USA > Pennsylvania > Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania biography : illustrated, Vol. III > Part 48
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and callings, they still find time for recrea- tion and amusement. The Allentown Band, of which Amos Ettinger is leader, is con- sidered one of the best in the State, and is composed entirely of the business men of the place." There is still in the possession of the family an excellent oil portrait of the genial face of Amos Ettinger, presented to him by the members of this musical organization. He was especially prominent also in the military life of his time, and held many important offices. He was captain of a model volunteer company called "The Le- high Fencibles," and for seven years was brigade inspector of the Second Brigade, Seventh Division of the Uniformed Militia of Pennsylvania. During his lifetime his fellow citizens honored him with various positions of trust and responsibility, and at the time of his death he was the president of the town council. On Christmas Day, 1836, he married Susan, a daughter of Henry and Lydia Hamman Laudenschlager, who was born in Macungie (then known as Millerstown), Lehigh county, December 22, 1818. The Laudenschlager family moved to Allentown, and for many years the father was a carpet weaver, living in a large stone house on Union street, near Seventh. From this marriage were born four sons: William Jacob, who died in 1863; Alfred Henry; Richard Carlos, who died in 1896; and George Taylor Ettinger. Amos Ettinger died February 1, 1866, in the forty-ninth year of his age. In speaking of his death the "Lecha County Patriot" of February 8, 1866, said: "Through his affable, sociable demeanor the deceased won for himself the affection of all that came into contact with him. He was one of the best loved, most highly esteemed and most benevolent citi- zens of this town." The "Allentown Friedens-Bote" of February 7. 1866, sum- med up his life and character as follows: "He was an honorable, upright citizen, and a host of friends sincerely mourn his early demise. He was a true friend and a good
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neighbor, and, the Spirit saith, he resteth from his labors and his works do follow him."
George Taylor Ettinger, the youngest son of Amos and Susan Ettinger, was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, November 8, 1860. He received his elementary training in the excellent private school of Miss S. V. Magruder from 1869 to 1873, and in the fall of 1873 he entered the academic depart- ment of Muhlenberg College, with which institution he has been connected as student and teacher for forty-one years. As a stu- dent he had the remarkable record of not having missed a single recitation in seven years. He prepared for college in the aca- demic department from 1873 to 1876, and in September of the latter year he entered the freshman class of Muhlenberg. He was graduated with first honor and the vale- dictory, June 24, 1880. In 1879 he re- ceived the junior oratorical prize of twenty- five dollars for the best oration as to matter and manner, the subject of his oration being "The Folly of Warfare." During his col- lege course he was a member of the Euter- pean Literary Society and the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. Immediately upon his graduation in 1880 he began to teach in the academic department of Muhlenberg Col- lege as assistant to Rev. A. R. Horne, D. D., from 1880 to 1882, and to Rev. John Koh- ler, D. D., from 1882 to 1884. From 1884 to 1892 he was principal of the academic department in connection with Professor E. S. Dieter, now of the Allentown High School. During these years the annual en- rollment of the department increased from thirteen to seventy-five students. Upon the occasion of the quarter centennial celebra- tion of Muhlenberg College in 1892, he was elected professor of pedagogy and asso- ciate professor of Latin. Several years later the title of the chair (which he has filled ever since) was changed to the Latin Language and Literature and Pedagogy. In 1888 he enrolled in the graduate department of New York University, which three years
later conferred upon him the degree of Doc- tor of Philosophy (Ph. D.) for work done in pedagogy, under Dr. Jerome Allen and Dr. Edgar D. Shimer, and in German under Dr. A. S. Isaacs. Upon the death of Pro- fessor Davis Garber, Ph. D., Dr. Ettinger became librarian of his alma mater, and upon the death of Professor Matthias H. Richards, D. D., he was chosen secretary of the faculty. He was the alumni editor of The Muhlenberg for many years, also served as corresponding secretary and treas- urer of the Alumni Association and a mem- ber of its board of managers. He is now president of the Alumni Association. He has also been a member of the editorial com- mittee of the Muhlenberg College Bulletin, an official quarterly publication of the in- stitution, since its beginning in 1902. In 1904 the board of trustees elected him dean of the faculty. For nearly fifteen years Dr. Ettinger was a director of the public schools of Allentown, during which period he was repeatedly elected president of the board of control, later served as secretary of the same body and was chosen president of the Le- high County Directors' Association. For nine years he was connected with the Penn- sylvania Chautauqua at Mt. Gretna, serving in various positions as instructor in Latin and Greek, dean of the faculty and member of the board of managers. In 1905 he was chairman of the committee under whose auspices a successful series of University Extension Lectures was delivered in Allen- town by Professor J. C. Powys, M. A., of Cambridge, England, on "The History of Liberty," and is one of the vice-presidents of the Allentown Chautauqua. He has pub- lished "Pedagogy the Fourth Profession," an address delivered before the Lehigh County Teachers' Institute, and "The Rela- tions and Duties of Colleges to their Pre- paratory Schools," a paper read before the Association of Colleges and Preparatory Schools of the Middle States and Mary- land, at Cornell University. In 1904-05 he was associated, as supervising editor, with
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John W. Jordan, LL. D., librarian of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and Dr. Edgar M. Green, of Easton, Pennsylvania, in the publication of an extensive "Genea- logical History of the Lehigh Valley, Penn- sylvania," in two handsomely illustrated volumes brought out by the Lewis Publish- ing Company of New York and Chicago, and is a member of the advisory committee for the present work, "Jordan's Biograph- ical Encyclopædia of Pennsylvania," also by the Lewis Publishing Company. When the Liberty Bell Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution dedicated the tablet commemorating the hiding of the Lib- erty Bell in the old Zion's Reformed Church, Allentown, Hon. Robert E. Wright, who had promised to deliver the principal address found that it would be impossible for him to keep his engagement. As a spe- cial favor to the regent of the chapter, Dr. Ettinger consented to serve as a substitute and, with but three days for preparation, delivered what the local press was pleased to call "a masterpiece." On September 1, 1904, he also delivered the opening address at Muhlenberg College on "The American College and its Problems," which was after- wards published by the board of trustees. His services as a speaker and lecturer are in frequent demand, his two most popular lectures being "Life's Lottery" and "An Evening with the Dictionary." The subject of this sketch is a member of the American Philological Society, the Ameri- can Historical Association, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the Moravian His- torical Society, the Pennsylvania Society of New York, of which he served many years as chairman for Lehigh county, and the Phi Gamma Delta Club of New York. He is the president of the Allentown Free Library, secretary of the Pennsylvania-German So- ciety, secretary of the Contemporary Club of Allentown, honorary member of the Rotary Club of Allentown, member of the John Hay Republican Club of Allentown, honorary member of the Luther Burbank
Society of California, member of the Phila- delphia Society for the l'romotion of Class- ical Studies, and a member of the National Institute of Social Sciences. He is also literary editor of the "Allentown Morning Call," having the largest daily circulation of any newspaper in the Lehigh Valley. He has also served as president of the Lchigli County Historical Society since its organ- ization, and is a contributing member of the Lehigh Saengerbund, and the Allentown Oratorio Society. For many years he was the efficient secretary of the Livingston Club of Allentown, one of the largest and most representative social clubs of the Le- high Valley. Although busily engaged as student and teacher, he still finds time to share in the larger life of the community and to discharge his duties as a citizen of the same. At various times he has served as a delegate to city and county conventions of the Republican party, and he presided over the stormy sessions of the Lehigh county convention in the historical contest for political supremacy in the State of Penn- sylvania, waged between Governor Daniel H. Hastings and Senator Matthew Stanley Quay, with such tact and ability that special mention was made of it in the press of the State. In 1902 Judge Albright appointed Dr. Ettinger inspector of the Lehigh county prison, and his successor, Judge Frank M. Trexler, has continued him in this position from year to year. For several years he has served as secretary of the Prison Board of Lehigh county. Since his confirmation in 1877 he has been an active member of St. John's English Lutheran congregation. For many years he was an officer and is still a teacher in the Sunday school, served as president of the Young People's Society. was a deacon, secretary of the vestry, elder and vice-president of the same, and repeat- edly delegate to conference, synod and gen- eral council of the Lutheran Church in North America. On August 17, 1899), he married Emma C., the only daughter of Gustav A. and Emilie. F. Aschbach, of
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Allentown. This union has been blessed with one son, Amos Aschbach Ettinger, born May 24, 1901, and named after his paternal grandfather. As Dr. Ettinger was but five years old when his father died, he was raised by his mother, a woman of strong mental and moral character, to whose excellent and Christian training he gladly ascribes whatever measure of usefulness and success he has attained in life. She attained the uncommon age of ninety-four years and four months, with mind active and able to recall and describe scenes, inci- dents and persons of the days when Allen- town was hardly more than a large village. In the words of one of his friends: "Dr. Ettinger possesses a sympathetic nature, combined with that true modesty which causes liim to carry his learning as a man carries his watch-to be kept out of sight till someone wishes to know the time. No man has less of the pedant about him. The lark needs no trumpet to herald the fact that it is a sweet singer. His advice and criticism are often sought. The one is always marked with good sense, and the other by the ut- most kindliness, but at the same time com- bined with justness and fairness. He is keen in his observations and can find 'ser- mons in stones, books in running brooks, and good in everything'."
HELB, Theodore R., Leader in Business Affairs.
The old city of York, strong in the dark- est hours of our National history in the patriotism and intrepidity of her citizens, while no less so to-day, has now an added element of strength in her noble body of business men, among the foremost of whom stands Theodore R. Helb, who has been for forty years one of the most substantial citi- zens of York and a business man of Na- tional reputation.
Theodore R. Helb was born October 17, 1851, in Shrewsbury township (now Rail- road borough), son of Frederick and Re-
becca (Henry) Helb. Frederick Helb was a leading business man and citizen of York county. Theodore R. Helb received his education in the public schools of his native township and in those of the city of Balti- more, and entered early upon his active career, learning the business of a brewer. In 1873 he established himself in York as the proprietor of an independent concern, but so modest was his beginning that for the first ten years he himself accomplished the most important part of the necessary manual labor, having but one assistant dur- ing the winter months and none the remain- der of the year. He was a man, however, who knew his business thoroughly and fully realized all its possibilities. He was distinguished from the first by a peculiar aptitude in grappling with details and in recognizing and taking advantage of op- portunities. His progressive spirit, which led him to adopt what he perceived to be real improvements, was combined with an originality of thought which enabled him to inaugurate new ideas and methods. His business increased to proportions which he would at one time have deemed incredible, inasmuch as he was by nature conservative and not over-sanguine, adding to or re- modeling his brewery only as the actual de- mands of business rendered it imperative to do so. His conservatism, however, was combined with the progressive spirit previ- ously mentioned as one of his leading char- acteristics, and he never neglected to avail himself of an opening, always, however, first making sure of his ground. The re- sult is that he has to-day a truly magnificent establishment, finely planned architecturally and having the most complete and modern equipment. Mr. Helb is not only the most prominent man in his line of business in York, but also one of the best known throughout the United States.
As a true citizen Mr. Helb never with- holds his aid and influence from any move- ment having for its end the betterment of York, and no good work done in the name
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of charity or religion appeals to him in vain. It is men of this type who are in- telligent factors in the success of all great cities, and Mr. Helb is recognized as one in the inmost circle of those associated with the business concerns and financial interests which have most largely conserved the growth and development of York. Wholly without political aspirations, he has con- fined his attention strictly to business mat- ters, always, however, exercising his right of voting and taking an intelligent interest in men and measures, a fact which has caused his counsel to be often sought in matters of public moment. Of a genial dis- position and in manner invariably affable and courteous, his social popularity is great and his friends are many. He affiliates with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Order of Foresters, the Knights of the Mystic Chain, the Knights of Malta, the Red Men and the Heptasophs. In the last- named order, which he helped to organize, he has taken particular interest, and for four years served as its first supreme treas- urer.
Mr. Helb married, January 21, 1873, Emma Louise, daughter of John Rausch, a shoe merchant of Baltimore, and they are the parents of two sons : Louis, a graduate of Nazareth Hall and of the Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, class of 1894; Her- bert, a graduate of the Maryland Institute of Art and Design, Baltimore, class of 1903. Both sons are associated with their father in business. Mrs. Helb, a thoughtful, clever woman of culture and character, possesses the rare combination of perfect womanli- ness and domesticity with an unerring judg- ment, traits which fit her to be to her hus- band an ideal helpmate, not alone a charm- ing companion, but also a confidante and adviser. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Helb, one of the noted residences of the county, is a spacious mansion of beautiful archi- tectural design, adorned with numerous works of art gathered in their many jour-
neys, Mr. Helb, having relinquished much of the active work of his enterprises, his health not being so sturdy as formerly, has been able to indulge his fondness for travel, which is, perhaps, his favorite form of recre- ation. He has made many transatlantic voyages, having visited every European country with the exception of Servia and Bulgaria, and having extended his wander- ings to Egypt, Palestine, Turkey, Asia Minor and Greece. On one of the latter trips he was accompanied by his son Her- bert, in company with whom he also visited Alaska and British Columbia. On another occasion he made an extended trip to Mex- ico and he has been twice to California. Notwithstanding his many foreign voyages Mr. Helb has not neglected his native land. having visited every State in the Union with the exception of Arkansas and South Da- kota. Fond as he is of travel, Mr. Helb spends his happiest hours at his own fire- side and his home is the seat of a gracious hospitality.
Mr. Helb's career has worthily supple- mented that of his noble father. As an able business man and public-spirited citizen he has greatly promoted the material pros- perity and moral welfare of his native city and county. He is, however, of a nature so broad and complex that its influence has been felt in every portion of the community, vitalizing all its best interests and impart- ing an impetus to every worthy movement. Perhaps the best description that could be given of him might be condensed into the brief sentence: "He is an all-round man."
LIVINGOOD, Frank S., Lawyer, Public-spirited Citizen.
For three generations the Livingoods have been eminent physicians and lawyers of Berks county, Pennsylvania. John Bricker Livingood, who was a practicing physician of Womelsdorf, was the father of six sons, four of whom adopted their father's profession, the other two choosing
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the law. All were professional men of dis- tinction, and in turn left sons who fully maintained the high professional standing of their forebears and were men of high standing in both law and medicine in Berks county and elsewhere. Among the grand- sons of the good doctor who have continued in the county is Frank S. Livingood, emi- nent at the bar, prominent in business, and for a quarter of a century president of the Young Men's Christian Association of Read- ing.
The Livingoods of Berks county are of ancient Swiss ancestors, later settled in Alsace, Germany, near Strasburg, where they were known as Leibenguth and Loewenguth. They settled in Alsace prior to 1660, and fifty years later the American an- cestor, John Jacob Loewenguth came, land- ing in New York, in 1708. Like so many other foreign family names, the original form was lost in anglicizing, Loewenguth in time becoming Levengood, and then Liv- ingood, both forms being used by descend- ants of the Swiss-German John Jacob Loewenguth.
The founder of the family settled in Schoharie county, New York, but in 1727 came to Berks county, settling in Tulpe- hocken township. There he farmed and prospered until April, 1758, when in an Indian raid he and his wife were killed and two daughters carried into captivity. A son Jacob escaped the fate that destroyed his family, and from him descended the Liv- ingoods of Berks county.
One of these descendants, Dr. John Bricker Livingood, the physician of Womelsdorf from 1812 to 1872, had, as stated, six sons, all of whom were well known and able members of the medical and legal professions: James C., John T., Michael T. and Louis H., physicians ; and Jacob S. and William H., lawyers. One of these sons, Jacob Seltzer Livingood, was a lawyer, practicing at the Berks county bar from 1845 to 1906, sixty-one years. He
married Lucy Jane, daughter of Francis B. Shalters, of Reading.
Frank S. Livingood, son of Jacob Seltzer and Lucy Jane (Shalters) Livingood, was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, February 24, 1855. He secured his early education in Reading schools, public and private, entered Phillips Andover Academy in 1869, was graduated in 1872, and that year enter- ed Harvard University. He spent four years in Harvard and in 1876 was gradu- ated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Returning to Reading, he prepared for the practice of law under the preceptorship of his honored father, and in August, 1879, was admitted to the Berks county bar. From that date until the present he has been in continuous practice in Reading, admitted to all State and Federal courts of the dis- trict. He is a learned and honored mem- ber of the legal fraternity, but his profes- sional work represents only a part of the usefulness of his life. He has taken active part in the business development of his city, and in its philanthropic, educational, religious club and social life. He is presi- dent of the Reading Hospital, and a trustee of the Charles Evans Cemetery Company, having held the latter position since 1892; president of the Young Men's Christian Association since 1888 ; trustee of the Read- ing Public Library; vice-president of the Berks County Bar Association ; member of the American and Pennsylvania State Bar associations ; member of the Historical So- ciety of Pennsylvania, the Historical Soci- ety of Berks County, the Pennsylvania Ger- man Society, and taking a deep interest in the work of all. His clubs are the Wyomis- sing and Berkshire of Reading; the Univer- sity of Philadelphia, and the Harvard of New York. In religious faith he is Evan- gelical Lutheran, belonging to St. Matthew's Church of Reading.
Originally a Republican in politics, the chairman of the county committee from 1881 to 1886, a delegate to the National
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Geo. Barnum van ,
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Convention held in Chicago in 1884 that nominated James G. Blaine for President ; he now belongs to the Washington party, and while ever striving for the supremacy of the party of his choice, has never sought office for himself.
BORNEMANN, Right Rev. Monseignor George,
Clergyman, Leader in Charitable Work.
For half a century an honored priest of the Roman Catholic church, and for nearly this entire period the beloved pastor of St. Paul's Parish, Reading, "Father Borne- mann," as he is affectionately known, holds an enviable position in the hearts of his people. Although now a dignitary of the church, "Monseignor Bornemann" is still "Father Bornemann" to his people-the lov- ing priest who has been their comforter, friend and spiritual guide from childhood to mature years, and in many cases has bap- tized, confirmed, married, and then laid away in consecrated ground, members of the parish. The work done by the good "Father" in the nearly half century he has spent in Reading has not been wholly spirit- ual, great as is the good accomplished for men's souls, but the temporal prosperity of his parish has been a marked feature of his stewardship. Hospitals, schools, asylums and churches have been built for the differ- ent nationalities that comprise the three thousand communicants of the parish, and every department of church, educational and charitable work has been capably and faithfully administered. Beloved by his own people, Father Bornemann is held in no less respect by those of other denominations acquainted with him and his unselfish life of devotion.
George Bornemann was born in Lingen, Hanover, Germany, October 5, 1838, son of William Bornemann, a ropemaker, who died in Reading in 1884, aged eighty-two years. His mother, Louisa Rolfs, died when he was a young boy, and, had she lived, per- haps Reading would never have known
Father Bornemann. Bereft when so young of a mother's care, he formed his own plans, and at fifteen years of age alone came to the United States. To the education he had received up to that time in excellent Ger- man schools, he added training for the priesthood at the great educational insti- tution of his church in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, near Latrobe, and was graduated from St. Vincent's College in 1862. He continued theological study at St. Charles Seminary at Philadelphia, and was regularly ordained to the priest- hood of the Roman Catholic church in Philadelphia in 1865, Bishop (afterward Archbishop) Wood officiating. He served as assistant in Philadelphia one year, an- other year at Newcastle, Delaware, in charge of a parish, then, in 1867, was made pastor of St. Paul's, at Reading. From that date his service to that parish as pastor was continuous until his elevation to his present title. From a comparatively small parish, St. Paul's has become one of three thousand communicants, the church at Ninth and Walnut streets, with the educational and charitable institutions connected therewith, being the largest in Reading. Besides ad- ministering the multitudinous affairs of his parish, Father Bornemann has been the lead- ing spirit in the founding and management of splendid institutions of his church in Reading-St. Joseph's Hospital, House of the Good Shepherd, St. Catherine's Orphan Asylum for Girls, St. Paul's Orphan Asylum for Boys, Gethsemane Cemetery-all being institutions fostered under his care. With its mixed population, churches were a neces- sity for the different races, and there has grown up in the original parish Polish, Italian and Slavic churches, with priests of such linguistic attainments that it is now possible for every Catholic in Reading to confess to a priest in his own tongue, or listen to a sermon delivered in his own lan- guage. Another institution of note is St. Bernardino's Convent and Asylum at Oak Brook. Father Bornemann has been raised to the rank of Monscignor.
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