USA > Pennsylvania > Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania Vol. II > Part 27
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WILLIAM GANGEWERE KECK is one of the progressive and enterprising business men of Allentown, where he is conducting a lumber yard under the firm style of Keck & Brother. He is, however, the proprietor of the business, and in its conduct displays excellent executive force, keen discernment and unfaltering diligence. He was born in Hanover township, Lehigh county, a son of Andrew S. and Maria Barbara (Gange- were) Keck. He is a descendant of Henry Geck, a native of Upper Pfalls, Bavaria, who left his native country with his wife (Peterson), of Hol- land, on board the English ship "Pink John and William," of Sunderland, Constable Tymperton, master from Rotterdam, last from Dover, and ar- rived in Philadelphia, October 17, 1732. When he reached there he and his wife were sold as re- demptioners for their passage money to a man in Chester county, and served the time agreed upon, about three or four years.
From the early settlement of Pennsylvania considerable business was carried on, chiefly by ship owners and captains of vessels, in import- ing from Europe persons who were desirous of emigrating to this country and were too poor to pay their passage or have the competency for an outfit for so long a journey. With this class, who generally came from England, Ireland and
Germany, arrangements would be made through agents to contract and bring them over, furnish them with food during the voyage, and perhaps some other necessaries, on condition that on their arrival in an American port they have the right to sell their time for a certain number of years to repay the cost thus necessarily incurred, and be of some profit to those engaged in such ventures. With the growth and settlement of the country this business greatly increased through the de- mand for laborers, and, perhaps, just before the Revolution attained its greatest height. How- ever, on the return of peace it did not slacken much, even to the commencement of this century. Such a matter, of course, would also receive some attention from the government, and we give the special legislation thereon, upon which as yet but little has been written.
In the Charter of Laws agreed upon in Eng- land, and confirmed April 25, 1682, by Penn, we find this mention in the twenty-third article : "That there shall be a register for all servants, where their name, time, wages and days of pay- ment shall be registered." In the laws prepared on the 5th of the following month, the proprietary wisely remarks :
"That all children within this province of the age of twelve years shall be taught some useful trade or skill, to the end that none may be idle, but the poor may work to live; and the rich, if they have become poor, may not want. That ser- vants be not kept longer than their time, and such as are careful be both justly and kindly used in their service, and put in fitting equipage at the expiration thereof, according to the custom." Penn, for the justice here displayed, certainly de- serves credit. "That Great Law," passed at Chester, December 7, contains this clause: "That no master or mistress or freeman of this province or territories thereunto belonging shall presume to sell or dispose of any servant or servants into any other province, that is or are bound to serve his or her time in the province of Pennsylvania or territories thereof, under the penalty that every person so offending shall for every such servant so sold forfeit ten pounds, to be levied by way of
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distress and sale of their goods." Strange to say, the aforesaid excellent enactments, on William and Mary reaching the throne, were abrogated in 1793. In the beginning of 1683 "A bill to hinder the selling of servants into other provinces and to prevent runaways" was passed by the council. On August 29 the governor, William Penn, "put yet question whether a proclamation were not convenient to be put forth to empower masters to chastise their servants, and to punish any that shall inveigle any servant to go from his master." They unanimously agreed and ordered it accordingly. The assembly passed an "act for the better regulation of servants in this prov- ince and territories" in 1700 which provided :
"That no servant shall be sold or disposed of to any person residing in any other province or government without the consent of the said serv- ant and two justices of the peace of the county wherein he lives or is sold, under the penalty of ten pounds, to be forfeited by the seller. That no servant shall be assigned over to another person by any in this province or territories but in pres- ence of one justice of the peace under penalty of ten pounds. And whoever shall apprehend or take up any runaway servant and shall bring him or her to the sheriff of the county, such person shall, for every such servant, if taken up within ten miles of the servant's abode, receive ten shill- ings, and if ten miles or upwards, twenty shill- ings reward of the said sheriff, who is hereby re- quired to pay the same and forthwith to send notice to the master or owner, of whom he shall receive five shillings, prison fees, upon delivery of the said servant, together with all disburse- ments and reasonable charges for and upon the same. Whoever shall conceal any servant of this province or territories, or entertain him or her twenty-four hours without his or her mas- ter's or owner's knowledge and consent, and shall not within the said time give an account to some justice of the peace of the county, every such person shall forfeit twenty shillings for every day's concealment. That every servant who shall faithfully serve four years or more shall, at the expiration of their servitude, have a discharge, and shall be duly clothed with two complete suits of apparel, whereof one shall be new, and shall also be furnished with one new ax, one grubbing hoe and one weeding hoe, at the charge of their master or mistress."
This latter clause was abolished in 1791. The object of this undoubtedly was to encourage the removal of timber that the land might sooner come into cultivation. An act was passed May 10, 1729, "laying a duty on foreigners and Irish servants imported into this province." Masters of servants were regarded for the time being as holding property subject to taxation. The rate in 1776 was fixed at one and a half pounds each, which was increased in 1786 to ten pounds. The state passed an act March 12, 1778, making com- pensation to those masters whose servants or apprentices had enlisted in the army. "The labor of the plantations," says the "Historical Review" (attributed to Franklin, 1759), "is performed chiefly by indented servants, brought from Great Britain, Ireland and Germany; because of the high price it bears, can it be performed any other way? These servants are purchased of the cap- tains who bring them ; the purchaser, by a posi- tive law, has a legal property in them, and like other chattels, they are liable to be seized for debts." Servants from the Palatinate were dis- posed of in 1722 at ten pounds each for five years servitude. Prior to 1727 most of the Ger- mans who emigrated were persons of means. In the years 1728, 1729, 1737, 1741, 1751, great num- bers were brought hither. A shipper advertises in 1729: "Lately imported, and to be sold cheap, a parcel of likely man and women servants." They brought out little property with them, says Dr. Rush, in his account of the "Manners of the Ger- man Inhabitants in Pennsylvania," written in 1789. A few pieces of silver coin, a chest with clothes, a bible, a prayer or hymn book, consti- tuted the chief property of most of them. Many bound themselves, or one or more of their chil- dren, to masters after their arrival for four, five or seven years to pay their passage across the ocean. The usual terms of sale depended some- what on the age, strength, health and ability of the persons sold. Boys and girls had to serve from five to ten years or until they attained the age of twenty-one. Many parents were necessi- tated, as they had been wont to do at home with their cattle, to sell their own children. Children
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under five years of age could not be sold. They were disposed of gratuitously to such persons as agreed to raise them, to be free on attaining the age of twen- ty-one. It was an humble position that re- demptioners occupied. "Yet from this class," says Gordon in his "History of Pennsylvania," "have sprung some of the most respectable and wealthy inhabitants of the state." A law was passed February 8, 1819, "that no female shall be arrested or imprisoned for or by reason of any debt contracted after the passage of this act." With the final abolition of imprisonment for debts, the institution had necessarily to die out without any special enactment or repeal, so slow has ever been the advancement and regard for popular rights, even in this great commonwealth and enlightened age.
The late Joseph J. Lewis, of West Chester, in 1828 wrote an amusing account of the "soul- drivers," the name given to those men that drove redemptioners through the country with a view of disposing of them to farmers. They generally purchased them in lots of fifty or more from cap- tains of ships, to whom the redemptioners were bound for three or more years of service in pay- ment of their passage. For the whole the trade was brisk, but at last was relinquished by reason of the numbers that ran away from those dealers or drivers. These ignominious gangs disap- peared about the year 1785. The story is told how one of them was tricked by one of his men. This fellow, by a little management, contrived to be the last of the flock that remained unsold, and traveled about with his master. One night they lodged at a tavern, and in the morning the young fellow, who was an Irishman, rose early, sold his master to the landlord, pocketed the money and hastened off. Previously, however, to his going, he took the precaution to tell the purchaser that, though tolerably clever in other respects, he was rather saucy and a little given to lying; that he has even been presumptuous enough at times to endeavor to pass for master, and that he might possibly represent himself as such to him.
Though this system of servitude possessed its
advantages, especially to a people residing in a new and unsettled country, it had its attending drawbacks. It was a relic which originated in the long past of Europe, and, like slavery, was continued and enforced in the colonies. For the main facts concerning the redemptioners we are indebted to William J. Buck, esquire, in the his- tory of Montgomery county, Pennsylvania.
These redemptioners were, in the main, hon- est men and feared God. They were not social- ists, anarchists, or others of that ilk. They were satisfied with their condition, and had an idea that property that belonged to others did not belong to them. They came to this country to make a home for themselves, and took great pride in the fact that they became American citizens, and for this reason they were always honored and re- spected. Redemptioners were not confined to Pennsylvania alone. They were to be found in all of the colonies, and represented nearly all the nationalities of Europe.
After this time Henry Geck (now spelled Keck) came to what is now Lehigh county and set- tled on the tract of land in Salisbury township, which he subsequently purchased, and is still owned by one of his descendants. There was on the place a clearing, a log barn, apple orchard and a log house. About ten or fifteen years after his purchase he built a two-story stone house which stood until 1818, when it was torn down by his grandson, Solomon Keck, who built another stone house on the site, and which is still stand- ing. When Henry Keck first came to Lehigh county, and for several years after, all his grist was taken to White March, Sandy Run, in Mont- gomery county to be ground. In 1828 he pur- chased four hundred acres of land adjoining his farm.
John Keck, one of the sons of Henry Keck, was on the first grand jury that was held in Le- high county. Andrew Keck, who was born Jan- uary 10, 1753, and died May 13, 1828, purchased the old homestead farm, where he resided until his life's labors were ended in death, when he was seventy-six years of age. He married Barbara Blank, a daughter of George Blank, of Saucon
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township. His second wife was Susanna Scheetz, who was born December 22, 1768, and died Janu- ary 15, 1853. His children were George, Solo- mon, Andrew, John, Jacob, David, Charles, Ma- ria and Elizabeth. The elder daughter became the wife of Solomon Knauss, and Elizabeth mar- ried William Horlocher. With the exception of Andrew, who went to Indiana, all settled in Sal- isbury, now Allentown. George Keck was the eldest son of Andrew Keck, and was commis- sioned one of the justices of the peace of Lehigh county in 1823. This was at a time when the governor of the state always selected the leading citizens, and they were commissioned for life. He married Elizabeth Levan, of Maxatawney, Berks county, Pennsylvania, whose great-grand- father was Jacob Levan, the founder of the Max- atawney branch of the family. He was the owner of two large tracts of land at Maxatawney, and parts of Kutztown and Eagle Point are now built on what was once his property. He was the founder and owner of the first gristmill west of the Skippack, and was one of the judges of the Berks county court from the time of the or- ganization of that county in 1752 until 1762. The Levans were a French Reformed family, com- monly known as Huguenots. They left France after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and came to Pennsylvania in the early part of the eighteenth century. Colonel Sebastian Levan was the son of Jacob Levan, was an officer of the Revolutionary war, and also a member of the colonial assembly. Unto George and Elizabeth Levan were born the following children: Ste- phen, who married Harriet Huebler ; Fretta, who married Jacob Shimer ; Eliza, who married Jo- seph B. Jones; Mary, the wife of John Appel; Solomon, who married Ann Saeger ; Charles L., who married Ellen King ; and Matilda, the wife of James W. Wilson. Andrew Keck, son of An- drew Keck, had a son Andrew, a resident of Dresden, Missouri. John Keck, son of Andrew Keck, Sr., married Lydia Greisermer, and their children are: Abraham, who married Margaret Stahr, Mrs. Mary Ganner, Mrs. Caroline Hoff- man, and Charles. Solomon Keck, son of An-
drew Keck, married Margaret Knauss, and their children are: Jesse, who married Judith Ueber- oth; Hannah, wife of John Erdman; Ann, wife of Enos Erdman; Moses, who married Felia Dubbs ; Edwin ; Solomon, who married Matilda Hartman ; Eliza ; Louise, wife of John Ochs ; and William, who married Cecelia Rounds. Jacob, the son of Andrew Keck, married Magdalena Wyeand, and their children are Edward ; Sarah, the wife of Peter Romich; Rebecca, the wife of Henry Pearson; James, who married Eliza Dech ; and Clarissa, the wife of Charles B. M. Sell. David Keck, son of Andrew Keck, married Christina Stahler, and their children are Mrs. Eva Smith; Simon; and Lizzie, wife of Frank Stettler. Charles Keck, son of Andrew Keck, wedded Mary Gangewere, and they are the par- ents of C. M. W. Keck. Mary Keck, daughter of Andrew Keck, became the wife of Solomon Knauss, and their children are Jesse; Charles ; Mrs. Elizabeth Butz; Mary, the wife of Ephraim Bigomy; and Abigail, wife of John Bogart. Elizabeth Keck, daughter of Andrew Keck, be- came the wife of Willjam Harlacher, and their children are, Joshua H., who married Maria Eberhard; Mary; Lovina, wife of G. Fred Bechmann; Edward, who married Sophia Wick- erts ; Louisa; John, who married Rachel Sell; Aaron ; and Lizzie.
Charles Keck, the youngest son of Andrew Keck, was born April 6, 1807, and died Febru- ary 3, 1887. His birth occurred in Lehigh coun- ty, and in early life he followed farming and milling. Subsequently, he was one of the pro- prietors of the "Lehigh Patriot," a German news- paper, since consolidated with the "Register." He was elected treasurer, and subsequently one of the associate judges of Lehigh county. He married Mary Gangewere, who was born March 24, 1812, and died April 3, 1894. Their children were Emeline S .; Coleman A. G., who married Katherine Stetler; Mary A. B., the wife of Thomas F. Berher ; Allen B., who married Ma- tilda Boas : Ellen E .; Matilda J., wife of L. C. Berkemeyer : Milton D .; Sarah A., the wife of Rev. J. J. Kuntz ; Winfred S., who married Alice
Mr. Mr. Blakeslee
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M. Getz; C. M. W .; Frank E .; and Adelaide J., who married Thomas F. Gross; Ray N., who married Almada Butz and has three children, Thomas B., Margaret and Eleanor; Helen G .; Frank M .; and Charles W.
Andrew S. Keck, father of William G. Keck, was born in Lehigh county, attended the public schools of his home neighborhood, and afterward became a student in the Allentown Academy. Subsequently, he entered business life in connec- tion with his father, who was conducting a gen- eral store, and later they were associated in a milling enterprise. In 1851 Andrew S. Keck established the lumber yard which is now con- ducted under the firm style of Keck & Brother. He was identified therewith for a number of years, but eventually retired from that line. He is, however, financially interested in many busi- ness interests of Allentown, including a number of the manufacturing industries of the city, while of a number of banks he was a director. He mar- ried Miss Maria Barbara Gangewere, and they became the parents of two children: William G., and S. Henry, who married Anna M. Line. The brothers were associated in business for a number of years, but S. Henry Keck died of ty- phoid fever on the 19th of April, 1903.
William G. Keck entered the public schools at the usual age, afterward attended a prepara- tory school, and subsequently became a student in Muhlenberg College, where he remained for a year. On the expiration of that period he began learning the leather trade under J. K. Mosser, with whom he remained for five years, from 1876 until 1881. On the expiration of that period he joined his father in the lumber yard, which was then owned and conducted by the firm of C. L. and A. S. Keck. He worked for them until 1888, when the uncle, C. S. Keck, and the father retired, leaving the business to the two sons of the latter, William G. and S. Henry Keck. The firm style of Keck & Brother was then assumed, and since the death of the senior partner no change has been made in the firm name. The business has been developed along modern lines of progressiveness, and a large and liberal patronage is now en-
joye:1. In all trade relations the house sustains an unassailable reputation, and Mr. Keck is ac- counted one of the representative merchants of Allentown.
Mr. Keck belongs to no secret organization, but is a valued and popular member of the Liv- ingston Club, and the St. Leger Club. In his religious faith he is a Lutheran, and in his poli- tical belief a Democrat, but while he keeps well informed on the questions and issues of the day he has never had time nor desire to seek political preferment. He married Miss Emma Mosser, and they have two children, Elizabeth and An- drew S., Jr. Mrs. Keck is a daughter of Will- iam F. and Louise (Seiberling) Mosser. Their family numbered six children: Alvena, who married George Eckert, and has two children, Robert and Catherine; Amanda, the wife of Thomas Bechtel ; Emma, the wife of our subject ; Rose L., who married Gilman Roth, and has three children, Louise, William F., Jr., and Thomas ; Joseph, who died in infancy ; and Charles F., who married Nora Bohlen, and has four children, Hannah, Joseph, Ruth and William F., Jr.
WILLIAM WALLACE BLAKSLEE. It is a pleasure to write the history of the life of a man whose days were spent in honest and honorable pursuits, and no more lasting monument can be erected to his memory than the plain, unvarnished events in a life well spent. No family is more widely known in the Lehigh val- ley than the Blakslee family and no man was more highly respected and esteemed than William W. Blakslee, who was a native of Springville, Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania, born in 1821. He was a son of Zophar Blaks- lee, and a member of a family of sixteen children, the sole survivor being Mrs. John Crellin, of White Haven.
William W. Blakslee was reared and partly educated in his native town, remaining under the parental roof up to his twelfth year, at which time he determined to make a place for himself in the world. About the year 1833 Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania, was becoming a great coal center,
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and there Asa Packer, the sagacious and enter- prising pioneer, was pushing forth with indomita- ble will those plans which were eventually to re- sult in making the Lehigh Valley famous and the bold pioneer's name a household word throughout the anthracite coal region. In the fall of that year the opportunity came for William W. Blakslee to improve his circumstances. Charles Ashley, of Susquehanna county, was preparing to move to the coal region in search of fame and fortune. The journey was to be made by turnpike, and the household effects were loaded on a wagon to which three horses were attached. Mr. and Mrs. Ashley took passage on the wagon, and Mr. Blakslee rode the lead horse, and thus the entire journey to Mauch Chunk was made. Upon his arrival there, young Blakslee found a stanch friend in Asa Packer, who invited him to his own home. Here he was made welcome and given to understand that the boy who was anxious to climb to the top had a friend in Mr. Packer. Judge Packer sent him to school under the instruction of that famous teacher, Professor James Nolan, one of the best instructors of that day, and there he laid the foundation for his future life of use- fulness and success. During the boating season he was employed as a towpath boy on the Le- high canal, driving for different individuals who were boating coal for Packer & Company. He could give a vivid description of the great meteoric shower of November 13, 1833, as he was then driving on the towpath on the return trip; all around was a vast shower falling as thick and as noiselessly as snowflakes, and disappearing immediately.
In 1836, having secured by his honesty and faithfulness the confidence of Mr. Packer, he was placed in a store at Rockport, then known as Grog Hollow. In 1839 he was transferred to the White Haven store, and after short service there was sent to the Mauch Chunk store, then the famous Corner Store. After a service of four years, having given evidence of his ability, he was placed in charge of the Facker store at Nes- quehoning, where he remained until 1857, when he moved to Weatherly and began business for himself, succeeding Richard D. Stiles, who was
the only merchant in the town. He not only conducted his store successfully, but engaged in the real estate business and other enterprises. He was the prime factor in the establishment of the Weatherly Water Company, and held the office of president from its inception to the time of his de- cease. About the year 1898 the Blakslee Store Company was organized, he being the nominal head, and thereafter he lived a retired life. Dur- ing his residence of forty-seven years in Weath- erly, Mr. Blakslee was prominently identified with all her interests, and continually endeavored to build up the town. He held all the offices in the gift of the people, and was one of the seven trus- tees who located the silk mill in Weatherly. He was a member and liberal supporter of the Epis- copal church of Weatherly, which he erected at a cost of three thousand and five hundred dollars.
Mr. Blakslee married, April 8, 1849, at Mt. Lafee, Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, Miss Tamar Beadle, the ceremony being performed by the Rev. Dr. Cooley, a minister of the Episcopal church. She is an estimable English lady of culture and refinement, whose presence filled his life and home with sunshine and gladness. She is of a retiring disposition, but keenly alive to the wants of the distressed, and by kind acts has en- deared herself to many. A family of nine chil- dren were born to them, five of whom are living, namely : Mrs. Grant E. Pryor, of Utica, New York: Mrs. Harry A. Butler, of East Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania; Mrs. Charles W. Keiser, of Weatherly, Pennsylvania ; William Wallace, Jr., and Rollin Blakslee, of Weatherly. The lat- ter named is the manager of the Blakslee Store Company.
The death of William W. Blakslee, Septem- ber 26, 1904, was due to a fall received two weeks previously, from which shock he never fully re- covered. He was in the eighty-fourth year of his age. The funeral services were conducted at his late residence on Main street, Weatherly, by the Rev. J. A. Brown, of White Haven, and the Rev. M. A. Tolman, of Mauch Chunk, of the Episco- pal church. Interment was made in the family plot in Union cemetery. Carbon Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of Mauch Chunk, of which
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