USA > Pennsylvania > Lehigh County > A history of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania; from the earliest settlements to the present time, including much valuable information for the use of schools, families, libraries > Part 1
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12
F 157 L5 H37 1902
CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
FO
UN
E
1865
Cornell University Library
The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library.
There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text.
http://archive.org/details/cu31924028854184
Our Best Thoughts go into the making of our
Men's $10 Suits
The're the acme of perfection in every detail at the price. But Ten Dollars is not the only price. We are showing a superb assortment in Plain and Fancy Weaves, ranging in price from $5 to $17.
Shankweiler & Lehr,
CLOTHIERS.
ALLENTOWN.
The Pennsylvania German
AN ILLUSTRATED QUARTERLY MAGAZINE. (All but Poetry in English. ) Devoted to the History, Biography, Geneaology, Poetry, Folk-Love and General Interests in the Pennsylvania Germans and their Descendants. Edited and Published by
Rev. P. C. Croll, A. M., LEBANON, SUBSCRIPTION
PER YEAR PA. PRICE $I IN ADVANCE
Everybody, who sees it, falls in love with it. Sample Copy 25 cents.
Horne's Pennsylvania-German Manual
Printed in Pennsylvania-German, English and High German.
The above is one of the many illustrations in Horne's Pennsylvania-German Manual.
Inshlich licht, col al licht, gas un electric licht .- Pennsylva- nia-German. Tallow candle, coal oil light, gas and electric light .- English.
Unschlitt Licht, Kohloel-Licht, Gas und Electrisches Licht .- High German.
The "col al licht" is an illustration of the time when the coining of Pennsylva- nia-German words ceased, and English speaking commenced to predominate among the Pennsylvania-Germans.
Horne's "Pennsylvania-German Manual" con- tains much valuable information as follows : many miscellaneous illustrations with Pennsyl- vania-German, English and High German names, the popular Pennsylvania-German ballads (illustrated), customs of the Pennsylvania-Germans in "Ye Olden Times" (illustrated), his_ torical facts, poetry, songs, proverbs, conundrums and anecdotes (illustrated), shows differ- ent styles of writing Pennsylvania-German, dictionary, with English and High German equivalents, English vocabulary with Pennsylvania-German equivalents.
415 pages, Price, 90c. By mail, $1.05.
THE NATIONAL EDUCATOR, Allentown, Pa.
WE ASK BUT THIS
We ask any person who at any time desires to purchase a Piano or Organ, to pay our store a visit before making a decision. That is all. We do not beg or implore anyone to buy here. We place before you some fifteen or twenty world famous makes. We show you their music making capabilities. We point out the especially advantage- ous prices which we, as very large dealers, are able to offer. We give you every possible facility for examining the merits of our in- struments. Can it be wise for any possible piano buyer to make a choice without viewing what the largest and oldest music house in the Lehigh Valley has to offer.
G. C. ASCHBACH,
539 HAMILTON STREET, ALLENTOWN. PA,
N.B .- We can furnish anything in the music line and at very reasonable prices
M. E. HAUSER,
Carpenter ana Builder,
Jobbing promptly attended to. Estimates Furnished.
Shop and P. O. Address
Wyncote and Glenside, Pa.
Dotterer & Mohry,
Fancy and Staple Groceries
Coffees and Spices Choice Country Produce.
6th and Walnut Sts., Allentown, Pa.
If you want the BEST try
Men's "Walk-Over" Shoes
at $3.50 and $4.00.
Ladies' "Queen Quality" the Famous Shoe for wear at $3.00.
Many styles, width A to E in stock.
Sold only by H. F. LAROS, The BIG BOOT Shoe Store,
709 Hamilton Street,
ALLENTOWN, PA.
JOHN J. HAUSER & CO., .. FINE SHOES ..
Largest Stock
Leading Prices
641 Hamilton Street, Allentown, Pa.
WOMEN
Find the Wonderful PO-MO-NA
preparations cure Diseases peculiar to themselves. PO-MO-NA PREPARATIONS are made with that one object only in view.
DANIEL F. LEIBY,
Manufacturer and Dealer
518 Washington Street, ALLENTOWN, PA.
Write and a Representative will call.
J. R. Schuler A. R. Schuler J. R. Schuler
Schuler Bros.,
401 Gordon Street, ALLENTOWN, PA.
VERA CRUZ, Lehigh Co., Pa.
Dealers in
General Merchandise
Dry Goods Groceries Hardware Hats, Caps Boots Shoes
Come and see our goods and be convinced that we carry everything you want and at the very lowest prices.
O. T WERLEY
Dealer in
DRY GOODS, GROCERIES, HARDWARE, BOOTS, SHOES, HATS, CAPS, QUEENSWARE, General Merchandise.
None but First-class Goods in stock, which are sold at the lowest cash prices. Remember the place
333 MAIN STREET, EMAUS, PA
Under New Management. First-class Accommodations. Choice Wines, Liquors and Cigars at the Bar.
Central - House,
MRS. ELLEN J. HEILMAN, PROP'R.
Board by the day or week. Stabling.
Corner 3rd and Main Sts., EM AUS, PA.
A HISTORY
of
LEHIGH COUNTY
PENNSYLVANIA
From the Earliest Settlements to the Present Time Including much Valuable Information for the use of
SCHOOLS FAMILIES LIBRARIES
Published By James J. Hauser.
1902.
ALLENTOWN, PA. 11 JACKS, THE PRINTER.
1.1 :
-
6
F
-
LS 137 1902
Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1901. By JAMES J. HAUSER, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. All rights reserved.
395856 B 30 X
7
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I .- Treaties with the Indians. First purchase of land from the Indians. Second and third purchases. Walking purchase. William Markham, William Penn, James Steel, Edward Mar- shall, James Yeates, Solomon Jennings, Timothy Smith, John Chapman, Maughanghein.
CHAPTER II .- The first white men, traders, Seneca Indians, Delaware Indians.
14
CHAPTER III-Indian raids. Braddock's defeat. Pontiac. Massacre of Gnadenhutten. Whitehall Massacres. John J. Mickley, Hans Snyder, Zachary, J. N. Wethehold, Margaret Frantz, Deschler's Fort.
16
CHAPTER IV .- The First White Settlers. Germany. Switzerland. Henry Harbough. Holidays. 2I
CHAPTER V. Flying Camp. Wagon brigade. General Hospital. Bethlehem. Allentown. Friess Rebellion. War of 1812. Civil War 1861 to 1865. Spanish American War. 26
CHAPTER VI .- Internal Improvements, Canal, Railroads, Furnaces, Factories, Founderies. 33
CHAPTER VII .- First Schools, Dillingersville, Emaus, Egypt, Centre- ville, New Tripoli, Allentown, Balliettsville, Free School System. 34
CHAPTER VIII-Soil, animals, mountain and hills, rivers and creeks, botany, trees. Religious denominiation.
36
CHAPTER IX-Geography of the Township. Population, soil, indus- tries, villages. Old landmarks. Education. 38
CHAPTER X .- Countyseat and Boroughs. Industries, newspapers, education, denominations, history.
II
50
8
0
CHAPTER XI .- Duties of the County Officers, Township Officers, Bor- ough and City Officers.
57
CHAPTER XII-Civil list .- Members of Congress, State Senators, Members of House of Representatives, Judges, Associate Judges, County Superintendents of Schools, Allentown City Superinten- dents of Schools, Sheriffs, Prothonotaries, Recorders of Deeds, Registers of Wills, Clerks of Court of Quarter Sessions, Clerks of Orphans' Court, Coroners, Treasurers, Surveyors, Commis- sioners, Clerks of the County Commissioners, Auditors, District Attorneys, Justices of the Peace. 63
CHAPTER XIII .- List of Soldiers furnished by Lehigh County. French and Indian War. Revolutionary War. War of 1812. Mexican War. Civil War. Hispanio-American War. 70
CHAPTER XIV .- Post Offices, Attorneys, Physicians, Eminent Divines Teachers, Population of Pennsylvania, Lehigh County, Gover- nors of Pennsylvania, Township Populations. IIO
CHAPTER XV .- Early Churches and Settlers. I06
School Statistics for 1901. II7
Population from 1820 to 1900. II8
Governors of Pennsylvania from 1790 to 1903. 119
Valuation of Lehigh County.
120
Lehigh County's Debt. Lehigh County as a Manufacturing Centre. I2I
INTRODUCTION.
It is bothi interesting and instructive to study the history of our fathers, to fully understand through what difficulties, obstacles, toils and trials they went to plant settlements which struggled up to a position of wealth and prosperity.
These accounts of our county have been written so as to bring before every youth and citizen of our county, an account of the growth of the popula- tion, its resources, the upbuilding of the institutions that give character and sta- bility to the county.
It has been made as concise as possible, and everything which was thought to be of any value to the youth and citizen, has been presented as best as it could be under the circumstances with the hope that by perusing its pages, many facts of interest can be gathered that will be of use in future years.
Hoping that any shortcomings of the work will be kindly overlooked by a generous public.
It is now presented to the public for its careful perusal and we hope that the youth of our county will be benefitted thereby, and that the teachers of our public schools will find much valuable aid which the author has tried to gather while engaged in the schoolroom, and that by perusing its pages the grand prin- ciple of patriotism and love of country will be instilled into the minds of our youth.
In preparing this work I acknowledge the assistance of aid given by Profs. Alvin Rupp, the County Superintendent of Schools, J. O. Knauss, of the Department of Public Instruction, Mr. Clinton A. Mohr of the Emaus Times, Mr. Steltz and others.
This volume is now dedicated to the teachers, pupils and fellow citizens of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania.
EMAUS, PENNA., MAY II, 1901. J. J. HAUSER,
PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION.
This new edition has been thoroughly revised and largely rewritten. Every effort has been made to profit by the suggestions and friendly criticisms of many friends, to all of whom the author is greatly indebted.
Great pains have been taken to correct all errors in statements of fact, dates and references. The aim of this work is to give the main facts of the his- tory of our County, clearly, accurately and impartially. To give the people a short but concise record of all that is of interest to the general public.
The author acknowledges the valuable aid and suggestions in the revision of this work to Rev. Dr. A. R. Horne, Supt. Alvin Rupp, Hons. J. F. Moyer, J. W. Mayne, Harry G. Stiles, Mr. David Miller of The Morning Call, Mr. Daniel F. Leiby and others. JAMES J. HAUSER.
ALLENTOWN, PA., MAY 1, 1902.
II
CHAPTER I.
TREATIES WITH THE INDIANS.
L EHIGH COUNTY embraces the beautiful Kittatinny Valley, lying between the Lehigh or South Mountains on the South and Blue Mountains on the north. It is dotted with thriving towns and villages, fertile fields, running streams of water flowing through every part of the valley, making the soil very productive, also part of the beautiful and romantic Lehigh Valley stretching along the Lehigh River, and the fertile Saucon Valley south of the Lehigh or South Mountains. The advent of the white settler and his adventures with the Indians are full of incidents and hairbreadth escapes, showing at a glance that our forefathers had to undergo the same trials and cares as his western friend had in building up the country. The Aborigines or Indians, living in what is now Lehigh County, where the Minsies or Delaware tribe of Indians, who were the owners of our beautiful Lehigh County. It was undoubtedly included in the second purchase of land from the Indians. It will perhaps be of interest to the reader to know the different purchases and what was acquired at each.
The first purchase of land was made in 1682 by William Markham, Dep- uty Governor of the colony, before the arrival of Penn, which included the coun- try between the Neshaminy Creek and Delaware River to Wrightstown and Upper Wakefield
The second and third purchases were made by William Penn himself and included the land along the Pahkehoma ( Perkiomen). In 1686, it is claimed an- other treaty was made with the Indians, but no copy of the treaty is known to exist. The treaty of 1684 was made by William Penn and Maugbaugsin ( Macun- gie), the leading chief of the Delawares, and was for a consideration of two Matchcoats, four pair of Stockings and four bottles of Sider. The Indian deed is as follows :
"Upon my own desire and free offer, I, Maughaughsin, in consideration of two Matchcoats, four pair of Stockings and four bottles of Sider, do hereby grant, make over all my land upon the Pahkehoma, to William Penn, Propr. and Govern'r of Pennsylvania and territories, his heirs and Assignees forever, with which I own myself satisfied and promise never to molest any Christian so call d yt shall seat thereon by his orders.
Witness my hand and seal at Philadelphia ye third day day of ye fourth month 1684.
The mark of Maughaughsin.
Signed, sealed and delivered in the presence of us,
Philip Thomas Lehman, Thomas Hohnes, John Davers, George Emlin."
12
The Indians removed beyond the Blue Mountains, only a few remaining on their old hunting grounds, the beautiful Kittatinny Valley.
The purchase of 1686 was said to include all the land beginning at the line of the former purchases to as far northwest as a man could ride in two days, but as no copy of the treaty was preserved, the claim was disputed by the Indians, and the purchase was undecided, but settlers began to flock into the new region which they supposed had been purchased from the Indiams, who believed that their rights were being encroached upon. They held several meetings with the proprietors of the colony to fix definitely the limits of the ceded territory.
The first meeting was held in Durham, several miles below Easton, 1734. The second meeting was held at Pennsbury, 1735, and the last meeting was held at Philadelphia, which resulted in an agreement that the treaty of 1686 should be followed, and the purchase should be repeated in a novel way, namely, the colony of Pennsylvania should receive as much land as was included in a line drawn northwest from a point at Wrightstown as far as a man could walk in a day and a half. This treaty is known as the "Walking purchase." Subsequent to the treaty, the proprietors caused a trial walk to be made to ascertain what amount of land could be obtained ; this trial walk was made in April, 1735, and the trees along the route were blazed so that the parties engaged in making the walk, de- ciding the ownership of the land, would have the advantage of a marked pathway. So when the treaty was signed August 25th, 1737, the Receiver General of the colony, James Steel, secured the man who had endured in the trial walk. Ed- ward Marshal, James Yeates and Solomon Jennings, were selected, all noted for their power of endurance. The sheriff of Bucks County, Timothy Smith, and John Chapman, the surveyor, accompanied the three walkers, provided their meals, etc. The time set for the walk, according to the treaty, was September 12th, 1737, but was postponed until September 19th. It had been agreed that the Indians should send some of their young men along to see that the walk was fairly made. The compensation of each of the walkers was five pounds in money and five hundred acres of land. The point of starting was at a large chestnut tree near the fork of the Pennsville and Durham roads at the meeting house in Washington, Bucks County, very close to the Markham purchase. The three walkers stood close to the tree, their hands resting upon it, and as the sun rose, Sheriff Smith gave the signal for starting. The route was as straight as it possibly could be, on account of the ground and obstructions in the way, it led along the Durham road. Veates led the way with an easy step, followed by Jennings with two Indian walkers who were followed by Marshall, at a distance, swinging a hatchet and walking with an easy and careless step. In two and a-half hours they reached Red Hill, Bedminster township, where they took dinner with Wil- son, the Indian trader. Durham Creek, where the old furnace stood, was fol- lowed and they crossed the Lehigh River a mile below Bethlehem at Jones Island, . and from this place they passed to the Blue ridge at Smith Gap, Moore township, Northampton County, and they slept at night on the northern side of the moun- tain. At sunrise the next morning they resumed their journey and concluded their walk at noon. Marshall alone held out and throwing himself upon the ground, grasped a small tree which was marked as the end of the line. Jennings was the first to give out about two miles north of Tohickon, but he straggled along until the Lehigh River was reached.
He left them there, and went to his home on what is now the Geissinger farm, a few miles north of Bethlehem, which is now in Salisbury township, where he lived for twenty years after. He was a famous hunter and woodsman.
13
One of his sons, John Jennings, was sheriff of Northampton County from 1762 to 1768.
Yeates gave out at the foot of the mountain on the morning of the second day, when he was picked up he was nearly blind and died three days after, while Marshall the champion walker was not the least injured by exertion, lived to be seventy-nine years old, and died in Tinicum, Bucks County. Walking Pur- chase, the Indians said was "No sit down to smoke, no shoot squirrel, but lun lun, lun all day long."
Marshall received 56 and five hundred acres of land in Monroe County, near Stroudsburg.
The Indians were disgusted with the walk, and frequently said to the walkers that they should not run and they were so disgusted with the walk, that they left before it was completed. The distance traveled was 6114 miles. When the end of the line had been reached in a northwest direction, it still had to be run to the Delaware River, which made another disagreement between the Pro- prietors and the Indians. The Indians thought that the line should be drawn straight to the river from the nearest point, instead they ran the line at right angles reaching the river at the Laxawaxen, taking in about twice as much ter- ritory as the other way. The survey embraced nearly all the land between the forks of the Delaware and Lehigh Rivers, including all the land south of the Blue Mountains, comprising 500,000 acres of land.
The Receiver General, James Steel, wrote to a friend of his, in 1737, said that it took four days to walk from the upper end of the "Long Walk " (day and a-half, ) and that very little good land for settlement was to be seen.
This walking purchase, as it was called, gave a great deal of dissatisfac- tion to the Indians, and was one of the principle causes of the council held in Easton, in 1756, where it was ably discussed. The complaint of the Indians was Ist, That the walkers walked too fast. 2d, That the walkers should have stopped to shoot game and smoke. 3d, That they should have walked as they do when on a hunt, 4th, That the line was not drawn to the river as it should have been drawn. 5th, They claimed the line should have been drawn from the nearest point to the river. 6th, They accused the Proprietors of trickery and dishonesty.
Whether true or not, the " Walking purchase" drew upon the Proprie- tors the hatred of the Indians and was the beginning of a feeling which was fanned into stirring events a generation later, creating great havoc among the settlers in the region now composed of the counties of Lehigh, Northampton and Carbon.
I4
CHAPTER II.
THE FIRST WHITE MEN.
EHIGH COUNTY was a part of Bucks County, hence was a part of one of the three original counties established in 1682. Its first settlers were for 1 the most part settlers who pushed northward from the older parts of the county. The word Lehigh or Lechaweki is the Indian name for the river and the German settlers left away the latter part of the word and called it "Lecha." The word means where the way makes a fork. The Lehigh was at first called the west branch of the Delaware.
Lehigh (Lecha) Valley is a part of the great Kittatinny Valley, which extends from Lake Champlain on the north, to the Mississippi River in Tennesse in the southwest. The boundaries of the Kittatinny Valley are the Blue Moun- tains on the north, and on the south the South Mountains in Virginia, and Blue Ridge further south.
The name Kittatinny means large, long, without end. The Lehigh, or more properly speaking Lecha Valley, receives its name from the Lehigh River which flows through it. The name Lecha is an Indian word derived from Lechaweki. The first white men who came within the present limit of Lehigh county, were the traders in the seventeenth century, who came and went, transact- ing their business with the Indians, sometimes creating animosity between Indians and white men. As early as 1701, these men were brought to the notice of the Proprietors by the troubles they was a part of made, the same time the Seneca Indians made incursions with the view of harassing the more peaceful Delawares.
The first settlement, within the present limits of the county was made near the Swamp Church, Lower Milford, in 1715, by some German emigrants ; as is shown by the inscription upon an old stone building which bears the above date.
The first settlement of which authentic knowlege is known, was made in 1730, in the Lehigh Valley. In 1734 the whole region was thrown open for settlement, when the newly arrived settlers from Germany began to flock thither. That the settlers were enterprising is shown from the fact that they began to secure good roads. As early as 1735 the emigrants came rapidly to the county so when it became a part of Northampton County, in 1752, it had a population of 2800 souls, as follows : Milford, 700 ; Upper Saucon, 650; White- hall, 800 ; including about 200 which resided in Hanover, making the entire number 3000.
In 1773, some thirty years after the first settlement had been made, the county showed great improvement as can be seen by the following number of acres of cleared land, in what is now Lehigh County, namely, 37,394 ; 8,869 acres of grain and 886 farmers. Slowly and slowly the red man receded before the /
coming of the white man, as few Indians were remaining in what is now Lehigh County, after 1740. They had nearly all passed beyond the Blue Mountains, only
I5
here and there a family or individual Indian remained in a tent upon some chosen spot on the ancient hunting ground. One of the chief of these was Kola- pechka, an old chief residing on the creek which bears his name, Coplay.
He was on friendly terms with his white neighbors and he was frequently employed by the government to carry messages and act as interpreter. The last Indian living in the county was in 1742, when the last of the Delawares was com- pelled to remove from this region to the Wyoming Valley.
After that date it was still the common custom of the Indians to come from the north and pass down into Lehigh and wander much as they chose to do in former times, when they were at peace with the other tribes of Indians. They brought usually game and poultry for trading purposes and purchased such arti- cles as they needed for their primitive life in the forest. They were never seen after the second Indian raid.
16
CHAPTER III.
INDIAN RAIDS.
HE Delaware or Lenape Indians were divided into three tribes,-the Unamis or Turtle tribe, the Unalachtgo or Turkey tribe, the Winsi or Wolf tribe. These tribes were again divided and usually received their names from the place where they resided. Each settlement had its chief, who was subject to the head chief or sachem and reported to hin1.
The government of the Indian was similar to our national, state and county government. Allumapes and Teedyyuscung were the chief sachems from the time of the landing of William Penn to the time when the Indians disap- peared from this part of the country. The Indian headquarters were at Minni- sink and Shamokin. Wampum is the Indian name for money. The word is an Iroquois word meaning a muscle. They had three kinds of money, the wampum, the fathom of wampum and belt of wampum. The different wampums repre- sented the various value of their money. A number of muscles strung together was called a string of wampum, when it was a fathom long it was called a fathom or belt of wampum.
At the time when the first white settlers came to this country the Indians made their wampums of small wooden pieces of equal sizes, and stained them either black or white. Only a few muscles were used to make the wampums before the advent of the white man. The wampums were very valuable before the white people came.
The white men made wampums from muscles, and soon the Indians dis- carded the wooden ones for muscles. These wampums were round or oval in shape, one-fourth of an inch in length, and one-eighth of an inch thick with a hole in them lengthwise and strung like beads.
Scalping was another trait of the Indian. No victory was complete with- out it and is very revolting. The living and dead were scalped, as well as inno- cent women and children. The following mode was followed by the Indians in scalping their victims : They fastened the prisoner to the ground with their arms, legs and necks bound to large stakes and a cord to a free Indian. If any dispute arose among the Indians in regard to the prisoner, the prisoner was killed and scalped. The Indians placed their feet on their prisoner's neck, and seized the hair with the left hand twisting them tightly together in order to separate the skin from the head ; then they would cut all around it with a sharp knife and tear it off. In one minute they had finished the scalping. The principle food of Indians were meat, vegetables, nuts and berries. The flesh of the deer and bear they liked the best.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.