Introduction
Peter Laird was born in Pennsylvania on September 1, 1883 to Peter and Zilla Laird. The family moved to Camden in the early 1890s, and were living at 1235 Liberty Street when the Census was taken in 1900. When the Census was taken, the elder Laird was working at a sugar refinery, and Peter Laird and his older brother John were working at a leather factory. There were three younger sisters at home, Henrietta, Jill, and Doris. Two other children had not survived.
Around 1905 Peter Laird married Amelia Bleidorn, daughter of George Bleidorn, who owned a farm near Walnut Street in what is now the Parkside section of Camden. A son Peter Jr., was born in the spring of 1907 but died at the age of six months from cholera. Another son, George, was born the following year.
The Lairds and their two year-old son George were living with Amelia’s parents on the farm when the Census was taken in 1910. Peter Laird was then working as a stoker at a leather factory, at that time referred to as a morocco works.
By the summer of 1918 the Lairds had moved to 1414 Haddon Avenue. Peter Laird had taken a job as a helper in the boiler shop at the New York Shipbuilding Corporation shipyard at Broadway and Morgan Street. By the end of the year he had taken a job as a turnkey at the Camden County jail.
When the 1927 Camden City Directory was compiled, Peter Laird had already been appointed to the Camden Fire Department. He and Amelia Laird were living in a house the owned at 1342 Lansdowne Avenue. The Lairds were still there when the Census was enumerated in April of 1930. Son George, then 22 was still at home, and three Bleidorn relatives, Harry, William, and Elizabeth also resided there. George Laird and Harry Bleidorn worked together as tile setters. Both Harry and William were widowers, Elizabeth was the daughter of one of them. The Lairds remained at 1342 Lansdowne Avenue into 1940.
Peter Laird continued to served with the Camden Fire Department as late as the spring of 1942, when he again registered for the draft. Peter and Amelia Laird were then living at 1254 Park Boulevard. It is unclear as to exactly when Peter Laird left the Fire Department, but the 1943 City Directory indicates that he was no longer working when it was compiled, in late 1942. The 1947 Camden City Directory shows that they were still living at the Park Boulevard address. They were not listed in the October 1956 New Jersey Bell Telephone Directory.
World War I Draft Card
World War I Draft Registration Card for Peter Laird
Cops and Firemen in First Practice
Camden Post-Telegram —
Charles Younger – Y.M.C.A – Lewis H. Stehr Jr.
Joseph Connell – John W. Golden
Charles T. Humes – Archie Riess
Walter A. Mertz – Engine Company 1
Everett Joslin – Joseph McDonald – Vernon Jones
Frank Nelson – William Rogers – Harold Dunnit
John Bright – Edwin Callahan – Walter Larson
August Pflederer – Clarence Phifer – Thomas Welch
Stanley Wirtz – Charles Naylor – George Rothwell
Richard Donnelly – Lester Gleason – Joseph Keefe
Fred Schucker – Harry Wagner – Chris Moll
Harry Layton – Edgar Ellender – August Haverkamp
Frank Kuda – Harry Kleinfelder – William Foehl
Thomas Shanahan – Harrison Pike
Lester Anderson – William Wood
George Townsend – Allen Palmer – William Swartz – Nelson Till – William Mountney – John A.Strauss
Frank Oberman – Edward Menzies
John Mulligan – Frank Kates – Clifford Lane
John Lennox – William Merrigan
Howard Walker – Harry Greenan – Peter Laird
Smith – could be David, George, Roy, or Spencer William Rudd?
Camden Motorcycle Sporting Club
Joseph Bernart – Frank DeViney – Carl Preisendanz – Edward Paul – Charles Ellis – George Gummel – Bennett Arnold – Clayton Albertson
World War II Draft Card
World War II Draft Registration Card for Peter Laird