Introduction
Portrait of Sinnickson Chew
Sinnickson Chew was born January 27, 1830, in Mannington township, Salem County NJ, where his parents then resided. His Christian name indicates his ancestry as being of the Swedes, who settled along the shores of the Delaware River as early as 1638, long before the English or Dutch saw the land. Among those who received deeds from John Fenwick to confirm their title, the names of Sinnic, Sinnica, and Sinnicker occur, and the records of Upland Court (on the opposite side of the river), which date back to 1676, show this name among the litigants before that tribunal.
The blood of the early comers was diffused among the English families, and as a consequence the name followed the line of relationship and was gradually changed to the present spelling. The direct and collateral branches of the family have always been prominent in the affairs of church and State and still have a firm hold upon the confidence and good opinion of the people in Southern Jersey.
Equipped with such education as could be gathered there from the country schools and fancying the business of a printer, Sinnickson Chew, in 1845, entered the office of the Constitution, published at Woodbury, N.J., by A.S. Barber.
Here he soon mastered the “art and mystery,” and in due time became the “post boy” to the office. With a horse and sulky he rode the length and breadth of the counties of Camden and Gloucester, distributing the news of the week at every store and crossroads, where he was a welcome visitor. Perhaps the poet can better describe him as he—
Who whistles as he goes,—light-hearted wretch,
Cold, and yet cheerful, messenger of grief
Perhaps to thousands, and of joy to some:
To him indifferent whether grief or joy.
In 1851 he left his master's employ and went to Philadelphia, in the composing department of the type foundry of L. Johnson & Co., but the same year he became connected with the National Standard, of Salem NJ, Charles P. Smith, editor. In a short time, associated with William S. Sharp, he purchased this paper and continued its publication, under the firm-name of Sharp & Chew, until 1862, when he made overtures for the purchase of the State Gazette, at Trenton NJ. In this he was defeated by Jacob R. Freese, at that time, the lessee, and soon after (May, 1862) he bought the entire interest of the West Jersey Press, of Camden, and became its editor and publisher. He soon infused new life into this journal and made it the leading Republican paper in the western part of the State.
Although a forcible writer, and firm in his political convictions, yet he concedes to his opponents the right to their own line of thought. He never loses sight of the great moral necessities of the times, nor will he sacrifice them even when a political advantage is at stake. His paper is always a means to discuss local or general topics, but not open to personalities or questionable correspondence. With such a reputation, the West Jersey Press is regarded as a safe medium of county news, and is read by all who are in full faith with its political notions, and by many who neither think nor vote as the editor would advise.
For three years, from 1872, he was consecutively elected by the House of Assembly of New Jersey to the responsible position of clerk of that body, and was conceded by his political opponents to have been courteous and polite to all. His fidelity to his political friends is strong and lasting, and his devotion to the principles of the political party of which he is an honored member, is well known throughout his native state. His tact and energy are evidenced in the erection of the “Press” building, where he conducts an active business, giving personal attention to the details of the various kinds of work, and not neglecting improvements that aid so much in speed and finish.
As one of the active members of the Editorial Association of New Jersey, Mr. Chew has brought about many improvements in the working of that body. The business meetings bring the members into closer intercourse, and the annual excursion are popular and make friendships where otherwise none would exist.
On May 8, 1860, Mr. Chew married Sarah A., daughter of Samuel W. Miller, then sheriff of Salem County. His surviving children are Lillie M., the wife of Oliver Smith, Jr., William H., and Eddie H. Chew.
Sixth Regiment Armory
Philadelphia Inquirer —
Sinnickson Chew, proprietor of the West Jersey Press, denies that he will compel the Sixth Regiment, N. G. N. J., to leave their present quarters before their new armory is completed.
Lodged in Camden's Jail
Philadelphia Inquirer —
LODGED IN CAMDEN'S JAIL.
The New Jersey Police Capture Several Prisoners for a Hot Day.
Mayor Pratt yesterday committed Thomas Johnson alias Ogleton, colored, to the County Jail in default of bail on the charge of burglary. On Wednesday the house of Frank C. Reeves, at No. 524 Royden street, was entered and clothing and jewelry to the amount of $200 taken. Yesterday morning Officer Cooper arrested Johnson on suspicion of being the guilty party. Chief Dodd searched his house, at No. 727 Cherry street, and found a pair of pants that belonged to Mr. Reeves.
A dog owned by James Farrell, of No. 522 Washington street, which was bitten by a mad dog on Sunday, was shot yesterday by Spencer Sharp.
Sing Lee, an almond-eyed Celestial, who earns his daily bread by running a laundry at Locust and Chestnut streets, was consigned to Camden's filthy jail yesterday. Joseph Russell, a 13-year-old lad, told Recorder Braker that Sing hit him in the jaw and kicked him on the back. He was unable to furnish $200 ball [sic] and was consequently locked up.
A Hebrew peddler stole a gold watch from William Ruoff, of Palmyra, on Wednesday. A man supposed to be the thief was arrested on the charge, but, as he could not be fully identified, he was released.
Christian Kline, the kindling wood dealer, who was arrested on Wednesday on a capias, was released yesterday upon paying $212, the amount which Mrs. Shimpp claimed was due her. He will, however, be tried before Recorder Braker on the charge of desertion.
A number of the new electric lights of Camden were lighted last evening for the first time.
The residence of S. Chew, editor and proprietor of the West Jersey Press, at No. 532 Cooper street, was burglarized the other night, in the absence of the family at Atlantic City. Mr. Chew, upon reaching home last evening, discovered that the house had been ransacked from top to bottom. The thieves carried away a lot of clothing. An entrance was effected through a rear window.
Sinnickson Chew, Printer and Stationer
Historical and Industrial Review of Camden, N.J. — 1890
Sinnickson Chew, Printer and Stationery, N. E. Corner of Front and Market Streets
One of the oldest and most favorably known houses of this kind in the city is that of Mr. Sinnickson Chew. This gentleman succeeded the late Samuel C. Harbert in 1862, and has managed the business successfully since its inception.
The store is about 20x30 feet in dimensions, and the printing room upstairs occupy the third floor which is 50x90 feet. Three cylinder and three job presses are kept busy. The printing business done is without exception the largest in the city; a newspaper is printed here, the well known West Jersey Press. Special attention is also paid to catalogue and job work, which is done in the shortest possible time.
A fine stock of stationery, blank books, paper, pens and fancy articles are also kept. Twenty-five skilled workmen are employed when running normally.
Mr. Chew is a native of Salem County, New Jersey, he has been a prominent resident of the city for many years, and always to be found among the men who are looking towards Camden's best interests.
A hopeful beginning in the wake of war
Camden Courier-Post —
By STEPHEN M. O’KEEFE
Former Courier-Post City Editor
One hundred years ago the first edition of the Courier-Post Newspapers was published. It was dedicated to informing the people of Camden abouts [sic] news events and contained a vow to promote the best interest of the city.
A glimpse into the bygones in that century offers a vista of change — in the community, the people and the newspaper. The long span from Oct. 2, 1875, has been packed with pathos and pleasures which attend the daily panorama of news — an abundance far beyond the dreams of Camden’s early journalists.
Birth and death are neighbors in newspaper columns. Right and wrong rest there with all the sins and virtues. The disasters of man and nature mingle with the defeats, the triumphs, the tragedies of life, and each day’s paper bears testimony that rich and poor, high and low, all stand within range of the pressman’s ink.
THE LAST HALF of the Courier-Post centennial has brought astonishing change. Modern tools and techniques have banished into oblivion methods that were regarded as wonders 100 years ago. Printers who retired only a few years ago cannot believe it possible to produce newspaper without type and the onetime marvels that were typesetting machines.
The home of the Courier-Post, sandwiched by Cuthbert Boulevard and Hampton Road in Cherry Hill entombs the spirits of many who labored to make it possible. While countless numbers have made anonymous contributions others left legacies that have enriched the hostory [sic] of Camden — even beyond its borders in the once-dense wilderness.
Journalists a century ago were a hardy and optimistic breed. They consigned to the past the horrors of the Civil War and a national panic in 1873.
Camden at that time was a town of ferries, a source of prosperity. Then and for years afterward, the city’s culture reflected on the river. There in season boats by the hundreds were gliding or riding at anchor in a steam that was adequate for commerce and unspoiled.
THAT WAS the way it was when Henry L. Bonsall, at the age of 12, went to work in the printing shop of the West Jersey Mail, at Front and Federal Streets. A biographer of later years wrote that Bonsall was educated in that printing shop. He was destined to become superintent [sic] of Camden schools, to serve four years in the New Jersey Legislature, become a whiskey-drinking companion of poet Walt Whitman, and founder of the Courier-Post.
Whitman was the foremost writer in Courier-Post annals. The penciled manuscripts he brought to the Camden Daily Post shop probably were discarded after they were set in type. Those scribblings would command huge sums today.
Bonsall departed from the West Jersey Mail a short time after completing his apprenticeship and left Camden in 1858. He worked in Philadelphia, Harrisburg, New York, served as a war correspondent and was a clerk in the House of Representatives before returning to Camden in 1867.
A CLUE AS to why he left and returned to Camden may rest in a fragmentary record in the Camden County Historical Society library. Typed on a card there is the notation that Lydia C. Bonsall, his wife, died in Washington, on Oct. 8, 1866, in her 24th year. Other records list Bonsall as 32 then.
Bonsall launched a weekly, the New Republic, on Nov. 30, 1867, at the southeast corner of 2nd and Plum (now Arch) Streets. Eight years later after an interlude in politics, he launched the Camden Daily Post.
Camden was on the move as a city. It was called a beautiful and prosperous town by visitors. New industries were springing up and Pennsylvanians were impressed by the increasing number of fine homes being built here. The city’s churches, its schools, hotels, clubs and stores were augmented by the Camden Opera House at West and Mickle Streets.
From a village of 1,143 souls in 1828, when it was incorporated, the population rose to almost 30,000 in 1875.
BONSALL PRODUCED the first issue of the Camden Daily Post on Oct. 2, 1875. Soon afterward his son, Bartram L., then about 20, was listed as his partner, and the firm was identified as H.L. Bonsall & Son, located at 205 Market St. Type for the paper was set at that address but the paper was printed by its rival, the Camden Democrat, in a frame building at Front and Federal Streets. This seemingly strange situation was part of newspaper tradition.
Soon after the first issue of the Post, things began to happen. Business throughout the city was lively, and popular reaction to the new paper pleased both Bonsall and the advertisers. The first edition set forth Bonsall’s vow:
“REALIZING the necessity for a departure from the traditional policy of partisan journalism, THE DAILY POST will be entirely independent and untrammeled. Having no other ‘backing’ than the clear heads and strong hands of its projectors, it will be under the domination of no party, clique or corporation and be influenced by no considerations save those which conduce to the best interests of a community from which alone it will endeavor to deserve and derive support. Alive to the advanced thought of the day, it will strive to keep abreast with it, ever lending a generous support to liberal and humanizing efforts, and avoiding the miserable, if not mercenary, personal detraction which blurs the pages of many journals.
“Camden is rapidly growing and destined to become a great city. It will be the effort of the POST to present the evidence of this fact and assist in its further development.
“A newspaper is the best reflex of a community, conveying to the casual observer an idea of its business enterprise and intelligence. Philadelphia dailies, which have met with a liberal support in the absence of a home medium, constantly detract from our merits instead of doing justice to a city which already contributes far too much to the material interests of a neighbor it may, at no distant day, rival in production, if not population, should our immense and unrivaled advantages be properly availed of by a liberal policy of encouraging home industry.
“To achieve this end will be the aim of the POST and to enable to do its work thoroughly and acceptably, it confidently claims the support and cooperation of citizens, irrespective of party or other preferences, pledging itself in return to furnish a paper that will meet the just expectations and reasonable demands of an intelligent reading public.”
THE RESPONSE indicated Bonsall’s move was timely and profit was apparent in the flow of advertising.
In short order about a dozen names were listed in the paper as authorized to accent [sic] subscriptions, at 10 cents per week, for a minimum of six months.
Advertising rates were quite low and not rigidly set. The payroll was augmented in kind. One editor-writer, Dickinson of the Democrat, reputedly was paid $7 a week, with washing thrown in. Sinnickson Chew, of the West Jersey Press, is said to have been receiving $8.25 per week. Bartram Bonsall augmented his 50 cents per week by selling newspapers from other cities mailed to the Post. He also was given a pass to the Opera House.
Most papers of that period were dull, compared to today’s papers, packed with space-filling junk and items copied from other journals, some of which were two to three months old.
The Post managed to print more local news, particularly court cases. Readers today would be astonished at the number of drunks and wife-beaters that appeared in mayor’s court in those good old days. Also surprising was the number of women tipplers arrested, some hauled to jail in pushcarts or wheelbarrows. All were identified in court and in the newspapers.
DURING THE winter of 1875-76, the Post circulation exceeded 1,000 and in about a year the figure topped 3,000, then hailed as the largest in South Jersey.
Before joining his father on the Post, young Bonsall was publisher of The Spy, which he called “a paper run by a boy.” He was 17 when The Spy first appeared. It sold for 25 cents a year. In its first two years, The Spy took over four other journals put out by amateur editors. At one time there were seven such publications in Camden, all in the 1870s. Several professional developed [sic] from these journals.
The Post continued to play up politics, and it was evident that Bonsall was straining to give both parties coverage. His columns of commentary, however, generally espoused the Republican Party.
IN THE FIRST half of the 1870s, Camden was showing signs of progress but it still was contained in a compact area, mainly from the Market Street ferry to about 6th Street or Broadway, the old turnpike to Woodbury. The north-south sideses [sic] of the sector were Cooper and Federal Streets. Present-day North 7th Street, where the Friends’ Meeting House faced Cooper Street, was looked upon as the outskirts.
It took about four years for city officials to accept 4.5 acres of land donated as a site for a new municipal building on Haddon Avenue, between Washington and Benson Streets. They felt the location was too far out.
It was accepted formally in 1974 [sic], and the second City Hall was built at a cost of $125,000. Its recorded opening date has been listed as Jan. 1, 1876, but an old newspaper file reported the City Council first met there in December, 1875.
That building, with a large clock in a high steeple, was to remain a landmark for more than a half century.
HENRY L. BONSALL Post Publisher and Editor
BARTRAM BONSALL
The Young Syndicate
Camden Courier-Post —
FROM AN OLD DIRECTORY
‘Coop’ Carman and Willard Morgan Led Movement for New Blood in G.O.P. Culminating in Bitter Battles of Race Track Days
Second in a new series of articles on Camden affairs and personalities of yesteryear inspired by a 50-year-old directory.
By BEN COURTER
Allusion to officials of Camden half a century ago has brought a flood of memories to older residents and particularly those interested in the political game—the great American game. While the directory of 1882 speaks of Richard C. Thompson holding the office of city clerk, mention of whom was made last week, it also was stated that D. Cooper Carman had held the office from 1884 until his death in 1889, at the early age of 35 years. It is Carman’s name which has revived in the minds of veteran political workers his activity and that of the “young syndicate,” which had concluded, as is the case in all organizations, it was time for old stagers to step aside for those of more youthful years.
BEN COURTER
Carman had been elected to city council in the Spring election of 1882 from the Fourth Ward, his home then being at Broadway and Federal street, where the Munger & Long building now stands. But his election was contested by Frederick M. Bourquin and Carman did not serve. Two years later he was again elected, at the same time appointed city clerk, and this resulted in another contest in which the court laid down the dictum that a member of council could not vote for himself for public office. “Coop,” as he was known to his familiars, promptly resigned from Council and was promptly elected city clerk.
The ‘Young Syndicate’
With Carman, as former City Clerk William D. Brown recalls, was associated J. Willard Morgan and Henry M. Snyder, something of a balance between the two.
That combination carried things along pretty much as they pleased for a time and as one of the developments Maurice A. Rogers, down in the Fifth Ward and a councilman, was taken up as a Senatorial candidate against Colonel George Pfeiffer, Jr., a decade later to be the builder of Camden’s artesian water plant. The colonel, long one of Camden’s most popular men, had defeated the Republicans as a result of the factional fight between Henry L. Bonsall, editor of the Post, and Thomas Dudley, famed consul to Liverpool during Civil War days. But with the “young syndicate” back of him, Rogers won the Senate seat in 1890, taking his office January 1, 1891.
But in the meanwhile Carman suddenly died at his mother’s home, at 11.10 on the night of September 11, 1889. At the time apoplexy was given as the cause. His sudden demise caused a profound shock and at his funeral four days later leaders in business and politics paid homage, with such men as Gen. William J. Sewell, Sinnickson Chew, Howard Carrow, Wilson Jenkins, E. A. Armstrong, B. M. Braker and many others attending. The bell in the old City Hall tower tolled as the cortege passed on the way to old Camden cemetery. And even yet, after these more than four decades, “Coop” Carman is quite vividly recalled by those who were then active on the political stage.
Carman’s Death Big Loss
Carman’s death was a big loss to the “young syndicate,” but it did not halt its activity. Since Rogers had won so easily in the 1890 election it was concluded there would be nothing to it when he was renominated for another two-year term. Rogers was by no means friendly to “Billy” Thompson’s race track, then in the heyday of its popularity with the sports of Gloucester City, a period when that community had all the earmarks of a wild and wooly western city, attractive to thousands of lovers of horseflesh, touts, gamblers and the usual hangers-on.
Thompson concluded it would be far better to have someone in the Senate from Camden county who would regard his interests with more favor than Rogers.
Thus he decided on Frederick A. Rex, his personal counsel, a very able young attorney, and a Republican. Since at that time the Democratic police commission was in control of the cops it was considered easy to get possession of the polls. As Brown recalls it, the rivals of Rogers planned a “zero hour” at which cops, at the crack of a pistol, were to descend on polls considered close at the primaries, frighten off the regular voters and corral enough to elect Rex.
Particular effort was to be made to sweep the Sixth Ward, where Thad Varney, elected city clerk to succeed Carman, was “boss,” and thus give him a political black eye. In Varney’s precinct in particular when the rumpus started “Brockie” Deno and “Al” Haydon, both widely known firemen now dead, grabbed the ballot box, lowered it down a chimney, fished it out when the racket was passed, went to Avis’ livery stable, and later to Varney’s home, where the votes were counted. In these sophisticated days such counting would unquestionably not be considered “according to Hoyle,” but then anything went just so the particular faction had its bag of tricks in effective operation. Anyhow, Rogers won the primaries, but there still was the general election to hurdle and Thompson was by no means beaten. He had plenty of money and many followers, some sincere, many just sycophants.
Repeaters Foiled
It was charged a scheme was on foot to bring repeaters from Philadelphia, not an unusual procedure in the political game of Camden years ago in either party. One of the “young syndicate’s” lieutenants learned the plot, told General Sewell, who sent the informant to Dave Martin, then Philadelphia’s political boss, who heard the story. The upshot was General Sewell himself saw Martin later, who was quite willing to aid Jersey’s G.O.P. leader, flooded Camden with sleuths from over the river and such close tabs were kept on the repeating army its efforts were halted from the very dawn of that very stirring election day. Rogers was elected, was made president of the Senate and for a time loomed so large on Jersey’s political horizon he had gubernatorial aspirations, but they never were realized.
Thus out of the old yellowed book Frank Albright, city clerk of the present epoch, dug from the archives memories are revived of a very gallant young politician, “Coop” Carman, and some of the stirring incidents that make up Camden’s political history. The “young syndicate” was just one of the episodes, as the first “reform” outbreak in 1882, or the Committee of 100 scrap of 1897, or the Non-Partisan upheaval of ‘23, but such never lose interest to those who have joined those movements with enthusiasm, even though they were often not altogether satisfied with what had been accomplished.
Camden’s Factional Fight
Philadelphia Inquirer —
DEMOCRATIC LEADERS WARRING SAVAGELY AMONG THEMSELVES.
The Horse Railway Company Elects Officers—Other Gossip from the City Across the Delaware.
The Democrats of Camden had another fight among themselves last night. It was the same old story, the Pfeiffer and Thompson faction against each other. Last night was the time, according to the rules of the Democratic party of that city, for organizing the City-Committee. Notwithstanding the fact that John Heileman, who owns the hall where the call for the meeting was designated, had given notice through the local papers that he would not allow the meeting to be held at his place, there were a crowd on hand early in the evening. Instead of one meeting being held there were two. Both factions organized a City Committee.
The Thompson people were represented by the following committeemen: Second ward, Harry B. Paul; Fourth ward, Thomas Devine; Fifth ward, James Cleary; Sixth ward, John Foley; Seventh ward, David Corbeth [sic]; Eighth ward, Patrick Whalen; Ninth ward, Patrick J. Farley. The latter people were ready to recognize William H. Getty as the member-elect from the Third ward, but the latter gentlemen refused to take part with their faction. This committee organized by electing Harry B. Paul chairman, James Cleary secretary and Patrick J. Farley treasurer.
The Pfeiffer faction organized by electing John Johnson, of the Fourth ward, chairman; John McElwee, Ninth ward, secretary, and William Guthridge, Sixth ward, treasurer. The Pfeiffer people claim that they are the only committee organized in accordance with the rules. There are four Democratic committees now, both factions each having one city and county committee.
The Camden Republican Club last night elected: F. H. Burdsall, president; Watson Depuy and Postmaster Browning, vice presidents; George G. Felton, treasurer; S. Chew, Charles F. Ware, E. Woodward and Welling Schrack, directors.
At the annual election of the Camden Horse Company yesterday the following directors were elected: F. Wayland Ayres, W. S. Scull, G. Genge Browning, B. C. Reeve and E. Ambler Armstrong; president, W. G. Scull; secretary, Morris H. Hall; treasurer, G. Genge Browning; solicitor, E. A. Armstrong.
The case of A. Elwood Jones against John S. Davis was begun in the Court of Chancery yesterday before Vice Chancellor Green. When Davis purchased the United States Hotel of Atlantic City, about a year ago. Jones acted as agent. The latter now sues for services, and the defendant disputes his claim on the ground that he neglected his work.
A young son of Patrick Daly, a saloon-keeper, of Ninth and Division streets, while playing with some companions last night was accidentally stabbed in the back and now lies in a precarious condition.
Funeral of Editor Chew
Camden Post-Telegram —
Laid to Rest in Evergreen Cemetery.
The funeral of Sinnickson Chew, the veteran editor of the West Jersey Press, who died on Wednesday night, took place this afternoon from his late residence at No. 534 Cooper street.
The remains reposed in a black cloth-covered casket with silver handle. The services were conducted by Rev. W. H. Fishburn and Rev. F. R. Brace, of Blackwood.
The pall-bearers were: Watson Depuy, Charles F. Currie, F. F. Patterson, Sr., Judge C. V. D. Joline, Attorney General Samuel H. Grey, Charles Stockham and Judge Peter Voorhees.
Interment was made in Evergreen cemetery.