Camden People - Lawrence Boulton

LAWRENCE BOULTON was born in New Jersey on July 5, 1897 to Charles G. Boulton and his wife, the former Annie Wuest. He was named after his maternal grandfather, Lorenz Wuest. Lawrence Wuest was a lithographer, and his father worked as an oil cloth printer. The 1900 Census shows the Wuests and Boultons living at 139 South 31st Street in East Camden. When the Census was taken in 1910 the family. which included older sister Laura and younger sister Annie, lived at 141 Dudley Street in East Camden, still with the grandparents, Lorenz and Annie Wuest. By 1914 the Boultons had moved to their own home, at 15 North 32nd Street. Lorenz Wuest moved in with them during that year, passing away on December 13, 1914.

Lawrence Boulton was a veteran of World War I. When he was 21 he married. His wife Charlotte bore a daughter, Doris Jane, around 1920. The 1924 City Directory shows him working as a printer and living at 15 North 32nd Street. He became a member of the Camden Fire Department on April 16, 1928 and was assigned to Engine Company 9, quartered at North 27th Street and Federal Street in East Camden. The 1929 City Directory lists his address as 21 Terrace Avenue. The Boultons were living at 126 Eutaw Avenue in East Camden in April of 1930. Fire Department records indicate that they had returned to 21 Terrace Avenue by 1931. They later moved to 1065 Collings Road.

On January 1, 1933 Lawrence Boulton was transferred to Ladder Company 1. By the summer of that year the Boultons had moved to 1016 Monitor Road in Fairview. On April 8, 1934 he was again reassigned, this time to Engine Company 8 on Kaighn Avenue, where he served until January 15, 1951.

Fear of enemy air raids in 1942 spawned a number of Federal Decrees regulating public conduct in the event of air raid warnings. One new Federal Regulation prohibited fire apparatus from using sirens in response to alarms. Under war-time regulations, sirens would be reserved exclusively for air raid warnings.

The use of audible warning devices by fire apparatus was restricted to bells only. The burden to both fire fighters and the public safety was formidable. On March 1, 1942, the inevitable happened. Engine Company 8 while rresponding to an alarm was involved in a collision with a ten ton truck at Third Street and Kaighn Avenue. Upon impact all of the firemen were thrown into the street. The truck driver declared that he failed to hear the bells of the approaching apparatus. The mishap resulted in injuries to six members and total destruction of the apparatus. Captain Alvin Thompson was listed in critical condition, while Firemen Mitchell Wojtkowiak, Philip Farrow, Leonard Oshushek, Lawrence Boulton and Edwin Robbins were admitted for lesser injuries. Battalion Chief Newton stated that he believed the accident might have been avoided if fire companies were not prohibited from using sirens.

By 1947 Lawrence Boulton had moved to 131 North 25 Street in East Camden. The hiring of new firemen in January of 1951 made it possible for him to be transferred back to Engine Company 9, a short walk from his home.

On September 12, 1960 Lawrence Boulton was injured while on duty. He was taken to Cooper Hospital. Unable to return to to active service due to his injuries, Lawrence Boulton retired from the Camden Fire department on October 4, 1961.

Lawrence Boulton was still living at 131 North 25 Street when he passed away on October 15, 1968. He was survived by his wife, who joined him in February of 1984.

Lawrence Boulton's older sister Laura was the wife of Joseph Shreeve, who served on the Camden Police Department, as did her father-in-law, Isaac Shreeve. Lawrence Boulton's uncle, Edgar Boulton, was a member of the Camden Fire Department in the early 1900s and later worked as a Camden police officer.

Camden Courier-Post - June 8, 1933

Boy Ball Star Injured, 6 Shaken Up in Crash
William Denof, Infielder for Camden High and Junior Moose Teams,
Badly Hurt Enroute to Game. Other Players Escape

William M. Denof Jr., the son of a Camden undertaker, of Fifth and Spruce Streets, suffered a possible fractured skull and cuts, and six other members of the Junior Moose baseball team of the Camden Minor League were shaken in an automobile accident last night.

Their truck, driven by Silvio Di Medio, 17, of 1105, South Fourth Street, collided at Fifth and Berkley Streets with a car driven by Lawrence Boulton, 35, a city fireman, of 1016 Monitor Road. The accident occurred at 6:15 p.m.

Denof was thrown to the road. He was treated at the office of Dr. Mordecai M. Pinsky, 944 South Fifth Street, and taken home. Denof is second baseman on the Camden High School team and plays shortstop for the Junior Moose.

According to Detective John Kaighn, the accident occurred when Boulton, driving west on Berkley Street, attempted to make a right turn into Fifth street. Boulton was not held.

Others in the truck were Elmer Yost, pitcher, of·315 Mechanic Street; Alfred Di Giacomo, third baseman, of Fourth and Viola streets; Frank Pietrizyk, Jr., of 1061 Morton street; John Pirroti, of 1464 South Fourth Street, and Forrest Collins, 355 Mechanic Street. They required no medical treatment.

The youths were en route to a game at Westmont.

Camden Courier-Post - April 4, 1928

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Thomas Nicholas - John H. Lennox - Rollo Jones - William Harring - Clarence Madden George B. Wade - William W. Patterson - George Hunt - David Ellis - George Saunders Eli Hunt - William Van Pfefferle - William H. Toy - Leo Tomkins - Horace T. Molan Laurence Boulton - George W. Garner - Felix E. Bendzyn - Harry H. Hess - Charles Jones Thomas F. Gibbons - Byron Davis - John S. Anderson Ladder Company 1 - Engine Company 3 Engine Company 6 - Engine Company 7 - Engine Company 9 27th Street - Arch Street - Broadway - Clinton Street Federal Street - Ferry Avenue - York Street