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AMEDEE
ST. CLAIR MIDDLETON was first appointed to the Camden Fire
Department's Hook & Ladder
Company as an extra man in April 8, 1877. He served for
until April 1882, then was replaced by Robert Miller. Amedee
Middleton was recalled to duty for one year in the spring of 1884, replacing
Logan Bates. Again called to serve in 1886 Amedee Middleton was promoted to Tillerman
of the
Hook and
Ladder Company. On June 1, 1890 , when
Engine
Company 4 went into
service in 1890, Amedee Middleton was promoted to Foreman and
assigned to Engine
Company 4 as it first went into service at 320 Vine Street
in North Camden. Other personnel initially assigned to the new
company included Frank
Turner, engineer, Edward
Hartman, driver, Barney
Harvey, stoker and the hosemen were Walter
Browning and Charles
Berry.
Amedee
St. Clair Middelton was born to Amos Archer Middleton and his wife, the
former Sarah Jane Delacour, in July of 1852, according to the 1900
Census. Of the six children born only three reached adulthood,
Stanislaus, Frederick, and Amedee.
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Amedee Middleton's maternal
grandfather was Joseph C. Delacour, a retired United States Army officer
and one of Camden's most public-spirited citizens of his time; his uncle, Joseph L. Delacour, served in
the Union Army during the Civil War; and his great-grandfather had
accompanied the Marquis de Lafayette to America during the Revolutionary
War. Amos and Sarah Jane Middleton appear to have divorced during the
mid-1850s. She married a sea captain, William Moslander and of this
second marriage two sons were born, Samuel and William
S. Moslander.
Amedee
Middleton had lived in Camden's South Ward as a little boy, and lived in
the Middle Ward after his mother remarried. The 1870 Census shows him
living with his mother and younger brothers, and mention that he was
working at some sort of occupation relating to brass. He married around
1877, and as mentioned above, was appointed to the Camden Fire
Department in April of that year. A daughter, Rena, was born in 1878.
Amadee Middleton was living at 835 Penn
Street and working as a dyer when appointed to the Fire Department.
The 1878 and 1879 City Directories give his address as 836 Kimber
Street and 830 Kimber
Street, respectively, and mention that he worked as a weaver. The
Middletons moved to 28 North
3rd Street prior to the 1880 Census, but had returned to familiar
surroundings by 1882. From 1882 through 1888 the family lived at 835 Penn
Street. Amadee Middleton secured an appointment with the Post Office
as a letter carrier in the 1880s. Amedee Middleton was recalled to the
Fire Department as an extra man in 1884, and served for one year. In
When the Fire Department reorganized in July of 1886, he became a full
time firefighter, as tillerman with the Hook
and Ladder Company.
The
1890-1891 City Directory states that the Middletons had moved to 837 Penn
Street. Amadee Middleton was promoted to Foreman and placed in
charge of the new Engine
Company 4. He commanded Engine
Company 4 through 1899. The Middletons moved around during the
1890s. City Directories record there movements as follows; 1894, 603 North
6th Street; 1895, 532 Market
Street; 1896 218 North
5th Street; 1897, 623 Market
Street; 1898 319 North
5th Street; and in 1899 he was back at 603 North
6th Street. The 1900 Census shows Amedee Middleton boarding at 603 North
6th Street with former Camden Fire Department member Edward
S. Powell, and Mary and Rena Middleton boarding at 103 North
26th Street in what had recently become East
Camden.
When
the Town of Stockton was annexed to the City of Camden in 1899, Cramer
Hill and East
Camden became a part of the City. New Fire companies were organized
and a new firehouse was built at North
27th Street and Federal
Streets. Similar growth had been going on in South Camden. A new
ladder company, Ladder
Company 3 went into service in East Camden on March 1, 1900. Amedee
Middleton was placed in charge of this unit.
Of
the many fires Amedee Middleton fought during his tenure with the Camden
Fire Department comes this account of the Camden Storage Warehouse fire
of May 1904, written by Lee Ryan for the Camden Fire Department's 125th
Anniversary history book, published in 1994:
At
4:57A.M. on May 6, 1904 a phone alarm and several pull boxes were
received for a fire at the Camden Storage Warehouse at Delaware Avenue
and Cooper
Street. The massive five-story building contained 600 rooms with
furniture storage. Smoke and fire could be seen coming from the fourth
floor at the southeast corner of the warehouse. Upon arrival, Chief Samuel
S. Elfreth transmitted a general alarm as the blaze spread through
the entire fourth floor. Within minutes, engine companies had water on
the fire as additional streams were directed from the roof of the
adjoining E.G. Locke Paper Company. Hoselines were stretched down Penn
and Cooper Streets and along Delaware Avenue to supplement water
supplies.
Shortly
after 5:00 A.M. part of the fourth floor collapsed, spreading the fire
to the floor below. This collapse was quickly followed by the crashing
of the fifth floor. By 5:30 A.M the front section of roof collapsed onto
Cooper
Street in a thundering roar, creating a shower of blazing embers
that threatened numerous buildings along Amber
Street. Within an hour of its discovery, the fire had engulfed the
entire warehouse. Only through the gallant efforts of the firefighters
was the huge blaze contained. While spectators described the fire scene
as waves of withering heat, Camden's Bravest held there ground within
forty feet of the walls. The City of Philadelphia offered assistance but
Chief Elfreth declined and
by 7:00 A.M. he declared the fire under control.
While
battling the blaze, Foreman Amedee
Middleton was struck on the head by falling bricks. Only his helmet,
which cracked, saved his life. Losses were placed at $50,000. Chief
Elfreth and Assistant Chief
Buzine stated that the blaze was harder to fight than the Victor
Talking Machine fire two weeks prior. Engine
Company 1 assigned to the foreground detail remained on the scene
until 7:00 P.M. and before leaving found two black kittens still alive
in an office area adjoining the ruins of the burned warehouse.
The
Camden Post-Telegram newspaper described the departing crew of Engine
Company 1 as "water soaked and the color of coal stained
breaker boys". A crowd of onlookers cheered the weary firefighters
as thy left the scene after fourteen hours at the fire.
Amedee
Middleton and his wife and daughter lived at 2629 Westfield
Avenue as early as 1906 through at least 1910. By 1914 he had
retired from the Fire Department, and had moved out of Camden. Amedee
Middleton, his wife Mary, and daughter Rena were living in Franklin
Township in Gloucester County when the Census was taken in January of
1920. Amedee Middelton was still alive as late as August 1926 when his
wife passed away. By March of 1931 he had joined her.
Daughter
Rena Middleton married Irvin Paist, who had boarded with them in Franklin
Township, during the 1920s and moved to Paulsboro, New Jersey. Sadly, by
April of 1930 she was a widow. She died died on March 21, 1931 and was
buried at Arlington Cemetery in Pennsauken, New Jersey.
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