2008: BILLY OPFERMAN

Bill was a personal friend of many years. I met him 25 or 30 years ago when we both met while indulging in our hobby of metal detecting. Bill died this week, a shocking death which police are calling a suicide. He was the champion of veterans. An ardent proponent of the P.O.W. fiasco where the U.S. Government claimed all prisoners of war had been accounted for. Bill, along with many of us, felt otherwise. He, along with August ("Augie") Scotto were self appointed watchdogs at nearly every Hamilton Township Council meeting. One of his solutions to Hamilton's fiscal problems was to cut back on the very expensive public entertainment programs until the township once again became fiscally balanced. In perfect harmony with the aforementioned solutions, he was also an ardent supporter of the volunteer summer music concerts my son Tom Jr. and I performed our "The Music We Grew Up With" at Kuser Park over the past 2 summers. I miss Billy, and he will be on my perpetual prayer list. May he rest in peace.

1881: FASHION STUD FARM

The Fashion Stud Farm in Hamilton was a rich equestrian's paradise. Smith was a wealthy gentleman who chose the area where the Trenton Fairgrounds would ultimately be built. General Grant stabled a horse at the farm. It was also the home of "Goldsmith Maid," a championship trotter who was unbeatable in the 1880's. A monument to the Maid was placed on a site of Fashion Stud Farm, and was ultimately moved to Kuser Farm Park, near the tennis court. The above article is one of the few with a comprehensive history of the farm.

1888: THE INTERSTATE FAIR: IN THE BEGINNING

It has been a long time since the New Jersey State Fair was in operation in a huge spread of land bordered by Nottingham Way, Ward Avenue, E. State Street, and Klockner. Each of us with silver in his or her hair can tell stories of their experiences with that wonderful fall event. The fair, also known in earlier years as the "Interstate Fair." The Henry N. Smith referred to in the article was the site of Smith's "Fashion Stud Farm."

1875: Ewing Township as it was in 1875

This map is from the 1875 Evert and Stewart Atlas of Mercer County. Many Ewing visitors to thi site will be interested in seeing the area "the way it was. The numbers in the map which are found near the names of the land owners represents the number of acres of the owner.

1934: Mini History of Ewing Township

Back in 1934, the Trenton Sunday Times Advertiser ran a weekly series featuring a thumbnail sketch of the communities in Mercer County. The above graphic on Ewing Township is very interesting. Remember: Full page scans can be difficult to read. I suggest you temporarily change to a monitor resolution of 800 x 600.

1938: Liberty Street Church of Christ

As a young boy of 12 or 13, I attended Sunday School at Liberty St. Church of Christ. It is located on the corner of Liberty and Wesley Streets in Hamilton. The minister at the time was "Brother Graham," and my Sunday School teacher was Mrs. Margaret Anderson; a lovely and kind lady. I don't recall any plays such as that illustrated above while I was there. There are numerous "Colonial Gardens" names I recall, including John Frese, and Bill Bolz to name only two.

1886 and 1872: South Trenton's Trenton Iron Company - and Cooper Hewitt

It was a huge industry in South Trenton. These articles have interesting accounts of America's foremost steel factories in the 1860's and 70's., located in the South Trenton area. (Hamilton Avenue and along the Delaware River)

1937: RUTH KELLER - KUSER AND DE COU SCHOOLS

This young lady was a straight "A" student throughout her years at Kuser Grammar School. She ultimately went on to be a teacher at the late, great DeCou School on South Broad Street. She lived just up the street on Newkirk and Kuser Avenue (Today's Leonard Avenue)and was a classmate of my sister Dorothy.

1954: DeCou School

I have been perusing the "DE COU" folder in the library's local history files. I put this vignette together from a little yearbook given to me by the late Ruth Keller, a neighbor who was a teacher at DeCou in the 50's.

DeCou School

This early photo of the DeCou School was transferred from a very old glass negative. Thanks to modern photo imaging software, I was able to clean it up and present it herewith.

1905: Fire at the Dilatush Farm

The late Don Dilatush was one of Hamilton's environmental and historian treasures. Don walked the woods and fields around the Edgebrook area of Hamilton, finding countless Indian relics, and the uncanny skill at identifying every tree, weed, and living creature. He and centenarian Bob Simpkins, were both experts on the history of the Yardville-Edgebrook area of Hamilton. I was a regular reader of Don's weekly columns on his ramblings about the sprawling Dilatush farm. He and Bob Simpkins were two of the most knowledgable members of the Hamilton Township Historical Society.

1905: DEUTZVILLE SCHOOL

There was an "issue" with certain Deutzville residents back in 1905 when the subject of a new school for the little village came before the town fathers. These 2 interesting and little known articles from the "DEUTZVILLE" folder reveals the issue and the construction of the school.

1905: Census figures for the year 1905

I found this chart to be very interesting. I'm sure many visitors will concur. It is amazing how Mercer County has grown and how diverse we have become in 103 years.

1909 Lakeside Park: In the beginning

Note that that it hadn't yet come into the ownership of the Gropp family. It was known as Hutchinson's Lake. There are numerous Lakeside and Gropp's Lake graphics in the Hamilton Library local history collection still to be posted.

1940: Andy Gropp, Lifeguard

Did you know that Mr. Gropp was a lifesaver at his Lakeside swimming lake? I sure didn't, and this very clear graphic is an interesting file from the "LAKESIDE - GROPP'S LAKE" folder.

1897: Very early campers at Hutchinson's Pond

These adventurous gentlemen loved camping out along the banks of Hutchinson's Pond back in the late 1800's. The area was truly one of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's "forest primevals,"andI would bet that there were also Longellow's "murmering pines and hemlocks."

1901: "Cool Hutchinson's Pond"

This old offset photo was in my collection with no reference to any Trenton Newspaper. It is suspected to be a State Gazette photo. Even though offset printing was quite primitive back in 1905, these photos are quite acceptable.

1905: AVIATION: THE EARLY YEARS

Three years earlier, Wilbur and Orville Wright succeeded in getting a very flimsy aircraft to make a relatively prolonged flight. That was the beginning of an early era in aviation when other would be flyers began to construct their own aircraft designs. The above gentleman chose to try a flying "kite" made of bamboo. As you can see in the article, the attempt was a dismal failure.

1963: Card Party Sponsored by St. Raphael PTA

Former Hamilton Mayor and dear friend Maurice (Maury) Perilli has donated some papers to the library for inclusion in our local history database. The above photo is extracted from a copy of the newspaper, "Hamilton Life," published in the early 1960's.

1917: Nottingham Way

It would be impossible to determine just where on Nottingham Way this 1917 photo was taken. Back in 1963, Meredith "Med" Havens submitted this photo to "Hamilton Life," a local short-lived Hamilton newspaper.

1905: First Baptist Church: 1805-1905 Centennial

These 3 columns were gleaned from 3 seperate editions of the Daily State Gazette. I looked for a comprehensive 100 year history, but so far there is nothing uncovered.

1908: Police and Lighting for Bromley Place

The development of Bromley really began during the first decade of the 20th century. The "BROMLEY" folder has numerous real estate ads on that section, including Bromley Place and Bromley Manor.

1909: ITALIAN CELEBRATION OF COLUMBUS DAY

Columbus Day has always been a major event in the lives of the area's American-Italian community. Above are different files from the "HOLIDAYS" and "AMERICAN-ITALIAN" folders.

1901: THE WRECK OF THE NELLIE BLY

DISIt was one of the most horrible train wrecks in New Jersey History. The page above is has been digitized in "Black and White" instead of grayscale in order to reduce the size of the graphic. To those who find the type too small, temporarily change your screen resolution to 800 x 600. ('START," "CONTROL PANEL," "DISPLAY," "SETTINGS," 800 X 600)

1940: The War Clouds are Forming In Hamilton

Beginning in the 1930's when Adolph Hitler came to power, more and more articles were being written as the National Socialists took control of Germany and began to threaten world peace. Here in America, the German-American Bund openly demonstrated their allegiance to National Socialist Germany. Threats of the "fifth column" and sabotage were more and more prominent in the news. In Hamilton, the forward thinking town fathers decided to organize a municipal defense council.

1940: Trenton Catholic High School Honors

Once again, familiar names pop up from out of the past. On a personal note, I see two of the Deitrich boys, Bob and Fran, Jimmie O'Rourke, and Bob Rupprecht. Other visitors will also probably see acquaintances.

1940: THE ABNER CHAMBERS FARM

Many years ago, Robert Chambers established a hotel at what is now the intersection of South Broad and Cass Streets. The area was ultimately known as Chambersburg. While most local residents associate the Butler, Bayard, Divison, Streets and Emory Avenue as the center of Chambersburg, the original area was along South Broad Street. The article above is an interview with Chambers grand daughter, Sarah Chambers, who recalled the story of Robert Chambers and his huge land holdings in the area of Hamilton and Chambers Street. The site of today's Trenton Central High School is on a part of the Chambers farm. The above map gives a pretty good idea of the Chambers land holdings in the area. As can be seen in the map, the homestead Sarah Chambers described in the article can be seen in the lower left of the 1905 map.

1914: BACK THEN IT WAS "EAST TRENTON HEIGHTS"

Once again from the "NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT" folder, this real estate ad for what would ultimately become part of today's Cornell Heights. One of the more fascinating segments of local history is the expansion of Hamilton as it went from a rural farming community to the megalopolis of today. And what about those prices!

1905: YOUR GRANDPARENTS' BROMLEY

This fascinating 1905 map of the Bromley area as it was laid out in 1905. Even as Nottingham was borrowed from Great Britain as was Millham, so too was Bromley named for an area in England. Bromley, Cedar Lawn, Broad Street Park, and Deutzville, with their very close proximity to the city of Trenton, are gradually changing into more urban areas. It is hoped that the town fathers recognize and respect the change.

1891: Description of the proposed Trenton Battle Monument

Here's an historic graphic which was published before the completion of the famed Trenton Battle Monument. Note that the statue of George Washington is different from the statue that was finally decided upon.

1890-1891 MARRIAGES AND OBITS

This is a new departure in my attempt to post full page graphics. In the interest of displaying very clear images, I have been editing and saving my graphics in JPEG grayscale (or color) format. I am going to try to scan sizeable text pages such as that above in "Black and White." Unfortunately, unless you have a larger LCD screen, it will be difficult to read. On my 15 inch notebook, I can barely read the page. However, on my 17 inch LCD it is reasonably clear. You will also note that the text in the above graphic is not nearly as clean and trim due to the fact that the scan was done as a black and white scan rather than grayscale. (Grayscale would have been 3 megabites and far too large. I will also be experimenting in converting articles such as that above into word processor text, using my OCR (optical character recognition) software.

2008: 75,000 "HITS" AND COUNTING

When I began this website in November, 2005, I asked those who visited to please send comments pro and con. I have received many "pro's" and only recently my first "con." The latter being the fact that my descriptions of the graphics are written in all capital letters. It never entered my mind that this would be a negative, and as I responded to the writer, I will henceforth revert back to the standard structure. Interestingly, my penchant for all caps reverts back to my U.S. Army years when our typewriters were called "Mills," and there were no other keys but "Caps." It is much faster to type with all caps, but I can see where a proof reader or other grammar-minded person would rather see text written in normal sentence structure. Thanks again to the visitor whose comment I will accept as constructive criticism, and also "lose the caps."

2008: Monsignor Leonard Toomey

"Make the world a bit more beautiful because you have lived in it."

1891: Patrick J. Berry's "Berryville"

From the "NEIGHBORHOODS AND NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT" folder, this graphic and and the map in the next post relate to "Berryville," a Trenton area neighborhood developed by real estate man, Patrick J. Berry.

1905 BERRYVILLE

This is "Berryville;" an 1891 real estate development established by Mr. Patrick J. Berry, at the time a resident of 494 West State Street. The development was located between Edmund C. Hill's Cadwalader Place and the city of Trenton, in the area West State Street, Prospect Street, and West End Avenue.

FOR THOSE WHO ARE "COMPUTER CHALLENGED"

A NUMBER OF FRIENDS WITH WHOM I AM IN CONTACT SEEM TO HAVE PROBLEMS ACCESSING MY SITE, PROBABLY DUE TO THE LENGTHY URL, WWW.GLOVER320.BLOGSPOT.COM.
AN EASY WAY TO GAIN ACCESS IS TO GO ON LINE, ACCESS GOOGLE, AND TYPE IN THE FOLLOWING STRING IN THE GOOGLE SEARCH BLOCK:

TOM GLOVER HAMILTON TRENTON.

THE FIRST FEW ENTRIES WILL BE LINKS TO MY SITE. JUST CLICK ON IT. THOSE WHO ARE OUT OF THE AREA AND READERS OF MY "SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY" COLUMN IN THE TIMES WILL ALSO FIND THE LATEST COLUMN BURIED IN THERE SOMEWHERE. LOOK FOR A LINK WITH NJO.

1891: EVEN THEN WE HAD GANGS!

ALL WAS NOT SIMPLE AND BUCOLIC BACK IN VICTORIAN ERA TRENTON. THIS ARTICLE FROM THE "CRIME, MORALS, SOCIAL VALUES" FOLDER TAKES US BACK TO THE YEAR 1891 WHEN THE TRENTON POLICE WERE CRACKING DOWN ON ANTI SOCIAL BEHAVIOR.

1923: Circa 1923 photo of Martin Brothers, Yardville

I REMEMBER THE MARTIN ESTABLISHMENT AS SELLING CONCRETE BRICKS. THEIR AUTOMOBILE DEALERSHIP WAS WELL BEFORE MY TIME.

A REMINDER FOR NEWCOMERS TO THIS SITE

LEFT CLICKING ON A GRAPHIC

WILL ENLARGE IT

TO MAXIMUM SIZE.

USE THE BACK ARROW KEY TO

RETURN TO THE MAIN PAGES

2004: MONSIGNOR LEONARD TOOMEY: A ONE WAY TICKET TO GLORY

I received the devestating news of the passing of Monsignor Leonard Toomey on Wednesday evening, September 10th. Judy and I were as shocked as was Brian M., who delivered the bad news. We had all been praying that his recent illness was only temporary.

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THIS IS THE MAN WHO CONVERTED ME TO THE FAITH WAY BACK IN 1960. THE PHOTO ABOVE WAS TAKEN AT GIOVI'S RESTAURANT IN YARDVILLE WHEN MONSIGNOR JOINED FATHER MICK LAMBETH AND THREE SACRED HEART SEMINARIANS AS THEY HONORED JUDY AND ME BY ATTENDING OUR 50TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION IN APRIL, 2004. FATHER TOOMEY WAS LIKE A BROTHER TO THE LATE FATHER JAMES "JIMMY" RUSSELL.

JIMMY WAS JUDY'S FIRST COUSIN. SHE RECALLS THE TIME WHEN SHE WAS A YOUNG GIRL IN THE 1940's, THEN-SEMINARIANS TOOMEY AND HER COUSIN JIMMY RUSSELL SENT HER A CARD WITH A FEATHER ON IT, AND TOLD HER THE FEATHER WAS A RELIC FROM THE WINGS OF SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL. JUDY PROUDLY TOOK THE "RELIC" TO ST. ANTHONY'S GRAMMAR SCHOOL TO SHOW THE SISTERS. THE SISTERS DID NOTHING TO DISCOURAGE JUDY'S TREASURE. MONSIGNOR BAPTISED ALL OF MY CHILDREN, AND HAS BEEN A VERY DEAR FRIEND FOR MORE THAN 60 YEARS. WHEN I WAS BEING INSTRUCTED INTO THE FAITH BY FATHER TOOMEY, I REMEMBER HOW HE TOLD ME AFTER I HAD CONVERTED THAT IN ALL HIS YEARS OF GIVING INSTRUCTIONS, I WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO PROLONGED THE PROCESS WITH ALL OF MY QUESTIONS ON THE VARIOUS ASPECTS OF THE FAITH. I WAS DEEPLY HUMBLED WHEN MONSIGNOR TOLD ME HE NEVER MISSED MY TRENTON TIMES "SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY" COLUMNS.

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THE FOLLOWING WAS A COMMENT FROM ANONYMOUS IN MY GUESTBOOK. THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE VISIT AND COMMENT. ANONYMOUS WROTE:

FYI: Msgr. Toomey passed away yesterday afternoon at the age of 86. He was a wonderful man and a wonderful priest who will be missed dearly. Rest In Peace, and may the angels come to greet you and take you to paradise.

1891: FROM THE "POTTERIES, TRENTON" FOLDER: JOHN HART BREWER: MASTER OF BELEEK POTTERY

The man written about above was one of the reasons Trenton became a center of fine porcelain china back in the heyday of the pottery industry in the city of Trenton. When I was a younger man, I remember seeing all those conical brick pottery structures that lined the New York Avenue area of East Trenton. Mr. Brewer went on to establish the Ott & Brewer Company, known around the world for fine china.

1894: TRENTON'S POTTERY INDUSTRY

This is a portion of the front page of an old Trenton Times, the article on potteries being of interest. To my friend Alan Wildblood, there's another of your relatives in the shaded area.

2008: THE JOHN ABBOTT II DOCTOR'S HOUSE

THIS, AND THE NEXT POST PUTS THE SPOTLIGHT ON ONE OF THE ATTRACTIONS TO BE SEEN AT SUNDAY'S SEPTEMBER FEST CELEBRATION. THE DOCTOR'S HOUSE IS BEING MAINTAINED BY THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF HAMILTON TOWNSHIP. BE SURE TO VISIT THE ABBOTT FARM AREA IF YOU GO TO SEPTEMBERFEST. YOU WILL ALSO BE ABLE TO PURHASE A COPY OF HAMILTON'S NEWEST HISTORY BOOK AT VERY ATTRACTIVE PRICES: $10.00 FOR THE SOFT COVER VERSION, AND $20.00 FOR THE HARDBOUND EDITION.

2008: THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF HAMILTON TOWNSHIP

I CREATED THIS, AND THE PRECEDING JOHN ABBOTT II GRAPHICS TO PLACE THE SPOTLIGHT ON ONE OF HAMILTON TOWNSHIP'S HISTORICAL TREASURES, THE JOHN ABBOTT II HOUSE. I TOOK THESE PHOTOS OF THE AREA A FEW YEARS AGO WHEN IT WAS MY PRIVILEGE TO SERVE AS PRESIDENT OF THAT AUGUST GROUP OF HAMILTON HISTORIANS. AS I PILE ON THE YEARS, I BEGAN TO REALIZE THAT ALONG WITH THE JOHN ABBOTT II HOUSE, THERE ARE MANY OTHER HISTORICAL TREASURES IN HAMILTON TOWNSHIP. ACCORDINGLY, I CREATED http://www.glover320.blogspot.com/ . THE SITE WAS CREATED IN NOVEMBER, 2005. SINCE THEN I HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN THIS FASCINATING JOURNEY BRINGING LOCAL HISTORY NOT ONLY TO HAMILTON TOWNSHIP, BUT ALSO TRENTON AND THE OUTLYING MERCER AREA. I AM ALSO PROUD OF THE FACT THAT I ENCOURAGED GARY LIPPINCOTT WHO IS A VERY KNOWLEDGEABLE HISTORIAN ON GROVEVILLE TO START A WEBSITE FEATURING GROVEVILLE. GARY DID AND HIS http://www.grovevillememories.blogspot.com/ IS A WONDERFUL SOURCE OF HISTORICAL ENLIGHTENMENT. NOW I AM WORKING ON BROAD STREET PARK HISTORIAN JIM COLELLO TO CREATE A BROAD STREET PARK WEBSITE. JIM IS AN EXPERT ON THE HISTORY OF BROAD STREET PARK. I AM NOT AS ACTIVE IN THE HAMILTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY AS WHEN I WAS THE PRESIDENT, BUT I STILL ADMIRE THEIR DEDICATION TO THE PRESERVATION AND MAINTENANCE OF THIS WONDERFUL HISTORIC TREASURE.

BE SURE TO VISIT THE JOHN ABBOTT II EXHIBIT AT THIS SUNDAY'S SEPTEMBERFEST! IT IS ONE OF THE FIRST STOPS AS YOU ENTER VETERANS' PARK ON THE KUSER ROAD ENTRANCE. HAMILTON'S NEW HISTORY BOOK WILL BE ON SALE: $10.00 SOFT COVER, AND $20.00 HARDCOVER.

1937: LAWRENCEVILLE'S NEW FIRE ENGINE

I'M SURE THAT'S A 1937 DIAMOND "T" JUST LIKE THE ONE THE GUYS AT COLONIAL VOLUNTEER FIRE COMPANY HAD IN THE 1940's.

1934: LAWRENCE TOWNSHIP MINI HISTORY

THESE FULL PAGE SCANS ARE A CHALLENGE. LACKING A "TABLOID SCANNER," I HAVE TO MAKE 5 FULL PAGE SCANS AND "STITCH" THEM TOGETHER IN ORDER TO GET A DUPLICATED FULL PAGE. UNFORTUNATELY, THE LARGER THE PAGE, THE SMALLER THE PRINT WHEN IT IS LOADED ON TO THE WEBSITE. IF YOU HAVE A LARGER LCD MONITOR, YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO READ THE FINE PRINT. A RE-SETTING OF YOUR COMPUTER DISPLAY TO 800 X 600 WOULD ALSO HELP.

1938: THE KILLER HURRICANE OF SEPTEMBER, 1938

It took the Rafferty administration to figure out how to stop the flooding of Pond Run in the Bromley section of Hamilton. Prior to the construction of the concrete spillway back in the 1970's the folks along Greenwood, Johnston, Richland, and other streets in the area became inundated with flood waters. Here are two photos showing the area as the great hurricane of 1938 ran up the middle Atlantic to New England, spreading death and destruction.

1938: TRENTON HIGH SENIORS GO TO WASHINGTON

HERE'S A TRIBUTE TO THE CLASS OF '38 AT TRENTON HIGH. I ADDED A COUPLE LITTLE PHOTOS OF THE HIGH SCHOOL AS IT LOOKED WHEN IT WAS REGULARLY MAINTAINED AND IN PRISTINE CONDITION.

1938: GROVEVILLE VFD ANNUAL CHICKEN SUPPER

TO MY FRIEND GARY LIPPINCOTT, GROVEVILLE HISTORIAN, THIS POST ALSO BELONGS ON YOUR WONDERFUL GROVEVILLE SITE, http://www.grovevillememories.blogspot.com/.

I SEE A LIPPINCOTT IN THAT LIST OF PARTICIPANTS. YOU PROBABLY KNOW MANY OF THE FOLKS LISTED IN THE ARTICLE. I KNOW YOU CAN EMBELLISH THIS ARTICLE FAR BETTER THAN I.