USA > Pennsylvania > Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania Vol. II > Part 33
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GENEALOGICAL AND PERSONAL MEMOIRS.
onel in the continental army and took an active part in the establishment of the republic. He was a native of Wurtemberg, Germany, and in 1749 emigrated to America, settling in Upper Macungie, Pennsylvania, where he proved him- self a loyal citizen of his adopted land.
.Dr. Erdman was born in Upper Saucon town- ship, Northampton county, March 13, 1838, and in the same year was brought by his parents to Macungie. He acquired his early education in the common schools here, and subsequently en- tered the seminary at Norristown, Pennsylvania, wherein he completed his literary course. Later he became a student in the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, from which insti-
tution he was graduated in 1860. He has made a specialty of the treatment of the diseases of the eye and ear. After his graduation he returned to Macungie, where his medical skill and devotion to his profession have won for him a liberal pa- tronage, and as the years have passed by his busi- ness has constantly increased. Dr. Erdman was a member of the Northampton County Medical Society, and now of Lehigh County and Lehigh Valley Medical Society, the Pennsylvania State and the American Medical Associations, and through the interchange of thought and exper- ience in these organizations he has added greatly to his knowledge concerning the science of medi- cine and thus renders his labors much more ef- fective in the alleviation of human suffering.
Politically, Dr. Erdman is a Democrat, and upon that ticket he has been elected to represent his district in the state legislature, where he served from 1881 until 1883 inclusive. He has been a member of the school board of Macungie since 1870, and is still acting in that capacity.
Dr. Erdman was married in 1865 to Miss Catherine S. Mohr, a daughter of Levi B. and Mary A. Mohr. Unto this marriage were born eight children, three of whom are living, namely : Mrs. H. B. Weaver ; Lula L. and Howard B. Erdman. The last named is a graduate chemist. He is now attending the Medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, in his junior year.
DR. JOHN A. BROBST, who is successfully engaged in the practice of medicine in Macungie, making a specialty of discases of the eye and ear, occupies an enviable position among his pro- fessional brethren in Lehigh county, his skill and ability winning him a high reputation. The fam- ily of which he is a worthy representative was act- ively identified with the early history of Lynn township, Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, that be- ing the birthplace of his parents, Jonas L. and Didema / ( Hermany) Brobst, the former named having been a merchant at Steinsville, and a prominent factor in the political affairs of Lynn township.
Dr. Brobst was born in Lehigh county, Penn- sylvania, August 3, 1852. He obtained his pre- liminary education in the common schools of Lynn township, which he attended until he was sixteen years of age, when he went to Columbus, Ohio, and for two and a half years he was a pupil at Rugby's College, a night school. He began his business career by serving in the capacity of assistant in a civil engineering corps on the Mo- bile & Ohio Railroad in Alabama, and on the Mississippi levees in Louisiana, remaining as such for eight months. He then ac- cepted a clerkship on a passenger boat running on the Mississippi river, but after being thus employed for one year he re- turned to Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, where he remained for a short period of time. During the centennial exposition he was a member of the police force of Philadelphia. He then accepted the position of orderly to Secretary Thompson, of the United States Navy, on the "Tallapoosa," the mission of which was to settle the disputed fishery claims in Nova Scotia. Later he went on board the United States steamer "Alliance" as a member of a government marine surveying corps. Sailing to South America, they proceeded up the Amazon river, surveying two thousand miles on the steamer, and two hundred and fifty miles on a steam yawl. Upon his return from this trip he became a marine on the United States steamer "Wyoming," and was appointed captain's orderly. On arriving at Livorna, Italy, he was transferred
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HISTORIC HOMES AND INSTITUTIONS.
to the government steamer "Gettysburg," a sur- veying vessel, on which he served as orderly for Commander Gorringe. He cruised with this ship for about nine months, during which time they made many important surveys and sea sound- ings around the east, south and west coast of Africa. Commander Gorringe transferred Cleo- patra's Needle from Egypt to New York. Mr. Brobst was then transferred to the United States steamer "Enterprise," on which he held the rank of orderly sergeant, and this trip included a cruise around Scotland, England, Norway, Swe- den, along the eastern coast of Siberia and in the Mediterranean Sea. Stopping at Naples, Italy, he visited the ruins of the ancient city of Pom- peii, and scaled the heights of Mt. Vesuvius. He then went with his ship to Athens, Greece, where he visited the Acropolis, and the ruins of many old temples of that once cultured city. There he was transferred to the "Wyoming," which conveyed the United States Minister to Turkey, through Dardanelles to Constantinople. Subsequently the ship made a tour of the Black Sea, stopping at Trebizond and Sebastopol, where Dr. Brobst visited the field of the memorable battle. He also spent a few days in Odessa and Malta, and in the latter city saw Nicholas, former Czar of Russia, and while at Constantinople he saw the Sultan of Turkey. He also visited Bethlehem, Jerusa- lem, the Dead, Sea, River Jordan, Beyrout, Tyre and Damascus, and before shipping from Asia he visited the ruins of ancient Troy. From the Holy Land the "Wyoming" took the United States Minister to Alexandria, Egypt, where they were received in state by the Khedive of Egypt. Upon shipping from Alexandria the steamer went to Port Said, where Dr. Brobst was transferred tc another United States vessel, en route to the China station. Touching port at Calcutta and Bombay, India, he availed himself of the oppor- tunity to visit these cities as well as other his- toric places of that country. After a short stop at Colombo, on the Island of Ceylon, the voyage eastward was resumed. During his short sojourn in Siam, he saw the king of that country. Later
he was transferred to another government steam- er, which he accompanied on a surveying expe- dition to the Malay Islands, spending some three months in that locality. He visited Pekin, China, as well as the principal seaports of Japan, and while there experienced all the horrors of the terrible Oriental storms known as monsoons. Again transferred, Dr. Brobst returned to Alex- andria, Egypt, and witnessed the bombardment of that city by the British.
After the expiration of his five years of ser- vice, during which time he enjoyed the most ex- cellent opportunities for gaining a broad knowl- edge of the different nationalities of the world, he returned to this country and settled in Norfolk, Virginia. During his cruise he read a number of medical works, and this course of reading prompt- ed him to take up that profession for his life work. He entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Baltimore, Maryland, from which institution he was graduated in 1885. For one year and two months after his graduation he served as assistant physician in the Maryland Woman's Hospital and the Hospital of the City of Baltimore, and from that time, with the ex- ception of a few months when he was practicing his profession in the city of Allentown, he was engaged in active practice at Macungie. In 1893 Dr. Brobst discontinued his practice in Macungie and went with his wife to Germany, where he took a medical course at Albert Ludwig's Univer- sity, Freiburg, in Baden and spent one year there. He then went through Switzerland and finished his course at Vienna. After his return to the United States he took a course in the Philadelphia Polyclinic, and then returned to Macungie, where he has since been usefully engaged. His political affiliations are with the Democratic party, to whom he has given his allegiance and support since attaining his majority.
Dr. Brobst was married October 14, 1893, to Hannah R. Schaffer, daughter of James Schaffer, of Lower Macungie. They hold membership in the Lutheran church, and are prominent and act- ive in the social circles of the village.
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GENEALOGICAL AND PERSONAL MEMOIRS.
HON. DAVID LAURY, deceased, one of the most influential citizens of Lehigh county, his efforts being effective in molding the political policy of his district and in promoting the busi- ness, social and moral advancement of the com- munity, was a representative of a distinguished Pennsylvania family.
The first of the Laury name of whom authen- tic record is found was Michael Laury, a native of Scotland, who emigrated to the American colonies in 1755, accompanied by his wife, Bar- bara, who was a native of Wurtemberg, Germany. They resided for a time in Philadelphia, and dur- ing that period a son, Godfried Laury, was born unto them on the 22d of November, 1755. Not long afterward Michael Laury settled on a tract of land on Fell's creek. His sons became soldiers of the Revolutionary war, and at the age of sixty years, he too, joined the American army and served under the command of Washington until slain in an engagement near Mount Bethel, New Jersey. Godfried Laury, his son, was also a soldier in the army under Washington. He was married April 4, 1781, to Susanna Rockel, with whom he lived in wedlock for forty-three years. His death occurred June 27, 1824, and his wife, who was born June 7, 1757, died November 9, 1829. Johannes Laury, son of Godfried and Susanna Laury, was born September 12, 1784, and on the death of his father inherited the old family homestead on Fell's creek. He was mar- ried in 1804 to Maria M. Kuhns, and during their married life of thirty-one years they reared eleven children. His death occurred April 25, 1836, and his wife, who was born June 18, 1783, passed away September 4, 1835. Of their children, Hon. David Laury of this review was the eldest.
David Laury was born June 1, 1804, in Le- high county, and was there reared as a farmer boy. He was educated in the German tongue, but his school privileges were limited, and in his youth he entered upon an apprenticeship to the blacksmith's trade. Desirous, however, of ad- vancing his knowledge, he devoted his evening hours to study while working at the forge in the daytime, and he became a well informed man,
gaining not only an intimate knowledge of books but also of men. In 1832 he removed to Slate Dam, subsequently called Laury Station in his honor. There he engaged in merchandising in company with Messrs. Rupp & Shifferstein, and subsequently the firm dissolved partnership, Mr. Laury continuing the business in his own name. Realizing the need of a gristmill in the town, he erected one there, and the enterprise proved very profitable, a large patronage being accorded him. In company with James Newhard he at one time assumed the agency of the Union Slate Company of Baltimore, Maryland, and in 1844 became as- sociated with Hon. James M. Porter, Samuel Tay- lor, Thomas Craig, Sr., and Robert McDowell, in the slate quarrying business at Kern's Mill, now Slatington. In 1855 he was appointed express, freight, ticket and station agent at Laury's Sta- tion for the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company, and served in this capacity up to the time of his death. In 1870 he was elected president of the North Whitehall Building and Loan Association, and successfully conducted the interests of that corporation for nine years. He was a man of marked business enterprise, keen sagacity and un- faltering diligence, and carried forward to suc- cessful completion whatever he undertook. His labors, too, were of a character that contributed not only to his personal success but also promoted the general prosperity of his locality.
With almost every great department of activ- ity touching the general interests of society and bearing upon the welfare of his county and state, Mr. Laury was closely connected. He was a representative of the militia when such military organizations were an important factor in every state government, and he held various commis- sions, serving as captain, and being successively promoted until he attained the rank of major- general. He was a stanch Democrat, and his in- terests in the political situation of the country led to an active participation in politics. He grad- ually acquired strong influence in the Demo- cratic party, and was honored thereby with vari- ous official positions of trust and responsibility. In 1846 he received the Democratic nomination
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HISTORIC HOMES AND INSTITUTIONS.
for the assembly, but was defeated. In 1850 he was again nominated for the legislature, and this time was elected by a large majority, serving from 1850 until 1854. In 1856 he was chosen presidential elector of his district, and, meeting with the electoral college at Harrisburg on the 3rd of December of that year, he deposited his ballot for James Buchanan. In 1853 he was ap- pointed postmaster of Laury Station, and acted in that capacity until the inauguration of Presi- dent Lincoln. A year later he was reappointed under a Republican administration, and contin- ued to serve in the office until his death on the 28th of September, 1883. In 1865 he was elected justice of the peace of his township, and in 1867 was appointed by the courts of Lehigh and North- ampton counties to represent the district in the board of state revenue commissioners for adjust- ing the amount of taxation to be raised in the different sections of the state. In 1868 he was elected associate judge of the courts of Lehigh county for a term of five years, and on its expira- tion was re-elected for a second term.
In 1838, associated with Robert McDowell, Mr. Laury established a Sunday school known as the Slate Quarry Sunday school, which was the first organization of the kind in Lehigh county outside of Allentown. He was for many years the superintendent of the St. John Sunday school and labored energetically for the promotion of moral education among the young. He was also associated with the state system of public educa- tion.
On the 12th of August, 1827, Hon. David Laury was married to Miss Maria Kline, a daugh- ter of Jacob Kline, of Lowhill township, Lehigh county. Their married life covered a period of fifty-five years, and was blessed with ten children. Those who still survive are Henry, Mary, Jo- sephine, Rebecca, Maria and Alexander. The last named is now postmaster at Laury Station, and is also agent for the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company. Mrs. Laury passed away on the 12th of March, 1878.
The career of David Laury was a most useful active, honorable and interesting one. There has
probably been no citizen of the county who has had a more extended influence in public affairs, or whose labors have been more helpful in shap- ing public thought and action. He devoted his energies for many years to the support of po- litical principles, in which he believed, realizing it the duty as well as the privilege of every Amer- ican citizen to uphold the party platform which seems to him to contain the best elements of good government. His sagacity, intelligence and force of character did much in shaping and molding the Democratic policy of his county. He was a man of decided convictions and of great courage. He never hesitated between two opinions, and the fact that he believed in a course of action or measure was enough to insure his support thereof. While in the legislature he stood pre-eminent among the public men of the state because of his unfaltering loyalty, and for the tenacity with which he ad- vocated his views and positions. His religious convictions were as strong and were as heartily supported as were his political ones. His life record covered a long period of activity, and he was ever found faultless in honor, fearless in con- duct, and stainless in reputation.
REV. PASQUALE DE-NISCO, rector of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Roman Catholic church of Roseto, Northampton county, Penn- sylvania, which is located between the. Wind Gap and the Delaware Water Gap, and adjoining the town of Bangor, was born in Italy, in 1858, a member of a family of children, three of whom have taken orders.
Rev. Pasquale de-Nisco acquired his educa- tion partly in his native country and partly in London, England. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1884, after which he was sent to take charge of an Italian congregation in Brook- lyn. New York. In 1895 he was called by the Bishop to London, England, to assume pastoral charge of the Italian colony in that city, but after two years was again sent to the United States, this time to take charge of the Italian colony at Roseto, Pennsylvania, where he has since re- mained. This colony was established without
Resp. de Risco
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GENEALOGICAL AND PERSONAL MEMOIRS.
an organized head, and was for a time without spiritual advisor or director. They built a church and procured the services of various priests at stated times. The first to assume charge was the Rev. James McGevran, rector of St. Bernard's Roman Catholic church of Easton, Pennsylvania. Prior to the erection of the Church of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel a temporary chapel in the woods was erected, where the earlier settlers used to assemble and sing hymns and Psalms to their heart's content.
The village of Roseto, Pennsylvania, in 1897, differed little from hundreds of other Italian col- onies in that state, but since the advent of Father de-Nisco matters have entirely changed. The majority of the residents came from the same village in Italy, also called Roseto, in the prov- ince of Foggia, where they were born and grew up together, and most of them are related by ties of kinship of some sort or another. Upon the arirval of Father de-Nisco, a born ruler and autocrat, he took the destinies of the mountain colony in his hand and proceeded to shape them according to his own ideas. His first thought was to insure a permanent population, so that home-building could go on with definite plans for the future. As a result of his work the village of Roseto has grown fast and steadily. Year after year scores of houses have been erected, some of them of brick, fitted up with all the mod- ern conveniences. The village has its own post- office, a shirt factory, employing seventy-five operatives, a dozen stores, all conducting a thriv- ing business, three meat markets, and a company has been organized to erect and operate a planing mill and a lumber and a coal yard is being con- ducted by the same company.
In this thriving village there are two well equipped clubs, one for literary purposes and the other for pleasure and sociability. Another or- ganization is the St. Philippo Neri Catholic Be- nevolent Society. The Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel is the centre of activity. It was organized in 1893, and Rev. Father de-Nisco, the present pastor, came to take charge of it in 1897. The growth of the church has been phe- nomenal. Twice in the brief time of its existence
the structure had to be enlarged, and now still more room is required. Father de-Nisco is plan- ning to build a spacious brick church in the near future, and in addition it is proposed to erect a parochial school and a convent for the Sisters of Charity, who will conduct the teaching. A public park, embracing fourteen lots, is to be laid out in front of the new church and other buildings, the necessary land for which has already been secured in a delightful locality on Brown's Hill. The cemetery attached to the church, which was laid out by Father de-Nisco and for which each head of a family pays twenty-five cents a month to insure a grave for any member of his family and the free services of the priest, when they shall be needed, presents a pleasing sight during the summer, with its abundance of choice flow- ers and shrubs, on the well kept lawns. When Father de-Nisco started to beautify this spot he did not send for a gardener, but with his own hands performed the digging and planting of flowers. He offers an annual prize of ten dol- lars in gold for the best display of flowers grown in front of the homes, and in various other ways strives to raise the material, moral and spiritual tone of the community to a high standard.
The following are the different church so- cieties of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Roseto : Altar Society, Sodality of the Children of Mary, and St. Philip Catholic Society. The inhabitants of the new Roseto are tenacious in their religious practices and functions. Chief amongst these is the celebration of the festival of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, held July 31, of each year. The inhabitants of the village are contented and prosperous, they are in this country to stay, and are surrounding themselves with their national comforts and characteristics. A progressive power, almost patriarchal in a sense, directs the destinies of this model community. Father de- Nisco more than "guide, philosopher and friend," is de facto mayor, health department, building inspector, landscape engineer and final arbiter of all questions relating to social condi- tions or business undertakings. He is developing the colony, yet in its infancy, along lines that promise a modern Arcadia. Only one menace
13 X
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HISTORIC HOMES AND INSTITUTIONS.
worries Father de-Nisco. He fears that the of 1895. He then came to Lynn township, Le- introduction of American politics will prove a source of discord in this ideal community. He formed a class in citizenship, which now num- bers one hundred, and as soon as its members are prepared and able to fulfill conditions, he sees that each assumes the duties of citizenship. The grand and noble work performed by this priest is well worthy of imitation, and should receive the commendation it so richly deserves.
DR. CALVIN D. WERLEY, engaged in the practice of veterinary surgery in Heidelberg town- ship, Lehigh county, claims an ancestral connec- : tion with this county from the period of its early i historic annals. Nicholas Werley, his great- grandfather, was a son of the first of the name in Lehigh county, establishing his home within its borders in the early part of the eighteenth century. He here engaged in farming, and was married in this locality. Among his children was Dewalt Werley, the grandfather, whose birth oc- "curred on the old homestead, and who after ac- quiring his common school education began farm- ing as a life work. Unto him and his wife, Cath- erine, in 1823, was born a son, Daniel Werely, who acquired his education in the common schools and afterward learned and followed the tanner's trade. Subsequently, he removed to Albany, Berks county, Pennsylvania, where he carried on agricultural pursuits until his death, which oc- curred April 29, 1893. In politics, he was a Dem- ocrat, and took an active interest in the growth and success of his party. He married Miss Har- riet Greenawalt, of Berks county, Pennsylvania, and unto this marriage were born the following named, Susanna, Helena, James, Louisa, Jean- ette, Thomas, Lydia, Harrison and Calvin D.
Dr. Calvin D. Werley was born upon the old home farm in Berks county, Pennsylvania, No- vember 25, 1871, and after attending the common schools continued his education in the Kutztown State Normal School. He prepared for his pro- fession as a student in the veterinary college at Toronto, Canada, and in a college in Cincinnati, Ohio, being graduated in the latter with the class
high county, where he practiced for four years, and in 1898 removed to his present home Pleas- ant Corner, in Heidelberg township, Lehigh coun- ty, where he enjoys a large practice. He is a member of the Odd Fellows, and the Knights of the Golden Eagle, and his social relations are in- dicative of the character of the man. His po- litical allegiance is given to the Democracy, and he has served his township as auditor. He and his family are members of the Lutheran church, and are widely and favorably known in their commun- ity.
Dr. Werley was married in 1893 to Miss Alice Adams, of Richmond township, Berks county, Pennsylvania, a daughter of Michael Adams, a farmer by occupation. They now have two chil- dren, Etna, born in 1893, and George, in 1895.
ALFRED R. WEAVER, chief burgess of Emaus in 1903, was born in Upper Milford, Pennsylvania, April 3, 1870. His grandfather, Reuben Weaver, was a farmer by occupation, liv- ing in Upper Milford township, where after his marriage he reared his family. He wedded Eliza- beth Fink, a daughter of John and Magda- lene Fink, both natives of Lehigh county. The Fink family is of German origin, and its members are identified with the Reformed church. John and Magdalene Fink were the parents of seven children-Ada, Jacob, Reuben, Daniel, Mrs. S. Miller, Mrs. A. Stahler and Mrs. Reuben Weaver. Seven children were also born to Mr. and Mrs. Weaver, but only three are now living-Phaon C., Daniel and Mrs. Edward Guth.
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