Rose Street

Camden Courier-Post — February 16, 1928

First arrested on suspicion when found loitering along Bridge Entrance road at 2 o'clock this morning, two boys were held by police and charged with carrying concealed deadly weapons.

They gave their names as Joseph Leconey, 16 years old, of 1178 Sycamore Street, and Joseph Romenowski, 18 years old, of 1138 Rose Street.

Detectives Walter Smith and Joseph Carpani found a .38 calibre revolver suspended on shoestrings and hanging down under the clothing of each of the boys. They said they noticed the boys loitering near the store of Sears-Roebuck Company.

Camden Courier-Post — March 26, 1931

H. Androski — Quality Meats, 1322 Rose St., Camden, N.J.

Harry Andruszko operated a meat market at this address from 1926. He later ran a bar at 1322 Rose Street from 1935 to the summer of 1938.

Camden Courier-Post — May 9, 1931

Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Monday at the home of Mrs. Hannah Peters, 816 Chestnut street, for her brother, Josiah Sage, 64, for 31 years a Camden fireman, who died early yesterday. Sage, who resided at 1310 Rose Street, is also survived by four sons. For the past two years he had been engineer with Engine Company No. 5, Twenty-seventh and Federal streets. During his long career as a fireman he was hurt several times.

Camden Courier-Post - October 16, 1931

Dad Who Took Her Rejoins Mother; Anna Loses Home

Anna Rickowska [Correct Spelling is Raczkowski. --ed.] - 11-year-old child who lived for two weeks in an ash can has been driven from home again.

But Anna, profiling in a measure from her experience of only three days ago, will not sleep in an ash can this time.

She told her plight to Mrs. Louise F. Walsh, secretary of the Camden County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. Anna's mother and father are under arrest and will face the child today in police court.

It was only three days ago that Judge Pancoast placed Anna in her father's care. Her mother, he was unfit to care for her. The child had accused her of being a habitual drunkard.

And Anna was pleased by the decision. Her eyes glistening, her blond tresses tumbling about her head, she joyfully walked from the courtroom with her dad- the man who promised to be good to her.

Anna soon was disillusioned. The father and mother, who had been estranged, took up their lives together again. The girl was taken back to the home at 1401 Rose Street [Correct Address is 1402 Rose Street.—Ed.], the home she had been ordered from more than two weeks before.

Things became even worse than before. In her story to Mrs. Walsh last night, Anna declared that added to the abuse of a drunken mother was that of her father, Ignatius.

And finally, on Wednesday night, her parents beat her and threw her from the house.

She went· to the home of an aunt, Mrs. Minnie Blake, of 1213 Lansdowne Avenue, who cared for her until last night when she again sought out her benefactor of a few days ago.

According to Sergeant John Garrity and Patrolman Edward Suski, the child's parents had been drinking last night.

Anna remained at the home of the aunt until today and Judge Pancoast will make another decision as to who shall have her custody.

Camden Courier-Post — December 22, 1932

Charged with beating two youths who attacked his father with stones, Salvatore Garvano, 24, of 937 South Ninth street, was dismissed by Judge Samuel M. Shay in criminal court yesterday.

Garvano, a banana vendor, was arrested Aug. 23, on complaint of Dorsey Robinsan, 14, colored, of 411 State street.

The boy alleged that Garvano and his father, Tony, 59, of the Ninth street address, attacked him without cause. The Garvanos testified they caught Dorsey and another boy stealing fruit from a wagon and that the boys hurled stones when the older man remonstrated with them.

A second case in which father and son were charged with assault was dismissed when Judge Shay released Stanley Sandswo, 52, and his son, Charles, 13. The father was charged with attacking 14-year-old Bronislaw Wyennek, of 1321 Rose Street, after the latter had engaged in a fistfight. The quarrel took place July 8.

Camden Courier-Post — July 15, 1995

By Bruce Anderson, Courier-Post Staff

CAMDEN — An elderly man died Friday in a house fire that officials are labeling suspicious.

Percival "Poppy" Smith, 71, was found lying on the floor next to the bed in the front upstairs bedroom of his home at 1442 Rose Street, officials said. Neighbors reported he had lived in the house for several years.

"It could be a fire bombing," said Acting Camden County Prosecutor Joseph Audino. "All the damage was through the front of the home."

"Ace" Jackson, a boarder in the home, desperately attempted to save Smith, said a woman who lived nearby.

"He was trying to break down the door and crying, 'Poppy, Poppy,'" said Venus Harris of Atlantic Avenue. "Then there was a fiery explosion that burned his face and he had to give up. So I went to get help."

Harris called 9-1-1 at 2:44 p.m., said 3rd Battalion Chief Joseph Gallagher. Three minutes later, Gallagher said, his unit arrived to fight the blaze.

"The fire was out in 10 minutes so the hot weather wasn't a big problem," Gallagher added. "But the whole first floor and part of the second floor were totally burned. The fire also spread to the porch of 1444 Rose Street, where nobody was home."

Smith was pronounced dead at 4:40 p.m., said Audino. As his body was brought out three minutes later, Jackson's brown mixed-breed dog, Missy, walked forlornly back and forth in front of the house.

Audino said an autopsy would be performed today or Sunday, but that preliminary indications were that Smith died "as a result of the fire."

Smith lived in the home with his niece, Anita Harper, Jackson, and George Taylor, Audino said. It was not known whether anyone else besides Smith was in the house when the fire started.

The whereabouts of Jackson on Friday night were unclear.

Police are checking a report that residents of the Smith home were recently involved in an argument with another resident. "It's under investigation," Audino said.

One neighbor, who did not want to be identified, said some men "broke the windows on the first floor at least three times in the last few months."

Another bystander said a woman had tried to move into the house recently and, when she was refused, "threatened to burn it down."

Josiah Sage was born in New Jersey in May 1862, according to the 1900 U.S. Census. His older sister, Hannah, married Charles Henry Peters in the late 1860s.

By 1880, Sage was single and working as an oil cloth painter. Around 1882, he married Rose, and the couple had a daughter named Kate the following year. Both Josiah and his brother-in-law, Charles Henry Peters, were politically active. In March 1890, Josiah Sage was appointed to the Camden Police Department, where he served until 1899. That November, he transitioned to the Camden Fire Department, serving until his death in 1931.

The 1900 Census lists the Sage family living at 821 Chestnut Street. At the time, they had four children: Kate, William, Jesse, and Howard. Another son, Russell, was born in 1901. By 1906, the family had moved to 917 South 8th Street, and by the 1910 and 1920 Censuses, they were living at 954 South 9th Street in Camden's Seventh Ward. Rose Sage was still alive in 1910 but had passed away by January 1920. Also residing at the address were Josiah's sons William, Jesse, Howard, and Russell. By 1920, William was married with children of his own.

In the 1930 Census, Josiah Sage, then a widower, was recorded as a boarder at 1312 Rose Street. The head of the household was Anna Murphy, a 45-year-old divorcee. At that time, Josiah's occupation was listed as "fireman for a utility." He passed away on May 7, 1931, and was buried at Arlington Cemetery in Pennsauken, New Jersey.

Josiah's son, Russell Sage, worked as a taxi driver during the 1920s and 1930s. He was arrested and questioned in connection with the murder of Joseph Cimini by "Polack Joe" Deven and also in connection with the gangland slaying of Joseph "Mose" Flannery. Additionally, Russell's brother-in-law, Rollie Waterhouse, was convicted of armed robbery and served time in state prison.

Josiah's brother-in-law, Charles H. Peters, also had a public service career, serving with both the Camden Police Department and the Camden Fire Department.