John Reader
John Reader
John Reader was born in Glassboro, New Jersey on June 8, 1851. He went out to Nebraska with his family for about ten years. He and his wife, the former Lillia Grindle, and sons Addison, Aaron, and Lawrence, moved back to Camden from Nebraska in 1890. His parents stayed in Nebraska, where they passed away. John Reader and his family were known throughout the Seventh and Thirteenth Wards of Camden.
John Reader received his appointment to the Camden Police Department from Mayor Cooper B. Hatch on August 1, 1898. He was a member of the department for at least 19 years, where his abilities were soon recognized. John Reader was promoted to Sergeant on July 1, 1901, with a salary of $500 per year. He had been working as an acting sergeant for several months prior to that date, but only received patrolman’s pay.
In 1911 he made 63 arrests, and was 1 of 10 sergeants
In 1914 he made 6 arrests, and was 1 of 11 sergeants
In 1915 he made 6 arrests, and was 1 of 11 sergeants
In 1916 he made 4 arrests, and was 1 of 11 sergeants
Lillia Grindle Reader died in 1916, and John remarried to WillAnna Graham June 5, 1917. John Reader’s last address was at 749 Walnut Street. John Reader died on February 26, 1919 in Camden, and was buried at Harleigh Cemetery on Haddon Avenue.
John Reader’s son Addison was a doctor in Camden. Dr. Addison B.G. Reader was born October 16, 1876 in Camden. He died on October 22, 1922 in Camden. Aaron Reader was born on August 29, 1880 in Minden, Nebraska. He was in business and moved to Ocean County, New Jersey where he died on December 25, 1957. Lawrence Reader was also born in Minden, on February 16, 1886. He became a lawyer and served on Camden’s city council. Lawrence Reader died in Camden, a victim of the influenza epidemic, on October 10, 1918. The Reader sons all rest with their parents, at Harleigh Cemetery.
The Reader Family
Named: Lillia Grindle Reader, Lawrence Reader, and Dr. Addison B.G. Reader.
Police Appointments
Camden Daily Courier —
Five New Men Named to Fill Vacancies Made Last Week.
Mayor Hatch last night appointed the following new policemen:
George Nowrey and James Roach, Sixth ward, to succeed Thomas Brothers and Alfred Haydon.
John Reader, Seventh ward, to succeed John Anderson.
Harry Hope, Third ward, to succeed Alfred Myers.
Hugh Boyle, Ninth ward, to succeed Edward Cooper.
These men went on duty to day.
Alleged Policy People Arrested
Philadelphia Inquirer —
One of the Most Fruitful Raids in Years Was Made in Camden Yesterday
One of the most successful policy raids in years, in Camden, was made under the supervision of Chief of Police Foster yesterday. Sergeant Hyde and squad arrested Thomas F. Waters, alias “Uncle Frank,” aged 73 years; Isaac G. Johnson, seven persons, male and female, white and colored, and captured a quantity of drawings, “dream books” and plays, at 2[?]7 Division street.
Captain Stanley, Sergeant Reeder [sic] and squad arrested four women and secured a lot of paraphernalia in a house on Locust near Line street. The alleged proprietor is still at large.
Policeman Sayrs arrested Gilbert Massey, aged 70 years, at 727 Sycamore street, on the charge of being a policy writer.
At the hearings before Justice Stackhouse, Waters, Johnson and Massey were committed in default of $1000 bail each. The witnesses were released. The complaints were made by an agent of the Fidelity Detective Agency.
Police Disperse Socialist Crowd
Philadelphia Inquirer —
Meeting Was Scheduled in Camden, But It Was Prohibited for Fear of Trouble
Considerable excitement was created in Camden last night by the attempt of members of the Camden branch of the Socialistic party to hold an open air meeting at the junction of Broadway, Newton avenue and Mt. Vernon streets. The meeting was stopped by orders of Mayor Hatch. Chief of Police Foster, Captain Stanley, Sergeants Reeder [sic] and Stackhouse and twenty-five patrolmen were kept busy dispersing the large crowd which gathered. For a time it looked as though there would be serious trouble.
George H. Geabel, of Newark, N. J., who was expected to deliver the principal address, said to Chief Foster that it was an abridgement of the freedom of speech, that neither he nor his party were anarchists or Nihilists. He insisted that Czolgosz is a Nihilist. The Chief replied that their attitude might not be understood by the large crowd gathered, and violence might be done them, and it was his duty, therefore, to stop the meeting.
Father Shoots His Son Then Suicides
Philadelphia Inquirer —
Father Shoots His Son Then Suicides
CAMDEN, N. J., Jan 8—Joseph Caskey, a teamster, aged 63 years, of 820 Mount Vernon street, Camden, shot and instantly killed his son, Joseph, a weaver, aged 30 years, of 923 Chestnut street, Camden, in a stable yard in the rear of William Sultzbach’s saloon, at the southeast corner of Ninth and Walnut street, about half-past seven o’clock last night. The father afterwards put the pistol in his mouth, pulled the trigger and fell a corpse at his son’s feet.
Joseph Caskey, Sr., was one of the settlement, and his son was equally well known. Sunday they both attended a Polish christening and were apparently on good terms.
Last night the father was observed to drive into the stable yard shortly after seven o’clock with a team partially loaded. He was seen and heard by several neighbors in and about the barn.
About half-past seven the housekeeper at Sultzbach’s, on whose premises the stable is located, came to him in a state of fright and declared there was a man on the roof. To satisfy her he lighted a lantern and went out on the roof, but found no one. As he flashed the lantern he discovered the street gate and barn door open.
He came down and fastened the gate and started for the barn door and found the bodies of both men.
The son was lying in the stable door with a bullet wound in his temple. The father, a few feet away, was found with a wound in the roof of his mouth. The revolver, a 32-calibre, was clutched tightly in his right hand.
Mr. Sultzbach immediately notified the authorities, and Captain Stanley and Sergeant Reeder [sic] took charge of the bodies until the arrival of Coroner Litchfield.
Both men were married. The father leaves a wife and three grown children and the son a wife and two little girls.
Camden Police Form Organization
Philadelphia Inquirer —
A branch of the State Police Beneficial Association was formed in Camden yesterday by the election of Sergeant Edward Hyde president; Sergeant C. O. Pedrick, vice president; Sergeant Albert Gravenor, financial secretary; Sergeant David Bentley, recording secretary; Sergeant John Reeder, treasurer, and Chief John Foster, Sergeant William Schregler and Sergeant George Nowrey, trustees.
Camden Police Made Two Raids
Philadelphia Inquirer —
Police Captain Stanley, Sergeants Hyde and Reader and a squad of police raided two alleged disorderly houses in Camden early yesterday morning. On Pine street above Second they arrested Florence Quinn, the alleged proprietress, and eight men and women. At the place of Rose Cox, on South Fourth street, she and several others were taken into custody. Cases of beer and other drinks were confiscated.
Many Caught in Raid
Philadelphia Inquirer —
Pandemonium Reigned in Camden City Hall Following Arrests
Camden’s “Little Italy” as [sic] thrown into a ferment yesterday when Police Captain Stanley and Sergeant Reader, with squads of policemen, descended on two alleged disorderly houses and placed under arrest thirty-eight of the inmates. The proprietors included Antonio Froricano, Fourth street and Joint alley, and Andermo Clercenda, 706 South Second street. The prisoners taxed the capacity of the city jail.
It required several trips of the patrol wagons to convey the prisoners to the city prison, and in each instance crowds of gesticulating women and children followed. They crowded the police headquarters until the doors had to be locked to keep them out. What with the crying women, the bawling children and the excited talking of the men there was a perfect pandemonium.
Camden News Notes
Philadelphia Inquirer —
Peter Korarezski, a young Pole, yesterday received a verdict of $700 before Circuit Court Judge Cole as damages against the Dunn Oil Cloth Company for injuries received while employed by the corporation. He alleged that because of defective machinery he lost several fingers and the use of an arm.
Chief of Police Gravenor yesterday made Police Sergeant John Reader acting captain of the Second district, during the absence of Captain Arthur Stanley, who has gone abroad.
Worthless Check Writer Jailed
Philadelphia Inquirer —
After giving a romantic account of his career, Frank Hargraves, 28 years old, of Los Angeles, was given six months in jail by Recorder Stackhouse in Camden yesterday on a charge of attempting to pass a worthless check on Harry Galbraith, a liquor merchant, of 817 Broadway. The check was for $13.50 and was drawn to the order of Harry O. Collins on a Camden bank. It was signed “George M. Lucas.”
Of good appearance, Hargraves said he is a paroled prisoner from Canyon City, Col., where he was sentenced in 1907 to five years for a like offense. In 1911 he was pardoned, went to Los Angeles and secured a job in a grocery store. A former “pal” blackmailed him to the extent of $250, all his savings. He forged some checks and left for South America. Later he tried to get employment in New York and Washington and later drifted to Camden. Unable to get work, he concluded to try his old game and was tripped up almost at the beginning. Detective Brothers and Policeman Reader arrested him shortly after his attempt on Galbraith.
Funeral of Sergeant Reader
Philadelphia Inquirer —
Six members of the force who served under him for years were pallbearers yesterday afternoon at the funeral of former Sergeant of Police John Reader. They were Thomas Cunningham, Harry Mines, Thomas Cheeseman, William Harvey, George Kleaver and Clarence Boyer. Services were held at the home of his son, Dr. Addison B. Reader, 1135 Haddon avenue, and were conducted by Rev. Charles I. Fitzgeorge, pastor of Union M. E. Church, and interment was made at Harleigh Cemetery. Among the floral offerings was a six-foot shield from the Police Department.
Gravestones
John Reader — Harleigh Cemetery
Police Shakeups of Today Mild Compared to Years Ago
Camden Courier-Post —
Force Changed Every Time Political Regime of City Shifted; Larry Doran Fired for Crossing Street to Get Cinnamon Bun; Old Patrol Recalled
By BEN COURTER
(Another in a series of articles on municipal affairs and personalities of yesteryear.)
Ben Courter
In “the good old days” when Camden’s police department was just about getting under way in accordance with the amended charter of 1872, the men in the ranks were the football of politics. Even if the phrase “to the victor belongs the spoils” had not yet been coined, it was in active force. A change of administration always meant a violent shakeup in the personnel of the department.
It has been so many years since Camden has had a real political shakeup, aside from the nonpartisan movement of seven years ago, that the younger element can have no personal recollection of upheavals marking the aftermath of Democrats succeeding Republicans or vice versa. Many of the men resigned on principle, but others stood their ground and with the faithful hungry for place on the police force it was necessary to take drastic measures.
Sometimes it did not require a party turnover, for bitter factional scraps resulted in reprisals. It then fell the lot of the police committee of city council to conduct hearings. They were usually acrimonious affairs with partisans of the G. O. P. often showing more spleen than in a strict party fight. These hearings were as a rule public, attracting big crowds of opponents and advocates of the accused. The charges ranged from conduct unbecoming an officer to neglect of duty and everything between.
Sometimes the charges were altogether ridiculous, as for instance when Larry Doran, now chief of the county detectives, was accused of going out of his beat to buy a cinnamon bun. He happened to be an appointee of Mayor Joseph E. Mowrey and no one questioned Doran’s ability as a cop or of his sincerity in patrolling his beat. But the Republicans had come back into the fold some 25 years ago and it was determined Larry should get out. Thus came the charge based on someone’s discovery he had crossed the street early one morning to get a bun. No one imagined it a very heinous offense at best, but it was all in the game of politics and the finding of the police committee was a foregone conclusion.
Findings, Usually Sustained
In some instances appeals were made to higher courts, but very little came of it since the committee was considered within its power to dismiss an officer if it saw fit. All necessary was to have the report accepted by council and since that was overwhelmingly Republican the work of the committee was a mere formality. Politics continues to play an important part in the appointments of cops or firemen, but for the past six years they have been under civil service, thus affording at least a measure of protection unless there actually has been some dereliction of duty.
Even though there were the changes wrought by political and factional wars, many men withstood the storms through the years. As a matter of fact it is evident that most of the men who have been accepted as representative of the force have had little difficulty in holding down their beats.
Mention has occasionally been made of one of Camden’s most spectacular police chiefs, Samuel Dodd. When he was first appointed by Mayor Pratt in the 80’s he was in the prime of life and certainly not inclined to give quarter to anyone. But he met with his first difficulties in the race track regime with the dual police departments, when the Democratic commission appointed William A. Davis in his stead. He was reinstated in 1893 after the Republicans had gained control of the state and had abolished the commissions.
Dodd then went along without further trouble until the advent of Hatch who appointed John Foster in 1898. Dodd was born in Burlington in 1841, but came to Camden as a young shoemaker and made himself vitally important to his fellow workers. In the 80’s Camden was a shoemaking and leather center. There were over 100 factories and hundreds of persons were employed. Thus it became an important factor in politics. Dodd loomed as a mayoralty candidate. Everything was cut and dried for him to enter the field when Pratt ran in 1885, but Dodd was prevailed upon to get out of the fight with the promise of being made police chief. That was later carried into effect.
Many years Chief Dodd has been dead, but old-timers around the city hall still have a very vivid recollection of him and his long coal black whiskers, which he had a habit of yanking when under some excitement.
First Patrol Wagon
It was during Dodd’s regime Camden sported its first patrol wagon, in May of 1893. It was something of an epochal event for Camden. Men nearing middle life who then were boys vividly recall the sensation created by the appearance of the little red wagon with “Camden Patrol” painted in gold on the red sides, not forgetting the big gong near the driver’s seat. And as the high steppers speeded through the city streets with a drunk or victim of an accident that gong was everlastingly sounded until the whole populace was brought to the doors. Chief Stehr’s father, Lewis H. Stehr; Oscar Weaver, “Si” Sage and “Nitchie” Golden were the first in the department who operated that famous wagon. It was the forerunner of the automobile police patrol and ambulance put in service July 14, 19[?].
When the first patrol went into service Camden’s streets were veritable “rocky roads to Dublin.” They were paved with cobble, even Broadway, Federal street and Kaighn avenue. Only Cooper street and a part of Benson sported asphalt blocks. Hence it was the object of the driver to pick out the best route possible by using horse car or trolley tracks if possible.
It certainly was no pleasure trip to the hall for a drunk and a road of torture to any unfortunate being toted to the hospital. But even at that it was an improvement over the archaic method of taking prisoners to jail by way of a pushcart. I have already mentioned in these annals the Roman holiday such an incident furnished the kids of the generation. If John Painter or Charlie Fitzsimmons pushed a cussin’ drunk from Kaighn Point to the hall they were sure to have a yelling mob of kids at their heels. Unfortunates who were ill or injured were usually taken to the hospital in horse-drawn cabs. But of course the conveniences of today were not even dreamed about.
Lieutenant Tommie Cunningham is among the veterans on the force who recalls those days of long ago, for last Tuesday marked the thirty-sixth anniversary of his appointment to the department. Tommie has seen the department grow from less than half a hundred men to five times that number. In all that time he has pounded a beat in South Camden or had charge of a detail of men or a district as at present.
“Jake” Woodside
In recalling some of the old-timers mention must also be made of Jacob Woodside, who was appointed October 1, 1898. He hailed from the Sixth ward and was among the valiant crew who sported luxurious mustaches. He was in his later years a sergeant in the Third district. Woodside, who had many staunch friends throughout the city, died several years ago.
Then there is “Cul” Errickson who was made a cop September 15, 1898, by Mayor Hatch. He was for many years sergeant at headquarters; a big, good-natured cop, too. He has been enjoying life these several years as a pensioner up around New Egypt.
Certainly one of the most substantial members of the force was Capt. Arthur A. Stanley, who was in charge of the downtown district for many years. He was appointed by Mayor Hatch July 15, 1898. Captain Stanley was a Civil war veteran and prominently identified with the G. A. R. He has been dead for many years. His son, Milton Stanley, was a detective in the department and also at the prosecutor’s office, but for several years has been living on a farm in South Jersey.
There is another veteran of the force still in harness, George Nowrey, brother of former Mayor Nowrey, appointed by Mayor Hatch August 1, 1898. He has been a sergeant in the department for many years.
On the same day Nowrey was appointed, John Reader was made a member of the force. He, too, was a sergeant when he died several years ago. He was father of Dr. A. B. Reader and Attorney Lawrence Reader, the latter one of the most prominent young men of the city when he died during the flu epidemic in 1918. “Larry” also was a member of council from the Thirteenth ward.