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M. L.
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
L
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02223 7975
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016
https://archive.org/details/earlyhistoryremi00glac_0
WILLIAM H. GLACE
Early
History and Reminiscences
OF
CATASAUQUA
IN
PENNSYLVANIA
BY
WILLIAM H, GLACE
1914 SEARLE & DRESSLER CO., INC. PRINTERS AND PUBLISHERS ALLENTOWN, PA.
TO THE MEMORY OF MY PARENTS This Compilation is AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED
PREFACE
1119188
When I was a boy, my attention was drawn to the early history of this community by my parents, my grand-parents, and my great-grand-father in narrat- ing to me occurrences, incidents and reminiscences which related to local affairs on both sides of the Le- high River. My mother's great-grand-parents (the Mickleys) located in Whitehall township near Egypt along Coplay Creek in 1733, and her grand-parents (the Swartzes) in the Irish Settlement along Dry Run in 1787. My father migrated from Mauch- Chunk to Biery's-Port in 1830; I was born on the Christian Swartz plantation in 1839; and my parents established their residence at Catasauqua in 1845; and here I have been until now, excepting my absence from home while serving in the Civil War from 1861 to 1864.
I was admitted to the Bar of Lehigh County in 1868, and, during a long practice of my profession as an attorney-at-law at Catasauqua since that time, my business related almost wholly to the settlement of estates and the transmission of title to property in the borough and the surrounding townships; and, besides being thus identified with local affairs as a legal adviser, I was practically concerned for a time in the administration of the local government as a Justice of the Peace and Chief Burgess. It was in this manner that I became thoroughly familiar with all the
important matters and things of the community, not only of a financial and political nature, but of an historical nature as well.
With this knowledge of the early local affairs, quite naturally, therefore, when the people of Catasauqua determined to celebrate the "Seventy-fifth Anniver- sary" of the founding of the town, I united with other interested citizens to make the necessary preparations for the extraordinary occasion ; and now, as the Chair- man of the Historical Committee, I submit this com- pilation, limited to the "Early History," as my con- tribution towards its proper observance. It will be noticed that I confined the compilation to the times anterior to the Civil War, excepting several prominent matters which I could not well present only partly described.
WILLIAM H. GLACE.
February 12, 1914.
CONTENTS
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Page
Original Title
7
Irish Settlement
9
Indian Relics
10
Weiser Letter
11
Early Residents
12
Crane Iron Works
19
Thomas and Contemporaries 28
Thomas Letter
Character of Employees
Local Improvements
Oldest Buildings
First Occupations
First Rocker
First Carriage
First Sulphur Matches
Churches
Fairview Cemetery
Soldiers' Monument
First Funeral
Early Schools
Public Libraries
Brass Band
Temperance Societies
Political Animosity
96 99
Incorporation of Borough
100
Banks
107
Justices of the Peace 111
Burgesses 112
Census
112
40 42 43 65 68 72 72 72 72 81
83 87 89 95 96 96
Mexican War
1
Early History and Reminiscences
OF THE
BOROUGH OF CATASAUQUA
ORIGINAL TITLE-The Borough of Catasauqua is situated on a part of 10,000 acres which William Penn, the Proprietary of Pennsylvania, devised to his daughter Letitia, who afterward married William Au- brey, of London, England, and in 1731 they granted and conveyed this land to John Page. Some months afterward, Page secured a warrant, dated at London, Oct. 10, 1731, to take up 2,723 acres of the 10,000 acres, and in pursuance of this warrant, Nicholas Scull, on Oct. 10, 1736, surveyed and set apart the same for him. The patent from the Proprietaries to Page erected the tract of 2,723 acres into a Manor, by the name of "Chawton," in the following words :-
"And we do further by these presents and by virtue of the power and authorities granted by the Royal Charter to our Father William Penn, Esq., by his majesty, Charles the Second, erect said tract into a manor and to call it 'Chawton' and so from henceforth we will have it called, and reposing trust and confidence in the prudence and ability and integrity of the said Page and his loyalty to our sovereign, Lord George the Second, do give and grant unto the said John Page, his heirs and assigns, full power and authority to erect and constitute with the said manor a Court Baron with all things whatsoever which to a Court Baron do belong, and to have and to hold view of Frank Pledges, for the consideration of the peace and better government of the inhabitants within the said Manor by the said John Page, his heirs and assigns, or his or their stewards lawfully deputed and generally to do and to use all things which to the view of Frank Pledges do belong, or may or ought to belong: To be holden of us, our successors, proprietors of Pennsylvania, as of the signory of 'Windsor' in free and common socage by fealty or in lieu of all other services, yielding and paying
8
EARLY HISTORY
therefor yearly unto us, ourselves and successors, one red rose on the 24th day of June in every year from hereafter in the City of Phila- delphia to such person or persons as shall from time to time be ap- pointed to receive the same."
John Page died aged 60 years. He was by profes- sion an attorney, and as such acted for William Penn's heirs. He also owned another tract of 1,500 acres, adjoining the 2,723 acre tract. He acted as agent for William Penn from 1707 until his decease in 1718. The 1,500 acre tract was given for services rendered but was not invested with the right of a Court-Baron.
John Page by his will, bearing date July 18, 1741, devised all his land and estate in Pennsylvania to Evan Patterson, of Old Broad Street, in London, who, by Letter of Attorney, dated July 7, 1750, appointed William Allen of the city of Philadelphia and William Webb of the county of Chester, his true and lawful attorneys, to bargain, sell and convey any lands in his name.
There has been some controversy as to whether the Manor was called "Chawton" or "Charotin." It is true that in some of the older deeds at Easton Re- corder's office the word is written "Charotin;"' but local antiquarians, who have paid some attention to this matter, agree that it was written wrongly by some scrivener or written illegibly, so that the clerks in the Recorder's Office wrote Charotin for what was or meant to be "Chawton;" for it can be seen that if the letter "w" were not written plainly it could easily be meant for "ro," thus making it Charotin.
Among the names of the early settlers and pur- chasers of this tract are the following: Thomas Arm- strong, Robert Gibson, Robert Clendennin, Joseph Wright, John Elliott, Andrew Mann, George Taylor and Nathaniel Taylor, all Irish names, showing that the town is situated within the bounds of the original Irish Settlement.
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IRISH SETTLEMENT
Nathaniel Taylor resided on the Lehigh River, north of the town, at "Dry-Run." In his will at Easton, he mentions the spring on the Lehigh, south of Dry-Run. This tract was purchased in 1787 by Christian Swartz of Longswamp township, in Berks county. The writer was born here and is a great grand son of said settler. Swartz's Dam takes its name from him.
It was long supposed that Nathaniel Taylor was the father of George Taylor, but later investigations go to show that his father never left Ireland.
The Armstrong tract contained about 330 acres. The greater part of this is now owned by the de- scendants of Jacob Deily. It was previously pur- chased in 1767 by George Taylor.
The Robert Gibson tract contained 19312 acres and included the Paul Faust farm. Part of this land is now owned by the Lackawanna Land Co.
That portion of the original tract in which the greater part of the town was first built appears to have passed into the possession of Andrew Hower and Marks John Biddle, of Philadelphia, who secured possession of 190 acres at a Sheriff's sale in 1795. Frederick Biery made his purchase from Biddle in 1795. Biddle also sold some portions of his land to Ziegler, who sold to Biery and Kurtz.
Hower retained a small amount of the land situated at 3rd and Walnut streets until 1823, when he sold it to John Peter.
IRISH SETTLEMENT-Rev. Leslie Irwin stated in a letter to David Thomas (in which he requested the privilege of preaching in the Old Church of the Irish Settlement), that, according to the original grant to the Irish settlers, it extended from Siegfried's to Koehler's at the locks, one mile below Catasauqua, and this was confirmed by Rev. Mr. Clyde in his
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EARLY HISTORY
history of this settlement, and extended in the form of a trapezoid beyond Bath.
A peculiarity of these people was an innate disposi- tion to argue, for some of them were educated, and, while the Pennsylvania Germans delved and dug, they themselves would not toil hard, but would discuss the possibilities of the French and English War in Canada, and the prospect of a war with the mother country. They established a small academy on the Monocacy creek which was the fore-runner of the Lafayette College at Easton. When the Revolution came, they responded patriotically, and their pastor, Rev. John Rosburgh, organized a company and fell at the Battle of Trenton. Their disinclination to manual labor caused them to sell their farms when good prices could be obtained, and in almost every case, a Pennsylvania German was the purchaser, so that by the year 1800 not an Irish owner of land was left along the Lehigh river, nor within two or three miles of it.
This disposition asserted itself for years afterward, and now there are only a few descendants living in the settlement. As they sold their farms they went to Central Pennsylvania and the West, where land was cheaper.
Another important factor was their inter-marriage amongst themselves (very few marrying out of the Colony ) and the sterility of the families was a natural consequence.
INDIAN RELICS-Very few relics of the past have been found in the vicinity of Catasauqua. When the Lehigh Valley R. R. was constructed an Indian skull was found on the bluff below the station, sur- rounded by boards, pipe and other relics.
Opposite the mouth of Coplay creek, when the Canal was dug, many arrow-heads of flint were found, showing that the Indians had made these
2 1833 02222 7975
11
WEISER LETTER
arrow-heads where the spring flowed into the Lehigh river.
Joseph Miller (who lived in the old stone house on the road to Hokendauqua, above the cemetery gates), told me shortly before his death in 1866 that he heard his grand-father say that there was an Indian bury- ing ground on the lowlands and while standing on the hills on the opposite side of the river and peering through the heavy under-brush and evergreens, he saw at different times parties of Indians bury their dead at that place.
WEISER LETTER-I found the following re- markable letter amongst my papers relating to local history which I have had in my possession since 1858. The predicted incursion occurred in 1757, and again in 1763. Some of the barbarous cruelties of the Indians during the latter were inflicted upon the inhabitants of Whitehall township in the vicinity of Egypt, several miles northwest of the Irish Settle- ment. This malicious attack resulted from the decep- tion practiced upon the Indians in the "Walking Purchase," conducted by the Provincial Government in 1737, when their land was taken under an agree- ment, lying between the Delaware and Lehigh rivers, and extending from the "fork" at Easton to the Blue Mountains. It included the Irish settlement.
Gentlemen :- I am from good authority informed that the enemy Indians have attacked the Frontiers in Northampton county and that intelligence has been given to an officer of credit by a Friend Indian that a considerable body of French and their Indians design again to invade the Province and a number are on their way to fall afresh on the Minnisinks or parts adjacent. The particular view of the Ohio Indians at this time, as it is reasonably supposed, is to obstruct the Susquehanna Indians in their treaty with the English and to prevent thereby a well-established peace between them.
How the forces, within the battalion I have the honour to com- mand, may be disposed of, upon the expected incursion of the savages and the French who prompt them with a cruelty equal to that of the barbarians, I cannot say; but you may depend on it that I
12
EARLY HISTORY
shall ever endeavor to serve the country by doing all in my power to succour every distressed part as soon as possible.
But, gentlemen, you must know that the number of forts which are on the east side of the Susquehanna will require a very large part of the First Battalion to garrison them and to allow of scouting parties to watch the motions of the barbarians. It will therefore be necessary that the inhabitants should do all in their power to defend themselves and neighbors against an enemy whom we know by experience to strike great terror wherever they commit their ravages.
I recommend it to you to persuade your neighbors to associate them- selves immediately into companies under discreet officers of their own choice, that we may be able to preserve our own and the lives of our tender wives and children. Great must be the advantage we shall give the enemy if we are unprepared upon their sudden invasion.
It needs not much reflection upon what happened about 16 months ago to bring to your minds the amazement and confusion with which the spirits of our people were affected upon a sudden incursion of Indians of whose numbers we were never well informed. It would appear as if I had an ill opinion of the disposition of my countrymen to suggest any special motives upon this occasion.
I only pray that Divine Providence may direct you to proper measures and then you can not fail of success in an endeavor to serve your country. In which service you may depend on my promise that you will be ever joined by
Your most humble servant,
CONRAD WEISER, L. Col. ATTEST: WM. PARSONS.
Reading, April 27th, 1757.
EARLY RESIDENTS-Prior to the establish- ment of the iron-works, this locality, which was known as Biery's Port, was settled in about the same degree as the surrounding country, the few residents having been farmers with one or two exceptions. There were only four families owning the ground on which the town was originally incorporated, the Bierys, Fausts, Peters and Breischs, and of these, one family, Fausts, resided beyond the present borough limits. The Deilys lived in the old stone house, south of the creek, which was built in 1767; and Mr. Kurtz, east of town, on a farm.
The Bierys (Frederick and Henry) had come to the locality soon after 1800, and bought the stone mill,
13
EARLY RESIDENTS
afterward owned by William Younger, and since 1897 by Mauser & Cressman, who then rebuilt it and have since carried on the business. Henry Biery soon re- moved to New York; but Frederick remained and exerted his energy in making many improvements in the neighborhood. He carried on what was known as Biery's Ferry, and in 1824 built a chain bridge, which was swept away by the high water of 1841. It was rebuilt the same year, and in the progress of the work Daniel Tombler received injuries from which he died. This chain bridge of 1841 was taken down and a wooden bridge erected in its place in 1852, which was destroyed by the flood of 1862, when the second wooden bridge was erected. He built a stone tavern (still standing and occupied as a private house) in 1826, and a stone building of the same material (also standing) in 1835; also a stone house in 1830, now occupied by Frank Mauser. Thus a little cluster of buildings was in existence at the east end of Biery's Bridge. His sons were Daniel, Jonas, Solomon, David and William; and his daughters were the wives of N. Snyder, Samuel Koehler and Jacob Buehler. Solo- mon inherited his father's energy, and was during his whole life an active character. He carried on a tavern for many years. Jonas was engaged in the lumber trade.
John Peter lived at what is now the corner of Bridge and Front streets, and this spot is still marked by his old stone barn. He moved to this location in 1823 from Heidelberg (where he was born in 1799), and bought his small farm of Andrew Hower, at first occupying a house which had been built by John Zoundt, and afterwards erected a stone dwelling. He followed weaving for nine years, and was one of the first lock-tenders for the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Co. In 1851 he moved away and died at Allentown.
The Faust family had been long settled just north of the borough boundary. The first representative
14
EARLY HISTORY
of the family here was John Philip Faust. Jonas, his son, after his death, about 1831, received his lands, and, dying two years later, the farm was accepted at its appraised value of fifty dollars per acre by his son Paul, who lived upon it until his death, in Novem- ber, 1883. A portion of his land was divided and sold in town lots.
Paul Faust was born Sept. 30, 1809, and died at the homestead in Allen township, immediately outside of the limits of the borough of Catasauqua, on Nov. 12, 1883, aged 74 years, 1 month and 12 days.
At the time of his birth and early manhood the surrounding country was but thinly settled, his near- est neighbors on the south being John Peter and Frederick Biery, while those on the north were Michael Fenstermacher and John Swartz; on the east the Kurtzes, and on the opposite side of the river the Miller, Mickley, Butz and Biery families. His great- grandfather, Henry Faust, purchased the farm (orig- inally 1931/2 acres) of Robert Gibson, a Scotch-Irish settler, who owned 2,723 acres in Allen township, em- bracing all the land from a point near Bridge street to Stemton, west of the Howertown road.
Prior to the Revolution, the lands hereabouts on the east side of the west branch of the Delaware (as then called) were all owned by Scotch-Irish settlers; south of Bridge street to Taylor's land was owned by Jos. Wright; that east of Howertown Road, in Hanover township, by Robert Clendennin, while that north of Gibson's large tract being owned by Andrew Mann.
The immense immigration from the Palatinate at the invitation of Penn and his agents in the early part of the 18th Century, as well as the large number of Hessians who settled lower down the river after the battle of Trenton, began to crowd out the Irish settlers even at that early day, until now there remains but few of the broad acres of Northampton county in the possession of their descendants.
15
EARLY RESIDENTS
Their large farms were cut up in smaller tracts, and under the stubborn will, patient plodding, and untiring industry, characteristic of the race, trans- formed the wilderness and forest into the rich agricul- tural lands of to-day.
Among these early settlers was Henry Faust, born in Albany township, Berks county. He was the son of one of two brothers, Bastian or John Faust, who landed at Philadelphia at an early period of the immigration from the Palatinate, and settled in Berks county. He died April 14, 1795, and left to survive him a widow and eight children. The eldest son, John Philip, the grandfather of Paul Faust, accepted the land at the appraisement and built the old stone man- sion (still in good condition) and purchased a tract of five acres which was afterwards sold to Mr. Kratzer, and Mr. Kratzer sold to John Peter, who, in addition to managing his small farm, carried on the business of weaving. In addition, John Philip Faust purchased 5 acres of land from Yarrick Rockel (now bounded by Third, Pine and Walnut streets to Howertown Road), while about 11 acres were sold to the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Co. to build the dam and canal to supersede the floating of arks of coal down the river.
Upon his death, July 12, 1832, he left to survive him a widow and four children, the eldest of whom, Jonas Faust, accepted the land at the appraisement at $55 per acre, being the upper tract, while Elizabeth Knauss, his sister, accepted the lower tract of 60 acres, and soon after sold to John Peter, who thus increased his acres to 75, and all of which, less some lots sold, passed into the possession of David Thomas about 1850. Jonas Faust died the following year and left to survive him a widow and seven children, the eldest, Paul Faust, the subject of our article, accepted, on Jan. 24, 1834, the land at the ap- praisement of $50 per acre.
16
EARLY HISTORY
Paul Faust was at this time 24 years of age, and took upon himself a burden few, at that time of scarcity of money and poor markets, would undertake, and a less sturdy man would have despaired of retaining the land; for, in addition to the recog- nizances entered into to secure his brothers and sisters, there were those of his father who had died soon after his acceptance of the land, and three dowers, viz .: his great-grandmother, Catharine, widow of Henry Faust, who lived long on the place in a small house, afterwards occupied by Jesse Brown, at the lower spring, now the site of F. W. Wint & Co.'s planing- mill, and afterwards married a farmer named Huth, who died at an advanced age in Moore township, near the Blue Mountain; the dower of his grand- mother, Barbara, who died Oct. 4, 1842, at the resi- dence of her daughter, at the stone mansion still stand- ing near the entrance of the bridge across the Lehigh from Stemton to Coplay; the dower of his mother, who subsequently married Henry Breisch, and is re- membered by the earlier residents, who occupied the farm of 11 acres and the old stone house at the corner of Third and Bridge streets, which was built at an early day and owned by a farmer named Gross.
David Thomas came here in 1839 and he started the town of Catasauqua, but it was a half-mile across the fields from his farm to the works, with the Peter's farm between. There was no road where Front street now is; the road led from the dam along the canal west of the house, crossed present Front street where Chapel street intersects, and was laid out at an early day in a direction due east, passing where the chapel of the First Presbyterian Church stands, and along north side of the Breisch farm-house to the Hower- town Road where it intersects with the road to Beth- lehem, which passed the farm-house of Henry Kurtz.
Prior to 1860, Paul Faust had sold a lot to the Catholic Church, and a few others south of Chapel
17
EARLY RESIDENTS
street, on Front and Second streets, which helped him to pay off some of his liabilities. Lots, however, were cheap, and it was not until 1865 that he was fair- ly out of debt. The last dower was paid off in 1870 upon the death of his mother at Allentown, where she had removed with her second husband at the time of the sale of their land to David Thomas about 1847.
By the rapid extension of the town northward, at the close of the Civil War, Paul Faust sold about 45 acres, besides the new canal tract, to the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Co. for town lots, the greater portion lying in Northampton county, and by the time of his death, he accumulated considerable wealth, his land, prior to the panic of 1873, being valued by good judges at $75,000.
He was the oldest of seven children, the others being Joseph (South Whitehall) ; Reuben (Catasau- qua) ; David (president Union National Bank of Philadelphia) ; William ( Allentown) ; Elizabeth Laub (Kreidersville) ; and Maria Koch (Allentown). He was married Jan. 6, 1835, to Amelia Breinig, born Sept. 7, 1816, in Longswamp township, Berks county, one of twelve children (having had eight sisters and three brothers). She was the daughter of George Breinig and Polly Wetzell. He had five chil- dren : Amy Borger (Peru, Ill.) ; Walter ; Jane Koehler (Easton) ; M. Alice and Clara B.
His form was familiar to all the residents. He possessed strong physical and mental characteristics, which, if fortune had smiled more kindly upon him in his earlier years, would have made him a success- ful man in any sphere of life. Of more than average size, a positive man of strong likes and dislikes, his confidence was slow to obtain, but when once gained it could not easily be shaken. His nature was too kind and easy, however, for a successful financier, and he was therefore often imposed upon in monetary mat- ters by designing, unscrupulous men. He had strong
18
EARLY HISTORY
domestic tastes, was retiring in his habits, and his life was a singularly pure one. None can say that he was ever heard to speak disparagingly of or to his fellow- men.
Henry Breisch was a stone-mason and lived where Dr. Daniel Yoder now lives, and owned 10 acres of land surrounding his home. At the time the town was laid out, a road extended up the hill from the Faust farm-house, past Breisch's home, and onward to the Howertown Road. The land on the gentle slope, where are now the best residences of Catasau- qua, was in part tilled and in part rough pasture land, in many places overgrown with brush and trees. Among the first settlers after the establishment of the iron-works were the Williams family, the Fullers, James Lackey, Joshua Hunt, Joseph Laubach, Peter Laux, Charles G. Schneller and Nathan Fegley. [See Thomas and Contemporaries.]
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