USA > Pennsylvania > Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania Vol. II > Part 18
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William Charles Lehr was reared in his par- ents' home, receiving the advantages afforded by the public schools. Early in his business career he entered the employ of the firm of Koch & Shankweiler as a salesman, and remained with that house for twelve years. On the expiration of that period he joined Lewis O. Shankweiler in the formation of the present partnership of Shankweiler & Lehr, who started in business on their own account at No. 643 Hamilton street.
William C. Lehr was united in marriage to Miss Hattie E. Fenstemacher, a daughter of Levi and Fianna (Metzgar) Fenstemacher. She was the youngest of five children, as follows : William, who married Flora Detweiller, by whom he has two children, Charles and Harry ; Laura ; Edwin, who married Ella Woodring ; Ella ; and Hattie. Mr. and Mrs. Lehr have an interesting family of
eight children, the eldest being but fifteen years of age. These are Edmund, Robert, Miriam, Mary, Dorothy, Ruth, Lucy and John.
BENJAMIN F. KLINE, occupying a beau- tiful home in Allentown, where he is now living a retired life, was formerly closely identified with agricultural purusits, and comes of a family that has been connected with farming interests in this part of the state for more than a century. The first ancestor of whom there is authentic record was Lorentz (or Lawrence) Klein, for so the name was spelled originally. It is definitely known that the Kleins are of German descent, and that Lorentz Klein lived in Salisbury township, Lehigh county, in 1781, his name appearing on the assessment roll of that year. He was the progenitor of the most of the Kiines now so num- erous in Lehigh county. One of his daugh- ters, Mrs. Elizabeth ( Kline) Bogert, died in 1867, at the age of one hundred years, her birth having occurred October 28, 1767, on a farm near the Little Lehigh, in the same nouse where Ben- amin F. Kline was born. She was married in 1793 to John Bogert, and they had nine children, six sons and three daughters.
Christopher Kline, son of Lorentz, was born on the old family homestead in Salisbury town- ship, and ultimately became the owner of two farms situated along the Little Lehigh river, one containing a hundred and sixty-five acres, the other one hundred and twenty acres. At his death he left two sons and a daughter-Lorentz, Reuben and Sarah. The second son was born on one of the farms bordering the Little Lehigh. and spent the greater part of his life in following agricultural pursuits along that stream, becoming well-to-do. At length he retired from active farming and spent a number of years in Allen- town, having a home at No. 1043 Hamilton street. He married Judith Wieand, a daughter of Henry Wieand, of Macungie, Pennsylvania, and they had four children : Elizabeth, who married Henry Bieber, and had four children : Rebecca, who be- came the wife of Augustus Reinhard, and had ten children : Charles, who married Clara Lichten- walner, and had three children ; and David, who
Benjamin F &Kline
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married and had four children. Sarah Kline, (laughter of Chistopher Kline, married Michael Harlocher, and they had eight children : Edwin, who married Clara Butz; Hiram, who married Miss Hoch; Sarah, who became the wife of Aaron Reinhard; Mrs. Polly Cawley, deceased ; Elizabeth, who married a Rinker ; Mrs. Amanda Holfert; Mrs. Mary Jacoby and Eliza.
Lorentz Kline, son of Christopher Kline, and father of Benamin F. Kline, was born in Lehigh county in 1795 and died in 1872. He was a very prosperous agriculturist and accumulated four large farms, two on the Little Lehigh, of one hundred and fifty and one hundred and twenty acres, respectively ; another of one hundred and fifty-two acres ; and one at Fogelsville occupied by Mrs. Heinly, one of the daughters. These have since been in possession of the family.
Lorentz Kline married Lydia Kemmerer, and they had six children. Edwin, the eldest, reared to the occupation of farming, followed that pur- suit until he had acquired a competency sufficient to enable him to retire. He was a man of pleas- ant manner, kindly disposition, and made, many friends. In politics he was a Democrat, and in religious faith a Lutheran. He married Miss Elemina Seider, and they had one son, Marcus C. L. Kline, a prominent lawyer of Allentown and a member of congress. Helena, the eldest daughter of Lorentz and Lydia Kline, became the wife of John Heinly, and has three children. Lydia (3) is the wife of William Lerch. Tilg .- man K. (4), born June 14, 1829, lived on the old family homestead until he removed to the home- stead farm of John Groce, which he owned and where he spent his remaining days. He amassed considerable wealth, of which he contributed generously to benevolent institutions, and he also gave of time and money to Grace Reformed Church of South Allentown, and donated half of the lot on which the church was built. He was at one time the owner of nearly all of the land on which the village of South Allentown stands, and at the time of his death was engaged in the erection of waterworks there. He was a director of the Second National Bank of Allentown and of the Allentown and Coopersburg Turnpike
Company, and was one of the most active mem- bers of the Lehigh County Agricultural Society. Mary Ann Kline, sixth child of Lorentz and Lydia Kline, married John Hottenstein, and had five children.
Benjamin F. Kline, the fifth member of the family of Lorentz and Lydia Kline, was born on his father's farm, attended the public schools, afterward became a pupil in the Allentown Acad- emy, and subsequently went to New Jersey to complete his education. He then returned to his father's farm and worked with him until he was married, at the age of twenty-three years, when he leased the upper farm and operated it on his own account. He prospered in his work, saved his money, and for fourteen years continued the cultivation of his old home farm. He still owns the original tract, and to this has added another farm, so that he now has two hundred and fifty acres which brings to him a good rental. He also owns a small truck farm near the city, which is likewise a profitable investment. After putting aside the active work of the farm he joined Reuben D. Butz and Jacob Grim in the lumber business, in which he continued for about seven years, when he retired permanently from busi- ness life. His investments also include stock in the Second National Bank of Allentown, of which he is a director.
Mr. Kline votes with the Democracy, and is a member of the Lutheran church. Upon his re- moval to Allentown in 1870 he purchased the place he now occupies at 1008 Hamilton street, and has there a beautiful home. He married Amina Schwartz, and they had one child, a daughter, Emma C., who died at the age of eighteen years. Mrs. Kline died in 1893 at the age of sixty-five years. She was a daughter of Jacob and Hannah (Seidel) Schwartz, the former a son of Isaac and Margaret (Rathmacher) Schwartz, and the latter a daughter of Henry and Catherine ( Raber) Seidel. Mrs. Kline was the third of six children. The others are : Emelia, who married Jacob Merkle, and had nine chil- dren : Frank, who married Aquilla Hill, and had two children ; Myra, who married Frank Adams, and has two children; Jacob Milton; Wilson,
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who married Fannie Hefer; Alfred, who mar- ried Amanda Holder; Sarah, who is the wife of Solomon Rothermel, and has two children ; Han- nah and Annie. Amanda is the wife of Edmund Yost, and has five children. Mary Anne is the wife of Reuben D. Butz, and has five children. Rebecca is the wife of Phaon H. Steller, and has one son. Henry J.,. the only son of Jacob Schwartz, married Jane Kech, and has five chil- dren.
JOSIAH GUTH ALBRIGHT, a veteran of the Civil war, who is now living a retired life in Allentown after many years of close and active connection with agricultural interests, was born in South Whitehall, Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, October 29, 1840. He is a descendant in the fifth generation of John Albright, the founder of the family in Montgomery county, Pennsylva- nia, who was the father of three children-John, Susan, and Mary Albright.
John Albright (grandfather), eldest son of John Albright, married Susanna Eisenhard, and their children are as follows: 1. Phaon, men- tioned hereinafter. 2. Samuel, who married Kate Mosser, and six children were born to them. 3. Moses, who married Eliza Schall. 4. John, who married Ellen Dotterer, and their family con- sisted of six children. 5. Stephen, who married Maria Steckle, and their children were Amanda and Elizabeth; Amanda became the wife af Al- fred Snyder, and their children were: Edwin, who married Greta Reinsmith, and they are the parents of one. child; Carrie, the wife of Mr. Horne; Cora, deceased; Mabel, Robert, and Mil- dred-Elizabeth Steckle became the wife of Lewis Pebble, and their children are: Raymond, who married (first) Flossie Trexler, and (second) Stella Geinheimer ; Minnie; and Warren Pebble. 6. Mary. 7. Julia Anne, who is the wife of George Boyer, and mother of one child. 8. The- resa, who is the wife of Daniel Schmoyer, and their family consists of six children. 9. Lucretia, who was the wife of Charles Wickert, of Bucks county, and now deceased.
Phaon Albright (father) married Lucinda Guth, and eight children were the issue of this
union, as follows: I. Ellen, who became the wife of John P. Dillinger, and four children were born to them. 2. Josiah G., mentioned hereinafter. 3. Susan. 4. Griffith, who married Hannah Cleaver, and five children were born to them. 5. Myra, who became the wife of Samuel A. Butz, and mother of two children. 6. Jennie, who became the wife of J. Winslow Wood and their family consists of two children. 7. George Oscar, who married Sallie I. Brobst, and is men- tioned elsewhere in this volume. 8. Lewis, de- ceased.
Josiah G. Albright attended the public schools of his native town in his boyhood days, and in 1852 accompanied his parents on their removal to Allentown, after which he became a pupil in Gregory's Academy. Later he was a student in Fort Edward Institute, and when he had com- pleted his education, having received the mental discipline which enables one to understand quickly a situation and recognize the exigencies of the case, he returned to his home and assisted his father in building a pipe foundry. He after- ward went to Trexlertown to assist in the de- velopment and operation of the ore beds which were later sold to the Crane Iron Company. Sub- sequently he became connected with the Kline Company as a prospector, searching out paying ore for them, and when business relations were terminated he went to Carlisle, where for a short time he was employed in the axle factory, in fact, followed that pursuit until after the inauguration of hostilities between the north and south in 1861.
Mr. Albright watched with keen interest the progress of events, and when it was proven that the war was to be no mere holiday affair and that men of valor and undaunted determination were found on both sides, he enlisted, August 19, 1861. in Company A, (Captain Kuhn who resigned after the second battle of Bull Run and was suc- ceeded by Captain Noble) Eleventh Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, the regiment being then commanded by the famous Colonel Richard Coul- ter, known throughout the country as "Fighting Dick Coulter." This regiment joined the Army of the Potomac, and was attached to the Eight- eenth Army Corps. Mr. Albright received his
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baptism of fire at Cedar Mountain, August 9, 1862, and participated in the following named battles : Cedarville, August 11, 1862; Rappa- hannock Station, August 21-22, 1862 ; Thorough- fare Gap, August 28, 1862; Bull Run, August 30, 1862; Chantilly, September 1, 1862; South Mountain, September 14, 1862; Antietam Sep- tember 16-17, 1862; Fredericksburg, December 12-13, 1862; Chancellorsville from April 30 to May 5, 1863 ; Gettysburg, July 1, 2, 3, 1863 ; Mine Run, December 1, 1863; Wilderness, May 5-6, 1864; Spottsylvania, May 8, 1864; Laurel Hill, May 10-12, 1864; North Anna ; Cold Har- bor ; Bethesda Church and Petersburg. The bri- gade to which his company and regiment was at- tached was reviewed on October 3, 1862, by Pres- ident Abraham Lincoln, accompanied by Gen- erals McClellan and Reynolds, at Fredericks- burg. On January 20, 1863, the celebrated cam- paign under General Burnside, known as the "Mud March," was opened. The Eleventh Reg- iment was the last to cross the Rappahannock river, the movement being conducted by General Joseph Hooker. July 1, 2, and 3, 1863, found Mr. Albright with his organization in the battle of Gettysburg, where after the first day's fight they took position on Cemetery Hill. The corps commander, General John Reynolds, was killed on the first day's battle near the Lacy House, on the Orange and Fredericksburg turnpike. The fatigue and fighting to which the division had been subjected had terribly thinned its ranks. During three days it had lost its division and third brigade commanders and an aggregate of two thousand officers and men. In consequence there- of the First Brigade, Colonel Lyle, was trans- ferred to the Fourth ; the Second, Colonel Rich- ard Coulter, to the Third Division, commanded by General Crawford. The Third Brigade, Colonel Bowman commanding, was retained by General Warren. Under his own supervision Laurel Hill was gallantly carried, and out of the nine hundred men who formed the brigade as it marched out in the morning, two hundred and twenty-nine were struck down in the narrow space in front, in what was called the battle of Spottsylvania, or Spottsville. During the month
of May, 1864, the regiment participated in the marches with its accustomed valor, during which desperate fighting took place to gain Richmond by way of the North Anna, Bethesda Church and Cold Harbor. The regiment was finally estab- lished in the lines before Petersburg, its right connecting with the Ninth Corps. The enemy had well constructed breastworks just in front, and about the middle of August the camp of the Eleventh was within three miles of the Weldon Railroad, one of the enemy's chief line of sup- plies, this being the second time that Mr. Al- bright was appointed on the expedition to assist in the destruction of that road. An action there occurred, and out of nine hundred men en- gaged two hundred and twenty-nine were killed or wounded, and Mr. Albright, with many oth- ers, was captured. He was then sent to Peters- burg and from there to the famous Libby Prison, where he was incarcerated for a short time, after which he was transferred to Belle Isle and later to Salisbury. At the latter named place he re- mained until paroled, February 22, 1865. While in the various southern prison pens he suffered all of the hardships that could be inflicted through want of food, clothing and the common necessi- ties of life, and on acount of ill treatment and exposure contracted rheumatism and asthma from which he has never recovered. At length, however, release came. He was paroled and exchanged, having been sent to Goldsboro, North Carolina, then on to Beaufort, and later to Annapolis, Maryland. He then proceeded north- ward to Philadelphia and on to Harrisburg, where he was mustered out April 14, 1865. He had rendered a soldier's full duty to his country, few men having a more proud or distinguished war record, his brilliant career setting a good ex- ample to the members of our service, and he then returned to civil life.
Following his service in the army, Mr. Al- bright returned to Leavenworth, Kansas, where he spent three months in rest and recuperation, after which he returned to Allentown, Pennsyl- vania, and located on one of his father's farms, continuing there until April 3, 1868. At that date he removed to Berks county, Pennsylvania,
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where he continued in active agricultural pursuits until 1895, when he retired from business life, and has since enjoyed a well earned and richly merited rest, for his business career was ever characterized by unwearied industry and marked ability and integrity. While a resident of Berks county Mr. Albright served for several terms as a member of the school board, performing effective service for the cause of education. His political views are in harmony with the Repub- lican platform, and his ballot supports the can- didates of that party, while his religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Reformed church. He is a member of Colonel E. B. Young Post, No. 87, Grand Army of the Republic, and of the National Association of Union Ex-Pris- oners of War.
Mr. Albright was united in marriage to Miss Amanda Eberhard, and four children were born to them : Edgar, William, Adam, and Eva. The three sons died in infancy, and the daughter has become a charming young lady, of liberal edu- cation, well fitted to adorn any social station. John George Eberhard, paternal grandfather of Mrs. Albright, married a Miss Bechtel, a name long and honorably associated with the history of Pennsylvania. Their son, Joseph Eberhard, married Catherine Schreiber, and they have two daughters : Mrs. Albright and Maria. The latter named is the wife of Jacob Lichtenwallner, and they have one child, Richard Lichtenwallner, who married Eva Mosser, and they are the parents of one child, Anna Lichtenwallner.
HENRY K. HARTZELL. The Hartzell family, of which Henry K. Hartzell, a prominent and influential citizen of Allentown, Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, is a representative, was founded in the country by Ulrich Hartzell, who was born August 20, 1705, but the place of his birth, however, is not definitely known, for ac- cording to some records he was born near the Hartz Mountains in Germany, and others claim his birthplace as having been in the vicinity of Zurich, Switzerland. In 1732 he emigrated to America, landing at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, September 21. The voyage was made in the
sailing vessel "I'ink Plaisance," John Paret, master, and among other fellow-passengers were Paul and Henry Hartzell, whose bodies were later interred at the Indian Creek Reformed Church, near Telford, Pennsylvania, and Hans Leonard Hartzell. Ulrich Hartzell located along the Ridge Valley creek, between Tylersport and Sumneytown, Montgomery county, and became a naturalized citizen on September 2, 1763. He was the father of six children. His death oc- curred on February II, 1771, aged sixty-five years, five months and twenty-one days.
Mark Hartzell, youngest son of Ulrich Hart- zell, was born November II, 1746. In early lite he married Elizabeth Nyce, daughter of John and Catherine Nyce, and two sons were the issue of this union. He died in the twenty-fifth year of his age, on the same day that his father died, and their bodies were interred in the same grave in the family burial ground, or what is now known as Dietz graveyard. His widow after- ward became the wife of Philip A. Wentz, and after his death she was united in marriage to Michael Hartman.
Philip N. Hartzell, eldest son of Mark and Elizabeth Hartzell, was born September 4, 1769. He married Elizabeth Gerhart, daughter of Ab- raham and Anna Barbara Gerhart, and great- granddaughter of Paul Gerhart, who was the founder of the Gerhart family in America, coming to this country between the years 1700 and 1737 from Alsace, France, and settling in Franconia township, Montgomery county, Penn- sylvania.
Philip G. Hartzell, son of Philip N. and Eliz- abeth Hartzell, was born November 19, 1800. He married Elizabeth Kerr, daughter of Henry and Magdalena (Cressman) Kerr, natives of Scotland, and eleven children were the issue of this union. Philip G. Hartzell died December 29, 1851, aged fifty-one years.
Henry Kerr Hartzell, son of Philip G. and Elizabeth Hartzell, was born in Rockhill town- ship, Bucks county, Pennsylvania. During his early life he attended the public schools adjacent to his home, and when he was about fourteen years of age he went to Trappe to live with his
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uncle, and in the public schools of that place he completed his studies. In 1861 he located in Philadelphia, entered the Medical Department of Jefferson College, remaining for a short per- iod of time, after which he matriculated in the University of Vermont at Burlington, Vermont. After his graduation from the latter named in -. stitution in 1863, he settled in Goodsville, Penn- sylvania, and purchased an established practice of medicine and surgery, which he conducted for seven consecutive years. In 1870 he removed to Allentown and at once engaged in the bank- ing business, which he conducted sucessfully for a period of seven years, after which he engaged in the mining business, and now operates two large mines-one at Ironton and the other in Berks county-for the production of iron ore, lead, zinc, and coal, but iron is the principal pro- duction. Mr. Hartzell was instrumental in the or- ganization of the Lehigh Valley Trust and Safe Deposit Company, and has been a member of the board of directors ever since the formation of the company. He is a member of the Reformed church, an independent Democrat, and a thirty- second degree Mason.
Mr. Hartzell was united in marriage to Mary A. Martin, who bore him two children, namely : Helen M., unmarried, and Henry Kerr, Jr. Mary A. (Martin) Hartzell is one of a family of five childen born to Dr. Tilghman H. and Mary A. (Kramer) Martin, the names of the others being : Alfred J., who married Sarah Reese, and their surviving child is Millie, wife of Mr. Burley ; Moulton Eugene, unmarried; Thomas T., who married Abigail M. Geiseinger, and their chil- dren are: Harry, unmarried ; and Blanche, wife of Fred S. Ewall; Eliza, wife of John Cooper, and mother of two children-Mamie L., wife of George Seagreaves, and mother of one child, Kathleen Seagreaves; and Alfred, who married Miss Royer. Dr. Tilghman H. Martin, son of Jacob and Jane Martin, was a graduate of the Medical Department of the University of Penn- sylvania, of the class of 1831, and succeeded to his father's practice in Allentown. He was an active member of the Lehigh County Medical So- ciety, and the State Medical Society. Jacob
Martin was a son of Dr. Christian Frederick Martin, the progenitor of the family in America, who was born in Prussia, December 22, 1727, and was the son of a Lutheran clergyman. After his graduation from the University of Medicine in Berlin, he came to the United States with the Rev. Henry Melchoir Muhlenberg and others, settling at Trappe, Montgomery county, Penn- sylvania.
FRANK JACOBS, a resident of Allentown, Pennsylvania, was born in Reading, same state, a son of Alexander and Maria L. (Bushong) Jacobs, and a lineal descendant of an ancestry who emigrated to this country from either Hol- land or Wales.
John Jacobs, the earliest ancestor of whom we have any authentic information, was born in Chester, York county, Pennsylvania, in 1769, a son of John Jacobs, who served in the American army during the Revolutionary war. In early manhood he settled at a place known as the Long Hollow, in the vicinity of McVeytown. In 1787, at the age of eighteen years, he married Sarah Armstrong, the ceremony being performed in Chester county, Pennsylvania. She was born in Derry, Ireland, in 1766, and after her par- ents' death she came to America with an uncle, Mr. White, in 1774. Mr. White was a paper maker and located near Germantown, Pennsyl- vania, residing there at the time the battle was fought, and the Jacobs family also resided in this vicinity. William Armstrong, a brother of Sa- rah (Armstrong) Jacobs, served in the Revo- lutionary war and was wounded in the battle of Brandywine; and Major Armstrong, of Lewis- town, a man of prominence and influence, was a nephew of Mrs. Jacobs. The following named children were born to John and Sarah Jacobs : William, born December 18, 1790, died in in- fancy; Alexander, born July II, 1792: Eliza- beth, born April 12, 1794, became the wife of Mr. Lieter ; Thomas, born November 26, 1795 : John, born October II, 1797; James, born September 15, 1799; Mary, born August 14, 1801, became the wife of Mr. Norton; Armstrong, born July 17, 1803 ; William, born January 15, 1806; Sarah,
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born February 2, 1808; and David J., born No- vember 28, 1811, died in 1902. John Jacobs, fa- ther of these children, died in Mifflin county, Pennsylvania, in October, 1822, and his wife passed away January 18, 1842. Their remains were probably interred in Bratton's graveyard, located on a farm then owned by Andrew Brat- ton.
Thomas Jacobs, third son of John and Sarah Jacobs, who was born November 26, 1795, was the grandfather of Frank Jacobs. His son, Alex- ander Jacobs, father of Frank Jacobs, married Maria L. Bushong, daughter of Philip Bushong, a descendant of the French Huguenots, and two children were born to them: Walter B., who married Kate A. Kuntz, who bore him three chil- dren, now deceased; and Frank Jacobs, men- tioned at length in the following paragraph.
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