Introduction
Princeton Avenue, “The best houses for the least amount of money ever built in Camden” according to a 1902 advertisement, runs for one block, parallel east of South 7th Street between Pine and Division Streets. Built by Lorigan & Hurley, a partnership consisting of builder William J. Lorigan and department store magnate William Leonard Hurley, the homes featured eight rooms and a bath, tiled vestibule, and an elevated and roofed front porch.
Princeton Avenue, 1946
1946 Map of Camden — Broadway & Mount Ephraim Avenue, north of Kaighn Avenue. Princeton Avenue runs vertically in the upper center of map.
Princeton Ave. New Houses
Philadelphia Inquirer —
Seventh and Pine Streets, Camden, N. J.—Take Broadway Car to Pine Street
HOUSES TWO SQUARES EAST
$2,250 to $2,400. $1,400 can remain on Mortgage at 5 per cent, balance to suit purchaser. A rare opportunity for investor or home seeker if sold this month. Situated in the very heart of Camden. Two minutes’ walk to trolley. Don’t buy until you examine the sample house, which is fully furnished ready to walk into and commence housekeeping.
Eight Rooms and Bath. The Most Complete and Up-to-Date Homes ever Erected in Camden. The homes are built on the colonial plan, introducing the full reception room, hall seat and open window. Large yards, front porches, pompelian brick fronts, electric gas lighting, tile vestibules, all conveniences.
LORIGAN & HURLEY, Builders, No. 815 PRINCETON AVENUE, — CAMDEN, N. J.
Princeton Avenue as seen from Pine Street, photograph from the 1902 advertisement below.
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
Princeton Avenue, 2004
Princeton Avenue as seen from Pine Street (above) and Division Street (below), March 27, 2004.
800 Block of Princeton Avenue — Occupants
City directory records, 1902–1959.
800 Princeton Avenue
| Year ↕ | Name ↕ |
|---|---|
| 1906 | Edward Moran |
802 Princeton Avenue
| Year ↕ | Name ↕ |
|---|---|
| 1902 | William J. Lorigan |
| 1902 | Florence G. Toram |
| 1930–1932 | John & Elizabeth Gilbert |
| 1932 | Mrs. Emily Gilbert |
803 Princeton Avenue
| Year ↕ | Name ↕ |
|---|---|
| 1906–1908 | Horace B. Parker Sr. & Family |
| 1906 | Horace B. Parker Jr. & Family |
| 1906–1908 | Horace B. & Margaret Parker |
| 1906 | Horace B. & Gertrude Parker |
| 1906 | Lillian Parker |
| 1906 | Margaret Parker |
| 1906 | Horace B. Parker III |
808 Princeton Avenue
| Year ↕ | Name ↕ |
|---|---|
| 1938 | Florence Melari |
818 Princeton Avenue
| Year ↕ | Name ↕ |
|---|---|
| 1959 | William B. Warren & Family |
Related: Edward Moran — 800 Princeton Avenue, 1906.
Related: Camden County Transfers — 802 Princeton Avenue, 1902.
Related: Emily Gilbert — 802 Princeton Avenue, 1932.
Related: Tender Reception to Camden Couple — 803 Princeton Avenue, 1906.
Related: Hospital Cases — 808 Princeton Avenue, 1938.
Related: Mother, 3 Children Flee Fire in Home — 818 Princeton Avenue, 1959.
Edward Moran
Philadelphia Inquirer —
Word was received yesterday of the sudden death, in New York, of Edward Moran, of Princeton avenue and Pine streets, from heart disease.
Camden County Transfers
Philadelphia Inquirer —
Camden County Transfers
Camden, N. E. cor. Atlantic ave. and Sixth st.—Julia A. Purnell, et al, to John H. Carmany, et al … $1
Camden, W. si. Van Buren st., 100 ft. N. Central ave.—Elizabeth Clark to Margaret R. Whelen … 250
Camden, S. line Berkley st., 100 ft. E. Broadway—State Mutual Building and Loan Assn. to Mary A. Vanderslice … 2500
Camden, N. E. aide Bergen ave.—Thomas B. Powell, et al, to Christopher R. Powell … 400
Camden, S. s. Pine st., 300 ft. E. Seventh st.—Samuel Robbins to William J. Lorigan, et al … 8000
Camden, No. 802 Princeton ave.—William J. Lorigan, et al, to Florence G. Toran … 2400
North Cramer Hill, S. s. Sherman ave., 220 ft. E. Twenty-seventh st.—Alfred Cramer to John C. Brewin … 400
Barrington, beg. at intersection N. W. line Haddonfield road and S. E. line Reading ave.—Thomas McMichael to Susanna R. Henry … 3500
Emily Gilbert
Camden Courier-Post —
GILBERT—On May 31, 1932, Emily (nee Knox), wife of the late Albert Gilbert, in her 86th year. Relatives and friends of the family, also members of Ellsworth Temple No. 8, O. of U. P., are invited to attend the funeral services on Friday, at 2 p. m., from the Schroeder Chapel, Broadway and Royden St., Camden. Interment at Harleigh Cemetery. Friends may call Thursdays evening.
Tender Reception to Camden Couple Who Have Returned From Honeymoon
Philadelphia Inquirer —
NEW JERSEY HAPPENINGS
TENDER RECEPTION TO CAMDEN COUPLE WHO HAVE RETURNED FROM HONEYMOON
MR. AND MRS. HORACE PARKER, Jr.
Mr. and Mrs. Horace Parker, of 803 Princeton avenue, Camden, tendered a reception to Mr. and Mrs. Horace Parker, Jr., on their return yesterday from a honeymoon spent at Niagara Falls.
There was a fine program of vocal and instrumental music. A banquet was served. About 200 persons attended. The out-of-town guests were from Philadelphia, Homestead and Munhall, Pa.; Haddonfield, Merchantville and Marlton.
Hospital Cases
Camden Courier-Post —
COOPER
John Passarella, 7, of 433 Spruce street, lacerated scalp.
Peter Chiodi, 14, of 337 Spruce street, lacerated hand.
John Cool, Jr., 7, of 218 Burns street, lacerated thumb.
Michael Bottalico, 19, of 816 South Fifth street, lacerated hand.
Kenneth Bell, 40, of 754 Wright avenue, lacerated upper lip.
Irving Yerks, 9, of 1134 Baring street, lacerated thumb.
Theresa Joyce, 61, of 507 Haddon avenue, possible fractured hand.
William Malloney, 15, of 709 Morgan street, possible fractured nose
Leonard Schaffer, 10, of 119 Dudley street, fractured wrist.
Florence Melari, 60, of 808 Princeton avenue, dog bite.
Theresa Tenovese, 7 months, of 221 Railroad avenue, Glassboro, burn, hand.
Marie Cahill, 5, of 2168 Berwick street, brush burns, hand.
Howard Cannon, 30, of 751 Cherry street, nail wound, foot.
Catherine Wolfer, 14, of Lindenwold, injured ankle.
Alex Maloney, 29, of 425 South Fifth street, injured shoulder.
WEST JERSEY
James Brady, 7, of 1580 Minnesota road, lacerated wrist.
Betty Antonow, 6, of 1038 street, puncture wound, foot.
J. E. Walker, 46, of 222 Washington terrace, Audubon, near amputation, tip of finger.
Arthur Davis, 10, of Nicholson road, West Collingswood, lacerated scalp.
Ed Cachell, 35, of 612 Robert street, lacerated finger.
Dolores Pfeffer, 7, of 548 Haddon avenue, Collingswood, abrasions of thigh; communuted [sic] fracture of ankle.
Ida Devlin, 40, of 1337 Morton street, contusion, wrist and possible fractured arm.
Mother, 3 Children Flee Fire in Home
Camden Courier-Post —
Mrs. Rothel Pratt and her three children fled their home at 716 S. 8th st. today when fire damaged a rear shed.
District Chief John Graham said the fire was caused by a defective kerosene stove and was confined to the shed. Two pumpers and a truck responded to an alarm sounded by William Warren, a fireman of Engine Co. 8, who lives nearby at 818 Princeton ave.
Princeton Avenue Memories
Looking toward Pine the East corner is the house that is next to the house I was born in, the back yards of those houses had an alley going from Division to Pine. My grandmother’s house at 747 Division was at the corner of Division. The back yard of that East corner house, at the Pine Street end of the alley, was a pickle factory. Its back wall was at the back end of my Grandmother’s yard.
— Jim Bessing
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.
Many Persons Hurt While Celebrating
Philadelphia Inquirer —
A heavy downpour of rain stopped all of the morning exercises at the Pyne Point Park Fourth of July celebration, Camden, except the sunrise salute and the base ball game. In the afternoon a number of sporting events were decided.
Nearly all the political and social clubs of the city kept open house. In the evening the Eighth Ward Republican and Democratic Clubs gave an exhibition of fireworks at the foot of Jefferson avenue. There were a large number of private displays.
In the East Side a main feature of the day was a big demonstration by war veterans of Philadelphia and other places. About noon Captain Phil R. Schuyler Post, No. 51, of Philadelphia, in command of Captain William H. Buck, arrived by way of the North Cramer Hill ferry, accompanied by a band and Cushing’s Battery; Captain Schuyler Camp, No. 2, Sons of Veterans, in command of Captain Theodore Dast; Camp Guard, S. of V., in command of Lieutenant Maxwell; Camp Battery, S. of V., in command of Lieutenant Lilly, and Troop A and a company of Spanish War veterans. The Philadelphians were met by General John A. Logan Post, No. 102, of the East Side, and after parading the principal streets proceeded to Twenty-seventh and Pleasant streets, where several salutes were fired. Addresses were made by Comrade Scheibner, of Camden, and Comrade Van Vogan, of Philadelphia. The leading pyrotechnic display last night was at the fire house, Twenty-seventh and Federal streets, where the people, half of the East Side, enjoyed the fireworks for some time under the direction of the firemen in charge of Captain Amadee Middleton. The Germania Maennerchor had a balloon ascension at Pavonia and a display of fireworks.
Blank cartridges and toy cannon caused the following accidents, which were treated at Cooper Hospital: Earl Carlisle, aged 15 years, 338 North Ninth street, hole in thigh and finger blown off; Angus McDougall, aged 34 years, 813 Princeton avenue, finger lacerated; John Richardson, 11 years, 560 Mickle street, fingers burned; William Opperman, 16 years, 1130 Market street, left hand torn; Christopher Gurney, 28 years, 726 Cherry street, right hand torn; Edward Ryan, 15 years, 701 Spruce street, left hand shattered; Daniel McLaughlin, 9 years, 1190 Mt. Vernon street, cartridge shot of left leg; Max Pinto, aged 17 years, 837 South Ninth street, right hand badly lacerated; Henry Duncannon, 13 years, 1153 Baring street, left hand torn.
At Homeopathic Hospital the following were treated: Alex. Roberts, 7 years, 310 Cleveland Terrace, right hand torn; James Mutton, 38 years, 1820 South Seventh street, left hand badly burned; George Myers, 23 years, 212 Mickle street, right hand torn.
Alice Dessler, 3 years, 249 Chestnut street, run over by an ice wagon; Henry Ledger, 40 years, 519 Kaighn avenue, left hand torn by cartridge; Ellen Sharp, 12 years, 207 Chestnut street, elbow dislocated by fall, and Henry Haines, 10 years, 407 Liberty street, left hand torn by cartridge, were taken to their respective homes.
Because of the seeming prevalence of tetanus in Camden extraordinary precautions were observed by surgeons in dressing gunshot wounds.