USA > Pennsylvania > Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania Vol. II > Part 51
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HISTORIC HOMES AND INSTITUTIONS.
WILLIAM HENRY BALLIET. The pio- neer ancestor of the Balliet family, which is so worthily represented in the present generation by William H. Balliet, a prominent business man of Allentown, Pennsylvania, was John Balliet, born in the year 1704, a native of Alsace, who emigra- ted to America in the year 1738, settling in the vicinity of the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, ac- companied by his wife, whose maiden name was Maria M. Wotring, a native of Lorraine. One of the nine children born to John and Maria M. Balliet was a son, John Balliet, grandfather of William H. Balliet, and his son, Bartholomew Balliet, became the father of William H. Balliet.
Bartholomew Balliet (father) was united in marriage to Anna Leonard Weiss, daughter of Leonard and Barbara (Miller) Weiss, and their children were as follows: I. Maria, who became the wife of Stephen Berger, and their children are: Anna, wife of John Schadt, and mother of six children-Minnie, Harvey, Alice, Hattie, Edwin and Robert Schadt; Samuel B., who mar- ried Sarah Eckert, and they are the parents of one child-Stephen Eckert; and Jerusha, wife of James B. Medlar, no issue. 2. Edwin J., wno married Caroline Danner, and their children are : Myra, wife of George Metzger, and mother of three children-Anna, Edwin and Carrie Metz- ger ; Edwin J., who married Flora Schweyer, and their children are: Emily, and Caroline Bal- liet ; and Eliza, wife of William Huntzberger, and mother of two children-Edwin, and Carrie Huntzberger. 3. Allen, who married Sarah Hoffman, and one child was the issue of this union, Clara, who became the wife of Calvin Steckel, and their family consists of two children -Alma and Clara Steckel. 4. William Henry, mentioned hereinafter. 5. Henrietta, who be- came the wife of Francis Sanders, and mother of five children-George, Henry, and Ellen, who died in childhood : David, who married Emma Rau, and their family consisted of three children -George, who married Evelyn Moyer and has three children-Miriam, Evelyn, and Howard- Charles, and Erward Sanders ; for his second wife David Sanders married Elizabeth Gilbert. Frank Sanders, the younger son, married Sallie Wor-
man, and their children are Mabel, Frank, Fran- cis, and Esther Sanders. 6. Joseph E., mentioned hereinafter. Bartholomew Balliet, father of these children, was one of the leading contractors and builders of the city of Allentown, and during his business career built many handsome residences and a number of the churches. His death oc- curred in the year 1858; he was survived by his wife, who passed away in the year 1882.
William H. Balliet was born at No. 104 North Sixth street, Allentown, Pennsylvania, this having been the second brick house on that street, and it was erected by his father more than seventy years ago. He attended the public schools, where he obtained an excellent preparatory education, and this was supplemented by attendance at a private school conducted by Professor Stralley. After completing his studies he learned the trade of carpenter and builder with his father, who was then conducting business in a small shop located at the corner of Sixth and Linden streets ; the building is standing at the present time (1904). At the age of twenty-three years he started in business for himself, confining his op- erations to the building of houses, and he gener- ally had all the work he could attend to. In 1866 he established the first planing mill in Allen- town, on the present site of the furniture factory of Johnston & Schwartz, and here for many years Mr. Balliet and his partners conducted business under the style of Pretz, Balliet, Gossler & Co. Finally, he disposed of his interest in this busi- ness, and from that time until the year 1886, when he was appointed tax collector, which position he held for ten consecutive years, he devoted his entire time and attention to contracting, which proved a remunerative source of income. Mr. Balliet is a consistent member of the Lutheran church, an active member of the Knights of Pythias, an ardent supporter of the principles of Republicanism, and a strong advocate of the cause of temperance. He was the first man to carry a banner of the Temperance Association through the streets of Allentown, and upon that occasion he was assailed with a volley of stones which he had to dodge in order to escape un- scathed. He has been active and energetic in
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SEVENTH AND HAMILTON STREETS, ALLENTOWN, IN 1862 ( FROM A PHOTOGRAPH NOW IN POSSESSION OF DR. GEORGE T. ETTINGER ) SHOWING THE OLD ZION'S REFORMED CHURCH, SINCE REPLACED WITH A NEW HOUSE OF WORSHIP, AND THE CORNER NOW OCCUPIED BY SHANKWEILER AND LEHR, CLOTHIERS.
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promoting all enterprises which have had for their object the betterment and uplifting of hu- manity, and he is an excellent type of American citizenship.
Mr. Balliet married Louisa Geiss, daughter of Christian and Hannah (Uberroth) Geiss, and granddaughter of John Geiss. Christian and Hannah Geiss were the parents of eleven chil- dren, four of whom are living at the present time (1904), namely: I. James, who married Caro- line Stuber, and their children are-Charles, who married Amanda Leinberger, and their family consists of three children-George, unmarried ; Anna, wife of William Heller, and mother of two children; and Mary, wife of Edwin Lentz, and mother of four children. 2. Amos, who mar- ried Sarah Keiser, and their children are Robert, unmarried ; and Ida, wife of Mr. Heberling, and mother of two children. 3. William, who mar- ried Mary Bruder, and their children are Alice, wife of C. Fred Stiles, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work; Emma, wife of John Birkenstock, and mother of one child; Lavina, wife of A. J. Bigelow, a sketch of whom appears ·elsewhere in this work; Blanche, unmarried ; and William, unmarried. 4. Laura, wife of William Hannersly, and mother of the following named children : Alice, wife of Frank Freed, and mother ·of one child, Ralph Freed; Mable, wife of Armon Heermann, no issue; Charles, who married Ger- trude Wilson, and they are the parents of one child, Charles Hannersley ; and Lewis, who mar- ried Miss Miller, no issue. Mr. and Mrs. Bal- liet are the parents of five children, as follows : I. Emma, wife of Frank J. Newhard, no issue ; 2. Alice, wife of Alvin B. Knauss, and mother of one child, Edgar Knauss; 3. Henry William, who married Eliza Weiler, no issue: 4. Chis- tiana J., unmarried ; 5. Ella L., also unmarried.
Joseph E. Balliet, deceased, brother of Wil- liam H. Balliet, was born in a brick house erected by his father on Sixth street, Allentown, this having been the second brick house on that street, September 18, 1837. The rudiments of his edu- cation were acquired in the public schools of his native city, and later he was a student in the Al- dentown Academy and Seminary. He then se-
cured a position as telegraph operator, and was stationed at Mauch Chunk and other points in the employ of the Lehigh Valley Railroad Com- pany, continuing in that capacity for fourteen years. He was also for a number of years in charge of the express office at Mauch Chunk. On March II, 1857, he entered the employ of the Allentown National Bank as a clerk, and by the faithful performance of his duties was ad- vanced to the position of second teller on No- vember 28, 1859. In September, 1862, he en- listed in Company E, Fifth Regiment Pennsyl- vania Volunteers, composed of emergency men for the defense of the state during the invasion of General Lee, and under the command of Cap- tain William S. Marx. On his return from ser- vice, Mr. Balliet re-entered the bank, and on May 2, 1864, was appointed teller to succeed the late William J. Hoxworth. He continued in that po- sition until January 26, 1897, when the duties of the position became too heavy for his impaired health, and he felt it incumbent upon him to re- sign. As a mark of honor and in recognition of his long and valuable services in the bank, he was promoted to the responsible position of vice- president in January, 1896, which he filled up to the time of his death, this office having been especially created for him.
For many years Mr. Balliet was secretary of the Allentown Passenger Railway Company, was connected with the management of several building associations which have since gone out of business, and was the first treasurer of the Security Association, of which he was one of the organizers. He was secretary and treasurer of the Music Hall Association, and was instru- mental in the erection of that building. He took a great interest in the development of the cement industry of the county, and was an extensive stockholder in the Coplay Cement Works. He was elected treasurer of that company in 1885. served until 1888 and in October of that year he succeeded the late Eli J. Saeger as president, filling that position up to the time of his death. He was the owner of two valuable farms, one at Cedarville, and the other in Salisbury. For thirty years he served as deputy county treasurer, and
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also filled at one time the office of city auditor. Mr. Balliet was a past master of Barger Masonic Lodge, a Knight Templar, a member of Allen Chapter and Allen Commandery ; a past grand of Lehigh Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows; a member of the Livingston Club, and an honorary member of the Euterpean Club. He was a member of Grace Episcopal church, and succeeded the late Dr. A. J. Martin as senior warden. He was a public-spirited citizen, a gen- erous contributor to philanthropic movements, and a kind and devoted friend. Although many millions of dollars passed through his hands as bank teller and as treasurer of various organiza- tions, there was not the slightest taint of dishon- esty ever attached to his name. He was a skilled accountant, a deft counter, and knew good from bad money with almost intuitive knowledge. Mr. Balliet was unmarried. His death occurred at his home, No. 104 North Sixth street, June 12, 1897, and the funeral services were conducted in Grace Episcopal church by the rector, the Rev. R. H. Kline. The regular choir was augmented by Dr. A. L. Kistler, A. B. Lewis, Charles Rau, and William Murphins, of the Euterpean Club. Barber Lodge, F. and A. M., and Lehigh Lodge, I. O. O. F., attended in a body. At Union Ceme- tery, where the remains were interred, the Ma- sonic burial ritual was recited by Chaplain A. K. Jacks, and Worshipful Master Thomas E. Gehringer. The pallbearers were members of that order. The following is the minute of ac- tion of the Allentown National Bank on the death of Joseph E. Balliet :
"It is with profound regret that we are com- pelled to record the sudden and untimely death of our respected vice-president, Joseph E. Bal- liet. It is so short a time since he was among us in the active performance of his duties, that we can scarcely realize that he is to be with us no more. In bearing tribute to his many virtues as a man and an officer of this institution, we feel that no language can be too strong to truly ex- press our sentiments. For forty years he has served this bank, its stockholders and patrons, in positions of high responsibility-positions in which clear. intelligent business judgment and unquestioned integrity and honor were absolutely
essential to faithful service. During all this time he never failed in any of these attributes. A kindness of heart far beyond any outward mani- festation of it; a keen and sensitive regret at all seeming offense gainst the sensibilities and feel- ings of others; a charity measured only by the wide field and variety of demands that were freely made upon it; a fealty to faithful friends and relatives that knew no limit ; a purity of life and purpose that may be a safe example to all of us -formed a cluster of traits in his character con- ceded by all who knew him. As a business man and bank officer he was the soul of integrity and honor-absolutely honest and straightforward in all his business relations. He never failed in the performance of a business duty, in the fulfillment of a business obligation, nor in fidelity to any trust confided to him. After his connection of forty years with this instiution, its officers and directors feel honored in entering on its records. the formal declaration that he was faithful to every trust, and failed in no duty."
ARNOLD R. LEWIS. The pioneer ances- tors of the Lewis family were Ralph Lewis and Mary his wife, members of the Society of Friends, who came from Glamorganshire, Wales, and settled in Haverford township, Chester coun- ty, Pennsylvania, about the year 1683. They were the parents of several children, one of whom was Samuel, born May II, 1687, who married Phoebe Taylor, and they had a son Josiah, who married Martha Allen, and their eldest child was William Lewis.
William Lewis was born at Edgemont, Ches- ter county, Pennsylvania, February 2, 1751. He attended the Friends' Seminary at Willistown and Robert Proud's school in Philadelphia, and in 1770 commenced the study of law under the instruction of Nicholas Waln, Esq., of Philadel- phia. He was admitted to the bar of Philadel- phia on September 4, 1773, and practiced his profession there until 1777, when he removed to Chester county, where he remained until the British evacuated Philadelphia, when he returned thither. He was elected to the Pennsylvania legislature in 1787-88-89, was a member of the- convention which framed the state constitution of 1790; September 26, 1789, he was commis- sioned by President Washington United States
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attorney for the district of Pennsylvania, and July 14, 1791, upon the death of Judge Hop- kinson, the president, without solicitation, con- ferred upon Mr. Lewis the office of judge of the United States district court in and for the Penn- sylvania district. This office he held only about a year, and then resigned. In 1780, the Pennsyl- vania Assembly passed an act for the abolition of slavery in the state "the first act or edict ever passed or issued by any legislative body or auto- crat which abolished slavery." Its author was William Lewis, and the Society of Friends pre- sented him a service of plate as a tribute of re- spect for his exertions in the cause of freedom. The merit of first abolishing slavery has been claimed by Massachusetts, the claim being based upon the state constitution which was adopted March 2, 1780, and which declared that all men are created free and equal. Substantially the same language is to be found in the Declaration of July 4, 1776, but it has never been supposed that either was intended to or actually did abolish slavery in the old thirteen United States.
The legislature of Pennsylvania on March 27, 1787 passed what was called the "Confirming Law," "an act for ascertaining and confirming to certain persons, called Connecticut claimants, the lands by them claimed within the county of Luzerne." On April 1, 1790, while William Lewis was a member of the assembly, this act was repealed; "its repeal was fought and re- sisted most strenuously by the members from Philadelphia-lawyers living in the very home of Penn-and many eminent men in and out of the assembly," says Governor Hoyt in his "Brief of Title." Fourteen members of the assembly voted against the repeal, among them being William Rawle and William Lewis, who prepared and filed elaborate and luminous dissentients from the vote. In 1859 the Hon. Horace Binney, LL. D., wrote and published his little book entitled "The Leaders of the Old Bar of Philadelphia," in which thirty-seven pages are devoted to Judge Lewis. The following paragraphs have been taken there- from.
During the whole of the Revolution and for years afterwards, Mr. Lewis was engaged in nearly all of the important cases and especially in cases of high treason, for which he had a special vocation and capacity and of which there was a plentiful crop in our City of Brotherly Love up to the advent of peace. The prominence of the city of Philadelphia as the seat of the con- gress of the confederation, and her superiority in population and commerce, up to the removal of the seat of the federal government to the city of Washington in 1801, may account in some degree for the diffusion of Mr. Lewis's celebrity, which partook of the distinction awarded to the city. But it was not in criminal law alone that he was deemed by other cities to be the most able man at the bar. He was a person of great intellectual ardor and of strong grasp of mind, and both in law and politics, and other matters too, he took firm hold of whatever interested him. His great devotion was, of course, to professional studies.
In February, 1794, he was counsel for the petitioners against the election of Albert Galla- tin to the senate of the United States by the legislature of Pennsylvania, and was heard be- fore the senate ; the first occasion on which the senate opened its doors to professional counsel or to the public.
He achieved a great victory at the bar, and also in the legislature of Pennsylvania in the year 1788, when a spirit of factitious jealousy, under the lead of a very ardent and determined man, aspired to deprive the supreme court of the state of one of its most ancient and necessary powers -the right of the court to punish by fine and im- prisonment, without trial by jury, for a contempt of court in the columns of a newspaper.
When fully engaged in argument he saw no- thing and thought of nothing but his cause ; and, in that would sometimes rise to the fervor and energy of a sybil. He was about six feet in height as he stood, and would have been more if he had been bent back to a perpendicular from the curve in which he habitually inclined forward. At the same time he was very spare of flesh and destitute of almost all dimensions but length. His countenance was intellectual, but its general effect was hurt by his spectacles, and by the alti- tude and length of his nose, of which, neverthe- less, he was immensely proud.
He abominated the Gallican invention, as he called it, of pantaloons, and stuck to knee- breeches all his life ; and, under the same preju- dice, he adhered to hair powder and a cue, be- cause the French revolutionists had first rejected
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them from their armies. He smoked cigars in- cessantly ; he smoked at the fireplace in court; he smoked in the court library; in his office; in the street ; in bed ; and he would have smoked in church, if he had ever gone there.
Mr. Lewis's career was a manifestation of the aristocracy of mind; his powers of reason- ing were of the highest order; his manner of speech was rough but most powerful; he spoke the English language with extraordinary purity ; his wit was keen but rough, and in sarcasm he had no equal.
In 1820 William Primrose of Philadelphia, who had been a friend and contemporary of Judge Lewis, wrote a very interesting sketch of the latter's life. The original manuscript of Mr. Primrose was given into the possession of the Lewis family and has remained there to the pres- ent time. In April, 1896, the sketch was pub- lished in the Pennsylvania Magazine of History, Philadelphia, accompanied by a silhouette of Judge Lewis.
On November 25, 1771, Judge Lewis mar- ried Rosanna Lot. He died at his home near the Falls of Schuylkill, August 15, 1819, and was buried in St. Peter's Churchyard, Philadelphia.
Josiah Lewis, eldest child of William and Rosanna (Lot) Lewis, was born in Philadelphia in 1772. On March 28, 1799, he was married by Bishop White to Margaret Delaney, born in 1780, died October 31, 1852, a daughter of Colo- nel Sharp Delaney, of Philadelphia. In the sum- mer of the year 1804, Josiah Lewis came with his wife and an infant son from Philadel- phia to Wilkesbarre, where he resided until 1809, when he removed to Kingston, Luzerne county, where he remained until 1818, when he returned to Wilkesbarre. In 1806 he was con- stable of Wilkesbarre borough and township; in 1821 he was deputy surveyor of Luzerne coun- ty; and from May, 1830, to May, 1833, he was burgess of Willkesbarre borough. In 1834 he moved from Wilkesbarre to a farm which he owned in what is now Old Forge, Lachawanna county, Pennsylvania. In the winter of 1838 he sustained a severe fall on the ice, and from that time until his death, which occurred at his home
in Lackawanna county, May 2, 1851, he was a cripple, almost helpless. Mr. Lewis was a good classical scholar, having received his education at the old Philadelphia Academy, and was a sur- veyor by profession. "He was an extraordinary man, and would have made his mark in any posi- tion in life; cordial and social in his intercourse with his friends and neighbors, his company was sought and appreciated, and he was always a welcome guest at the social or convivial board."
Sharp Delaney Lewis, the third child of Josiah and Margaret (Delaney) Lewis, was born in Philadelphia, January 2, 1804. He received his education in a private school at Kingston and in the Wilkesbarre Academy, which he attended in the years 1819-20. In 1882, at the age of seven- teen, he entered the printing office of Samuel Maffet, Wilkesbarre, to learn the printer's trade. Two years later Mr. Lewis became joint pub-
lisher of The Susquehanna Democrat with Mr. Maffet, whom in June, 1825, he bought out, and
was sole proprietor and publisher of the paper until 1830, when he was joined by his brother-in- law, Chester A. Colt. In January, 1830, Mr. Lewis was appointed by the commissioners of Luzerne county treasurer of the county. Early in the same year he published "The History of Wyoming," written in 1818 by Isaac A. Chap- man, Esq., a resident of the valley. The appen- dix-published with the history, and a valuable and interesting portion of the book-was written by Mr. Lewis a short time prior to its publication. "For a county publication (of sixty years ago), this book exhibits a fair degree of mechanical skill in respect both to printing and binding." Mr. Lewis sold his interest in the Democrat to the Hon. Luther Kidder in the latter part of 1831, and shortly after removed to the village of Kingston, where he established The Wyoming Republican and Farmers' Herald, which he edited with ability and published until December, 1836. The establishment was then sold to Miner S. Blackman and A. S. Tilden, who published the paper for a while under its old name, and then changed it to The Republican.
On April 18, 1835, Governor Wolf appointed
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Mr. Lewis justice of the peace for the second district of Luzerne county, comprising the town- ships of Kingston, Plymouth and Dallas, to hold office during good behavior. This term of office ended with the adoption of the new state consti- tution in 1838. During the remainder of his life he was generally known and familiarly spoken of as "Squire" Lewis. In 1836-37 he was secre- tary of the Wilkesbarre Bridge Company, and from about 1836 to 1842 he was engaged in mercantile business in Kingston, part of the time in partnership with Thomas C. Reese. "Squire" Lewis was the originator of the act known as "The Seven Years' Audit Act," passed by the legislature of Pennsylvania in July, 1842, which provides "that the court of common pleas of Lu- zerne county shall, on the application of one hun- dred taxable inhabitants of the county, appoint one or more suitable persons to re-audit, settle, and thoroughly investigate the accounts of the public officers of the said court; provided, that such investigation shall not extend to public of- ficers that have been out of office for a period exceeding seven years." This act was of suchi importance as to revolutionize the politics of Lu- zerne county. After its passage Mr. Lewis did much through the columns of The Wilkesbarre Advocate to point out to the auditors what were proper matters for investigation ; and to his labors in this direction he doubtless owed his subse- quent election as treasurer of Luzerne county. More than once during the last fifty years have the tax-payers of this county been benefited by having the provisions of this act carried out and enforced.
In November, 1843, The Wilkesbarre Advo- cate passed into the hands of Mr. Lewis, and he again took up his residence in Wilkesbarre. This paper, which had been established in 1832 as The Anti-Masonic Advocate, had been published by Amos Sisty from the year 1838 to July, 1843. Mr. Lewis edited and published the paper during the next ten years, with the exception of one year when C. E. Lathrop, Esq., of Carbondale, was his partner. Having been elected treasurer
of Luzerne county as the candidate of the Demo- cratic-Whig party, he performed the duties of the office with entire satisfaction to the people for one term, from January, 1848, to January, 1850. The Farmer and Journal of January 5, 1848, contained the following editorial note: "On Monday last the outgoing county treasurer (Colonel Johnson) handed over to his successor in office, Sharp D. Lewis, Esq., editor of the Advocate, the sum of $2,448 of county funds with which to begin his administration of the office. There being but few county orders in circulation, the Whig printer- treasurer is likely to have a light job and an easy berth. How the good man must have been as- tonished at that mass of money; only Pizano, when the glittering treasurers of Penn offered themselves to his attonished vision, could conceive the bewilderment of the poor printer."
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