USA > Pennsylvania > Northampton County > History of Northampton County [Pennsylvania] and the grand valley of the Lehigh, Volume III > Part 1
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55
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M. L.
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02231 9344
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/historyofnortham03hell_0
Surta
Trail Green
History of Northampton County~ [PENNSYLVANIA]
and
The Grand Valley of the Lehigh
Under Supervision and Revision of WILLIAM J. HELLER
Assisted by AN ADVISORY BOARD OF EDITORS
VOLUME III
1920 THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY NEW YORK
BOSTON
CHICAGO
82 8178 3
Copyright, 1920 The American Historical Society, Inc.
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1373654
Mrs. Emily (Shultze) Shields is a graduate of Elizabeth College, North Carolina, there receiving the degree B.L., also having previously graduated from Moravian Preparatory School, Bethlehem. Prior to her marriage she; with her sister Agnes, conducted a private school at Catasauqua, Pennsyl- vania. Professor and Mrs. Shields are the parents of three daughters: Agnes Gertrude, born October 5, 1909; Margaret Adelaide, born November 24, 1912; Adelaide Emily, born February 17, 1918.
REV. ARTHUR DAVID THAELER, D.D .- An ordained minister of the Moravian church, Dr. Thaeler has, since April 15, 1918, been principal of the famous Nazareth Hall, a military school for boys, which dates a settled existence since June 6, 1759, and a desultory existence since 1743. The first Moravian school in Pennsylvania was opened in Germantown by Countess Benigna Von Zinzendorf, assisted by two other women and three men. Twenty-five girls were here in attendance, but they, with the school, were soon moved to Bethlehem and became the nucleus of the school for girls which has existed ever since and is known as a Moravian Seminary and College for Women. The first school on the Barony of Nazareth (conveyed by William Penn to his daughter Letitia in 1682) was organized July 18, 1743, when John Christopher Francke brought ten boys from Bethlehem to the log house which still stands near the Whitefield House and is known as the "Gray Cottage." This building was erected by the pioneers as a place of residence during the winter of 1740, while they were engaged in the construc- tion of the larger buildings. This was the forerunner of Nazareth Hall, it being almost true to say that there the school was founded, for through vari- ous removals and vicissitudes it can be traced very clearly until 1759, when it again returned to the Barony to occupy the more commodious edifice which stands as the main building today. On June 3, 1745, the school was moved to the farm of Henry Antes, in Philadelphia county, now Frederick township, Montgomery county, Mr. Antes having offered his farm for a Moravian boarding school. In 1750 the pupils of the school were transferred to other Moravian boarding schools, the majority of them going to Oley, Berks county, Pennsylvania, the school being incorporated with a flourishing board- ing school there. In September, 1751, owing to financial difficulties, the school was removed to Salisbury, in Lehigh county, but on August 27, 1753, the school at Salisbury was closed. In 1755 the school was reopened at Salisbury, but fear of Indian depredations caused its removal to Bethlehem the same year. In Bethlehem the school prospered and remained until June 6, 1759, when one hundred and eleven boys with their nineteen tutors and at- tendants took ceremonious leave of Bethlehem and marched to the Manor House, at Nazareth, where they were welcomed with equal ceremony. This was the actual founding of Nazareth Hall as it now exists, Rev. John Michael Graff, a graduate of the University of Jena, being the first principal. Nazareth Hall flourished as a school until Indian troubles seriously interfered with its usefulness; the attendance shrank in 1770 to sixty-seven boys, and during the Revolution the poverty and privations of the time bore so heavily upon the school that in 1779 but eleven pupils were left. In that year the school was closed and the boys sent to Bethlehem. During the next six years the building was occupied as a dwelling by a number of families, and it was not until the autumn of 1785 that Nazareth Hall was again opened as a boys' boarding school under the direction of the Moravian church, the reorganized school entering the ranks of American boarding schools, October 3, 1785, with eleven pupils, Rev. Charles G. Reichel, principal. From 1785 until the present, Nazareth Hall has been a most useful and successful edu- cational institution, its scope constantly widening and its benefits increasing. The material equipment has greatly improved. There are more buildings and greater facilities in the way of educational appliance, and, while there
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has been no radical changes in the successful methods of the past, modern methods and modern facilities are given their full and proper place. Dr. Thaeler, the principal, is conducting the school along the best lines of educa- tional systems, and in his own personality and acquirement ranks with the many educators who have preceded him during the Hall's existence. He is a son of Samuel L. and Marie Louise (Gruhl) Thaeler, his parents residing at the time of their son's birth on the island of St. Christopher (or St. Kitts), one of the British West India islands, belonging to the Leeward group of the Lesser Antilles.
Arthur David Thaeler was born in St. Christopher, British West Indies, October 21, 1871. He is a graduate of Nazareth Hall Military Academy, class of 1886; and of the Moravian College, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, A.B., 1890; B.D., 1892. From his alma mater he received the D.D. degree in 1917. In 1892 he was ordained a minister of the Moravian church, and in that year was appointed assistant pastor of the Salem, North Carolina, congregation, and pastor of Calvary Church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. From 1901 until 1918 he was head pastor of the Moravian church in Bethlehem, resigning to accept appointment on April 15, 1918, to the principalship of Nazareth Hall Military Academy. He is a trustee of the Moravian College and Theological Seminary, his alma mater. He is independent in political action, a man of broad vision and public spirit, devoted to the work to which he has dedicated his life.
Dr. Thaeler married, October 30, 1894, Ruth Caroline Schropp, of Beth- lehem, Pennsylvania, daughter of Abraham S. and Caroline (Guether) Schropp. Dr. and Mrs. Thaeler are the parents of five children, the two eldest born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the others in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania : Louise, born December 12, 1895; Abraham S., born Novem- ber 19, 1898; Arthur David, Jr., born October 12, 1902; Charles S., born May 29, 1906; Caroline G., born June 18, 1913.
ISAAC L. KRESSLER-Kresslers were living in Northampton county, Pennsylvania, at the time of the Revolution, and from the first settlement until the present members of the family have been men of prominence in their communities. Among the twentieth century representatives of the fam- ily who have won their way to important place in the business life of their communities, Isaac L. Kressler, cashier of the Merchants' National Bank of Bangor, must be named. He is a son of Jacob Kressler, of Upper Mount Bethel township, Northampton county, and a grandson of Charles Kressler, of the same township. Charles Kressler was born, lived and died in Upper Mount Bethel, and there during his active business years plied the shoe- maker's trade. He married Susan Emery, and they were the parents of eight children: Jacob, of further mention; Henry; Catherine, married Reuben LeBar, of Portland, Pennsylvania; Elizabeth, married Daniel Richards, of Illinois; Christina, married Jacob Miller; Matilda, married Samuel Delp; Susan, married Daniel Reichard ; Sarah, married Dr. Daniel Snyder, a prac- ticing physician, now of Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Jacob Kressler was born in Upper Mount Bethel township, Northampton county, Pennsylvania, and there passed his youth. When a young man he settled at Ackermanville, in the same county, and there for some years engaged in farming. Later he moved to Bangor, Pennsylvania, where he engaged in brick manufacturing, being a pioneer in that business there. He prospered abundantly in his business enterprises, and in making his invest- ments he was partial to real estate, his holding at one time including all that section now known as North Bangor. This property he later sold to the John Brown Estate. He was one of the incorporators of the S. Flory Manu- facturing Company, of Bangor, and held his stock interest in that company until his death. In politics he was a Republican, taking an active part in
Gen. alilliam E. Doster
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local affairs, sitting as a member of the Borough Council and serving as a school director. He was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and of the Bangor Evangelical Lutheran Church. Jacob Kressler married Anna M. Reimel, and they were the parents of six sons: William H., of Mount Bethel; Charles F., of Bangor; Edwin J., deceased ; John W., of Dun- more, Pennsylvania ; Jacob C., deceased ; and Isaac L., of further mention.
Isaac L. Kressler, youngest son of Jacob and Anna M. (Reimel) Kressler, was born in Bangor, Pennsylvania, November 24, 1886. He was educated in the public schools, and at the old Fredericksburg Academy, and during his years of minority was associated with his father in his business enterprises. In 1887, having attained legal age he, in association with others, organized and incorporated the Merchants' National Bank of Bangor, Mr. Kressler enter- ing the service of the new institution as bookkeeper. He continued in that and in positions of increased responsibility until 1915, when he was elected by the board of directors cashier of the bank, his present position. He has proven the wisdom of this selection by administering the duties of his position with rare skill and judgment, his ability, tact and personality strengthening the influence of the bank with the people and winning with this confidence, friendship and good will.
Mr. Kressler is a member and a trustee of the First United Evangelical Church of Bangor, and ever since the organization of the local commandery of the Knights of Malta, he has been treasurer of that body. In his political faith he is a Prohibitionist. He married (first) Mary E. Long, who died November 30, 1916, daughter of Augustus R. and Sarah B. (Paul) Long. They were the parents of two children: Edgar R., born May 16, 1900; and Sarah R., born May 30, 1908. Mr. Kressler married (second) in June, 1917, Flora B. (Buzzard) Ott, widow of Hiram Ott. The family residence is in Bangor, Pennsylvania.
GEN. WILLIAM E. DOSTER-At eighty-two years of age and still practicing law, president of the Lehigh Valley National Bank of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and until recently a familiar figure on his high mettled horse, taking his daily horseback ride, General Doster could claim at least to be something out of the ordinary, if not an extraordinary man, as his friends will rightfully insist. He was a veteran lawyer and a veteran soldier, an author, financier, journalist and business man. His position as a lawyer was among the leaders learned in the law, and he was forceful, eloquent and very skillful in presentation. "Pennsylvania Reports" teem with cases which he has successfully fought through the higher courts; although not all his legal battles were winning ones, his fame as an attorney often attracted retainers from the losing side of the controversy. He was of a family long and promi- nently identified with Bethlehem, tracing to Dr. Daniel Doster, the founder of the family, who landed in Philadelphia more than a century ago.
The family is traced to Martin Doster, who left his home in Saxony about 1650, and settled in Würtemberg, Germany. He was the father of John Valentine Doster, born in 1667, at Niederhofen, near Heilbronn in Wür- temberg, and there died in 1759. He married Susanna Stoll, and they were the parents of John Philip Doster, born 1729, died 1781. He was for many years mayor of Niederhofen, a man of usefulness and influence. He married Rosina Maisenhaelder, and their seventh child was Dr. Daniel Doster, the founder of the family in Pennsylvania, and grandfather of Gen. William E. Doster, late of Bethlehem.
Dr. Daniel Doster was born at Niederhofen in 1763, and died in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1830. He came to Pennsylvania, landing at Philadelphia, January II, 1817, and here founded a family, one branch known as the Lan- caster, another the Northampton branch, of which General Doster was repre- sentative. Dr. Daniel Doster married Marguerite Keppler, and located in
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Philadelphia, first opening an office at No. 33 Coates street, but later moving to Lancaster, where he practiced his profession until his death. Dr. Doster had a son, Lewis, and a daughter, Elizabeth. She was born in 1800, mar- ried Charles Ortel, of Philadelphia, and died in 1843 without issue.
Lewis Doster, son of the founder, Dr. Daniel Doster, was born at Nieder- hofen, Germany, July 26, 1796, and came to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with the family in 1817. He remained in Philadelphia until 1826, then, at the request of the Moravian Society, came to Bethlehem to manage the society's woolen mill on Water street, which plant he afterward bought. He greatly extended the plant, which he named the Monocacy Woolen Mills, and con- tinued as their managing owner and head until his death in 1860. His sons continued the operation of the plant for two years after their father's death, when it was destroyed by fire. This does not express the activity of Lewis Doster in an unlimited degree, for he was engaged also in the lumber busi- ness, as well as in other commercial enterprises, and he was recognized as the leading business man of Bethlehem. When Bethlehem was created a borough, he was chosen a member of the Bethlehem Guards, he having served in the German army. Lewis Doster married Pauline Louise Eggert, daughter of Matthew and Maria (Rupert) Eggert, granddaughter of Chris- tian Eggert, who came to Bethlehem in 1746, and a maternal granddaughter of Adam Rupert, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Adam Rupert enlisted in 1776 and served during the Revolution with the Tenth Regiment, Pennsylvania line, commanded by Colonel Hampton and Lieutenant-Colonel Hubbey, of Lancaster. After her father's death, Mrs. Maria (Rupert) Eggert received a warrant for lands situated in Mercer county, Pennsylvania, which property was awarded him for Revolutionary service. Matthew Eggert, father of Mrs. Lewis Doster, was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in 1763, and died there in 1831. From 1792 until 1802 he was superintendent of the Single Brethren's House at Lititz, Pennsylvania, and taught at the Boys' School at Bethlehem, 1808-14. He was a member of the building committee which in 1803 erected the famous Moravian church at Bethlehem, and he was a man of usefulness as long as he lived. At the time of his death, May 27, 1860, Lewis and Pauline Louise (Eggert) Doster were the parents of eight children, none of whom arc living: 1. Charles Edmund, born in 1829, died in 1864; a business man ; during the Civil War was quartermaster of the Thirty-fourth Regiment, Pennsylvania Infantry, Colonel Albright commanding. 2. Lewis L., born in 1831, died in 1893 ; a lumber merchant of Philadelphia ; married Emma, daugh- ter of Jacob Luckenbach, and left issue. 3. Herman Augustus, born in 1833; married Emily, daughter of Dr. Charles Detwiller, and has two daughters living : Mrs. Pauline Facht, of Trenton, Pennsylvania; and Elizabeth Lyman, widow of Frank Lyman, of Michigan. 4. Albert Theodore, born in 1835; married, in 1862, Harris Hill, of Summit Hill, Pennsylvania, and left issue. 5. Wil- liam E., whose long and useful life is the inspiration of this review. 6. Louise M., born in 1842, died in 1876; wife of George L. Baum, and left issues 7. Henry Edward, born 1844, died in 1877; a veteran of the Civil War, serv- ing as corporal in the One Hundred and Twenty-ninth Regiment, Pennyl- vania Volunteer Infantry, and on detached service in the office of his brother, William E., recently deceased, in Washington, District of Columbia; he mar- ried Mary L. Ripple, of Scranton, and left issue. 8. Ellen B., born in 1851, died in 1863. Other children died prior to their father's decease.
William E. Doster, seventh son of Lewis and Pauline Louise (Eggert) Doster, was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, January 8, 1837, and continued his residence in his native city, an active consulting lawyer and man of affairs until his death, which occurred July 2, 1919, aged eighty-two years and five months. Death followed a six weeks' illness, superinduced by an attack of influenza, from which he never recovered. He is survived by five children : Mrs. John Knight, of New York City; Wadsworth, of Torrington, Connecti-
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cut; Alexis, of Litchfield, Massachusetts; Mrs. B. E. Cole., of Bethlehem ; and Mrs. J. R. Lowell Otis, of New York.
William E. Doster, after early attendance at the Moravian Parochial School, now Moravian Preparatory School, entered Van Kirk Academy, pass- ing thence to Yale College, whence he was graduated A.B., class of 1857. He began the study of law under the direction of Andrew Reeder, the eminent lawyer of Easton, Pennsylvania, later territorial governor of Kansas. He after- wards entered Harvard Law School, whence he was graduated LL.B. He completed legal study at Heidelberg, Germany, and Paris, France, then returned to Pennsylvania, and in 1861 was reading law in Philadelphia. When war was declared between the States of the North and South, he enlisted, and on August 15, 1861, was mustered into the service of his country as captain of Company A, Fourth Regiment, Pennsylvania Cavalry. The follow- ing October he was promoted to the rank of major, and in February, 1862, he was appointed provost-marshal of the District of Columbia to succeed Gen. Andrew Porter. This post included the command of a brigade of troops, also a flotilla on Chesapeake bay, and was held until early in the spring of 1863, when he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel, and returned to his regiment, the Fourth Pennsylvania Cavalry. He served with his regi- ment under Generals Averill, Stoneman, Pleasanton, Kilpatrick and Gregg, the famed cavalry leaders of the Army of the Potomac. He was engaged at disastrous Chancellorsville in command of the Second Brigade of the Third Division of the Cavalry Corps, and at Gettysburg was on the right under General Gregg. He resigned his command in 1864, and was honorably dis- charged and mustered out brevet brigadier-general. He was admitted to the bar at Easton, Pennsylvania, but for one year practiced in Washington, Dis- trict of Columbia, engaged in trials before military commissions and courts- martial. He was engaged for the defence in the trial of the conspirators against the life of President Lincoln, and also defended Payne and Atzerott for their murderous attack on Secretary Seward. After these celebrated cases were disposed of, he returned to Pennsylvania, and until 1873 practiced law in Easton. He then went to his native and well loved Bethlehem, which afterwards was the seat of his practice and the scene of his professional and business triumphs.
Learned in the law, skillful in its applications, loyal to a client's interest and an untiring worker, he was a formidable antagonist from his first entrance to the Pennsylvania bar, and as the years progressed he won high reputation as one of the most able lawyers. He gave especial attention to the law of corporations, and in that branch of the law he had no superiors at the North- ampton bar. From 1867 to 1879 he was register in bankruptcy for the Eleventh Congressional District, and for thirty-five years was counsel for the Bethlehem Iron (now Steel) Company, and for the Lehigh Coal & Navi- gation Company. Many other corporations were served during his half cen- tury at the Northampton bar, and many are the cases he successfully tried, many are the large estates that he honorably administered, and many are the differences he has succeeded in having settled without recourse to law. He delivered a series of lectures at Lehigh University in 1879 by the request of the faculty. His subject was, "Practice in the County Courts of Pennsyl- vania." His fame rests upon his long and uniformly successful practice in the courts of Northampton and adjoining counties, although he was for long a practitioner in all State and Federal courts of Pennsylvania, and in the United States Supreme Court. He always practiced alone, and as a trial lawyer he was ranked with the best in Pennsylvania.
General Doster served his profession loyally and faithfully, but neverthe- less made several excursions into the business world with tangible result and lasting benefit. In 1867 he joined with David Godshalk and founded the Weekly Chronicle, which was later the Bethlehem Daily Times. In 1869 he
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joined with his brother, Herman A. Doster, in organizing the New Street Steel Bridge Company, of which he was president up to the time of his death, 1869- 1919. In 1907 he was elected president of the Lehigh Valley National Bank, which office he held at the time of his death, and was also a director of the Minsi Trail Bridge Company. Real estate has long been his favorite investment, and Bethlehem with its surrounding farm lands was his favored locality. Ten fine farms were owned by him, and these farms are all named after the members of William Penn's family.
Although a home-loving man, General Doster was a world-wide traveler, having crossed the Atlantic more than thirty times. Paris and the French people always held a strong appeal for him, and he suffered with them in their great trial from which they so triumphantly emerged, after more than four years of national martyrdom. Horseback riding was another of his favored recreations, and only his last severe illness caused him to forego his daily rides. He had a summer home in New Hampshire, which often claimed him, also a New York City dwelling and a farm on Long Island, and he has traveled extensively in his own America.
His career at the bar precluded personal interest in political affairs, and he never sought nor held aught but professional offices. In 1891 he delivered the Sesqui-Centennial oration at Bethlehem, but with that exception has de- clined the numerous invitations to act as orator of the day on occasions of popular celebrations. He was a Republican in politics, a member of the J. K. Taylor Post No. 182, Grand Army of the Republic, and a member of the Lincoln Republican Association. His clubs were the Bethlehem, the Lehigh Country, and the Alpha Delta Phi. While provost-marshal, General Doster saw much of President Lincoln, whom he came to admire and rever- ence deeply. In 1915 he published his book, "Reminiscences of the Civil War and of President Lincoln," a work alive with interest and teeming with intimate references to the great president whose cruel death caused a nation to mourn. He was a member of the legal societies, local, State and national, and had a well chosen library from which he gained his wide and comprehen- sive knowledge of the world history, languages and people, supplemented by his extensive travels. His life was wonderful in its length and usefulness, for he claimed no immunity on any account, but met every obligation that his position demanded, and was one of the men of today, not yesterday.
WILLIAM DAVID LANDIS, PH.B .- Since embracing pedagogy as his profession, Professor Landis has made rapid strides forward, and hardly yet in the prime of his splendid powers the future holds for him brilliant promise. He is a descendant of an ancient Bucks county family, his ancestor coming to America and the State of Pennsylvania shortly after William Penn. John Landis, the pioneer ancestor of this Landis branch, came to Pennsylvania from the borders of Switzerland about the year 1700, and located for a time in the neighborhood of Philadelphia. He was accompanied to this country by Benjamin Landis, presumably his brother, who was a Mennonite minister, John Landis also being a member of that sect. Rev. Benjamin Landis later settled in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, where he has numerous descend- ants. John Landis followed the trend of German emigration up the Schuylkill river and its tributaries, eventually locating in Milford township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, where he purchased land in 1743. He died in 1750, leaving several sons and a widow, Anne, only two of his sons, however, Jacob and Samuel, being mentioned in his will. Jacob was made one of the two executors of the will, but the farm was left to Samuel, he to have possession when the youngest son should be nineteen years of age, "which will be in 1759.'
In 1762, Peter Landis, one of these sons, it is believed, was assessed £4 in Upper Saucon township, Lehigh county. His son, Jacob Landis, born
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