ACTUAL FULL NAME: Reuben Clement Durham
(His death certificate lists his birthplace as New Jersey, but his birth certificate proves he was born in Kenton, Kent County, Delaware. Census records show his parents moved to New Jersey sometime between 1900 and 1910, when Clement was a young boy) (and the photo of him with the fishing pole was taken in 1909 in NJ, so the move would have occurred between 1900 and 1909).
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The following was written by William B. Vanneman (author of How Dear to My Heart: A Collection of the Photographs and Writings of William J. S. Bradway, 1976) regarding the photo of Clement as a young boy with the fishing pole shown at right:
"This is another of William J. S. Bradway's photos taken in 1909, when he was roaming the countryside on his bicycle with his camera on his shoulder looking for interesting subjects, either natural or historic. Mr. Bradway must have borrowed someone's boat to get out on Maskell's Mill pond where he could set up his camera and snap the shutter when the light was just right, to make it a perfect picture.
"The young man shown standing in the water with a very long pole is Clement Durham, a member of a very large family that used to live on Batter Cake Lane, on property owned by Albert S. Fogg. I can't help but wonder how, why and where he ever came by such a long pole for his kind of fishing in ponds and streams.
"How did he ever find such a long, straight, strong pole?
"Why did he want one that long, which must have made it a problem to carry and store around the house; and [sic]
"It looks a little like a persimmon branch. It would seem to me he would have been better off if he had cut it in half.
"I guess nearly every boy has the urge to go fishing and frequently this urge lasts a lifetime, judging by the looks of the fishermen one can see on the banks of the many streams in Salem County. There are plenty of girls and women who enjoy this sport, too.
"It seems that nearly all of them have modern store-bought rods and reels and the day of the tree branch and the bent pin is long gone. When I was this young fellow's age I used to have a few friends who liked to go up to the Tide Mill meadows, when there was a bank all the way up Salem Creek. There was a set of four sluices in the bank about halfway between the Penns Neck bridge and Mude Hole. After a heavy rain, the sluices would let the excess water run into Salem Creek when the tide was down.
"This meadow was laced with roads and ditches and we used to fish from the bridges over the ditches. On our way through Claysville, we would stop at Harry Wright's grocery store and get a penny fishing line. There was about 10 feet of cotton line wrapped around a piece of wood dyed green and on the end of the line was a small hook, big enough for anything that we would be apt to catch. A 'BB' sized shot was crimped around the line near the hook to act as the dipsey. On the way towards the meadow we would borrow a small branch from a tree and that was our fishing tackle, all for the investment of one cent. I almost forgot that there was a little red, wooden dabber included in the kit.
"We used to catch a few Cape May goodies, yellow heads, small eels, catfish and occasionally a carp. All of these usually found their way to the ash heap when we got home and the neighborhood cats had a good feast.
"Clement Durham was one of 15 children. There are now eight sisters and one brother. I talked to a relative of his, Mrs. Everett Burrell, and she said that he worked on a farm owned by a Mr. Shimp for several years and then farmed for himself in Cumberland County.
"In his later years, he visited a son who had been in the armed forces and was living in California. He liked the country there and decided that was where he wanted to live.
"When Tom Bowen and I were looking over some of William J. S. Bradway's old photographs for one that would exemplify the title of a book called 'How Dear to My Heart,' which is expected to be off the press toward the end of summer, we came across the one shown above and agreed that it could be blown up into a 'Dust cover' and represent very well 'The Scenes of my Childhood.'"
(His death certificate lists his birthplace as New Jersey, but his birth certificate proves he was born in Kenton, Kent County, Delaware. Census records show his parents moved to New Jersey sometime between 1900 and 1910, when Clement was a young boy) (and the photo of him with the fishing pole was taken in 1909 in NJ, so the move would have occurred between 1900 and 1909).
- - - - -
The following was written by William B. Vanneman (author of How Dear to My Heart: A Collection of the Photographs and Writings of William J. S. Bradway, 1976) regarding the photo of Clement as a young boy with the fishing pole shown at right:
"This is another of William J. S. Bradway's photos taken in 1909, when he was roaming the countryside on his bicycle with his camera on his shoulder looking for interesting subjects, either natural or historic. Mr. Bradway must have borrowed someone's boat to get out on Maskell's Mill pond where he could set up his camera and snap the shutter when the light was just right, to make it a perfect picture.
"The young man shown standing in the water with a very long pole is Clement Durham, a member of a very large family that used to live on Batter Cake Lane, on property owned by Albert S. Fogg. I can't help but wonder how, why and where he ever came by such a long pole for his kind of fishing in ponds and streams.
"How did he ever find such a long, straight, strong pole?
"Why did he want one that long, which must have made it a problem to carry and store around the house; and [sic]
"It looks a little like a persimmon branch. It would seem to me he would have been better off if he had cut it in half.
"I guess nearly every boy has the urge to go fishing and frequently this urge lasts a lifetime, judging by the looks of the fishermen one can see on the banks of the many streams in Salem County. There are plenty of girls and women who enjoy this sport, too.
"It seems that nearly all of them have modern store-bought rods and reels and the day of the tree branch and the bent pin is long gone. When I was this young fellow's age I used to have a few friends who liked to go up to the Tide Mill meadows, when there was a bank all the way up Salem Creek. There was a set of four sluices in the bank about halfway between the Penns Neck bridge and Mude Hole. After a heavy rain, the sluices would let the excess water run into Salem Creek when the tide was down.
"This meadow was laced with roads and ditches and we used to fish from the bridges over the ditches. On our way through Claysville, we would stop at Harry Wright's grocery store and get a penny fishing line. There was about 10 feet of cotton line wrapped around a piece of wood dyed green and on the end of the line was a small hook, big enough for anything that we would be apt to catch. A 'BB' sized shot was crimped around the line near the hook to act as the dipsey. On the way towards the meadow we would borrow a small branch from a tree and that was our fishing tackle, all for the investment of one cent. I almost forgot that there was a little red, wooden dabber included in the kit.
"We used to catch a few Cape May goodies, yellow heads, small eels, catfish and occasionally a carp. All of these usually found their way to the ash heap when we got home and the neighborhood cats had a good feast.
"Clement Durham was one of 15 children. There are now eight sisters and one brother. I talked to a relative of his, Mrs. Everett Burrell, and she said that he worked on a farm owned by a Mr. Shimp for several years and then farmed for himself in Cumberland County.
"In his later years, he visited a son who had been in the armed forces and was living in California. He liked the country there and decided that was where he wanted to live.
"When Tom Bowen and I were looking over some of William J. S. Bradway's old photographs for one that would exemplify the title of a book called 'How Dear to My Heart,' which is expected to be off the press toward the end of summer, we came across the one shown above and agreed that it could be blown up into a 'Dust cover' and represent very well 'The Scenes of my Childhood.'"
ACTUAL FULL NAME: Reuben Clement Durham
(His death certificate lists his birthplace as New Jersey, but his birth certificate proves he was born in Kenton, Kent County, Delaware. Census records show his parents moved to New Jersey sometime between 1900 and 1910, when Clement was a young boy) (and the photo of him with the fishing pole was taken in 1909 in NJ, so the move would have occurred between 1900 and 1909).
- - - - -
The following was written by William B. Vanneman (author of How Dear to My Heart: A Collection of the Photographs and Writings of William J. S. Bradway, 1976) regarding the photo of Clement as a young boy with the fishing pole shown at right:
"This is another of William J. S. Bradway's photos taken in 1909, when he was roaming the countryside on his bicycle with his camera on his shoulder looking for interesting subjects, either natural or historic. Mr. Bradway must have borrowed someone's boat to get out on Maskell's Mill pond where he could set up his camera and snap the shutter when the light was just right, to make it a perfect picture.
"The young man shown standing in the water with a very long pole is Clement Durham, a member of a very large family that used to live on Batter Cake Lane, on property owned by Albert S. Fogg. I can't help but wonder how, why and where he ever came by such a long pole for his kind of fishing in ponds and streams.
"How did he ever find such a long, straight, strong pole?
"Why did he want one that long, which must have made it a problem to carry and store around the house; and [sic]
"It looks a little like a persimmon branch. It would seem to me he would have been better off if he had cut it in half.
"I guess nearly every boy has the urge to go fishing and frequently this urge lasts a lifetime, judging by the looks of the fishermen one can see on the banks of the many streams in Salem County. There are plenty of girls and women who enjoy this sport, too.
"It seems that nearly all of them have modern store-bought rods and reels and the day of the tree branch and the bent pin is long gone. When I was this young fellow's age I used to have a few friends who liked to go up to the Tide Mill meadows, when there was a bank all the way up Salem Creek. There was a set of four sluices in the bank about halfway between the Penns Neck bridge and Mude Hole. After a heavy rain, the sluices would let the excess water run into Salem Creek when the tide was down.
"This meadow was laced with roads and ditches and we used to fish from the bridges over the ditches. On our way through Claysville, we would stop at Harry Wright's grocery store and get a penny fishing line. There was about 10 feet of cotton line wrapped around a piece of wood dyed green and on the end of the line was a small hook, big enough for anything that we would be apt to catch. A 'BB' sized shot was crimped around the line near the hook to act as the dipsey. On the way towards the meadow we would borrow a small branch from a tree and that was our fishing tackle, all for the investment of one cent. I almost forgot that there was a little red, wooden dabber included in the kit.
"We used to catch a few Cape May goodies, yellow heads, small eels, catfish and occasionally a carp. All of these usually found their way to the ash heap when we got home and the neighborhood cats had a good feast.
"Clement Durham was one of 15 children. There are now eight sisters and one brother. I talked to a relative of his, Mrs. Everett Burrell, and she said that he worked on a farm owned by a Mr. Shimp for several years and then farmed for himself in Cumberland County.
"In his later years, he visited a son who had been in the armed forces and was living in California. He liked the country there and decided that was where he wanted to live.
"When Tom Bowen and I were looking over some of William J. S. Bradway's old photographs for one that would exemplify the title of a book called 'How Dear to My Heart,' which is expected to be off the press toward the end of summer, we came across the one shown above and agreed that it could be blown up into a 'Dust cover' and represent very well 'The Scenes of my Childhood.'"
(His death certificate lists his birthplace as New Jersey, but his birth certificate proves he was born in Kenton, Kent County, Delaware. Census records show his parents moved to New Jersey sometime between 1900 and 1910, when Clement was a young boy) (and the photo of him with the fishing pole was taken in 1909 in NJ, so the move would have occurred between 1900 and 1909).
- - - - -
The following was written by William B. Vanneman (author of How Dear to My Heart: A Collection of the Photographs and Writings of William J. S. Bradway, 1976) regarding the photo of Clement as a young boy with the fishing pole shown at right:
"This is another of William J. S. Bradway's photos taken in 1909, when he was roaming the countryside on his bicycle with his camera on his shoulder looking for interesting subjects, either natural or historic. Mr. Bradway must have borrowed someone's boat to get out on Maskell's Mill pond where he could set up his camera and snap the shutter when the light was just right, to make it a perfect picture.
"The young man shown standing in the water with a very long pole is Clement Durham, a member of a very large family that used to live on Batter Cake Lane, on property owned by Albert S. Fogg. I can't help but wonder how, why and where he ever came by such a long pole for his kind of fishing in ponds and streams.
"How did he ever find such a long, straight, strong pole?
"Why did he want one that long, which must have made it a problem to carry and store around the house; and [sic]
"It looks a little like a persimmon branch. It would seem to me he would have been better off if he had cut it in half.
"I guess nearly every boy has the urge to go fishing and frequently this urge lasts a lifetime, judging by the looks of the fishermen one can see on the banks of the many streams in Salem County. There are plenty of girls and women who enjoy this sport, too.
"It seems that nearly all of them have modern store-bought rods and reels and the day of the tree branch and the bent pin is long gone. When I was this young fellow's age I used to have a few friends who liked to go up to the Tide Mill meadows, when there was a bank all the way up Salem Creek. There was a set of four sluices in the bank about halfway between the Penns Neck bridge and Mude Hole. After a heavy rain, the sluices would let the excess water run into Salem Creek when the tide was down.
"This meadow was laced with roads and ditches and we used to fish from the bridges over the ditches. On our way through Claysville, we would stop at Harry Wright's grocery store and get a penny fishing line. There was about 10 feet of cotton line wrapped around a piece of wood dyed green and on the end of the line was a small hook, big enough for anything that we would be apt to catch. A 'BB' sized shot was crimped around the line near the hook to act as the dipsey. On the way towards the meadow we would borrow a small branch from a tree and that was our fishing tackle, all for the investment of one cent. I almost forgot that there was a little red, wooden dabber included in the kit.
"We used to catch a few Cape May goodies, yellow heads, small eels, catfish and occasionally a carp. All of these usually found their way to the ash heap when we got home and the neighborhood cats had a good feast.
"Clement Durham was one of 15 children. There are now eight sisters and one brother. I talked to a relative of his, Mrs. Everett Burrell, and she said that he worked on a farm owned by a Mr. Shimp for several years and then farmed for himself in Cumberland County.
"In his later years, he visited a son who had been in the armed forces and was living in California. He liked the country there and decided that was where he wanted to live.
"When Tom Bowen and I were looking over some of William J. S. Bradway's old photographs for one that would exemplify the title of a book called 'How Dear to My Heart,' which is expected to be off the press toward the end of summer, we came across the one shown above and agreed that it could be blown up into a 'Dust cover' and represent very well 'The Scenes of my Childhood.'"
Family Members
Siblings
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Eliza E. Durham Mosley
1898–1982
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Mary Elizabeth Durham Bordley Morris
1901–1980
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Mabel Durham Durham
1902–1974
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Henrietta F. "Henny" Durham Cuff
1904–1991
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![]()
Martha Ann Durham Cuff
1906–1972
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Emma Rachel "Rae" Durham
1908–1986
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Carolyn Durham Cuff
1910–1976
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Harry Howard "Spence" Durham
1911–1965
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Morgan Durham
1913–1914
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![]()
Morris Durham
1915–1970
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Sarah P. "Sallie" Durham Reed
1917–1982
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Dorothy Ada "Dot" Durham Orme
1920–2002
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Alice M. Durham Thompson
1922–1995
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Arthur Elmer "Jerry" Durham
1924–1999
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