 |
| Davey Crockett after losing $168 |
It’s an irrefutable fact that Camden, N.J., suffers from a high crime rate.
But who would guess that in the year 1834 crime would also be a problem in Camden?
This fact is illustrated in the journal of frontiersman Davy Crockett – the same guy who died in Texas at the Battle of the Alamo and was prone to wear a coonskin cap.
Davy was already quite a famous character and was a U.S. Senator from Tennessee at the time of his visit to Camden. He apparently was visiting several East Coast cities.
Here are Crockett’s notes on his Camden visit:
“Having promised Mr. Hoy of Camden to call and see him on my return, and having fixed the time, I went over, accompanied by several gentlemen, to the Jersey shore where there were a great deal of people waiting for me. . . . We proceeded to Mr. Hoy’s and then I took a walk through Camden.”
During his visit, Davy gave the Camden folks a demonstration of his marksmanship with a rifle.
“Sometime after this, we were asked to dinner. And heard someone say he had lost his pocket-book [wallet]. And in a few minutes, a second cry was raised, that another man had lost his pocket-book,"
“I then felt for mine, but I felt in vain – it was gone, with one-hundred and sixty-eight dollars in it.”
Yes, a Camden pickpocket had enjoyed a very lucrative day.
It was also in New Jersey that Crockett took his first railroad ride. He marveled at the speed – an amazing 25 miles-an-hour.