James
E.
Tatem


 

JAMES E. TATEM was born in Camden in May of 1876 to William A. and Anna Emley Tatem. There were at least two older siblings, a sister and a brother, and a younger brother in the family, which lived in 1880 at 101 North 7th Street. William Tatem was then a produce dealer. Sadly, he had passed away by 1887. The family was then living at 422 Henry Street in South Camden. The 1890-1891 Directory shows the Tatems at 619 South 5th Street, where older brother Edward Tatem also conducted a milk business. At the age of 24 James Tatem had married Ella Lummis. The couple resided with her parents, at 435 Beckett Street at the time of the 1900 Census. He had by this time already joined Camden's police force.

James Tatem joined Camden's police department in 1898, an appointee of Mayor Cooper B. Hatch. He managed to avoid being discharged when Democrat mayor Joseph Nowrey was elected. When the Republicans returned to City Hall in 1905, new Mayor Charles Ellis saw "Smilin' Jimmy's" ability to calm a troubled situation, and by 1910 he was promoted to sergeant and by 1920 to captain. For much of Ellis' term James Tatem served as an an aide to the Mayor. He also served as a Justice of the Peace in the early 1920s. 

James Tatem remained on with the Camden police department when Mayor Ellis retired to become Postmaster in 1922. The following year Victor King was elected mayor. King also took a liking to the ever-diplomatic Tatem, and saw that he was appointed Captain of the newly created traffic bureau. When Commissioner Frank Hitchner, then the director of public safety, fired Chief Edward S. Hyde, Tatem was chosen to be the new Chief.

James Tatem faced a daunting challenge in his new post, one that in retrospect he may not have been prepared for- not that many police officers of his generation were. Commissioner. He was an officer who came up in the 1890s and 1900s faced with the new organized crime model that took hold in America when Prohibition was instituted in 1919. That and his dalliance with the Democratic Mayor King foretold Chief Tatem's replacement. After a shooting in a downtown bar, the Bluebird Cafe, in late 1927, Commissioner David S. Rhone, the new director of public safety, took a more active role in the affairs of the department. Finally, on March 2, 1928 Mayor Winfield S. Price replaced Chief Tatem, appointing Captain Lewis H. Stehr Jr. as acting Chief of Police. This was a surprise to many, who had assumed that the popular Chief Charles T. Humes would get the post. James Tatem then retired on a full pension. It is worth noting, however, that his service to the city was recognized in that he had been granted a raise on March 1, 1928 which had the effect of locking in his pension at a higher amount. 

The marriage between of James and Ella Tatem appears to have been a stormy one. By 1910 the couple had separated, and he appears to never have remarried. He then lived with his mother, grandmother Elizabeth Emley, widowed sister Mary Gahan, and nephew Edward at 535 South 5th Street. James Tatem would remain at this address into the 1920s. James Tatem was still living in Camden with his sister as late as April of 1930. By this time they were living at 615 South 5th Street, next door to Camden firefighter Leonard Megee, and on the same block where he had resided as a boy.  


CAMDEN DAILY COURIER - JANUARY 4, 1922
Charge Detective Murry Protected Vice

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John B. Kates - Walter Keown - George Ward - Howard Fisher - James E. Tatem
Elisha A. Gravenor - E.G.C. Bleakly - Anthony "Babe" Paradise - "Pye" Calletino
George Murry - William Draper - Tony Latorre - Ira Hall - George V. Murry
Harry "Dutch" Selby - Gus Davis - Albert "Salty" Cook - Ned Galvin - James Wilson
Sycamore Street - Pine Street - Rosetta Blue - Deena Howard - Minnie Draper
Harry Knox - Blanche Martin - Jesse Smith - Antonio Pelle - Ethel Murray
Paulo Genovese - Nazzara DeVecches - Nino Mercandino -
South 2nd Street -
South 3rd Street - South 4th Street - Line Street - Pine Street
Ann Street - Baxter Street - Sycamore Street

Camden Courier - July 9, 1927

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Harry Kreher - James W. Tatem - Motorcycles in Camden

Camden Courier-Post - January 7, 1928

JEWELRY CLERK HELD IN ROBBERY OF STORE
Loot Valued at $2000 Taken From Broadway Shop;
Second Visit of Thieves

Climbing to the roof of a shed in the rear of the Greenetz & Pellicoff jewelry store, 833 Broadway, burglars entered the shop early today and carried away $2,000 in loot. 

At noon today, Joseph Shapiro, 29 years old, 215 South Fifth Street, a clerk in the store, was being grilled by Detectives George Ward and Thomas Cheeseman, after being booked at police headquarters as having been arrested “on suspicion.” 

August 29 four suspected robbers were captured by police only a few minutes after they had smashed the plate glass window and snatched a tray of jewels at the same store. 

Policeman John McTaggert reported the burglary this morning. He is the brother of Policeman James McTaggert, who participated in the capture of the four suspects last August. 

Included in the loot of the burglars this morning were 35 watches left at the shop by their owners for repairs. At the shop it was said the owners of the watches would be reimbursed. Other articles stolen included 26 bracelets, 12 diamond bar pins, 15 pair of earrings, three fountain pen sets, and six strings of beads. 

At 7:30 this morning, Patrolman McTaggert noticed several men standing in front of the jewelry store. He learned that they had just discovered an open window and, investigating, found the shop had been robbed. 

The watches and other articles of jewelry were taken from trays and showcases. A safe in the store was left untouched. 

The building next to the jewelry store at 831 Broadway is unoccupied and it was through this structure that the burglars entered. They climbed to the roof of a shed at the rear, entered a second story window and followed a corridor to an inner door of the jewelry store, forced open the door, and entered. 

The capture of the four men at the store more than four months ago resulted in commendation from Chief James E. Tatem for the three officers who participated. With Policeman Edward Smith and Frank Truax, Patrolman James McTaggert took the four men at revolver’s point. The men arrested at that time, still awaiting trial, are James Toner, 54 years old, 1204 Vine Street, Philadelphia; Mervin Campbell, 24 years old, 2309 Carlisle Street; James J. Kelly, 25 years old, 2121 Brandywine Street; and Frank MacCrossan, 33 years old, of 1328 Pearl Street. 

The proprietors of the store are Joseph and Michael Greenetz, 1468 Haddon Avenue, and Abraham Pellicoff, 1417 Haddon Avenue.


Camden Courier-Post - February 4, 1928

POLICE INVITE BANDITS TO NICE SHOOTING PARTY
But Yeggs Must Leave Gats at Home While Cops Practice
With Camden's New Desperado Eliminators

Wanted: Targets for Camden’s new desperado eliminators. Bandits, burglars, snipers and their ilk are requested by Chief of Police James E. Tatem to apply at police headquarters Monday morning at 10 o’clock, when a practice shooting party will be held.

Chief Tatem said today Camden’s bandit-chasing squad is “just rarin’ to go” with six new automatic rifles guaranteed to shoot full of holes the toughest bandit in less time than it takes to say “Aligoop.”

For the further enlightenment of the bandit fraternity, Chief Tatem announced detailed instructions on how to use the new carbines will be given this afternoon at 3 o’clock to bandit chasing police by Captain Arthur Colsey and Herman Engle, a representative of Stein Brothers, this city.

The rifles arrived at police headquarters yesterday afternoon. They will be distributed in each of the city’s three police districts in the campaign to rid the city of desperadoes.

The weapons can fire a magazine of 20 shots in a few seconds. They will be mounted in the three red bandit chasing coupes used by the district squad members. One of the coupes is now being used by Archie Reiss and Vernon Jones in South Camden, while two others are expected to be delivered within a few days, according to Chief of Police James E. Tatem. They will be assigned to Walter Smith and Joseph Carpani, First district detectives and Louis Schlam and Richard Donnelly in the East Camden district.

Swivel attachments make it possible to fire the guns from a fixed point in an automobile. Detached they may be fired from the shoulder. Besides firing a magazine of 20 shots without stopping, they can be adjusted to single fire, using .45 caliber cartridges.

Instruction in the adjustment and use of the weapons will be given today by a representative of the company that sold them- at $175 each— to the city.


Camden Courier-Post - February 15, 1928

POLICE AXES PLAY DIRGE ON SLOT MACHINES

 Confiscated slot machines being stacked in front of police headquarters today,    preparatory to being carted to Civic Center and destroyed.

Civic Center

Lewis Stehr

James Tatem

Charles Laib


Camden Courier-Post - February 22, 1928
$225,000 FIRE RUINS 5 UPTOWN PLANTS

HOW FLAMES GUTTED BIG INDUSTRIAL BUILDING

RESIDENTS FLEE AS FLAMES RAGE IN BIG BUILDING
Factory of Evans Leather Co. Saved by Valiant Work of Firemen
APPARATUS IS DISABLED; DEBRIS BURIED FIRE PLUG
Metal Stamping Firm, Textile Concern Heavy Losers; Pattern Shop Saved
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Thomas Nicholas - James Tatem
Manuel Kane
Harry M. Leigh
- David Ellis
Engine Company 2
Engine Company 4
Engine Company 5
Engine Company 6
Segal Street
Click in Images to Enlarge

Camden Courier-Post - February 23, 1928
Dr. Clement T. Branch William D. Sayrs James E. Tatem
Walnut Street Thomas Cunningham South 9th Street


Camden Courier-Post - May 14, 1934
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