William J. Myles

WILLIAM JOSEPH MYLES was born May 20, 1906 to William A. Myles and the former Margaret Williams. He grew up in and around 15th Street and Federal Street in East Camden.

William J. Myles was still in school when his father died and was forced to drop out in order to take care of his widowed mother. Devout Catholics, the Myles’ family were members of St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church, which in those years stood on Howell Street between north 25th and North 26th Street. The parish priest from 1902 through 1930 was the Rev. Anthony C. Shuvlin, and Father Shuvlin was a great influence on William J. Myles, inspiring him to both devout faith and community service.

William J. Myles lived briefly in Delair during the early 1920s. City Directories from 1924 through 1926 show William J. Myles working as a truck driver and living at 970 Federal Street. City Directories from 1924 through 1929 show Margaret Myles renting a home at 2301 Federal Street.

William Joseph Myles founded a company called Wm J. Myles Hauling in 1925. The company is still owned by the same family and is now known as Myles Transportation Inc. The 1943 City Directory shows the business at 110-118 Arch Street in Camden. By 1949 a terminal had been established at 1031-1035 North 4th Street which was still in use as late as October 1970. By 1977 the business had moved to Cinnaminson, New Jersey where is still operates.

On June 2, 1926 William J. Myles married Ethel Marguerite Schaffer. The Myles’ had six children, Ethel, Dorothy, Phyllis, William Jay, Bartholomew and Richard. The William J. and Ethel lived at 2301 Federal Street with his mother through at least 1930. Margaret Myles however does not appear at the Federal Street address in the April 1930 Census. At some point in the 1930s the Myles family moved to 446 North 34th Street in East Camden. The 1943 City Directory shows that the family had moved to the Colwick section of what was then Delaware Township (present-day Cherry Hill), New Jersey. The family is listed at 15 Ambler Road in that year’s New Jersey Bell Telephone Directory. The 1960 New Jersey Bell Telephone Directory indicates that son William Jay Myles had established residence next door at 19 Ambler Road. Ambler Road would be William J. and Ethel’s home for the rest of their lives. Ethel Myles died on June 26, 1959. William J. Myles joined his wife on April, 1979.

As William J. Myles got older in life and as his company was very successful, he made time to be involved in the civic life of Camden. He was very active in raising money for numerous charities, and was also very active in the Catholic churches in Camden. His many fundraising activities included drives to build Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, the now Camden Catholic High School after the original was destroyed by fire, and many, many more. In the early 1970s he was awarded the Camden County Bar Association’s William T. Boyle Award for Distinguished Community Service, named after Camden Judge William T. Boyle, a leading citizen of the early 20th Century. This was but one of the many awards conferred to William J. Myles during his lifetime.