Remember this great circa 1898 picture of founder Robert Biddle we included in our Images of America book everyone loves so much?
(Click on any pic to enlarge.)
It’s a scan of a 5”x7” glass plate negative, made by Robert Biddle’s great-great-grandson Stephen Biddle Russell, a retired attorney who has lived in Florida for decades.
Steve scanned that plate and several others for us a couple of years ago … and tantalizingly mentioned that he has dozens more.
Well, “dozens” was an understatement – he has nearly 100 images from his Biddle family collection, and he’s now donated ALL of them to the Historical Society of Riverton!
And he’s used his scanner to make darned good digital images of all of them, easy to just click through like you’re in a time machine.
We’re just stunned at his generosity and are so very grateful.
Above, for instance, on the right is Helen “Elsie” Biddle (1875-1962), Robert’s granddaughter, with her gorgeous brand new sailboat (look at the shiny varnish!) The young lady with her isn’t identified but looks a lot like her sister Anna (1869-1926). The fascinating building to the right is the family ice house (today called 2 Lippincott Ave. and home to HSR President Faith Endicott).
Here is our hero Steve Russell with his partner Karen Green on the day they delivered all the glass plates. Because they are so fragile (and heavy – there’s 31 lbs. of glass there!) Steve brought them from Florida in carry-on luggage carefully protected in a hard rolling case. He went to the airport an extra hour early just to be sure TSA knew what the heck he was bringing on the plane.
As you can see in the foreground, Steve also made up for us a couple of invaluable keys to family group photos. When proud patriarch Robert reached his 80s, he began having these pics taken at his birthday celebrations (August 10th) with all his descendants and their families spread out along the back porch of his home at 309 Bank Avenue.
Here’s the one from his 82nd birthday in 1896.
Everyone in the picture lived in Riverton. Robert (8) and his daughter/caregiver Martha (20) there at 309 Bank, his son Charles Miller Biddle (6) and family lived at their magnificent 207 Bank (corner of Lippincott), Anna Mary McIlvain Biddle (13) and family at 201 Bank (upriver corner of Thomas), the Frishmuths in a now-gone home at 101 Bank (upriver corner of Linden), and the Atlees in their brand new home at 100 Linden.
Now – not all 100 are of great interest. There are quite a few of the Biddles and Lippincotts relaxing at a hotel in Atlantic City, and many from various grand tours of Europe and the American West.
But good golly, there are some great images here no one has seen in 125 years. How about this one of an ice storm in 1898? That’s 101 Lippincott Ave. on the right (looking toward the river). Left to right are Charles Miller Biddle, daughter Helen “Elsie” Biddle, and her brother Robert Biddle 2nd.
This is what a box of 12 glass plates looks like (“gelatine” plates weren’t made of gelatin, they were glass plates with a thin gelatin-based light-sensitive emulsion) …
… and here’s what one of the 5″ x 7″ glass negatives looks like:
Rivertonians of today and Rivertonians of the future are truly blessed to be the recipients of this generosity. What other town creates this kind of special devotion?
Take a minute and enjoy a couple more images.
Who recognizes this one? It was taken from a small boat, so the slow shutter speed needed meant it’s not very clear. But truly a rare view.
It’s a riddle: which house isn’t there anymore – and yet it isn’t gone?
Answer: It was moved! This is the foot of Fulton Street in the late 1890s, then the home of Walter and Mabel Woolman. Around 1913 they wanted to build a new house there (which became today’s 701 Bank Avenue) so they moved this old house to what is today 201 Fulton Street, where it still stands (home of your Borough Historian, as it happens).
Built in the mid-1850s this was the second home in Riverton built by Daniel Leeds Miller, Jr. and his wife Anna. Daniel was the principal founder of the town (the one who actually bought the farm from the Lippincotts on behalf of his partners) and he lived here until his death in 1871.
Here is how it looked in a detail from the famous 1890 Birds Eye View lithograph by Rivertonian Otto Koehler.
And finally, here’s a super-rare riverbank picture from 1899 (lots of winter scenes in the collection, for some reason).
Recognize it? Two of those houses still stand. The three nearest homes left to right are:
– 311 Bank (then a guest house named “The Red Gables” and run by retired Civil War general William L. James and his family)
– 309 Bank (at the time 48 years the home of founder Robert Biddle), and
– 307 Bank (originally built for Robert Biddle’s brother William Canby Biddle and demolished by the Baptist Home in 1984 despite an uproar of opposition from Riverton residents).
We’re very grateful to Steve Biddle Russell – and to Moorestown’s Joan Biddle and her late, beloved husband Miller, who introduced us to Steve quite a few years ago now.
Historical Society of Riverton’s rich depth of authentic historical material has come almost completely from generous members of the public who, like the Biddle family, know that there are things that are important beyond ourselves. These images, documents, and artifacts all have stories to tell.
Please consider letting HSR scan or archive things in your own collection!
Discovering and retelling Riverton’s stories since 1970.
