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Authority record
Person Trenton (N.J.)
Bellis, Alfred P. S., 1880-1959
Person · 1880-1959

Alfred Peter Skillman Bellis was born in 1880. He was a member of Model School class of 1900, and graduated from Lehigh University in 1909. in 1912, he married Ida Gants Davies (Model School class of 1902, Normal School class of 1905). He was Chief electrical engineer for John A. Roebling's Sons, Co. until 1948, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Trenton Free Public Library from 1927 to 1933, and member or officer of numerous other local organizations. He died in 1959.
Krauch, Charles A.
Person · 1867-1934

Charles A. Krauch was a Trenton photographer who captured many of the early class photos of the New Jersey State Normal School at Trenton. He was active in Trenton at several successive addresses from 1890 to 1898. He opened his own gallery in 1890. He later moved to California, where he exhibited at L.A. Photographic Salon in 1902.
Wolverton, Clara, 1879-1964
Wolverton, Clara, 1879-1964
Person · 1879-1964

Clara Johnson Wolverton was born on December 3, 1879, in Stockton, Hunterdon County, New Jersey, to Sarah Catherine Cole and Gabriel Wolverton. (Note: Wolverton is also sometimes spelled Woolverton in some sources). At the time of her birth, her parents were in their 40s and had two other surviving children - brothers Harry and Gabriel Jr. Some time in the 1880s, the family moved to Trenton, NJ where her father and brother worked as harness makers. Her earliest schooling is unknown, but she began keeping a meticulous record of her grades and teachers’ names while attending Centennial Grammar School from 1892 to 1894 (the current equivalent of middle school), then Trenton High School from 1894 to 1898, where she majored in English.

In the fall of 1898, she enrolled in New Jersey State Normal School. She was given the nickname “Toddie” by her peers and her favorite occupation was “performing experiments.” According to the school’s Grade and Report Book, she does well academically and is “Quick to understand a child’s point of view and to help, yet her manner seems unsympathetic, due to lack of facial expression. Ernest and shows some good ideas of teaching.” Despite the negative evaluation of her manner and expression, she was immediately placed in a teaching position at Bound Brook Public School just before her graduation in February 1901. For the next two years, she was well-reviewed by her superiors and admired by her students in Passaic County Public Schools in Manchester Township and Haledon Borough. Finally, In 1904, she accepted a permanent position in Trenton Public Schools.

She continued to live with her family in Trenton, which, at times, included her brother Harry and nephew Austin Wolverton. Her brother Gabriel Jr. worked in the insurance business as did Austin. Her father died in the early 1900s, and by 1910, she was living with her widowed mother at 248 Pearl Street in Trenton where she continued to live for several decades. In the 1920s, while teaching, she also attended the University of Pennsylvania and received a degree in education.

According to her obituary, she spent 50 years teaching science at Trenton Junior High School No. 1, which opened in 1916, and was later renamed Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School (closed in 2007). She died May 8, 1964, and was buried in Riverview Cemetery, Trenton, New Jersey.
Decker, Vernetta F., 1895-1983
Person · 1895-1983

Vernetta F. Decker was a faculty member at The College of New Jersey when it was called The New Jersey State Normal School in Trenton, New Jersey State Teachers College and State Normal School at Trenton, and New Jersey State Teachers College at Trenton from 1926-1957. She taught Speech and was the Dean of Women. Decker Hall, a residence hall on the current Ewing campus, is named in her honor.