Holy Nativity Episcopal Church

Otto Geyer Sr. made a survey in 1898 to determine which religious denomination was preferred by a majority in Dorothy. The Episcopal vote prevailed. In the beginning of 1900, trustees were elected. These were H.K. Norton, Chairman and generous donor; T.T. Phillips, Secretary, who donated some land; H.K. Lewis, Treasurer. Also on the Board of Trustees were John Illingworth, Otto Geyer Sr., Mr. McPherson, and George Hasselbalch, who donated some of the lumber and was Chairman of the Building Committee. D.L. Risley also donated several lots. The Trustees decided to build a wooden structure 40'x24', with an 8'x8' tower about 45' high.

Donations were solicited in the community. One of the largest donors was the Rt. Rev. Bishop J. Scarborough of Trenton, N.J. ($200). The Rev. Dean C. Perkins from Salem also donated a significant amount, which, with the Women's Auxiliary donations amounted to $200. Many local donors gave in the $1-$5 range, with George Hasselbalch donating $79. The total donations were $837. Rev. Perkins also procured the new organ.

While George Hasselbalch was supervising the building construction, he noted that the donations would not cover the expense for the lumber (including walnut for the altar), so volunteered to donate the balance of lumber needed from his sawmill on 10th Avenue. Thus, there was no need for bids to be placed. A cemetery was also included in the project.

But before the painting was completed, Rev. Perkins opened the church on Tuesday, April 30, 1901. Some scaffolding was temporarily removed for the occasion, when over a hundred people attended. The church was consecrated on Thursday, June 13, 1901, by the Rt. Rev. Bishop Scarborough, accompanied by Rev. Perkins from Salem and four others. At this time the first baptism took place, six members were confirmed, and Rev. R. Stevens was appointed the first minister. The church was turned over to the diocese free of debt, but later had a difficult time financially when several other churches were built in Dorothy.

During the 1920's, the services were held at 2:00 PM on Sundays. I remember walking to church past the baseball field on 12th Avenue, watching with envy other boys playing ball! Rev. E. Pierot drove from Millville in a big car to preach, but the collections (10-25 cents per family) probably never exceeded $5.00 and hardly paid his way. When a clergyman was unavailable, H.K. Lewis, the Deacon, officiated. Lewis also filled in for funeral services; for example, that of Mrs. Mike Roberts in 1913.

Rev. E. Pierot served the church for years, but began getting old. H. K. Lewis, the church motivator, passed away in 1941. About 1961, an active Lutheran group (Bethlehem Evangelical Lutheran Church of Dorothy) which had been meeting at Everybody's Mission Church suggested purchasing the rundown Episcopal Church from the Diocese of New Jersey for a token price of $100. The Lutheran group was active and began to maintain the building. They first added a new roof, which was needed as the former one had been installed in the 1930's when I was in college.

                                                                                                                                Holy Nativity Church, 1922. 

In 1970 the Bethlehem Evangelical Lutheran Church held a donation drive, collecting enough for material to add a kitchen facility, water, a rest room, and outside siding to cover the original cedar shingles. Later, an all-purpose room was also added. All labor was volunteered. More recently, $5,000 was donated to replace the original pews.

Cemetery lots were originally sold for $5.00 each by H.K. Lewis, although no one was turned away for burial. On the west side of the cemetery there is a row of graves for indigents. There was never a plot plan for the cemetery.

Information on the formation of St. Bernard's is sketchier than that available for Holy Nativity Episcopal Church. The local McClure sawmill cut the lumber free of charge for the church that was built by volunteer labor in 1904 on Pennsylvania Avenue, north of the Episcopal Church. St. Bernard's is slightly larger than the Episcopal Church and was originally assessed at $1,000 versus $800 for the latter. For some reason, the cemetery was not added when the church was built.

Everybody's Mission Church

A large group of residents wanted a Pentecostal Mission. These families included the Josephsons, Clemensons, Seelmans and Richerts, among other. They built their meeting house in 1915, east of the Episcopal Church. Meetings were officiated by visiting ministers, and sometimes by their own members, including the Clemensons and Josephsons. Everybody's Mission held services for a number of years, but as families moved away and others joined the Lutheran group, the church fell into disrepair.

Weymouth Township received a grant from the state in 1993 to rehabilitate the Mission as a landmark. The grant covered the expenses involved in moving the structure behind the Municipal Building and making improvements to it. A basement was dug and a new roof installed. The windows were also replaced. Although constructed of pinewood, rather than cedar, the building remained structurally sound, with no termite damage. On July 4, 1993, the building was dedicated and named the ``Grandmom Seelman Youth Center''. Scouts and other groups now have a permanent place to hold their meetings.

Marsalee Hotel

It's believed that the first hotel and bar in Dorothy was built by Daniel Marsalee around 1897, which was later purchased by M.A. (Brown) Robertson for her home and the first Post Office. Prior to this time the Post Office was operated from the old railroad station, while the Postmistress lived in her Bartons Lane home.

Milmay Hotel

The big hotels in the vicinity were the Milmay Hotel and Eckel's Hotel in Dorothy (after 1912). D.L. Risley built the Milmay Hotel about the same time as the Marsalee, before 1900. It had a large bar and dance floor and was located on the southwest corner of Cumberland and Tuckahoe Roads.

The Oesterles came from Germany. Mrs. Oesterle was a good cook. She made fabulous real snapper soup. The local kids would hunt for snappers in the swamps around Tuckahoe River and would get paid $.50-$1.00 each, depending on the size of the turtle.

I worked there one summer for $5.00 a week, helping to bottle beer and tending to the hundreds of rabbits Mr. Oesterle was raising in cages. My chores also included cleaning the bar area each morning. The Oesterle's son Bill (who later married Alice Lambert, a Dorothy girl) drove me home in his new convertible and picked me up each evening. Sometimes I stayed over in a third-floor room facing north. I'll never forget one particular Saturday night. Returning to the room from my weekly bath I turned on the light and found the room filled with flying bats which had snuck in through a hole in the window screen. Taking my trousers, I swung at them until I'd killed fourteen bats and stuffed them in the chamber pot under my bed.

The Oesterles eventually sold the hotel to a woman friend who later sold it to Krokus, a Milmay poultryman. Krokus operated the Milmay Hotel with his sister until a fire gutted the hotel and it was torn down. A small bar now stands in its place.

Dorothy Hotel (J. Gebert)

Joseph Gebert was proprietor of the Dorothy Hotel (location unclear) which had a grand opening on October 8, 1904, serving a frankfurter and sauerkraut specialty. The hotel was advertised in the Dorothy Weekly News-Letter for several years.

Dorothy Hotel (Ferdinand Eckel)

The first Eckel Hotel was apparently located on 11th Avenue, west of the old Lambert (Blusk) home. It was probably purchased from Gebert, since ads in the Dorothy Weekly News-Letter by Gebert in 1904 and later ones placed by Eckel were identical.

In 1907, at the time of the photo shown, Ferdinand Eckel also raised hogs to augment his income. He brought in beer by wagon from the Christian Atz Brewery in Egg Harbor. Eckel's first hotel must have been a success, because in 1912 he built the new, much larger, three-story Dorothy Hotel, next to the G.J. Hill store (later owned by J.W. Burkitt and now the Post Office.) The new hotel was strategically placed opposite the railroad station. It contained eight or ten guest rooms upstairs and a dance floor extension downstairs in the rear. The building was constructed by Steve Toth, Carl Burkman and Pete Base Sr. Anton Eckel, one of Ferdinand's sons, said that a pint of whiskey was placed in the corner of the foundation when the hotel was built. Unfortunately, this was not retrieved when HUD ultimately demolished the building.

When my parents moved to Dorothy from Philadelphia on March 28, 1914, they stayed at the hotel the first night, since their house furniture had not yet arrived. The hotel charged $1.00 for the room, and $.25 each for breakfasts delivered to their room. The breakfast served was ample: two eggs, toast with butter, coffee and oatmeal. (My parents wouldn't touch the oatmeal, because they were unfamiliar with the tasteless cereal!)

The hotel business flourished because people gathered there in the evening to play cards and drink wine (which was made locally in Risley). Dances were held every Saturday night, and other gatherings were held in the hotel extension out back. Eckel had his own band, with his older sons playing violin, piano, clarinet and guitar. Travelling businessmen and hunters also stayed there during hunting season.

Unfortunately, on July 10, 1916, the Dorothy Hotel was involved in a serious disaster. The Eckel boys were dispensing gasoline for a customer and checked the fuel level by striking a match in the small block room. A gasoline explosion and fire resulted, killing three of Eckel's six sons. A fourth son, the youngest, was blown from the building. He survived, but developed a phobia for fire, becoming so frightened by the sight of it that he got spells and never fully recovered from the accident.

                                                                                                                           Eckel's new Dorothy Hotel, about 1915.

Michael Csere, my father, happened to be at the Brown store at the time of the accident. He and Mr. Brown ran to the scene and administered first aid by applying oil to the boys' skin to relieve their pain. However, one was already dead, and the other two died at the Vineland Hospital. Mr. and Mrs. Eckel couldn't forget their memories and sold the building to William Flanagan. As heavy snows and ice had caused the collapse of the dance floor roof the previous winter, dances were discontinued.

There have been numerous bars in Dorothy, but no hotels since the Eckel's Dorothy Hotel eighty years ago. The most notable bars were run by Happy (John Jicka), who previously ran a bar in Risley, and Clem's Bar.

Happy's

Happy, a bachelor, started his business in Dorothy after World War II on Tuckahoe Road near 12th Avenue. He was benevolent and community minded. Happy stored for years, free of charge, the town ambulance, until he retired and transferred the business to his niece, who married Joe Lambert. The Lamberts ran the establishment for a few years before selling it. The present owners have added a lunchroom.

Clem's

Clem Lisitski purchased the old Red Men's Hall on 13th and South Jersey Avenue from Steve Merlock and added living quarters on the east end, while converting part of the hall into a bar. About 1960, he built a big home with a bar, dining room, and sub-basement kitchen. Clifford Veniard painted a large mural on the bar ceiling.

Clem's was actually run by his wife Adeline, while Clem himself oversaw a small contracting business with a gravel hole. The bar was a local gathering place for many years, and during summers Adeline was kept busy cooking meals for the transit seashore trade. After the Lisitski boys left for college and the Lisitski's daughter Rita married and also moved away, the business was sold, changing hands several times since.

With the advent of the railroad in 1894, local stores could be stocked weekly by ordering staples from Philadelphia. The original and earliest stores were:

Ellison's

After settling here in 1893, Richard and Laura Ellison opened Ellison's store circa 1894-95 in the present Post Office building. Ellison's store was followed by that of G.L. Hill and J.W. Burkitt.

Radley's

John Radley, born in England, moved to 11th Avenue west in 1898 and started business in 1899. Radley was a retired chief steward on the S.S. City of New York passenger ship for forty-two years. Mrs. Radley had been a governess for the two granddaughters of a Mr. Johnson, the first president of Chase Manhattan Bank in New York.

The Radley's had no children of their own, but adopted a boy and a local baby girl from Steve Toth, whose wife was institutionalized soon after giving birth to their daughter Anna. Anna had a fortunate upbringing. She was sent to the Dorothy Private School as a child, and later educated to be a nurse.

Flanagan's

Mrs. Elizabeth Flanagan (Joe and Bill's mother) arrived from Ohio with the family in 1900. She built the two-story Flanagan store east of the tracks near the railroad crossing. It was what we now think of as an ``old fashioned'' country store, with bags of staples stored on the floor around the counter.

Mrs. Flanagan's husband had been a Civil War veteran. When she became old, she purchased the old two-story Dorothy School with money she received in veteran's benefits. The first floor of the school was converted to living quarters, where her grandsons Edgar and Andrew lived with her until she died.

Frick's

Mr. and Mrs. (Mary) Frick opened the first butcher shop before 1900, located at Miller and Pennsylvania Avenues. Later, Mark Rodgers from Risley followed, but was located at the small building on South Jersey Avenue, north of the Flanagan store. Rodgers would purchase half a steer from a Philadelphia slaughter house and sell it on Saturdays.

Burkman's

Mrs. Elizabeth Burkman advertised in the Dorothy Weekly News-Letter in 1904 for her Dry Goods Store at Cape May and 10th Avenue (Berlinsky's recent home). She carried a big ad promoting her pants, shirts, corsets, ribbons, pearl buttons, table oil cloth, etc. By 1908, Mrs. Burkman was also advertising boots and shoes and gave Trading Stamps. Mrs. Burkman's husband Carl died young at 43 in 1913, and the store supported her until her own death in 1925 at 53.

Brown's

William J. Brown served in the Navy prior to World War I. On his return in 1913, his mother M.A. (Brown) Robertshaw purchased the building next to her home for a grocery store. Brown was operating the store in 1914 when my father arrived and they became friends. As mentioned elsewhere, Brown was also involved in the cord wood business, and later in a contracting business. Brown also started a butcher's route in the 1930's, operating from his more recent Chelsea Heights (Atlantic City) home, but serving his old territory in the Dorothy area.

Flanagan's

William Flanagan purchased Eckel's Dorothy Hotel after the 1916 gas explosion disaster. Flanagan converted the hotel into a large grocery, hardware and feed store, the biggest to date in town. After Flanagan's death in 1949, the Hudson family (Betty D'Amore's mother) operated the store until the Siroki family from New York (relatives of the Huttles), took it over. The building was finally purchased by Ed Moore as a residence. In 1985 the old hotel building was razed by HUD.

Burkitt's

Mr. and Mrs. John W. Burkitt came from England and Ireland in 1901 and bought a farm on Cape May Avenue near 10th Avenue (later the Rohlicek and currently the Zilavy property). About 1910 they purchased G. L. Hill's store (presently the Post Office) after Mr. Hill had died.

                                                                                                                                               The Burkitt's, circa 1926. 

Mr. Burkitt was grumpy and never gave away anything. Evenings, after the store was closed, he'd emerge into his backyard to run his five white poodles on leashes. The dogs were his children.

Mr. Burkitt was, however, a serious and well read man. He read at night at his second floor window. Gossip had it that Mrs. Robertshaw was interested in him and would study him reading nights from her second floor window. Mr. Burkitt was six years younger than his wife M.H., and was the victim of an earlier accident which had made him sterile. He died at the age of 74 of cancer in 1938, confiding to his wife on his deathbed that he'd been baptized a Catholic. Thereupon, Mrs. Burkitt became a Catholic convert, and both are buried in St. Bernard's cemetery.

Malloy's

Mrs. H.E. Malloy also ran a small dry goods store in the early 1920's, renting from William Brown. My only experience with the Malloy store was when my mother sent me there to purchase a new shirt for my father's funeral in November, 1924. Mrs. Malloy sold me one much too large.

Mrs. Malloy was hard of hearing. While picking berries alone along the railroad track one day, she was sucked in by the draft of a passing train and killed.

Bakeries

Bakeries seemed to pop up at various times and locations. Mrs. Green was probably the first Dorothy baker, but in 1904 she announced that she was retiring and returning to Philadelphia. Adolph Stenzel's bakery on 12th Avenue was selling bread and cakes ``of good quality'' as of November, 1904, according to the Dorothy Weekly News Letter. He built his oven in October of 1904, and was still selling rolls and pies in 1911. Another early bakery was that started by Miss Vesselak in 1916 on 13th Avenue.

Lumbering

As noted earlier, lumbering was a big business in the area until the original growths were depleted around 1850. By 1900, however, regrowth was sufficient to continue harvesting wood, particularly for the building boom and home heating in Philadelphia and New York.

While visiting the elderly and ailing William J. Brown in 1972, he related his wood-cutting experiences. In 1915 Brown paid $180 (probably to Anderson Bourgeois who owned much of the woods) for woodcutting rights to a block of oak (120 acres) bounded by Estelle and Sterling Avenues between 11th and 12th Avenues in Dorothy. It took Brown two years to harvest this timber, using as many as sixteen woodchoppers, including my father, Michael Csere, Steve Serbeck, John Hanson, and Steve Merlock. Open boxcars were loaded with nineteen cords of wood each. A crew of three (usually Michael Csere, Mr. Brown, and his brother-in-law George Weisenecker) could load two cars a day.

Most of the wood was shipped to Midvale Steel in Philadelphia which used it for heating forgings for straightening and reworking. Some oak was used for firewood, and pine for making charcoal by Burkhardt in Atlantic City. Brown also shipped wood to Sol North in Bridgeton and the Army barracks in Fort Dix, N.J. The wood was selling for $3-$4.50 per cord. It's amusing to note that at this time William Brown's mother, M.A. (Brown) Robertshaw, was postmistress and station agent. As such, she assigned the freight cars. Mrs. Robertshaw would show no favoritism toward her son, who often had to wait long after other local wood dealers to be assigned freight cars for his cords of wood.

The Clay Pit

In 1901 the Brick Company of Winslow Junction began to dig clay on the northwest side of 13th Avenue and Tuckahoe Road (opposite Clem's last bar). Fifteen to twenty men and several teams were employed to transport the clay to rail cars where they were shipped to the brick factory. According to the 1901 and 1904 tax books this property (lot #1131) belonged to Arthur Trueman, and the adjacent lot (#1130), which may have been included in the pit, belonged to H.H. Findley.

The dig left a small, deep lake for some time, providing winter ice skating for the local boys. Children also skated at Grassy Pond (15th and Tuckahoe Road); past the Charles Lore sawmill on the river (13th Avenue); and at Durell and Shanner's cranberry bog (at the end of 9th Avenue west) where Mr. Shaner left broken crates to be used for bonfires.

As for the clay pit itself, it was eventually filled with town garbage and currently has a stand of trees growing over it.

Sawmills

In 1900 George Hasselbalch owned Dorothy Lumber Company, located on 10th Avenue, west of South Jersey Avenue (Tuckahoe Road). He had a big business in lumber and also contracted to build homes. He donated considerable lumber for the Episcopal Church in 1901.

Julius Kraus between 1901-05 advertised himself as a ``Contractor and Builder: Lumber and Building Material''. Kraus bought cordwood at the railroad sidings or in the woods. He also advertising the highest prices paid for dead animals, hides and skins. He ran a sawmill right in town with a steam engine.

Charles Lore had a sawmill around 1911 at 13th Avenue near Beaver Dam and the Tuckahoe River. It was operated by Harry Miskelley. Young Liz Kobash worked there as a man. She bought the cedar slabs and sold them to farmers for chicken coop sidings. My father bought several loads when building his first 10'x60'coop. A lot of local pine for home building was milled here with Lore's steam engine drive.

McClure's sawmill operated between 1890 and 1918. McClure's milled wood for St. Bernard's Church in 1904.

Cranberry Bogs

Durell's and Shanner's cranberry bogs were located between 9th Avenue and Cumberland Avenue at the Tuckahoe River (in the Estelle Manor corner of land). The bogs originally were formed by the excavation of the shallow bog iron in the early 1800's for use in iron furnaces. They made good ice skating ponds for the children.

The cranberry scoop has large, protruding prongs at its front. One must scoop with two hands in a lifting motion, so the prongs lift up and pull off the cranberries from the vines. In a continuation of the smooth movement, the berries are thrown into a large bag carried on one's back. It was a backbreaking job through wet muck. The bogs were drained in the spring after the last frost. After the harvest, the dam was closed and the creek filled up the bog, creating a lake to protect the plants from freezing.

Brown's Gravel Hole (and Tuckahoe Road)

Clamoring for improvements, taxpayers called a meeting on August 19, 1921. It was held at the Club House and Freeholder Milton Garrison was invited attend. The intention was to convince the state of New Jersey to improve Tuckahoe Road from Buena to Pink House (Route 50), a distance of fourteen miles. A committee of twelve was appointed to pursue the road project, including: Joshua Mitchell, H.K. Lewis (Dorothy), William J. Brown (Dorothy), Michael Oze (Dorothy), Jacob Schmidt, Charles Kobash (Dorothy), and William Flanagan (Dorothy).

The road was finally gravelled between 1922 and 1923. Much of the gravel (about seven miles worth) came from a pit started by William J. Brown.

The road project set off a chain reaction. As a youngster watching it all, it seemed as if everyone in town was busy converting their cars into small trucks to help haul the gravel. There were more than ten converted trucks from Dorothy working on the project, which brought a good extra income. The little trucks would run down the long ramp into the gravel pit. At the loading station, two men with shovels loaded the truck. Every boy in the neighborhood ``supervised'' the operation.

After the road project was complete, Henry Schelken purchased the gravel hole, had it graded, and built several chicken coops inside the hole (which apparently drained well). Later Schelken built a larger block home on the property, which included a grocery store and a bar. At present Elinor (Serbeck) Parks lives on the property.

The Poultry Business

In 1900, a poultry farm consisted of between 50-100 hens. By 1910 the poultry industry was flourishing in Dorothy, Risley and nearby Vineland, farm sizes expanding to flocks of 1,000 hens by 1918. This capacity increased to 1,500 hens by 1922, and a 3-5,000 hen capacity by 1945.

With the assistance of the New Jersey Agricultural Department at Rutgers University the technology of the poultry business advanced rapidly:

                                                                                                           Egg shipments on Dorothy Railroad Platform, 1920. 

• Chicken pens were enlarged for greater capacity and improved living environment. My father's first pens in 1915 were 10'x20'. Area coops grew to 20'x30', and by 1950 they had become 30'x40' coops with roof insulation included. These were six times the size of the early coops. Ventilation was controlled with operable curtains and windows, resulting in warmer environments for the birds.

• Labor saving devices were instituted. For example, originally chicken dropping boards were open and had to be cleaned every morning with a wide hoe scraper, the droppings carried out in a bucket. When roosts were enclosed in wire, they could be cleaned every week or two. Later, the roost boards themselves were eliminated and the droppings which fell to the floor through a wire enclosure could be cleaned annually.

Other improvements included replacing kerosene water fountain heaters with thermostatically controlled electric bayonet heaters. Hand feeding in hoppers was replaced by automatic electric conveyor feeders. Hand carried water was replaced by running water to automatic fountains.

• Catastrophic losses from disease (particularly respiratory diseases) were controlled by developing vaccines which made it possible to inoculate thousands of birds in a few evenings.

• Ultimately the final step was taken to keep formerly free range birds completely indoors. Hens were compressed in cages or concentrated three-fold in immense buildings with large exhaust fans to clear the buildings' stench. Manure was conveyed by belt from the building while eggs rolled to one side of the wire floor and also were collected by conveyor belts.

The poultry business in the area flourished during World War II (when Philadelphia chicken dealers would canvas the area, paying $1.00 a pound for heavy breed meat birds for the black market) and during the 1950's. In 1959, the bottom dropped out, depreciating farm prices tremendously in a few years.

Poultry Feed Mills

There have been quite a few private feed companies in the area, primarily from Vineland (the largest of which was the Rubinoff Feed Company). While Dorothy had feed selling ventures, the town never milled or manufactured feed.

Farmers Cooperative Association of Vineland

In 1946 a group of poultrymen from the Dorothy and Vineland area organized the Farmers Coop Association of Vineland. This became an important business for our locale, since many farmers purchased feed from the Coop.

Peter Gonzalez became the first President when the Coop was organized. Elia Clemenson (of Estelle Manor) served many years on the Board of Directors, as member and President. During the 1960's I also served on the Board for six years. Ray Marinelli, the mill manager, served until 1970.

After organizing, the Coop purchased an old warehouse property in Norma. A cupola, grinding and milling machinery were added in 1948. Silos for storage followed. By 1953 a new office was needed to handle the business. In 1955 the Coop built a new, million dollar, pushbutton mill with financing. Its first manager was Felix Prezant.

The Coop grew fast, purchasing and drying local corn, and manufacturing an honest, high quality feed that was competitive with the product of other local mills like Rubinoff Feeds.

The Coop gave members a percentage of their purchases as future equity, which arrived in the form of certificates at the end of each year. When the poultry feed business dropped in the early 1960's, the mill began manufacturing other feeds, such as horse, dog and cat food. The mill finally closed in 1974.

Originally there were five township committeemen who governed the township. In 1872 the number was reduced to four, and later to three, as it is at present.

Township meetings were usually held in Tuckahoe at the E.J. Steelman store. In 1922 meetings were transferred to Dorothy, where the attendance improved. Two of the committeemen at that time were Elia Clemenson and Rebecca Winston. Rebecca's father was Anderson Bourgeois, who had been a committeeman in 1908 to keep an eye on the family's vast land holdings.

Some of the more recent committeemen have Michale Oze, H.K. Lewis, John Brna, Roland Marsh, Joe Jobbagy, Geza Mihaly and the Merlock brothers.

Before Dorothy grew and Belcoville was conceived, voting for elections was done in Corbin City. Registration for World War I was also done there. The local induction center for the armed services was located in the Mays Landing Court House.

The Tax Collector

The tax collector's position was once part time, but more recently it has become a full time job with other duties, currently held by Mrs. Millie Messina of Belcoville.

Our collector at the turn-of-the-century (1899) was George Desker. Anderson Bourgeois held the position in 1909. In 1920, Lewis Beebe was tax collector, and in 1930 George Evans served before moving to Florida. In 1950 Chris Weiss served.

Township Fire Wardens

Fire wardens for both the Township and the New Jersey Forest Fire Service were changed frequently until John Brna's era, when John made it his lifelong profession, becoming District Fire Warden for the N.J. Fire Service and ultimately a Section Fire Warden. Some of the early wardens were:

1908: Tom Campbell (Tuckahoe)

1909-10: Joe Flanagan (Dorothy)

1911 and 1916: H.K. Lewis (Dorothy)

1928-1959: John Brna (Dorothy)

During the early days of our community, fire wardens were critical because there were no fire departments to be called upon for help. A warden had the authority to commandeer the public to fight fires with basic tools and a tank of water strapped to the back. Later, a 4-wheel drive truck was acquired. This was capable of manoeuvering through the woods with two guides using axes to clear out saplings in the way.

Occasionally there was a severe forest fire that threatened the heavily wooded community. During a 1910 local fire, fighters were paid $.15/hour, and the warden (Joe Flanagan) received $.20/hour. The cost to the township for that particular fire was $65.99.

Fires of major proportions included one around 1929 when the fire burned right up to many Dorothy poultry buildings, and everyone was fetching buckets of water from hand pumps to drench the buildings' roofs and sides. Others forest fires occurred in 1959 and 1966. The latter might have destroyed the entire town if it hadn't been stopped at Pennsylvania Avenue by fire companies from Atlantic, Cumberland, Salem, Cape May and Gloucester Counties, as well as the Forest Service.

Road Overseer

The position of Township Road Overseer generally appeared to be a political appointment, and consequently overseers were changed often. The first supervisors were Gus Yanke (Dorothy, 1905), followed by Tom Campbell (Tuckahoe, circa 1909). At that point the work consisted of supervising several gangs of men who labored with shovels and axes to fill the ruts after a rain and keep the road right-of-way open and clean of encroaching brush and weeds.

There might have been more than one overseer prior to 1925, when Estelle Manor split from the township. After the separation, the dirt roads remained basically in Dorothy. Things did improve once the sandy Tuckahoe Road was gravelled, and 12th Avenue never looked better than when Serbeck scraped it twice a day travelling to and from his home enroute to his labors with the machine.

In 1935 Edmund Seelman had a serious $10,000 farm fire. As a result of this, the insurance company stated it would not renew any farm insurance in the area as long as there was no local fire fighting equipment in existence. Prior to this time, (1920-1935) Dorothy had been relying on the Belcoville Fire Company to come to its assistance. Unfortunately, a building could burn to the ground before Belcoville's fire engines were able to arrive.

Thus, out of necessity, a fire company was conceived and incorporated in Dorothy. The first officials elected were John Brna (then the Forestry Service Fire Warden), President; Edmund Seelman, Vice President; Tom Lewis, Secretary; Frank Kiss (of 14th Avenue), Treasurer.

In 1936 the Township extended $4,400 to the Dorothy Fire Company to pay for a new, 1936 Chevrolet pumper (which had a 500 gallon water tank and cost $1,275), and the chassis ($865). The equipment was made by the Philadelphia Truck Works. I believe Harry Bullock handled the transaction and also donated $4,100. He was made a member of the new organization.

In 1937 the volunteers built the original Fire House with two bays on land (centrally located on Tuckahoe Road near 11th Avenue) donated by Matthew Hanus (a neighbor). The building has been enlarged several times to include more bays, a large meeting room, and space to store the ambulance.

In February, 1955, the Fire Company converted a used oil truck into a 1,000 gallon water tanker, giving the Company a 1,500 gallon capacity on wheels. An acre of ground was also donated by the Township, providing more room for parking and space for future additions.

The Dorothy Fire Company later upgraded its service by adding a foam dispenser for gas and oil fires, and carbon dioxide pumps. The Company cooperates with adjacent community fire departments, an essential during serious home or forest fires. It also maintains ambulance and Rescue Squad services.

The latest addition to the Company is the September, 1993, acquisition of a larger pumper. The KMC Freightliner crew cab fire truck (over $170,000) is a multi-purpose pumper with a capacity of 1,200 gallons of water. The truck also incorporates the latest in fire fighting technology hardware.

Elwood Seelman, the Fire Chief, was appointed in 1951 and in 1969 named permanent Chief. Elwood eats and sleeps his fire fighting work, as well as keeping an eye on the impressive list of current equipment: a 1953 Dodge brush truck; a 1963 GMC fire truck; a 1986 Chevy rescue truck; a 1987 GMC ambulance; and, of course, the new, 1993 KMC Freightliner pumper.

The munitions buildings consisted of eleven units, each independent of the others. There were eleven changing houses for the 1,650 men already in residence to put on their required working clothes. The finished buildings had a total production capacity of 25,000-75mm, 12,000-155mm and 4,000-8" or larger shells per day. The first 155 mm shells were loaded on July 1, 1918.

Transportation to Belcoville became a problem. During the construction phase, as many as forty trucks were used to transport men from the Mays Landing Station. The labor force included men and women inexperienced with outside work.

By the time the Armistice was signed on November 11, 1918, ending the war, the Belcoville complex was completed and the plant continued to operate for a time.

A number of Dorothy people found work at Belcoville, including the Jupin boys and Pete Merlock (who was only fifteen at the time, but looked older). Pete loaded the 6"-9" shells on a conveyor belt. He remembered that everything was made of wood or brass to prevent dangerous sparks. He also remembered the daily emergency evacuation drills. Second floor workers would jump through opened windows onto stainless steel chutes and slide outside into four-foot-deep protective ditches on the ground. Some of the buildings even had moats around them.

When the war effort was finally terminated, most of the workers left Belcoville. Vacant homes were dismantled in large sections, sold (quite reasonably for $300-$500), and carted off by horse and wagon. A number of the houses were purchased by Dorothy residents. Michael Oze, for instance, bought three and erected them (adding basements) on 11th Avenue west of Tuckahoe Road. He lived in one and sold the other two to Mr. Kuhar and Mr. Grossheim (later bought by Mihaly). Mr. Huttle's former home on 12th Avenue is one the larger, two-story buildings. William Brown's home in town (later bought by George Base) was another one.

A few new homes have been built since in the Belcoville area, but more were constructed in the wooded area adjacent to the Tuckahoe River. The Lenape Landing Development was also established on the north side of town.

The original plant area and the unused proving grounds were acquired by Atlantic County from the government for use as a public park. The old building foundations are still visible (along with the ruins of a nineteenth century glassworks), although overgrown with brush and trees.

The Belcoville Volunteer Fire Company

A new Fire Department was initiated and incorporated in April, 1923, by a group of residents including Messrs. Charles Wolfe Sr. (the first Fire Chief, who was followed in 1941 by Chief Iversen until his retirement in 1991), Frye, Fox, Wigglesworth, Kinery, Wilson and others. Having organized excellent Township support, the group obtained the use of the old Bethlehem Loading Company Fire House building for their headquarters. They proceeded to order a new 1923 Ford Model ``T'' fire truck chassis for $482.02. Also ordered was a 250 gallon Hale pump (with a 30 gallon capacity), without a tank, as the new Fire Company had access to fire hydrants from the government installation. This equipment was mothballed in 1952 and sold for scrap for $50, when a new Diamond T fire truck was purchased.

The Fire Company progressively has improved its equipment. It now owns a 1967 Keiser Brush Truck, a 1970 GMC Pumper (1,000 gallons capacity), a 1983 Ford Fire Truck and a 1990 GMC van ambulance. The Company still uses the original, 1918 Bethlehem Loading Company building, although it is getting too small and short for larger modern equipment.

The Belcoville Fire Company building was also used for other purposes over the years. The Belcoville Community Church held services on the second floor in 1947, and an emergency generator set and emergency food supplies were also stockpiled in the building.

Like Elwood Seelman in Dorothy, Chief Walter Iversen was the driving force in Belcoville. He modernized and managed the Fire Company for many years. Iversen was made ``Chief for Life'' and awarded the ``Order of Old Weymouth''. Belcoville also bestowed upon him the honorary title Colonel, one of the four men so honored to date. Chief Walter Iversen passed away in 1993 and is sorely missed. Fortunately, he was succeeded as Fire Chief by Roland Marsh, also the long time Mayor of Weymouth Township.

Boy Scout Troop #62 was chartered and granted to the Weymouth Township PTA in 1953. The original groundwork was begun by Mr. and Mrs. Lou Paull to organize the Cub Scouts. Abner Nye became the first Scoutmaster. He served for one year, helping to charter the new Troop. On the Scout Committee were Lou Paull, Ben Netolicka and Joe Dinofilio, among others. The earliest Scouts included Jeff Carlson, Clem and John Lisitski and Bub Seelman. The Troop consisted of about twelve members from Dorothy and Belcoville and the meetings were alternated between the Dorothy School and the Legion Hall in Belcoville.

At one of the annual Blue and Gold Dinners, Scoutmaster Steve Csere had his Troop honor the original Scoutmasters, from 1953 to date. Each Scout presented a resume of a past Scoutmaster:

As an engineer and strong believer in self improvement, I emphasized the boys' learning skills during my tenure. The Scouts studied for and earned many merit badges, resulting in the first Eagle Scout Award for the Dorothy Troop (Rob Csere), and another Scout who almost achieved the same distinction (Benny Ash). The Scout Committee consisting of Gene Read, Ted Szigethy, Bela Cherry and myself were responsible for testing the boys for merit badge advancements.

During my term the Troop began using Gene Read's old quarters for meetings, which some of the scouts helped to repaint. Swimming parties were held each year at the YMCA pools in Atlantic City and Vineland. We combined with other local Scouts and had successful affairs with Mr. and Mrs. Chuck Belanger (Belcoville teachers) as instructors. Troop #62 also participated in all the Camporees and won more than its share of awards. In 1963 the school bus took the Scouts to a circus in Philadelphia. In 1964 we made a canoe trip from Weymouth down to Mays Landing (when the Scoutmaster stood up and tipped over the canoe!) In February, 1965, the Scouts camped overnight at the Dorothy Gun Club. In the autumn of 1965 we camped overnight at Estelle Manor at 1st Avenue and Tuckahoe River.

Annual Blue and Gold Dinners were continued. During one outstanding event the boys created a small planetarium and took turns showing different constellations.

Regarding the eleven acre Boy Scout property received from the Township: surveyor friends Harry Duberson and Al Scull came from Mays Landing to survey the property gratis. The Scouts helped to cut the lines and completed about half the project. The Troop also began clearing the area and planted one hundred white pine seedlings in 1966. Unfortunately, the forest fire later that year destroyed most of the seedlings, sparing only a few along the road. Eventually, when later Scouting interest waned, this beautiful property reverted back to the Township.