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George
Reeser Prowell wrote about the two companies in his History of
Camden County, New Jersey which was published in 1886.
The
Independence Fire Company No. 1, organized with Lambert F. Beatty, president;
William S. Frazer, secretary ; and Joseph Wagner,
treasurer. Among the early members were Jacob
Prettyman, David Page, Thomas Stites, Andrew
Stilwell, Francis E. Harpel, Restore Cook, John
Wallace, Claudius W. Bradshaw,
William H. Hawkins, Christopher J. Mines, Henry Bradshaw,
William E. Walls, William Howard, Albert Dennis, Elwood Bounds, Samuel H. Stilwell, Albert
V. Mills, Robert S. Bender, Lewis Yeager,
Thomas
McCowan and William W. Mines. The company
met in a building at Third Street and Cherry for
a year, when it was burned. Lewis Yeager gave
the company free use of a lot on Third Street,
above Cherry, where an engine-house of slabs,
donated by Charles Stockham, was built. In 1853
a lot on Cherry
Street, above Third, was purchased
and on it a frame house was built. This was
used until 1859, when, owing to a defect in the title, the sheriff advertised the property for sale.
When he reached the ground on the day of the
sale he found the house, with its contents, and a number of the members of the company, on an
adjoining lot belonging to James B. Dayton, who
permitted the action. The following year, 1860,
they bought and built, on the north side of Pine
Street, above Fourth, a three-story brick, then the
most complete fire-engine house in Camden, and
which was sold for four thousand five hundred dollars to the city. The Independence was a
hose
company until June 4, 1864, when they secured an
Amoskeag engine, being the first fire-engine in
use by the fire companies of Camden. Early in 1869 they purchased a larger engine and when
the volunteer firemen were scattered, in the latter
part of that year, they sold the Amoskeag to Millville, and the later purchase was kept until 1874,
when it was sold to the city. Lambert F. Beatty, John Wallace, William H.
Hawkins, J. Kelly
Brown, William W.
Mines
and Edward Gilbert were presidents of the Independence, while its secretaries have been
William L. Frazer, William W.
Mines, Mortimer C.
Wilson and Thomas
McCowan ; and the treasurers Joseph Wagner and
Robert S. Bender, who,
elected in 1854, served until October 13, 1874,
when, with a roll of sixty members, they met.
President Gilbert in the chair, paid all claims
against them and formally disbanded.
On July 4, 1852,
the Fairmount Fire Company was organized by
William C. Figner (president), William J. Miller
(secretary), Frederick Breyer (treasurer), William
H. Hawkins, John W. Hoey, Henry A. Breyer and
Alfred H. Breyer. They rented a one-story frame
building on Pine Street, below Third, which the
Shinier had vacated, and the City Council gave
them the old Fairmount engine. George W. Watson, Anthony R. Joline, Thomas Francis, John L.
Ames, George W. Howard, William F. Colbert,
Francis Fullerton, John S. Boss, Joshua Spencer,
Lawrence Breyer, William H. Lane and James
Scout were enrolled as additional members. On
February 17, 1853, a charter of incorporation was
obtained, and on February 10, 1854, the name of
the company was changed to " United States Fire
Company, No. 5." James Scout was chosen president, and George Deal, secretary. They secured
a first-class engine, bought ground and built a commodious two-story frame house at No.
231 Pine
Street, which continued to be the headquarters of
the company until it disbanded, with the other
volunteer fire companies, in 1869.
A
saddler by trade, William Hawkins served as a constable in
Camden's Middle Ward in the late 1860s and early 1870s, and in the
late 1870s was a member of Camden's police department. As stated
above, son J.
Miller Hawkins served with the Camden Fire Department, for
approximately a year from his initial appointment in May of
1876.
The
Hawkins family was living on or near the northwest
corner of Broadway and Mickle Street in 1875. The
Hawkins family moved around quit often in the 1870s, 1880s, and
into the 1890s. City Directories from the years between 1878 and
1897 record no less than nine different addresses. In 1878 the
family was at 35 Broadway, in 1879 and 1880 they were at 22
Haddon
Avenue, in 1881 the address was 726 Federal
Street, 833 Bridge
Avenue in 1883. The 1884 Directory shows the Hawkins family at 218
Amber Street, and at 208 Point Street in 1885. By 1888 the family
had gone to 218 Royden
Street, and 1890 saw them at 136 Mount
Vernon Street. By July of 1890 they had again relocated, this time
to 1024 South 2nd
Street. By the latter half of 1892 the Hawkins
family was living at 814 Market
Street. From
1883 through 1887, City Directories show William H. Hawkins
working as a watchman at the Camden
Safe Deposit Company bank, which in time became known as the Camden
Trust. Thomas
McCowan, who had been a member of Independence
Fire Company No. 1 with William H. Hawkins, was a co-worker at the
bank. The
1888-1889 City Directory shows that he had gone back to work as a
saddler. He was working in that profession when, in 1890, despite
being over 60 years of age, he secured an appointment to the
Camden Fire Department. He worked for the department into 1891,
most likely in the role of a houseman, whose job it was to secure
the firehouse once the apparatus and firefighters had left
quarters. William H. Hawkins secured another government posy in
1892 when he went to work as a messenger in Vice Chancellor's
Court. He served as the Court's Sergeant-at-Arms in 1894 and 1895.
The 1896 Camden City Directory states that he was once again
working for the Camden Fire Department, as a houseman. No
occupation is given in the 1897 Directory. The 1898 Directory
states that William H. Hawkins was working as a clerk. William
H. Hawkins' son J.
Miller Hawkins died on October 3, 1897 and was buried at Harleigh
Cemetery. The Hawkins remained at 814 Market Street into
1898, then moved to 411 Arch Street
the following year. William
H. Hawkins passed away on June 14, 1901.
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