Category: Blog

Paul Stryker, writing from NC, must have Googled “Riverton Gun Club” and landed on our page.

He asked about the value of a prize won by an ancestor at a shooting match in 1900.

We do love a history mystery.

Pressed for more information, Paul sent these three photos of an exquisite cut-glass crystal bowl with a tarnished silver rim, marked “Hamilton and Diesinger” and “sterling.”

An internet search turned up Hamilton & Diesinger at 1208 Chestnut Street in Philadelphia, manufacturers and retailers of sterling and silver-plated wares that dissolved in 1899 after eighteen years in business. Gimbel Bros. Department Store sold off what stock remained of the original company.

Piecing together bits from online newspaper archives and our own resources, it appears that Harry T. Ducker of Baltimore County, MD was an amateur marksman who inherited wealth from his father, George E. Ducker of Reisterstown, MD.

Harry traveled so much that he usually stayed in hotels and did not have a permanent residence. Newspaper accounts of his many shooting matches span over 20 years from c1884-1906.

Harry T. Ducker was a Governor of the Baltimore Shooting Assn., a member of Maryland’s State Game and Fish Protective Assn., a Pythian Knight who participated in tournaments, and a member of Riverton Gun Club, where he participated in several matches besides winning the bowl. His portrait is in the Riverton Gun Club History book.

A check of the Riverton Gun Club History book and The Sporting Life newspaper confirms that Harry T. Ducker did indeed win a “…cut-glass silver braced punchbowl with a dozen glasses.”

The newspaper trail for Harry T. Ducker dims after his shooting competition days. He spent his last days in Englewood, NJ.

The obit for the retired linen importer made no mention of his exhilarating days as a competitive marksman.

Author and “social forecaster” John Naisbitt famously declared, “Value is what people are willing to pay for it.” So what will someone pay for this antique crystal punchbowl?

A 2011 auction listing for a much smaller Hamilton & Diesinger crystal fruit bowl is the only comparable item I found.

Please comment below or email us at rivertonhistory@gmail.com if you have an opinion or interest in Paul Stryker’s punchbowl. -JMc

 

 

 

 

---

We have covered the Riverton Gun Club before on these pages.

A reader’s inquiry spurs a story on Thomas Dando

East Riverton – Then & Now

…and in the pages of our newsletter, the Gaslight News.

Click to access 121-Gaslight-News-Mar-2006-p1-6.pdf

…and in a slideshow, “Do You Remember?” that has a section about the Gun Club.

Recently, Mrs. Mary Honeyford commented about a new Facebook profile photo I posted.

The historic home at 102 Main Street has attracted the interest of our web visitors since the first post I made in 2011.  Art Humphreys commented that his wife, Marion Stuart Humphreys, her brother Bob Humphreys, and sister, Barbara grew up at 102 Main St. (presumably before the Honeyfords owned it).

A search of our site reveals that while the topic of 102 Main has come up before, the information is strewn about in different places. This post is an effort to collect it together.

When the impressive home was to be featured on Riverton’s 1986 Candlelight House Tour, Betty Hahle, then Editor of the Gaslight News, did a deep dive into the provenance of the property.

This sheet summarizes her research.

You won’t have to squint if you open this PDF.

Following the scan of Betty’s sheet in the PDF is the readable text as well as a section about 102 Main copied from the 1999 Riverton National Register Historic District Inventory.

The house has a remarkable history going back to the very founding of Riverton.

The following links and images will serve to illustrate Betty’s findings, quoted below.

“History: In 1851 this lot and that next to it (#16 and #17) on Plan of Riverton were assigned to founder Chalkley Gillingham, who lived in the area and did not build and move into the new village.

Lot #16 was deeded to Charles Hall in January 1852 from Riverton Improvement Co (which officially incorporated March 1852). Hall thought to have put aside the liquor restriction in his deed (think he planned a hotel with bar), but lost his suit,…

…and sold property back to the Riverton Improvement Co, which then built (or, possibly, continued to build) an “overflow” boarding house to supplement the Lawn House on the Riverbank. The new building was called “The White House.”

Apparently the company kept an office in this building for a time, and the 1860 Stone & Pomeroy map labels the building as “Riverton Company.”

…John Seckel, proprietor of the Lawn House, was instrumental in founding the Christ Episcopal Church* here. The first meeting of the church’s founders was held at the White House, according to church records, having gotten permission from D.L. Miller, Jr., one of the founders and the treasurer of the Company at the time. Later they met at the Lawn House stables, then moved inside when the season was over for boarders, and cold weather made outdoor meetings impractical. They continued to meet there until their church was erected, in 1860…

…In 1868 John Seckel purchased the White House, and his daughter Sallie ran it until it burned down in 1904…

…In 1905 Samuel J. Allen purchased the property, and the following year moved, with his family–wife Henrietta and sisters-in-law Bertha and Helen Robertson–into the new house, which had been built on the old foundation.”

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

What connections to Riverton’s history does your home have? -JMc, Editor

---

* This Church Had Three Homes

---

ADDED 2/5/2023: Jim Lockhart and Tracy Brown asked about the “haunted house” notation on the old postcard.

Tracy remarked, “…What haunted house? Are these houses still here? Wish I lived near there these days.”

(Both Jim and Tracy did live here but moved away many years ago. You can take the kid out of Riverton, but you can’t… well, you know the rest.) Lots of former residents check in from time to time to check on the old neighborhood.

Yes, the homes are still there. I don’t have the original 1908 postcard – just the scan – so I don’t know the name of the sender. Zoom in and see that the scribbled message refers not to 102 Main but to 101 Main, the house across the street. It sure looks awesome now.

Circling back to 102 Main, it’s also still there and definitely not haunted.

PS: I only recently realized that it might not be clear that larger views of many images are available.

Everyone knows that hovering your cursor over a picture and clicking will enlarge it.

After clicking reveals the larger view, if you see an “information icon” on the lower right side of your screen, click on that – then look for the “view full size” icon. Click on that to see the largest view. It doesn’t work with all uploaded images.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

 

 

 

The entire region is caught up in Super Bowl mania. South Jersey has some of the most fanatical, loyal, and passionate Eagles fans anywhere, and the Riverton/Palmyra/Cinnaminson area has more than its share. A case in point…

Exhibit 1:

Hey, Riverton! How do you show your support for the Philadelphia Eagles? What’s your Eagles Experience? What are area retailers and vendors offering to fuel Eagles Fever? Add comments or send photos to rivertonhistory@gmail.com, and we’ll post them here.

The Eagles logo graphic on the Riverton Yacht Club photo came from a 24″ diameter wooden sign offered by World Trading, a seller on Etsy.

In December, Joe Makoviecki, a songwriter, guitarist, and vocalist in a folk music group called Jackson Pines, contacted me and asked permission to use an image from our website.

They needed a picture for the cover art for their single about the old Mount Holly Jail, part of their soon-to-be-finished collection of folk songs from the Pine Barrens of New Jersey.

It seems that a Google image search for “Mt. Holly Jail” led him to rivertonhistory .com, where I had posted scans of Mt. Holly area postcards.

Pat McGrath (a postcard collector in Ohio with whom I’ve since lost touch) generously gave me nine of them in 2005, and there were two of Mt. Holly Jail.

How quaint – Joe found a picture on the web and actually asked permission to copy and paste it.

I was intrigued by the man’s civility.

As I pressed Joe for more details, I came away impressed with his commitment to reviving and keeping alive the authentic folk songs of the Pine Barrens. His search led him down the “…rabbit hole searching for and researching the origin of the folk songs and tracking down the stories behind [them].” He tells more about his motivation here.

Researching “down the rabbit hole” is my job description.

Ergo, I immediately commiserated and agreed to send Joe both postcard scans in higher resolution than what he found on the website, encouraging him to use either or both and alter them as he pleased.

I wished him good luck and asked him to update me on how things develop.

Joe just checked back with an update. His band has released the single “Mt. Holly Jail” and the album Pine Barrens: Volume One.

Clicking on the cover art or the titles above to listen to the single track or the other songs in the album. Follow the group on Facebook and Instagram.

Glad to help. I always wanted to be in a band. -JMc

No, not the 1923 spinoff of the Yellowstone TV series – Riverton, NJ, one hundred years ago!

Unlike the Yellowstone Ranch depicted in 1923, Riverton’s 2,341 citizens (1920 US Census) benefited from many conveniences and municipal services typically available in a modern suburb.

• • a fine public school erected in 1910
  • Riverton Free Library, established in
  • public utilities (gas, electric, water, streetlamps)
  • a thriving business section along Main Street
  • police and fire protection
  • trash collection
  • access to passenger train, bus, ferry, and trolley services
  • telephone and express facilities.

Two businesses, Joseph T. Evans (situated where Riverton War Memorial is now) and J.S. Collins & Son at 600 Main, each supplied coal, lumber, feed, and building materials for the growing village.

Established in Philadelphia in 1838, the seed, plant, and bulb firm of Henry A. Dreer relocated its trial grounds and greenhouses to Riverton in 1873. Over the years, Dreer’s expanded its nurseries based in and near Riverton to more than 300 acres.

By 1923, it was the largest business of its kind in the East and a major employer in this area. To quote Betty Hahle, “People came from the world over to study horticulture at their Riverton nurseries and to see the gardens in bloom from Spring until late Fall. (See much more about Dreer here.)

Something else that came were Japanese beetles, probably as stowaways that arrived in the grub stage from Japan in a shipment of iris plants.

Discovered in 1916 by two men who were inspecting the nursery of Henry A. Dreer, the insects have been an agricultural scourge since.

The Borough’s purchase in late 1923 of 13.4 acres of land from Henry A. Dreer’s property helped create Riverton Memorial Park as a fitting memorial to members of the Armed Forces who served during World War I, thus affording a recreation space for generations.

Additional activities organized by the Yacht Club, Porch Club, Golf Club, and its houses of worship provided myriad ways to socialize and better the community.

It all combined to make Riverton an enjoyable place to live in 1923.

 

A century ago, you could buy a new car at Taylor’s Garage located at Broad and Fulton.

(Bonus points if you can tell what is there now.)

Over at Broad and Lippincott, the Durant Sport Model available at Woolston’s may have been more to your liking.

The next year, Woolston moved operations to a larger location at the newly erected Williams & Wright Building (1923) at Broad and Main.

This later photo of another dealership at that spot might clear up the location.

The American Store pictured to the right of the garage was one of the first tenants of the Williams-Wright building in February 1923.

Note Lawrence “Chappie” Keating’s Drug Store at the corner. (Can an auto buff date that automobile?)

Other options for shopping within walking distance included:

• • Compton the Grocer and Mattis Meat Market situated in the Collins Building on Main
  • Chew’s Bakery at 512 Main
  • Riverton Market House in the Price Building at 308 Broad
  • Stiles Drug Store at 606 Main (now The New Leaf)
  • Cinnaminson National Bank at 611 Main
  • Mrs. Alfred Smith’s Store at 414 Main.

Built in 1890, Joseph Roberts’ Brick Store at The Point in Riverton replaced an earlier burned structure.

It provided fresh and canned fruits and vegetables, a wide variety of meats, and dry goods such as notions, chinaware, hardware, tinware, paint, glass, and other general merchandise.

It was said that you could purchase anything from a safety pin to a sewing machine at his store. (See more details about Joseph Roberts’ Store here.)

You might have to trek to Palmyra, though, to purchase a radio or record player.

Camden’s Victor Talking Machine Company (later becoming RCA) introduced the Victrola in 1906, and radio emerged as a home entertainment medium in the early 1920s. The household that could afford one of these novel inventions in 1923 was indeed fortunate.

McAllister’s in Palmyra offered a Model 210 Victrola for $100. According to officialdata.org, $100 in 1923 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $1,735.65 today.

RCA introduced its Radiola Grand in 1923.

There’s probably a reason that Robert C. Bitting did not display the $350.00 price tag for it in The New Era; adjusted for inflation, it was equivalent in purchasing power to about $6,074.79 today. (If you have to ask, you can’t afford it.)

Some things have not changed in a century. Riverton still is an enjoyable place to live.

Only one of these advertisers mentioned in the May 24, 1923 issue of The New Era newspaper is still in business 100 years later.

(We’re not counting The Public Service Corporation, which merged its electric and gas utilities into a single company, PSE&G (Public Service Electric and Gas Company), in 1928.)

If you guessed this business, then you win absolutely nothing except bragging rights about your extensive knowledge of the history of Riverton, NJ.

We cannot close without asking our readers to check those attics, drawers, basements, and family albums for the next discovery of Riverton’s history. -JMc

We’re not great recorders of the history of our own organization.

The Historical Society of Riverton came into existence on June 4th, 1970. We look pretty good for 52½ years.

I figured out some of our early history after sifting through back issues of newsletters (it’s on our About page). We owe a great debt to those members who started the effort to preserve Riverton’s history.

I knew the origin of our twelve-year-old Facebook account because it’s there every time I open it (Page created – December 12, 2010). We started a YouTube channel April 9, 2014.

Our website, rivertonhistory.com, just turned 12, too – Illuminating Riverton’s Past was the inaugural post of this website on Jan 20, 2011. This one will be #559.

It got me thinking about earlier milestones and anniversaries that we might note and the accomplishments of members who have made the HSR what it is today.

Throughout our organization’s history, the members who organized programs and activities, started the newsletter, originated the first website, and served as chairpersons, editors, website managers, and board members have been such a self-effacing lot that retracing who did what and when has not been easily determined.

I couldn’t find a list of past HSR presidents, so I looked thru back issues of the GN, which often did not mention officers. Had to infer some of the dates. Here’s a start.

Historical Society of Riverton Presidents

1. 1. Betty Lockhart – 1970, 1971
   2. Lenore Probsting – 1972, 1973
   3. Marilyn Colozzi – 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977
   4. Betty Hahle – 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982
   5. Louise Vaughn – 1983, 1984, 1985
   6. Ed Gilmore – 1985, 1986, 1987
   7. Betty Hahle – 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991
   8. Dan Campbell – 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003
   9. Bob Bednarek – 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007
   10. Priscilla Taylor – 2007, 2008, 2009
   11. Gerald Weaber – 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013
   12. Phyllis Rodgers – 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
   13. Bill Brown – 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Historical Society of Riverton Editors

Same deal – I couldn’t find a list of past HSR editors, so I looked thru back issues of the Gaslight News.  A comparison of the two lists shows that sometimes the president also served as the editor.

1. 1. Marilyn Colozzi – 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977 (Although the HSR started in 1970, Marilyn Colozzi started the newsletter.)
   2. Betty Hahle – March 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, May 1992
   3. Paul W. Schopp – Sept 1993, 1994, 1995, April 1996
   4. Dan Campbell – Sept 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, May 2003
   5. Gerald Weaber – Sept 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, Sept 2007
   6. John McCormick – Nov 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, June 2023

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Standing on the shoulders of these giants sure makes this job easier.

Imagine the loss if everything here disappeared.

Please help keep us going. Your support provides the means to maintain our archives and properties, fund program expenses, and manage a website consistent with our mission to preserve and promote Riverton’s history. -JMc

rev. 4/24/2023 -JMc

Tom Kuensel, a Riverton resident since his early childhood, sent this 1925 photo of a sixth-grade class at a school identified as Westfield. His dad, Harry Kuensel, is in the front row, 4th from the left.

Some thoughtful ancestor wrote the names of his classmates on the back. The photo appears to be a modern inkjet copy of an undetermined date.

Tom thought it was Riverton School, but I believe it is the same one depicted in this New Era newspaper photo.

Going by the description of the location on the Moorestown Road at Pomona Road, I believe Cinnaminson Memorial School must have replaced it.

It may take a person with a longer memory or better resources than I have to settle this.

Tom’s grandfather, Noah Kuensell, owned and operated Riverton Laundry on Rowland St. in East Riverton for over thirty years, starting in 1926. (He spelled his surname with two ls).

Tom established Root24, Inc., a plumbing company, in 1972 and has been a major sponsor of the July Fourth Parade for many years.

(Find more about Riverton Laundry in this March 12, 2022 post. Scroll down near the end.) -JMc

ADDED 1/3/2023: I told you that someone with a longer memory or better resources would settle the school’s location. Well, former Gaslight News Editor,  Lifetime HSR member, author, and professional historian Paul W. Schopp has both. He sends this correction, which I truly appreciate:

This school complex occupied the parking lot between the Cinnaminson Memorial School and Pomona Road. The 1870 school is the smaller brick building to which the 1923 structure is appended. Great photo from the New Era, John! Best regards, Paul W. Schopp

Our elite Volunteer Sub-Committee on Excavations installed a new historical marker at the Joseph Campbell home at 308 Main Street, Riverton, NJ. An auto accident took out the first one.

On 9/9/2022, a car crashed into the post for the historical marker at the Joseph Campbell house at the corner of 4th & Main. The offending driver’s insurance company (State Farm) quickly reimbursed us for a new post, and Roger ordered a replacement. Amazingly, the sign came through unscathed.

For more details on Joseph Campbell: https://rivertonhistory.com/2019/03/it-was-a-s-r-o-crowd-at-riverton-library-for-the-campbells-soup-show/

Our crew (L-R): Bill Brown, Roger Prichard, and John Laverty. Homeowner Dennis DeVries looks on.

We have installed ten historical markers, including:

• • Porch Club 213 Howard St.
  • Mt. Zion AME Church 300 Penn St.
  • Robert and Anna Biddle 309 Bank Ave.
  • Parrish – James House 311 Bank Ave.
  • Riverton Steamboat Landing/RYC 312 Bank Ave.
  • Wharton – Fitler House 407 Bank Ave.
  • Caleb Clothier House 503 Bank Ave.
  • Riverton Free Library 306 Main St.
  • Joseph Campbell House 308 Main St.
  • Riverton Public School 600 5th St.

…and, coming soon, Ezra Lippincott House 303 Bank Ave.

Can we get an “atta boy” for our crew?

Sometimes a newly discovered piece of a puzzle leads to new insights about a familiar topic. This story illustrates how a recent find on eBay helped connect it to additional bits of Riverton’s history.

A May 30, 2016, post roused our readers to “Imagine the spectacle of a day given over to the sport of bicycling attended by almost 4,000 fans.” Riverton’s population at the time was around 1,100-1,200.

It included scans of two newspaper clippings that announced that a series of races to be held at Riverton’s quarter-mile bicycle race track on September 25, 1894, would be illuminated by twelve electric arc lights, an innovation at the time.

The above publicized the competition, and the one at right summarized the event in the next day’s Trenton Evening Times.

A recent eBay purchase ($25.59) of an “Electric Light Race Programme” further verifies the race and adds more details that characterize the meet that awarded gold and silver medals, diamond rings, mantle clocks, silver urns, and gold watches to the victors of 14 competitions.

Taking a fresh look at another news article in our files from that period enabled us to connect the dots between an article about an upcoming parade of decorated carriages and bicycles planned to coincide with the September 25th illuminated bike race.

The Ladies’ Floral Tournament Club of Riverton planned to commence the cavalcade at 4:30 pm with horse-drawn carriages coursing through the principal borough streets while cyclists wheeled about in the opposite direction.

“There will be a prize for the best, and one for the second best decorated carriage and the same for bicycles,” promised the article. Post-parade refreshments and entertainment were to follow at the clubhouse of the Riverton Athletic Association until racing by electric lights started.

Now our search had gained momentum!

Another new find established that the Park Avenue Wheelmen had chartered the steamer Columbia, presumably to carry its clubmen and spectators to and from the match.

To ease the fears of competitors concerned that the lights’ failure might cause casualties, organizers ordered eight locomotive headlights, circus lights, and Greek fire to supplement the arc lights.

(How the managers recreated the incendiary weapon that the Byzantines used in ancient naval battles escapes me.)

The next day a summary of the race results appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

W.W. Taxis broke a track record for the half-mile during the chilly evening on a track made “almost as light as day.”

The report deemed the meet “a decided success.”

This now nearly complete portrait of a colorful episode of Riverton’s history resulted from a fresh examination of source material sparked by a newly acquired event program.

There are almost certainly more undiscovered puzzle pieces out there that could further add details to this story as well as the many more chapters in Riverton’s history. -JMc

Added 10/12/2022: Borough Historian and HSR Board Member Roger Prichard points out that a photo in our recently published new Arcadia Publishing Company’s book on Riverton in their Images of America Series that may further illustrate this story.

About floral carriages, I wonder if there is any chance this might be the same event that occasioned the picture of the carriage driven by Helen (Elsie) Biddle that’s in the book on p.18-19?

She would have been 19, which looks right. It feels a little more summer-like than September 25th would suggest, but then again there are many fallen leaves on the grass in the foreground. It would also explain the inconveniently-placed flag on the porch next door at 311 Bank – a decoration intended to be there only temporarily.

Facebook likes and comments are all fine, but the best thing we can do to wish the owners of Schwering’s Hardware Store well would be to patronize the store.

Seriously, go buy something.

This may be one of the first advertisements published to announce the opening of Harry C. Schwering’s “NEW HARDWARE STORE.” Harry’s store was a “SERVICE” store, and it remains so after a century in business.

Through a Great Depression and recessions, a World War and other wars, Watergate, 9/11, and a pandemic this family-owned hometown treasure has endured, even outlasting corporate big box stores like Rickel’s and Channel’s.

As we stated in a 2014 post: Isn’t Schwering’s Hardware the best? People have been finding quality products and first-rate service there since it opened its doors in 1922 as Schwering’s Wayside Hardware. Knowledgeable advice and neighborhood news are a bonus.

Our 2011 post about Picturesque Palmyra, a small booklet meant to promote Palmyra’s real estate, featured an ad for H.C. Schwering. At the time of its publication in 1923, Schwering’s had only been open for a few months.

It looked much like this.

Founder Henry Schwering opened Schwering’s Hardware in 1922. Through the years, it passed down to Richard Schwering, Steven Schwering, and now to Kyle Siemietkoski.

This past May, we recognized Sue and Steve Schwering for this milestone. Now in the capable hands of Kyle, a great-grandson of the founder and nephew to Steve, this cherished hometown treasure starts its second century of service.

The celebration begins at 11 am through 3 pm on Sunday, September 25th. Come out, and enjoy the food, ice cream, cake, giveaways, music, and more, while supplies last. Also, all of their apparel will be 10% off.

As you recall your experience or share memories of Schwering’s Hardware with others there tomorrow, please leave your comments below or on Facebook so that they become part of the story here.

Schwering local newspaper ads