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GEORGE
L. BOONE was born in Camden, New Jersey on October 17, 1904 to George
C. Boone and his wife, the former Clara Clayton. He was the oldest of
four children, all boys, born to the couple. His grandfather was James
G. Boone, who had served as a sergeant in the Union Army during the
Civil War.
The
1900 census shows that George C.
Boone and his younger brother J. Frank Boone were
living with their parents at 558 Line
Street. Older brother Walter Boone
had moved out on his own. Both of the younger Boone sons were then
working for the Pennsylvania Railroad, George as a brakeman, J. Frank as
a fireman. James G. Boone had died in 1902. George C. Boone married
Clara Clayton, of 605 Mt. Vernon
Street, around 1903. By the time the 1906
Camden City Directory was compiled, he and his wife and oldest son
George L. Boone were living at 630 Mt. Vernon
Street. His widowed mother
remained on Line Street with her youngest son, J. Frank Boone. Mrs.
Achsahann "Annie" Boone died in 1923.
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George
C. Boone was still working as a railroad brakeman when the Census was taken
on April 19, 1910. He and wife Clara Clayton Boone were living at 630 Mt. Vernon
Street with their four sons, George L., 6; Harry, 4; Maurice, 3; and Charles Howard Boone, 1.
Maurice Bric Boone was named after Reverend Maurice
Bric, who served as pastor of the Roman Catholic Church of Sacred Heart
at Broadway and
Ferry
Avenue from 1888 through 1913.
On
July 1, 1910 George C. Boone
was appointed to the Camden Fire Department and assigned
to Engine Company 7 at
1115 Kaighn
Avenue. Sadly, Clara Boone died during the 1910s, leaving her
husband to care for the four young boys. George
C. Boone had
moved in with his wife's family, the Claytons, at 605 Mt. Vernon
Street by the time the 1914 City Directory was
compiled, and was still living there in September of 1918 when he
registered for the draft. 605 Mt. Vernon
Street was the home of his
widowed mother-in-law, Susan Clayton and two of her adult
children, Angela and John. George
C. Boone and his three older sons resided at that
address when the census was taken in 1920. His sons spent time with
different relatives, Harry and and C. Howard Boone went to their Aunt
Mary Boone Colgan's home at 1017 South
5th Street while quite young, Maurice
spent most of his years with
his Aunt Angela, while George L. Boone spent time with relatives named Gallagher.
By 1920, George C. Boone and
his three older sons were under one roof, at 605 Mt. Vernon
Street, while C. Howard remained with the Colgans on South
5th Street.
George
C. Boone was serving with Engine
Company 2 when he was injured while
fighting a fire on January 19, 1922. Captain
Martin Carrigan died in the line of duty of injuries sustained while
fighting this fire. Not long afterwards, George
C. Boone had
remarried.
It
turns out that George C. Boone married "the girl next door".
Next door, in this case being 1117 Kaighn
Avenue, adjacent to Engine Company 7's headquarters. There lived a widow, Laura Wasserman and her
daughter Edna. By 1924 George C.
Boone and Laura Wasserman had married
and soon moved to Parkside,
where by 1924 they bought a house at 1013 Princess Avenue. Laura's daughter Edna lived with them, while the
Boone sons- George L., Harry, and Maurice
B. Boone remained with their
aunt Angela and uncle John Clayton at 605 Mt. Vernon
Street, and C. Howard Boone on South
5th Street.
Maurice
Boone after leaving school to enter the workforce apprenticed as a
plumber with his cousin, Francis Colgan, and remained in his employ
until 1934. He quit after discovering that his uncle had failed to turn
over to the Internal Revenue Service moneys deducted for Social
Security. Maurice Boone then went to work for another plumber, Joseph
Barnett. Maurice Boone stayed with Barnett for eight years before
leaving to take a job with the Public Service Gas and Electric Company
as a plumber.
George
L. Boone was the tallest of the Boone brothers, and one of the best
basketball players in Camden in the 1920s. He played for the semi-pro
Camden Skeeters alongside of Neil
Deighan during the 1925-1926 season, and again played with Deighan
as part of the Immaculate Conception basketball team during the
1927-1928 season. Bart Sheehan
was also a member of this team.
On
December 22, 1930 George L. Boone was appointed to the Camden
Fire Department, joining his father. He reported for duty on January 1,
1931 with Engine Company
2. He was then living at 605 Mt. Vernon
Street. He married in the 1930s. His wife Marie bore at least one child,
daughter Marianne, who came into this world on March 27, 1937. The
Boones moved to 1489 Princess
Avenue during the 1930s and were still there in 1943.
George
C. Boone signed his pension papers on November 22, 1938. Unfortunately,
within two weeks he had died, on December 4, 1938.
By
1947 George and Marie Boone and family had moved to 1449 Crestmont
Avenue. On
April 8, 1948 George L. Boone was promoted to Captain, and remained in
that capacity with Engine Company
2. On December 1, 1965 he retired from the
fire department on pension. He continued to reside on
Crestmont Avenue as late as 1977. He later moved to Gloucester Township
NJ.
The
last survivor of the four Boone brothers, George L. Boone died on May 7,
1992.
George
and Marie Boone's daughter, Marianne Boone worked for the City of Camden
as a Senior Clerk typist in the 1970s, first for the police department,
then after a January 4, 1973 transfer, to the Division of Fire. She
transferred out of the Fire Department in July of 1975.
David
Boone, the nephew of George L. Boone and the grandson of George
C. Boone, is a marine artist, known for his paintings of tugboats and waterfront scenes.
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