemed to bounce like a rubber ball, and it descended with such fury that the roofs and porches were thrown down with a tremendous crash, the volumes of rain descending and destroying the furniture.
On Elm street, from Second to Third, stood a row of tall trees. They were broken off like stems and hurled against the homes of Edward Preisendanz, 217 Elm street, and Harry Curtis, 215 Elm street, with such force that the structures were simply caved in as though made of clay. In the same locality the homes of Frank Nice and George Beckert were denuded of their roofs.
Left the Walls Standing
At 406 Vine street lived Mrs. A. M. Magrath in a cozy two-storied dwelling. When the wind had finished its work with that structure there was little aside from a brick wall remaining. Mrs. Magrath lost everything, not even having a bed to lie upon.
Policeman Thomas Reed had his home at 613 Vine street wrecked, and the same fate befell that of George Eckenhoff, southeast corner Sixth and Vine streets.
Others whose homes were unroofed and, in some instances, damaged almost beyond repair, included the following:
Others in Wind’s Path
Mrs. Lillian Rhoades, 620 North Sixth street.
S. M. Blair, 622 North Sixth street.
John Getty, 618 North Sixth street.
Mrs. Howard Ivins, 630 North Fourth street.
George Batchelor, 702 North Sixth street.
Raymond Wallen, 704 North Sixth street.
Charles Jordan, 708 North Sixth street.
Michael Burke, 710 North Sixth street.
Allen Naylor, 640 North Eighth street.
William Conerdi, Second and Elm streets.
Matthew J. Lemon, 635 North Fifth street.
Dr. H. F. Pahn [sic], 612 North Second street.
William Askley, 646 Linwood street.
Thomas Wescott, 648 Linwood street.
Frank Kears, 950 Vine street.
Otto Shapiro, 648 Vine street.
Two Hundred Houses Hit
In addition to these there were scores of others more or less badly damaged. The police said that probably two hundred dwellings were involved, many of which will have to be torn down because they are absolutely unsafe to live in, and in most of these instances the torrents of rain simply flooded the interiors, ruining the household furniture.
It was about 7 o’clock when the storm made its appearance. The air was damp and humid until there was a sudden gust of cold, keen wind which preceded the cyclone. In South Camden the residents thought they were experiencing a mere spring thunder storm, although its intensity was marked. It was in the area bounded by the river and Fifth street and from Vine to Elm that the full force was felt. Those who had the temerity to observe the storm said it came with a rush and a roar, striking down in the centre of that district with a funnel-like movement. It was this which is declared to have twisted off roofs, trees and telegraph poles, flinging them in every direction and piling the streets high with the debris.
Storm Was Brief
In less than a quarter of an hour the storm had spent its fury, aside from some vivid flashes of lightning. It was then that the residents in the stricken district began peering cautiously from their homes. They were afraid to venture forth because everywhere they found a tangle of electric wires which hissed and sputtered death at every step. It was thought that when such damage had been wrought there must have been great loss of life. In consequence of this Chief of Police Gravenor and Fire Chief Elfreth massed most of their men in the damaged area. In the meantime all lights had been extinguished, the lighting plant having been closed to avert possible tragedies. Everything was in absolute darkness, and because of this the police and firemen had great difficulty in going over the district in search of possible victims. They were aided, however, by scores of volunteers, who looked high and low about the wreckage. Up to a late hour last night no bodies had been found, but the search will be continued today.
Thousands on the Scene
After the storm had subsided thousands of Camden residents visited the damaged area. It was necessary to rope it off to prevent the venturesome ones from going into unnecessary danger. Many came from the southern section of the city and were greatly surprised over the havoc wrought. South Camden was hardly touched.
Among those who were not perturbed to notice, the cyclone was Scott Veazey, a barber, of Third and Elm streets. He said that his impression was that a train had struck a trolley car. He heard one great crash, looked out of his door, saw the air filled with debris and was glad to get in. Vezey’s place is right in the midst of the area damaged, but he escaped unscathed.
Rud. Presendanz — West Jersey Wagon Works
Camden City Directory Advertisement, 1913
Rud. Presendanz, West Jersey Wagon Works - 1913 Camden City Directory Advertisement
Smoke Overcomes Two Firemen
Philadelphia Inquirer —
In a $4000 fire at the plant of the West Jersey Carriage Works, 15 to 21 Market street, Camden, early yesterday morning, two firemen were overcome by smoke. They were James McDae [sic], of 415 North Front street, an [sic] William Simpson, of 604 North Sixth street, they being taken to the Cooper an [sic] Homeopathic Hospitals, respectively. The blaze was a stubborn one for awhile and at one time threatened to communicate with the plant of the Victor Talking Machine Company.
World War I — Draft Card
Edward A. Preisendanz Draft Card
Elks Are All Set For Hi-Hat Show
Camden Courier-Post —
Offering the pick of local talent under skillful direction in an ambitious revue, the annual Elks Frolic for 1928 will be presented Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings in the Elks auditorium at Cooper and Seventh Streets.
“Hi-Hat” is the title of the new revue and the appearance of Elsa Dorn is a feature. The revue opens with an act programmed as “Hits and Bits,” in which Rud Preisendanz will act as master of ceremonies. From that point on, the revue makes its way through a series of dances, songs, spectacles and comedy skits until its conclusion.
William H. Iszard, chairman of the frolic committee, also becomes an actor in the performance. Others in the cast include the following.
Benton Vansciver, Ronald Hollingsworth, Fred Peterson, Elmore Craft Jr., Dorothy McDonna, Bernice Hendrickson, Lillian Hill, Jeanette Smith, Dot McGuire, Dot Hemphill, Bill Geyer.
Catherine Hill, Lillian Starke, Irma Huff, Virginia Simms, Mary Hall, “Billie” Dryer, Anna Prayne, Margaret Printz.
Justin McCarthy, Dorothy Ferat, Ed Brewer, Charles Wright, Fred Peterson, Dave Reese, Biel Davis, Bill Huff, Lillian Hill, Roland Hollingsworth, Ed Kelly, Al Durfer, Ed Preisendanz, Bert Poland, Curt Hitchner, Jack Sauerhoff, Perrin G. Somers Jr., Alberta O'Hara.
Harry Todd, Pete McGuire, Bill Gravenstine, Paul Horompo, Frances Brabazon, Irma Huff, Ella Huff, Eleanor Townsend, Bernice Hendrickson, Lillian Hill, Jeanette Smith, Mary Hall, Anna Prayne, Margaret Printz, Marie Carmichael, Elmore Craft, Charles Wright, Joe Hill, Larry Callahan, Harry Glazer, William Ambright, Frank Garrison, Ralph Willey, Jr., William Leckfeld.
New Elks Frolic Is Instant Success
Camden Courier-Post —
Colorful Revue With Snappy Features Delights Big Audience
Colorful and melodious, bearing the mark of skillful coaching and disclosing notable talent, the annual Elks’ Frolic was given its first performance last evening.
An appreciative audience applauded the various performers and their skits as the array of Camden and South Jersey talent offered their musical or humorous wares from the stage of the Elks’ auditorium, at Seventh and Cooper Streets.
Open to the public, the revue, which bears the title of “Hi-Hat,” is to be presented again this evening and tomorrow evening. Not only does the large cast bear no hint of amateurishness in the performance, but through the frolic, the public is given an opportunity to see a number of men prominent in business and professional circles in Camden turn entertainers for the evening. William H. Iszard, former assemblyman, is a member of the cast of “Hi-Hat.” So is Rud Preisendanz, exalted ruler of the Camden Elks’ Lodge and prominent businessman.
The opening act, ‘Hits and Bits,’ gives opportunity to a group of clever singers and dancers. Prominent in this act is Preisendanz as ‘master of ceremonies.’ The specialties introduce Justin McCarthy, Bill Guyer, Jannette Smith, Dorothy Ferat, Cliff Okerson, Charles Wright, Virginia Sims and Joe Hill. A dancing chorus composed of Dorothy McDonna, Bernice Hendrickson, Lillian Hill, Jannette Smith, Dot McGuire, Dot Hemphill, Catherine Hill, Lillian Starke, Francis Brahazon, Mary Hall, Bernice Hendrickson and Irma Huff, execute a series of timed dances. Miss Elsa Dorn has an important role in this and subsequent scenes.
A blackface novelty introduces Pete McGuire and Harry Toll in “The Transfer Men.”
A juvenile diversion features Kathleen Lyle and Ruth Matthiessen. It is called “We Moderns” and depicts a child’s idea of the modern flapper and her collegiate boyfriend.
A sketch dealing with one of the vital problems of the day entitled “Pre-War Scotch,” serves to introduce David Reese as a bellboy, Bill Huff and Bill Geyer are two salesmen, and Bill Davis as the proprietor of a rural hotel.
‘Modern Fairy Tales’ sung by Katherine Hill and Lillian Stark, tells the song story of fairy tales of the past compared to fairy tales of modern times. The sketches are played by Lillian Hill and Justice McCarthy.
Another playlet of the “collegiate” mode is called “The Elopers.” Special song numbers by Perrin G. Somers are interpolated in the act.
“The Musical Tourists,” a parody on the popular songs of the day, coupled in such a manner that they tell the story of the purchase of a second-hand touring car, is one of the hits of the performance. In this act are Ed Kelly, Al Durfer, Ed Preisendanz, Ben Hardy, Harry Todd, Bill Guyer and Jack Sauerhoff.
The Elks’ “Madcap Dancing Ensemble” introduces a series of clever dances by Frances Brahazon, Alberta O’Hara and Virginia Sims. In this are acrobatic, ballet, waltz, clog, buck and eccentric dancing.
The closing scene, beautifully mounted in costumes and scenery, has been given the title “Palate D’Or.” Prominent among the performers are Charles Murray, Bert Poland, Jack Sauerhoff, Ed Kelly, Bill Gravenstine, Elsa Dorn, Pete McGuire, Ed Preisendanz, Harry Todd, Al Durfer, Dave Reese, Dot McGuire, Dorothy McDonna, Irma Huff, Paul Horompf, Lillian Starke, and Rud Preisendanz. A mixed chorus of fifteen voices lends color to the scene. An augmented orchestra was under the direction of Perrin G. Somers, director of the frolic. The curtain rises promptly at 8:30.
Rud Preisendanz Sons
Camden Courier-Post —
Rud Preisendanz' Sons
Builders of High Grade
Motor Truck Bodies
SOLID AND CUSHION TRUCK TIRES AUTOMOBILE WORK REPAIRING, PAINTING, TRIMMING
34 to 44 NORTH FIFTH STREET
Rud Preisendanz Sons
Camden Courier-Post —
All Types of Jobs Handled By Becker Body Company
Business is good at the Becker Body Company plant, Seventeenth and Federal streets.
The photograph accompanying this article gives a glimpse of one corner of the shops. It could be duplicated anywhere in the plant and every picture would show skilled craftsmen busy working.
The work of the Becker Company consists of the repair of damaged automobile bodies and in the repainting or enameling of bodies. The plant is also equipped to handle all truck repairs and to manufacture new truck bodies as well as handle repair work.
The firm employs experienced, blacksmiths, metalsmiths, expert carriage painters and stripers, finishers, welders, woodworkers and others. The plant is carefully departmentalized so that whatever the work, there is always a skilled and expert craftsman to take care of it.
It Is the result of having hundreds of customers that keeps Becker's busy. In truck work they have a following among dairy firms, bakeries, meat packers, and other indus-tries who send their work here. The truck department is busy right now and in addition to being crowded with repair work there are half a dozen big bodies being manufactured that look as though they may be intended for beer trucks.
The company's work on pleasure cars comes largely from insurance companies and automobile dealers of South Jersey. Robert Becker who took over the business of R. Preisendanz and Sons three years ago, was for 15 years associated with the Preisendanz firm.
Photo shows a corner of the Becker Body Company plant at Seventeenth and Federal Streets, which Is busy with a variety of work on bodies of all types. The firm does work for many large concerns.
Radio Resolution Passes
Camden Courier-Post —
A resolution was passed protesting an increase in power authorized by the federal government to Station WORC and WEPS, of Worcester, Mass. An increase to 1280 kilocycles and to 500 watts causes interference in broadcasting, from WCAM, the resolution pointed out.
Another resolution was adopted by the commission clarifying to the federal government its position relative to responsibility as· to operation of WCAM. It was pointed out in the resolution that the mayor and city clerk had entered a supplemental agreement with the Broadcast Advertising Company, which leases the station from Camden. The government desired to establish that nothing be construed in the agreement which would relieve Camden from responsibility in operation of the station.
Funeral Services of E.A. Preizendanz
Camden Courier-Post —
Camden Rotary Club - Camden Lodge of Elks - Fred Veiser - Joshua C. Haines - Edward A. Mechling - Joseph H. Murray - Rud Preisendanz Sr. - Rud Preisendanz Jr. - WCAM - Cooper Street - North 5th Street - Market Street