Frank S. Fithian
Frank S. Fithian, c. 1931
Frank S. Fithian was born in Bridgeton, NJ on December 15, 1864 to Charles B. Fithian and his wife, the former Emma Pyle Sheppard. He was one of at least six children. The Fithian family relocated to Camden County in 1864. Charles Fithian listed his occupation as harness maker in 1860, and as a horse doctor in 1880. He was living at 312 West Street in 1887, and was Assistant Superintendent of the Camden Horse Railroad, which operated a horse-drawn trolley service in Camden in the days before the city was electrified. By 1890 the Charles Fithian family had moved to a large home at 545 Washington Street.
Frank S. Fithian married Emma Wrifford on November 30, 1883. In the late 1880s and early 1890s he worked as a clerk in Philadelphia. The Fithians made their home at 216 Stevens Street in these years. A son, Leslie Fithian, was born around 1886.
Frank S. Fithian had risen to the position of Chief Clerk of the Water Department of the City of Camden during the administration of Winfield S. Price, Mayor of the City of Camden from 1927 to 1931. At the time of the 1920 census, Frank S. Fithian owned a home, with his wife Emma, at 1452 Wildwood Avenue in Camden’s Parkside neighborhood. By 1930 prominent lawyer and politician Rocco Palese had become a neighbor, residing at 1462 Wildwood Avenue. Also residing at 1452 Wildwood in 1920 and 1930, when the Census was taken, was son Leslie, an electrical engineer by trade, and daughter-in-law and daughter Anna V. Fithian. Other families on that block included the Auerbach, Lichtenstein, and Heine families.
Frank S. Fithian was a member of Ionic Lodge No. 94, F.& A.M., and of Camden Lodge 293 of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks.
Frank S. Fithian passed away on January 30, 1936 at his home at 1452 Wildwood Avenue in Parkside, survived by his wife, son, and daughter-in-law, who were all residing at 1452 Wildwood Avenue at that time. After funeral services at the Holl Funeral Home at 1401 Princess Avenue, Frank S. Fithian was laid to rest at Harleigh Cemetery.
Leslie Fithian operated the West Jersey Electric & Construction Company, headquartered at 907 Division Street, at that time. Anna Fithian, by 1959 a widow, resided in Collingswood in the late 1950s.
Lee H. Mills Group
Philadelphia Inquirer —
Lee H. Mills – Frank S. Fithian
Harry A. Goodman Group
Philadelphia Inquirer —
OFFICES AND OFFICE-SEEKERS
Positions Soon to Be Filled in Camden’s Municipal Government.
Another caucus of the Republican members and members-elect of Camden City Council will be held prior to the organization of the new Council. Building Inspector William H. Cole, who is a candidate for re-election, has two opponents—ex-City Assessor J. Oscar Nichuals and ex-Freeholder Richard C. Mason. All these candidates have practical knowledge of building operations and the contest is an interesting one. William T. G. Young, Jr., is a candidate to succeed the late Owen B. Jones, as assistant city clerk, a position which he formerly filled. So far there is no active opposition to City Engineer Farnham, Water Clerk Fithian and City Controller Hollingshed, who are candidates for re-election.
There are half a dozen candidates for the position of Excise Inspector, which the new Excise Board will fill. They include the present Inspector, Samuel Lee; John Cherry, Harry Goodman, Samuel Lodge, C. Harry Price and Frank Vacke. Arthur Bedell will probably be selected as president of the board, and City Clerk T. P. Varney will retain his position as clerk.
Councilman Sayrs, of the Seventh ward, will, it is said, be appointed by Judge Joline as clerk of the District Court to succeed George D. Barton, a Democrat, whose term expires next Friday.
Frank S. Jones Group
Philadelphia Inquirer —
CAMDEN COUNCIL TO FILL OFFICES
The Officials Whose Terms Expire Are All Seeking Re-election.
A NEW WATER ENGINEER
Talk of a “Dark Horse” as Chief Mines’s Successor—Contested Election Committees Are Dormant.
There is considerable speculation among citizen and ward place-seekers as to the filling of several city officers by City Council at its next regular meeting June 24. The most important of these is the office of Chief Engineer of the Water Department, as the incoming official will assume charge of the new $500,000 artesian water plant which will be completed this summer. William Mines, the present incumbent, is a candidate for re-election, and will have the support of the Committee of One Hundred Councilmen. As the Republicans have a majority in City Council it is not likely but that Engineer Mines will be re-elected. Two candidates who are expected to try to secure the Republican caucus nomination are ex-Sheriff [and] Candidate Charles Shaw. The former is in the plumbing business, and was a general prominent politician. The latter was the unsuccessful Republican candidate for Freeholder in the Fourth Ward at the recent municipal election, and is connected with the Camden Iron Works.
A leading Republican Councilman states that the looked out for him that a “dark horse” will get the position.
MINES WILL FIGHT.
Chief Engineer Mines does not propose to give up his office without a struggle. He will endeavor to take advantage of the Seabird Act, which was intended to prevent the removal of water superintendents at will. The republicans claim that this act will not apply, as the office of chief of the Water Department is fixed by the city charter.
There are three other positions in the Water Department to be filled by City Council at its regular meeting: Assistant to Clerk Frank S. Fithian, Assistant Clerk Ulie G. Lee, and Superintendent of Tax Department. All three are candidates for re-election and will probably receive the support of the Republican Councilmen, which will be equivalent to election.
City Council will also elect successors to City Clerk Frank S. Jones, of the Highway Department; Thomas H. Shivers; and Inspector of Sewers John Kenney, of the Highway Department; First and Second Assistant Surveyors William P. Osler and Earl W. Dennis, of the Department of Surveys; and Clerk William B. Doyle, of the Delinquent Tax Department, who now serves as assistant to the City Controller. So disposition is apparently disposed to giving these Republicans another term.
COUNCIL CONTESTS LAG.
The special three-member committees appointed to take up the election contests in the Third and Fifth wards of Camden have done nothing as yet. In the Fifth ward case the committees have not done anything owing to the absence of Chairman Robertson, and nothing will be held next Friday evening.
Chairman George, of the Shafer-Roberts special committee in the Third ward contest. The probabilities are that there will be no action of the committee until the ward contest has been disposed of by the Supreme Court.
John S. Smith Group
Philadelphia Inquirer —
CAMDEN ELKS MOVING ON CITY OF BALTIMORE
Camden Lodge, No. 293, B. P. O. Elks, will turn out in force at the annual gathering in Baltimore, which takes place to-day and continues until Saturday. The local Elks will be officially represented to-day by Samuel Kilpatrick, the alternate, as George D. Borton, the Exalted Ruler, will not be able to get down until to-morrow.
A large number went to Baltimore last night and many more will follow to-day. At least a hundred Camden Elks will be in attendance. The delegation last night was headed by Marshall W. Taylor, John G. Colsey, County Detective John S. Smith, John Irwin, Frank Peterson, Jas. Long, Joseph Kolb, Frank Fithian, Fred J. Newton, Joseph H. Pfeiffer, John McCabe, Martin Frand, Sheriff C. J. Mines, Joseph Burt, Isaac Moffett, ex-Sheriff Henry J. West, Richard Mason, Thomas P. Curley, John Fort, D. Harry Condit and John Beaston.
David Baird Sr. Group
Philadelphia Inquirer —
Named: David Baird Sr., J. Wesley Sell, Frank F. Patterson Jr., Charles V.D. Joline
E. Ambler Armstrong, Frank T. Lloyd, F. Morse Archer, Robert L. Barber
William J. Bradley, William D. Brown, Thomas P. Curley, Charles F. Currie
Isaac W. Coles, E.W. Delacroix, John J. Burleigh, John Cherry, William Graeff
Theodore Gibbs, John S. Roberts, Henry J. West, George Pfeiffer Jr.
Irving Buckle, Samuel Wood, Jonathan Watson, Maurice Redrow
Richard R. Miller, Lewis H. Mohrman, David M. Anderson, G. William Harned
Edward H. Chew, William Coffin, Dr. John B. Davis, Dr. Henry H. Davis
Samuel S. Elfreth, Charles H. Ellis, Levi Farnham, John Blowe, J. Palmer Earl
Samuel P. Jones, George W. Turner, Henry M. Snyder, Lewis Stehr Sr.
Charles P. Sayrs, Henry J. Rumrille, William M. Palmer, Frank Peterson
Martin J. O’Brien, J. Willard Morgan, J. Alpheus McCracken, John R. McCabe
A.G. McCausland, Joseph Kolb, John M. Kelly, E.E. Jefferies, Jacob S. Justice
Robert Jaggard, Harry L. Jones, Upton S. Jefferys, William Kettler
John D. Courter, Dr. William S. Jones, Mahlon F. Ivins Sr.
Samuel G. Hufty, Ephraim T. Gill, and Francis Fithian.
Third Ward Republican Club
Camden Post-Telegram —
Third Ward Club Holds Fine Ball
Mr. and Mrs. J. Edward Way Lead the Grand March of Republican Club
Latest Dances on Program
Despite the stormy weather Turner Hall was crowded last night, when the Third Ward Republican Club held its first annual dress ball. The affair was a complete success and the grand march was one of the prettiest ever held in the Verein auditorium.
It was after 10 o’clock when the grand march took place. It was led by Mr. and Mrs. J. Edward Way. The second couple were Councilman and Mrs. A. Benjamin Sparks. Following them were Councilman and Mrs. William H. Hall and Freeholder and Mrs. John T. Rodan. The marchers formed the figure “three” and the letter “W.” The march concluded with the couples sixteen to each file.
The hall was handsomely decorated in the national and municipal colors. There were thirty-one numbers to the program. Rushton’s orchestra furnished an excellent program. Among the numbers were the fox trot, one-step, caprice, two-step, hesitation, waltz, lancers and redowa.
The grand conductor was J. Edward Way and Councilman Sparks was assistant grand conductor. The members of the various committees to whose efforts the success of the ball was due were as follows:
Floor—Wm. H. Hall, Harry Hertline, Walter J. Stanton, John T. Rodan, Jesse Hillman, Lemuel J. Toy.
Door—Jesse Smith, chairman; Robert Whitley, Morris Steelman, Wm. Elberson, Samuel S. Bacon; officers, Albert Keaser, Harry Miller, Frank Smith.
Reception—John S. Roberts, chairman; William M. Fithian, W. J. A. Stanton, Julius R. Schaaf, George Cox, Edward Delacroix, Robert J. Garrison, Horace Hewlings, Frank Knitter, Sr., George Murray, Harry Selby, Harry C. Sharp, Robert Schroeder, James Vickers, Edwin D. Steen, William Horay, Clarence H. Thorn, Joseph H. Thorn, Joseph Croasdale, Wright Cox, Frank S. Fithian, George F. Hammond, Howard T. Harris, Frank Knitter, Jr., Albert J. Meyer, Harry Stowe, William Selby, Harry Vliet, H. P. Toy; printing and press committee, Wesley J. Stanton, Jesse Hillman.
Refreshments—Walter Madden, chairman; Moore B. Garrison, C. L. Wendell, William H. Dill, Charles Errickson, George Bowman, Edwin Fields, William Hartman, Ephraim Husted, Frank S. Ireton, Thomas Madden, Harry Pearce, Charles Smith, John Reid B. Borowakey, Charles Weaver, James Monohan, C. S. Woodward, George Madura, C. Allen Lloyd, Edward Livermore, William G. Finley, Henry Gercke, Benjamin C. Horan, Augustus Jans, Clarence Madden, James J. McDermott, George Schu, John McCarry, Edward Carey, James Millman, Thomas Dickinson, M. J. Riley, James Tivers.
The officers of the club are are [sic] as follows: President, A. B. Sparks; vice president, Wm. M. Fithian; second vice president, Elwin D. Steen; recording secretary, W. J. A. Stanton; financial secretary, John T. Rodan; treasurer, John S. Roberts; trustees, Julius R. Schaaf, Morris Steelman, Clarence R. Thorn.
Admiral Henry Wilson Group
Philadelphia Inquirer —
Click on images for PDF file of complete article.
Battle Flags Wave in Triumph O’er Parade Reviewed by Admiral
Gray Veterans of G. A. R. and Wounded Ride; Centopath Passes in Reverential Hush
The Peace with victory which Camden’s sons along with millions of other soldiers of all the Allied countries helped to bring home was celebrated by a jubilee in Camden yesterday which eclipsed anything that the city across the Delaware has ever attempted in her history.
Nearly every man, woman and child who did not actually march in the jubilee parade stood on the side lines and watched it and cheered themselves hoarse as the soldiers and sailors who went out from their town to fight marched past, this time as the conquerors in the world’s greatest war.
Favored by glorious sunshine, a sunshine that was reflected in the faces of the people, the day’s proceedings went off perfectly. For months Mayor Ellis and all his city family, together with a large committee of leading citizens, had been planning the affair. Their handiwork stood the test. It was good.
Admiral Henry Wilson, commander-in-chief of the Atlantic Fleet, came to his boyhood home to be the principal guest of the city and chief reviewing officer of the jubilee. With him were national statesmen and municipal officials.
Soldiers, sailors, war workers, members of fraternal orders and men who fought under the flags of Canada, England, Italy and Poland, marched in the parade which was miles long. Every succeeding division seemed just a little better than the one which preceded it, and, when it was all over and the soldiers and sailors had filed into the old Third Regiment Armory to sit down to a piping hot banquet, the hardest thing of all was to say which had made the finest showing.
All Honor to the Dead
Amidst all the gayety and happiness there was a sober note expressed by the memorial cenotaph which preceded the parade and which brought every hat off as it passed in solemn silence.
The heroic figure of an American soldier in bronze standing on a granite pedestal which bore a gold star with the number 135, symbolical of the Camden county men who laid down their lives in their country’s cause, was carried along the route ten minutes before the parade commenced. Encircler [sic] by flowers and palms, it moved through the reverential hush which had fallen over the throngs.
While every organization in the county of Philadelphia was represented in the parade, to the thousands who lined the sidewalks, there was really only one great big important factor—the service men. And when those self-same service men, many of whom bearing the Distinguished Service Cross of their own United States, others wearing the Croix de Guerre, bestowed on them by the sister republic of France, and still others carrying on their breasts the Italian and British War Crosses, given them by grateful countries, marched down the streets and avenues, all the pent up emotion in thousands of hearts was let loose.
It mattered not whether the men were officers or enlisted men, black or white, neat or untidy, they were all soldiers and they had done all that was asked of them. Their home town honored them. The men in blue and the women in blue, too, received a welcome not one whit less feeling than their brothers in khaki.
They had a certain advantage over the doughboys, for they put half a dozen of the prettiest and smartest yoemanettes that ever wore Uncle Sam’s uniform at the head of their division. The crowd simply had to be with them.
Canada and England, too, had a detachment of men in line. About two dozen of these veterans, half of whom wore the ribbon of the Mons Star, showing that they were in service in France in 1914, were in line, and they marched snappily and smartly and drew their full modicum of pleasurable comments.
Red Cross women, some of them grandmothers, others young girls still in their teens, marched in their snowy white uniforms with their crosses of red emblazoned on headcover and breast. Salvation Army lassies who had cooked doughnuts right up under the muzzles of the guns were there with Y. M. C. A. and Knights of Columbus workers.
Elks, Masons, Knights Templar, Red Men, Moose and scores of other fraternal organizations turned out in all their glorious trappings and regalia.
The delegation of Elks, startling in their spic and span white uniforms, marched behind their own band like squads of veterans. A foretaste of what Philadelphia will see during the coming week was given when more than 100 Knights Templar, resplendent in their uniforms and swords and cocked hats with white ostrich feathers, marched in the second division of the parade. As the formation reached the reviewing stand near the Ninth Ward Republican Association they deployed into the formation of a cross, the symbol of their order, and marched past in this formation.
Many gorgeous floats were in line, th Ninth Ward Republican Association having no less than five. All were artistic. The first was bedecked with growing flowers, while a beautiful young woman reprsenting “Peace” stood flanked by a soldier and sailor. The one following had a replica of the Liberty Bell with the inscription, “Peace on Earth, Good Will Towards men.” Two soldiers rang the bell. Behind them marched a band playing “Onward Christian Soldiers” as the men marched on. Floats symbolical of every war activity were there. The Knights of Columbus showed a replica of their famous service hut which was the doughboy’s home when he had no other.
The veterans of other wars were not forgotten in this jubilee of the greatest war of all. Grand Army men whose gray locks bespoke their years rode in automobiles bearing the tattered colors of their old Civil War regiments. The soldiers of a later day, men of the Spanish-American War, were in line with their comrades.
The wounded were there, too. They could not march in the parade, but they rode and their faces were smiling and their hearts were glad as they realized that this welcome was for them.
Triumphal arches were erected at points along the route of the parade and the square at the courthouse was a mass of color.
Among the officers in command of the sections of the service division were Lieutenant Colonel Samuel G. Barnard, of the 112th Field Artillery; Captain J. Walter Scott, former adjutant of the Third Regiment; Captains English, Richards and Dickinson, of Battery B; Lieutenant J. G. Williams, Ensign Beaston and Lieutenant William Opfermann, of the aviation corps.
Battle Flags Wave Triumphant
Shortly after 1.30 o’clock James H. Long, chairman of the parade committee of the Victory Jubilee and Memorial Committee and marshal of the pageant, gave the order to march. The Lyric Band, which escorted nearly all of the troops to the terminal in the dark days of the war, was given the honor of heading the line. Chief of Police E. A. Gravenor and Assistant Chief of Police Edward S. Hyde led the parade, followed by a platoon of mounted policemen under Captain William E. Albert.
Then came Marshal Long and his aides, who were: Frank E. Van Hart, William D. Sayrs, Jr., Frank Fithian, A. Benjamin Sparks, Kessel Webster, William Isgard, Robert D. Clow, Andrew B. F. Smith, William Lorrigan, Charles Austermuhl, David Doane, William C. Davis and William D. Vanaman.
Directly behind the Lyric Band marched Mayor Charles H. Ellis at the head of the Victory Jubilee and Memorial Committee, of which he is chairman.
And at the head of the division were the battle flags of the Twenty-ninth and Seventy-eighth divisions, on which General John J. Pershing personally pinned battle pennants during those memorable days back in October in the Argonne forest. Behind the 4th marched the famous engineers, headed by Captain Keasby and Captain Beals Smuck. Three battle pennants were pinned to their flags, which never touched the ground while they were bridging the rivers in the Argonne under hellish shell fire for the doughboys to advance. Then came the 112th Field Artillery, Battery B’s heroes of the border and of France, headed by Captain Charles Richards and Captain Dickinson. In the same section marched the Eleventh Machine Gun Battalion with its battle flags and pennants fluttering.
There was another great cheer as the Seventy-eighth Division, New Jersey’s Lightning boys, loomed into view. The heroes of the 311th Infantry, 303d Engineers, 307th, 308th and 309th Field Artillery and other regiments of that famous command were given a mighty ovation behind their battle flags, which led them in their assault on St. Mihiel and the day they attacked and captured Grand-Pre in the terrible conflict in the Argonne.
Behind them marched the Marines, headed by Lieutenant Monitor Watchman, of the Fifth Regiment, Second Division. With the Marines marched the regular army units, men who had served in as many as five battles and wore three and four gold service stripes on their sleeves.
Then followed the naval contingent. They were commanded by Commander Francis W. Hoffman and Commander W. G. Hodgson.
The order “eyes left” flashed along the line as each platoon drew near the reviewing stand and Admiral Wilson with his band to his cap returned the salute. With the admiral on the stand were former United States Senator David Baird, Congressman William J. Browning, County Collector John S. Well, City Clerk W. D. Brown and others.
At the armory a splendid banquet was served to the soldiers and sailors. For days past corps Red Cross workers had been preparing the good things to eat and the men did full justice to them. They marched in the armory where the food was spread on the tables and enjoyed themselves while bands played. After dinner there were speeches. Mayor Ellis in welcoming the men said:
“This is one of the happiest moments of my life. I have waited patiently through months of trial for the glad day when I could bid you welcome to the City of Camden once again.
“We are planning to erect a lasting memorial in memory of those heroes who gave their lives and in memory of the valiant deeds you performed on land and sea.
“Camden will always cherish the memory of this day, rever the memory of your dead comrades and will inscribe your valiant deeds on that memorial. I bid you welcome in the name of the most patriotic little city in America. I thank you.”
Prosecutor Charles A. Wolverton welcomed the men on behalf of the county and paid a tribute to their valor recalling their wonderful victories of the Argonne and other battlefields of France.
Obituary
Camden Courier-Post —
FITHIAN—On January 30, 1936, at his residence, 1452 Wilford Ave., Camden, N. J., Frank S., husband of Emma A. Fithian (nee Wilford), age 73 years. Relatives and friends, also Ionic Lodge, No. 94, F. & A. M.; Camden Lodge, No. 293, B. P. O. E., and all other societies of which he was a member are invited to attend the funeral services, Monday afternoon at 2 o’clock, at the Hall Funeral Home, 1401 Princess Ave., Camden, N. J. Interment at Harleigh Cemetery. Friends may call Sunday evening.