Roger Prichard – Historical Society of Riverton, NJ

Historical markers help preserve Riverton’s unique heritage

There’s that word again – UNIQUE.

How many times have you heard that word used to characterize Riverton?

Below, HSR Board Member Roger Prichard updates us on the Society’s Historical Marker Project – our effort to commemorate Riverton’s treasured past. – John McCormick, Editor

Our historical marker program has its next two markers in the ground, at Riverton Free Library and Riverton Public School.

John Laverty, Roger Prichard, RFL marker PHOTO: Bill Brown

Our volunteer Sub-Committee on Excavations (i.e. Pres. Bill Brown, John Laverty and Roger Prichard) planted them both on a recent Sunday morning. Stop by and have a read!

The marker for the Library tells the story of the tiny cottage first occupied by a nationally known motivational preacher. It was then for many decades the home of a lifelong bachelor who was a beloved figure in Riverton. It was transformed into the home of the new Riverton Free Library and Reading Room Association, which has been a treasure for the town for about 110 years since then.

RPS historical marker, June 2018, PHOTO: JMc

Roger Prichard, John Laverty, RPS marker PHOTO: Bill Brown

Riverton Public School is actually the fourth public school attended by students of the area – the first being long before there even WAS a Riverton. The marker tells of how its expansion paced the evolution of the whole concept of public education in America and includes a “then-and-now” graphic with groups of children from about 1915 and 2018.

Carlos Rogers directs the action at the 6th Annual HRCriterium, 2016, PHOTO: JMc

Carlos Rogers kickstarted our Historical Marker Program when in 2016, he donated $4000 of the proceeds from his 2016 Historic Riverton Criterium to the HSR. We partnered with Riverton Free Library Association and the 2018 Class of Riverton Public School respectively to fund these historical markers. Previous markers installed under this program include those at the Caleb Clothier Home at 503 Bank Avenue and Riverton Yacht Club. – Roger Prichard

Duster origin photo – local legend or fact?

Dusters, undated photo given by Marty Carhart

There is perhaps no sailboat more steeped in Riverton lore than the diminutive Duster, a 13-3/4 foot long craft designed by Jim Merrill in 1933 and built by his father RYC Commodore Edward Merrill the following winter in their workshop at 301 Main Street. He and some friends lowered the craft from the window, took it down to the river, and christened it a “Duster.” Established as a class in 1946, it became a world-class sailboat.

Duster history, The New Era, March 11, 1937, p3

Ayers, Carhart, Coe, Gladney, Hunn, Knight, Lundstedt, Lippincott, Parsons, Thompson, Shoemaker, and Storey are some of the other names of sailors associated with the Duster’s conception, construction, and racing.

301 Main Street, from a 2017 Facebook post by Albert Seither, Clearwater, FL

While many residents will swear they have seen a photo of Duster #1 emerging from the third floor window of the home, obtaining a scan to post here has eluded the Society for years.

Imagine my excitement when, during a conversation on June 10 with John Hartnett while watching the Historic Riverton Criterium, he mentioned that he had seen such a photo on Facebook. Later that day he emailed the image file to me. Was this the long sought after photo depicting the very moment of the Duster’s birth?

The following Wednesday, I elatedly passed around my iPhone with the photo during our HSR Board meeting, and Roger Prichard politely pointed out that the boat with the rounded bottom in the photo looked more like a Comet.

Ohhhh, nooooooo… Could such a photo illustrating the Duster’s origin be a myth?

Seither home, 417 Lippincott, Aug. 23, 1947

Meanwhile, John Hartnett had continued to run down the source of the photo, and he sent me another photo later that evening.

Albert Seither’s Facebook post of July 2017 explained that his grandfather and Alvar Erickson built a Duster in the attic of 417 Lippincott Avenue.

Right boat; wrong house and time, but still a cool bit of Riverton history.

So, our wish to the Universe is that someone reading this will help connect us with a picture of Mr. Merrill and friends lowering the first Duster from the third-floor window at 301 Main Street.

Moreover, Tom Shaw, the current owner of the Duster’s birthplace at 301 Main, wants to find an old Duster, seaworthy or not, that he can place in the yard as a kind of “The Duster was born here” historical marker.

(Sources sometime disagree on dates for the design and construction of the Duster. We deferred to information by Riverton Yacht Club in this article.)

We appreciate your comments, additions, and corrections. Please comment below or contact us if you can add to the origin story and history of the Duster sailboat. – JMc

McWhorter Mfg. Co., Riverton, NJ

When this unusual c.1907 farm implement catalog for McWhorter Mfg. Co. in Riverton, NJ with a purple cover and green text surfaced on eBay I bid for it even though I had no clue where such a factory would have stood.

With having a saved search on eBay for “Riverton, NJ” for some time, I had already seen small ads for sale from periodicals like this one:

FS McWhorter obit, The New Era, Sept 5, 1919

HSR Board member Roger Prichard joined the search and found this obit in The New Era for F.S. McWhorter, the president of the company, who once lived at Eighth and Lippincott and…

McWhorter Edger, The New Era, April 15, 1921

…another ad for a grass edger made by Allen McWhorter (presumably a son or other relative) indicating a 420 Lippincott address.

However, both of those residential neighborhood addresses seemed like an unlikely place for a manufacturer of farm and garden implements.

detail, Sheet 14, Riverton, NJ Sanborn Insurance Map, 1919

While I was stumped on the location, Roger kept digging and found the plant in East Riverton, as shown on Sheet 14 of this 1919 Sanborn Insurance Map for Riverton.

View the entire 28-page catalog here: McWhorter Special Farm and Garden Implements Catalog c.1907

If any century-old McWhorter manufactured items are still around, please send us a photo. -JMc

Early 1900s works of a Riverton artist still endure a century later

HSR Board member Roger Prichard saw this eBay auction for a scrapbook compiled by Jane Hovey Allen Boyer (1875-1940), a former Riverton resident.

Boyer was a book illustrator, prize-winning artist, and served twice as Porch Club president (1921).

She and her husband Murray C. Boyer lived for decades at 304 8th Street and played active roles in Riverton’s social and civic life.

Despite earning a reputation as a children’s book illustrator and teaching art classes at the Porch Club, her 1940 obituary makes no mention of her artistic achievements.

I think Roger is concerned that some ancestor might wish to get this scrapbook because there are many family photos and genealogical information in it.

I suspect that the Easthampton, MA-based eBay seller obtained it from an estate sale or home cleanout. I doubt any living descendant would discard such a unique record noting births, marriages, and deaths in a family tree going back to the 1600s. Perhaps the family line just played out and there is no one left to tend to memories of the family.

Jane Allen Boyer illustration from Mary Frances Cookbook

What is kind of incredible is that Jane Allen Boyer is not just some obscure and forgotten artist, but her works still enjoy an audience almost eighty years after her passing.

The Internet Archive has several books she illustrated available for viewing. Jane Eayre Fryer authored a series of Mary Frances books for children during the early 1900s, and Jane Allen Boyer illustrated most of them.

The preface for Mary Frances First Aid Book, published in 1916, states, “This book is for every boy and girl who hopes to render first-aid to the sick or injured — in time of peace — in time of war — at all times in the service of our country.”

A facsimile reprint of The Mary Frances Sewing Book (1913 Edition) is preserved on Open Library.

Incredibly, a 100th Anniversary Edition Story-Instruction Sewing Book with Doll Clothes Patterns for American Girl and Other 18-inch Dolls is available for sale on Amazon over a century since its original publication.

The Quaker Boy on the Farm and at School, also available on the Internet Archive, published in 1908, looks at the social life, customs, and education experienced by a typical young member of the Society of Friends in the 19th century.

Project Gutenberg displays two books, The Mary Frances Cook Book and The Mary Frances Knitting and Crocheting Book, in several formats, including a free Kindle version.

Walmart today sells poster-size prints of one of Boyer’s illustrations for The Mary Frances Cook Book. Etsy sellers get in on the renewed interest in the use of Jane Allen Boyer’s vintage images as digital clipart.

If you own any art by Jane Allen Boyer or have more information on her, please leave a comment or contact us by email. -JMc

Riverton Free Library still a treasured asset for 118 years

R Bowden Shepherd c1882 Christ Church Rector 1894-1911

The genesis for the formation of the Riverton Free Library Association originated at a meeting in January 1899, called for by the rector of Christ Church, Rev. R. Bowden Shepherd, for the purpose of forming a free library for local residents.

Within months, a group formally organized, adopted a constitution and bylaws, chose a board, elected officers, and opened in May 1899, in the Parish House with 800 books donated by Christ Church.

The permanent home at 306 Main Street came in 1908, a gift from Mrs. Sarah Ogden in memory of her husband, Edward H. Ogden.

Riverton Free Library, now housed in the Victorian cottage on Main Street, has survived and flourished for more than a century due to the devotion of scores of people who have acted as its stewards, including board members, officers and staff, volunteers, and supporters.

In researching to prepare for a historical marker commemorating the landmark, Patricia Solin and Roger Prichard have written a feature article for the January 2018 Gaslight News chronicling the history of the RFLA and the building that now serves as its home.

I revisited the building last week and met with Nancy Fort, the new Director. After getting a fresh exterior paint scheme last fall, workers had turned to paint the Library’s altered interior. The spirited conversation of adult card players enjoying a game filtered in from the next room.

Nancy Fort placed this antique wooden box on an old round oak table displaying the worn patina of decades of use. I had to wonder. What changes – not only to the building but also in its operation – had it witnessed over the years?

Please tell us about your memory of Riverton Free Library. -JMc

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