Camden People - Warren E. Buck

WARREN E. BUCK was born in Massachusetts on August 27, 1903 to Julius and Sallie Buck. By the time of the 1920 Census, the Buck family, which included older brother Roy L. Buck, had moved to Camden NJ, where their address was 1902 Stockton Park, in East Camden, just south of Federal Street. The elder Buck then operated a pile driver to support his family. Julius Buck was a naturalist of sorts, and in the 1920s opened a zoo of sorts in East Camden, at 1900 Federal Street. When the Census was taken in April of 1930, Julius Buck gave his occupation as "animal collector". Warren Buck's occupation in the 1930 Census was "helper". The family still lived in Stockton Park, the address however had been changed by the city to 1902 Mickle Street.

Occasionally confused with the famous animal hunter and circus exhibitor Frank Buck, of "Bring 'Em Back Alive" fame, Warren Buck became famous in his own right as an explorer and naturalist. By August of 1935 he had already made nine trips to Africa, collecting specimens of various plants and animals. He was still operating the zoo his father had opened in East Camden was on the grounds of the old Stockton Park.

In August of 1935, Warren Buck was granted a permit to operate an exhibit on a farm in Delaware Township (present-day Cherry Hill) NJ on Marlton Pike, near the site of what became Garden State Racetrack in the 1940s. He made at least one more trip to Africa, as evidenced by the postcard below, mailed from Sierra Leone.

Warren Buck remained in Delaware Township through at least 1959. By 1970 Warren Buck had moved the Black Horse Pike at Wilson Avenue in the Grenloch section of Gloucester Township NJ. His brother Roy remained in Camden, owning a home at 28 North 30th Street until his passing in 1974.

Warren Buck passed away in November of 1985.

Camden Courier-Post - October 21, 1931

'Molta' Doesn't Yet Know World Series Is Finished
So Missing Monk Perches in Delaware Township Apple Tree
and Tries a 'Lefty Grove' On Passing Pedestrians

By ERNIE TALBOT

"Malta" is out on monkey business.

The "Molta" in question is a male member at Darwin's theory of what man sprung from, and this time he sprung from the collection of "pets" captured by Julius L. Buck in the African jungles. Until last June, "Malta" had spent a month in "the land of the free" at his new home 1900 Federal Street, where Buck took him to add to his menagerie.

Then "Molta," on one bright sunny morning in the month of brides, set out for the wilds. He landed in Delaware Township.

"Now, I can have peace and quiet away from those 'elephant mosquitoes' that fly day and night over my head," quoth he.

For months he hunted nuts, for playmates were scarce and there were no monkeyshines to do. A happy thought came. "Mr. Molta" grinned yesterday as he jumped an apple tree in Three Oaks, near Ellisburg.

Sitting on his newly acquired branch, "Molta" looked down to see a man. "Now I can cut up a little," said he, as his paws grabbed a couple of apples.

George Zerth, a farmer, was passing underneath the perch. "I will see if my aim is as good as it was when I left Africa last May." "Molta" let go.

"Strike one," said the monk. Another slow pitch from a new apple hit Zerth. He looked up to see the white teeth of the grinning pitcher and went into the "box" himself. The stone went wild and "Molta” started to run the bases (trees) and has again disappeared - probably awaiting his chance to pitch again.

Zerth reported to police, who started to piece together complaints received by them from citizens in various sections of Delaware township.

"Yes," they said, "that is the culprit that has been squeaking and keeping our good people from their rest at nights."

Residents of Ellisburg and other neighborhood towns have complained that "someone" was scratching on the woodwork of their windows, but could not account for an intruder.

Latest complaint lodged with the police, is that chickens have been killed, nothing remaining but bones. Search for "Molta" proceeds.

	Warren Buck mailed this postcard from Sierra Leone in Africa on February 12, 1937 Click in Image to Enlarge