The following is derived from
George Reeser Prowell's
History of Camden County, N.J.
published in 1886

The Grand Army of the Republic

All honorably-discharged soldiers and sailors who have served in the army or navy of the United States are entitled to membership in the Grand Army of the Republic. In this respect it is the first organization of its kind effected in this country or elsewhere. Soon after the close of the Revolution, army societies were formed which were composed of commissioned officers and their descendants.

The most prominent of these was the famous Society of the Cincinnati, which still has an existence. Army and corps organizations of the War of 1812 and of the Mexican War have existed for social and convivial purposes but none of these societies named have been based on the principle of mutual aid in time of need, or comprehended purposes so exalted as those embraced in the declaration of the Grand Army of the Republic, namely, " Fraternity, charity, loyalty." This society, whose purpose is to band together the men who wore the blue during the war, originated in the West. To Colonel B. F. Stephenson, M.D., of Springfield, Illinois, is given the credit of being the first person who formulated the plans of its noble aims. The first post was organized at Dakota, Illinois, in 1866. The idea of extending the organization was communicated to many army associates. A State Department Encampment was organized in Illinois on the 12th of July, 1866, under Colonel Stephenson. In the month of November of the same year a National Encampment was organized at Indianapolis, with representatives present from nearly all the Northern States. These encampments have been held annually since then, in various localities of the Union. The State became divided into districts, and the organization of posts was exceedingly rapid. Six months after the date of the formation of the society forty thousand men through the Northern States were enrolled as members. The first department organization in the State of New Jersey was effected in the month of January, 1868. The membership of the order in this State in 1884 was reported at five thousand two hundred and seventy-nine. The entire membership in the United States for the same year was two hundred and thirty-three thousand five hundred and ninety-five. Its membership is now estimated at three hundred thousand, more than one-fourth of the survivors of the war.

Under the auspices of the order thousands of campfires, fairs, reunions and banquets have been held. These revive the sufferings and sacrifices and recall the unwritten history of the war. At these meetings no rank is recognized, save that conferred by the order, and any member is eligible to any position in its gift.

The history of various posts now existing in the city and county of Camden are here given, according to the date organization.

The following is derived from
George Reeser Prowell's
History of Camden County, N.J.
published in 1886

Thomas M. K. Lee Post No. 5 of Camden was organized in January, 1876, in Camden, with eighty-five charter members. The first officers of the post were as follows: Post Commander, Edmund May ; Senior Vice-Commander, Samuel Hufty; Junior Vice-Commander, George W. Gile; Surgeon, James A. Armstrong, M.D.; Chaplain, August H. Lung ; Officer of the Day, Benjamin Carlin ; Officer of the Guard, Robert B. McCowan; Quartermaster, Joseph C, Nichols; Adjutant, Alexander Nichols. 

At the first meeting of the post it was unanimously decided to honor a gallant soldier of General Philip Kearny's Second Brigade, by adopting the name of "Thomas M. K. Lee Post.", to honor the memory of Captain Thomas M. K. Lee, who commanded.

The Thomas M. K. Lee Post No. 5 met for many years at the corner of 5th Street and Taylor Avenue in Camden. The Post was still active as late as 1931.  

Originally built as the Church of the Immaculate Conception,
the Thomas M.K. Lee Post No. 5 hall on the corner of Fifth Street and Taylor Avenue

Click on Image to Enlarge

The following is a complete roster of this post for 1886 :

Commander, David M. Spence; Senior Vice, Benjamin C. Coles ; Junior Vice, William Thompson ; Adjutant, J. Kelly Brown; Surgeon, William P. Hall; Officer of the Day, Samuel Hufty; Officer of the Guard, Joseph W. Ore ; Chaplain, Harry L. Hartshorne; Quartermaster, William Whitely; Quartermaster-Sergeant, William H. Rightmire; Sergeant-Major, William Chandler.

Comrades. John S. Adams, W. E. Anderson, L. Andrews, John W. Ayres, R. T. Barclay, John Bamford, George Barrett, Thomas Bates, Sr., Charles F. Bender, William P. Besser, James C. Blackwood, Edward Blanck, William Blanck, Sr., George W. Blanck, William Bovell, Charles P. Boyer, David B. Brown, J. Kelly Brown, W. M. Burns, G. W. Burroughs, Benjamin F. Carlin, James Carrigan, James E. Carson, J. Caskey, Charles B. Capewell, William H. Chandler, Jesse Chew, William H. H. Dark, John Clifford, Joseph Cline, John Coates, Sr., John W. Coates, Benjamin D. Coley, Reuben D. Cole, William H. Cooper, Albert G. Crane, Charles Cregar, John Cromie, Andrew J. Cunningham, George R. Danenhower, George F. Deaves, John Derry, Albert O. Dildine, Dr. John W. Donges, George N. Dresser, M. S. Ellis, Thomas T. Estworthy, Theodore F. Fields, Samuel Flood, Joseph B. Fox, Henry B. Francis, B. F. Gault, George W. Gile, W. E. Gilling, William Gleason, Thomas B. Grapevine, W. S. Grigg, William P. Hall,  Leonard S. Hart, H. L. Hartshorn,  Thomas Harman, R. G. Hann, J. Haynes, Charles H. Helmbold, A. S. Helms, S. Henderson, Richard N. Herring, Robert M. Hillman, Charles A. Hotchkiss, Thomas Hoy, Samuel Hufty, David W. J. Hutton, David O. Hunter, Mahlon F. Ivins Sr., Samuel Jackaway, Stephen M. Janney, Frank S. Jones, Charles Kalt, Benjamin L. Kellum, Robert King, William H. Kingley, Edward D. Knight, Frank L. Knight, Joseph C. Lee, Richard H. Lee, David B. Litzenberg, George W. Loughlin, William Madison, Edward W. Madison, David F. Matthews, Edmund May, William T. Mead, Jonas Mellor, Matthew Miller, Michael Morgan, Daniel B. Murphy, Robert B. McCowan, Andrew McCready, John McMain, John Noll, John Norfch, Jr, Joseph W. Ore, William M. Palmer, Charles N. Pelouze, John B. Peters, William H. Rightmire, Clarence L. Ross, John D. Sargeant, Conrad Schwoerer, George W. Scott, James M. Scovel, John K. Seagreaves, Junius E. Severance, William Thompson, William J. Sewell, Albert F. Tilton, James H. Shannon,  Baker D. Tomlin, William H. Shearman, Zebulon T. Tompkins, Isaac W. Shinn, John L. Topham, Samuel E. Sheetz, John Trimble, John O. Shute, John F. Tudor, Charles Shivers, Jr., George Urban, William L. Skinner, Theodore Verlander, William H. Simpson, Charles H. Walker, William B. Smith, Samuel S. Weaver, David M. Spence, William H. Wheaton, Arthur Stanley, William Whitely, William H. Stansberg, Virgil Willett, Charles Steeger, George E. Wilson, William Stillings, George W. Wood, John J. Stone, William T. G. Young, James M. Stradling, Charles G. Zimmerman, Dr. Henry Genet Taylor.