USA > Pennsylvania > Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania Vol. II > Part 31
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John C. Pearson was born in Upper Mount Bethel township, Northampton county, April 18, 1829, and throughout his entire life has been identified with agricultural interests. When still quite young he began to follow the plow, and early gained practical experience of the best methods of cultivating the soil. He now owns a part of his father's old homestead, the remainder being in possession of his brother Lorenzo. Mr. Pearson has, however, a tract of eighty acres of land which is rich and arable and returns to hint an excellent income. His business career has ever been characterized by strict fidelity to prin-
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Peter Seibert
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ciple, and he has never been known to take ad- vantage of the necessities of his fellow men in any trade transaction. He is a member of the Lutheran church, in which he has served as deacon and elder, occupying the first position at the first service held in the church in 1860. His wife is also a member of that organization.
Mr. Pearson has been twice married, first to Miss Margaret A. Boyer, daughter of Jacob and Ann Boyer, on the 6th of March, 1852. They had four children : Sanford, who died in Septem- ber 1857; Jane, in 1858; Lillian, born in 1860; and Ella M., in 1865. Mrs. Pearson died- in 1874, and in 1875 Mr. Pearson married Miss Catherine Emery, whose birth occurred in Upper Mount Bethel township, Northampton county in October, 1841, and who died April 5, 1904. To them was born a daughter, Catherine, in 1883, who is a graduate of the Belvidere high school.
PETER SEIBERT, whose successful con- duct of various business enterprises has taken him from humble surroundings and limited financial circumstances and placed him among the men of affluence in Allentown, is now giving personal supervision to his invested interests, although he has attained the advanced age of eighty-three years.
He was born in Lowhill township, Lehigh county, August 25, 1821. His grandfather, Nich- olas Seibert, was also a native of Lehigh county, as was his father, John Seibert. The latter mar- ried Miss Elizabeth Houseman, and they became the parents of four children, of whom Peter Sei- bert is the eldest. John, the second son, married Folly Seibert, and they had four children: Em- meline, who married Charles Sechler, and has four children; Frank, who married Sarah An- drews and has four children, and (second) Emma Snyder, and had one child ; Elmira, deceased, was the wife of Thomas Stroup, and had two chil- dren ; and Sarah, who married Henry Segner, and they have three living children. Lavina, the only daughter of John and Elizabeth Seibert, became the wife of David Kistler, and has three children : Messina, Diana and Levi. Owen Seibert, the
youngest of the family, married, Miss Matilda Miller, and has four children : Dr. William A., a practicing physician; George P. S .; Mary; and Walter, who is also a physician.
Peter Seibert received only such educational advantages as the common schools of that day afforded, but was early trained to habits of in- dustry, assisting his father, who was a weaver and had established a little business in the weav- ing of carpet and cloth. He also operated a farm, and the son was kept busy either at the looms or in the fields. As he grew older and ac- quired a thorough knowledge of weaving, his father assigned to him the task of making cover- lids, and this he followed up to the time of his marriage, when he went to Easton and started in business for himself, in the year 1844. In addi- tion to his manufacturing enterprise there, he also established a store, and was soon in the en- joyment of a good patronage which furnished him the nucleus of his present considerable for- tune. During the period of extensive gold mining in California following the discovery of the prec- ious metal in that state, he sent large quantities of his goods to the Pacific coast, building up an immense trade for those times. In 1867. closing out his business in Easton, he removed to Allen- town and retired from active mercantile life.
In this borough Mr. Seibert purchased a large tract of land. Indolence and idleness are utterly foreign to his nature, and in order that he might have something to occupy his time and attention, he turned his attention to the cultivation of flow- ers. The business instinct was strong within him, and he soon had large hothouses on his place, de- veloping an enterprise which claimed his atten- tion for twenty years, and proved a profitable in- vestment. He then retired from the field of floriculture, and turned his attention to real estate operations. He now owns ten houses in Allen- town and six in Easton, so that his property in- vestments return to him an excellent annual in- come. He has long been identified with financial interests as a stockholder in the First National Bank of Easton and the Allentown National Bank. His talent for the development of busi-
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ness enterprises proved the foundation of his success. Although he has now passed the eighty- third milestone on life's journey, he is still hale and hearty, and manifests an interest in com- munity and national affairs which would seem to indicate that he is a much younger man. He is, however, the oldest male member as well as the senior vestryman of St. John's Lutheran church. The family home is at the corner of Sixth and Chew streets, Allentown.
Mr. Seibert was married in the years of his early manhood to Miss Sarah Schmick, and they had three children : William, who died in infancy ; Sabina E., wife of the Rev. J. A. Scheffer ; and Ebecena B., who is deceased.
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CHARLES D. BROWN. Several genera- tions of the Brown family, of which Charles D. Brown was a member, have been active residents of Lehigh county. His grandfather, David Brown, and wife Maggret, nee Hoffman, were born in that county and there reared their fam- ily, including Joel, Solomon, Thomas, Ester, Polly and Hannah Brown. The first named, the father of Charles D. Brown, was a shoemaker by trade, and followed that pursuit throughout his entire life. He married Elizabeth Minnich, a daughter of John Minnich, Sr., and wife Susan, nee Balliet, also a native of Lehigh county. His children were John, Michael, Jacob, Simon, Susan, Sarah, Katie and Elizabeth Minnich. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Joel Brown were born ten children : Amelia, Thomas F., Alfred, David and Alexander, all deceased ; Ephraim, J. R., Charles D., E. J. J., and Elemina Brown, all living.
Charles D. Brown was born in Mechanics- ville, Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, in April, 1847. He attended the public schools of his native vil- lage, was reared to farm life, and early became familiar with all the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist. Subsequently, he learned the miller's trade, which he followed for a few years, and then turned his attention to min- ing in the iron regions of the state, but after a short period became an employe of the Philadel- phia and Reading Railroad Company in con-
nection with the repair gang. He thus spent fifteen years and in 1890, with the capital acquired through his own labors, he began dealing in coal, lumber and slate at Emaus, and in this enterprise he has succeeded beyond his most sanguine ex- pectations, and to-day enjoys a most liberal patronage which is well merited by reason of his honorable business methods, laudable ambition and persistent energy. He has been a resident of Emaus for twenty-nine years, and during this period has gained the friendship and favor of a large majority of its citizens. He is a director of the First National Bank of Emaus. Active in community interests, Mr. Brown served as as- sessor of Emaus for thirteen years, for two years was a member of the school board, and for six years a member of the town council, acting as president of that body during that time. He belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, in which he is past grand, and is likewise identified with the encampment. For twenty years he has been treasurer of the Knights of Pythias lodge, is a member of the Reformed church of Emaus, and is secretary of the St. John's Lutheran and Reformed Joint Consistory.
In 1869 Mr. Brown married Miss Emma Schaffer, daughter of Nathan and Elizabeth Schaffer (nee Seider), a native of Lower Macun- gie township, Lehigh county, and their children are: Edgar W., who married Miss Harriet Stortz, Annie C. E., the wife of R. H. Bortz; and Mary I., the wife of J. D. Fisher.
AARON S. MILLER, M. D. The high reputation of the medical profession of Lehigh county is ably sustained by Dr. Aaron S. Miller, a well known physician of Saegersville. He be- longs to one of the old families of the county, tracing his descent from Adam Miller, who was of German birth and one of the early settlers. Among the children born to him and his wife was a son, named Christian, who was born June 5, 1706, in Heidelberg township, and was a prosperous farmer, owning many acres of land. He died in 1785, one of the children who survived him being a so11 Peter, whose son, Aaron was
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born December 4, 1802, in the same township which had been the birthplace of his father and grandfather. He was a man of much energy and business sagacity, and was the owner of in- terests in the slate quarries and also of many farms. He married Magdalena, daughter of Joseph Saeger, who was a resident of the same township, and in honor of whom Saegersville received its name. Mr. and Mrs. Miller were the parents of the following children: Maria, Joseph F., William F., Matilda, Owen, Aaron S., mentioned at length hereinafter, Edward, Sophia and Sarah.
Aaron S. Miller, son of Aaron and Magda- lena (Saeger) Miller, was born July 1, 1839, on the homestead in Heidelberg township, and received his primary education in the common schools of his birthplace, afterward attending the Allentown Seminary and the Kingston Sem- inary, Luzerne county, Pennsylvania. In 1859 he decided to study medicine, and entered upon a course of instruction under the guidance of Dr. Mosser of Breinigsville, and then at Steinsville with Dr. Shade. He also attended lectures at the Medical Department of the New York Univer- sity, and in 1862 received from that institution the degree of Doctor of Medicine. After prac- ticing for two years at Germansville he moved to Saegersville, where he has since remained. For many years he has held the office of United States pension examiner, and goes every week to Allentown for the purpose of examining the ap- plicants. Although devoted to his profession, he is deeply interested in all township affairs, en- deavoring in every way within his power to further the welfare of the comunity in which he resides. In 1894 he rebuilt the old hotel at Saegersville, of which he had been for some time owner, re- fitting it in the best manner, and assuming the proprietorship, which he still retains, the man- agement being placed entirely in the hands of one of his sons, Frank A. Miller. The hotel is as largely patronized in summer as in winter, the air of the place being regarded as very bene- ficial. Dr. Miller is deeply interested in the slate industries near Slatesdale. In county as well as
in township affairs he is regarded as a leader. Politically, he is a Republican. He and his fam- ily attend the German Reformed church.
Dr. Miller married in 1863, Sarah K., daugh- ter of William K. Mosser, a farmer of Berks county, and the following children were born to them: Cora, who is the wife of James Arm- strong, of Brooklyn, New York; Peter, who mar- ried Miss Mena E. Brady, and has one child; Margaret, who became the wife of Chester Fens- termaker ; Sophia, who is a teacher ; and Frank, who is the manager of the hotel. For more than forty years Dr. Miller has ben engaged in the active practice of his profession, and during that time has built up a reputation as a skillful and benevolent physician, ever ready to give freely of his services to the destitute and distressed.
HENRY P. COOPER, the efficient superin- tendent of the Crummold Furnace of Emaus, is descended from ancestors who were the found- ers of the town of Coopersburg, Pennsylvania. The family is of German extraction, William Kupper, the great-great-grandfather having been born in the duchy of Nassau, Germany, Novem- ber 24, 1702. He emigrated from his native land in 1775 and settled in Bucks county, Pennsyl- vania. The children born to him and his wife, Gertrude, were two in number, Daniel and Cath- erine. The former, who was born at Dillenburg, near Amsterdam, Holland, accompanied his father, William Kupper, to America. He mar- ried Miss Elizabeth Geary, a daughter of Jacob Geary, of Montgomery, Pennsylvania, and their children were: Jacob, Catherine, Catherine (2d), John, Peter, William, Elizabeth, Charles and Daniel.
Of this family Peter Cooper, grandfather of Henry P. Cooper, was born in Upper Saucon township, Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, Septem- ber 26, 1790, and spent his early life there. He was the founder of Coopersburg, in which town he exercised considerable influence. He pos- sessed more than ordinary intelligence, and was a man of progressive ideas and much enterprise. While he was not a lawyer by profession, he en-
HISTORIC HOMES AND INSTITUTIONS.
joyed a wide reputation as a reliable counselor. He was also an accurate conveyancer and expert surveyor, and served for a number of years as deputy surveyor general of the state of Pennsyl- vania. His religious faith was in harmony with the doctrines of the Reformed church. He was married to Miss Susanna Buchecker, a daughter of Daniel and Magdalene Buchecker. Peter Cooper died May 19, 1837, and his wife passed away June 13, 1846. They had three sons and one daughter, Anna M., Milton, Thomas B. and Charles W. Cooper.
The last named was the father of Henry P. Cooper, and was born in Coopersburg, Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, April 21, 1826. He became a student in the Pennsylvania College at Gettys- burg, and afterward continued his studies in Philadelphia. Having decided to enter the legal profession, he matriculated in the United States Law School at Philadelphia under Professor Hoffman, and subsequently studied in the office of Judge George M. Stroud, of Philadelphia, where he added a practical experience to theoretical knowledge. In May, 1847, he was admitted to the Philadelphia bar, and in August of the same year was ad- mitted to practice law in the courts of Le- high county. Ill health, however, caused him to abandon his profession and return to his farm in Coopersburg, where he continued to reside until 1855. In that year the Allentown Bank of Al- lentown was organized, and he was made its cashier, thus becoming an active factor in finan- cial circles. He was likewise a trustee of the Union Trust Company, was connected with sev- eral manufacturing interests, and at one time was president of the board of trade. His deep interest in public progress and improvement was mani- fested by helpful assistance given to many move- ments promoting the intellectual, material, social and moral welfare of his community. In 1854 he was elected under the new school law the first county superintendent of schools of Lehigh county, but resigned that position on entering upon his connection with the bank in 1855. His reputation as a skilled financier led to his appoint- ment as a member of the centennial board of fin-
ance in 1876. His identification with educational interests also embraced the trusteeship in the .Al- lentown Female College and the Muhlenberg College, and for many years he was a director of the public schools of Allentown. In politics he was a Democrat, and had a statesmanlike grasp of affairs, but was without political ambition. He was, however, a delegate from the district embracing Lehigh and Bucks counties to the national convention held in Baltimore in 1850, and in 1852, and again in 1855 he was elected justice of the peace. He was a man of student proclivities, of refined and cultured taste, fond of society and of congenial companionship, and pos- sessed high ideals, and though he became an active factor in business circles his mind was never drawn from the great enjoyment which he found in literature, art, and in the field of scien- tific research. His death occurred in April, 1886. He was three times married. On the 4th of February, 1851, he wedded Miss Rebecca E. Erdman, the eldest daughter of the Hon. Jacob Erdman, of Upper Saucon township, Lehigh county. Their children are Franklin E. and Henry P. Cooper. The death of Mrs. Rebecca Cooper occurred August 2, 1854, and in Septem- ber, 1864, Mr. Cooper married Miss Sarah B. Erdman, a sister of his first wife, and to them were born two children, Anna R. and Charles W. Mrs. Sarah Cooper died January 15, 1872, and on the 14th of October, 1873, he was united in marriage to Miss Ida C. Erdman, a daughter of Addison Erdman, of Allentown, Pennsylvania.
Henry P. Cooper was born in Coopersburg, Pennsylvania, September 28, 1853. He pursued his education in the public schools of Allentown and Muhlenberg College, Allentown. He gained a thorough knowledge of the iron industry in the Allentown Rolling Mills and in 1879 became su- perintendent of the Carbon Iron Pipe Company, at Parryville, Carbon county, with which he cap- ably served for nine years. In 1888 he became associated with the Pottsville Iron and Steel Company of Pottsville, Pennsylvania, and from 1897 until 1903 was soliciting agent for the Passiac Rolling Mill Company of Paterson, New Jersey. In 1903 he entered upon his present bus-
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iness connection as superintendent of the Crum- mold Furnace of Emaus, and in this position, having charge of an extensive plant with large output, he has displayed excellent executive abil- ity and keen discrimination. The Crummold Furnace is owned and operated by the Reading Iron Company, and it was established by George Henninger in 1870 and operated by the Emaus Iron Company. After the failure of that com- pany it passed into the hands of the Hematite Company, with C. M. Nimson at its head, and shortly following the failure of the Hematite Company in 1877 the furnace passed into the hands of the Reading Iron Company. About ninety workmen are employed, and the output manufactured from Lake Superior ore is one hundred tons of pig iron per day. Mr. Cooper's long experience in and thorough knowledge of the iron manufacturing industry well qualifies him for the position he is now filling.
In 1876 Mr. Cooper was married to Miss Emma Miller, a daughter of ex-sheriff Miller, of Lehigh county. They had five children, but only one is now living, Frank M. Cooper, who is associated with the Bogart and Callaue Construc- tion Iron workers of Paterson, New Jersey.
JOSEPH S. IOBST, active in business cir- cles of Emaus as a dealer in coal, wood, lumber, plaster and fertilizing materials, was born in Emaus, October 3, 1855. The family, of German origin, was established in America in 1828 by Johannes G. Iobst, who came to the United States accompanied by his wife and two sons, Frederick T. and Frances Iobst. They landed at New York, whence they made their way direct to Emaus.
The son, Frederick T., born in Alsace, Lor- raine, Germany, in 1810, was at the time of the emigration a youth of eighteen years. He be- came a inusician of more than local note, and was organizer and instructor of several bands of both string and brass instruments. He was united in marriage to Hannah Knauss, of Emaus, and they became the parents of six children, Henry G .; John Z. ; William, deceased ; Edward ; Joseph ; and Mrs. Amelia Giering. At the solici-
tation of his friends Frederick T. Iobst started on a tour to give public musical entertainments, accompanied and assisted by his two sons, Henry G. and John Iobst. They traveled as far south as Savannah, Georgia, and upon the return trip gave concerts at various places on the way. They were very successful in the undertaking, making considerable money, and after an absence of four months returned to Emaus, where Frederick Iobst invested the earnings of this tour in an iron ore enterprise. In addition to his mining operations he soon developed a tannery, and later turned his attention to real estate operations, be- coming the owner of numerus farms adjacent to Emaus, also considerable property in that town and a number of houses in Allentown. Indeed, he became the wealthiest resident of Emaus. In early youth he had learned the weaver's trade, which he followed for but a brief period. Prompted by laudable ambition, he achieved, through the exercise of indefatigable energy and keen business judgment, a success which classed him among the most substantial citizens of his part of the state. In public affairs of his bor- ough he was also prominent and influential, and was the first chief burgess of Emaus upon its incorporation as a borough in 1859. He held membership in the Moravian church, in which he served as a trustee, and all public movements for the material, intellectual and moral upbuilding of his town received his active co-operation and support.
Joseph S. Iobst spent his early years upon one of his father's farms, and continued in agri- cultural life until 1893, in which year he became the successor of his brother, John Z. Iobst, in the coal, wood, and lumber business in Emaus. He handles the Schuylkill anthracite coal, and in addition deals in wood, lumber, plaster and fer- tilizers. He has developed a large trade through reliable business methods and unfaltering dili- gence, and is to-day accounted one of the enter- prising business men of Emaus. He has held the office of school director for one term, and he and his family are members of the Moravian church, while in local social circles they occupy a prom- inent and influential position.
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In 1884 Mr. Iobst was married to Miss Eliza- beth Wenner, a daughter of Jacob and Judith Wenner, of Emaus, and their children are now eight in number : Catherine A., Carrie A., Annie M., Horace F., Howard J., Clarence C., Edgar and Helen H. Iobst.
DANIEL B. KRONINGER, engaged in the cultivation of tomatoes for the city markets as a member of the firm of Kroninger & Yeager, at Emaus, was born in Berks county, Pennsylvania, in 1872, and his parents, John and Sarah Kron- inger, were also natives of that county, and are of German lineage. The father, a farmer by occu- pation, is now working with his son, Edward N., who is also proprietor of a hot house and an ex- tensive producer of vegetables. To John and Sarah Kroninger were born six children : Amelia, Laura, Regina, Mamie, Edward N. and Daniel B.
Daniel B. Kroninger was reared and edu- cated in his native county, spending his youth until his thirteenth year upon a farm. He then became connected with horticultural pursuits and has continued in that line of business to the pres- ent time with but slight interruption. He mas- tered his chosen vocation in Chester county, Pennsylvania. For two years he was in the em- ploy of a street railway company, and then joined his brother, Edward N., in the conduct of hothouses prior to entering into his present part- nership with John S. Yeager of Allentown, Penn- sylvania. Their' attention is chiefly directed to raising of tomatoes under glass. They have ten thousand square feet of glass, and except to place twenty thousand more square feet under glass in the year 1904, after which they will de- vote their time and energies to the production of tomatoes and carnations. Their hothouse is con- structed in accordance with the latest ideas of modern improvement, and a forty horse-power boiler is used in furnishing heat. The present partnership was formed in 1903, and very desir- able success has already attended their efforts. Their product is shipped to New York, and their crop continues throughout the entire year, for as the summer and fall crops close the production for the winter trade is coming in.
In 1899 Mr. Kroninger was united in mar- riage to Miss Clarissa Scholl, and they have two interesting children, Victor A. and Arline' G. The parents are members of the Lutheran church.
PROFESSOR W. D. LANDIS, M. S., professor of the high school at Emaus, was born in Lower Saucon township, Northampton county, February 24, 1876. The Landis family is an old one of Pennsylvania, and its members have fre- quently attained prominence in the professions. David Landis, the grandfather, was a well-to-do farmer of Bucks county, Pennsylvania. He mar- ried Susan Jacoby, and their family numbered thirteen children, twelve of whom reached adult age. Eleven of the number were daughters. One is these is Mrs. Hammerly, whose husband is a very prominent physician of Philadelphia. The Lutheran, Reformed and Evangelical churches are all represented in the religious faith of the family.
David J. Landis, father of Professor Landis, was born in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, and married Elemina Hilligess, a daughter of David Hilligess, a commissioner of Northampton county. Her birth occurred in Lower Saucon township. To David J. and Elemina Landis were born seven children: W. D., E. S., Mrs. Carrie Kressler, Florence, Annie A., Robert and Stanley B.
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