Tag: 2nd Street

Reprinted from the series of stories of Camden’s earlier days, under the title Sixty Years in Camden County – Gosh! by Will Paul, appearing in The Community news, of Merchantville, NJ.

ONE of the chief elements in the material growth and progress of a community is the banking interest, and in this department of business, Camden boasts of several vigorous corporations, one of the most important being the Camden National Bank, located at Second street and Kaighn avenue. It was incorporated as a national bank in 1885, in order to provide…;

SECOND STREET runs north and south, between Front and Third Streets, parallel to the Delaware River as far south as Mechanic Street. It originally ran virtually uninterrupted.

GEORGE B. ANDERSON was appointed to the Camden Fire Department on September 18, 1872 as a replacement extra man with Engine Company 2. He took the place of William S. Davis, who had been promoted to Engineer. He resigned on April 20, 1874 after having been appointed to the Police Department from Camden’s Fourth Ward.

EUGENE F. ALSTON was born October 16, 1919 in Camden to Richard Alston and his wife, the former Dolly Robinson. His father had been born in 1891 in Henderson, North Carolina. Richard Alston was working as a laborer at the Victor Talking Machine Company in June of 1917, and had married. Mr. and Mrs. Alston then lived in Camden at 1017 Francis Street, a small street that ran south from Walnut to Chestnut Street, between Front and South 2nd Streets.

BERKLEY STREET was originally and was for many, many years spelled Berkeley Street. The street was named…

THOMAS R. ALLIBONE was one of the original members of the Camden Fire Department, entering service on September 2, 1869 as an extra man with Engine Company 1. Prior to entering the fire department he had worked as a coppersmith, and had served as a volunteer fire fighter with Independence Steam Engine Fire Company. Thomas Allibone was living at 250 Pine Street when he joined the department in the fall of 1869.

ROXIE ALLEN was the ring name used by Rocco Auletto, who was one of the many fine Italian boxers who came out of South Camden in the 1920s and 1930s, and was considered by some to be among the best local fighters of his era. He fought in the lightweight, welterweight, and middleweight divisions.

BERNARD ABRAHAM AHLBERG, former captain of industry, of Camden, New Jersey, and leader in all its departments of life, was born September 18, 1858, in Sweden, and died May 24, 1925. His parents were Abraham and Inga (Friedberg) Ahlberg. His father was of Scotch and his mother, of German descent. His father, who was a ship-builder, served in the Swedish Navy in his youth. Both parents are now dead.
Bernard Abraham Ahlberg got little schooling in his boyhood. At the age of fourteen he was bound apprentice to a coppersmith, for whom he worked for three years for a total remuneration of $2.99 per annum and his board. Somehow, he had to clothe himself and pay for his washing during that period and somehow he did it. He also studied. When eighteen years of age he came to the United States, and after spending six months in Brooklyn, New York, went on to Philadelphia, where he obtained employment and remained with the same concern for nineteen years, rising to the position of superintendent and saving his money to such good purpose that in 1902 he was able to go into business with two others in Philadelphia. He dissolved this partnership in 1907, and going to Camden, founded the Camden Copper Works on Fifth Street, at Washington, whence he moved to the present site at Nos. 559-609 South Second Street, in December of 1911. The business was incorporated under the laws of New Jersey in 1912 for $50,000 fully paid, with Mr. Ahlberg as president and manager; Dr. Wesley J. Barrett, secretary, and Walter E. Ahlberg, the founder’s son, as treasurer. These also constituted the board of directors.

BERNARD ABRAHAM AHLBERG was born September 18, 1858, in Sweden. He came to America at the age of 18, and moved to Philadelphia shortly afterwards, where he remained until 1907, when he came to Camden. When the census was taken in 1910 the Ahlberg family owned a home at 569 Royden Street in South Camden. While in Philadelphia he worked and attended Drexel Institute (present-day Drexel University) where he remained a student until he was 44. he came to Camden in 1907, and founded the Camden Copper Works on Fifth Street, at Washington Street. The business moved to 559-609 South 2nd Street, in December of 1911. During his lifetime his business was one of the most successful of its type in America. When the census was taken in 1920 Bernard Ahlberg and family had moved to Collingswood NJ, where they owned a home at 701 Linwood Avenue.

Besides Camden Copper Works, Bernard Ahlberg was active in many, many other business ventures, civic organizations, and fraternal groups, which are detailed in the biography below, published shortly after his death. He passed away on May 24, 1925.

ROCCO FRANK ABBOTT was born in Philadelphia on September 21, 1893 to Frank and Maria Abbatto. By 1910 his family had moved to Camden, New Jersey. Rocco Abbott lived with his parents at 910 South 3rd Street. His older brother Antonio, a tailor, lived around the corner at 302 Spruce Street. The 1914 Camden City Director indicates that the family had Americanized their last name from Abbatto to Abbott. Rocco Abbott was still living at 910 South 3rd Street at that time.

VINCENT ARIEL TYDEMAN was a professional baseball player, vaudeville acrobats, born in Camden to Edmund and Sarah Tydeman,.