JOSEPH OSCAR TILL JR. was born in Pennsylvania on January 12, 1876 to Joseph Oscar and Catherine "Kate" Till. His father had served in the Union Army during the Civil War, then returned to his home in Philadelphia. Joseph Till married in the early 1870s, and by 1880 there were two sons, William and Joseph Oscar Till Jr., who was better known simply as "Oscar Till". Joseph Till and his family were living at 872 Moyer Street in Philadelphia when the 1880 Census was enumerated. He was then working as a huckster. The 1881 Philadelphia City Directory shows him at the same address, running a cigar store. Four more sons were born to the Tills during the 1880s, Morris, Albert, Clarence, and finally on January 12, 1889 Nelson W. Till. Joseph Till was also active during his Philadelphia years as a volunteer fireman.

The Till family moved to New Jersey in the 1890s, and had located in the town of Stockton in the early 1890s. By 1896 the family was living at 912 Lois Avenue in the town of Stockton, in what is now the Cramer Hill section of Camden. The Tills would occupy this home through at least 1947.

Joseph Till involved himself in local affairs and soon had been appointed constable in Stockton. When Stockton was united with the City of Camden in 1899, Joseph Till secured an appointment to the Camden Fire Department. Politics being a full-contact sport in those times, Joseph Till got into a fight with two other men on Saturday night, November 1, 1903. The following day he suffered a fall, and was taken to Cooper Hospital where he died on November 13. An inquest was held and his death was ruled accidental, from injuries sustained in the fall. Joseph Till was buried at Arlington Cemetery in Pennsauken, New Jersey on November 17, 1903. He was survived by his wife and sons. Kate Till joined her husband on July 11, 1941.

J. Oscar Till Jr. first appears in Camden's city directories in 1896, living with his parents and working as a day laborer. The Till family was not recorded in the 1897 edition. The 1898 and 1899 directories both show him still at the Lois Avenue address, working as a laborer. The 1900 Census shows that he married Albina Slater in 1899. She was the daughter of Cornelius and Ellen Slater, who kept a grocery at at 1000 North 25th Street, the corner of North 25th Street and River Avenue in Cramer Hill. He and his wife lived with her parents and sister Hattie Slater when the Census was taken on July 29, 1900. Not long afterwards, most likely through the influence of his father, J. Oscar Till got a job as a bridgetender at the Federal Street drawbridge over the Cooper River. 

On December 3, 1904 J. Oscar Till Jr., was appointed to the Camden Fire Department. On Januar 1, 1908 he was appointed to the Camden Police Department. 

The 1910 Census shows J. Oscar Till Jr., his wife Albina, and sons Joseph W., Charles H., and Oscar H. Till living at 1002 North 25th Street. Three other children had been born but sadly, as was all too common in those times, had passed away. J. Oscar Till Jr.'s in-laws, the Slaters, still lived at and were in business at 1000 North 25th Street. Two more children came in the 1910s, David and Verna Till. When the Census was taken in April of 1930, only Charles, Oscar H, David, and Verna were still living at home. J. Oscar Till Jr. was still working for the Camden Police Department at the time of the census enumeration. He retired on January 1, 1933.

J. Oscar Till Jr. was still living at 1002 North 25th Street with his wife Albina and son Oscar H. Till when the 1940 Camden City Directory was compiled. Oldest son Joseph W. Till lived at 1000 North 25th Street, where he operated a confectionary. The youngest son, David, lived with his wife Anna at 1004 North 25th Street. J. Oscar Till Jr. passed away prior to the compilation of the 1943 Camden City Directory.

J. Oscar Till Jr.'s younger brother, Nelson W. Till was appointed to the Camden Fire Department in the early 1920s and served into the early 1940s.

David Loughead
Ferdinand F. Sell
J. Oscar Till Jr.
Ralph Haines
Allen Stewart
Howard C. Trueax
William Schregler
James Tatem
Thomas Reed
Cullis B. Errickson
Policeman Joseph Schmid