Nicholas
J.
Donahoe

NICHOLAS J. DONAHOE, sometimes referred to as Nicholas J. Donahue, operated a restaurant in East Camden and was involved in real estate in Camden in after coming to the city in the late 1890s. He was born in Pennsylvania in, according to the 1900 Census, December of 1860.

Nicholas Donahoe operated a restaurant in Townsend's Inlet, near Ocean City, New Jersey in the 1890s. This business was destroyed by a storm, possibly a hurricane, in the late 1890s. He attempted to procure a liquor license in April of 1897 but was rejected in October of that year. He did hold a license in 1898 in Sea Isle City in 1898. He was fined in October of that year for selling liquor on Sunday.

Nicholas Donahoe and his sister Ellen came to what is now East Camden, then still the Town of Stockton, and opened up an oyster restaurant at 2402 Federal Street shortly before the compilation of the 1898 City Directory. In 1900 he opened up a cigar store at 2404 Federal Street and operated both businesses in these premises into 1902. He then acquired two properties across the street, one being 2407 Federal Street, built in 1897 as a firehouse occupied by Stockton Hose Company No. 2, and the other, 2409 Federal Street, which appears to have been an empty lot until his purchase. A two story building was erected on this site, where Nicholas Donahue operated a restaurant through at least 1913. He  conducted his cigar business at 2407 Federal Street through 1917, and also rented out space in the building, which had become to be known as Donahoe's Hall. Ellen Donahoe passed away in November on 1919 and was buried at Calvary Cemetery in Delaware Township (present day Cherry Hill), New Jersey. 

Nicholas Donahoe sold his real estate holdings in during the 1925-1926 real estate boom, and lodged for a time at 308 North 27th Street, then, with age taking its toll, moved to Philadelphia to stay with a nephew. John Donahoe, in Philadelphia. This did not go well, and he went to live, on the advice of his lawyer, Raymond Donges, on Chincoteague Island in Virginia, where he passed away on September 12, 1927.

There was controversy surrounding Nicholas Donahue in his last days, as his nephew attempted to, by ruse, kidnap him and take him back to Philadelphia, apparently in an effort to secure his estate.