Cooper B. Hatch

COOPER BROWNING. HATCH, one of Camden's leading citizens in the late 19th and early 20th century. He was born to Joseph and Mary Hatch, and was born in the then farmhouse that now houses the Camden County Historical Society. Joseph Hatch owned a great deal of land in what is now East Camden, and Cooper B. Hatch grew up in the farmhouse which has stood since the 1890s at 2677 Mickle Street. 

Cooper B. Hatch became involved in politics early in life. he served on the Board of Freeholders and on City Council, finally being elected mayor of the City of Camden in 1898. During his term, which ended in 1902, the Manual Training and High School was built, at the corner of Haddon and Newton Avenues. This building would serve as Camden's high school until the completion of the current Camden High School at Park and Baird Boulevards in 1918. It was the renamed Clara Burrough Junior High School.

Cooper B. Hatch promoted other projects while mayor of Camden, including the first asphalt paving in the city, and improvements to the municipal water system. After leaving the Mayor's office, Cooper Hatch continued in public service, serving as the Sheriff of Camden County from 1908 to 1911.

Cooper B. Hatch sat on the Board of Directors of the Security Trust Company bank, at 301 Market Street in 1916.

A lifelong bachelor, Cooper B. Hatch later lived near Diamond Cottage Park. He spent the later years of his life living at 206 North 6th Street in Camden, with his mother and sister. He passed away on February 15, 1922.

Other members of the Hatch family played a prominent role in Camden's history. Uncle Hugh Hatch was the proprietor of the Fairview Brick Works, whose offices were at 14th and Federal Street, while nephew Hugh Morgan Hatch, who with J.R. Mick, founded Camden's pioneer Buick Agency, New Jersey Auto Supply, a dealership which stood for many years at Delaware Avenue between George and Market Street, before moving to Federal Street at Wright Avenue in the early 1940s. Another nephew, Isaiah S. Hatch, the brother of Hugh Morgan Hatch, served as Camden County's sheriff from 1920 to 1923, was a co-founder of the Merchants Trust bank and in later years ran the Hatch family's brick works in Pennsauken, New Jersey.

Cooper B. Hatch Middle School which stands on the northwest corner of Park Boulevard and Bradley Avenue in the Parkside section of Camden NJ was named for him, and was completed in 1924.

Philadelphia Inquirer * February 11, 1890

...continued...

Philadelphia Inquirer - December 28, 1890

Philadelphia Inquirer - January 3, 1895

Philadelphia Inquirer - May 1, 1896

Philadelphia Inquirer
June 12, 1897

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of the Complete Article

Philadelphia Inquirer
February 2, 1898

John Campbell, Jr. - John Blowe
Henry B. Wilson Sr. 
J. Willard Morgan
Harry Wolfe - Christopher J. Mines Jr.
John L. Westcott - Isaac Doughten
R.H. Reeve - Thaddeus P. Varney

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Cooper B. Hatch - Lewis H. Mohrman - Maurice Rogers
Charles M. Baldwin - Jesse C. Bond - Camden Republican Club

E.G.C. Bleakly
Isaac M. Shreeve
William K. Burrough
Harry F. Silvers
Cooper B. Hatch
William H. Sparks
Dr. Henry H. Davis
Irving Buckle
Ralph L. Bond
J. Fred Voight
John Heffernan
Thomas Stockham
Joseph Robinson
A. Lincoln James
Edward McCabe
McCabe's Saloon - Market Street
John J. "Limpy" Logan
John J. Browning
I. Newton Hillman - Hilton Taylor

Adrian Bateman
Cooper B. Hatch
William Comley

Camden Post
July 1, 1898

Cooper B. Hatch
Thomas Cunningham
Alexander Osborne
Frederick Triplett
John G. Leitenberger
Camillus Appley
Charles Henry Peters
Harry Miller
John Sailor
Nelson W. Hubbs
Josiah Sage
Thomas Pooley
Thomas Buchanan
Samuel Dodd

Philadelphia Inquirer - July 6, 1898

Cooper B. Hatch - Harry C. Kramer - Councilman Taylor

John Foster - H. Frank Pettit 
Cooper B. Hatch - Joseph Nowrey
J. "Denny" Clark
Frank Rawle - Annie Murray
South 6th Street - Spruce Street
South 2nd Street - Chestnut Street

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of Complete Article

Philadelphia
Inquirer

September 2, 1898

Cooper B. Hatch
Samuel Dodd
John Foster
William Hart

Philadelphia Inquirer
December 22, 1898

William Ilgenfritz - Jacob N. Wise
Charles Gordon - Victor Kline
Charles E. Wilson - Bessie Hughes
Mrs. Marshall
Cooper B. Hatch
John Foster
Harry C. Kramer
J. WIllard Morgan
Charles Baron - George Cooper
Harry Miller - George Anderson
Edward Hartmann
James Ware
Joseph Nowrey
Mickle Street
Delaware Avenue - Market Street
South 9th Street
Ferry Avenue
Vine Street
Front Street
Arch Street

Philadelphia Inquirer - May 14, 1899

Cooper B. Hatch - G.A.R. Post No. 102
G.A.R. Post No. 37 - G.A.R. Post No. 5 - G.A.R. Post No. 51  

Philadelphia Inquirer - June 1, 1899

Cooper B. Hatch - Samuel Paul - Camden Home for Friendless Children

Cooper B. Hatch
William Lyons
William Thompson
A. Lincoln James
Isaac Toy
James Tatem
Casper Hart
Thomas Brothers
George Purnell
John Anderson
Alfred S. Snow - David Clark
Thomas Reed
Howard McPherson
Edward R. Thomas
John Zane
William Horner

Cooper B. Hatch - George W. Whyte
William Penn Hook & Ladder Company No. 1
First Baptist Church - Edgar Bolton
John W. Vanhart - W. Scott Franklin
Benjamin Kellum - Charles Robinson
George B. Wade - Albert Jones
George Cox - Edward Weston
Samuel Peoples - Harry B. Middleton
Harry Burroughs - Robert W. Colkett
William G. Hillman - James E. Navin
Charles Todd - Daniel Smith
Peter B. Carter - Alfred Hayden
Henry Elliott - Josiah Sage
Samuel Price - William Rose
Charles Sturgis - Daniel Grimes
Harry Wagner - Augustus Kester
William Simpson

November 28, 1899

Cooper B. Hatch - George W. Whyte
Edgar Boulton - John W. Vanhart
W. Scott Franklin - Robert Gick
Joseph Till
Edward Kelly - Christian Stark
Samuel Collins - William Madison
John F. Renner - Josiah Pedigree
Charles Robinson - George B. Wade
Albert Jones - George Cox
Edward Weston - Samuel Peoples

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to Download PDF of Article

Philadelphia Inquirer
February 20, 1900

Arthur Stanley - Lewis H. Leigh
Frazier Baker - Edwin Hillman
John Harris - Henry C. Moffett
George Emory - James Scanlin
John Foster - John Carmany
Cooper B. Hatch - Isaac V. Bradley
William B. Carter - William Keaser
Theodore Less - William Kiesel
Robert Smith - .G. Locke
Harry Silvers - William Z. Gibson
Benjamin Lawton - Edwin Stevens
Benjamin E. Mellor - William B. Cannon

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Philadelphia Inquirer * July 4, 1900

 Philip Schmitz - Rev. C.B. Fisher - Cooper B. Hatch
Wilson H. Jenkins - J. Frederick Voigt

Philadelphia Inquirer - September 14, 1900

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Cooper B. Hatch  - Rev. Dr. S.H. Hann
Camden County Law and Order League

Jackson Street
Colonel D.B. Murphy
Jennings Third Regiment Band
John Foster
Arthur Stanley - William E. Albert
Hugh Boyle
Sergeant Horner - Sergeant Bentley
George A. Donovan
Edward S. Hyde
Samuel S. Elfreth
Samuel Buzine - Benjamin Kellum
Ivy Fife & Drum Corps
Cooper B. Hatch

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Philadelphia Inquirer
September 22, 1901

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Philadelphia Inquirer - August 3, 1902

Philadelphia Inquirer
February 19, 1905

Samuel B.F. Alcott
Arthur Stanley
Cooper B. Hatch
John Miller
William Morris
Joseph Nowrey

Cooper B. Hatch  
Arthur Stanley
Charles H. Ellis
Edward Hyde

Philadelphia Inquirer
February 21, 1905

Cooper B. Hatch
Joseph W. Cooper
Harry Burke
Carman Street
Homer W. Snyder
Walnut Street wharf
Annie Craig
Frank B. Sitley

Cooper B. Hatch  - Wilbur F. Rose
Joseph Batten - Thomas Bowers
George M. Cline  - Monroe S. Coulter
George S. Cadwallader - Samuel R. Coles
Howard A. Clement - John W. Croft
Charels A. Greer - Isaiah S. Hatch
Joseph E. haines - William Heggan Sr.
Pank R. Jobes - Joseph I. Morris
John M. McFeeley - William P. Phelps
Cornelius Schepperkotter
Charles C. Stevenson
William F. Thompson
George W.. Turner
Everett Van Dright
Charles S. Wolverton
Howard T. Wright

Philadelphia Inquirer * September 20, 1911

Philadelphia Inquirer - November 13, 1911

Alfred C. Kraft - William J. Kraft
Joseph Forsyth - Joseph Nowrey
Cooper B. Hatch

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Bank Directory - March-December 1916

Cooper Street

Camden Courier-Post
Evening Courier - April 23, 1928

It is not so many years ago, old timers say, since Fetters School at Third and Mount Vernon Street was considered large enough to accommodate youngsters for several generations. Now a six-room annex is to be built on the north side facing Walnut Street. Back in 1905 five rooms were added in the annex on Mount Vernon Street. With the new structure the school will contain 19 rooms, which would have thought far too large for a high school in the 90s, when Camden had its first experiment in that line. That was in the old Federal Street building later occupied by the Post-Telegram

Half a Century Ago

When Fetters School was built in 1875 it was considered about the last word as far as a school structure went. It was of stone, solidly constructed and furnished with gas, running water, and everything then regarded as thoroughly modern. The largest school downtown was the old Kaighn building on Newton Avenue, until the 1870s ample for the Kaighn Point area.

There were plenty of open lots when the Fetters School was built. Those days Camden was something of a struggling community with districts that had not yet lost their individuality. As a pupil in the early 90s in old Fetters  I recall the section had many open spaces. Nothing remotely suggested the part-time classes was then necessary, certainly not thought of by Professor Horatio Draper, of blessed memory, who guided Camden’s educational system more than 30 years before he was displaced by the late Mayor Hatch at the close of the last century

Nothing had then been heard of a “melting pot” as applied to America and its schools. But around Kaighn Point even in the 80s there was the first evidence of a great influx of those from across the seas who were soon to follow the old families, who’s children were to enter that melting pot and become transformed into American citizens

The Melting Pot

The Fuhrmans, Auerbachs, Lichtensteins were among the first I recall. Many others followed; especially from the Russian Polish district where life was hard and oppression severe. Came the immigrant wave from South Italy whose descendants long since have taken possession of the district spreading from Third and Pine, once the stronghold of English, German, and Irish families. In a police census a quarter of a century ago it developed that the Fifth Ward could boast representatives from every nation on the face of the globe, even to a Finlander, some Turks with Japs and Chinese commonplace.

It was about the period when Miss Clara S. Burrough, long principal of the High School and now recovering from an operation in Cooper Hospital, was principal of Fetters that the big change came that the classes were composed largely of children of foreign parentage. Often they did not know a single world of English. Teachers had their problems and Miss Burrough will undoubtedly recall the great task involved in really making the “melting pot” down there in the old school at Third and Mount Vernon Street effective. But she and the valiant corps under here direction tackled it and by the time Miss Burrough was elevated to the principalship of Camden High, a very deserved promotion, by the way, the problem had been totally solved.

Hot Times in the Old Town

Incidentally Miss Burrough will likewise recall the hectic conditions in more ways than one for the period marked turmoil in the educational world hereabouts. “Old Drape” had been fired overnight by Hatch, indignation meetings were held, demands were made for his reinstatement but the Committee of Public Instruction, headed by the late C.S. Magrath, named by Hatch, naturally followed his direction. Martin Scheibner, a long, white-whiskered veteran of the Civil War, was named as Draper’s successor. But it was worse than handling a drove of wild horses. The venerable professor soon bowed out of the scene. It was not until the advent of Professor James E. Bryan that something like peace came. Bryan's firm hand plus extraordinary ability and a determination not to surrender despite scholastic bedlam finally won.

But even yet, old friends of “Drape's” who knew him in Fetters or in the makeshift “high school” have not forgotten the bitterness, have not forgiven the shabby way in which that fine Southern gentleman was treated. I recall him down at Fetters, sometimes with his setters on which he placed much store; often with a humorous story, which probably didn’t contribute to strict school, discipline but which certainly left fragrant memories of days long ago.

C.S. Magrath - Martin Scheibner - Fuhrman Family - Lichtenstein Family

2677 Mickle Street - The Joseph Hatch House

The Joseph Hatch House dates back to at least 1875, and was the center of one of several large farms that were a part of what was Stockton Township, present day East Camden.

The house was the home for many years of Michael J. Jubanyik, a successful builder in the 1930s, 1940s. Younger members of the Jubanyik family went into the practice of law in New Jersey 

This house sits at the north end of Eutaw Street, between Grand Street and South 27th Street. 

Photographs
taken
March 14, 2004

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This school was known as
Junior High School Number 1
after 1918, and later as
Clara S. Burrough Junior High School

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Isaac B. Hatch
&
Cooper B. Hatch

Joseph J. Hatch
&
Mary L. Hatch

Rebecca Hatch
&
Caroline S. Hatch

Mary Hatch
&
Louisa Hatch Forsyth