Tag: Cherry Street

FRANK A. “CHICK” ABBOTT was born June 2, 1896 in Camden NJ to Italian parents, Antonio and Arsola Abbatto. An athletic youth, he enjoyed boxing, and considered boxing, but did not turn pro. He received several minor league contract offers, but elected to stay close to home, and stuck to semi-pro ball with several clubs in and around Camden. By 1915 he had married Florence Smith, and had fathered two of his eight children. He was then working as a plasterer in the home construction industry, a common trade in the days before the manufacture of sheet rock. The Abbott family then lived at 919 South 4th Street in Camden, they later moved to a home at 346 Cherry Street in what was then Camden’s 5th Ward. Frank Abbott would reside in this home the rest of his life.

That section of the city commonly known as Fettersville was purchased by Richard Fetters in 1833 from Charity and Grace Kaighn and embraced the land lying between Line and Cherry Streets, extending from Third Street to the Delaware River. Fetters, a Quaker, was a political and civic leader light years ahead of his time in his commitment to address the needs of his fellow citizens, and was involved the 1828 incorporation of Camden. The town of Fettersville grew rapidly, and in 1835 an additional tract was purchased from the Kaighn family extending south to Mount Vernon Street.