USA > Pennsylvania > Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania Vol. I > Part 58
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Mr. Ormrod during these same years was also a stockholder and director in the St. Nicholas Coal Company, operating the St. Nicholas Col- liery near Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania, and was later made president of the company, and during this time, 1878 to 1881, he resided in German- town, Philadelphia. They finally sold the colliery to the Philadelphia & Reading Coal and Iron Company.
In August, 1880, Mr. Ormrod took temporary charge of the Keyley Run Colliery at Shenan-' doah, Pennsylvania, owned by the Thomas Coal
Company. The mine was on fire, and while mak- ing an examination on September Ist with the mine foreman, at a depth of five hundred feet below the surface, an explosion occurred, killing one foreman and injuring several others. Mr. Ormrod received several bruises, his left foot being the most severe, but he recovered in a month's time.
In 1880 Mr. Ormrod, with his cousin, John Donaldson, and W. S. Thomas, of Philadelphia, and H. H. Fisher, of Allentown, Pennsylvania, leased the Emaus Blast Furnace from the Phila- delphia & Reading Coal and Iron Company, for the purpose of manufacturing pig iron, under the firm name of Ormrod, Fisher & Company, and after two years' operation the furnace was put out of blast ; and, owing to the depression in the pig iron trade, the furnace lease was given up a few years later. In 1883 the same parties pur- chased land near the furnace, and built the Emaus Pipe Foundry for manufacturing cast iron pipe and special castings for water and gas, for street mains ; the business being conducted until 1886, when the firm was changed to a corporation and called the Donaldson Iron Company, of which Mr. Ormrod has been general manager and treas- urer, also a director, since 1880. The works have been enlarged several times and now give steady employment to about five hundred men, and the yearly product amounts to about 36,000 gross tons of cast iron pipe and other castings. They own over fifty acres of land; also their own water supply and electric light and power plant, and have a well equipped machine shop and pat- tern shop, with modern machinery, in connection with the pipe foundry. They have been in contin- uous operation during the past twenty years, and have been very successful and prosperous.
In 1893 Mr. Ormrod joined Thomas D. Whit- aker, his son-in-law, in organizing the Whitaker Cement Company, for manufacturing Portland cement, at Whitaker Station, on the Lehigh Val- ley Railroad, three miles east of Phillipsburg, New Jersey. This was the first Portland cement plant ever built in New Jersey, and the second plant in the United States to make Portland cement by the rotary kiln method. Mr. Whitaker contracted a
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severe cold which caused his death March 7, 1896, and soon after the name of the company was changed to the Alpha Portland Cement Com- pany, Alpha, New Jersey, in which Mr. Ormrod and his daughter, Mrs. Whitaker, still retain a large interest.
In 1897 Mr. Ormrod, in company with Col- onel H. C. Trexler. E. M. Young and Charles A. Matcham, and others, organized the Lehigh Port- land Cement Company, of Allentown, of which Mr. Ormred is the vice-president, having cement works at Ormrod, and West Coplay, Pennsyl- vania ; also at Wellston, Ohio, and Mitchell, In- diana. The company has been very progressive and prosperous, and are now manufacturing about eleven thousand barrels of Portland cement daily.
Mr. Ormrod is also president of the White- hall Street Railway Company, a trolley line about five miles long, running from Egypt to Levans, on the Slatington Line.
Mr. Ormrod is a charter member and was also for three years prior to March, 1904, president of the Livingston Club, of Allentown, the leading social organization of the city, with a member- ship of about one hundred and fifty of the prom- inent business and professional men of the town. He is also a member of the Pomfret Club, of Easton, Pennsylvania. His political support is given the Republican party. He has had con- tinuous good health and been active all his life. He and his family are members of Grace Episco- pal Church, of Allentown. Mr. Ormrod belongs to no secret organizations, but has been a member of the Franklin Institute of Philadelphia for . many years, and a member of the American Insti- tute of Mining Engineers since 1881 ; is also a member of the Pennsylvania Society of New York City.
Mr. Ormrod's mother died December 1, 1895, at Preston, England, in her ninetieth year. Her maiden name was Margaret Donaldson.
Mr. Ormrod has five children, all living : Mar- garet, the oldest, who married Charles A. Matcham, formerly superintendent of the Alpha Portland Cement Company, and now manager of the Lehigh Portland Cement Works.
Catherine, widow of the late Thomas D. Whit- aker, late of the Whitaker Cement Company, and mother of one child, a boy, named Francis.
John Donaldson Ormrod, who is married, and is superintendent of the Donaldson Iron Works at Emaus.
Mary A. is single and lives at home with her parents.
Fannie Markland Ormrod is the wife of John F. Saeger, of the Saeger Milling Company, at Allentown.
In 1897 Mr. Ormrod built a beautiful home at No. 1227 Hamilton street, Allentown, where he now resides.
DANIEL YODER, who for almost a half century has been engaged in the practice of med- icine and surgery at Catasauqua, was born in Maxatawney township, Berks county, Pennsyl- vania, September 30, 1833, and traces his an- cestry back through successive generations to 1717, when the first of the name of Huguenot faith came to America, settling in Oley town- ship, Berks county. The grandfather of Dr. Yoder and his father, David Yoder, were both natives of this state, and were farmers by occu- pation. The latter was born in Berks county, April 10, 1804, and in 1834 removed to White- hall township, Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, where he remained until 1847, when he went to Northampton county, settling cn a farm near Bath. There his death occurred in 1851. He wedded Mary Levan, who was born December 19, 1813, in Berks county, and was also of French Huguenot lineage. She was a daughter of William Levan, a farmer of Maxatawney township, and her death occurred in Catasauqua, Pennsylvania, in 1873. By her marriage she be- came the mother of eleven children, of whom Dr. Yoder is the eldest.
Alfred Yoder, second of the family, married Levina Brader and reared a family. Thomas (3d) married Emmeline George, and had two children-Henry, who is a flour merchant of Indi- anapolis, Indiana ; and Stella. Hannah (4th) is the wife of Nathan Snyder and had nine children. William (5th) married Susan Ray, and reared a
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family. Sarah (6th) became the wife of Will- iam Rice, and after his death of Edwin McHose, and by her second husband she has a son living, Guy McHose. Eliza (7th) is the wife of Will- iam Snyder, and her children are William, Mrs. Annie Clark, and Elizabeth, the wife of James Davies. Mary (8th) became the wife of Edwin McHose, and at her death left six children-Rev. Edwin McHose, a professor in Reading, Penn- sylvania ; Charles, Lottie, Thomas, and Homer. Jacob (9th) married a Miss Weaver, and had two children. Peter (10th) was the youngest of the family. Margaret ( 11th) died in infancy.
Dr. Daniel Yoder pursued his education in Northampton, and afterward continued his stud- ies at Bethlehem and in Vandeveer's Academy in Easton, then one of the leading educational insti- tutions of this part of the state. After complet- ing his own literary education, he engaged in teaching school for a time, having charge of the Levan school. In 1855 he took up the study of medicine under Dr. Walter F. Martin, of Weav- ersville, Pennsylvania, and the following year was enrolled as a student in the medical depart- ment of the University of Pennsylvania. Later he continued his studies in the Pennsylvania Medical College at Philadelphia, where he won the Doctor of Medicine degree upon his gradua- tion with the class of 1855. Not long afterward, Dr. Yoder opened an office in Catasauqua, where he has since been located in the practice of his profession, a liberal patronage being accorded him. He belongs to the American Institute of Homeopathy, the Homoeopathic Medical So- ciety of Pennsylvania, and the Lehigh Valley Homeopathy Medical Society, and was presi- dent of the last named organization for three years.
While the duties of his chosen calling have made heavy demands upon his time and energies, he has yet found opportunity to cooperate in movements for the welfare and progress of the borough, and has been active in its material up- building, having laid out several acres in town lots, upon which substantial homes have been erected. In 1873 he built his own comfortable residence at the corner of Third and Bridge
streets. He holds membership relations with fraternal and professional organizations. He is a Mason, has attained the Knight Templar degree of the York rite, and has been treasurer of the local lodge for many years. He is also con- nected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
On the 19th of March, 1861, Dr. Yoder was married to Amanda E. Glace, a daughter of Sam- uel and Isabella (Swartz) Glace. Her mother was born October 17, 1814. Samuel Glace, born October 12, 1805, was a son of Peter and Eliza- beth (Keiser) Glace. The former, a son of Leonard Glace, was born August 14, 1774, and his wife February 10, 1775. Their children were Isaac, Henry, Peter, George, Frederick, Samuel, Levi, Jacob, John, William, Adam and Elizabeth. The children of Samuel Glace were William H., and Amanda, who became Mrs. Yoder. Dr. and Mrs. Yoder had no children of their own, but they adopted several nieces and one nephew, namely : Minnie, Jennie, Annie, Isabel, and Thomas McHose. Of these, Annie married a Mr. Ziegenfus; Jennie, became the wife of E. E. Heimbach; and Isabel married George Dreisbach.
ELMER WARNER, proprietor of a large department store at Weatherly, to whose enter- prise and business qualifications the borough owes much, was born in Tannersville, Monroe county, Pennsylvania, April 30, 1861. The his- tory of his family is given in connection with the sketch of Edwin F. Warner, on another page of this work.
Elmer Warner was reared in the place of his nativity, pursuing his studies in the public schools, and afterward entering into business re- lations with his father, who was one of the pro- gressive citizens of that place. Later he began business on his own account as a merchant, and thus continued for five years. Owing to the training which he had received under his father's direction, and his own practical and extended experience, he was well qualified to establish and develop in Weatherly the business which he is now conducting, and which has become one of
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the important mercantile enterprises of the bor- ough. He opened his store in October, 1903, and carries a large and well selected line of goods. He has spared no pains to make it a most modern commercial enterprise, and it equals if not sur- passes many of the department stores in cities of fifty or seventy-five thousand population. He carries both domestic and foreign goods, and, in fact, his line embraces all kinds of fancy and staple articles, so that he is ready to meet prac- tically all demands of the public. His earnest desire to please and his reliable business methods have been strong elements in his success, and have brought to him a constantly growing patron- age. He came to Weatherly in 1891, at which time he purchased in bankruptcy the business of David Kintz. He subsequently purchased tlie property on which the store was located, and in 1903 built an addition thirty-eight by sixty feet, so that he now has a business block sixty by sixty feet and three stories in height. He em- ploys ten salesmen, and demands of them cour- teous and obliging service to the patrons of the house.
Aside from his mercantile business, Mr. War- ner is interested in various profitable enterprises which contribute to the general progress and prosperity along business lines, as well as to his individual success. He is the general manager and treasurer of the Weatherly Foundry and Ma- chine Company, and is the president of the First National Bank of Weatherly. Community in- terests which give no remuneration, but which demand good citizenship, also receive liis en- dorsement and co-operation, and at this writing (in 1904) he is acting as the president of the school board of Weatherly. While residing in Tannersville he served as postmaster from 1885 until 1889 under a Democratic administration. His political allegiance has always been given to the Democracy, and fraternally he is affiliated with the Knights of Malta and the Improved Order of Red Men. His religious faith is indi - cated by his membership in the Reformed church.
Mr. Warner was united in marriage Septem- ber 22, 1887, to Miss Hattie Learn, a daughter of David Learn, and to this marriage were born two
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children, Floyd T. and Hattie L. The wife and mother died April 12, 1890, and May 2, 1892, Mr. Warner married Miss Martha A. Kresge. Their children are Stanley W., Naomi R., Grace B. and Jennie E.
NATHANIEL ZOLL, of Weatherly, repre- sented one of the old German families of Penn- sylvania. His paternal grandfather, Joseph Zoll, was born in Germany, but became a loyal citizen of America. He established his home in this country in colonial days, and served under Gen- eral Washington as a quartermaster in the strug- gle for independence. He was a wealthy man when he left the fatherland, and in Pennsylvania he invested his money, becoming the owner of about three thousand and five hundred acres of land in the vicinity of Pottsville, including the site on which the town has been built. In com- munity affairs he was prominent and influential, and was widely known and highly respected for his sterling worth. He married Miss Markle, and unto them were born three sons and seven daughters who became good and loyal citizens of the commonwealth. Of this number Joseph Zoll was the father of Nathaniel Zoll. He was born in Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, learned the tanner's trade in his youth, and for a number of years was the oldest man in that business in his county. He prospered in his undertakings, and his business enterprise grew to extensive proportions. His attention was largely given to its development, but he found some time to serve his fellow townsmen in minor offices in his town- ship. He married Miss Susanna Hoy, also a na- tive of Schuylkill county, and they became the parents of six children, but Nathaniel is the only one now living. The father lived to be more than ninety years of age, while his wife was eighty- four years of age at the time of her death.
Nathaniel Zoll was born at the old family home in Schuylkill county, July 18, 1825, and died May 6, 1904, at Weatherly, Pennsylvania. He was reared and educated in his native town. He learned the trade of chaid making at Schuyl- kill Haven, and afterward mastered the business of cabinet making, and in both branches of ac-
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tivity met with success. In 1847 he removed to Mauch Chunk, and was there living at the time the great conflagration swept over the town. Sub- sequently he established his home at Hudsondale, where he engaged in business as a furniture man- ufacturer and dealer, as well as undertaker, and also acted as toll keeper in connection with per- forming his business duties. His furniture fac- tory was operated by water power, and the work was always well done, Mr. Zoll being an excellent mechanic. In 1856 he came to Weatherly, where he established himself in the same line of busi- ness, and here he won a gratifying patronage in the early days. There was no undertaking estab- lishment in the town, and he used his mechanical skill in making coffins for the early settlers. As the years passed on, however, and machine made furniture supplanted the hand-made he closed his shop, and in 1858 became an employe of the Beaver Meadow Company, with which he re- mained until after the outbreak of the Civil war.
In 1861 Mr. Zoll joined the militia service to repel the invasion of the rebels into his native state. Later he was honorably discharged, but again re-enlisted in the militia. The second time he completed his term and was honorably dis- charged, and in 1862 he became a member of the volunteer army of the United States, joining Company B of the Tenth Regiment New Jersey Infantry for three years. He was a brave and fearless soldier, and took an active part in the Shenandoah Valley campaign, and participated in a number of the most memorable battles of the war, including the engagements at Charleston, Bolivar Heights, Petersburg, the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, Winchester, Fisher's Hill, Harper's Ferry, Cedar Creek and many others. At Winchester and Fisher's Hill he acted as sergeant, the other non-commissioned officers having been killed. At Cold Harbor he was struck in the breast by a spent ball which struck a rib and glanced off. In 1865, after three years of active and valuable service to his country, he was honorably discharged.
Following the close of the war, Mr. Zoll re- turned to Weatherly, where he made his per- manent home, and in 1866 he again entered the
employ of the Beaver Meadow Company, accepi- ing a position as general mechanic, in which ca- pacity he served with that company for thirty-one years. No greater proof of his capability and fidelity could be given than the fact that he was retained for so long a period in a company's service. He possessed much natural mechanical skill, and, utilizing his ability to the best ad- . vantage, he made for himself and his family a comfortable living.
On the 2Ist of March, 1847, Mr. Zoll was joined in wedlock to Miss Susan E. Ferlig, the wedding ceremony being performed by the Rev. W. G. Menich, of Pottsville, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Zoll was born in Wayne township, Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, September 2, 1825, and died December 14, 1896. By this marriage were born seven children: Emily S .; Alexander L., now deceased ; Isabella J .; Joseph A., deceased ; Mary C., Henrietta C. and Clara S. Mr. Zoll became the father of seven children, the grand- father of eleven, and the great-grandfather of eight. In his political views Mr. Zoll was a Democrat, always voting for the men and meas- ures of that party. He belonged to the Holiness Christian church, of which he was a trustee and treasurer, and socially he was connected with the Grand Army post at Weatherly. He took a deep interest in the welfare and progress of the town in which he resided for almost a half century.
THOMAS F. DUNN, postmaster of Weath- erly, is a native of Massachusetts, born on the 16th of June, 1857. His parents were Thomas and Mary (Noonan) Dunn. His father, also a native of Massachusetts, followed farming, and also engaged in other business pursuits. He re- moved to Weatherly in 1862, the year of the memorable flood, and here he not only carried an agricultural pursuits but also conducted a hotel. Later in life he entered the employ of the Lehigh Valley Company, with which he was connected up to the time of his death in October, 1899. His children were seven in number, namely: Ellen, Thomas F., William, Patrick, Minnie, James and Kate.
Thomas F. Dunn was but five years of age
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when brought to Weatherly by his parents, and here he was reared, pursuing his education in the public schools. After putting aside his text books he learned the molder's trade, which he followed for a number of years, and then abandoned that calling in order to accept
as
a position on the Lehigh Valley Railroad a brakesman. He acted in that capac- ity until 1889, in which year he was ap- pointed postmaster of Weatherly. He had been in the employ of the company for nearly thirty years, and was a most trusted represen- tative of the road. As postmaster he has been most faithful in the discharge of his duties. Weatherly is a third class office which was estab- lished in 1848, R. D. Styles being first postmaster. He was succeeded by Charles H. Williams, and in turn came John Smith, R. Horn, J. Kistler and S. Harleman. Miss Annie Webster was then appointed postmistress, and in 1889 she was succeeded by Mr. Dunn, who has since been in charge of the office.
On the 28th of December, 1890, Mr. Dunn was united in marriage to Miss Mary J. Harle- man, a daughter of Captain Samuel and Susan Harleman, and they now have two children, Thomas M., who is manager for Squibb & Com- pany, chemical manufacturers of Brooklyn, New York ; and Charles R., a student. Mr. Dunn is one of the popular citizens of Weatherly, where the greater part of his life has been spent. He seeks no public prominence or political prefer- ment, desiring rather to enjoy the pleasures of his own home and fireside.
It will be interesting in this connection to note something concerning the family history of Mrs. Dunn. The Harlemans are of German line- age, the ancestors of the family having emigrated to America at an early period in the development of the new world. The great-grandfather of Mrs. Dunn was a native of Chester, Pennsyl- vania. The grandfather, Isaac Harleman, was also born in Chester, Pennsylvania, became a shoemaker by trade, and followed that oc- cupation for many years. He also held the office of justice of the peace for several years, and was strictly fair and impartial in his
rulings. He married Catherine Seigenfuss, and to them were born seven children. Captain Harle- man, Mrs. Dunn's father, was born in Carbon county, Pennsylvania, in 1829. In 1840 he ac- companied his parents on their removal to Fenn Haven, where he took charge of the lock of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company, and in 1846 he came to Weatherly, where he entered the operative service of the Lehigh Valley Rail- road Company as brakesman. In 1848 he was promoted to the position of fireman, and in the same year was made an engineer. He was the first engineer to run an engine (the Delaware No. 4) over the valley track to Easton. In 1864 pro- motion again came to him, for he was made train- master at Weatherly, and he acted continuously in that capacity until he retired from that posi- tion in 1898 because of advanced age. In that year he was given a position as caboose inspector at Lehighton, and thus served until his death, which occurred March 27, 1901. He married Miss Susan Setzer, and they became the parents of five children, four of whom are living: Mrs. D. A. Melven, George M., Mrs. T. F. Dunn and Mrs. Lizzie E. Lenhardt.
At the time of the Civil war, Captain Harle- man organized a company which became a part of the Nineteenth Pennsylvania Regiment, and of which he was made commander. This was in 1863. He served with distinction under General Albright, and at the close of the war was honor- ably discharged. In public affairs in his com- munity he was prominent and influential. He served for two terms as county commissioner of Carbon county, and was a director of the Middle Coalfield poor district. He was also a member of the Weatherly town council for three years, for fifteen years was a school director, and from 1869 until 1885 was postmaster. In financial circles he was well known as a director of the Second National Bank of Mauch Chunk, a direc- tor of the Weatherly Water Company, and a di- rector and treasurer of the Oak Hall Association. His religious faith was indicated by his member- ship in the Presbyterian church, with which he was long identified, taking an active part in its work and serving for some time as an elder. So-
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cially he was connected with the Knights of Pythias, and politically was a stanch Republi- can, unfaltering in his support of the principles of the party. He was long accounted one of the leading and influential residents of Weatherly, and no history of the borough would be complete without the record of his life.
JONAS GERBER, the oldest boilermaker in the employ of the Lehigh Valley Company at Weatherly, and now filling the position of gang boss in the shop, was born in West Penn town- ship, Schuylkill county, on the 2d of June, 1853. As the name indicates, the family originated in Germany, and was founded in America by the great-great-grandfather of Mr. Gerber, who em- igrated from the land of the Teutons to the new world at a very early day in the development of Pennsylvania, where his descendants have since been numbered among its loyal and industrious citizens. Jonas Gerber, the grandfather, was a well-to-do farmer of considerable local influence. His children were Daniel, Catherine, Jacob, Paul and William, all of whom have passed away.
William Gerber was born in the Mahoning valley, in the year 1829, and followed the occu- pation of farming as well as mechanical pursuits. He married Miss Lydia Eber, who was also born in the Mahoning valley, in the year 1831. His death occurred in the year 1857, when he was but twenty-six years of age, and his widow afterward became the wife of James Hough, of White Bear, Pennsylvania. By that marriage she had one son, Edward, and by her first marriage her children were Samuel and Jonas Gerber.
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