Posted by beachwoodhistoricalalliance on August 29, 2012
Francis R. “Frank” Clancy, 82, of Toms River, passed away Tuesday, August 28, 2012. Mr. Clancy owned and operated Clancy’s Pharmacy in Beachwood from 1962 until he retired in 2002. He was a true old town Pharmacist who was trusted and loved by the people of Beachwood. He was a communicant of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Toms River. Born in Jersey City, he grew up in Linden moving to Toms River in 1957.
He was predeceased by his beloved wife Corrine in 1982. Francis is survived by his two sons, Dr. Kevin Clancy and his wife Deborah of Toms River, and Stuart Clancy and his wife Kathleen of Pine Beach; a sister, Patricia Annette Clancy of New Mexico; he was a devoted and loving grandfather to his six grandchildren, Meghan, Colleen, Patrick, Michael, Erin, Heather, and his great granddaughter, Kaylee.
Visitation will be held Thursday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 pm at Kedz Funeral Home, 1123 Hooper Ave., Toms River. A funeral liturgy will be offered 10:00am Friday at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Hooper Ave., Toms River followed by burial at St. Joseph’s Cemetery. Letters of condolence may be sent by visiting www.kedzfuneralhome.com.
Photo was taken Fall 2009 in the window of his former longtime pharmacy storefront for the Beachwood Historical Alliance.
Posted by beachwoodhistoricalalliance on July 14, 2010
This article originally appeared in the Riverside Signal on July 13th, 2010. It has been reprinted below. The Riverside Signal can be found at www.RiversideSignal.com
by Erik Weber
BEACHWOOD – Last week, thousands of area residents lined the banks and side streets along the Toms River to witness the borough’s Fourth of July fireworks display, here.
Many in attendance likely did not know that the show, which today is a carefully planned and executed annual volley of pyrotechnic glory put on by a professional contractor, holds roots dating back to earlier days of the borough fire company, when million-dollar event insurance was a fantasy, funds for each successive year were collected by passed-around tin cans, and the explosives were purchased and transported from Maryland in the back of a station wagon.
Fireworks on the Toms River: A Look Back
George W. Symington, a 56-year member and past chief of the borough fire company, recalled earlier incarnations of the fireworks display and Fourth of July daytime games, which have not been held for many years.
Confirming earlier memories given by Beverly Clayton, a borough councilwoman, lifetime resident and current member of the borough fireworks committee, he said that the earlier fireworks displays were dug into the sand at the beach and then lit by members of the fire company with cigars.
“We had a few close calls, but thank God nobody ever got hurt bad,” the past fire chief said. “But then, we were very good at it.”
He said that the collection of funds for the following year’s display started even while the current year’s show was going on.
“We had rowboats with outboard motors on them, and four containers, and we went to every boat in the water,” Mr. Symington said. “There used to be, oh God, hundreds of boats out there – you almost could walk across river on top of the boats.”
“While that was going on, other people in the fire company auxiliary went anyplace [the fireworks] could be seen from,” he continued. “They walked the beach up to Toms River, down past the golf course to Point ‘O’ Woods and down the river on this side to Pine Beach.”
“Whatever we collected – nickels, dimes, quarters, maybe $1,000 or $1,500 – all had to be hand counted and hand rolled and taken to the bank,” the longtime fire company member said. “That’s what we used for the next year’s fireworks.”
After sufficient funds were totaled and deposited, he said that he would order next year’s batch from Keystone Fireworks of Pennsylvania, who would ship them down near the state border at Elkton, Maryland. Mr. Symington then jumped in his station for the over two-hour drive.
The Delaware Memorial Bridge.
“The station wagon would be loaded from front to back, top to bottom, with just enough room for me to sit and drive,” he recalled. “I would then drive across the Delaware Memorial Bridge, stop for lunch with the loaded car sitting there in the parking lot, and then when I got home I loaded it all into the basement of my house for safe keeping til the Fourth of July.”
“It could probably have put the house in orbit if it ever caught fire,” the past fire chief speculated, laughing about his memories driving the explosives cache across the interstate bridge and leaving it to sit next to the diner where he ate lunch.
Fourth of July sack races at Beachwood Beach, circa 1940s.
When Independence Day finally arrived, he said, the entire waterfront was a beehive of activity for most of the day, with land and water games bringing many borough and area residents and their families out to celebrate the holiday together.
“The first aid squad and fire company went down to the ballpark on top of the hill there, and we ran the land games from 10 til noon,” Mr. Symington stated. “Three-legged races, egg tosses, stuff like that – then we went home for lunch.”
An hour later, he said, everyone returned to begin the water games.
“We had diving contests, swimming races, stuff like that until maybe about four,” the past chief continued. “Then at six we came back to the beach to start digging the trenches to put the steel mortars in.”
Crowds line the Beachwood Beach shoreline to view the water games, circa 1942. In this picture, spectators look on as the watermelon scramble takes place.
The size of the shot used at the time for the regular part of the show, he recalled, were between three and five inches in diameter, while the finale packs came in at about twelve.
“It was like a 60-shot finale, and we had to fuse them ourselves and tie the string around and make sure it was tight so that it carried from one twelve inch to the next,” Mr. Symington said. “Also, there used to be a permanent 8-foot by 10 foot floating dock in the water maybe 75 or 100 feet offshore, and in the afternoon myself, my son and a couple of firemen would float out on top of a rowboat and put two set pieces on top of it – one had the American flag, and the other said ‘Goodnight.’”
His son, George C. “Mickey” Symington, joined the fire company in 1979 and is today also a past chief.
As daylight turned to twilight and eventually night, the firemen were joined by first aid squad members who stood by as thousands of area residents and tourists filled the beach, bluffs and general waterfront areas, with hundreds more small craft moored offshore for the show.
As the show went on and the fund-raising cans were passed around the riverfront, Mr. Symington said he and his son would slip away and prepare for part of the grand finale.
“Pretty close to the end, my son and I would swim out on our backs with cigars in our mouths to the floating dock,” he recalled. “On my signal the guys on the shore would light off the finale, and as soon as the finale was just about done my son and I would light the two pieces, shake hands, dive the hell overboard and swim back.”
“We always shook hands,” he noted.
Longtime Beachwood resident Geoff Brown remembered watching the fireworks while growing up.
“As a family we watched the fireworks from the yacht club dock in the 50s [today the T-dock in front of the Community Center, which is the former site of the earlier yacht club building], as it was at the foot of our street, Brigantine,” he said. “The show was about 20 minutes [long] and always ended with a parachute with an American flag.”
“There were still few ‘speedboats’ on the river,” he added. “However, some would race in the dark to capture the flag.”
Above, a photo taken by Mr. Brown's my wife, Bunny, on Dec. 29, 1958, of the three Beachwood lifeguards of that summer. From left: Joe McCulley, Dave Melchinger and Bob Glenny. "Dave is Bunny's older brother. My sister Robin, then 8 years old, had a huge crush on the lifeguards, especially Dave."
Over the years, the past fire chief said, the culture of the waterfront and putting on the fireworks display changed with the introduction of more regulations, pollution of the Toms River by the Ciba-Geigy chemical plant and influx of new residents not as heavily involved in the annual tradition.
After the fire company stopped hosting the land and water games, he recalled, the borough recreation commission kept it up for a while but also eventually abandoned it due to lack of interest.
“I was also a lifeguard and we used to have about 400 people a day on that beach,” said Mr. Symington. “But then with people starting to get pools and Ciba dumping into the river, everything like that sort of dwindled down.”
“It’s a sin, we’ve got the most beautiful beach on the river and now it only gets about a half dozen people a day,” he added.
After a woman was killed as a result of a fireworks accident in the Seaside Heights area, Mr. Symington said, the fire company was told they would need to come up with a million-dollar insurance policy for the annual display.
From there, he stated, the borough established a “Bang Committee” with members of the fire company, first aid squad and other residents in town that was able to continue the annual event through sponsors and contracted pyrotechnic firms.
Fireworks on the Toms River: The Modern Era
Above, Beachwood’s Fireworks on the Toms River grand finale, as shot by YouTube member Stealthlsc.
Today, the fireworks display on the Toms River is still hosted by Beachwood Borough through the contemporary equivalent of the “Bang Committee,” said Gerald W. “Jerry” Lacrosse, a former councilman and current member of what is now called simply the Fireworks on the Toms River Committee.
With feedback from the 2010 display, particularly the grand finale, sitting squarely in the “very positive” end of the spectrum, he said the year-round work to hold the event was well worth it.
“I’ve gotten nothing but compliments on it,” the committee member said, adding that during the show, “the boats out in river just went bananas,” sounding horns and sirens and flashing lights, and that “the crowd was very pleased with it.”
Picking up where the fire company left off, he recalled that he was first asked to serve on the committee sometime in the early 1990s by then-Mayor William T. “Bill” Hornidge, who wanted to form a coalition committee with surrounding municipalities in order to meet the growing demand for regulation and high insurance costs.
Included in the early coalition were Dover Township Mayor Clarence E. “Bud” Aldrich III, Island Heights Mayor David Siddons, and Pine Beach Mayor Russell Corby.
“Those four guys put together what we call the ‘Fireworks on the Toms River Committee’, and off we went,” said Mr. Lacrosse, who said early sponsors were Adelphia Cable, before it was purchased and became Comcast Cable; the Asbury Park Press, before it was purchased and became a Gannett-run publication; and 92.7 WOBM. Comcast and 92.7 WOBM continue as sponsors today.
“It just snowballed – we hired professional pyrotechnic outfits to put on the show, rather than us going out and purchasing five, ten or fifteen thousand dollars’ worth of fireworks,” he continued, adding that a lot of contributions came in from area residents. “We had little canisters in a lot of different stores, and people put in dimes, quarters, dollars and whatever else, and we had enough to hire the companies that came in.”
In the years since the formation of the committee, the former councilman said, between four and five different pyrotechnic firms were hired. The current company, Pennsylvania-based Schaefer Pyrotechnics, was contracted for the 2010 through 2012 displays.
For about the past decade, he added, the committee and display have “mostly been a Beachwood effort,” as the original mayors from surrounding municipalities who formed the committee either retired or passed away. The current committee consists of former Beachwood mayor, Hal Morris, current Beachwood councilwoman, Beverly Clayton, Mr. Lacrosse and Kevin Williams from 92.7 WOBM.
Although sponsorship continues from some of the original corporate entities, “a good portion of the money that goes to put the show on comes from the general population,” Mr. Lacrosse said.
“It has always been a Beachwood kind of show, ever since the fire company started it way back when the Borough of Beachwood had their own committee that used taxpayer money [for funding],” he stated, noting that the scale of the display since the new committee took it over has increased. “I believe this year something like 7,200 shells went off, all in 27 minutes, so that’s a lot of booms going off in the air, that’s for darn sure.”
“And a lot of oohs and aahs, too,” the committee member added. “We tried to estimate the area of the sky they take up, and someone said 750 feet or more – that’s a huge explosion.”
In planning this year’s display, billed as the 70th but with acknowledgment that fireworks displays appear to have been hosted by Beachwood even earlier than 1940, Mr. Lacrosse said the committee “wanted something special – you have a lot to see in the finale, a lot of fireworks, but we said, ‘Can we throw in something a little different that people would remember for the next year, at least?’”
The result, he said, was a series of stars, hearts, and red, white and blue bursts alongside their regular synchronization to patriotic music played through 92.7 WOBM, both on the radio and through a sound system at the beach.
In the years since the current committee took on the task of providing the Toms River area with their yearly fix of explosions and color, the committee member noted that they had never once been rained out.
“We’ve come close, and it’s rained right up to the point where we were going to set them off, but we got a one-hour window where the rain stopped for the show, and twenty minutes after the grand finale, it came down in buckets,” he said, joking that he is in charge of the weather on the committee.
In the end, Mr. Lacrosse said, it’s the knowledge that borough and area residents will be able to go home with a smile on their face and the knowledge that next year the show will be there, in bigger and better form, to take their families and friends to.
Area residents interested in seeing the annual show continue to go on are encouraged to make their donations to Fireworks on the Toms River – Beachwood, c/o Beachwood Borough Hall, 1600 Pinewald Road, Beachwood, N.J. 08722. Contributions are accepted year-round.
Posted by beachwoodhistoricalalliance on November 8, 2009
Today we spotlight the work of Beachwood man Joseph Jerue, who was a builder, World War II veteran (along with both of his sons – one of whom, John, was lost during battle) and mayor of the borough.
Joseph Jerue in his official World War II service photo. This photo originally hung along those of other Beachwood servicemen in the Beachwood Circle Shop during the war.
In 1937, Mayor Jerue, then 41 years old, was named the builder of a prominent cultural site on Washington Street in downtown Toms River, the Community Theatre. To our benefit, its construction and featured amenities were detailed in an issue of Box Office Magazine in August of that year. Below you’ll find that article in full. We hope you enjoy this look back to an era and its architecture that one particularly prolific Beachwood resident helped make possible.
Reprinted material courtesy Ken Bacon and Box Office Magazine.
Toms River Community Theatre as it appeared after its construction, in 1937. Today it has been renovated into shops and eateries.
A new modern theatre with a seating capacity of 1,000 persons was recently erected on Washington Street in Toms River, New Jersey. Definitely out of the ordinary in design and decor, the new edifice reflects the most contemporary expressions of architectural composition.
It is operated by the American Community Theatres, Inc.
Unlike most modern theatres, with their brilliantly lighted marquees and electric signs over the entrance, this theatre with its simple Colonial front presents a decidedly novel appearance. Its architectural simplicity is pronounced.
The theatre is set back 30 feet from the sidewalk and the intervening portion of the property in front of the theatre is beautifully landscaped and circumvented by a flagged walk of unique design which serves as a delightful approach to and departure from the theatre.
The Washington Street facade is of red facebrick with white joints, in front of which is a beautifully designed Colonial portico done in wood and painted white.
The ticket booth is situated in the center of the entrance screen of doors. Lattice work above the entrance doors and the circular windows above the lattice work are constructed of wood and glass. All portico in wood and painted white, against the masterly executed red and white masonry background presents a simple but beautiful facade.
In the evening this facade is illuminated by flood lights which increase the beauty and interest of the architectural simplicity to a spectacular degree. The same simplicity of design is followed throughout the interior of the auditorium.
The sidewalls are of acoustical plaster integrally colored to a neutral shade. Subtly concealed vertical lighting troughs along the sidewalks are provided with varied colored lamps, lending a beautiful and variable color scheme to the interior.
The foyer, promenade, ladies’ cosmetic room and the men’s room are also of simple modern design, the beauty of which is greatly enhanced by exquisite lighting fixtures, carpets and furnishings.
The auditorium is provided with exceptionally wide chairs spaced to provide the maximum comfort for the patrons. The floors are carpeted with rich, heavy, exquisite carpet which helps to promote finer acoustical treatment for sound reception.
Particular attention was given to the gradient of the auditorium floor to insure every patron a perfect view of the screen, no matter where he is seated.
A new modern ventilating system was installed to assure the occupants of a healthful and comfortable atmosphere while they are being entertained. The projection room and sound equipment in this theatre are of the finest known to modern science.
The Toms River Community Theatre is a delightful example of the modern functionally furnished theatre. It was designed and erected under the supervision of Thomas W. Lamb, Inc., architects. The builder was Joseph E. Jerue, of Beachwood, N. J.
The Community Theatre's billing was found in this photograph taken in Disbrow's Market, on Beachwood Boulevard, one year after the above article was written - August 1938.
Posted by beachwoodhistoricalalliance on October 6, 2009
The next in our series of borough fire department related coverage for appreciation of their service (and of October being Fire Prevention Month), we present to you an article printed August 2, 1989 in the Asbury Park Press detailing the recognition of one borough resident’s quarter century of service to both the fire department and first aid squad.
Beachwood Woman Cited for Service Beyond the Call
by Kathie Reed
Press Staff Writer
Asbury Park Press
Wednesday, August 2, 1989
When M. Eileen Heeley moved to Beachwood with her family, she didn’t know many people.
So she joined the borough First Aid Squad and became involved with the Beachwood Fire Co. auxiliary.
Because of her more than two decades of service to both groups, Mrs. Heeley recently was named Beachwood’s Citizen of the Year.
“I still go to the building and help out, but I don’t run anymore with the ambulance,” said Mrs. Heeley, who became a member of the First Aid Squad in 1964. “I did run with the ambulance for about 24 years.”
The Heeleys moved to Beachwood from Emerson in 1962, and Mrs. Heeley, who had four school-age children at the time, took first aid courses with another woman in town.
After passing the course, she joined the squad.
“I was one of the main day people,” she said. “We had more calls than the night people because there was more going on” during the day.
She never tired of the work, and every day was different, she said.
“During the day, you could run from 10 to 15 (calls) or maybe just one,” she said.
“I remember one February, we had a storm, and I think every person in town slipped out their front door (and fell). I don’t think I got home that day at all.”
Summer was always the busiest season, however, with the influx of people and swimming and motor vehicle accidents, she said.
“When we started, we worked by telephone. They didn’t have pagers like they do today.”
“The sheriff would call one person and that person would call two more and you would go.”
Mrs. Heeley also was commended by Beachwood Police Chief John Moody a number of years ago for reviving a man using cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Although the man was initially saved, he died a few days later, she said.
Some other residents, including Genevieve Romer and Joseph Victoria, also have been members of the First Aid Squad about as long as she has, she said.
“I could never have done it without my children and my family helping me,” she said. “You have to have your family behind you.”
Her husband, Paul F., also was named Beachwood’s Man of the Year in 1980 and 1981. The title used to be Man of the Year or Woman of the Year before it was changed to Citizen of the Year.
He was honored for his service as an ambulance driver with the First Aid Squad, volunteer fireman, special policeman and civil defense volunteer. Today, he is an exempt fireman with the Beachwood Fire Co.
One of the Heeleys’ four children, Mark, also a Beachwood resident, is following in his parents’ footsteps as a volunteer with the Beachwood Fire Co.
Their other children are Paul H., Tuckerton; Martha R., Bloomfield; and Susan Kuriger, Mystic Islands.
Mrs. Heeley joined the Beachwood Fire Co. auxiliary about the same time she joined the First Aid Squad.
The auxiliary conducts fund-raisers for the fire company and helps out in other ways, such as providing coffee and food for firefighters at a fire if necessary.
“Years ago, they had a lot of big forest fires, and they would be out for hours and hours,” she said.
“When we came down here, Beachwood only went back about seven blocks. Now, there are about 15 or 16 blocks. It used to be like a forest back there.”
For the past 10 years, she also has been on the Local Assistance Board, which meets four or five times a year. She currently chairs the board.
Being named Citizen of the year is not the first honor Mrs. Heeley has received this year for her volunteer work.
In honor of Women’s History Month in March, she also was one of more than 30 women in the county to be named Hidden Heroines in recognition of their community involvement.
A month later, “Mrs. Heeley Day” was celebrated at Pine Beach School and one of the trees the students planted on Arbor Day was in her honor.
Mayor William T. Hornidge praised Mrs. Heeley’s dedication to others and the town, adding at least once a year she visits him and tells him about problems in the town.
“We’ll discuss things that she has seen or become aware of that could be a problem and almost always will have a recommendation for a cure,” he said.
One year, she brought to his attention that several streets in the borough were becoming unsafe.
“Upon inspection, in 99 cases out of 100, she was right,” he said, and the problems were corrected.
“You get a lot of people who complain about something,” he said. “She’s offering to help resolved potential problems, and that’s unique.”
“She’s that type of person. She cares.”
Mrs. Heeley passed away on August 11th, 2007, at the age of 83, after having retired to Whiting in 1993.
The above entry was compiled from items donated by the McCormick family.
Posted by beachwoodhistoricalalliance on August 19, 2009
From the pages of his own 1924 Beachwood Directory and Who’s Who, here is what William Mill Butler wrote about original residents Mr. and Mrs. Henry S. Gamp. This particular entry has been enhanced by multimedia not included in the original directory, having been provided this week by the Gamps’ great-granddaughter, a current resident of the borough.
Click on all the embedded links for a broader understanding of their lives and background:
Undated; possibly circa 1920s.
Gamp, Henry S., south corner Barnegat Boulevard and Spring St., Block D-25.
Gamp Bungalow, 1924. As has been the 21st Century trend, it was recently demolished for two massive homes. The home of the borough's second mayor, Edwin Collins, still stands behind it on the corner of Forepeak and Spring.
Mr. and Mrs. Gamp are both members of the Beachwood Property Owners’ Association.
The Gamps' 1917 tax bill, as certified by Frank McCraigh, first borough tax collector and proprietor of the borough's first business, a general store, originally located on Beachwood Boulevard.
Posted by beachwoodhistoricalalliance on June 23, 2009
From the pages of his own 1924 Beachwood Directory and Who’s Who, here is what William Mill Butler wrote about original residents Dr. and Mrs. Edward Percy Robinson. Click on all the embedded links for a broader understanding of their lives and background:
Born in the parish of St. James, Island of Barbadoes, of English parents, his father being planter. Educated in private schools there and in the Coleridge School, an academy. Heard much about the United States and at the age of seventeen came to this country, and became a drug clerk in Philadelphia. He had studied the British Pharmacopoea before leaving home and now applied himself also to the study of American Pharmacopoea. In 1892 he was registered as a pharmacist in New York City, where he remained several years and became chief apothecary of the Presbyterian Hospital before he had attained his majority, being technically put on “probation” a year on this account. About 1903 he entered Bellevue Hospital Medical College, graduating in 1897 [ 2009 BHA Ed. note: it can be assumed that these dates are reversed; Robinson likely entered in 1897 and graduated in 1903].
Robinson home, circa 1924.
Engaged in general practice for several years and then entered the New York Post Graduate Medical School and Hospital in New York, and studied diseases of the nose and throat. For a time he was assistant to the chief of clinic in rhinology and laryngology at this institution, and he also served as assistant in the genito-urinary clinic at the Presbyterian Hospital Dispensary. His practice having reached a point requiring all his time, he gave up hospital and dispensary work.
Dr. Robinson was married to Miss Annie Reinacher in New York, 26 years ago. They have one son, Beverly Kerr Robinson, who served in the infantry overseas during the war, as a runner, carrying messages in the thickest of battles, without being harmed. Dr. Robinson is a member of the College of Pharmacy in New York. Is a charter member of the Polyhue Yacht Club, at present serving his second term as Commodore. Also a member of the Property Owners’ Assn. His son is also a charter member of the Polyhue Yacht Club.
Posted by beachwoodhistoricalalliance on May 11, 2009
From the pages of his own 1924 Beachwood Directory and Who’s Who, here is what William Mill Butler wrote about original residents Mr. and Mrs. John J. Nolze. Click on all the embedded links for a broader understanding of their lives and background:
Circa 1924.
Nolze, John Jacob, west side Longboat Ave., near Atlantic City Boulevard. All-year resident of Beachwood. Born in Texas. Business, contractor and builder; also member Goodrich, Weeks & Nolze, real estate and insurance. Was elected a borough commissioner of Beachwood in 1920, and is director of streets and public improvements, parks and public property.
John Nolze, Beachwood Fire Co. No. 1, circa 1924.
Wife, Martha Ellen Nolze; children, Florence M., Anna M., Dorothy G., Edythe H., John E., and Charles H. Nolze. Member Polyhue Yacht Club, and Volunteer Fire Company No. 1.
Posted by beachwoodhistoricalalliance on April 2, 2009
From the pages of his own 1924 Beachwood Directory and Who’s Who, here is what William Mill Butler wrote about original residents Mr. and Mrs. Frank O. Price. Click on all the embedded links for a broader understanding of their lives and background:
Prof. Price is a graduate of Worcester Polytechnic Institute and an associate member of the American Society of Civil Engineers. He was director of finance of the first board of commissioners of Beachwood. He is at present assessor of the borough. Also secretary of the Beachwood Property Owners’ Ass’n., and of the board of trustees, Beachwood Religious Association. Mrs. Price is also a member of the Property Owners’ Ass’n.
Posted by beachwoodhistoricalalliance on March 25, 2009
From the pages of his own 1924 Beachwood Directory and Who’s Who, here is what William Mill Butler wrote about original residents Mr. and Mrs. Warren T. Burnett. Click on all the embedded links for a broader understanding of his life and background:
Mr. Burnett was born in Seneca Falls, N.Y. His parents removed to Yonkers, where he attended the public schools. At sixteen years of age he struck out for himself at Maplewood, N.J., where he started in the oil business and succeeded on a capital of $5. He told us the story in his quiet, humorous way, and it is so good that we shall try to reproduce it as an example of what a plucky and honest American lad can do.
“I wished to get up a route to sell kerosene oil,” he said, “but I had no horse or wagon. I happened to read in a paper the advertisement of a man in Orange Valley who wanted to sell a rig. So I went to see him and told him I would like to buy the horse and outfit. ‘But,’ said I, ‘I have no money.’ ‘Neither have I,’ he replied, ‘and the horse is starving. Have you any feed?’ I said no, but I would get some. ‘All right,’ he then said, ‘take and try him for two weeks, and if you like him you can pay me fifty dollars for him, wagon and harness and all.’ Then I went to a farmer and said, ‘I want 500 pounds of hay, but have no money to pay for it just at present.’ He replied, ‘All right, back your wagon up and pay me when you can.’ So I got the hay, but how about feed? I went to the mill and said I needed either a bag of feed or a bag of oats. The miller replied, ‘you can have both.’ ‘But,’ I said, ‘I have no money to pay for them yet.’ He looked at me and said, ‘You look as if you would pay for them; you can have them.’
“So far so good. Then I drove down to Newark and saw Mr. McKurgen, what was in the oil business there, and I bought a barrel of oil. It cost me $4.38, and as my entire capital was only $5, it nearly ate it up. I had to have a faucet, but the man in the yard said, ‘We have several lying around here that are not in use and you can have one.’ Then I bought a measure and a funnel for sixty-two cents cash and had twenty cents left. I worked hard and at the end of a whole week I found I had sold just one quart of kerosene; but I had some promises and kept right at it and at the end of another week I found I had sold three barrels. I felt like a young Rockafeller.”
And Warren T. Burnett kept at it for six years, and while he did not amass a fortune like John D., he was able to marry at the age of twenty-three, Miss Mary F. Van Riper, of Newark. After that, with Mrs. Burnett, he removed to Ocean Grove and Asbury Park, where he worked as a carpenter for a time and afterwards became a builder. Later he removed to Newark, and while there went on an excursion to Ocean Gate, with the result that he purchased lots at this resort and opened a store in 1918. In 1921, however, upon seeing Beachwood he and Mrs. Burnett decided to settle here, and they built a two-story dwelling and store combined on Beachwood Boulevard.
Wife, Mrs. Mary F. (Van Riper) Burnett: children, Milton T., Warren F. and Florence Edna Burnett.
Milton T. Burnett, of East Orange, married Cynthia Morris, and their daughter married Jack Wines, of East Orange, and they have a son, Milton, thus making Warren T. Burnett a great-grandfather. His second son, Warren E., of Newark, married Lizzie Richards; they have three children. Florence Edna Burnett married Eugene L. McKee, and they have one child and reside at Gray, in the State of Maine. Mr. and Mrs. W. T. Burnett are members of the Beachwood Property Owners’ Association; Mr. Burnett is a member of Volunteer Fire Co., No. 1, and a trustee of the Fireman’s Benefit Association.
Posted by beachwoodhistoricalalliance on February 22, 2009
Today we present you with a photo essay and comment on Dr. Dwight S. Spellman and his wife, Mrs. Mary E. McGlone Spellman, original founders and residents to Beachwood, courtesy of their grandson, Mr. Dwight Boud of Barnegat.
Following this will be the 1924 Who’s Who entry on Mrs. Spellman (as you’ll find, her husband died before the book was published) and a short account on the events surrounding Dr. Spellman’s untimely death. Afterward is a biography of Dr. Spellman’s life and further details surrounding his accident as recorded by the American Medico-Psychological Association for their 76th annual meeting held in Cleveland, Ohio, on June 1-4, 1920.
~~~
“[This] is a photo of my maternal grandparents, Dr. D. S. Spellman and his wife Mary, outside their new bungalow on Forepeak Avenue in Beachwood. The only date I can provide is that it was taken before Dec. 18, 1919 [the date of Dr. Spellman's unfortunate death].”
“[This] photo shows Dr. Spellman and his wife, Mary E. McGlone Spellman from Sligo Ireland, standing beside their new Beachwood bungalow.”
“[This] one shows Dr. Spellman alone in the same spot.”
“[Here is] the front of the bungalow in the snow. The person is not clearly identified, but I believe it’s my grandmother.”
“[This] is the bungalow from across the street. Note that it appears to stand on cement blocks. When I lived in the house during WWII, it had a cellar, so it seems a cellar (and foundation) had been built under the house.”
“[This one] shows Dr. Spellman on the ice with his dog (name unknown). Ironically, my grandfather died from a skating accident. He was skating on the river when a neighborhood youngster fell through the ice. When he went to help, he, too, fell through the ice. He was hot from skating and the sudden plunge into the cold water caused a heart attack from which he died.”
“Dr. Spellman was on staff at the New York Hospital for the Insane on Ward’s Island in the East River, NYC. His wife had been a nurse (presumably at the same institution). They had built their bungalow as a vacation home, but after he died, my grandmother decided to live there full time.”
- Dwight Boud
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Beachwood Directory and Who’s Who 1924 -
1919
“The second drowning accident in Beachwood took place on December 18th, when Dr. D.S. Spellman, a prominent New York physician and summer resident, broke through the ice while skating off Buhler’s Point. Arthur Hoffman, son of Jacob J. Hoffman, also broke through the ice with Dr. Spellman, but managed to clamber out and was saved.”
From the Resident Directory
Spellman, Mary E., north side Forepeak Ave., near Beachwood Boulevard, Block D-40. Other address, 2508 Seventh Ave., New York City, N.Y. Widow of Dr. D.S. Spellman, a lover of Beachwood, whose untimely death, by breaking through the ice on the bay, took place on December 18th, 1919.
Dr. Dwight S. Spellman, senior assistant physician, Manhattan State Hospital, was accidentally drowned in the Tom’s River, New Jersey, December 18, 1919. He was spending the day at his bungalow on the Jersey coast, and while walking across the frozen river to procure a Christmas tree for his family, broke through the ice and was submerged in the freezing water. A boy of thirteen who accompanied the doctor also broke through, but fortunately was able to reach solid ice and extricate himself. His cries brought help, but it came too late to rescue Dr. Spellman. Dr. Spellman was born at Rootstown, Ohio, in 1867. He attended the public school of his native village and the high school at Minerva. His medical education was obtained in the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Baltimore, Md., from which he received his degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1889. He accepted a position as assistant physician in the New York City Asylum in’ 1890, and the remainder of his life was devoted to the care of the insane in the same institution, which in 1896 became the Manhattan State Hospital. His work for years was among the more acute forms of psychoses, and he was considered a pyschia- trist of sound judgment and keen acumen. He kept in close touch with the latest developments in pyschiatric science and although he published but few of his observations, and consequently was not widely known, his ability was recognized by his colleagues and his service in the Manhattan State Hospital was greatly appreciated.
Dr. Spellman’s sudden death came as a shock to his many friends in the state hospitals, as well as to his wide circle of acquaintances in other walks of life.
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The B.H.A. thanks Mr. Boud for sharing his family’s Beachwood history with us and looks forward to more past or present residents that would like to share their stories, photographs and artifacts for presentation here on our website.
BEACHWOOD – Last week, thousands of area residents lined the banks and side streets along the Toms River to witness the borough’s Fourth of July fireworks display, here.
Over the years, the past fire chief said, the culture of the waterfront and putting on the fireworks display changed with the introduction of more regulations, pollution of the Toms River by the Ciba-Geigy chemical plant and influx of new residents not as heavily involved in the annual tradition.
“I was also a lifeguard and we used to have about 400 people a day on that beach,” said Mr. Symington. “But then with people starting to get pools and Ciba dumping into the river, everything like that sort of dwindled down.”
“I wished to get up a route to sell 
“[This] is a photo of my maternal grandparents, Dr. D. S. Spellman and his wife Mary, outside their new bungalow on Forepeak Avenue in Beachwood. The only date I can provide is that it was taken before Dec. 18, 1919 [the date of Dr. Spellman's unfortunate death].”
