USA > Pennsylvania > Lehigh County > Catasauqua > Early history and reminiscences of Catasauqua in Pennsylvania > Part 6
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HOTELS-Besides the Biery Hotel (now the Amer- ican Hotel), there was Nathan Fegley's "Temper- ance Hotel" at the corner of Church and Front streets, now known as Fullers block. In connection Mr. Fegley also carried on a general store, lumber and coal business.
DAGUERREOTYPES-The first artist for taking pic- tures was John Swartz, a brother of B. Frank Swartz, deceased. Pictures then were only taken on glass, known as daguerreotypes. He died at an early age in 1852.
STOVES AND TINWARE-This business was carried on by the late Charles W. Schneller, at Second and Mul- berry streets; afterwards he removed to Front street, where his son Charles carries on the same business.
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FIRST OCCUPATIONS
TAILORS-The first tailor was Joseph Youndt. He died of small-pox over fifty years ago.
BARBERS-The first barber was Samuel Romich, who died prior to 1857, when James W. Fuller (1st) brought a colored barber here, named William E. Welsh, who carried on a shop many years. A son lives at Coplay who has a barber-shop there.
SHOEMAKER-The first shoemaker was Joseph Troxell, who had a small store on the site of the Kemp store. His son, Alfred M. Troxell, carries on the same business at Front and Chapel streets.
STONE MASON-The first stone mason was Charles Breisch who helped to erect the first furnace. One son and a number of grand-sons still live here.
CABINET-MAKER-Owen Frederick was the first un- dertaker for many years. He carried on the business at the same place occupied by Frederick & Sherer. He was born below Biery's Bridge in the old stone house erected in 1757, which was razed some twenty years ago. It was situated just below Johnston's foundry.
LUMBER-YARD-The first lumber-yard was kept by Nathan Fegley, who came from Mauch Chunk. The front of the yard is the site of the Town Hall, ex- tending back to Middle alley, thence down to Front street, on the site of the stores of Charles Kemp and Lawall Bros. On this account Railroad alley is not in a straight line, but deflected westwardly.
BRICK-YARD-The first brick-yard, where the bricks for the early brick buildings were manufactured, was on Howertown Road, at the corner of Wood street. David A. Tombler was the proprietor. He afterwards moved his yards to East Catasauqua and a few years ago they were abandoned.
Another brick-yard was on the Howertown Road close to Hunter's farm, where the Neighly Bros. car-
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EARLY HISTORY
ried on the business for many years, but upon their removal west, it was abandoned.
ICE-CREAM-Charles Andreas carried on the first confectionery and ice-cream saloon on Front street, on the site of Schneller's block. He was for many years in charge of the large blowing engines at the Crane Iron Works.
FOUNDRY-John Fritz and his brother came here prior to 1852, and carried on the Union Foundry on the corner of Front and Pine streets. His brother-in- law, Isaac Chandler, had a blacksmith-shop on the site of the Crane Iron Co.'s locomotive-house at Bridge and Front streets. After a few years, they all left for Johnstown, Cambria county, Pa.
FIRST ROCKER-I remember the first rocking- chair brought to Biery's-Port. It was purchased at Bethlehem and it was so important a purchase that two men brought it up on a boat. When it arrived at the end of the week, the greater part of the villagers went to see it as a great curiosity. This was in 1847.
FIRST CARRIAGE-The first carriage at Biery's- Port was brought by John Boyer, father of Eugene J. Boyer, when he moved here from Bath about 1849. This was also regarded as a curiosity.
FIRST SULPHUR MATCH-It is said that the first match was made at Paris in 1805; and the first pocket match by John Walker, an English druggist, who sold 84 of them for a shilling.
Frederick Eberhart, who came to Catasauqua from New Jersey, made the first sulphur matches by taking a block of pine wood and so splitting it in small sticks with a knife as to leave the block at the bottom intact, and this was dipped in a solution of sulphur. He sold these blocks in the winter season when he had no other work. In using a match one was pulled off at a time.
CHURCHES-I mention in this compilation the two Presbyterian churches because they are so promi-
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CHURCHES
nently identified with the early history of Catasauqua.
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH-The First Presby- terian Church at Catasauqua was established when the Crane Iron Co. started its great work here in 1839, and David Thomas is regarded as its founder. The first building of the congregation was erected in a woods on the south end of a small triangular piece of ground at the extreme limits of the land purchased by the Crane Iron Co., which was donated by the com- pany for religious purposes. It adjoined the public road that led from Allen township on the north to the old town of Bethlehem on the south-east. The base or front of this land was 164 feet in length, and the other two sides each 158 feet.
The building was constructed of boards set upright, and covered by a shingle roof; and once a year it was white-washed, inside as well as outside, for which purpose a hogshead of lime was always on hand in a shed at the rear of the building. Three long iron rods were placed across the auditorium near the ceil- ing at equal distances, and these were fastened on the outside by nuts so as to keep the building firmly to- gether. Camphene was used in lamps for lighting the room. The lamps were suspended from the ceiling and these could be lowered or elevated at will by sim . ply pressing against a slender rod which extended through a little hole in the ceiling; and that slender rod disappearing through that little hole excited the curiosity of inquiring children.
By the suggestion of Mr. Thomas (who was the manager of the company) this small piece of ground at the rear of the old reservoir on Church street was enlarged to a rectangular figure 200 feet in width and 350 feet in depth.
The history of this congregation was concisely given in an address by Samuel Thomas, son of the founder, upon the occasion of celebrating on Sept. 23, 1904, the "Semi-Centennial Jubilee" of laying the corner-stone
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EARLY HISTORY
of the present church on the north-east corner of 2nd and Pine streets, and its completeness being recognized, it has been substituted here in place of a previously published narrative. It was entitled by him, "Early Reminiscences of the First Presbyterian Church" :-
"Just fifty years ago, in the peace and calm of the early twilight of a beautiful September evening, a group of Christian worshippers as- sembled to witness the ceremony of laying the corner stone of the First Presbyterian Church in whose shadow we are now standing, first in name only, but not in point of erection.
The first church was a little frame building 25 by 35 feet, built by David Minnich, in the woods between the reservoir and what is now Mrs. John Williams' garden, at the upper end of Church street, on land donated by the Crane Iron Co. The time was the last Sunday of December, 1839. cold and stormy, when the ground was covered with snow, and brother John and I had nailed planks together to use as a plough to open paths through the heavy fall of snow. The storm was so severe that after the corner stone had been laid by Rev. Landis, pastor of the Allentown Presbyterian Church (the first English church in Lehigh county), the little congregation were obliged to continue the services in the home of Father Thomas, which is still standing op- posite the Crane Iron Works.
Of that little band of Presbyterian pioneers, I can find only three survivors besides myself: Mrs. Bender (nee Peter), and Mrs. Owen Swartz, her sister, and Mrs. Rehrig (nee Lackey), all the others having passed on to the beyond towards which we also are hastening.
As near as my memory serves me, those present on this interesting occasion were the following :- 'Father' and 'Mother' Thomas with their five children (Jane, Gwenny, Samuel, John and David), Mrs. James Lackey and daughter Maggie, John Samuels and daughter Rachel, Mrs. John Leibert, John Peter and family, Aaron Bast, Charles Breisch, Lawrence Landis, Mrs. Jonathan Landis and Andrew Archer. There were doubtless others, but these stand out clearest against the past.
The little building has been demolished and the venerable black oak tree has been removed, in whose forked branches I, as a boy, hung the bell which called the faithful to prayers. This bell passed into the hands of the Crane Iron Co., by whom it was used once a month on pay-days to call the men together. It still hangs on a branch of the tree, close to the office, where the curious may each find it. The tree and bell were natural means to a spiritual end and though they have passed out of use, the spirit abides for this church whose semi-centennial we celebrate to-day, and its great development into other churches, such as the Bridge Street Church, the church at Hoken- dauqua, the Bethel-Welsh Congregational Church (known as 'Mother Thomas's Church), the churches at Lockridge, Ferndale and Richard's
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CHURCHES
Mine in New Jersey, and the Presbyterian Church at Thomas in far off Alabama.
All these churches are living branches of the tree which was planted in faith and hope fifty years ago on that inclement Winter Sunday by a band of earnest Presbyterian men and women. The women are worthy of special mention for they too carried their share of the burden cheerfully and nobly. Well do I remember my sister Gwenny, Rachel Samuel, Maggie Lackey and Susanna Peter, brave and helpful young girls, who carried water in pails all the way from the canal to scrub and clean the church, and as the building was used for a day-school during the week, every Saturday morning it required their earnest attention.
In a recent interview with Mrs. Owen Swartz and Mrs. Rehrig, whose personal recollections of the early times in the history of this church are very clear, I was reminded that church services were held in my father's house until the completion of the building on March 22, 1840.
This little white-washed church was used for worship until the present building was ready to be occupied in 1856. Two years after the laying of the corner stone, the church was dedicated, free of debts. My thoughts dwell with especial pleasure upon those far-off days, and the building of those early Walls of Zion in our adopted home.
As I review those early years, I see the earnest figures of my father and mother, who were strangers in a strange land, zealous from the beginning to see a house of worship planted here. When the church was organized, it numbered only three, father, mother and sister Jane; and father was then ordained as first elder.
About two years later, David Williams, Sr., located with his family at Catasauqua and he became a member of this church; and soon afterwards he was inducted into the eldership. He was a most excellent man, and though in poor health he was strenuous in all good works. It was he who took up the collection and acted as treasurer of the church. He died August 14, 1845, and his remains were laid to rest in the church yard after services in the little white church which he had served so well.
As the population increased the church in the woods became too small. A special meeting of the congregation was therefore held to discuss ways and means for securing a new building. A committee was appointed consisting of the pastor, Rev. Cornelius Earle, David Thomas, Morgan Emanuel, William McClelland and Joshua Hunt.
By an arrangement with David Thomas (who had donated some adjoining land to enlarge the church property on Church street), an exchange was made of that land which secured to the congregation the site of 180 by 180 feet at the corner of Second and Pine streets, upon which today stands the present church, the parsonage and the chapel. Plans having been made and adopted, sufficient funds were raised to warrant the new enterprise.
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EARLY HISTORY
The corner stone of the old church was brought here and deposited just previous to the ceremony of laying the new corner stone. It is a gray sand stone from near Kreidersville. It was fashioned by Charles Breisch and bears the date of 1839, which can be seen on excrimination. In the new stone a copper box was laid which, according to custom, contained a Bible, some coins, local papers, and whatever the copper box of the old corner stone had contained. An address was delivered by Rev. Richard Walker of Allentown, and Rev. Leslie Irwin of Bath assisted in the services.
On Sunday, the 11th day of May, 1856, the church was solemnly dedicated to the worship of God. Rev. Geo. Duffield, D. D., preached the dedicatory sermon, Rev. C. Earle and Rev. R. Walker taking part in the services. Rev. Jacob Becker preached German in the afternoon. Only a few remain who were then from 20 to 30 years of age:
Mrs. Thomas Bear
William Kildare
Charles Graffin
Chas. W. Schneller
Daniel Milson James Nevins
Mrs. Quigg
and those who were from ten to twenty years still among us are : Mrs. John Thomas Owen F. Leibert
James Thomas
Joseph McFetridge
Mrs. James Thomas
John McFetridge
Mrs. Emma C. Williams
Mrs. John Knauss
Rebecca Siegley
Mrs. James Torrence
Mrs. Kate Stewart
Martha Wilson
William H. Glace
Thomas Jones
Joseph Matchette
Mrs. Wm. T. Snyder
Mrs. Herbert James
Mrs. Edwin Mickley
Samuel Davis
Mrs. James W. Fuller
Daniel Davis
Archibald Courtney
David Davis
The edifice is built of brick, semi-Gothic in style. The main building is 40 by 63 feet, exclusive of tower and pulpit recess ; and it has a transept on the south side 20 by 30 feet, which forms part of the audience room, and also an organ transept on the north side, 10 by 20 feet. The organ was the gift of David Thomas. The spire is 150 feet high, a fine-toned bell being in the tower. The congregation had been reg- ularly incorporated in 1853.
As commemorative of the re-union of the Old School and New School Assemblies of the Presbyterian. Church a memorial chapel was built on Pine street at
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CHURCHES
the rear of the edifice in 1871, the corner-stone having been laid May 13th, and the dedication having taken place on December 10th. This building is also of brick, semi-Gothic in style, 35 by 82 feet. It contains rooms for all church purposes ; and it is used for mid- week services and by the Sabbath-school.
Forty feet north of the church, front on 2nd street, there is an attractive and conveniently planned manse, built of brick, in style corresponding with the church.
Rev. Cornelius Earle served as the pastor in a most efficient manner from Oct. 14, 1852 to 1898, when he resigned, after a continuous and most successful ser- vice covering a period of 46 years.
During the year 1899 the regular services were con- ducted by other licensed Presbyterian ministers.
Rev. Charles H. Miller was elected as the successor of Rev. Earle, and he has served the congregation in a most efficient manner since February 1900.
A sunday-school has been conducted in connection with the church from the beginning, and the super- intendents have been prominently identified with the church as elders :-
David Thomas, 1839 to 1847; elder from 1839 to 1882.
Joshua Hunt, 1847 to 1882; elder from 1847 to 1886. John Williams, 1882 to 1892; elder from 1874 to 1892. Joseph Matchette, 1892 to 1914; elder from 1892 to 1914.
The membership of the church in December, 1913, was 234; of the sunday-school, 300.
BRIDGE STREET CHURCH-Rev. Leslie Irwin at the time of building the little frame church was the pastor of the "Irish Settlement." He was a graduate of the Royal-Belfast College, and having been licensed to preach by the Synod of Ulster, he emigrated to Amer- ica in 1834. He was received as a licentiate by the Presbyterians of Philadelphia on Dec. 22, 1835,, and there ordained as an evangelist, with orders to locate in the "Irish Settlement." Upon his arrival he found
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EARLY HISTORY
two churches, one at Weaversville and the other near Bath, both of which are still standing.
The erection of a church of the same faith within the boundaries of his parish without authority of the Presbytery, and the removal of influential familes like the Nagles, Depews, Loders, Lyles and Hudders, to the new village, caused him to be on the alert. He there- fore visited the people who had come from his own country in the north of Ireland, and finding himself in touch with them, he requested permission to preach to them in this new church, which was given.
At great personal inconvenience and in spite of in- clement weather, he visited the families from house to house, and once every Sabbath preached the gospel to them. Finally, in 1850, in compliance with their re- quest, set out in a petition, the Presbytery of Newton organized another congregation with 32 members and ordained James McClelland as its first ruling elder. Rev. Irwin continued his ministrations in a most faithful manner for fifteen years until 1865, when he was succeeded by Rev. James Lewars. In 1852 he suc- ceeded in securing the erection of a church on Bridge street, a short distance west of the Howertown Road, on the additional lot of ground, containing 2 acres 76 ps. which had been granted and conveyed in 1849 by John Peter to David Thomas, Robert McIntyre, Owen Rice, Samuel Thomas, William Taylor, David Williams and John Peter, as trustees of the Presby- terian congregation. Before this time a memorial to the Presbytery was signed by 170 individuals, as residents of Craneville, and a report was forwarded in 1850, stating that there were 62 members in com- munion with the Church.
After the purchase of this small additional tract of land, the "old school members" desired to withdraw from the "Union Church," and effect a division of the assets, having, in a petition to the Crane Iron Co., styled themselves as the "Presbyterian Church of
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CHURCHES
Craneville," though neither of the two congregations had as yet been incorporated. But it would seem that the Presbytery at Newton recognized Rev. Irwin's congregation as the "old school." The lot, known as the "Academy Lot," was eventually sold, the debt on it satisfied, and the surplus equally divided be- tween the two congregations respectively known as the "Old School" and "New School." These desig- nations subsequently became offensive to the respec- tive members, and a change was accordingly made so that the congregation which erected their new church in 1852 on Bridge street was named "The First Old School Presbyterian Church," and that which erected theirs in 1854 at Pine and Second streets was named "The First Presbyterian Church." The former was incorporated in 1851, and the applicationwas signed by
Robert McIntyre
John McIntyre
John Hudders John G. Loder
William Miller
William Baird
Thomas Knox
James Pollock
William Taylor
F. W. Quigg
The edifice erected in 1852 on Bridge street was a plain, frame, one-story building and this was used until 1866, when the present brick church was erected in its place. A two-story brick parsonage was erected shortly after 1852 on the lot, east of the church, for the use of the pastor.
From that time, the so-called "old-school" have worshipped in the building by themselves. In the pro- ceedings of incorporating the respective congrega- tions, this distinction was studiously avoided, and the only public evidence of its existence is the inscription of the letters "O S" on the cornerstone of the Bridge Street Church.
The membership of the congregation was as fol- lows : In 1850, 32; in 1865, 105; in 1873, 225 ; in 1900, 159; in 1913, 271.
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EARLY HISTORY
The pastors have been :-
Leslie Irwin 1839-65
David Harbison 1876-1901
James Lewis 1865-68 William Fulton 1868-75
Benj. F. Hammond 1902-09 Harry W. Ewig 1909-14
Four young men of this church became candidates for the ministry, and, after a thorough preparation, were regularly installed as ministers of the Gospel according to the Presbyterian faith. Their names are Nathaniel McFetridge, John Irwin, Albert J. Weisley and Joseph L. Weisley.
The "Semi-Centennial Jubilee" of the church was appropriately celebrated by the congregation May 6-11, 1900; and as a "souvenir" of this historic occasion, a neat little volume was compiled, embracing a concise history of the church, and distributed among the members.
A sunday-school was organized by the first pastor about the time he began his pastorate here and it has been conducted until the present time. The superin- tendents have been Joseph McMullin, John Hudders, and William Weisley, the last named since July 14, 1872. The membership in December, 1913, was 170.
VISITING MINISTERS-Numerous visiting ministers preached in the old church. Thomas P. Hunt, an itinerant preacher, an ardent anti-slavery man and a "Washingtonian" (as the temperance men were then called), would come periodically without notice. He was a small hump-backed man; but his tongue was straight and lively. On one occasion he came unan- nounced, and he was in the pulpit as the congregation assembled. The pulpit was high and suitable for tall , men. On this occasion, after the choir had finished singing, he suddenly popped up (only his head show- ing above the pulpit) and announced his text by the startling words, "It is I, be not afraid."
Rev. Charles H. Russell was a graduate of Yale College and came here as a teacher in the Bridge-street school-house. He preached as a "supply" and gener-
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FAIRVIEW CEMETERY
ally had notes of his sermon. On one occasion a gust of wind blew the loose notes of his sermon in every direction, whereupon old John McClintock, who oc- cupied the first pew, jumped up and began to gather them together when Russel called out in a loud twang, "Never mind, John, let them fly," and proceeded with the discourse to the end without his notes.
ACADEMY-An academy was erected in 1848-49 on the Presbyterian lot by Alfred Cattemore (an English carpenter who had "strayed" here), by securing sub- scriptions from the members; and the Crane Iron Co. advanced $1,200 towards the cost of it, for which they took a mortgage. This was regarded as a model school at that time. It had ventilators in the ceiling, and each pupil had his own desk with an ink-well set in on top and screwed fast, and shelves were arranged underneath for his books. It was continued in use as a private-school until 1856 when it was sold to the Catasauqua School District for $2,530, and the pro- ceeds, after satisfying the mortgage, were distributed in equal proportions to the two congregations. The trustees of this school were
David Thomas
Robert McIntyre Samuel Thomas
William Taylor
David Williams
Owen Rice John Peter
The School District held and occupied this school- house and lot for 40 years, until the erection of the Lincoln school building; then it was abandoned for school purposes. Subsequently it was sold to James W. Fuller for $5,000, and he erected thereon a com- modious mansion for himself, which is still standing, and occupied by his son.
The teachers were John Hudders and his wife, Esther Hudders, Joseph Leonard, Rebecca Leonard, Samuel P. Bliss, Alonzo W. Kinsey, Charles H. Rus- sell, and others.
FAIRVIEW CEMETERY was founded by James W. Fuller of Catasauqua in 1858, having purchased
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EARLY HISTORY
from Robert McIntyre and Peter Miller 6 acres 110 perches of land in South Whitehall (now Whitehall) township, across the Lehigh river from Catasauqua, for burial purposes, because the conveniences of inter- ment in the borough were limited. Before that time, the dead bodies of the town had been buried in the grave-yards adjoining the Presbyterian Church at Church street and Church alley, and that adjoining the St. Paul's Lutheran Church on Howertown Road, and also that adjoining the old Evangelical Church at Mulberry street and Howertown Road. Fuller laid off the land into burial lots, 10 by 20 feet, and named the place "Fairview Cemetery" on account of its ele- vated situation; and he provided in each deed, exe- cuted and delivered by him, for lots in the cemetery, "that when one-half of the lots in the original plot were sold, the purchasers were empowered to form an association for the care and management of its affairs, make rules and regulations for its government, elect officers and have complete control of the ground."
In 1871, an organization was formed by the lot- holders, who elected the following managers :-
Melchior H. Horn, president.
R. A. Boyer (sec. and treas.)
Samuel L. Nevins
David A. Tombler
James W. Swartz
R. Clay Hamersly John Thomas
William H. Laubach
Orange M. Fuller
A petition was presented to Court for the incor- poration of "The Fairview Cemetery Association," and the decree was made on Sept. 13, 1872. The dead interred in the grave-yards of the borough were then removed to the cemetery.
Many fine monuments have been set up in this ceme- tery. It includes a superb "Soldiers' Monument" which is recognized as the first erected in Pennsyl- vania, and this was accomplished largely through the instrumentality of Samuel Thomas in response to an
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