Introduction
FREDERICK HALL was born in Pennsylvania about 1875. He married around 1899. His wife Emma bore three children, two of whom were living in 1910.
The 1906 City Directory calls him a driver, and gives his address as 811 Mount Vernon Street. When the Census was taken in 1910 Fred Hall was living with wife Emma and sons William R. and Archibald L. at 719 Chestnut Street. He was working at an oilcloth factory as an oilmaker. Brother-in-law George L. Ross also lived at that address.
Fred Hall was appointed to the Camden Fire Department shortly after the Census was taken in April of 1910 and was assigned to the Chemical Engine Company 8 operating out of the firehouse at 609 Kaighn Avenue.
In June of 1912, Hook & Ladder 2 and the Chemical Engine Company 8 were responding first due to an alarm at Third and Liberty Streets, South Camden. Both companies turned west on Kaighn Avenue, their horses at a full gallop. At the corner of Broadway, a traffic cop attempted to stop a motorized truck to clear the street for responding apparatus. At the last moment, the commercial truck’s brakes failed to halt the vehicle as it rolled across the intersection. Ladder 2’s driver pulled hard on the reins and stopped short to avoid a collision. A terrific crash was heard as the Chemical Engine ran into the rear of the ladder company. Fireman Fred Hall, the driver of Chemical Company 2, sustained leg injuries while pinned under the crushed dashboard. Fireman Harry Haines, the ladder company tillerman was also injured in the jarring collision. Both horses of the Chemical Engine were seriously hurt, Ellis with a large gaping hole torn in its flank when the end of a ladder was shoved into the animal requiring seven big stitches to close. The mate was skinned and cut along its entire side. Both steeds were removed to the veterinary hospital for treatment.
Fred Hall passed away on August 6, 1913. He had been ill for several weeks. Services were held at his residence, 807 Mount Vernon Street. His wife and children were still at that address when the 1914–1915 City Directory was compiled. Mrs. Hall and her sons had moved to 906 Broadway by the fall of 1918 and remained there into the 1920s.
Fireman Fred Hall Buried
Philadelphia Inquirer —
With fellow firemen acting as pall-bearers, the funeral of Fireman Fred Hall, who died Wednesday after several weeks of illness, took place yesterday from his home at 807 Mt. Vernon street, Camden. The services were in charge of Rev. William Brubaker, pastor of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church. The pall-bearers were Firemen Martin Clark, J. N. Ellis, William Rose, George Hunt, Seth Monnell and John McTaggart, all connected with the company of which Hall was a member. In honor of him Nos. 1 and 2 firehouses were closed for two hours. Interment was made in Harleigh.