New Book Covers Galloway's History

The first book in Arcadia Publishing’s series on American cities and towns–Images of America: Galloway Township, by Joseph Federico and Matthew McHenry—will be released March 28 and initially available through the Galloway Historical Society.

Robert Reid is President of both the Galloway Township and the Absecon Historical Societies. He also serves as the planner for Absecon.

“Mr. Reid provided a wealth of information for us as we worked on the book,” Federico said. “His help was extremely important to getting the project done.”

The book is in soft-cover and features 200 pictures detailing the history of Galloway Township. The effort to get the book into print began with a phone call four years ago when co-author Matthew Henry’s sister, Wendy Walsh, called Arcadia Publishing to find out if a book about Galloway was feasible.

It turned out that the book was not only possible, but the company asked her if she would be willing to create the manuscript. That was when she turned the project over to her brother Matthew and co-author Federico.

Federico said that he was aware of the Arcadia books, having seen them elsewhere.

“We saw Arcadia books on a trip to California,” Federico said. “The creation of this book was strictly ordered by the publisher. We were fortunate enough to meet members of Galloway families who traced their roots back to the beginning in the 1700s. We interviewed a lot of people, and they were kind enough to share their memories, documents, maps and original photos with us. There was a lot of work involved.  Arcadia insists on the use of historically accurate photos and maps for their books.”

At 128 pages with 200 photos and maps, the book provides a pictorial overview of Galloway Township and its history. Federico commented on how the work was done.

“Matthew McHenry wrote the chapter intros and the back cover of the book. Robert Reid wrote the introduction, and I scanned the photos and other documents for the book and wrote the picture captions,” Federico said. “We submitted about 215 historical photos and documents for the publisher’s review, and 200 of them made the cut.”

The book contains references to people from all walks of life.

“We saw a teacher’s contract that dated to the 1950s and a contract for that same teacher from the 1980s,” Federico said. “Her salary jumped over $20,000 a year in that time. It showed the value of her work.

“When we heard that Galloway’s former mayor Harry Leeds passed away, we were saddened by the news. We regret that we hadn’t been able to include something about him in the book, but at the time of his death the book was already in the hands of the publisher. The Leeds family has played a very significant role in Galloway’s history over the years.”

Asked if the famous Jersey Devil was mentioned in the book, the author said, “It’s mentioned, but our book is based on facts. It is very much an accurate pictorial history of Galloway Township, and it will be appreciated for its attention to detail.”

Federico and McHenry will be appearing at the regular dinner meeting of the Absecon Historical Society on Monday, June 6 at the Gourmet Italian Restaurant on Pitney and Jimmie Leeds Road in Galloway. They’ll be signing copies of the book and presenting a slide show on historical Galloway Township.

The Absecon Historical Society has invited members of the Galloway Township Historical Society to attend the meeting, and Ken Sooy Sr., Galloway Township historian, will also speak at the meeting.

To order a copy of Images of America: Galloway Township by Joseph Federico and Matthew McHenry, e-mail the Galloway Historical Society at gallowayhistory@comcast.net or contact Robert Reid at 609-569-9000.