1945: CATHEDRAL HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS' BASKETBALL

Captain Mary Foley gives a "pep talk" to her team. The look on their faces of these young ladies exudes self confidence.

TENTON TRANSIT PASSES

At one of my Kuser Mansion on-screen presentations a few years ago, this graphic was brought to the viewing audience. As usual, that familiar story of the back window on the bus comes up. We all did it, and the driver usually knew it, figuring if we had to resort to that much effort to save a dime, we were in the lower poverty level!

1909: NEW YEARS EVE 1909 - HERE COMES 1910

Today's newspapers are filled with ads imploring New Years Eve celebrants to come to their respective establishments to welcome in the new year. In the New Years Eve 1910 "Trenton True American," there were few ads of that nature. There was a dance at Blisard's Academy, and only 2 or 3 other events. Most folks apparently celebrated the arrival of 1910 in the comfort of their homes.

TRENTON TROLLEY ACCIDENT FROM THE LELAND BUKER COLLECTION

Over the years, I have met many history-minded people who have specialized in advancing the history of their particular interest. One of my dear friends from my St. Anthony Trenton New Jersey years was the late Leland "Leon" Buker. Lee, along with my HHS '51 classmate John Hoschek were both THE historians when it came to mass transit. I know not what happened to John Hoschek's collection, which as I recall concentrated on bus photos and articles. Thankfully, the Buker family saw to it that Lee's remarkable collection will be preserved for the ages.

From the years of the trolley, to Rankin Johnson's Trenton Transit, Lee Buker kept a remarkable series of scrapbooks which reveal an incredible amount of local history as it relates to the city of Trenton and its mass transit program dating back to the 19th and into the 20th century. Lee spent his career as a Trenton Transit bus driver, and probably knew more about the streets of Trenton than most local residents. I have set up a special folder in the Hamilton Library Local History Database entitled, "TROLLEYS-LELAND BUKER COLLECTION.) It will take some time to digitize some of the incredible photos in his collection. We in Hamilton and Trenton should be very grateful to the Buker family for making sure Lee's lifetime collection will be shared by those interested in Trenton, Hamilton, and Mercer County transit history.

1940'S LEON BUKER COLLECTION

There are a number of pages in Lee's scrapbook which I have re-arranged and enhanced in the graphic above. Perhaps one of the buses in this, and future posts will be the bus you rode when you journeyed to "downtown Trenton!"

Thcomment below from Tom Buker, Leon's son, without whom, (along with Leon's wife "Ro" Buker), there would be no Hamilton Library Leland Buker Collection:

Tom,
Great to see the old bus pictures. I rode and played on all except the charter bus. Who needs day care when your pop is a bus driver. Happy New Year.
Tom

1906: HAPPY NEW YEAR IN TRENTON, 1906

As can be seen in the article above from the "HOLIDAYS" folder, the year 1905 was a very good year for the city of Trenton, and the new year also held great promise. An interested but all too brief comment is also made about what was apparently a very controversial political situation which was not explained. Hopefully there will be a future series of articles detailing that situation. Stay tuned.

1946: DEL ENNIS MARRIES

What a team! What a player! What a roster of players: Robin Roberts, Curt Simmons, Jim Konstanty, Granny Hamner, and Richie Ashburn! How well I remember the 1950 "Whiz Kids." And Whiz Kids they were! Unfortunately they were swept by the Yankees who at that time had a nearly unbeatable team. Even though I have been an avid Yankee fan since 1948 when I left the radio to watch televised games, I still admired that tight little baseball club which was much like the 2009 Phillies team; a team with boundless talent. Remembering the Whiz Kids reminded my of the early years of television when we locals had to watch either the Phillies or the Athletics from Shibe Park on 21st and Lehigh in downtown Philly.

2009: TIM MARCHOK PHOTO TRENTON SACRED HEART CHURCH ALTAR AT CHRISTMAS TIME

This photo of Father Dennis Apoldite's Sacred Heart Church at Christmas time is from the Sacred Heart Christmas card collection. The exquisite photo was done by photographer Tim Marchok.

Sacred Heart is the oldest parish in the state of New Jersey. The heritage of this magnificent church is one of the true treasures in the city of Trenton.

1915: ANDREW "KENZIE" ROWAN: AN IMPORTANT FIGURE IN LOCAL HISTORY

THE FOLLOWING IS A TRANSCRIPTION FROM
OLDER, PRE-COMPUTER 1970's AND 1980's ARTICLES:

ANDREW KENZIE ROWAN - BROAD STREET PARK

DECEMBER 22, 1915

"I predict a great future for Trenton, said Andrew Kenzie Rowan, the sage of Broad Street Park. I am optimistic but not visionary. Years ago, I forecast-ed Trenton's future progress commercially and her great possibilities, which have all come true. I now make the further forecast that this beautiful city with a great ship canal assured, will soon become a Manchester."

Mr. Rowan. who is nearly 88 years old, is quite feeble and is growing perceptibly weaker. Despite the fact that, his body is racked with rheumatic pains, yet as he sits and talks with his well thumbed Bible open before him his face wears a smile as he says, "I am fast nearing my heavenly home and I am happy, oh so extremely happy, for I know In whom I trust. I am ready for the summons at any time."

Continuing, the aged mad said: "Yes sir, I have passed the eighty-seventh milestone in the Journey of life and I feel that my stay here Is fast drawing to a close. But before I pass away I should like to have the dreams of my life realized and to close my eyes on a greater and grander Trenton. I am wealthy in so far as money and lands denote wealth and all of my belongings I am proud to say, were acquired by honest toil and frugal living. Many who were my associates in the olden days and who by ceaseless labor and frugality became wealthy, have all passed away and I think t today we are the better for their going, for they were set and stationary in their ways. They did not believe in advancement and progression. They much preferred to live their lives on the set line and in making and hoarding their money."

In giving his views as to Trenton’s future progress and possibilities, Rowan said: "If the City Commissioners want to see a greater and more progressive Trenton, let them get busy at once. Delays as you know are dangerous. Do not let us be too stringent and penurious in our ideas. Don't let us select a small strip of ground adjacent to the city that is already built and say, "We will now annex this to Trenton." This is only child's play.

No one ever heard of a real live progressive city booming on so small a plane.

EXTENSION IDEA

"Let me suggest this idea to our City Commissioners, who to my mind are a fine body of upright business men. The drafting of a bill for a greater and better Trenton and the extension of our boundary lines to the agricultural district. Let them begin at the White Horse Road. at Crosswicks Creek, the boundary line of Mercer County, and thence northerly to Coleman's Mill, and the old Sammy Hutchinson mills, which necessarily takes In Mercerville, thence to Whitehead Road and Miry Run Creek. Then we would have territory for a big city."

In commenting upon his plans, Mr. Rowan said: "The city authorities should not anticipate gaining a large revenue by the proposed annexation, but, on the contrary, they should have appraisers who are capable of making a fair appraisement of the value of such unimproved land, assessing it according to location and also encourage property owners to build at once. Trenton is quite a business city, but we are always behind the age."

When Mr. Rowan was asked about the proposed annexation of Broad Street Park to Trenton his eyes flashed as he said: "I know that such a project has been on foot for some time, but old and feeble as I am, I will fight such a measure if it is ever attempted. We are not willing that a few of our lawmakers should get together and say because the little strips of improved land, known as Broad Street Park, looks good and the taxes will help our city treasury very much, that It should be taken in. I want to say to those city officers and others that we are going into this fight from the start to the finish.' We will be glad to go in whenever the city gets ready to take in the outlying districts. We believe in progression, but we do not consider it progress in any sense of the word when Trenton simply wants it to take in a section of improved land at its convenience and with only one thought in view, to add to the city treasury and not to boom the city from a commercial standpoint. We will ask the projectors of such a scheme to take in our whole territory including the agricultural district, or let us remain as we are."

For the past eight years, Mr. Rowan has been confined to the front room of the Rowan mansion in Broad Street Park. He was stricken with rheumatism twenty-five years ago and has been using an Invalid's chair ever since. He was born on a farm near Mercerville, August 25, 1828. He bought the farm where he now resides In 1863 for $15,000 and the tract, about 163 acres, today is worth $200,000. The aged man remembers when the old borough of Chambersburg was corn fields, and apple and peach orchards and Captain William E. Hunt owned a mile tract of the land, where the Roebling mills, the Trenton Iron Company's plant, and the High School are now located.

That Mr. Rowan believes in advancement along civic lines is attested by the fact that it is due to his generosity and progressive ideas for the fine boulevard on South Broad Street. A few years ago this street was but 60 feet wide. Then Mr. Rowan donated 34 feet off his farm front and owners on the north side of the road gave six feet off their land, making the street just 100 feet wide.

Mr. Rowan smiled as he related how in the old times Mill Hill, Bloomfield and Lamberton were inhabited by firemen and stone hackers. The latter,. he said, were men who made a living by gathering boulders from the Delaware and. loading them in scows, and taking them to Philadelphia, where they were sold to the city authorities to be used in paving streets.

Mr. Rowan styles himself a natural born missionary. He has built seven mission churches in China at his own expense and today he is giving support to several Chinese missions. He gave Bishop Hartzell, who succeeded the late Bishop Taylor, the great South American missionary and religious worker. His personal check for $3,250 in payment for 1,000 acres of' land in Kambani, East Africa, where he has already founded' a mission school. He bought 1,400 acres of land in South Africa and presented it to the late Bishop Taylor and he also erected on it, at his own expense, a mission school and started an industrial farm. The school and farm are in operation and there are 1,100 negro pupils now enrolled, learning trades and acquiring a general education.

Mr. Rowan built the Chambers Street M E. Church on Liberty and Chambers Streets, and induced the late Samuel K. Wilson to donate the plot of ground upon which the church stands. He was one of the founders of Broad Street M. E. Church, and he also started the M. E. Church at a Minneola, Florida, where he, until recently, was the owner of 5,000 acres of land.

1898: CHRISTMAS AT HAMILTON'S FARMINGDALE SCHOOL

HERE IS ANOTHER TRANSCRIBED FILE FROM THE "CHRONOLOGY" FOLDER. THE STUDENTS AND FACULTY AT FARMINGDALE SCHOOL 1898 WOULD BE EXPELLED FROM THE SCHOOL IF THEY DARED TO SING "JESUS THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD" IN THIS "ENLIGHTENED" 21st CENTURY.

===========================

FARMINGDALE SCHOOL CHRISTMAS PROGRAM

DECEMBER 25, 1898

Following was the program of Christmas exercises at the Farmingdale School, where Miss J. Chinnick is the teacher:

Song: News on Christmas Morning, by the students

Recitation: Welcome Christmas, by Joseph Reynolds

Recitation: Wish You a Merry Christmas, by Nellie Klockner.

Recitation: A Letter from Santa Claus, by Jennie Griffith

Recitation: A Merry Christmas, by James Riley

Reading: Joy To the World, by the students

Recitation: Christmas Carol, by Harry Orandack, Willie Bradshaw, Willie

Reed, Earl Craig, John O'Reilly.

Reading: A Christmas Surprise, by Jennie Griffith

Recitation: The Christmas Dinner Bell, by Nellie Bickel

Recitation: Hang up the Baby's Stockings, by Howard Klockner

Song: Jesus, the Light of the World, by the students

Recitation: Clap Your Hands for Christmas, by Clara Delonger

Recitation: When I call My Kettie Santa, by Joseph Reynolds

Recitation: Santa's Secret, by Ada Reynolds

Recitation: The Story Ever New, by Mamie Walker

Reading: Peace and Good Will, by the students

Recitation: Christmas Memories, by Grace Stults, Edith Evans, Elsie

Williams, Gladys Pettit, Georgiana Evans, Ida Kurts, Grace

Findler, Eva Findler, and Annie Reed

Recitation: Tommy's Christmas Fancy, by Jennie Griffith

Recitation: A Secret With Santa Claus, by Edith Evans

Recitation: Stretch It a Little, by Nellie Beihl

Recitation: Dance of the Months, by Walter Chinnick

Song: Beautiful Star of Bethlehem, by the students

Address: by Mr. A.W. Hartwell.

1946: WHITE CHRISTMAS AN AREA RARITY

From the "WEATHER-RELATED" folder in the Local History Collection, this article which all of us "old timers know to be true:" White Christmases are a rarity in the middle Atlantic. Most of the storms barrelling in from the west hit the Appalachian mountains, and something happens that only a meteorologist can explain.

1888: A CAMP OLDEN CIVIL WAR INCIDENT

MONDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1888

COLONEL RICHARD A. DONNELLY RECALLS A CIVIL WAR INCIDENT

Colonel R. A. Donnelly relates some incidents of his advent in the army as a soldier in the exciting times of 1861. At the time he was clerking in New York and living in Hoboken, where he was a member of a military company. The marching of the various regiments down Broadway at the call for three months' men, had given every military man the fever, and the company to which he was attached volunteered to a man and came down to Trenton to be sworn in. The first night there, they all slept like soldiers, on the floor, at Temperance Hall. Next day it was announced, when they reached Camp Olden, that the quota of 75,000 three months' men was filled, and that only those would be taken who would enlist for three years, unless sooner discharged. When they came to be sworn in for three years, but one man refused, and the patriotic feeling among the men was so great that they put a placard of "Deserter" on his back and drummed him out of camp.

1878: BURGLARS ACTIVE AT WHITE HORSE

1878: WHITE HORSE - CRIME – BURGLARS
DECEMBER 20, 1878
GAZETTE

Burglars and petty thieves are getting to be rather too thick around the vicinity of the White Horse, in Hamilton township, and the residents begin to feel quite uneasy, as they have made one or two successful raids upon the farmers in the neighborhood. Some nights ago, a party of them broke into the flowering mill of Mr. David S. Hutchinson, and after going through the money drawer in the office, helped themselves of the choice brands of flour. A few nights later, a neighbor of Mr. Hutchinson was knocked down near the lane of Mr. P. Ellis De Cou's farm, and robbed of his watch. Again, on Wednesday night of this week, as Mr. D.S. Hutchinson's flour mill delivery agent was returning home from this city, two men sprang out from the gateway of Mr. Bruden's farm, and caught one of the mules by the head. Mr. John Wilson, the agent who was driving the team, yelled out to the mules, when they gave a lunge forward into the darkness and started on a dead run, leaving the highwaymen on the road, bootless and astonished. The farmers in that part of the county contemplate raising a club for self-defense, and may give the next parties a warm reception."

1875: ST. MARY'S CEMETERY: IN THE BEGINNING

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1875

DAILY TRUE AMERICAN

SURVEYING LAND FOR ST. MARY‘S CEMETERY

As we were riding in the suburbs of the city yesterday, we found Mr. J. H. Whittaker, Surveyor, giving grade stakes on Olden avenue for contractors who are grading a new cemetery. The lot contains about twenty acres, is in a beautiful location, and when completed will be a fine burying ground. The soil is light and well adapted for the purpose. We understand that Rev. Anthony Smith is preparing this Cemetery for Saint Mary's Parish of this city.