Harry Tracy
Harry Tracy was born in Camden on February 4, 1908 to Freda and Bernard “Barney” Tracy. His father had come to Camden at an early age, and became active in politics as a young man. The Tracy family was living at 58 Boyd Street when the Census was taken in 1910. Sons Thomas and Harry had already arrived; a daughter, Roberta, would soon follow. The 1914 City Directory shows the family at 105 Marlton Avenue, and also reveals that Barney Tracy had taken a shot at running a retail variety store. This venture did not pan out and he was working at the Keystone Leather Company factory by the summer of 1918.
Barney Tracy was a life-long Democrat. During World War I he worked registering men in the Twelfth ward for the draft. He was living at 2001 Federal Street in September of 1918 when he himself registered, local businessman Charles A. Reynolds handling the formalities of that transaction. Barney Tracy was then working for the Keystone Leather Company at 1600 Mickle Street.
In the early 1920s he was a supporter of Victor King, and was instrumental in having Camden’s form of government changed to commission in 1923. By the 1930s he had risen to the post of County Committeeman from the Twelfth Ward, which comprised East Camden. So popular and effective in getting services delivered to his area that Barney Tracy was known as “The Mayor of East Camden.” He served three terms on Camden County’s Board of Elections.
By 1924 the Tracy family had moved next door, to 2003 Federal Street in East Camden. Barney and Thomas Tracy were working at one of Camden’s leather factories, Barney Tracy as a foreman, a position he still held in April of 1930. Around 1936 Barney Tracy was appointed to run the United States Marshal’s office in Camden, and served in that capacity through at least 1938.
Thomas and red-haired Harry Tracy, also known as “Barney” were well known in Camden as athletes. Both played professional basketball in the Eastern League in the 1920s and in semipro leagues in the 1930s, and Harry “Barney” Tracy played professional baseball for a number of clubs, including the traveling House of David baseball club, sporting a long red beard.
On November 16, 1940 Harry Tracy was appointed to the Camden Police Department along with Joseph Caputi Jr., Joseph Carroll, Roland Comerford, Julius Kaunacki, William Kelly, Frank Nelson, and Joseph A. Hooven Jr.
The 1947 Camden City Directory shows Harry J. Tracy living at 2003 Federal Street in East Camden. Harry Tracy was still living with his father, and serving as an officer in Camden’s Police Department. Barney Tracy appears to have moved to 130 North 24th Street sometime between the fall of 1956 and October of 1959, when New Jersey Bell Telephone Directory listed him at that address.
In the late 1930s and early 1940s the Tracy’s next door neighbor at 2001 Federal was Samuel J. “Buddy” Leyman, who operated a sandwich shop from the address. Samuel Leyman would be drafted and killed in action while serving with the United States Army in Europe in December of 1944.
Harry Tracy was promoted to Detective at some point after January of 1949 and by December of 1957 had been again promoted, this time to Detective Sergeant.
On April 3, 1954 a banquet was held at Kenney’s restaurant on Market Street in honor of retiring Camden Police Department detective August Pfleiderer. Joseph Mardino chaired the committee which put the banquet together. Other members of the committee include Clifford Carr, Harry Tracy, George Ellis, Nathaniel Jones, James Mulligan, Russell Maurer, Samuel E. Johnson, Edward C. Garrity, Frank H. Ryan, James M. O’Neill, Stephen M. O’Keefe, Edward J. Quinlan and Joseph Webster.
By June 1967 Harry Tracy had left the Camden Police Department. Harry Tracy was still residing at 2003 Federal Street as late as 1980. He was still a Camden resident when he passed away in February of 1987.
Camden Will Not Enter New Baseball League
Camden Courier-Post —
Schaub States He Will Not Purchase Franchise in Proposed Class B Circuit—Failure to Obtain Jersey City Territory Given as Cause of Change in Plans
By Tom Ryan
“You may state definitely that Camden will not enter the proposed North-South Baseball League this year.”
That is Lou Schaub’s answer to the query as to just what he intended doing in the matter of accepting a franchise in a new Class B circuit in which Camden had been extended an invitation to join, together with Trenton, Jersey City, Allentown, Easton, Norfolk, and Richmond.
“I wired Judge William H. Bramham, one of the organism of the league, last night that Camden would not enter the circuit under any circumstances. The fact that Jersey City cannot be represented in the league is the reason for Camden not taking a franchise, yet there were several other angles, mostly financial, which did not appeal to the local club owners,” continued Schaub.
When the St. Louis Cardinals recently bought the Rochester Club of the International League, and in turn transferred the Syracuse Club to Jersey City, that decided our stand in the matter. Without Jersey City in the league, the proposition doesn’t look good to us.
Jersey City Would have “Made League”
“The circuit which was proposed at the only meeting I attended was one that I thought should prove a success. The cities suggested and which were represented at that meeting included Trenton, Allentown, Jersey City, Easton, Camden, Norfolk and Richmond. Of course, the league organizers were in favor of a six-club circuit and as Easton, so far as I could understand, had no ball park, it was the thought that the other six clubs represented would form the circuit.
“Jersey City, represented by Dick Breen, was not free to enter the circuit at that time due to territorial rights owned by the International League, but it was thought that that matter could be adjusted without any undue difficulty, the club having been out of that circuit for the past two years. Breen was one of the most enthusiastic prospective club owners present and inferred that he would have little trouble in interesting enough capital to purchase a franchise providing the International League would void its territorial rights to Jersey City.
Would Have Cost $10,000 to Enter Circuit
“We fully intended to enter the circuit if Jersey City, Trenton, Allentown, Richmond and Norfolk comprised the circuit even though it would cost us in the neighborhood of $10,000 to even open the park for league ball. However, the failure to secure Jersey City, doesn’t warrant our spending any considerable sum of money despite the fact that the organizers notified me to the effect that they were willing to cut down the good faith guarantee from $3,000 to $2,000, and the time limit from five years to one year as was originally proposed at the meeting I attended.
“In fact, only making the clubs post a thousand dollars for one year was worse than the original plan. Suppose we went to the expense of improving Public Service Park, upon which we hold a three-year lease, which is far from iron clad, as it states that the company has the right to use it at the close of any baseball season for whatever purposes they desire, and that Public Service decided to use the park at the close of the present year, or that the league ‘blew’ in mid-year. We’d be out of luck, and how.
“Our good faith guarantee of $2,000 would be returned to us in event the league ‘blew,’ but that would be just a drop in the bucket compared to the amount of money that would have to be expended in refitting the park and obtaining ball players. And I don’t like the looks of the circuit without Jersey City in it.
Would Have Taken Chance With Jersey City
“Then again, if the Public Service Corporation decided to utilize the park for any purpose after this year we’d be in a worse jam even though the league went through. But, we would have taken both chances if Jersey City had been included in the league as we felt that it was one of the clubs which would have given the league a sound footing and which would have been a main factor in making it a success.
“Of course, that is mere supposition on our part, but the position we are in now hardly call, for the club owners to invest close to $10,000 in getting a franchise in a new league.
Will Run Same Sort of Club This Year as Last Year
“Besides the expense of improving the local park, we would have been forced to spend considerable money to obtain players. Although some players might be awarded Camden from the Virginia League Club whose franchise we would have been granted, there was little likelihood of there being any worthwhile material go with the franchise. Therefore, in order to compete with the other clubs we would have been compelled to either buy or at least give a signing bonus to players who would have been useful to the club.
“No, it isn’t worth the chance and you may inform the public that we’re not going in the league. If Jersey City had been included in the league, we were ready to invest the money, but the circuit as it now stands, offers no inducements for us to join, but you can also inform the fans that we will be in the field with another good independent club this year,” were Schaub’s parting words.
“Barney” Tracy on Way Home
Here’s more baseball news which will interest quite a number of local fans. Received a letter from Harry “Barney” Tracy, who has been playing winter baseball with Tony Pasquerella’s Crisfield Club in Porto Rico for the past two months. The “redhead” writes that he will be home almost any day now as he and the other members of the club sailed for South America on January 16.
“Barney” informs us he has seen all there is to see of Porto Rico and then some. The club played from one end of the island to the other and if they missed a town it was because that town didn’t have a ball orchard. They played most of their exhibition games opposed to the Ponce Club, which included San, of the Cuban Stars, and Daviu, formerly of Allentown, but who is now the property of the Binghamton Club, of the New York-Penn League.
San Made Great Record Here
San, incidentally, is the flinger who established one of the greatest strikeout feats ever witnessed here when he fanned three Camden batsmen on nine pitched balls in a game played between the Cuban Stars and Lou Schaub’s club last summer. Every one of the strikes was a legal affair. All three batsmen swung at every pitch and the fact that not a one was fouled made the feat one of the most remarkable ever turned in on a local lot.
However, that’s that, and we’ll go back to Tracy. He states that Pasquerella sailed for home in advance of the other members of the club, and that Tony Luciano’s brother was killed in an auto accident December 26. Whether or not Luciano was a member of the club “Barney” doesn’t state, but evidently he was, although he was not listed among the players who were to form the starting party.
He closed his letter with a request that his regards be extended to all his friends, so we’re using this method to inform them that he’s okeh and hopes everyone else is the same.
Mrs. Kobus to Ask More Cops, Firemen for City Next Year
Camden Courier-Post —
New Appointment Return Forces to 1938 Status; Defense Increases Need
Appointment of 22 patrolmen and 10 firemen by City Commissioner Mary W. Kobus during the past three months has brought the personnel of the public safety department to figures comparable to 1938.
That announcement was made yesterday by Commissioner Kobus, who expressed the hope the city could afford additional members of both departments in the near future “as a safety measure and because of the great national, State and local defense programs, in which we must participate.”
Appointments Listed
The new policemen appointed by Commissioner Kobus were:
Joseph Caputi, 332 Mt. Vernon street; Joseph M. Carroll, 427 Lansdowne avenue; Roland Comerford, 2931 Cramer street; Vincent Conley, 423 Beideman avenue; James Eskridge, 716 North Seventh street; Joseph Hooven, 501 Beideman avenue; Julius Kaunacki, 1183 Sheridan street; William E. Kelly, 55 State street; William F. Large, 729 Mickle street; William H. Neale, 773 Line street; Francis J. Nelson, 720 Penn street; John E. Opfer, 323 North Second street; Cecil H. Picou, 1127 Cooper street; Earl Quinton, 687 Jefferson avenue; Edw. W. Tatem, 565 Mt. Vernon street; Harry Tracy, 2003 Federal street; Harold I. Vecander, 1039 North Twenty-sixth street; John H. Watkins, 2902 Constitution road; Edward Watson, 1048 Haddon avenue; Donald R. Watson, 841 Lois avenue; George T. Weber, 1231 North Thirtieth street; Stanley Zuckowicz, 1157 Thurman street.
The new appointees to the fire department are:
Philip H. Farrow, 529 Newton avenue; Anthony W. Bretschneider, 1621 Louis street; John Gryckiewicz, 810 North Front street; Thomas Winstanley, 329 Bailey street; William Palese, 900 South Fourth street; Anthony Dzinski, 1230 Atlantic avenue; Joseph R. Guarino, 25 Morse street; Martin B. Nelson, 561 Spruce street; William Cleary, 614 Federal street; and Otto Kaiser, 904 North Twenty-sixth street.
Life Hereabouts by Charley Humes
Camden Courier-Post —
“KIDS…LITTLE KIDS…murdered in their own home.”
Tears were streaming down the face of a lovely little lady as she spoke those words.
In front of her, in the middle of the carpet, was a spot, sort of whitish, where someone had tried to remove the blood of a little boy…a little boy who was “going on three”…a little boy who never harmed no one…
Just down the block a bit, people were peering through a big plate glass window, looking at a “hobby horse” in a barber shop that is closed.
At the base of the standard which held the wooden horse in place was another blotch of blood…the blood of another little boy “just past six” who was having his hair cut in preparation for his first trip to school the next day….
In the back seat of an automobile parked a little farther away was another great stain…where another boy died.
And the killer says: “I’m glad I did it, but I’m sorry about the children.”
WE ARRIVED at the scene of the Mad Mission of Cramer Hill after all of the shooting was over. Walt Carley and Jake Weiner, Courier-Post scribes, had arrived with the cops. They witnessed the capture and went on to do a great job of reporting the terrible tragedy.
We walked along the street peering in windows where only minutes before, people were happy and gay—and now they were dead.
Two holes showed in the front screen of a home near the center of the block. Detectives Stanley Bobiak and William Deery, identification chief, approached and Bobiak looked into the home.
“Was anyone shot in here?” Bobiak queried through the window.
“My little boy was killed,” replied the tearful voice of a mother whose anguish was pitiful to see and hear.
This was a terrible thing that happened in Our Town.
HUMAN beings are a funny bunch. And cops are human beings. The shooting was over and there was this bluecoat and that bluecoat insisting that he was “first on the scene.” You could have had a couple of dozen “firsts” if you were interested in that. And all those who said they were first and were not given credit for it would have been sore.
But that was after the shooting was over. When the chips were down, when a maniac was shooting innocent men, women and children and was still on the loose with that big Luger, that is when the cops of Our Town proved they rank right up there with the best in the world.
Through the years, there has been many an occasion where we witnessed the bravery of Camden policemen.
This time we missed, but we know what happened from the lips of reliable newspapermen and other witnesses.
We know that Russ Maurer stepped out into the clear, while other cops covered him with their guns, to hurl tear gas into the home of the man who was bent on kill. Russ could have paid with his life, because the killer seldom missed. That was a brave act.
THERE were Charley Hance, Ev Joslin, Cecil Picou, Tommy Carr, Bill Moll, Sid Nelson, Barney Tracy, Bill Kelly, Marshall Thompson, Vince Conley, Lennie Andruzza and dozens of others closing in on the killer, inch by inch.
Kelley and Tracy on a roof, moving in, Bill with a machinegun, Barney with gun in hand…exposed like the other cops for a quick shot that might mean death.
Picou and Bill Rogers…moving the wounded and the dead…with the killer still free…Johnny Ferry stepping into the clear to keep the slayer from shooting from the upper front windows of his home.
NO WORDS of ours can give comfort to those families which suffered so much with the loss of dear ones. We can only say that everyone we met throughout Our Town mourned with them.
But we can say a word about the police and the manner in which they tackled this job.
And of all them there we will take Ev Joslin and say that Ev will never be outdone where courage is concerned. We have seen that courage through the years and we have heard many a cop say they will take Ev as their sidekick in a tough situation any day.
So the only way we can give Our Cops their proper due is to say that every one of them who participated in the Mad Mission of Cramer Hill was just as courageous, just as mindful of their sworn duty, just as concerned over the safety of others, forgetting themselves as the man we picked as a symbol of courage.
And whointhehell cares who got here first or who struck the killer?
Bandit Bluffed By Shopkeeper In Holdup Try
Camden Courier-Post —
Courageous action of the 58-year-old proprietor of a general merchandise store at 601 N. 6th st. thwarted an attempted holdup shortly after 5.30 p. m. Friday.
Albert E. Smith, told Detective Harry Tracy, that the thug, a slim man about 22, walked into the store and without saying a word, handed him a slip of paper. On it was written:
Don’t move or I’ll kill you.
Upon looking up after reading the note, Smith found himself staring into the end of a .45 calibre revolver. As he hestitated, the bandit said:
Come on Smitty, let’s have it.
But Smith responded by saying: “Oh, hell, put it away.”
At this point the thug swung a punch that brushed Smith’s chin. Smith dropped to the floor, calling loudly to his cousin, George Lawrence, 72, of 613 Elm st., who was in a rear room: “Call the cops.”
Hearing Smith’s cry, the thug ran from the store and jumped into a waiting station wagon with an accomplice at the wheel. The car sped away too quickly for Smith or his cousin to get the license number.
Tracy and Detective Stanley Bobiak, said the description of the thug fitted the bandit who grabbed $200 in the holdup of a midcity telegraph office Tuesday.
Smith is a veteran of War I, and served overseas with the 29th Division.
Three Men Held Without Bail in Tavern Holdup
Camden Courier-Post —
Trio Nabbed at Shore Identified by Victim Of $2000 Theft Here
Three men suspected of the $2000 robbery of a Camden woman tavern owner last Friday were held without bail for further hearing by Judge Dzick today.
Dzick acted in compliance with a request by Detectives Marshall Thompson and George Ellis, who said the investigation was not complete. The three were arrested Sunday in Atlantic City.
Booked on charges of armed robbery were Stanley Slagle, 22, of 1408 Broadway; James J. Lenahan, 24, of 1734 Broadway, and Robert Sharp, 26, of 19 N. Johnson blvd., Gloucester.
Identified as Boxer
Slagle was identified as a middleweight boxer, who started to fight last fall and appeared twice at a Philadelphia club.
Arrested at 2 a. m. Sunday the men were returned to Camden, where they were identified by Miss Mary Lynch, 44, who operates Lynch’s Cafe at 3rd and Erie sts. Charles Clark, 33, of 538 N. Front st., a patron who was slugged on the head with a blackjack, was able to identify Lenahan and Sharp as participating in the daylight holdup, according to Detective Capt. Thomas Murphy.
Murphy said the men will be included in a police lineup Tuesday at 8 p. m. so that other victims of holdups in the area during the past year may view the suspects.
Atlantic City police said Patrolmen Adelmo Fidelli and Edward Shaw, acting on information from Camden detectives, nabbed Lenahan in the Nomad Club.
Fifteen minutes later, other officers took Sharp and Slagle into custody in the Jockey Club.
Shore police said they had been notified Camden authorities in a raid on an apartment in Camden had learned from a girl-friend of one of the men that she was to meet them in Atlantic City.
Some Money Recovered
Murphy said $600 of the stolen money was recovered on the men, in addition to $125 discovered in the apartment in the 1700 block on Broadway.
The detective captain said Detectives George Ellis and Marshall Thompson, who along with Detectives Harry Tracey and Sgt. William Kelly returned the suspects from the shore, had spent 43 hours without sleep on the trail of the bandits.
Murphy said the key to the capture was a license number obtained by Patrolman Oliver Morgan from an automobile seen near the scene of the holdup.
Car Was Stolen
The car, Murphy said, had been stolen from John J. Hegar, 640 Federal st., a certified public accountant, who was unaware of the theft until after the car was recovered Saturday on 7th st., between Liberty st. and Kaighn ave.
Later Saturday, Murphy related, Detective Harry Kyler and Detective Sgt. Vincent Conley obtained information linking Lenahan to the job and, still later, the apartment in Camden was raided.
Discovered in the apartment, Murphy said, were a .45-calibre automatic and the cash, found hidden under a chair cushion.
Murphy said Lenahan and Sharp, under questioning Sunday night in Camden, admitted their part in the holdup. Slagle, however, denied knowledge of the crime, Murphy added.
Discarded Weapons
Reconstructing the holdup and the trail of the gunmen, Murphy named Sharp as driver of the getaway car and said the men drove around the city and then later threw a shotgun and blackjack from the car.
The men went to Philadelphia, Murphy continued, where they purchased new clothes and wrist watches and other accessories and agreed to meet in Atlantic City.
Murphy said all have police records, Lenahan having been paroled in July from state prison after serving a term for grand larceny in Atlantic City. Sharp was released from state prison last year after serving a term for larceny of an automobile in Camden County and Slagle was released from the prison where he was sent for robbery, Murphy said.
Cafe Holdup Suspect Held in $10,000 Bail
Camden Courier-Post —
Wibert Jones, 25, of Branch Village, was jailed today in default of $10,000 bail set by Municipal Judge Marino for further hearing Dec. 13 on a charge of attempted armed robbery.
Jones pleaded not guilty to an attempt to rob a cafe operated by Felix Knaft at 1703 Mulford st. on Nov. 16.
Continuance of hearing was asked by Det. Sgt. Harry Tracy, who told the court police were seeking a second suspect.
City Detective Barney Tracy
Camden Courier-Post —
City Detective Barney Tracy—A skilled sleuth, this redhead is a skilled horseman, essayist, gourmet, historian and former baseball star. There may be a trace of gray in his hair—but there is eternal spring in his heart. He is a bachelor only because he is timid in the presence of girls. But … he is a real sentimentalist just yearning to be housebroken.