Introduction
William Henry Lorigan was the son of William J. Lorigan, a well-known individual in Camden in the 1890s and 1900s. William J. Lorigan was born in Ireland around 1850; at the time of the 1870 Census he was living in Castleton, Rutland County, VT with his older brother John and sisters Ann, Susannah, and Margaret. The two Lorigan brothers were then working at a sawmill.
William J. Lorigan wed in the 1870s. Son William H. Lorigan was born around 1875, followed by John two years later and Joseph in early 1880. July of 1880 found the family living in Newburgh NY, where William J. Lorigan worked as a painter. The family moved to Camden soon afterwards.
The 1887–1888 and 1888–1889 Camden City Directories show William J. Lorigan working as a “slate marbleizer,” then as a “superintendent.” In both years the family resided at 812 Linden Street in North Camden. The 1890–1891 Directory shows them at 409 Elm Street, near Elm and Main Street in North Camden. He was very active in the Church of the Immaculate Conception. His son, William Henry Lorigan, served as organist and choir director at the church in the early 1900s.
By 1902 William J. Lorigan had partnered with department store executive William Leonard Hurley. The 1906 Camden City Directory shows William H. Lorigan working as secretary at Gately & Hurley, and that the Lorigans were involved in a construction business. By 1906 William J. Lorigan had also established a shoe store at 426 Federal Street. He made his home at 502 North 4th Street.
With headquarters at 502 North 4th Street, the Lorigan family home, Lorigan & Hurley built the Princeton Avenue Houses, a block of homes on the one-block street of that name, between Pine and Division Streets east of South 7th Street.
William J. Lorigan passed away before the census was enumerated on April 25, 1910. His family, which then consisted of his widow Margaret and eight children, William H., John B., Joseph P., Kathryn P., Anna, Agnes, Charles, and Walter, still resided at 502 North 4th Street in North Camden.
William H. Lorigan remained in the home building business for many years. The 1914 City Directory shows the business at 315 State Street. He later moved to Merchantville, where he was living in February 1938. By 1947 William H. Lorigan had passed away. His widow and children resided at 10 North 27th Street when the 1947 Camden City Directory was compiled. William H. Lorigan Jr., last a resident of Cherry Hill, passed away in 2005.
Princeton Avenue Houses
Camden Daily Courier — 1902
Seventh and Pine Streets
Princeton Avenue
The above illustration is a photograph of the Best Houses for the Least Money ever built in Camden. Finished inside and out with the latest improvements. Have eight rooms and bath—Built on the colonial plan, introducing the full reception room, hall seat and open window—Tile vestibules—Model bath room
The Price $2,250 to $2,400
AND TERMS MADE TO SUIT BUYERS
DON’T FAIL TO EXAMINE THE SAMPLE HOUSE, FURNISHED COMPLETE FOR HOUSEKEEPING.
LORIGAN & HURLEY, OWNERS, ON THE PREMISES OR BROADWAY AND PINE ST
Lorigan & Hurley Building Permits
Philadelphia Inquirer —
Lorigan & Hurley yesterday took out a permit for the erection of a row of nine houses from 319 to 335 North Eighth street. A permit for nine dwellings on Ninth street south of Mechanic street, was also issued.
Camden Hails Her Sons, Conquerors, at Victory Jubilee
Philadelphia Inquirer —
Battle Flags Wave in Triumph O’er Parade Reviewed by Admiral
Gray Veterans of G. A. R. and Wounded Ride; Centopath Passes in Reverential Hush
The Peace with victory which Camden’s sons along with millions of other soldiers of all the Allied countries helped to bring home was celebrated by a jubilee in Camden yesterday which eclipsed anything that the city across the Delaware has ever attempted in her history.
Nearly every man, woman and child who did not actually march in the jubilee parade stood on the side lines and watched it and cheered themselves hoarse as the soldiers and sailors who went out from their town to fight marched past, this time as the conquerors in the world’s greatest war.
Favored by glorious sunshine, a sunshine that was reflected in the faces of the people, the day’s proceedings went off perfectly. For months Mayor Ellis and all his city family, together with a large committee of leading citizens, had been planning the affair. Their handiwork stood the test. It was good.
Admiral Henry Wilson, commander-in-chief of the Atlantic Fleet, came to his boyhood home to be the principal guest of the city and chief reviewing officer of the jubilee. With him were national statesmen and municipal officials.
Soldiers, sailors, war workers, members of fraternal orders and men who fought under the flags of Canada, England, Italy and Poland, marched in the parade which was miles long. Every succeeding division seemed just a little better than the one which preceded it, and, when it was all over and the soldiers and sailors had filed into the old Third Regiment Armory to sit down to a piping hot banquet, the hardest thing of all was to say which had made the finest showing.
All Honor to the Dead
Amidst all the gayety and happiness there was a sober note expressed by the memorial cenotaph which preceded the parade and which brought every hat off as it passed in solemn silence.
The heroic figure of an American soldier in bronze standing on a granite pedestal which bore a gold star with the number 135, symbolical of the Camden county men who laid down their lives in their country’s cause, was carried along the route ten minutes before the parade commenced. Encircler [sic] by flowers and palms, it moved through the reverential hush which had fallen over the throngs.
While every organization in the county of Philadelphia was represented in the parade, to the thousands who lined the sidewalks, there was really only one great big important factor—the service men. And when those self-same service men, many of whom bearing the Distinguished Service Cross of their own United States, others wearing the Croix de Guerre, bestowed on them by the sister republic of France, and still others carrying on their breasts the Italian and British War Crosses, given them by grateful countries, marched down the streets and avenues, all the pent up emotion in thousands of hearts was let loose.
It mattered not whether the men were officers or enlisted men, black or white, neat or untidy, they were all soldiers and they had done all that was asked of them. Their home town honored them. The men in blue and the women in blue, too, received a welcome not one whit less feeling than their brothers in khaki.
They had a certain advantage over the doughboys, for they put half a dozen of the prettiest and smartest yoemanettes that ever wore Uncle Sam’s uniform at the head of their division. The crowd simply had to be with them.
Canada and England, too, had a detachment of men in line. About two dozen of these veterans, half of whom wore the ribbon of the Mons Star, showing that they were in service in France in 1914, were in line, and they marched snappily and smartly and drew their full modicum of pleasurable comments.
Red Cross women, some of them grandmothers, others young girls still in their teens, marched in their snowy white uniforms with their crosses of red emblazoned on headcover and breast. Salvation Army lassies who had cooked doughnuts right up under the muzzles of the guns were there with Y. M. C. A. and Knights of Columbus workers.
Elks, Masons, Knights Templar, Red Men, Moose and scores of other fraternal organizations turned out in all their glorious trappings and regalia.
The delegation of Elks, startling in their spic and span white uniforms, marched behind their own band like squads of veterans. A foretaste of what Philadelphia will see during the coming week was given when more than 100 Knights Templar, resplendent in their uniforms and swords and cocked hats with white ostrich feathers, marched in the second division of the parade. As the formation reached the reviewing stand near the Ninth Ward Republican Association they deployed into the formation of a cross, the symbol of their order, and marched past in this formation.
Many gorgeous floats were in line, th Ninth Ward Republican Association having no less than five. All were artistic. The first was bedecked with growing flowers, while a beautiful young woman reprsenting “Peace” stood flanked by a soldier and sailor. The one following had a replica of the Liberty Bell with the inscription, “Peace on Earth, Good Will Towards men.” Two soldiers rang the bell. Behind them marched a band playing “Onward Christian Soldiers” as the men marched on. Floats symbolical of every war activity were there. The Knights of Columbus showed a replica of their famous service hut which was the doughboy’s home when he had no other.
The veterans of other wars were not forgotten in this jubilee of the greatest war of all. Grand Army men whose gray locks bespoke their years rode in automobiles bearing the tattered colors of their old Civil War regiments. The soldiers of a later day, men of the Spanish-American War, were in line with their comrades.
The wounded were there, too. They could not march in the parade, but they rode and their faces were smiling and their hearts were glad as they realized that this welcome was for them.
Triumphal arches were erected at points along the route of the parade and the square at the courthouse was a mass of color.
Among the officers in command of the sections of the service division were Lieutenant Colonel Samuel G. Barnard, of the 112th Field Artillery; Captain J. Walter Scott, former adjutant of the Third Regiment; Captains English, Richards and Dickinson, of Battery B; Lieutenant J. G. Williams, Ensign Beaston and Lieutenant William Opfermann, of the aviation corps.
Battle Flags Wave Triumphant
Shortly after 1.30 o’clock James H. Long, chairman of the parade committee of the Victory Jubilee and Memorial Committee and marshal of the pageant, gave the order to march. The Lyric Band, which escorted nearly all of the troops to the terminal in the dark days of the war, was given the honor of heading the line. Chief of Police E. A. Gravenor and Assistant Chief of Police Edward S. Hyde led the parade, followed by a platoon of mounted policemen under Captain William E. Albert.
Then came Marshal Long and his aides, who were: Frank E. Van Hart, William D. Sayrs, Jr., Frank Fithian, A. Benjamin Sparks, Kessel Webster, William Isgard, Robert D. Clow, Andrew B. F. Smith, William Lorrigan, Charles Austermuhl, David Doane, William C. Davis and William D. Vanaman.
Directly behind the Lyric Band marched Mayor Charles H. Ellis at the head of the Victory Jubilee and Memorial Committee, of which he is chairman.
And at the head of the division were the battle flags of the Twenty-ninth and Seventy-eighth divisions, on which General John J. Pershing personally pinned battle pennants during those memorable days back in October in the Argonne forest. Behind the 4th marched the famous engineers, headed by Captain Keasby and Captain Beals Smuck. Three battle pennants were pinned to their flags, which never touched the ground while they were bridging the rivers in the Argonne under hellish shell fire for the doughboys to advance. Then came the 112th Field Artillery, Battery B’s heroes of the border and of France, headed by Captain Charles Richards and Captain Dickinson. In the same section marched the Eleventh Machine Gun Battalion with its battle flags and pennants fluttering.
There was another great cheer as the Seventy-eighth Division, New Jersey’s Lightning boys, loomed into view. The heroes of the 311th Infantry, 303d Engineers, 307th, 308th and 309th Field Artillery and other regiments of that famous command were given a mighty ovation behind their battle flags, which led them in their assault on St. Mihiel and the day they attacked and captured Grand-Pre in the terrible conflict in the Argonne.
Behind them marched the Marines, headed by Lieutenant Monitor Watchman, of the Fifth Regiment, Second Division. With the Marines marched the regular army units, men who had served in as many as five battles and wore three and four gold service stripes on their sleeves.
Then followed the naval contingent. They were commanded by Commander Francis W. Hoffman and Commander W. G. Hodgson.
The order “eyes left” flashed along the line as each platoon drew near the reviewing stand and Admiral Wilson with his band to his cap returned the salute. With the admiral on the stand were former United States Senator David Baird, Congressman William J. Browning, County Collector John S. Well, City Clerk W. D. Brown and others.
At the armory a splendid banquet was served to the soldiers and sailors. For days past corps Red Cross workers had been preparing the good things to eat and the men did full justice to them. They marched in the armory where the food was spread on the tables and enjoyed themselves while bands played. After dinner there were speeches. Mayor Ellis in welcoming the men said:
“This is one of the happiest moments of my life. I have waited patiently through months of trial for the glad day when I could bid you welcome to the City of Camden once again.
“We are planning to erect a lasting memorial in memory of those heroes who gave their lives and in memory of the valiant deeds you performed on land and sea.
“Camden will always cherish the memory of this day, rever the memory of your dead comrades and will inscribe your valiant deeds on that memorial. I bid you welcome in the name of the most patriotic little city in America. I thank you.”
Prosecutor Charles A. Wolverton welcomed the men on behalf of the county and paid a tribute to their valor recalling their wonderful victories of the Argonne and other battlefields of France.
Events at the Church of the Immaculate Conception
Camden Post-Telegram —
Story by Mr. Daniel P. McConnell, of the Camden Post Telegram, for Wednesday, March 18, 1920
Echoes
Camden last night gave a splendid welcome to the Very Rev. Dean William J. Fitzgerald, J. c. D., M. R. V. F., the new pastor of the Church of the Immaculate Conception and Dean of the South Jersey Catholic parishes.
Citizens of other faiths, judges, doctors, lawyers and those in more humble stations of life, rubbed elbows in the vast audience that packed to capacity the Catholic Lyceum. All were present for a common purpose— to honor the new prelate, who comes to Camden with a splendid reputation as a Christian gentleman, patriot and ambassador of the Catholic Church.
At the reception in the Lyceum, former Judge William T. Boyle presided. He in turn introduced Rev. Francis J. McCallion, who was acting pastor of the parish. Father McCallion was given a wonderful reception after Judge Boyle extolled his oratorical and executive ability. In a splendid speech Father McCallion paid a glowing tribute to Dean Fitzgerald, the subject of the evening’s testimonial.
James F. Lennon was the principal speaker for the occasion. Already famed for his ability as an orator, Mr. Lennon probably gave his best talk last night. It was a tribute to the new Dean and the members of the Catholic clergy and Sisters of Mercy.
In his remarks Mr. Lennon told of the duties of a priest, of his mission and his value to the community. To the good sisters a glowing tribute was also paid by the speaker. Mr. Lennon also lauded the public school system and explained the principles of the parochial school. His reference to the 312 Immaculate Conception members who fought in the war for Democracy evoked a storm of applause. To the late and lamented Monsignor Mulligan Mr. Lennon offered a deserved tribute. In the course of his address the speaker told of the early struggles of the founders of the Immaculate parish. His description of the good old Irish mothers and fathers who erected a monument to Catholicism at Broadway and Market street struck a happy chord.
Turning to Dean Fitzgerald Mr. Lennon extended to him a warm welcome after which he presented the pastor with a large basket of beautiful flowers, a gift of the ladies of the parish.
Mayor Charles H. Ellis was warmly received and in a splendid talk the city’s chief executive turned over the keys of the city. The Mayor’s talk was punctuated with witty remarks concerning the “suburb of Philadelphia.”
The Mayor said that the great day had arrived when religious strife was no more and creeds were united for one common cause.
With much feeling Dean Fitzgerald told of his appreciation of the great honor. He was visibly affected by the testimonial, but modestly stated that he considered it not only a reception to him, but to the members of the Catholic clergy.
Dean Fitzgerald assured all that he was glad to come to Camden and he asked the hearty co-operation of his parishioners. He turned and gazed over the members of the reception committee seated on the stage and told how happy he was that men like former Senator Baird, County Clerk Patterson, Mayor Ellis and other big men of the city and county were present to do him honor.
After the reception in the Lyceum Dean Fitzgerald adjourned to the parlor of the Lyceum where he met members of the parish and other friends. He stood under a canopy of flowers and colored electric lights.
The guard of honor was comprised of fifty-fourth degree Knights of Columbus. Three hundred members of the parish formed the honorary escort from the train terminal to the rectory.
Unable to be present, because of previous engagements, Rev. Leon K. Willman, pastor of the Broadway M. E. Church, and Rev. Edwin F. Hann, of First M. E. Church, sent letters of regret in which they wished the new pastor success in his new fields of labor.
Success of last night’s eventful occasion can be attributed to Rev. Francis J. McCallion, who directed the affair. He was ably assisted by Edward Clare, George Slake, George Burke, Cornelius J. Healy, James McGowan, Hugh Pattie, Michael Quinn, Robert A. Stack and James Wren.
This morning the church reception was held with a solemn high mass, which was sung by Dean Fitzgerald. Father Whelan was deacon, Father Hennig, sub-deacon, and Father Shay, master of ceremonies. Father McCallion delivered a splendid sermon for the occasion and the singing of the altar boys was very fine. William J. Lorigan presided at the organ.
Children of the parish this afternoon tendered a reception to the new pastor. The altar boys will present Dean Fitzgerald with an enlarged and framed likeness of himself.
Hurley Based Success in Life and in Business on Square Deal to All
Camden Courier-Post —
By BEN COURTER
Nearly two score years ago an earnest young man called together a handful of employees in a small store at Fifth and Pine streets.
“Boys, see that door?” he said to them.
“Well, if by any chance I should be called upon to resort to unscrupulous methods in the conduct of this business that door will be closed and this enterprise will end. Square dealing is to be the principle on which we will do business, square dealing to everybody.”
That young man was William Leonard Hurley, then but 27 years old and virile, visioning a great business which he purposed to develop. It was the pronouncement of what then was nothing less than an ideal, for it was in a period when there was a tendency to take advantage of the unsuspecting to sell inferior goods at exorbitant prices. Many operated under what was known in the trade as the “borax system,” which resulted in the public looking askance at installment buying for the home.
Based on that determination to cultivate public confidence in his own business, Hurley built slowly but securely, his small enterprise into “the big trustful store,” with branches in half a dozen cities.
It was a determination that made him a kindred spirit, in later years, with Theodore Roosevelt whose guest the Rough Rider was to become in the midst of a political campaign that stirred the country from coast to coast. It was the straight-forward characteristic that likewise prompted his subsequent activities in the interest of Camden, that was to be a factor in throwing off the provincial spirit and entering the civic stride so pronounced in the advent of the Camden bridge and the extension of Broadway. In both these he was a strenuous advocate of civic expansion, scientifically planned.
Hurley Not Born With a ‘Silver Spoon’
When Hurley was born in Chester county, Pa., 65 years ago, it was not with a “silver spoon in his mouth.” His father, William Hurley, was a railroad man, an honest, hard-working father, who, in times which were hard enough for the bread-winner, struggled to keep his family in the necessities of life.
The son, William, obtained the rudiments of education under great difficulties, for schools were scarce and far between in the sparse settlement where his boyhood was spent. It was a school of hard knocks, an environment that evidenced the difficult problem the poorer class had in obtaining the bare necessities of life. It was the experience of those early years that William L. Hurley never forgot, for afterward, when success had come, he never was deaf to an appeal from those “pulling hard against the stream.”
At the age of 12 he obtained his first job on a farm in his native Chester county. Farming in those days was hard, strenuous work, seemingly never ending labor to the boy, even then strong and possessing much of the splendid physique of later years.
“I worked from four in the morning until after dark,” Hurley once said, in a reminiscent way. “The farmer usually woke me in the morning by pounding his cane on the floor.
“My duties? Well, they included milking ten cows, feeding chickens and pigs, cleaning the horses, husking corn and doing odd chores. The farmer paid me $4 a month and board.
“In those days boys worked just as hard as grown folks. It was no cinch and when darkness came I couldn’t run fast enough to the farmhouse and to bed. I was dead tired and the bed brought supreme happiness to me. Sleeping was about the only fun I had.”
So the years went on with the hard work on the farm. The future held no great promise. The railroad was more alluring. Since his father was a railroader, young Hurley decided to try that field.
Railroading in 80’s No ‘Automatic’ Job
Back in the 80’s railroading was a far different proposition than it is now. There was none of the automatic brakes and couplings and numberless other inventions that have made it comparatively a safe job today. The old-fashioned coupling pin, for instance, was the abomination of the brakeman. What it did to Hurley he carried to his dying day in the loss of the end of one of his middle fingers.
Not only did he act as brakeman but also as fireman. As he stoked the pulsing engine he dreamed of the day when he might take the throttle. It seemed a wonderful career then, but fate had other things in store for him. He sensed it when he concluded to better his wage of $1.[?]0 a day and get “something on the side.” That was by selling sewing machines at night, often after he had worked hard on drilling freights or stoking the engine through the day.
But this selling of sewing machines impressed young Hurley that perhaps after all there was something else in life other than guiding a great locomotive over the rails. At any rate he concluded to try it out and this in 1888, the year of the “great Blizzard” in this section, he obtained a job with Edward Gately & Co. in Philadelphia as canvasser. It was not long before he had two assistants who acted as collectors, one of whom, Harry F. Jones, was to become his partner in the Atlantic City store many years later.
Gately was a wealthy man who had made his money mostly in the installment business, one who ever had an eye open for the promising young men in his organization. It was his custom to give them a chance and take them into partnership, opening stores in various cities. Young Hurley was one of these promising young men. In 1890 the business of Gately & Hurley was started. To be exact it was on February 1 of that year that a small store was opened, the corner store under old Wildey Hall at Fifth and Pine streets. It was there that he was inspired to tell his then small force of his square dealing policy.
Worked Long Hours to Make Store Success
Young Hurley worked like a Trojan. None in the ranks put in longer hours than he, sometimes 18 or 20 before he was willing to call it a day.
Not only did he direct his force in garnering business, but he went out on the street, often with rugs across his shoulders, to obtain patronage. Many recall the stalwart, earnest young man and his breezy manner which seldom failed to bring result.
Nor was Hurley, in the flush of subsequent success, averse to recalling those strenuous days, usually with a chuckle and remembrance of old timers who had stood staunch and strong with his organization through the intervening years.
Four years later the business had grown to such proportions that he concluded another location was needed. That was after all the stores under Wildey Hall had been occupied. In 1894 the Gately & Hurley store was opened at Broadway and Pine streets. It was then 33 by 90 feet.
When Hurley impressed Gately with the necessity for expanding and having a real store he prepared plans for a four-story structure. Camden then was filled with the “can’t be dones.” Toone & Hollinshed at Broadway and Kaighn avenue was the biggest place on that thoroughfare. Mrs. Varney’s place was on Kaighn avenue, the store of E. V. Story at Sycamore street, Hughes Brothers at Walnut street, Fuhrman Brothers at Chestnut and a few notion places here and there. But the Hurley enterprise seemed so outlandish that one day as George Leathwhite, then Camden’s leading plumber, was looking over the building operation a prominent business man of the period asked.
“Who is the damn fool building this place?”
Nor was he mollified in the least when informed it was “Bill” Hurley. It was regarded altogether a foolhardy undertaking, one that would spell certain disaster. It was pointed out there was nothing just like it on Broadway and that there was nothing to warrant such an outlay.
As a matter of fact that pessimistic note eventually reached Gately. He had some misgivings and Hurley’s four-story building was kept down to three. Just two months after the store had been finished it was necessary to find warehousing room by renting the old bakery of William Kairer at Line and West street. Incidentally, it may be of interest to recall it was Kairer the baker, who had been shot and killed by a burglar in 1893. Theodore Lambert was hanged in the old county jail for that murder.
In 1900 Hurley bought the Gately interests, giving him exclusive ownership, and the business continued to grow making more additions necessary. The old Field properties, two and a half story bricks, were bought, torn down and the store extended.
In 1903 a store was established at Wilkes-Barre with Daniel Loughran as Hurley’s partner. Three years later Henry J. Tobin was made his partner in another store at Trenton. Then in 1912 John J. Powell was commissioned to open the Hurley-Powell store at Wilmington. Harry F. Jones, Hurley’s collector in the very early days opened the Hurley-Jones store at Atlantic City in 1915. Five years later another Hurley store started business at Bridgeton. And in 1923 the home store was remodeled and in the meantime, old Turner Hall, where many a gay night was had by the old timers in masked balls and other festivities, was converted into a warehouse with other structures doing like service. Hurley has long since been recognized as one of South Jersey’s merchant princes.
Roosevelt Given Support in Bull Moose Campaign
Although he never consented to leave the helm of his great business enterprises, save later in life when he spent part of the winters at Hilton Head or occasionally went abroad, Mr. Hurley found time to take an active interest in the affairs of Camden. He did not seek political preferment but for more than 30 years he sought the best that might come with [blacked out]n progressive government. He ever desired to see Camden forge ahead in business in a civic way. Frequently he chafed over a tendency on the part of the political powers to let things drift along. He had no particular objection to the Republican organization as it was constituted under the late Senator David Baird, but he did believe with all possible sincerity that if the progressive spirit could be injected into it much would be accomplished, things that were left to very, very slow evolution.
It was therefore quite in keeping with that tendency that he aligned himself with the late Cooper B. Hatch in the late 90’s when the Committee of 100 was born with the Courier then under S. Conrad Ott as city editor being a potent factor in the victory. It was then that Hurley gave financial and moral aid to the movement with Hatch as the leader and with Lewis H. Moorman, [blacked out], C. Kramer and others many of whom have long since gone fostering the cause. [blacked out] its purpose perhaps although within a few years it had passed with the usual disintegration of independent movements.
When Colonel Roosevelt formed the Bull Moose party and became the Presidential candidate in 1912 with William H. Taft and Woodrow Wilson in the field, Mr. Hurley was an earnest active advocate of the Rough Rider. In fact he was one of the delegates to the Bull Moose convention that nominated Roosevelt.
In the midst of that truly hectic campaign when Wilson, Taft and Roosevelt visited Camden, Wilson’s meeting was enthusiastic enough to please any Democrat. Taft’s was a frost and hardly more than a fringe, mostly office holders greeted him, but Roosevelt’s was what the Colonel himself called a “rip snorter.”
Teddy Was Guest at Home of Hurley During Visit Here
Hurley was his host on that occasion, a hot summer night, itself suggestive of the extremely hot campaign. These meetings were held at the Third Regiment armory, no other building then being available. One may yet recall very vividly the entrance of the Colonel, Mr. Hurley and the Camden Bull Moose leaders. The great drill hall was literally jammed, with yelling enthusiasts even hanging from the top girders. Just as he arrived a terrific thunder storm broke loose, the reverberation, the vivid flashes lost in the roar of the crowd.
“Where’s your hat, Teddy?” someone yelled.
And the Colonel tossed his old black slouch hat in the ring while Hurley led the cheer that followed, a cheer that seemingly tested the strength of the expansive roof. Roosevelt had been a guest at the Hurley home at West Collingswood where the leaders, the rank and file of the Bull Moosers met him. It was one gala night and Mr. Hurley was in the zenith of his glory.
None was more disappointed when Colonel Roosevelt failed at the November election, for Mr. Hurley felt that the country needed the hero of San Juan Hill particularly at that time. He sincerely mourned the Colonel’s passing, but to the very last cherished his memory, regarding him as the Great American.
Backed Non-Partisan Move, Aided Opening of Broadway
As has been indicated, Mr. Hurley had no particular feeling against the Republican organization, but he was certain that Camden was on the threshold of big things and that there should be an awakening. There appeared to be no intention of getting out of the rut so far as the political powers were concerned and with the assurance of the bridge he regarded it necessary to be alive to the opportunities certain to come. There had been talk of certain outlets from the bridge which did not meet the situation in his judgment. For one thing, he was impressed with the extension of Broadway.
For more years than one might recall, Broadway had been Camden’s principal street. Many regarded it as the city’s most important business thoroughfare. Mr. Hurley early realized that to extend it to where the bridge plaza would eventually be located was a real civic essential, but the city administration did not consider the financial outlay that would be involved justified in the extension.
That was one of the factors that resulted in the Non-Partisan movement of 1922, of Mr. Hurley’s advocacy of its cause, of his financial and moral support. He was one of the leaders in the civic revolution that first brought the victory for commission form of government and later that ushered the Non-Partisan candidates into office.
It was the realization of a cherished dream when the new administration bought property that assured Broadway’s extension to the bridge plaza. It justified his prediction that it would be like giving a new blood stream to the city, for the Walt Whitman Hotel, the Wilson Building and others rapidly rising about Broadway and Cooper streets prove it beyond all doubt.
Camden Bridge Proposition Given Approval by Hurley
Mr. Hurley not only gave his every influence toward the Camden bridge proposition in the days when it was regarded more or less a joke, but he worked assiduously to crystalize [sic] sentiment so that the century-old dream would be a dream no longer. New Jersey did its part when Walter Edge was governor, but there was plenty of backing and filling on the part of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania. There were many discouraging epochs, even after a joint commission had been created, but Mr. Hurley was among those who refused to give up hope. What was subsequently accomplished was due mainly to men of his faith, of his courage, of his energy.
After its completion the necessity for a second span was impressed upon him. Shortly after the Camden bridge was opened to the public he advocated another from Market street, Gloucester to Pattison avenue, Philadelphia. Since other sites have been suggested. A joint commission has been named to make preliminary surveys but has been at loggerheads over a proposal to build a span from Red Bank to League Island. Mr. Hurley regarded his suggestion as far more feasible and he supported it by arguments that were hard to answer.
Throughout his career Mr. Hurley had been an earnest advocate of co-operation among business interests of the city. For many years there was the Board of Trade rather an innocuous organization, usually attended by half a dozen men and voiceless so far as influence went. He concluded a rejuvenation was necessary, consented to act as president and speeded it up with the late Louis T. Derousse as secretary. Later Charles M. Curry held that position and until the present Chamber of Commerce was formed under a campaign directed by the American City Bureau. Mr. Hurley or his subordinates had given it every possible aid to make it a factor in the community.
Assessment Commissioner Was Only Political Post
Aside from his principal business, Mr. Hurley was associated for many years with the late William J. Lorigan in building homes. Their first extensive operation was the construction of two rows of dwellings in Princeton avenue. Others were constructed in various parts of Camden and the development of the district about Twenty-seventh and Federal streets was largely due to the firm. After the elder Lorigan’s death he was succeeded by his son, William H. Lorigan, who has been associated with Mr. Hurley.
While he sought no political honors, Mr. Hurley did once accept for a few years a position. It was during the Committee of 100 regime when he became a commissioner of assessment. He [?] served for many years as a delegate to the Atlantic Deeper Waterways Convention. He took a keen interest in that organization and in the work of actually having an inland waterway along the eastern seaboard. It is slowly developing with the possibility of becoming an actuality a few years hence, mainly through the effort of men of Mr. Hurley’s caliber.
When he came to Camden Mr. Hurley first resided on Stevens street, then at [?] Pine and from 1894 to 19[?]9 at 7[?]8 Broadway. In the latter year he bought the estate on White Horse pike at West Collingswood that had been used as a sanitarium. The building was virtually reconstructed, the grounds were laid out in beautiful shrubbery and there were already fine nut trees which made it a show place. He called it Dungarvan, after the county in Ireland where his father was born.
It was there at his palatial home, with the beautiful surroundings that Mr. Hurley delighted in acting the role of host, of gathering about him old friends and harking back to the times that were.
Unspoiled Good Will Befriended All in Need
Old friends cherish the memory of one outstanding characteristic of “Bill” Hurley. Increasing fortune never “spoiled” him. He remained democratic until the end, and those who had known him through the years called him “Bill” just as they had done in the days when he was forging ahead in spite of the “can’t-be-dones.”
Nor did he ever forget an old customer. It might be an old, old woman upon whom fortune had consistently refused to shine but who made her little purchases at his store. None was too lowly for him to give his personal attention under such circumstances. There was ever a real grip of the hand that spoke sincerity.
It was quite natural that he enjoyed hunting and fishing. For many years his summer home was at Sea Isle City, where his family went through the vacation period each year. There he never failed to go out to sea or to try his luck off the pier, usually with an old friend. Catching the piscatorial beauties, particularly a channel bass or a drum, was regarded with almost the same satisfaction as putting over a big business deal.
Over a dozen years ago he bought the island at Hilton Head, off the coast of South Carolina and 30 miles from Savannah. While he enjoyed all the comforts of civilization, the surroundings were kept in their primitive simplicity. Nothing delighted him more than taking an old friend along to the island estate and showing the guest the time of his life.
Men like Hurley do much that is unheralded to alleviate the suffering of the world. Creed or color meant nothing to him if aid were needed. What he gave in that respect no one knows. Those long associated with him declare it was sufficient to make happy a small army in adversity.
Aided Worthy Causes Regardless of Creeds
Charitable organizations, religious or otherwise, enjoyed his bounty. No one was aware of such aid unless it happened to be in a “campaign” to raise a specified sum. It was Hurley very often who started things going by way of a liberal contribution. It mattered not whether the cause was for Protestant, Catholic or Jew—just so it was worth while. When the vicious pogroms were sweeping Russia he was one of the most generous contributors to the Camden funds for the sufferers. In the flu epidemic of 1918 he was among the leaders who aided the stricken, who gave many a family a lift over rough places.
During the war he was active in every Liberty Loan drive, in every movement that aided ultimate victory. He was chairman of the Knights of Columbus drive, he was a potent factor in the United War Workers’ campaign, in the Red Cross and kindred movements. He took great interest in the boys who “went over there” for his own son, Jerome, was in the service.
Surely in glancing over Camden’s history in the past two-score years not an instance conducive to the city’s development may be cited without finding William L. Hurley’s name connected with it some way, some how. He was so much a part of its warp and woof that the civic fabric bears indelibly the impress of his personality.
Throngs Mourn as W.L. Hurley Is Laid to Rest
Camden Courier-Post —
Thousands Pay Tribute To Merchant Prince at Home In Collingswood
SOLEMN REQUIEM MASS AT ST. JOHN’S CHURCH
Many Follow Funeral Cortege to Mausoleum in Calvary Cemetery
By BEN COURTER
William Leonard Hurley, merchant prince, was buried today in the family mausoleum at Calvary Cemetery, beside the son whom he cherished, now gone these many years.
Camden paid honor to its distinguished merchant son for out of the tall tower of city hall the bell tolled rhythmically from 10.30 to 10.[?]0 this morning. That is a tribute seldom paid, only to the most distinguished of Camden’s citizenry, only to those whom it holds in highest regard.
In addition Mayor Price ordered all city flags lowered half mast while the funeral was under way, itself a high mark indicating municipal regard and sorrow in the passing of an eminent son.
The burial came after tribute that seldom comes to any man. There was no pomp with the glitter and glare that usually comes to the military great. There was none of the evidence of the peculiar fealty that comes with the close of a great political leader’s career.
But there was in evidence, last night and again today, something suggestive of a community paying full and really heart-felt tribute to one who had lived with lasting benefit to his fellow-man. “Dungarvan,” the home of the merchant prince, last night was the scene of an outpouring of the friends gained through the years who took farewell of one whom they had held in highest regard. Nor was it merely a formal viewing of one who had passed on, nor idle curiosity, nor a perfunctory performance of mere duty.
One passing through that great throng as it wound its way along the paths beneath the great pines and oaks, up to the immaculately white entrance guarded by the Hurley retainers, found evidence of the sincerity of it all. It came by way of expression from men and women who had driven to the palatial home on White Horse pike and again by those who had perhaps walked several miles. A great social gulf between, but with one commonalty of sorrow, of regret in the passing, of satisfaction in having known “Big-hearted Bill Hurley.” That expression was heard repeatedly—“Big hearted Bill Hurley”—and some of those who thus alluded to the one lying so quietly within the south parlor of the Hurley home evidently knew the full force of it, knew it from experience.
Cortege Under Way
George Blake, funeral director and long personal friend of Mr. Hurley, aided by Frank Leonard, had some difficulty in getting the cortege under way, even though state and Collingswood police had closed White Horse pike from the Crescent boulevard roundpoint to Collings avenue to traffic. Eventually it was accomplished and the merchant whom everyone seemed to recall with something worth while had gone forever from the portals he loved.
With a guard of motorcycle policemen, the funeral stretching squares wound its way along Knights Park just giving promise of the glory of young spring verdure. It reached the humble little one-story brown church, St. John’s Catholic, all but hidden by the evergreens, all but covered by ivy. There a vast crowd awaited. A rush would certainly have been made into the church before the arrival of the mourners, but the doors were locked. It was necessary for St. John’s church accommodates but 60[?]. Certainly a thousand would have tried to force an entrance.
But with the arrival of the family the doors were opened. The honorary pallbearers once more formed a lane through which the honored dead was carried up the steps, into the sanctuary, drawn to the altar where candles flickered in the filtered lights from the stained glass windows. Then came the rites.
A solemn high mass of requiem was sung. Rev. John O’Farrell, pastor of the church and good friend for many a year of the Hurley family, was celebrant. Rev. Joseph M. Corriston of St. Joan of Arc Church, Fairview, was deacon, and Rev. Paul Fairbrother, Church of the Immaculate Conception, was sub-deacon.
Priests at Altar
There were gathered about the altar Msgr. Bozzi, Sea Isle City, Rev. Joseph Phelan, Langhorne, Rev. Father Brendon Shea, Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Rev. Father Sutcliffe, Gloucester City, Rev. Father Corrigan, Holy Name Church, Rev. Father Henry, Sacred Heart, [blacked out] Most [blacked out] of the prominent South [blacked out] were attending the [blacked out] Bishop McMa[blacked out] otherwise they would have been at the [blacked out] altar at the Hu[blacked out]. Sombre-garbed Sisters of Mercy were in the pews. Among them was Sister Christine, for whom Mr. Hurley had been godfather years ago [blacked out] now is teacher of literature at [blacked out] Camden Catholic high school.
During the solemn service for the dead, the Immaculate Conception quartet sang. That is composed of Harry Weiss, tenor; E. Ehrman, bass; Miss Marie Archer, soprano, and Mrs. Katherine Maloney, contralto, with Miss Mary Niles, accompanist.
Funeral Reaches Cemetery
The solemn ritual over the cortege bearing the dead proceeded to Calvary Cemetery. Long before its arrival hundreds had gathered along Marlton pike—hundreds who were undismayed by a keen, cutting north wind, even though the majority were elderly women. It was apparent they were, as a rule, the old, old patrons of the Hurley store, those whom the founder ever served. They braved the wind and the discomfort to pay their tribute to the dead.
Whether it was by coincidence or otherwise, two airplanes circled over the cemetery when the cortege arrived and continued until the mourners had left. They seemed like two great birds on guard. Some thought it a symbol significant to the occasion.
Headed by motorcycle policemen from the state, Camden, Collingswood and Delaware township, the funeral arrived, passed the guarded entrance.
Thousands Pass Bier
Last night they paid tribute to an old friend and chieftain—thousands of them. Seemingly there was a never-ending stream of notables, of the lowly, those in every walk of life. They came in limousines, in trolleys and many walked, but all were imbued with one object, to take parting of “Big-hearted Bill Hurley,” whom they had known through the years [blacked out] to increase their regard with mellow [blacked out].
There was Ben Maloney, pal of many [blacked out] a year in the hunting field, who made [blacked out] the trip to the Hurley h[blacked out] enough because of [blacked out] F[blacked out] strong was Maloney [blacked out] times when he and his old [blacked out] had trod the wood and fields. Tears came unrestrained.
There was venerable Philip M[blacked out]Mann, who came down from R[blacked out] to take parting with his old chief. F[blacked out] Mann is the oldest [blacked out] of the Hurley organiza[blacked out] many a year he trod the [blacked out] a collector. He has long [blacked out] pensioned.
There was a long, long line of Hurley employes who wound about the path leading to the home, who met by the bier while the son of the family, Jerome, and Harry and James Moran, executives, stood by the door.
There were plain Mr. and Mrs. John Smith and their more exalted neighbors, too, who passed through the room holding the honored dead.
Elks Hold Services
And there was Camden Lodge of Elks there to hold the memorial service for one who exemplified the principles of that great American order in an exalted degree. They were there, these Elks, to write the faults on the sands, the virtues on the tablets of loving memory.
There was Phil Wilson, for many a year close associate of Mr. Hurley, who had known him all through the years that brought success. And William J. Lorigan whose father had long been associated with Mr. Hurley in building enterprises and former Prosecutor William J. Kraft, nephew and good friend of the family.
But by far the most [blacked out] memory of the man who lay so quiet [blacked out] and still were the flowers [blacked out] Mr. Hurley in life loved the [blacked out] springtime of summer and of [blacked out] Dungarvan had ever been a [blacked out] estate under his direction with [blacked out] grand old trees but there were [blacked out] splashes of color, the great [blacked out] rhododendrons along the [blacked out] dary yet recalcitrant but with [blacked out] ising buds. There was the garden [blacked out] of fresh of flowers now but with [blacked out] secret expanses—the roses and [blacked out] gardens and the peonies [blacked out] host yet to put forth their splendor [blacked out]
Bower of Beauty
[blacked out] of Dungarvan within it was [blacked out] of blossoms [blacked out] and the [blacked out] life of revived nature. Dungarvan within was a veritable living bower of beauty, exquisite [blacked out] that surrounded the bier that mounted [blacked out] the walls to the ceiling. Under the light of the candles in golden [blacked out] the color was one wonderful [blacked out] of red and pink and garnet with [blacked out] roses [blacked out] everywhere. [blacked out] [blacked out] [blacked out]
These were the [blacked out] that [blacked out] friends who [blacked out] passing tributes that came from all parts of the city, the county, even from far parts of the country.
There was a great basket of American beauty roses and [blacked out] Mrs. Hurley [blacked out] [blacked out] [blacked out] [blacked out] [blacked out] [blacked out] island estate [blacked out] a long time [blacked out].
The Camden employes with a [blacked out] heart. From the staff of the Hurley-Loughran store at Wilkes-Barre came a perpetual membership in the purcha[blacked out] society, and win[blacked out]dre[blacked out] designs from the stores at Bridgeton, Trenton and Atlantic City.
Organizations Send Blossoms
There was a great wreath of acanthus leaves from the Chamber of Commerce, a cross from the Broadway Business Men’s Association, the cloak of purple and white from Camden Lodge of Elks, snapdragons from the banks with which he had been affiliated, a basket from the Cities Corporation Company, which controls the Hotel Walt Whitman, a basket from Wyoming Tribe of Red Men.
Others who sent their tribute of beauteous blossoms were Mr. and Mrs. J. Walter Staats, white lilies and lilacs; John Schlorer, calla lilies; A. J. Henderson, “spring garden flowers”; Mr. and Mrs. J. David Stern, roses, lilies and snapdragons; John Croft and family, spring flowers; Mrs. Gertrude McNichol, Jerome Hurley’s fiancee, a great basket of lilies, roses and white lilacs; her father, Daniel Dever, basket of flowers; Col. T. R. Donovan, a four-foot pillow of flowers.
Mr. and Mrs. Walter L. Tushingham, a spray of white lilies; Mr. and Mrs. Philip Wilson, lilies and roses; Mr. and Mrs. S. Canning Childs, spray of lilies and lilies of the valley; Dr. Harris, Savannah, Ga., spray of American beauty roses; J. B. Van[blacked out], basket of flowers; Howard E. Hemphill, basket; Robert Stecker, spray of lilies.
Flowers, Still More Flowers
Mr. and Mrs. Charles W. Auster[blacked out], spray of lilies; Camden Lions Club; Theodore Tiedeken and Brother, basket; Arthur Moffett, spray; J. C. Ra[blacked out], basket; H. Black, of the T[blacked out]n Upholstering Company, basket; [blacked out] Beau & Company, spray; Endowment B. & L., basket; Argonne B. & L., basket; St. John’s Men’s Club, Collingswood, basket; Charles Cramer, basket; Harry Pinsky, basket; Home Furniture Association, basket; Mr. and Mrs. J. A. Murphy, [blacked out] basket, cut flowers; Dr. [blacked out] Edward Mallon, Philadelphia; [blacked out] and Mrs. Charles [blacked out], spray of American [blacked out]
Mr. and Mrs. J. Thompson of Hotel [blacked out] Atlantic City, pillow of American beauty roses; Mr. and Mrs. David [blacked out], basket; Miss Bessie Hun[blacked out], [blacked out] former stenographer, spray of [blacked out]; [blacked out] D. Sadowsky, N. Y., spray [blacked out] spring flowers; Jack and Jules [blacked out]man, basket; Mr. and Mrs. J. A. [blacked out], spray; Mr. and Mrs. John [blacked out], spray; Mr. and Mrs. John [blacked out], spray; Mr. and Mrs. H. J. [blacked out]; Dr. and Mrs. W. J. McKin[blacked out]; Mr. and Mrs. James Mallon, [blacked out] Britton, J. P. King, sprays; Mr. and Mrs. Michael Collins, wreath; [blacked out] W. We[blacked out], wreath; Michael [blacked out], Lindenwold, basket; Elisha [blacked out] Jr., Lawrence Hurley, sprays of American Beauties; Mrs. Margaret Lorigan, widow of his former partner in the building of homes, spray of [blacked out]; Richard M. Alister, a great basket of flowers; Judge and Mrs. Ralph W. E. Donges, basket; James D[blacked out]ney, of Newark, spray of American Beauties; George Gibson, spray; Charles T. Busch, basket; William H. S[blacked out], spray; Edward J. Mulligan, spray.
Old Friends Send Tokens
[blacked out]s Margaret Ludwick and Mrs. [blacked out], spray; J. S. Haskell, wreath; Mr. and Mrs. George Lockerman, spray; Mr. and Mrs. Elmer E. Thomas, wreath; E. J. and William H. [blacked out], basket; Mr. and Mrs. Arthur [blacked out], basket; Mr. and Mrs. E. H. [blacked out], spray; Dr. and Mrs. Alexander MacAlister, basket; Mrs. Nellie Cavata, basket; Dr. Clarence Donges; Ben Maloney and John Donahue, old friends, a basket; Theodore L. Kausel, spray of American Beauties; Mr. and Mrs. Carl Dellmuth, spray; Mr. and Mrs. Charles [blacked out], spray; Mr. and Mrs. Edward Windust, basket; Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Garet, spray.
Mr. and Mrs. J. J. McArdle, basket; [blacked out] Smith, spray; Mr. and Mrs. [blacked out]; Peter Gross, spray; Mr. and Mrs. George W. Bradley, [blacked out]; Mr. and Mrs. J. J. Loughry, [blacked out]; Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Hoover, [blacked out]; Mr. and Mrs. Edward P[blacked out]nton, wreath; Mr. and Mrs. Charles Hinkel, [blacked out]; L. M. Nelson, John Weber, [blacked out]; [blacked out] Clare and A. [blacked out] Farley, [blacked out]; Mr. and Mrs. W. N. Morrow, [blacked out]
The staff employed on the Hurley estate gave as their tribute a great [blacked out] of [blacked out]. They are Walter [blacked out], E. P. Haven, Edward Grant and [blacked out] Howard. And from Mr. and Mrs. [blacked out] Mathis came a basket of [blacked out] flowers. Mathis had been Mr. Hurley’s chauffeur for many years.
Inquest Set Today in Gambling Death
Camden Courier-Post —
Jury List Prepared for Coroner’s Action in Holdup Fatality
The coroner’s inquest to decide the cause of death to Angelos Magalas, Greek chef, who was shot during a card game holdup at 725 Penn Street on January 11, will be held today at 10 a. m.
Coroner Franklin P. Jackson III, of Collingswood, will conduct the inquest and will select his jury of 12 from a list of 15 persons prepared by the office of County Prosecutor Samuel P. Orlando.
Detectives already have subpoenaed 20 witnesses for questioning at the inquest, including players who were the victims in the holdup and three Camden physicians who attended Magalas prior to his death.
The witnesses will include Samuel and Mabel Ermilios, tenants of the Penn Street house where the holdup occurred; George and Annette Mastros, who room at the house; Samuel Bosco, Broadway barber; George Summers, Ross Pantel, Michael D’Andrea, and William Caras, who according to police were participants in the card game.
All of the men were held as material witnesses in the shooting when arraigned today before Police Judge Gene R. Mariano.
Doctors to Testify
Other witnesses will include Dr. Paul Mecray, Dr. A. S. Ross and Dr. Edwin R. Ristine and Miss Sophia MacAfee, a Cooper Hospital nurse. Police who will testify include Detectives Thomas Murphy, Harry Kyler and William Boettcher and Patrolmen Richard Powers, Frank Clements, George Nicktern and Sergeant Jack Deith.
The jury will be selected from Guy Clokey, Collingswood; Lawrence Ball, Haddonfield; Howard Friant, Collingswood; Harry Chew, Collingswood; Sig Schoenagle, Camden merchant; Raymond Hanly, real estate broker; Benjamin Brest, Raymond Worrel, John Eby, all of Camden; William H. Lorigan, Merchantville; David B. Robinson, Collingswood; Rev. James Pemberton and John McGowan, of Camden, Earl Jackson, of Collingswood and Morris B. Clark, of Haddonfield.
Coroner Jackson refused to give a certificate of death until the chemical test of Magalas’ brain was made by Philadelphia experts. The result will not be revealed until the inquest.
Assistant Prosecutor Isaac Eason and County Physician David S. Rhone gave it as their opinion that Malagas died of natural causes rather than the bullet wound. Coroner Jackson then ordered an inquest to be held.
Police are searching for Frank Luggi, 21, of 322 Penn Street, who they say was one of the holdup bandits and the one who fired the bullet that struck Magalas.
The last coroner’s inquest held in Camden county was in 1933, in the death of Thomas Timothy Sullivan, and previous to that none had been held here in 25 years.
Sullivan was 57 years old and lived at 401 State Street. He was employed as a detective by the Pennsylvania Railroad. He was found shot to death in a shack in the rail road yards on August 28, 1933.
At that time, County Physician Edward B. Rogers issued a certificate of death that Sullivan had committed suicide. The decision of the county physician enraged members of Sullivan’s family and they demanded an inquest.
The inquest was ordered by then Coroner Arthur H. Holl, who presided. All the evidence in the case was presented to the jury of 12 men, and after deliberating for less than an hour, they returned a verdict that Sullivan had been murdered by persons unknown.
Under state law, the county physician may order an inquest; with 12 persons on the jury of the coroner’s choosing. The jurymen may be taken from the present panel of the petit jury or be picked at random. The Grand Jury does not have to indict on the basis of the inquest. At the inquest Coroner Jackson will be assisted by attaches of the prosecutor’s office.
Malagas, the father of three children, lived at 1110 Langham Avenue. He was shot when several armed bandits held up a card game and he died several days later.