USA > Pennsylvania > Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania Vol. I > Part 44
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John Seiple spent his early boyhood days in Hilltown township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, and is indebted to the common-school system for the educational privileges he enjoyed. At the age. of fourtcen years. he accompanied his parents on their removal to Bethlehem, but soon afterward returned to Hilltown, where he learned the ma- son's trade, remaining there until 1864. In that
year he came to Bethlehem to reside permanently, and for a number of years was identified with building interests here, his business activity con- tributing to the improvement of the city as well as to his own success. He is now living retired from business, having accumulated a handsome competence. His prosperity has resulted entirely from his own well directed labor, keen business sagacity and honorable business methods, and he has justly won the proud American title of a self- made man. He served on the Bethlehem police force for five years and afterward for a quarter of a century was a private officer for the Business Men's Association on Main street. In politics he is a Democrat and in religious affiliation an active member of the Salem Lutheran church on High street, in which he has held the office of elder for many years. He is now one of the trustees of the church fund ..
John Seiple was married, January 4. 1863, to Miss Amanda Bitting, who was born October 9, 184I, in Hilltown, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, a daughter of Simon S. and Mary (Beringer) Bitting. Her father died January 2, 1902, at the age of eighty-seven years, and her mother died January II, 1899 ; both were buried at Bethlehem. Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. John Seiple; Malinda S., and Emma M. The last named was married, December 29, 1887, to Charles W. Clewell, a grocery salesman. Of this marriage were born two children: John Walter, born April 9, 1893, and who came to hi's death July 17, 1901, from injuries received by a pile of lumber falling on him, but a few hours before; and Marian Amanda, born September 22, 1900. This family have taken an active part in the Mo- ravian church and Sunday school.
REV. PAUL DE SCHWEINITZ, of Beth- lehem, Pennsylvania, a clergyman of the Mora- vian church, and officially connected with its vari- ous missionary and educational institutions, comes of an honored ancestry whose members for several generations have been prominently identi- fied with the body of Christians to which he is attached. He is a lineal descendant of
Hans Christian Alexander von Schweinitz,
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Senior Civilis Unitatis Fratrum, a member of the governing board of the Unitas Fratrum, or Mora- vian church, and administrator of its estates in the United States of America. He was born Oc- tober 17, 1740, on the ancestral estate of Nieder- Leuba, in Silesia, Germany. He was descended from an ancient and noble family, the whole line of which is complete without a name missing, back to 1-350. Many of its members were prom- inent in church and State. This Schweinitz came to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in 1770, and became one of the most distinguished men in the service of the Moravian church. His wife, Anna Dorothea Elizabeth von Schweinitz, by birth was a Baroness von Watteville, and a granddaughter of Nicolas Louis, Count Zinzendorf, a noted Saxon nobleman, under whose influence the an- cient Bohemian-Moravian Brethren's church (Unitas Fratrum) was resuscitated. Their son
Lewis David von Schweinitz, Ph. D., Senior Civilis Unitatis Fratrum, member of the govern- ing board of the Unitas Fratrum, or Moravian church in America, administrator and nominal proprietor of its estates, senior pastor of the church in Bethlehem, member of the Academy of Natural Sciences, of Philadelphia, member of the American Philosophical Society, corresponding member of the Linnean Society of Paris, and of the Society of Natural Sciences of Leipzic, was born February 13, 1780, in Bethlehem, Pennsyl- vania, where he died February 8, 1734. He was the most noted clergyman of his church at that time, and was one of the most distinguished crypto- gamic botonists of the nineteenth century. He published many works, especially on fungi. He added nearly fourteen hundred new species to the amount of botanical science. His wife was Louisa Amalia von Schweinitz, by birth Le Doux, of French Huguenot descent. Their son
Robert de Schweinitz, was born in Salem, North Carolina, September 20, 1819, and died in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, October 29, 1901. He was a clergyman of the . Moravian church, was for years engaged in educational work of the church as princi- pal of the Salem (North Carolina) Female Academy, and then of Nazareth Hall boarding
school for boys at Nazareth, Pennsylvania. For more than twelve years he was president of the governing board for the Moravian church in America, and then up to within two years of his death was the general church treasurer. He held many subsidiary offices. He served his church in one capacity or another for upwards of sixty years, and was universally respected throughout the church, and held in highest esteem by all clas- ses in the community where he dwelt. His wife was Marie Louise de Schweinitz, by birth a von Tschirschky, of the house of Tschirschy-Boegen- dorff, and on her mother's side of the house of Schoenberg-Briban, of unbroken noble descent reaching back into the middle ages, and was born on the family estate of Wilka, in Germany.
Paul de Schweinitz, son of the parents last named, was born in Salem, North Carolina, March 16, 1863. He was educated in the Moravian pa- rochial school in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in Nazareth Hall at Nazareth, Pennsylvania, in the Moravian College and Theological Seminary at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and in the University of Halle, in Germany. He was ordained a deacon of the Mora- vian church (Unitas Fratrum) September 12, 1886, and a presbyter September 23, 1888. From 1886 to 1890 he was pastor of the Moravian church at Northfield, Minnesota, and from 1890 to 1898 pastor of the Moravian church in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. In the latter year he became secretary and treasurer of the govern- ing board of the American Moravian church, North, and he was subsequently chosen secretary of missions for the American Moravian church, also vice-president and treasurer of the society of the United Brethren for Propagating the Gos- pel among the heathen, also treasurer of the Moravian College and Theological Seminary, also president of the Moravian Aid Society, besides various subsidiary trusteeships and directorships. He was chosen vice-president of the Pennsyl- vania-German Society, of which he is a charter member, and a member of the executive commit- tee of the Moravian Historical Society. In poli- tics he is an independent Republican.
Mr. de Schweinitz was married, at Bethlehem,
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Pennsylvania, January 27, 1887, to Mary Cath- erine Daniel, who was educated in the Moravian Parochial School of Bethlehem, and in Linden Hall Seminary, a Moravian boarding school for girls at Lititz, Pennsylvania. Her father was Charles B. Daniel, the pioneer of the slate indus- try of Northampton county, and one of the organ- izers of the Bethlehem Iron Company, now the famous Bethlehem Steel Company. He was one of the most prominent men of Bethlehem, and, in fact, of Northampton county, not to say eastern Pennsylvania. Her mother was Eliza Reigel. Both the Daniel and Reigel families came to Pennsylvania prior to the Revolutionary war.
The children of the Rev. Paul and Mary Cath- erine (Daniel) de Schweinitz are : Karl de Schweinitz, born November 26, 1887; Helena, born May 18, 1889; Dorothea, born September 5, 1891, and Louise, born August 13, 1897. The two first named were born at Northfield, Minne- sota, and the two last named at Nazareth, Penn- sylvania.
WILSON P. LONG, M. D., the leading med- ical practitioner of Weatherly, Carbon county, Pennsylvania, where he has been actively engaged since his graduation from the Medical Depart- ment of the University of Pennsylvania, in 1886, is a native of Longswamp township, Berks coun- ty, Pennsylvania, born in 1861.
Frederick Long, great-grandfather of Dr. Wilson P. Long, was a Palatinate immi- grant, having fled to this country in order to escape the religious persecution inflicted on the subjects of his own country. He settled in Berks county, Pennsylvania, on land obtained from the agents of William Penn, the same being that which is now included in the township of Longswamp. He conducted farming on an extensive scale, won a reputation for intelligent and practical methods of opera- tion, and in his day was a man of vast influence in the community in which he resided.
Daniel Long, grandfather of Dr. Wilson P. Long, also followed the occupation of farming, which proved a remunerative means of livelihood,
and he conducted his operations on the old home- stead in Longswamp township, Berks county. His wife, whose maiden name was Rachel Snyder, a native of Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, bore him the following named children: Aaron, Ja- cob, Lafayette, Samuel, David, Dr. Manoah, Dr. Augustus, Sarah, Elizabeth, and Catherine Long.
David Long, father of Dr. Wilson P. Long, was born in Berks county, Pennsylvania, in 1830, and died in the year 1864, when Dr. Long was a child of three years. By his marriage to Flor- anda Fegely, daughter of John P. Fegely, of Shamrock, Berks county, Pennsylvania, five chil- dren were born, namely: Mary, Celia, Amanda, Wilson and Malazina Long. The widow of David Long subsequently became the wife of William Butz, of Alburtis, Pennsylvania, and four children were born of this marriage, two of whom are now living, namely: Rev. Charles Butz, pastor of the Reformed church at Parry- ville, Pennsylvania ; and William Butz of Mertz- town, Pennsylvania, who follows farming.
Dr. Wilson P. Long was reared in his native township, and his educational advantages were obtained at the common schools therein and those at Mertztown, and later in life he entered the Kutztown Normal School. Losing his father at a very early age, he was cast in a measure upon his own resources, and during the early years of his life he worked on his uncle's farm, and for a period of three years taught school. Having an inclination for a professional career, he matricu- lated in the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania, graduating therefrom with the degree of Doctor of Medicine in the year 1886. The same year he established himself in Weath- erly, Pennsylvania, began the practice of medicine and surgery, and by his skill and ability in the diagnosis and treatment of disease he built up a large and select practice which he has conducted ever since. In addition to these duties he is med- ical examiner for several of the old line insurance companies, and physician of the poor house for the middle coal field, having been appointed to that office four years ago. He keeps in touch with the advanced thought along the line of his pro-
.9. LongMÁ.
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fession by membership in the County Medical Association, the State Medical Association, and the Lehigh Valley Medical Association.
Aside from his professional duties, Dr. Long is interested in a number of enterprises which contribute to the general welfare of the town in which he resides. He is a director and serves as secretary of the board of the First National Bank of Weatherly, and is one of the principal stock- holders, director and secretary of the board of directors of the Weatherly Foundry and Machine Company. He has a paying interest in a mining enterprise situated at Hancock, Pennsylvania, which supplies the C.| K. Williams Paint Mills, of Easton, Pennsylvania, with a fine quality of ochre. During the years 1892-93 he served in the capacity of coroner of Carbon county, and for two terms he held the office of school director. He was chairman of the building committee in the erection of the Schwab school building, which structure cost in the neighborhood of eighty-five thousand dollars. He holds membership in the Reformed church, in which he holds the office of elder, and for nine years was a chorister in the same. His political affiliations are with the Re- publican party. He is a member of the Patriotic Order Sons of America, Knights of Pythias, Grand Commandery of Pennsylvania, and the order of Modern Woodmen.
On August 2, 1886, Dr. Long married Clara Boyer, of Reading, Pennsylvania, who died May I, 190I. Their children are: William S. and Al- bert F. Long.
GEORGE JACOB DESH, now deceased, was the promoter of many business interests of importance in Bethlehem that made him a valued citizen of the borough. He was born at Heller- town, Pennsylvania, a son of Henry and Margaret (Heisler) Desh.
The father was born in Millerstown, Lehigh county, and was reared and educated there, after- ward following the trades of a butcher, drover and tanner. He also conducted a hotel for a time, and he reared his family in Millerstown. His children were ten in number : 1. Daniel, who mar- ried Antoinette Clementine Bishop, and their chil-
dren are Orlando, Ambrose Renny, William Dan- iel, Edward Eugene, and Harrison Cornelius. 2. Maria Desh, who is the wife of James Behm, and they have nine children-Wilson, Lucy, Henry, William, James, Peter, Ellen, George and Allen. 3. Susan, who is the wife of Joseph Landis, and their children are Henry, Emma, Alice, Su- san Hannah, David and William. 4. Caleb, who married and his children are Victor, Caroline, William, Edward, Dolly, Lillian and Walter, the last named now deceased: 5. Eliza, who never married. 6. Aaron, born in Hellertown, who married Susan Smith, and their children are Mar- tha, George, Rose, Anna, Clara, and Kate. 7. Diana, born in Hellertown, who married Martin Leidich, and has four children, Anna, Henry, Ca- junta, and Elizabeth. 8. Owen, born in Heller- town, and now deceased, who married Elizabeth Mangle, and had a son, Henry, born October 24, 1851. 9. Henry, born December 30, 1834, mar- ried Annie E. James, and had two children, Will- iam and Laura, the former now deceased. IO. George J., born June 16, 1837.
George J. Desh was reared in Hellertown, Pennsylvania, and attended the common schools. At the age of seventeen years he went to Phila- delphia, where he found employment in a tobacco store. After remaining there for a few years he went west to Ohio, but after a few months re- turned to Philadelphia. In the autumn, in com- pany with his brother Daniel, he engaged in the butchering business, remaining in Philadelphia until 1861, when he removed to Freemansburg, where he continued in the same line for two years. In 1863 he decided to locate in Bethlehem, and located on Fairview street, establishing a meat market which has since been conducted by the family. During the period when the Civil war was at its height, there was a call for emergency men, and Mr. Desh, hastily arranging his business affairs and placing his store in the care of his wife, joined the company that marched from Beth- lehem under the command of Captain Frank C. Stout. At the end of six weeks, when their serv- ices were no longer needed, Mr. Desh returned to Bethlehem, and resumed the management of his business, in which he continued until his death.
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HISTORIC HOMES AND INSTITUTIONS.
He prospered in this undertaking, and made many improvements in his butchering establish- ment in order to meet the demands of a high class trade. At the time of his death he was the treas- `urer of the Citizens' Mutual Fire Insurance Com- pany, of Northampton county, which office he had . filled for three years. He was also the president of the Sailor's Lake Ice Company, and was largely interested in real estate, owning more than thirty dwellings and pieces of property in Bethlehem, besides a large farm of one hundred and two acres in East Allen township, Northampton county. His business methods were in harmony with the high- est standard of commercial ethics, and he owed his success to keen discernment, marked energy and close application.
Mr. Desh took part in the organization of the Bethlehem Fair and Driving Park Association, and served for several terms on the board of di- rectors. He was the founder of the leading musi- cal organization of Bethlehem, and acted as its president from its inception until his death. He thus largely promoted the musical interests of the city, and did much to cultivate a love of the art among his fellow townsmen. His religious faith was indicated by his membership in Grace Luth- eran church on Broad street. Mr. Desh was one of the organizers of the Fairview Hose Company. He took an active interest in local political affairs, and for several years represented the third ward in the town council, and although he was a stanch Republican he received a handsome majority from a Democratic ward. He was also a member of the school board for thirteen years, and he exercised his official prerogatives in support of every meas- ure that tended to promote the interests of the schools or promote the welfare of his town along lines of progress, reform and improvement. Thus it was that he became one of the most valued and highly respected citizens of his community.
George Jacob Desh was married in Philadel- phia, in March, 1859, to Miss Catherine Crater, who was born at East Winston, Chester county. Pennsylvania, February 19, 1840, a daughter of Owen and Eliza (Schwatz) Crater. Fourteen children were born of this marriage: I. Annie E., the eldest, born October 22, 1860, is the wife
of Charles Rush, and the mother of three chil- dren, George, Earl, and Ethel. 2. Antoinette C., born November 25, 1861, is the wife of William Semple, of Philadelphia. 3. Clara E. is the wife of William Winsch, and has six children-Katie, Mossir, George, Russell, Ruth, and Mattie, but the last named died in infancy. 4. Laura B., is the wife of Charles Dech, and has three children-Helen, Joseph, and Thomas. Ida, (5), George (6), Morris (7), and Ambrose (8), all died in childhood. 9. Bertha E., born No- vember 12, 1871, is the wife of Capt. Ed Os- borne. 10. Adelaide C., born August 5, 1873, is the wife of Howard Wilburger. II. Warren E., born June 12, 1874, married Cora Benner, and their children are George and Abraham, twins. 12. Henry H., born September 5, 1875, married Ellen Archer. 13. Grace G., born July 11, 1877, is the wife of Henry Ritter, and has three children -Warren, Dorothy and Virginia. 14. Earle G., the youngest, was born October 1, 1881.
TINSLEY JETER. The Jeter family, of which Tinsley Jeter was an honored and distin- guished representative, occupying a very prom- inent position in business circles, and leaving the impress of his individuality upon the commercial development of Pennsylvania, was established in Virginia at an early period in the colonization of the new world, and was of English origin. As time passed, different representatives of the name figured prominently in connection with public af- fairs in the Old Dominion. John Jeter, grandfa- ther of Tinsley Jeter, was a planter of Virginia, and served his country with patriotic zeal as a soldier in the war of 1812. He married Miss Chaffin.
John Tinsley Jeter, father of Tinsely Jeter, was born in Virginia, in 1798. He was a planter and merchant of Painesville, Amelia county, where he conducted business until 1843, when he removed to Missouri. After a residence of four years in that state he went to New Orleans, Louis- iana, and subsequently purchased a plantation on the Missouri river, opposite Fort Hudson, where he died in 1862. He was married twice. First in 1822, to Elizabeth Newman, who died in 1835,
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and by whom he had the following named chil- dren: Elvira, the eldest, became the wife of A. A. Motley, of Tennessee, and the mother of three children-A. A., Elizabeth, and John Motley. Allen deceased. Ellen, who became the wife of Dr. McLean, and had four children-Dr. Robert A. McLean, Mary, Elizabeth, and John. Tinsley, mentioned hereinafter. The children of John Tin- sley Jeter, by his second wife, were three in num- ber. Captain William Jeter, the first, served as an officer in the Confederate army during the Civil war. Anna, became the wife of Captain Car- mouche, of New Orleans, and they were the par- ents of four children, Emile, Elizabeth, Stella and William Carmouche. Warwick, the youngest.
Tinsley Jeter, the fourth child of John Tinsley and Elizabeth ( Newman) Jeter, was born in Pains- ville, Amelia county, Virginia, in 1827, and died July 19, 1903. His boyhood days were passed in Virginia, where he benefited by good educational privileges, and after the removal of the family to Missouri he became a student in the State Univer- sity at Columbia, spending two years in that in- stitution. In the autumn of 1847 he went to New Orleans, and in the spring of the following year to South America on a business trip for his father. For three years he traveled in that country, in Canada and in the western states, and then began preparation for a professional career by studying law with Hon. Peter McCall, of Philadelphia. He was admitted to the bar in 1855, and practiced his profession until 1859, achieving a fair degree of success. In the meantime he became interested in the Lehigh county iron mines, giving up his practice to attend to this enterprise, which he later sold to Robert L. Kennedy, of New York. He was a resident of Philadelphia from 1852, the year of his marriage, to 1860, when he removed with his family to Bethlehem, where he became actively identified with the development of iron mines. His business was of a nature that proved of immense benefit to his section of the state, as well as a source of individual profit, and he won a most creditable position in industrial and financial cir- cles. He was instrumental in forming the cor- poration for the building of the Ironton Railroad from Ironton to Copley, about eight miles in
length, which he sold in 1866 to New York par- ties, and which is now owned by the Thomas Iron Company. He built the Bethlehem postoffice building which has been occupied for that pur- pose by the United States government ever since. He was the president of the South Bethlehem Improvement Association, and for a number of years was one of the leading representatives of real estate interests in Bethlehem, and South Bethlehem, handling much valuable property and laying out the greater part of Fountain Hill. A man of resourceful business ability, his judgment was rarely at fault, and his sagacity and foresight were remarkable. He recognized the value of op- portunity, understood the spirit of the times, and so shaped his affairs as to make labor profitable to employer and employee.
His activity likewise extended to other lines which resulted in no direct benefit to himself, but were of the greatest good to the community. He was one of the organizers of the Bishopthorpe School, served as a member of the board of trus- tees from the beginning, and also as president, and put forth earnest effort in behalf of the insti- tution. He was also one of the first to advocate the building of St. Luke's Hospital, and was the chairman of the first committee formed to secure subscriptions to this project, and the first chair- man of the executive committee. He was active in the organization of the Church of the Nativity, and was one of the committee of three appointed to secure subscriptions therefor. The first service of this congregation was held in his own home, and in every way possible he advanced the inter- ests and growth of the church. At the time of his demise, he was a member of the vestry of the church, and also of the board of trustees of the St. Luke's Hospital.
Tinsley Jeter was united in marriage to Mary Smith Richards, who was born July 15, 1832, a daughter of Thomas and Harriet ( Nichols) Rich- ards, granddaughter of Samuel Richards, great- granddaughter of William Richards, who was born September 12, 1738, and related to the Ball and Haskins families. Samuel Richards (grand- father), born May 8, 1769, was the owner of an iron furnace known as the "Maria," located near
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Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania, and he wedded Mrs. Mary (Smith) Morgan, a widow. Among their children was Thomas Richards ( father), who on the 12th of May, 1825, married Harriet Nichols, a daughter of General Francis Nichols, who ser- ved his country in the Revolutionary war. Thomas Richards resided in Philadelphia, where he was largely interested in the iron business, also in the iron furnace owned by his father. He took a prominent part in military affairs, and was a member of the First City Troop of Philadelphia. Thomas and Harriet (Nichols) Richards were the parents of four children: Samuel N., born February 4, 1826; Henry K., born December 20, 1829, Mary, born July 15, 1832, the only surviv- ing member of the family, now the widow of Tins- ley Jeter ; and Susan Miller, born July 25, 1837. The father, grandfather and great-grandfather of Mrs. Jeter were among the earliest iron work- ers in this section of the country, and they also conducted this enterprise in the southern part of New Jersey. The family originally came from Wales, where they had learned the iron business in all its branches.
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