Category: People
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Edward Warhoftig
Born in Philadelphia, Edward Warhoftig, better known as “Broadway Eddie,” opened a record store at Broadway and Mickle Street in 1966. Remaining in the city when many other merchants left, Broadway Eddie and his stores, which included a men’s wear and dollar store, became a Camden institution during his 38 years in business there. A…
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Bishop George V. Murry
Bishop George Vance Murry, S.J., was born in Camden, New Jersey, in 1948. After graduating from Camden Catholic High School, he attended St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Baltimore, Maryland. In 1972, he entered the Society of Jesus, commonly known as the Jesuits, and was ordained to the…
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Thomas J. Francis
Thomas J. Francis was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on May 6, 1831. He moved to Camden in 1850, where he lived for most of his life. Around 1853, he married his wife Catherine, and they had three children: a son, Edward, followed by daughters Frances and Kate. On September 11, 1862, Thomas enlisted in the…
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Bruce A. Whittick
Bruce A. Whittick, also known as Bruce A. Whittick-Leary, was born in Camden, New Jersey, on December 12, 1947. He briefly served in the United States Air Force from July 1, 1967, to September 1, 1967, before receiving an honorable medical discharge. On January 24, 1975, he was appointed to the Camden Fire Department. In…
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Orris W. Smith
Orris W. Smith was born in Camden on September 8, 1920, to Edward and Catherine Smith. The 1924 City Directory lists the family at 1113 Carpenter Street. By 1929, they had moved to 2827 Concord Avenue in Cramer Hill, and by April of the following year, they had relocated next door to 2825 Concord Avenue.…
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Frank B. Hanna
Frank B. Hanna was born in New Jersey in 1894. He married Rachel Thomason around 1914, and they had a daughter, Elizabeth, the following year. By January 1920, the Hannas were residing at 5315 Locust Street in Philadelphia. At the age of 25, Frank had already become Chief Clerk at one of the shipyards in…
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Frederick Himmelein Jr
Frederick Himmelein Jr. was a native of Camden and a successful businessman in both Philadelphia and Camden for many years. In 1926, he acquired the plant of the C. A. Reynolds Leather Company at 1300 Walnut Street, which continued to operate into the mid-1950s. Himmelein Jr. spent his early years in North Camden. City directories…
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Sigmund Schoenagle
Sigmund "Sig" Schoenagle was born in Vienna, Austria, around 1875. As a young man, he immigrated to America and settled in Camden, NJ. In 1894, he established a haberdashery at the southwest corner of 3rd and Federal Streets. He later moved his business to 538 Federal Street, at the corner of Hudson and Federal Streets,…
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William G. Hillman
William Grant Hillman was born on August 10, 1865, in Camden, NJ, the sixth of nine children of Edward Hillman and Margaret Grant. Edward Hillman, born on October 2, 1834, moved to Camden’s Middle Ward in the 1850s. By 1860, he was single, living with Samuel and Abigail Osler, and working as a deck hand…
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George R. Danenhower
George R. Danenhower was born in Willow Grove, PA, on June 27, 1835. He first came to Camden in 1857 and enlisted as a private with Company C, 12th Regiment, New Jersey Volunteers in 1862. He was promoted to corporal on October 1, 1864, and to sergeant on February 1, 1865. He served alongside his…
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John A. Oetzel
John A. Oetzel was born in Philadelphia in 1857 to parents who had emigrated from Eisenach, Germany, which was then part of the Duchy of Hesse and is now in the State of Thuringia. Around 1885, John and his wife Margaret moved from Philadelphia to Camden. A cabinetmaker by trade, John is listed in the…
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Philip R. Zimmermann
Philip Zimmerman was born in Camden, NJ, on February 12, 1954. His father worked as a cement truck driver. Phil graduated from Florida Atlantic University in 1978 with a degree in Computer Science. He is most famous for creating Pretty Good Privacy (PGP), one of the most widely used email encryption software packages in the…
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John T. Garrity
John Thomas Garrity was born on January 27, 1884, in Pennsylvania to John J. and Letitia Garrity. The family moved to Camden in the 1890s, where John J. Garrity worked as a blacksmith in one of Camden’s many shipyards. By 1906, the City Directory listed the family living at 2002 Broadway, with John T. Garrity…
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Herman F. Niessner
Herman F. Niessner was born on March 8, 1891, in Pennsylvania to German immigrant parents. His father, Frederick Niessner, worked as a machinist for Baldwin Locomotive in Philadelphia and moved the family to the Cramer Hill section of Camden in 1894. That year, Frederick purchased a lot from Alfred Cramer and built twin houses at…
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Joseph F. Wood
Joseph F. Wood was born in Pennsylvania around 1884 to German-born parents. He moved to Camden around 1910. By the 1920 census, he was living with his wife Henrietta at 701 South 4th Street and working as a riveter in one of Camden’s shipyards. By 1930, he had bought a home at 637 White Street,…