And it’s a house with many family connections all the way up to Riverton’s recent years.
It’s August of 1924 and a young mother took her toddler on a stroller excursion to the riverbank. It’s a classic Riverton image that was happening every summer day since long before this snapshot and still happens all the time.
But we challenge today’s stroller dealers to match the elegance of this wicker beauty! (Even our 2024 top of the line models with cupholders and Bluetooth and what all have nothing on this charmer.)
You might have seen a copy of the image a couple of weeks ago on Will Valentino’s fine Facebook page Old Images of Palmyra, Riverton & Cinnaminson.
Will was downloading the screen image from eBay at the same time as one of our board members was buying the original snapshot from the dealer to donate to HSR’s archives.
Scanned in hi-res, it cleans up pretty well with some “darkroom” work, considering it wasn’t a fine quality print – and it’s TINY (the image is just 2-1/4” wide).
Yes, exactly 100 years ago last month.
The handwritten notes on the back (which misunderstand this to be Palmyra) indicate that this is “Mrs. Emma Kies and her daughter Janet”. The dealer said that it is from an album by a family in Merchantville. Since the 1930 Census does have a matching family in Merchantville, exploring the Kies story is a project for someone else.
But here in Riverton we might ask …
What is that house in the background?
It’s not what we all might think!
At first (and second) glance, that imposing house appears to be the C.C. Fitler house “The Anchorage” which still stands at 11 Bank.
But not so. Compare …
Fooled us, too, for a bit. Look closely and you’ll see that many details match, but the whole shape of it is wrong – and 11 Bank is much larger.
Our snapshot house is much rarer – and it’s a house that didn’t last long (probably less than 40 years). Few pictures exist. Here’s the only other picture we have of it, a postcard from 1907 or later:
It was located up Bank Avenue in the next block, between Linden and Thomas, at number 105. It was built in 1896 and gone by WWII.
The site was later occupied until 2022 by a distinctive mid-Century Modern house with a memorable blooming garden …
… and then by the modern white brick home which stands there today.
The Showells
The 1896 home was built by Edward Bredell “Eddie” Showell Jr. (1863-1916) and his wife Gertrude Batchelor Showell (1863-1932).
The Showell family came from deep colonial roots in the Eastern shore of Maryland (where there is still a little town named Showell in Worcester County).
According to Edward’s 1916 obituary, they named the house “Mapleton”.
Edward B. Showell Jr. (1863-1916) married Gertrude Batchelor (1863-1932) in Philadelphia in 1886.
Why Riverton?
They likely learned about Riverton through his cousin Nannie Heiskell Myers (1857-1906), who married Edwin Henry Fitler Jr. (1853-1901), the son of the Mayor of Philadelphia. Nannie and Edwin renovated the house in Riverton at 407 Bank Avenue (on the downriver corner of Main) as their summer home in 1882.
Like the Fitlers, Edward Jr. and Gertrude also began spending summers in Riverton and then they moved here year-round in about 1892, according to the Philadelphia directories.
We know that the Showells lived at first in the grand Mansard stone home then at 301 Bank (upriver corner of Lippincott), built in the 1860s by Edward Lippincott next door to his brother Ezra. Sadly, that home also no longer survives, also lost in the 1930s.
Edward was a very successful wholesaler and retailer of groceries – and notably liquor – in Philadelphia, with a handsome store at 1327 Market St. on the corner of East Penn Square across from City Hall. It was a partnership also known as “Showell & Fryer”. Bottles and other memorabilia can still be found by Googling those names.
Edward and Gertrude broke ground on their beautiful new shingled Riverton house in 1896. The Philadelphia Inquirer for December 20th says they were already “domiciled” in their new house on the Delaware.
Edward and Gertrude Showell’s Family
Edward and Gertrude raised six children in this grand house on the riverbank. The 1900 Census showed 12 residents, including four female servants (two born in Ireland and two whose parents were Irish).
Edward was an active sailor at the Riverton Yacht Club and was the Commodore in 1905 and 1906. In addition to his sailboat he also had a steam launch – with a hired man to be its “engineer”.
Possibly the best known of their six children was the oldest son, Rex Showell (George Rexamer Showell 1887-1951). Nine years old when they moved into this house, he was very well-liked. Later a popular sailboat racer at RYC, he married a Riverton girl who also grew up on the riverbank, Lenore Wright, one of the daughters of Charles A. Wright, the builder of the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge. Here Rex holds their son Dewees (“Dewey”), circa 1913 in a family snapshot coll. Richard A. Flach.
As his father’s health began to fail in the 1910s, Rex and his uncle began taking over more and more of the thriving grocery and liquor wholesale business.
Ironically, Rex’s father Edward Sr. died of cirrhosis of the liver in 1916. He was just 52 years old. Liquor continued to cast a shadow on the family: in 1919 the 18th Amendment created Prohibition, devastating their profitable business of alcohol imports and sales.
By the 1920 Census, just four years before our idyllic snapshot, hard times forced Rex and Lenore to rent out their own house, at 209 Howard Street, which had been a wedding present from Lenore’s father. They and five of their own children moved back to this big, almost empty house to rejoin his widowed mother and his brother.
Rex and his family probably were living in this house you see in August 1924 when our little snapshot was taken.
As it turns out, this newly-found 1924 snapshot is nearly the most recent record we have of this house. A Sanborn insurance map from 8 months later shows its outlines. (From the collection of Paul Schopp.)
By the 1930 Census, this house at 105 Bank does not appear (which means it was either empty or gone). Mother Gertrude (then 65) was living in a rented house a couple of blocks upriver at 405 Bank Avenue along with her divorced daughter (also named Gertrude, Edward Jr.’s sister) and two grandsons. Rent was just $100 per month. (#405 also no longer exists, being torn down a few years later.)
Our subject house was definitely gone by the time the 1942 update of the Sanborn map was created.
All was not doom and gloom, though. The family worked hard and persevered. They were back in their own house at 209 Howard by 1930. To pay the bills, Rex was working as a laborer, according to the Census of that year.
Rex and Lenore Showell’s house at 209 Howard, with their snappy 1919 Dodge coupe. Coll. R.A. Flach.
However, in 1934 a newspaper ad for a distillery in Camden appears to be employing him, saying “just ask for Mr. Rex Showell, a connoisseur of fine wines and Liquors”. Their kids all went out to work as soon as they were old enough, boys and girls alike. The family made it through the Great Depression without losing their Howard Street home and it stayed in the family through 2022.
Many Showells stayed in Riverton and made their own lives and families. Quite a few of today’s residents will remember children and grandchildren of Rex and Lenore.
Daughter Lenore, nicknamed “Sister”, married Gus Probsting and the two were energetically involved in many Riverton activities.
Their son Bill Probsting just passed away in 2021, having served as the devoted Headmaster at Westfield Friends School for decades. Bill lived most of his life at 209 Howard, the same house his grandfather Rex was obliged to rent out in the 1920s but was able to hang on to.
Rex and Lenore’s daughter Elsie Wright Showell married Art Waters and they were quite a pair. Art was very involved with the Riverton Fire Company and Elsie Waters did countless projects in Riverton. She passed away in 2018, just four months shy of her 100th birthday, sharp and full of stories.
Rex and Lenore’s grand-daughter Lenore Layton (so many Lenores!) lives today in Cinnaminson and is much appreciated as a strong supporter of the Historical Society of Riverton.
Finally, George Rex Showell is remembered at the Riverton Yacht Club every year with the sailing of a special race to award the perpetual trophy named the “Rex Showell Cup”, donated to the club by his family after his death in 1951. Originally a 4th of July race, it was sailed on May 18th this year (2024).
So a little snapshot on eBay, erroneously labeled “Palmyra”, of a mother and child with no connection to Riverton, turns out to be a window into many dramas in many lives.
We never know what we’re going to turn up, do we?
And that is exactly why we must continue to fight to preserve these houses before they’re all gone
Great stuff Roger!
Thanks Roger! This is very exciting. The first photo of Edward Lippincott’s house I’ve ever seen, right next to Ezra’s, as God intended. Ha! Incidentally, my father was an old beau of Sister Showell’s.
Very interesting article. Having lived at 101 Lippincott Ave for years, I had no idea of the history just down the street from us.
Fascinating history and great work by you, Roger!
Hi Roger…..I enjoyed this little bit of history and I’m glad you were able to use several photos from my collection.
i lived at 11 Bank Avenue for 4 years back in the 50’s. It was apartments at that time. I was married to Art Waters brother, Richard. One of my children was born when we lived in that house. It was lovely one bedroom apartments, with a fireplace.
Very cool! Thanks, Roger!
For the record , the photo sat on eBay for months and was not downloaded just as it was bought on eBay. I don’t know how anyone could come to such a ridiculous supposition but it is humorous and worth a good laugh. I’m laughing.