Robert Ridgway Thomson, Physical Education

Mr. Robert Thomson divided time between Stockton School and Columbian School as the physical education teacher. He was affectionately known as "Mr. T" and many former students, even those who did not feel confident in PE, remember him as a caring and encouraging teacher.

Photo above and text below from the 1934 Panzer College yearbook

Below the 1934 Panzer College class prophecy (prediction) about Mr Thomson's whereabouts 10 years after graduation (1944). In a previous annual, Mr Thomson is listed as being from New Paltz, NY.

"Our trip is nearly complete except for two of my "cronies." "Prof." Thomson is a gym instructor in New Paltz High School and the champion of the cause of heavy apparatus and tumbling. In spite of the inability of his pupils to execute a one-hand stand, he still retains the old sense of humor."

Robert R Thomson retired to Orlando FL in 1968 and died there in 1997: 

ROBERT RIDGWAY THOMSON, 90, 1442 Pebble Beach Blvd., Orlando, died Saturday, May 10. Mr. Thomson was a physical education instructor. Born in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., he moved to Central Florida in 1968. He was a member of the Orlando Area Theatre Organ Society. Survivors: wife, Lois M.; daughters, Carole J. Rose, Norristown, Pa., Carol Dickman, Inverness; two grandchildren. American Family Cremation Society.

                                    Below: the badminton team in the 1932 Panzer College yearbook

Above: gymnastic team in 1932 yearbook

                                            Below: staff of the Springboard (newspaper) 1932

Below: a certificate signed by Mr. Thomson and Principal Shelly awarded to a Stockton student in Spring, 1959 (image courtesy of Seth McQuillan)

Ashland Oval

Below: Nov. 17, 1922, New York Tribune

As a tribute to long time Mayor Martens, in 1952 Ashland Stadium, where school games and events are held, was renamed Martens Stadium.

Thomas Edison

Above: Glenmont, Home of Thomas Alva Edison in Llewellyn Park, West Orange

Glenmont is located in Llewellyn Park, West Orange, the first romantically designed, planned residential community in the United States. The community was developed in the 1850's by Llewellyn Haskell, who had acquired 350 acres in West Orange, New Jersey, about fifteen miles from New York City. The architect Alexander Jackson Davis landscaped the park, which grew to 700 acres by the 1870's.

A Queen Anne style mansion with 29 rooms, Glenmont was designed by the architect Henry Hudson Holly. Edison purchased the Glenmont estate – 13.5 acres including house, barn, greenhouse, and furnishings –in January of 1886 for $125,000, half its estimated value.

Popular Restaurants in the Area

Above: from the 1939 Panzer College yearbook

Above: Pal's Cabin

Above: Robin Hood Inn

Below: Friar Tuck Inn

Franklin Hose Company No. 3

Franklin Hose Company No. 3 came into existence in 1884 when the 1825 Franklin School building was modified to become a fire house

In 1890 a brick firehouse was built on the SE corner of Dodd Street and Brighton Avenue.

Above: 1895 map

Below: 1911 map

John Alexander Tenney: In Memorium

One of my best friends at Stockton School during the 3rd through the 5th grades was John Tenney, probably because we shared a similar sarcastic, Mad magazine sense of humor and an interest in nerdy things like science and chess, and in military strategy which we carried out using our collections of toy soldiers.

Below: John, probably in 6th grade

 He lived at 39 North 16th Street between Eaton Place and William St. and, one time, John came to me and said he and another kid had found a source of iron filings, and we did some experiments with the filings and magnetism. At first he wanted to keep the source secret and sold me a jar of filings for 25 cents, but he finally took me to the source, the back lot of a business on Hedden Place next to the Lackawanna Railroad tracks just a couple of blocks from John's home.

John moved away from our neighborhood about 1958 (6th grade), but I recently learned that he ended up going to Columbian School and then Clifford J Scott High.

Above: John as a freshman at Clifford J Scott High School (1961/62)

Below: John in the Photography Club, sophomore year (1962/63)

Above left: John as Mortimer Brewster ( the character played by Cary Grant in the movie) in Arsenic and Old Lace during his junior year (1963/64)

Below: another junior year photo

After finding John in the 1965 Clifford J Scott yearbook and seeing his full name, I immediately had hopes of finding him and getting back in touch, but, unfortunately, an internet search found the following: 

Below: Eureka Times Standard for February 18, 1975

                           Lakewood Hope Chapel Cemetery
                                 Hope Chapel Road
                             Lakewood, NJ Ocean County 

Raymond Parker Tenney    14 Sep 1913   5 Sep 1989         1st LT, US Army, WW II

Ludmilla ( Lund) Tenney  1921          2016            born in Oslo, Norway

John Alexander Tenney  6 Sep 1947    16 Feb 1975    US Navy 1968 - 1972, Antarctica 1970

Charles Parker Tenney              1952          No Date

John's grandfather was born in China, son of an American diplomat and educator, Charles Daniel Tenney