USA > Pennsylvania > Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania Vol. II > Part 38
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Bachman, the grandfather of Grif- fiths H. Bachman, was born in Cherryville, North- ampton county, Pennsylvania, and was a pros- perous farmer. He married Jane Seiple, and they became the parents of six children, including
John Peter Bachman, the father of Griffiths H. Bachman. He was born in Cherryville, Penn- sylvania, August 27, 1796, and learned the shoe- maker's trade in early life, and in connection with that pursuit afterward carried on farming on a small scale. He was an honest, industrious man, and enjoyed the respect of his neighbors and friends. He wedded Miss Mary Magdalene Fens- termacher, who was born in Cherryville, Penn- sylvania, May 9, 1799. His death occurred De- cember 3, 1872, when he was seventy-six years of age, and his wife passed away in 1885. They were the parents of nine children, namely : Lovina, deceased; Stephen. deceased : William, deceased ; James, living ; John, deceased ; Griffiths H. ; Benjamin, the first, and Benjamin, the second, both deceased ; and Daniel, living.
Griffiths H. Bachman was born at Cherryville, Pennsylvania, November 21, 1834, but was reared' at Parryville, Carbon county, this state, and in the public schools there acquired his education. In early manhood he followed various industrial pursuits until 1855, at which date he removed to Weatherly, and became an employe of the Beaver Meadow Railroad Company, and when its line became a part of the system of the Lehigh Valley Company he continued in the service of the latter. He went upon the road in the capacity of a brake- man, and so acted until 1861. At that date he put aside all business and personal considerations, for the country had become involved in civil war. and men were needed to uphold the integrity of the Union. Mr. Bachman was among the num- ber who responded to the call for aid, and was enrolled as a member of Company G. Eighty-first Pennsylvania Regiment, Volunteer Infantry. He served under General George B. McClellan throughout the Peninsula campaign, and was honorably discharged as corporal on account of disability on the 16th of February, 1863. After recuperating, however, he re-enlisted in the same year, this time in response to the emergency call, and became corporal of Company G, Thirty- fourth Regiment, Pennsylvania State Militia. From this he was also honorably discharged after a short term of service.
On his return to civil life in 1864. Mr. Bach-
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man resumed railroading, this time becoming a fireman. He had acted in that capacity for a little more than a year, when in 1865 he was in- trusted with an engine, and continued to act as engineer until November 25, 1893. He was al- ways very careful and cautious in his work, and was long recognized as one of the most capable and trusted engineers in the service of the com- pany. In the year mentioned he took an active part in the railroad strike as a member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers. Later he was discharged, ostensibly because of the age limit, but in reality because he had been prominent as a promoter of the strike. He is now living a retired life, occupying a pleasant modern and commodious residence in Weatherly, which he erected in 1875. He served as councilman of Weatherly for six years, and was also elected constable, but would not qualify for that office. He and his wife are members of the Reformed church.
Mr. Bachman was married March 10, 1864, to Miss Mary E. Craver, of Weatherly, Pennsyl- vania, and they became the parents of two chil- dren, Ida J., now the wife of John H. Darbert ; and Harry E., who is car inspector at Mount Car- roll, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Bachman died on the 7th of March, 1872, and on the 3d of April, 1873, Mr. Bachman was again married, his second union being with Mrs. Lucy Greenawalt, nee Humm, of Bucks county, Pennsylvania, whose first husband was also a soldier of the Civil war.
ALEXANDER N. ULRICH, an attorney practicing at the bar at Lehigh county, and main- taining his residence in Catasauqua, was born in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, February 10, 1853.
Adam Ulrich, the progenitor of the family in America, came from Alsace, landing in New York in the year 1707. He settled first at Van Rensselaer Manor, where he remained for three or four years, but on discovering that he could not purchase land in that locality to hold in fee, he left the state of New York and made his way down the Susquehanna river to the present site of Harrisburg. He settled in the Swatara val- ley, and at Annville, Pennsylvania, where he built
a home which is still standing, one of the old landmarks of the district, and known as Ulrich's Fort. Through successive generations the fam- ily has been represented in Pennsylvania, and its members have belonged to that class of valued citizens who uphold the intellectual and moral stability of their respective communities, and also co-operate in the advancement of material inter- ests.
Daniel Ulrich, a son of Adam Urlich, was the owner of a plantation in Annville, in Lebanon county, Pennsylvania. His house was con- structed of stone, and during the French and In- dian war was used as a fort, serving as a means of defense for the settlers of that district. His son, Daniel Ulrich, was the father of Rev. Daniel Ulrich, who was for many years a prominent clergyman of the Lutheran church of Pennsyl- vania, and who for a long time held a pastorate in what is known as Ulrich's Church, in Lebanon county, and it was in that county that he died. He married Elizabeth Murray Weidman, and they had several children, including Dr. Daniel U1- rich, the father of Alexander N. Ulrich.
Dr. Ulrich was born in Lebanon county, April 19, 1820, and after mastering the elementary branches of English learning became a student in Princeton College of New Jersey, where he pur- sued a classical course and won the degree of Master of Arts. He afterward studied medicine and was a graduate of the Jefferson Medical Col- lege of Philadelphia. Following his preparation for the practice of medicine and surgery, he was an active representative of the profession in Read- ing for a number of years. His death occurred in 1878. He married Henrietta Nesbitt, whose an- cestors were of Scotch lineage. She was a daugh- ter of Alexander Nesbitt, a lawyer of Culpeper county, Virginia. Her grandfather, Charles Nes- bitt, of Montrose, Scotland, was a son of Alexan- der Nesbitt, provost of the University of Edin- burgh, Scotland, and a Greek scholar of world renown. He came to America on being offered the presidency of Dickinson College at the time of its establishment.
Alexander N. Ulrich was reared in Reading,
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Pennsylvania, and pursued his education in the public schools there until he had completed the high school course. He afterward studied in New England, and in 1871 came to Catasauqua, where he began teaching. Two years later he was elected principal of the public schools, and occu- pied that position for six years. During this pe- 'riod he devoted his leisure hours to the reading of law, and in 1885 was admitted to the bar in Allen- town, Pennsylvania, since which time he has prac- ticed continually in Catasauqua.
On the IIth of July, 1878, Mr. Ulrich was married to Miss Irene Fuller, a daughter of Charles D. Fuller, and they have one son, Charles N. Ulrich.
ROBERT EMMET WRIGHT, an eminent and successful practitioner of the law at Allen- town, Pennsylvania, is a native of that city, his birth having occurred on February 15, 1847. He is a son of Robert Emmet and Maria Huber (Hutter) Wright.
Robert Emmet Wright (father) was born at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, November 30, 1810. After attending for several years the school of Charles Wales, in his native town, he entered the drug store of John C. Baehr in 1826. Two years later he came to Allentown and entered the employ of John B. Moser, with whom he re- mained until he was twenty-one years of age, when he went into business for himself. He never cared particularly for this or any other line of mercantile life, and consequently soon aban- doned it and entered his name as a student of law, and was admitted to practice. Almost immedi- ately after taking up the duties of his profession he attained popularity, which was based on his unselfish devotion to various public interests, as well as upon his generally recognized profes- sional ability and trustworthiness. Politically he was a Democrat. While not in any sense a place seeker, the possession of various qualities led to his appointment to a number of honorable and responsible positions, in all of which he proved himself more than adequate. He was twice ap- pointed district attorney by Attorney-General J. K. Kane, and was twice given the office of post-
master of Allentown. He acted as school director for twenty-three years, and few men have done more than he for the advancement of the educa- tional interests of the city, or for that matter, (though more indirectly) of the county. He also served two terms as burgess. of Allentown. He was appointed a reporter of the supreme court of Pennsylvania by Governor William Fisher Packer, and published the first Index Digest of the Supreme Court Reports. Always faithful in the discharge of whatever duty devolved upon him, and uniformly kind and considerate to all with whom he came in contact, he commanded the respect and affection of the people in the com- munity in which he passed the adult years of a long life. Few men have had more friends, and few have shown their worthiness of having them by so numerous unselfish labors for the good of individuals and institutions. It can be said of Mr. Wright that he was unceasingly a public benefactor.
On July 19, 1835, Mr. Wright married Maria Huber Hutter, born June 20, 1816, eldest daugh- ter of Charles Lewis and Maria (Wilson) Hutter, the former named having been born May 25, 1792, died September 22, 1830, and the latter having been born August 12, 1791. Charles Lewis Hutter, who early in the eighteenth century published Der Unabhangige Republikaner und Lecha County Freiheits Freund at Allentown, was a son of Colonel Christian Jacob and Maria Magdalene (Huber) Hutter, born, respectively, May 17, 1771, at New Deitendorf, in Saxe Gotha, Germany, and March 30, 1769. Christian Jacob Hutter was a son of Joann Ludwig Hutter, born May 5, 1726, at Fisch-horn on the Vogelsberg, was a manufacturer of leather, and managed a large tannery for the Moravian brethren. In 1773 he located at Zeitz with his second wife (M. N. Maria Kuntz) and two sons, the youngest of whom was Christian Jacob, and here he also met with success in his business and was con- sidered a man of fortune. He died on March 23, 1791, and his wife on September 30. 1805. On October 20, 1789, Christian Jacob Hutter was sent by the Moravians of Zeitz to their American settlement at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where he
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engaged in business. In 1799 he was a resident of Lancaster, where he founded Der Lancaster Correspondent, the first number of which was issued May 25, 1799, and the last on September 3, 1803, whereupon he removed to Easton and founded there, early in 1806, Der Northampton Correspondent. On August 10, 1808, he estab- lished the Pennsylvania Herald and Easton In- telligencer, which lived two years, and was fol- lowed by The People's Instructor, and shortly afterward he established The Centinel. He was actively engaged in the war of 1812, serving as a lieutenant-colonel in command of the Northamp- ton, Lehigh and Pike counties militia. From 1822 to 1825 he was a member of the state house of representatives, and in 1829 was county re- corder of deeds. He was one of the founders and the first worshipful master of Easton Lodge of Masons. Robert Emmet Wright (father ) died January 10, 1886, and his wife, Maria Huber (Hutter) Wright, died September 6, 1901. Their children were:
I. Caroline Hutter, born at Allentown, Penn- sylvania, May 6, 1838. 2. Ida Elizabeth, born at Allentown, Pennsylvania, June 10, 1841, was married, first, to Alfred Benjamin Schwartz, who was born in Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, Janu- ary 31, 1836, served during the Civil war as captain. of Company H, One Hundred and Forty- seventh Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, died at Allentown, Pennsylvania, March 14, 1867, and they were the parents of one child, John Leaming Schwartz, born at Allentown, Pennsylvania, Oc- tober 4, 1865. Ida Elizabeth married (second) Evan Holben, born in Lehigh county, Pennsyl- vania, November 26, 1837, attorney-at-law, and member of the senate of Pennsylvania from 1876 to 1882, and their children were: Estelle, born January 5, 1876, and Elsie, born March 4, 1878. 3. Maria Wilson, born September 10, 1843, mar- ried at Allentown Pennsylvania, July 25, 1872, to Dr. Amandus Josiah Laubach, born December 9, 1843, died March 6, 1892, and they were the parents of two children : Blanche Wright, born December 14, 1873, and Lulu, born March 22, 1876. 4. Sarah Ryan born at Allentown, Penn- sylvania, June 29, 1845, was married at Allen-
town, to Alexander Chamber Brooks, of Jersey City, New Jersey, and died November 23, 1887; no issue. 5. Robert Emmet, mentioned at length hereinafter. 6. James Holmes, born at Allentown, Pennsylvania, December 25, 1849, died April 25, 1898; he was married, December 19, 1872, at South Easton, Pennsylvania, to Matilda Wil- helm and their children were: Mabel W., born June 4, 1874, died November 26, 1880; and Arthur H., born September 10, 1883. 7. Mina Agnes, born August 29, 1853, became the wife of Cassius Amandus Miller, who was born January 10, 1853; no issue. 8. John Marshall, born Oc- tober 19, 1855, became an attorney-at-law, and is associated with his brother, Robert E. Wright, in the practice of his profession at Allentown, Pennsylvania. He was United States naval officer at the port of Philadelphia from 1894 to 1898. He was married, at Fleetwood, Pennsyl- vania, May 25, 1881, to Rose Melott, born Oc- tober 14, 1860, and their children are: Eliza- beth Melott, born February 7, 1882, E. Hutter, born April 3, 1884, and Dorothy Frances, born June 22, 1885.
Robert E. Wright, Jr., attended the local public schools and the Allentown Academy, and, it being the desire of his parents that he should become a civil engineer, at the age of fifteen he entered the office of Mr. G. A. Aschbach, where as a student and employee he remained until 1864. receiving a very thorough training in the pro- fession. He then went to Schuylkill county, where during the ensuing four years he held a responsible position in the service of the Phila- delphia & Reading Railroad Company under Chief Engineer Charles E. Byers. Not being sat- isfied with the profession of civil engineering, ne took up the study of law, and in September, 1869, was admitted to the bar, and for nearly a year was the business associate of his father. At the end of that period the elder Mr. Wright retired froin active duties, and his extensive practice fell upon the shoulders of his son, at that time but twenty-three years of age. His success at the bar led to his being retained as attorney for the Le- high Valley Railroad Company, the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company, the East Penn-
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sylvania Railroad Company, the Central Railroad Company of New Jersey, the Perkiomen Rail- road Company, and the Ironton Railroad Com- pany. He was also attorney for a number of large corporations, including the Thomas Iron Company of Catasauqua, the Crane Iron Com- pany of Bethlehem, the Allentown Rolling Mills, and the Allentown Iron Company. In 1886 he was chosen president of the Allentown Bank, for which he had been the attorney for many years. Mr. Wright is interested in a number of wealthy corporations in and near the city of his residence. He is a member of the board of water commis- sioners of Allentown, and had personal charge of the construction of the water works which he was instrumental in securing. He is interested in the cause of education, and has served a num- ber of terms in the local school board, and he is seldom too deeply engrossed by business affairs to attend to his duties as trustee of Muhlenberg College and the Allentown Female Seminary.
He has served several terms in the city coun- cil, in which he distinguished himself for his scrupulous honesty and his liberal and progres- sive spirit. Mr. Wright is a Democrat, and is well known in party councils on local, state and national affairs. For some years he has been a Democratic leader in Lehigh county, has been chairman of the county committee several terms, and has been a delegate to nearly every state con- vention held during the last decade, being chair- man of that held at Harrisburg in 1883. In 1888 he was an alternate to the National Democratic Convention at St. Louis which renominated Grover Cleveland for President of the United States, and he was delegate-at-large to the Na- tional conventions of 1896 and 1904. In 1880 he was nominated for the state senate, but, not desiring the office, he went before the nominat- ing convention and declined the honor. He has been for several years a very active member of the Order of Odd Fellows, and has filled all the positions in the order up to and including that o+ grand master of the state of Pennsylvania. Since 1884 he has represented the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania in the Sovereign Grand Lodge of
the United States. He is now deputy grand site in the order.
Mr. Wright was married (first) to Anna Brobst, who died November 7, 1874, and they were the parents of one child, Grace Hutter Wright, born at Allentown, Pennsylvania, Sep- tember 21, 1872, and on November 1I, 1897, be- came the wife of Edward A. Soleliac, who was born November 14, 1872. Mr. Wright married (second) December 24, 1877, at Allentown, Ida Beck, born August 24, 1856, died August 25, 1882, and one child was the issue of this union, Robert Augustus Wright, born November II, 1879. Mr. Wright married (third) November 3, 1886, at Allentown, Mary Delacroix, born No- vember 18, 1850, and their child is Estelle Dela- croix Wright, born July 23, 1887.
DOUGLAS CRAIG is the senior member of the firm of Craig & Loose practitioners at the bar of Carbon county, and makes his home in Mauch Chunk. His ancestral history is one of close and distinguished connection with events which are recorded in the annals of Pennsyl- vania and of the nation. The family is of Scotch- Irish lineage, and the first American ancestors, coming from the Emerald Isle to the new world, established their home in Northampton county in 1728. General Thomas Craig, the great-grand- father of Douglas Craig, served under Arnold in the French and Indian war, and commanded the Third Pennsylvania Regiment during the strug- gle for independence. Captain Thomas Craig, the grandfather removed to Lehigh Gap, became pro- prietor of the old Lehigh Gap Inn, and was prom- inent in other lines of business there as a merchant and lumberman. He also conducted a stage line between Easton and Mauch Chunk, and his in- fluence was marked upon the public life, thought and feeling in Carbon county. He married Cath- erine Hagenbuch, a daughter of John Hagenbuch.
Among their children was Judge Allen Craig. now deceased, the father of Douglas Craig. He was born in Lehigh Gap, December 25, 1835, and remained a resident of his native town until six- teen years of age, during which time he was a
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student in the public schools and in a private school conducted by the Rev. John Vandeveer, under whose direction he prepared for college. In 1851 he matriculated in Lafayette College, of Pennsylvania, and was graduated in 1855 upon the completion of a classical course. He became a student of law in the office of Hon. Milo M. Dimmick, and was admitted to the bar at Mauch Chunk in June, 1858. He became one of the dis- tinguished lawyers of Carbon county, being con- nected with much of the important litigation tried in the courts of his district, and in 1893 was elected judge of the Forty-third judicial district, serving most acceptably on the bench for eight years. His decisions were strictly fair and im- partial, being based upon a comprehensive knowledge of the law and a correct application of the principles of jurisprudence to the points under discussion in the court. Other public of- fices were filled by him. In his early professional career he was elected district attorney of Carbon county for a term of three years on the Democratic ticket in 1859, and in 1865 he was elected to represent Carbon and Monroe counties in the state legislature. He served as a member of the house for three years, and in 1878 was chosen to represent his district in the state senate for a term of four years. His business interests em- braced connection with the First National Bank of Mauch Chunk as one of its directors, and he was also financially interested in the gas and water companies of that city. In public affairs he was a recognized leader, and was one of the trustees and superintended the erection of the Dimmick Memorial Library building, which was provided for by the will of Milton Dimmick. He served for a short time in the Civil war in 1862 as a member of the Nineteenth Regiment, Pennsylvania Infantry. His leath occurred in 1902. Judge Craig had been married in 1866 to Miss Anna I. Douglas, who is a native of Penn- sylvania, but was reared and educated in Con- necticut. Two sons and two daughters were born to them : Douglas, Henry D., Harriet D., and Gay Gordon.
Douglas Craig, the elder son, was born in Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania, October 14, 1867,
and pursued his early education in the Hill school at Pottstown, Pennsylvania, where he was gradu- ated with the class of 1885. His collegiate course was pursued in Lafayette College, in which he was graduated in 1890, and with broad general learning to form a basis for professional know- ledge he entered the law office of the firm of Craig & Loose, studying there until April 8, 1893, on which date he was admitted to practice at the Carbon county bar. He is still a practitioner of Mauch Chunk, the firm being known as Craig & Loose. He brings to bear upon his work strong mentality and analytical power, and has therefore gained success as a member of the bar.
Douglas Craig is also well known in connection with public affairs in his city, and is a recognized leader in the ranks of the Democracy. He is now serving as school director, being secretary of the board at the present writing, in 1903. He is also presi- dent of the board of health. Socially, he is iden- tified with the Odd Fellows and the Mohegan Club, and attends the Presbyterian church. He is regarded as one of the enterprising and pro- gressive young men of Mauch Chunk, and his fel- low townsmen belive that he has a successful future before him.
In 1897 Douglas Craig was united in marriage to Bertha E. Steinmetz, a daughter of Henry Steinmetz, a planing-mill merchant of Easton, Pennsylvania. The only child born to them died in infancy.
EDWIN F. LUCKENBACH, postmaster of Mauch Chunk, was born near Bethlehem, in Northampton county, Pennsylvania. His pater- nal grandparents were Abraham and Catherine Luckenbach. His maternal grandparents were Isaac and Catherine Boyer ; and his parents were Renatus and Catherine (Boyer) Luckenbach. To the father and mother of Edwin F. Lucken- bach were born four children. William S., the eldest, married Rebecca and their chil- dren were Henry and Edwin, the former now de- ceased. Mary J. Luckenbach, the elder daugh- ter of Renauts Luchenbach, became the wife of Daniel J. Rice and has one child, Elmer. Ellen,
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the youngest of the family, is the wife of Fred Civily, and has had seven children.
Edwin F. Luckenbach, the second of his fa- ther's family and the subject of this sketch, was reared in Northampton county, Pennsylvania, and acquired a public school education. He entered upon his business career as a house, sign and fresco painter in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, follow- ing his trade there until 1861, when he removed to Mauch Chunk, where he was employed at his occupation until May, 1863. He then enlisted for service in the Union army in defense of his coun- try, becoming a member of Company C, One Hundred and Twenty-ninth Regiment of Penn- sylvania Infantry, commanded by Colonel J. G. Frick. This regiment was assigned to the Army of the Potomac, becoming a part of E. B. Tyler's First Brigade of Humphrey's Third Division, Fifth Army Corps. Mr. Luckenbach participated in the battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellors- ville, and on the expiration of the term of his enlistment was honorably discharged. He be- came a charter member of L. F. Chapman Post, No. 61, G. A. R., of which he was twice com- mander. He has also filled all of the other posi- tions in the post. He is likewise connected with the Knights of Honor and the Royal Arcanum.
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