USA > Pennsylvania > Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania Vol. II > Part 49
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Charles H. Cohn spent the first nine years of his life in his native state, and then resided in Philadelphia during the sojourn of his parents in that city at the time of the Civil war, going there in 1863. Again he accompanied them to Phila- delphia in 1869. He had previously attended school there and in Jackson and in Brownsville, Tennessee, and upon his return to Philadelphia
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he began learning the cigarmaker's trade, which he followed there for a year. On the expiration of that period he came to Allentown, and in 1872 entered the employ of Ruhe Brothers, cigar man- ufacturers, with whom he remained until the time of the financial panic of 1873 forced them to cut down their number of employes, and Mr. Cohn, being among the unmarried men, was discharged. He next entered the employ of A. & S. Grim, and later was with James Seip, following which he en- tered the employ of Felton & Schnurman, by whom he was appointed foreman. After acting in that capacity for a time he went upon the road as traveling representative for that house, and a little later bought out his employers and began business on his own account. In this he continued successfully until he sold out in 1893 to Harry B. Schall, to enter upon active service as chief of the fire department.
Even while living in Philadelphia and learn- ing his trade Mr. Cohn became deeply interested in the system of fire protection, and since that time has been more or less active in this connec- tion. His place of employment was. on Eight street, near Fitzwater, and adjoining the head- quarters of the Moyamensing Hose Company. When that company was called out to a fire he would respond, although not a regular member. During his residence in Allentown he has always been deeply interested in its fire service, joining the department in 1872 as a member of the Good- will Company No. 3, of which he became fore- man, acting in that capacity for twelve years. During that time he became thoroughly con- versant with the service, its need and require- ments, as well as its possibilities, and he was thus well qualified to assume the responsible duties of chief when appointed to that position by Mayor Allison. During Mayor Lewis's first term he was succeeded by Charles D. Grim, but has been re-appointed during Mayor Lewis's sec- ond term as the chief executive of the city. His efforts to promote the efficiency of the fire de- partment have been very effective and are worthy . of uniform approval. He has increased the paid
part of the department about twenty per cent., and the fire protection service of Allentown is among the best in the state. There are two chemical and two combination engines, two trucks and seven steamers. He has been in control at a number of important fires, where had it not been for his prompt and efficient service great damage would have been done to the property interests of Allentown. On the night of October 13, 1903, when the wind was blowing a gale, at the rate of seventy-five miles per hour, the Breinig and Bachman building at Sixth and Hamilton streets caught fire. It is situated at the corner of one of the principal streets, and is surrounded by hotels and all kinds of business houses. It looked for a time as though there would be a most serious conflagration, but Mr. Cohn grasped the exigencies of the situation, placed his men and forces in the positions to do the most ef- fective service, and succeeded in confining the fire to the buildings in which it started. A simi- lar course was pursued by him at the Bitner- Hunsicker fire, December 3, 1902. During the last year of his first term as chief he had thirty- seven bell alarms and fifteen still alarms, and the total property loss was less than five hundred dollars a most remarkable record, showing quick and capable service, excellent management, and cool, calm judgment.
In his political views, Mr. Cohn is a stalwart Republican, recognized as one of the strong and able workers of the party in Allentown. He is identified with several fraternal organizations, in- cluding Allen Lodge, No. 71, I. O. O. F .; Green- leaf Lodge, No. 257, K. P., of which he is a past chancellor ; Lochawonk Tribe, No. 201, I. O. R. M., and the Patriotic Order of Sons of America.
In 1893 Mr. Cohn was married to Miss Emma Ritter, a daughter of Daniel and Eliza Ritter. The others of her father's family are: Martin ; Charles, who married Miss Kemmerer, and has three children, Annie, Mamie and George : Lu- cinda, the wife of Cornelius Byscher, by whom she has two children, Helen and John. Sarah,
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who married Amandus Kemmerer, and has five children, Charles, Mamie, Sallie, Gertrude and Edward; Alice; and Elizabeth, wifc of William Marshall.
FRANKLIN KERR HARTZELL, assistant secretary and treasurer of the Lehigh Valley Trust and Safe Deposit Company, of Allentown, is a descendant of Ulrich Hartzell, who was born August 20, 1705. The place of his birth, how- ever, is not definitely known, for according to some he was born near the Hartz mountains in Germany, while others believe his birthplace to have been near Zurich, Switzerland. He emi- grated to America in 1732, landing at Philadel- phia on the 21st of September of that year, and on the same vessel, the "Pink Plaisance," John Paret, master, came Paul and Henry Hartzell, who were buried at the Indian Creek Reformed church, near Telford, Pennsylvania, and Hans Leonard Hartzell. Ulrich Hartzell settled along the Ridge Valley creek, between Tylersport and Sumneytown, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, and became a naturalized citizen September 2, 1763. He died February II, 1771, at the age of sixty-five years, five months and twenty-one days. He had six children.
His youngest son, Mark Hartzell, was born November 11, 1746, and married Elizabeth Nyce, daughter of John and Catherine Nyce. He died on the same day, and was buried in the same grave as his father, in the family burial ground, or what is now known as the Dietz graveyard. He was then but twenty-four years of agc. His widow afterward marricd Philip A. Wentz, and her third husband was Michael Hartman. Mark Hartzell had two sons.
Philip Hartzell, the elder of these two sons, was born September 4, 1769, and married Eliza- beth Gerhart, daughter of Abraham and Anna Barbara Gerhart, and a great-granddaughter of Paul Gerhart, who was the founder of the Ger- hart family in America, coming to this country between 1700 and 1737 from Alsace, France, and settling in Franconia township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania.
Philip G. Hartzell, son of Philip N. and Elizabeth Hartzell, was born November 19, 1800, and died December 29, 1851, at the age of fifty- one years. He married Elizabeth Kerr, a daugh- ter of Henry and Magdalena (Cressman) Kerr, the former a native of Scotland. Mr. and Mrs. Hartzell became the parents of eleven children, of whom Frank Kerr Hartzell is the eighth. He was born in Rockhill, Pennsylvania, September 29, 1844, and in his youth attended the public schools, after which he pursued a course in medi- cine in the University of Pennsylvania, being graduated with the class of 1868. He remained, however, for post-graduate work and pursucd a special course in operative surgery at Keene's School of Anatomy, and had private instruction in microscopy from Professor Tyson, of Phila- delphia.
In the meantime Dr. Hartzell had opened an office for the practice of his profession in Guths- ville, Lehigh county, but in December, 1868, passed an examination for assistant surgeon of the United States navy, in which capacity he served until 1873. In 1871 he was on the battle- ship "Palos," and took part in the war with Korea. Dr. Hartzell then resigned, and retir- ing from the profession accepted the position of cashier of the Girard Savings Bank of Allen- town, with which he served from 1873 until 1877. From that time until 1886 he was assistant post- master in this borough, after which he became connected with the Lehigh Valley Trust and Safe Deposit Company, as teller, in which position he was retained until chosen assistant secretary and treasurer. His political support is given the Republican party.
Mr. Hartzell was married October 7, 1877. to Miss Alice Knecht. Her paternal grandpa- rents were Thomas and Magdalena Louden- berger. Her father, Reuben Knecht, married Eliza Stahr, a daughter of Rev. Lewis and Cath- erine (Wolfinger) Stahr, and a granddaughter of Jolin and Catherine Stahr. Reuben Knecht and his wife had three children: Mrs. Hartzell : Jennic, who is the wife of Rev. W. S. Delp. an :! has two children, Florence and Edna ; and Har-
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vey, who died at the age of nineteen years. Mr. only. Mr. Grim was appointed treasurer of the and Mrs. Hartzell have ne son, Alfred Stanley new organization, and is still serving in t. at ca- pacity at the present time ( 1904). Hartzell, who is a graduate of Muhlenberg Col- lege, and is a lawyer by profession.
HENRY J. GRIM. Henry J. Grim, treasurer of the Allentown Choe Manufacturing Company, and a well-known and influential resident of that city, is one of two children that were born to William and Eliza (Ludwig) Grim, the former named having been the fourth child of Jesse and Mary (Knapp) Grim, who were the son and daughter, respectively, of Jacob and Elizabeth Hatten (Stein) Grim, and Daniel and Mary (Herbein) Knapp. The children of Jesse and Mary (Knapp) Grim were: Ephraim, Deborah, Jacob, William, Allen, and Walter Jesse. The children of William and Eliza (Ludwig) Grim were : Alfred who married Miss Madden for his first wife, and Miss Schumaker for his second; and Henry J. Grim, who is mentioned at length in the following paragraph.
Henry J. Grim was born in Allentown, Penn- sylvania. He acquired an excellent English edu- cation in the public schools of his native city, and then for a few years devoted his time to the study of law. He then located in Monroe county, and the following two years was actively identified with the firm of Stephen Kistler & Co., tanners of sole leather and upper leather, and at the expir- ation of this period of time he returned to Allen- town and engaged in the coal and wood business. After conducting this enterprise for a few years, he disposed of it, and became associated with the firm of Hartung, Snyder & Co., in 1890 as a partner, which conducted business under the style of Hartung, Fried & Grim until 1893, when it was incorporated under the name of the Allen- town Shoe Manufacturing Company, their pro- duct being footwear for boys, youths and little gentlemen. Their factory is modern in every particular, well lighted and thoroughly equipped with the latest improved facilities for manufac- ture, and the average output is 2,000 pair per day, but this can be increased somewhat with the pres- ent floor room. They manufacture a medium priced grade of shoe, and sell to the jobbing trade
He is an active member of the Lutheran church, and his political affiliations are with the Republican party. He is an honored member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, No. 130, and has passed through all the offices possible in his local lodge, and also holds mem- bership in the Livingston Club, the prominent social club of the city. Mr. Grim married Miss Clara E. Sheldon, of Allentown, Pennsylvania, a daughter of Lewis Sheldon.
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URIAH S. LITZENBERG, of Allentown, Pennsylvania, was born in South Whitehall town- ship, Lehigh county, same state, April 22, 1847. John Nicholas Litzenberg (by some spelled "Litz- enberger") who was the founder of the family in America, was born in Alsace, France, and came to this country when quite a young man, settling on a farm in South Whitehall township, Lehigh county. He followed the occupation of a farmer throughout his entire life, and gave earnest sup- port to the Lutheran church, of which he was a member. He married Margaretha Strauss, a daughter of Jacob Strauss, one of the early set- tlers of Lehigh county, and they reared a family of ten children, four sons and six daughters.
George Litzenberg, son of John Nicholas Litzenberg, was a blacksmith by trade, and was a member of Captain Abraham Gengewere's com- pany of Pennsylvania Infantry Volunteers in the War of 1812. He was married to Magdalena Miller, and was the father of twelve children, six sons and six daughters.
Reuben Litzenberg, son of George Litzenberg, and the father of Uriah S. Litzenberg, was born in South Whitehall township, Lehigh county, March 18, 1815. He learned the trade of black- smithing under his father's direction, and con- tinued to follow that occupation until 1856, when he entered the ministry of the Evangelical Asso- ciation as an itinerant preacher, continuing therein until 1865, when owing to ill health he relin- quished the active work of the ministry and re- sumed work at his trade, which he followed until
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within a few years of his death, which occurred in 1894. He had very meager opportunities for acquiring an education, having attended a district school for only three months, but he continually broadened his knowledge through reading, in- vestigation and study in later years. He early took an active interest in the temperance cause, and assisted in organizing some of the first tem- perance lodges in Lehigh county. He was mar- ried to Hannah Ruder, who was born in New York city, and they had eight children, six sons and two daughters.
Uriah S. Litzenberg, having attended the pub- lic schools until fifteen years of age, then began clerking in a store, and was afterward apprenticed to the tinsmith's trade, but before his term of ap- prenticeship had expired he enlisted in the Union army, which he joined early in 1865, when seven- teen years of age. He became a private soldier of Company G, One Hundred and Ninetyfifth Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers, with which he served until January 31, 1866, when he was honorably discharged. He came with his parents of Allentown in April of the same year, and worked as a house painter until 1872, when he was appointed assistant assessor of internal revenue of the sixth district of Pennsylvania. In 1873 he was appointed deputy collector of inter- nal revenue of the same district, and served until January 1, 1876. In 1877 he was appointed by the governor as sealer of weights and measures for Lehigh county, acting in that capacity for one year. In 1879 he was elected alderman for the fourth ward of Allentown, Pennsylvania, and served until August, 1882, when he resigned to accept the appointment of special examiner of the United States pension bureau, serving in the states of Wisconsin, Ohio, New York, and North and South Carolina. He resigned that position in April, 1887, and returned to Allentown, where he has remained continuously since. In the year of his return he became notary public, which office he yet holds. Mr. Litzenberg has been a stanch Republican since casting his first vote, and was secretary of the Republican county committee of Lehigh county for a number of years. He has been a delegate to four state conventions, and
was the alternate delegate to the Republican na- tional convention in 1880. He has been a member of the Grand Army of the Republic for more than thirty years ; served for two terms as commander of E. B. Young Post No. 87, G. A. R., and has held almost every position in the local post. He has also been a delegate to many state encamp- ments and was assistant inspector and a member of the department commander's staff.
On the 15th of March, 1867, Mr. Litzenberg was married to Catherine S. Trumbauer, a daughter of David B. and Hannah Trumbauer, and a native of Bucks county Pennsylvania. They had four children: Mable Hannah, who died at the age of four years; Catherine J., who is the wife of Dr. R. C. Peters, of Allentown ; Ella E., who was married to Paul A. Goundie, of Allentown, and died July 28, 1901 ; and Hattie A., who died in infancy.
JOHN TAYLOR, standing at the head of one of the leading mercantile enterprises of Allen- town as the president and treasurer of the corpor- ation doing business under the name of John Taylor & Company, has risen to his present prom- inence in commercial circles through inherent force of character, the exercise of his native talent, an the utilization of opportunity, and his career illustrates the possibilities which are open to young men in a land where industrial activity forms the basis of success.
He was born in the village of Tarland, in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, a son of James and Ann E. (Brebner) Taylor, whose family numbered seven children, as follows : Elizabeth, who married a Mr. Thompson ; Robert, who is also married; James ; David E., who wedded Mary McDougall, of Pittston, Pennsylvania, and has two children, Gordon and Esson: William; Charles, who is married, and resides in Scotland ; and John. Of these David E., William and John came to America.
In early life John Taylor attended the public schools of his native town, and afterward went to Aberdeen, Scotland, in order to become familiar with mercantile systems and methods. He ac- cepted a clerkship in a dry goods store, in which
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he remained for three years, and then resolved to seek a home in America. In 1875 he sailed for the new world, locating in Scranton, Pennsyl- vania, where he secured employment as a sales- man in the dry goods store of Lindsay & Liddele, continuing in that service for four years, at the end of which time he was made manager of their store in Pittston, Pennsylvania. He had charge of the latter establishment until 1883, when he went to Danville, Pennsylvania, and had charge of a dry goods store until 1886.
The latter year witnessed the arrival of Mr. Taylor in Allentown, and since that time he has been a factor in the business life of the city. He joined John Clelland, John Simpson and his brother, D. E. Taylor in a dry goods enterprise, beginning business at the southeast corner of the square in a small store with only about two thou- sand feet of floor space. The undertaking pros- pered, however, from the beginning, and the in- creasing trade soon necessitated larger quarters, so after a brief period they removed to a building owned by Charles Ruhe, and at this location they had six thousand feet of floor space. The con- tinued growth of the business soon justified the utilization of the two buildings, which gave them a corner situation, and here an extensive trade is now carried on, the large line of dry goods occupying four floors, or thirty-five thousand square feet, which shows an increase in their busi- ness almost seventeen fold. In 1896 Messrs. Clel- land and Simpson retired, Mr. Taylor purchasing their interests and the firm name was then changed to John Taylor & Company. This was continued until 1903, when the business was in- corporated, with Mr. Taylor as its president and treasurer, the same firm title being retained. The growth and development of this large dry goods house is attributable in a great measure to his efforts and enterprise. He has wrought along lines of modern business development, and has found in each transition stage opportunity for greater effort and broader activity. His is an- other illustration of the fact that some of the greatest merchants in America have developed from humble clerkships, and while he does not control the trade of many of the leading business
men of our great cities, he has nevertheless built up a mercantile concern of very desirable pro- portions, gaining success that many a man might well envy. The course that he has ever followed commends itself to all, for he has never incurred an obligation that he has not met, or made en- gagements that he does not fulfill.
. Mr. Taylor was married to Miss Annie E. Miller, a daughter of James and Ellen (Hittle) Miller. Her two younger sisters are Cora and Jeanette. The former is the wife of Reginald Longnecker, and they have two children, Mar- jorie and Doris. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Taylor have been born a son and daughter, John Roderick and Elizabeth B. Taylor.
WILLIAM ANDREWS, living retired in Allentown, was born in England, a son of Abra- ham and Esther (Hyndman) Andrews, and in 1837 came with their family of four children to America, settling at Mauch Chunk. They aft- erward removed to Nesquehoning, and for many years the father was employed by the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company. His was a very active and useful career, and he continued in business up to the time of his death, which oc- curred in 1888, occasioned by accident while su- perintending his men on his farm in Butler county, Pennsylvania, at the advanced age of ninety-two years. His eldest son, James, is de- ceased. Samuel, the second son, went to Cali- fornia many years ago, and there died, August 8, 1904. He married Susan Lamon, and they had three children, William, Samuel and Daniel Webster, and the first two have married in Cali- fornia and have reared families of their own. Joseph (deceased), the third son of Abraham Andrews, married Adelia Packer. In the early part of the Civil war he enlisted in the Fourth Pennsylvania Regiment, and served until the close of hostilities, after which he returned to his home.
William Andrews, the fourth son, acquired his early education in the public schools of the towns in which his boyhood days were passed. and on putting aside his text books he began work with his father, and uncle, who were rail-
William Andrews
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road contractors and builders, thus learning the business of construction and of the laying out of roads. In 1859 he went to Ironton, where his time was occupied with the construction of rail- road lines to the ore beds and to the factories, and he helped to build the Ironton Railroad, of which he was superintendent. He employed a large force of men thus engaged, and continued in the business until his retirement from active life in 1895. For many years he was a director in the Catasauqua National Bank. Through his untiring business activity and efficiency, enabling him to command lucrative positions, he worked his way upward from humble business surround- ings to a place of affluence, and is now enabled to live retired, resting in the enjoyment of the fruits of his former toil. Mr. Andrews owns and occupies a pretty home in the newer residence portion of Allentown, and he and his family are members of the Presbyterian church.
He married Anna B. Andrews, of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, daughter of James and Mary (Christie) Andrews. Her paternal grandpar- ents were William and Margaret ( Phillips) An- drews, and her maternal grandfather was James Christie. Mrs. Andrews was one of a family of four children: William, who married Matilda Rodgers, and has one child, Howard; Anna B .; Mark; and Hannah, who married John Lowry, and has four children, Frank, Olive, Annie and Mary. To William and Anna B. Andrews have been born three children-Esther Hyndman, now a student in Howard Seminary at West Bridge- water, Massachusetts; Martha Ellen, who was graduated from the Allentown College for Women in June, 1904; and William Christie An- drews, who is attending high school in Allentown.
JOSEPH EDWARD DURHAM, of Allen- town and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is a de- scendant of a Scotch-Irish ancestry, Covenanters and Presbyterians in religious faith, the male members all partiots, and either Whigs or Re- publicans in politics. The pioneer settler of the American branch of the family was James Dur- ham, who was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, was captured at Fort Freeland in 1779, and con-
fined at Fort Niagara as a prisoner during almost the entire struggle for independence. In 1774 he married Margaret McClintock, born about 1750, died February 8, 1828. In 1778, during the Revolutionary war, she was scalped by the Indians, but lived to survive the injury about fifty years. Her father and brothers, Matthew and John McClintock were soldiers in the Rev- oltionary war and were killed with others of Cap- tain Hawkins Boone's company in going to the relief of Fort Freeland, July 28, 1779, at Mc- Clungs, near Milton, Pennsylvania.
James Durham, son of James and Margaret (McClintock) Durham, was born November 15, 1784, died March 17, 1871. During the early years of the nineteenth century he lived near Milton, Pennsylvania, to which town he later re- moved, and there he conducted at the same time farming, merchandising and the operation of a distillery. His wife, Charlotte (Gaston) Dur- ham, born September 22, 1792, died August 13, 1824, was a daughter of Joseph and Margaret (Melick) Gaston, who were married March 12, 1789, and they were also the parents of a son, Rev. Daniel Gaston, who was connected with Lafayette College in its early days and pastor of Gaston Memorial church in Philadelphia ; Joseph Gaston was born November 19, 1766, died April 18, 1834; his wife, Margaret (Melick) Gaston, was born December 27, 1767, died February 5, 1838. Robert Gaston, father of Joseph Gaston was born January 28, 1732, married, May 13, 1762, to Rosana - born March 23, 1743, died June 14, 1817, and his death occurred Sep- tember 22, 1793. Joseph Gaston, father of Ro- bert Gaston, was the pioneer settler of the family in America, locating in New Jersey in 1720; he was of French Huguenot stock, and traced his ancestry back to Jean Baptiste Gaston, Grand Duke of Tuscany, son of Louis XIII of France.
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