Camden People - J. Wesley Sell

JOHN WESLEY SELL was born in 1864 in New Jersey, the youngest of six children born to German immigrant parents, Charles and Rosalie Sell. The Sell family resided at 435 Pine Street. Charles Sell was already living in Camden when the census was taken in 1860. worked as a machinist. From an early age he went by his middle name, and later was known professionally as J. Wesley Sell. At the time of the 1880 Census, J. Wesley Sell, then 15, was working as a bookbinder. Older brother Ferdinand F. Sell's occupation was listed as a was a cigar maker, while sister Emma Sell worked in shoes. Another older sister, Anna, was then unemployed.

During the following decade, J. Wesley Sell followed his brother into the cigar maker's trade. He had other plans for himself, however, and the 1890-1891 Camden City Directory shows that he had changed his occupation to that of jeweler. During the 1880's his father had passed away, in 1888, and his brother Ferdinand F. Sell, a cobbler had married and moved, first to a house at 933 Newton Avenue and then to Sherman Avenue in Cramer Hill, J. Wesley Sell was still living at 435 Pine Street at the end of the decade, where he lived with his widowed mother. His father had died in 1887. Rosalie Sell passed away in 1898, and was buried next to her husband at Evergreen cemetery.

J. Wesley Sell is this period also became interested and active in politics, as a Republican. A friend and political ally of Frank Ford Patterson Jr., the two were known as "the Damon and Pythias of Camden politics..., whose perpetual smiles and gentle demeanor have earned for them the sobriquet of the "Laughing Statesmen", according to the Trenton Times in March of 1902. He was elected Camden County Sheriff in 1899, and served a three year term. His brother Ferdinand, also a Republican committeeman, joined the Camden police department about the same time, where he served for 24 years.

J. Wesley Sell assumed the position of treasurer for Camden County in 1905, and served in that position for 33 years, retiring January of 1938. He also was serving as a member of the Board of Directors of the Broadway Trust Company bank in March of 1916.

J. Wesley Sell remained a bachelor for most of his life. At the time of both the 1920 and 1930 Census he was lodging with Mr. and Mrs. Theodostus Johnson at 528 Mickle Street. He married late in life, to Anna Pote, in January of 1936. After his retirement, Mr. and Mrs. Sell moved to 630 Diamond Street in Philadelphia. Brother Ferdinand F. Sell passed away in October of 1936 at the home of his daughter, Ella, wife of prominent photographer George A. Wonfor.

J. Wesley Sell passed away on January 23, 1940 after suffering a stroke the week before. After a funeral service at the Joseph A. Murray funeral home on Cooper Street, he was buried at North Cedar Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia.

Bank Directory - March 1, 1916

Broadway Trust Company Broadway below Walnut St. Camden, N.J. J. J. BURLEIGH President ANTHONY KOBUS Vice President - WM. J. COOPER Vice President BURLEIGH H. DRAPER Secretary and Treasurer Directors:
John J. Burleigh	William Mills
Dr. S G. Bushey	Anthony J. Oberst
Ralph D. Childrey	John Wesley Sell
Robert H. Comey	Dr. Marvin A. Street
William J. Cooper	Wilbert L. Sweeten
George A. Frey	Edward B. Stone
Albert Fogg	Adam Schlorer
Frederick Grant	Bernhard F. Schroeder
John B. Kates	Edward Schuster Jr.
Dr. Grant E. Kirk .	John O. Wilson
Anthony Kobus

Camden Courier-Post - June 20, 1933

LLOYD CRITICIZES LOCALITIES FOR DIVERTING MONEY
Tells Them They Are Trustees for County's Share of Every Dollar Taken In
POSTPONES MANDAMUS

Supreme Court Justice Frank T. Lloyd yesterday "laid down the law" to four Camden county municipalities at a hearing of the county's mandamus proceedings to compel payment of $426,952 in back taxes for the years 1930, 1931 and 1932.

After stressing the importance of setting aside the portion owed the state and county out of every tax dollar collected, Justice Lloyd held the cases over until the September term of court "in the hope that these taxes will be paid."

'Out of Clear Sky'

The four municipalities were represented by their respective borough, township or city clerks. The four and the amounts the county alleges are owed for state and county taxes are Pennsauken Township, $120,199.80; Gloucester City, $59,643.91; Lawnside Borough, $41,798, and Delaware Township, $31,958.03.

Firmin Michel, township solicitor for Pennsauken, pointed out that since December 15 his township has paid up $24,877 of taxes due and was making arrangements to pay the balance when the county's suit was filed "out of a clear sky."

After listening to a brief outline by George Rothermel, representing County Treasurer J. Wesley Sell, and counsel for the other municipalities, Justice Lloyd spoke.

"I understand that there are some officials of the municipalities here today," said he, "and I want to say something to them and also to the municipal officials who are not here."

Responsible as Trustees

"I am not unmindful of the serious financial conditions of municipalities but these governing bodies are in a degree trustees of the moneys received. When they receive moneys in taxes and a portion of this tax should be set aside for the county, they should not apply this portion for other uses to run that municipality.

"In some cases the municipalities have made a serious effort to pay their taxes but I want to stress the fact that these governing bodies can not use all of this money for general purposes.

"When local governments take in $1 in taxes, the persons in charge should immediately deduct the amount due the state and county and put it in a separate fund. If that had been done, this situation would not have arisen.

Word on 'Fancy Schools'

"Now. another word to those operating governments. The present occasion calls for the close scrutiny of expenditures not only by municipal bodies but by school boards. The public is fed up on extravagance. Instead of the old fashioned
modest school house, we now have those fancy high schools. These extravagances have aroused the taxpayers as never before.

"I'm not criticizing the school boards for what they did in the past, but they should try to amend in the future extravagance and waste. It is important, as you can see today by what is happening here, for drastic economy in local government.

"I am going to hold these writs until the opening day of court in the hope that these taxes may be paid."

Camden Courier-Post - June 25, 1933

CITY SCRIP TO PASS MILLION THIS WEEK
Tax Payments Redeem $610,000; County's $481, 000 Cut to $170,000

Camden city scrip issued since April 1, will reach more than $1,000,000 worth when the city meets its end-of-the-month payroll with a new issue of $220,000 this week for 1500 employees.

County scrip since the first of April totals $481,000, according to County Treasurer J. Wesley Sell. Of that total, $311,000 has been re deemed. A new $25,000 county issue of scrip will be circulated this week in meeting the county payroll for 300 employees.

Of the city scrip, $610,000 already has been redeemed as taxes, according to records of City Comptroller Sidney P. McCord.

City and county officials said they did not know how much longer they will be issuing scrip or when they would be in a position to announce a definite redemption date.

The officials pointed out that through the issuance of scrip they have been able to meet current obligations and have averted payless paydays for city and county employees.

In addition to operating expenses, the city has to meet a total of $2,415,000 in bonds and interest due between July 1 and the end of the year. McCord said efforts are being made to have bondholders agree to refund these bonds to mature In later years, so that, along with scrip, the city will be able to conserve as much cash as possible. Cash conservation has been difficult, McCord said, because tax collections have been far below those in previous years.

Asked whether the issuance of scrip will enable the city to conserve enough cash to meet the obligations, McCord said he did not know.

County bonds maturing this year total $330,000, but these are to be refunded for later maturity under a resolution adopted by the board of freeholders June 15 which also authorized the refunding of $2,352;000 worth of bonds maturing next year. Sell said the county will not default on any of its obligations,

City Commissioner Harold W. Bennett, director of revenue and finance, said the end of June city payroll of $220,000 will be entirely in scrip, as wall the $48,000 mid-June payroll. It will be the last pay for city teachers until their return from vacation in September.

Bennett pointed out that one of the reasons scrip had to be resorted to was because the city could not borrow the money it needed to pay salaries and operate in anticipation of tax collections. The scrip, he said, conserves what cash the city receives to, meet debt items. Neither he nor McCord said he was free to reveal the amount of cash the City has on hand, nor the amount the city has received since April in proportion to scrip.

McCord said he will not know until the end of the year what affect the issuance of scrip will have on the city's financial situation.

"We won't know until we balance out books at, the close of the year," he said. "I do know that one of the advantages of scrip is that less of it has been issued than the city would have borrowed cash in the market, and so the city saves at least in interest charges.

"Other than to keep the city going, I don't know what financial advantage scrip is to Camden, except perhaps for a saving in interest on loans we could not make. All I know is that scrip has enabled us to meet our payrolls; we don't have to borrow in the market, and we are conserving cash to meet our bonds, interest and other obligations when they come due. Cash receipts, how ever, are slow because of the slump in tax payments.

"The only way I see for the city to be in a better financial position is for it to receive more of the taxes due it for this and previous years. Non-payment of taxes, with delinquencies enormous during the last few years, has been one of the main reasons the city had to go on scrip. Little money was coming in and we couldn't· borrow it as in former years. So the city had to issue the scrip, a promise to pay with interest. Otherwise it would have been unable to pay its employees and it would have had to default on bonds and interest. Scrip, therefore, has kept the city going and it has been able to meet all its bills as they fall due."

Commissioner Bennett said prompter payment of taxes has been encouraged through the issuance of scrip. Taxpayers receiving it have redeemed it as taxes. In other cases, where they have cash, they have bought the scrip from others and used it to meet their debts to the city. Thus, he said the scrip has been kept in circulation and readily exchanged.

"Merchants of the city are to be commended for their co-operation," Bennett said. "They have received scrip since April for purchases made at their stores. In turn, they have met their taxes with the scrip offered by customers, many of whom have been doing their buying exclusively in Camden since circulation of scrip, thereby stimulating business here.

"In addition, various concerns and individuals have been buying up the city scrip for investment, saving it for redemption at a later date to profit by the interest it carries.

"Through scrip, city employees have been saved from going without food, clothing and other necessities. We have averted payless paydays, and we are better off than other cities, whose plight is much worse than that of Camden."

Trenton Times - March 4, 1902

Camden Courier-Post -October 27, 1936