WILLIAM E. ALBERT was born in New Jersey around 1870. He was the son of Ernest and Hannah Albert. Ernest Albert had emigrated to America from Wurttemburg in what is now Germany. He arrived in Philadelphia in 1860, married there, and came to Camden around 1865. When the Census was taken in 1870, Ernest Albert was keeping a hotel, a term then also to refer to a bar or saloon, at 619 North Front Street in North Camden. By 1880 the family also included older siblings Charles, Pauline, and Yetta, and younger siblings Harry, Louis, and Louis. Ernest Albert was still in business according to the 1888-1889 Camden City Directory, oldest son Charles Albert by then working as a bartender. William E. Albert appears in the City Directory for that year, living on North Front Street, and working for William McDonnell, who was operating a butcher shop at 628 North Front Street.
Ernst Albert passed away shortly afterwards, as the 1890-1891 City Directory shows that Hannah Albert was then a widow. The Albert family was then living at 328 State Street. William E. Albert is also named in this directory, his occupation listed as butcher. The Albert’s saloon was acquired by John F. Hoelzle, who operated it under the name Mechanic’s Hotel.
William McDonnell resided in the Pavonia section of Stockton Township, what is commonly known today as Cramer Hill. William E. Albert soon followed his employer, and eventually bought a home at 2923 Westfield Avenue in what is known today as East Camden.
By 1910 William E. Albert had been appointed as a Captain on the Camden Police department. Legend has it that Albert, who had not served on Stockton Township’s police force, was appointed to the captaincy when the township merged with Camden in 1899, because he owned a horse and had a thorough knowledge of the streets in the new Eleventh and Twelfth wards. He had married his wife Louise around 1903, and a daughter, also named Louise, was born on March 24, 1904. When the next Census was taken, in January of 1920, the Albert family had purchased a home around the corner, at 2947 Cramer Street, the corner of North 30th and Cramer Street. William E. Albert was still working as captain on Camden’s police department at that time.
William Albert left the police department during the 1920s. Still living on Cramer Street, he worked as a night watchman at a clubhouse according to the 1930 census. During World War II he served as an air raid warden, and was still living at 2947 Cramer Street as late as 1946. His daughter, Louise Albert, remained in residence at 2947 Cramer Street into the late 1980s, passing away on June 8, 1989.
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