William E. Kelly
Detective William E. Kelly
WILLIAM E. KELLY was born in 1915 to John and Mary Kelly of Camden NJ. The Kelly family had moved to New Jersey from Pennsylvania in the early 1910s. By 1930 John Kelly Sr. had been a Philadelphia policeman for many years, and in 1930 he worked as a truck driver. The family had by this time owned a home at 55 State Street in Camden NJ. The two oldest brothers, John Jr. and Cornelius were working as clerks in the transportation industry. Still at home besides Leo were brothers Leo and Jeremiah, and sisters Catherine and Julia Kelly. John Kelly Sr. passed away in 1931. Brother Leo later went to work for Campbell’s Soup.
On November 16, 1940 William Kelly joined the Camden Police Department, along with Joseph Caputi Jr., Joseph Carroll, Roland Comerford, Joseph Hooven, Julius Kaunacki, Frank Nelson, and Harry Tracy.
William Kelly enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps after Pearl Harbor. He left Camden for basic training on January 27, 1942. His brothers Jeremiah and Leo also enlisted. Leo Kelly was killed in action while serving with the United States Navy aboard the battleship USS South Dakota on November 15, 1942.
Returning to Camden and police work after his wartime service, William Kelly married and started a family. The 1947 Camden City Directory shows him and his wife, Mary T. Kelly, at 362 Garden Avenue in East Camden. A son, William E. Kelly Jr., was born in 1951. The Kelly family remained at the Garden Avenue address into the 1970s.
On September 5, 1949, Detective Kelly took part in the arrest of Howard Unruh, who had gone on a shooting spree in Cramer Hill that had resulted in the death of 13 people.
William Kelly was still with the Camden Police Department in 1962. After retiring from the Camden Police department, William Kelly worked as an investigator with the Camden County Prosecutor’s office.
His son, William E. Kelly Jr., is a journalist and author of regional history books, as well as a history of golf. He has been involved in researching the assassination of President John F. Kennedy since the mid-1970s.
Camden High Girl Given Six Awards
Philadelphia Evening Public Ledger — 1934
Hazel Heminway, of 2811 Cramer Street, Camden, first honor student of the Camden High School senior class, received six awards, medals and prizes at the commencement exercises yesterday in the school auditorium, Park Boulevard and Baird Avenue. Diplomas were presented to 147 graduates by Samuel Wilson, president of the Board of Education.
Awards given to Miss Heminway were:
Clara S. Burrough Memorial Award, for greatest ability in English; Margaret Ross Goldstein Prize, for highest standing in mathematics; Thora Erickson Memorial Award, for leadership qualities; Kanza Association of Philadelphia Award, for best school citizenship; Gerber Scholarship; High School Fathers Association Prize, for outstanding work in extra-curricular activities other than athletics.
Dr. Lucy L. W. Wilson, who recently was principal of the Philadelphia High School for Girls, was the commencement speaker.
Mrs. Kobus to Ask More Cops, Firemen for City Next Year
Camden Courier-Post —
New Appointment Return Forces to 1938 Status; Defense Increases Need
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.
Camden Courier-Post — February 10, 1942
3rd Brother Goes Into Armed Service
Leo Kelly, 22, of 55 State street, the third member of his family to enlist in the armed services, leaves today for the League Island Navy Yard, Philadelphia, where he will enter training.
His brother, William, left Camden January 27 after enlisting in the Army Air Force and his other brother, Jerry, also has enlisted in the air corps but is awaiting orders to report for training.
Leon was a timekeeper at the Campbell Soup Company. On March 6 last year he was held up by a bandit, but saved his salary by hiding it under time-cards in his rear pocket.
Camden Courier-Post — December 1942
Camden Sailor, 23, Slain Fighting Japs
Leo J. Kelly Camden Catholic High Graduate and Musician
Mrs. Mary Kelly, a widow, of 55 State street, yesterday received word from the Navy Department her son, Leo J. Kelly, 23, had been killed in action against the Japanese somewhere in the Pacific. Mrs. Kelly has two other sons in the service.
Only the day before the Kelly family received a package from Leo. It contained gifts for his mother and sisters, and was mailed from Honolulu.
A graduate of Camden Catholic High school in 1938, Leo enlisted last February. He served a period of training at the Philadelphia Navy Yard and then shipped overseas as seaman second class.
The brothers in the service are former Policeman William E. Kelly, who is a gunnery instructor at the Pocatello, Idaho, Army Air base, and Jerry, a corporal in the Army Air Corps stationed at Chicago. William enlisted in January and Jerry last May.
Prior to his enlistment, Leo was employed as timekeeper at the Campbell Soup Co. On March 6, last year, he was held up by a bandit but saved his salary by hiding it under time cards in his rear pocket.
Besides his mother and brothers, Seaman Kelly is survived by two sisters, Miss Jane Kelly, superintendent of night nurses at West Jersey hospital, and Miss Julia Kelly, a student nurse at West Jersey.
Mrs. Kelly was advised of her son’s death in a message from the captain of his ship.
Leo played semi-professional football in South Jersey and was well known as a musician. He played saxophone and bass horn, and at one time participated in programs heard over Philadelphia radio stations.
World War II Roll of Honor
World War II roll of honor — William E. Kelly
Camden Courier-Post — March 2, 1944
200 at Party Honor Air War Hero Kelly
Brunner and Rhone Join in Tribute; Park May Bear His Name
Air war hero Staff Sgt. William “Bill” Kelly was honored last night by more than 200 friends and neighbors of the First ward and numerous city officials.
A party was held for “Bill” in the newly established headquarters of the First Ward Republican Club, 47 York street. Joseph Campbell, club president, was chairman of arrangements.
During the ceremonies the club went on record urging the city to purchase an unimproved area bounded by Main, York, Point and Front streets for the establishment of a soldiers’ memorial park to be known as Kelly Park.
The club pledged funds for the erection of a permanent soldiers’ honor roll and memorial which would be raised by political clubs, both Democrat and Republican, of the ward. It was stated a petition urging the purchase of the ground by the city is now being circulated in the ward.
Among those who honored Kelly, holder of the Air Medal and Purple Heart, were Mayor George E. Brunner, Commissioner Dr. David S. Rhone, Freeholders Schneider and Quinlan, former City Prosecutor William Cahill and Charles Humes. A former city policeman, Kelly was a gunner on a Flying Fortress and participated in numerous bombing missions over Europe before being sent home after receiving his second wound.
Camden Courier-Post — September 5, 1949
Detective William Kelly (left) and Officer Charles S. Hance stand ready to fire during the September 5, 1949 standoff between city police and Howard Unruh, who barricaded himself inside his apartment at North 32nd Street and River Road in Cramer Hill after shooting 13 people to death. More than 50 Camden policemen took part in the arrest.
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.
Kelly 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?
Memory of Cop Traps Suspect In ‘47 Holdup
Camden Courier-Post —
The photographic memory of a Camden patrolman resulted in the arrest of a man, sought since 1947 on a robbery indictment, it was disclosed Monday in municipal court.
Credited with the arrest of Robert Bailey, 49, of 236 Kaighn Avenue, is Patrolman Joseph Carpenter, who, detectives said, recognized Bailey Thursday night.
Patrolman Carpenter, on duty with Patrolman Charles Richards, saw Bailey at Second and Sycamore streets, and asked him for identification.
When Bailey produced cards bearing the name of Charles Cornish, the two officers took him to city hall. As they entered the police station, Bailey bolted and ran north on Roosevelt plaza. Patrolman Richards brought him down with a flying tackle.
At his arraignment today before Municipal Judge Dzick on charges of assault and battery and resisting arrest, Detective Sgt. William Kelly testified Bailey was indicted by the 1947 May grand jury for robbing Clarence Watson, 69, of 2903 High Street.
Watson, who operates an auto repair shop was struck with a pipe and robbed of $400 on Jan. 10 of 1947, Kelly testified.
Dzick held Bailey without bail for the grand jury.
Camden Courier-Post — April 5, 1952
Camden Courier-Post, April 5, 1952 — featuring Thomas Murphy, George Wilmer, Liberty Street, Earl Quinton, William Kelly, William H. Neale, Clifford Carr, William O’Brien, John Huston, August Pflederer, George Ellis, Marshall Thompson