USA > Pennsylvania > Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania Vol. II > Part 61
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89
JAMES THOMAS, president of the Davies & Thomas Co., Foundry and Machine Works at Catasauqua, Pennsylvania, was born in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, September 22, 1836. He is a son of Hopkin and Catharine (Richards) Thomas, who were of an old and honorable Welsh ancestry.
Hopkin Thomas (father) was born in Glam- organshire, South Wales, in 1793. His early education was obtained in the public schools of the village in which he lived. When he reached the age of sixteen he became an apprentice in in the Neath Abbey Works, near Neath, South Wales, learning the trade of a machinist. In 1834 he emigrated to the United States, landing in Philadelphia, and at once secured employment in the Baldwin Locomotive Works, later entering
the shops of Garrett & Eastwick. Leaving these people, he accepted a position as master mechanic of the roads and mines of the Beaver Meadow Railway Company, and while serving in this ca- pacity he displayed remarkable inventive genius. It was through one of his inventions that anthra- cite coal was first used for fuel in locomotives. One type of coal breaker was also invented by him which is in use to the present day. Likewise he in- vented and successfully used the chilled cast-iron car-wheel, also the most improved and successful mine pumps and machinery of that day. In 1853 he became a resident of the borough of Catasau- qua, and from that year until his death, May 12, 1878, he very creditably filled the position of mas- ter mechanic of the Crane Iron Works.
His wife, Catharine ( Richards) Thomas, a native of Merthyr-Tydvil, South Wales, bore him the following named children : William R., Mary, who became the wife of James H. McKee : Helen, who became the wife of. John Thomas; James, hereinafter mentioned ; and Kate M., who became the wife of James W. Fuller.
James Thomas came to Catasauqua with his parents in 1853. In 1859 he went to Parryville to take the superintendency of the Carbon Iron Works. Leaving there in 1871 he went to Jeffer- son county, Alabama, and while there held the po- sition of general manager of the Irondale and Eureka Iron Companies. He enjoys the distinc- tion of having made the first coke iron in Ala- bama. In 1879 he returned to Catasauqua and formed a partnership with George Davies, under the firm name of Davies & Thomas. This firm was the outgrowth of a small concern which was established in 1865 by Daniel Davies. Shortly after its establishment a copartnership was formed with William Thomas, and in 1867 the interest of William Thomas was purchased by George Davies, a son of Daniel Davies. They organized under the firm name of Daniel Davies & Son, this firm having been in existence until the death of Daniel Davies in 1876. In 1879 George Davies and James. Thomas combined their interests un- der the firm name as given above, which contin-
356
HISTORIC HOMES AND INSTITUTIONS.
ued in existence until the death of George Davies in 1894. The following year the heirs of George Davies and the surviving member, James Thomas, took out articles of incorporation under the laws of the state of Pennsylvania with the corporate name of Davies and Thomas Company. The au- thorized capital stock was two hundred thousand dollars, which was afterward increased to three hundred thousand dollars. The directors are James Thomas, Rowland T. Davies, James T. Davies, George Davies, Charles R. Horn, Row- land D. Thomas, and Hopkin Thomas. The offi- cers are James Thomas, president ; Rowland T. Davies, vice-president ; Rowland D. Thomas, sec- retary and treasurer ; Charles R. Horn, general sales agent ; and George Davies, purchasing agent. Their offices are located at East Catasauqua, Pennsylvania, and 26 Cortlandt street, New York City. The plant is classed with the largest in the country conducting general foundry and machine work. The capacity of the foundry is over three hundred tons per day, and the ma- chine shop, blacksmith shop and pattern shop are of the largest capacity in the Lehigh Valley being equipped with the most modern tools for quick and accurate work. The plant covers more than twenty-five acres. The product is sold through- out the United States, Canada, South America, West Indies and all European countries.
Mr. Thomas is prominently identified with every enterprise calculated to promote the pros- perity of Catasauqua. He is president of the Wahnetah Silk Mill Company, and a director of the Catasauqua National Bank. Through his efforts the borough secured the establishment of the Electric Light and Power Company, of which he was one of the principal stockholders. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and an adherent of the Republican party. Taking a keen and active interest in the cause of education, he served faithfully and efficiently for some years as a member of the school board. Among the po- litical honors he has had thrust upon him might be mentioned his appointment as a delegate to the Republican national convention in Minneapolis in 1892.
GENERAL WILLIAM E. DOSTER, a cap- italist whose career has been one of signal useful- ness and honor, was born at Bethlehem, Pennsyl- vania, January 8, 1837, a son of Lewis and Pauline (Eggert) Doster. The ancestry of this branch of the Doster family is traced by church records- to:
I. Martin Doster, who emigrated from Sax- ony to Wurtemberg, Germany, during the middle of the seventeenth century. His son,
II. John Valentine Doster, was born in 1687, at Niederhofen, near Heilbrown, in Wurtemberg, and died there in 1759. He was married to Sus- sanna Stoll, and left a son,
III. John Philip Doster, born in 1729, and died in 1781. He served many years as mayor of the town of Niederhofeb. He married Rosina Maisenhaelder, and left a seventh son,
IV. Doctor Daniel Doster, born at Nieder- hofen in 1763, and died at Lancaster, Pennsyl- vania, in 1830. He was the founder of the family in the new world, which he reached at Philadel- phia, January II, 1817. His wife's maiden name was Marguerite Keppler, and they were parents of Lewis Doster, and grandparents of General W. E. Doster, (parallel with this branch of the Dos- ter family in Northampton county is the Lancas- ter branch, descendants of John Philip Doster, (2d) brother of Dr. Daniel Doster.) The latter first located at No. 33 Coates street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and later moved to Lancaster, where he practiced until his death. Besides his son Lewis, Daniel had a daughter named Eliza- beth, born in 1800, died in 1843. She was the wife of Charles Oertel, of Second street, Phila- delphia, Pennsylvania, and left no children.
V. Lewis Doster ( Ist) was born at Nieder- hofen, July 26, 1796, and first settled in Phila- delphia, Pennsylvania, and in 1826, on invitation of the Moravian Society, came to Bethlehem to assist Matthew Eggert, who then carried on the Society's woolen mill in Water street, which he later bought and greatly extended under the name of the Monockisy Woolen Mills, carrying on the same until his death in 1860. This plant was then carried on by Lewis Doster's sons until 1862,
357
GENEALOGICAL AND PERSONAL MEMOIRS.
when it was destroyed by fire. Lewis Doster was also in the lumber trade and other commercial en- terprises which contributed to the development of the town and his own success. In fact, in his time, he was recognized as the leading business man of Bethlehem. He was a member of the first town council of that borough. Before coming to this country he was a member of the German con- tingent which under General Cuistrine marched against Napoleon at Waterloo. From 1831 to 1838 he was a member of the Bethlehem Guards, attached to the Morgan Rifle battalion. He died May 27, 1860. His wife, Pauline Louise, was the daughter of Matthew Eggert and Maria, maiden name Rupert. Matthew Eggert, son of Christian Eggert, who came to Bethlehem, from Jorinam in 1746, was born at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in 1763 and died there in 1831. From 1792 to 1802 he was superintendent, (vorsteher), of the Single Brethren's house at Lititz, Pennsylvania. From 1808 to 1814 he taught the boy's school at Beth- lehem. In 1803 he was a member of the building committee which erected the famous Moravian church. Maria, his wife, was a daughter of Adam Rupert, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, who was a member of the Tenth Regiment of the Pennsyl- vania Line commanded by Colonel Hampton and Lieutenant Colonel Hubley, of Lancaster, Penn- sylvania. He enlisted in 1776, and served during the war of the Revolution, for which services his daughter, Mrs. Eggert, received a warrant for a tract of land in Mercer county, Pennsylvania, after her father's death.
Lewis and Pauline L. Doster had eight chil- dren living when Lewis died in 1860, viz .: Ed- mund, Lewis, Jr., Herman, Albert, Emile, Louise, Henry and Ellen.
(a) Charles Edmund, born in 1829 and died in 1864, was a prominent business man, assisting his father, and served as quartermaster in the Thirty- fourth Pennsylvania Regiment, Colonel Albright, during the Civil war.
(b) Lewis L., Jr., born in 1831, died in 1893, was married to Emma Luckenbach, daughter of Jacob Luckenbach, of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and moved to Philadelphia, where he was engaged
in the lumber trade. His children are, Edgar, born in 1858, and married Margaret Fleckler ; Herbert, born in 1860, died unmarried in 1883; Robert, born in 1862, married ---; Minnie, born in 1864, married in 1888 to Benjamin West. The latter has children as follows: Herbert and Gwendolin Estelle, born in 1877 married in 1903 to Dr. Morris Parker Boyle, of Glenside, Phila- delphia, Pennsylvania.
(c) Herman Augustus, born 1833, married in 1864 to Emily Detwiller, daughter of Dr. Charles Detwiller, deceased. Their children are Pauline, born 1867, married to Lewis Focht, of Trenton, New Jersey, in 1900, having one son Herman Lewis, born in 1901, and Elizabeth, born in 1869.
(d) Albert Theodore, born 1835, married in 1862 to Hannah Harris, of Summit Hill, Pennsyl- vania, who have the following children: Clara, born 1863; Isabel, born 1864; Ezra, born 1866; Cora, born 1868; Modesta, born in 1882.
(e) William E. is the next.
(f) Louise M. born 1842, mraried George L. Baum, and died 1876, leaving two children, Harry born 1867, and William, born 1871.
(g) Henry Edward, born 1844, died in 1887, served as corporal in One Hundred and Twenty- ninth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, Col- onel Frick, and later was detached in office of his brother, General Doster, at Washington, D. C. He married Mary L. Ripple, of Scranton, Penn- sylvania, and left children as follows : Frederick, born 1873; Joy, born 1875; Mav, born 1879; Henry, born 1887.
(h) Ellen, born 1851, died 1863.
William E. Doster, seventh son of Lewis ( I) was educated at the Moravian school of Bethle- hem, fitted for college at Van Kirk's Academy, and entered Yale College, graduating in 1857. He began to read law with Governor Andrew Reeder, at Easton, Pennsylvania, then successively graduated at Harvard Law School, and the Uni- versity of Heidelberg, Germany. He also at- tended law lectures on the Code Napoleon at Paris, France. In 1861 he was reading law at Philadelphia, when the Civil war broke out, and he entered the service, and was mustered in on
358
HISTORIC HOMES AND INSTITUTIONS.
August 15, 1861, as captain of Company A, Fourth Regiment Pennsylvania Cavalry. In Oc- tober, 1861, he was promoted to major, and in February, 1862, was appointed to succeed Gen- eral Andrew Porter, as provost-marshal of the District of Columbia with command of a brigade, and a flotilla on Chesapeake Bay. In the spring of 1863, on being promoted to lieutenant-colonel, he rejoined his regiment in the Army of the Po- tomac, and followed its fortunes under Averill, Stoneman, Pleasanton, Kilpatrick and Gregg, be- ing at Chancellorsville in command of the Sec- ond Brigade, Third Division, of the Cavalry Corps, and on the right under Gregg at Gettys- burg. In 1864, he resigned from the service, was admitted to the bar, and first practiced at Washington, D. C. While so engaged he was counsel for two of the prisoners during the cele- brated conspiracy trial for the assassination of President Lincoln. Later he moved to Easton, Pennsylvania, and practiced law there until 1873, when he moved to Bethlehem, where he has con- tinued in active practice to the present time. From 1867 to 1879 he held the office of register in bankruptcy for the eleventh congressional dis- trict. For twenty-five years he has been counsel for the Bethlehem Iron (now Steel) Company, the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company, and many other corporations, and has been eminently successful in the trial of contested causes, and the management of large estates. In 1879, at the request of the faculty, he delivered a course of lectures at Lehigh University on "Practice in the County Courts of Pennsylvania." He has often been solicited to become orator of the day on occasions of popular celebrations, and in 1891 consented to deliver the Sesqui-Centennial ora- tion at Bethlehem. In 1867, in connection with D. G. Godshalk, he founded the Chronicle, a weekly paper, afterwards merged in the Bethle- hem Daily Times. In 1869, in co-operation with his brother, Herman, he organized the New Street Bridge Company, of which he is still president, while his brother is secretary and treasurer. He is to-day the most extensive proprietor of real estate situated in Bethlehem and the surrounding
towns and townships. He has traveled much both at home and abroad, and his knowledge of the world, its languages, history and progress is. comprehensive and far reaching.
LEWIS DREISBACH, one of the venerable and esteemed residents of East Weissport, Penn .. sylvania, now leading a practically retired life, free from the anxieties and cares of an active business career, and enjoying to the full the ample competence which he acquired during his. many years of toil, is a well preserved man of his age, and a descendant of one of the first set- tlers in the territory included in the Lehigh Val- ley. He was born in Franklin township, Penn- sylvania, June 5, 1834.
Yost Dreisbach, who was great-grandfather of Lewis Dreisbach, was a native of Germany,. whence he emigrated to this country previous to the Revolutionary war, in which fierce and discouraging conflict he took an active part, and was a true patriot in defense of his adopted coun- try. Yost Dreisbach, great-grandfather of sub- ject, was a farmer by occupation, came from Northampton county, and settled at what is now known as Pohopoco Creek, Franklin township, Carbon county. He was the owner of a large tract of land consisting of about four hundred acres, and at his decease at the advanced age of ninety-three years the property was divided among his sons. He married a Miss Solt, and their family consisted of seven children-John,. Daniel, Peter, Mrs. Jacob Horner, Mrs. William Kern, Mrs. Samuel Hartman and Mrs. Daniel Vance.
John Dreisbach, son of Yost Dreisbach, and grandfather of Lewis Dreisbach, was a resident of Franklin township, and during the active years of his long and useful life devoted his entire at- tention to agricultural pursuits, which proved both a congenial and profitable occupation. He married and reared a family of children, among whom were two sons-Daniel and Peter.
Daniel Dreisbach, son of John Dreisbach, and father of Lewis Dreisbach, was born in Franklin township, Pennsylvania, in 1796, and died in
359
GENEALOGICAL AND PERSONAL MEMOIRS.
1881, aged eighty-five years. Like his father and grandfather he was successful in all his un- dertakings, provided his family with all the necessaries and some of the comforts of life, and also amassed a fair competence. He was ex- tensively engaged in lumbering during the win- ter months and farming in the summer, conduct- ing the latter occupation on a one hundred acre tract of land in Franklin township, of which he was the owner. He married Amelia Solt, daugh- ter of John Solt, who bore him the following named children: Maria, Selinda, Eliza, Harry, Hannah, Lewis, Tilman, Joseph, Charles and Amelia.
Lewis Dreisbach, second son of Daniel and Amelia Dreisbach, attended the common schools of Franklin township, after which he served an apprenticeship at the carpenter trade, which he followed for twenty-five of the best years of his manhood. He located on his present farm in East Weissport, Pennsylvania, in 1868, and since then his health has deterred him from taking an active part in the labors thereof. He served his township in the capacities of assessor, overseer of the poor and school director. In 1864 he re- sponded to the need of his country for men who were willing to sacrifice their lifes if necessary, and first offered his services as an emergency man to defend his own state. After his discharge from the militia he joined the regular United States troops as a private in Company G. Two Hundred and Fifteenth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, for one year or during the war, and was honorably discharged in 1865, at the termination of hostilities. He is a member of Grand Army Post No. 484, of Lehighton, Pennsylvania.
Mr. Dreisbach was united in marriage, March 17, 1858, to Harriet Horn, a native of Weiss- port, and daughter of Hermon and Amelia Horn, the former named having been a commissioned officer in the mounted service during the Civil war. The following named children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Dreisbach: Edwin W., a mer- chant ; Ida, Harvey, George, Herman, deceased ;
Tilman, deceased; Scott, a confectioner; and Alice, deceased. The family are members of the Evangelical church, in which body Mr. Dreis- bach was class leader for a number of years.
EDWIN W. DREISBACH. Energy, in- dustry and perseverance have been the character- istic traits in the successful career of Edwin W. Dreisbach, a promising business man of East Weissport, Pennsylvania, whose family history is given in detail in the preceding sketch of Lewis Dreisbach. Edwin W. Dreisbach was born in Franklin township, Carbon county, Pennsyl- vania, September 21, 1858, a son of Lewis and Harriet (Horn) Dreisbach, the former having been born in Franklin township, Carbon county, in 1834, and the latter in Lehigh county, in 1840.
The common schools of Franklin township afforded Edwin W. Dreisbach a practical educa- tion which qualified him for the activities of life. While yet in his 'teens he learned the trade of moulder, at which he labored for twenty years, but at the expiration of this period of time his health became impaired and he was forced to en- gage in another line of business. The last five years of the said twenty were spent in building up a trade in the general store which he established in Weissport, which during this time was con- ducted by his wife, and later by himself. His store was stocked with a large and complete line of general merchandise which he replenished and added to from time to time, and, by close applica- tion to all the duties pertaining thereto, and a strictly honorable adherence to business princi- ples, he soon acquired a large patronage and a host of friends. During the fourteen years he has devoted to mercantile pursuits he has prog- ressed in a wonderful manner and achieved a large degree of financial success. He built his own store and dwelling house, both of which are handsome and commodious buildings, and these are equipped with all the modern conveniences. Mr. Dreisbach has held the office of school di- rector in the independent district, and also served in a number of important capacities in the town-
360
HISTORIC HOMES AND INSTITUTIONS.
ship. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Malta, and the Junior Order of United American Mechanics.
Mr. Dreisbach was married to Eliza- beth Phifer, who was born in Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, in 1855, a daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth' Phifer, of Parry- ville, Carbon county, whither they removed in the year of her birth. Jacob Phifer had charge of the furnace at Parryville, and resided in the town up to the time of his decease; his widow is now living at Allentown, Pennsylvania, and they were the parents of ten children, seven of whom are living, namely : Mattie, Ella, Robert, James, Beulah, Blanche and Elizabeth Phifer. Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Dreis- bach, and the following named are the surviving members of the family: Bessie A., Hattie A., Jacob L., Walter E. and Marion B. Dreisbach.
JACOB W. GRIM, who as a member of the firm of Grim Brothers, brick manufacturers of Allentown, Pennsylvania, controls one of the leading productive industries of that city, was born in the year 1858, in the borough where he yet resides, his parents being Peter Knapp and Elizabeth (Mosser) Grim.
He is descended in the paternal line from good old Revolutionary stock, and is a representative of a colonial family that was established in Penn- sylvania at an early period in the development of the state. His paternal great-grandparents were Heinrich Grim and his wife, who was a Hottenstein. Among their children was David Grim, the grandfather, whose birth occurred in Berks county, Pennsylvania, and who, joining the American forces at the time of the Revolu- tionary war, rose to the rank of colonel in Wash- ington's army. He wedded Miss Hannah Knapp, and their family included Peter Knapp Grim, who was born on the 20th of January, 1829, in Lehigh county. He has for many years made his home in Allentown, and for a long period was engaged in the tanning business, but withdrew from the trade in 1881, and died March 27, 1900. He married Miss Elizabeth Mosser, who was born in Lehigh county in 1827, and who died
July 1, 1899. Her father, Jacob Mosser, who was a tanner by occupation, was called to his final rest in his seventy-ninth year. To the marriage of Peter K. and Elizabeth ( Mosser) Grim were born nine children. David, the eldest, married Sarah Schaffer, and their children are as fol- lows: Harry, who married Lizzie Otto, and has two children, Calvin and Evelyn ; Peter, who mar- ried Grace J. Kern, and has two children, Anora M. and Luther D .; Frank D., who wedded Emma Fleming, and had one child, Earle; Will R., who married Sadie Miller, and has one daughter ; Helen E., Luella, and Ida, all at home. Ellen, the second child of Peter K. and Elizabeth Grim, is now the wife of William J. Frederick, and has three children, Bessie, Mabel and Lillian. Kate, the third member of the family, is unmarried. Amanda is the wife of John S. Hartzell, and their children are: Elizabeth, wife of Tilden A. J. Kelchner ; Florence, the wife of Lyman Clark ; Ralph, Catherine, and John. Emma, the fifth child of Peter K. Grim, died in infancy. Jacob W. is the sixth in order of birth. Albert P. mar- ried Tillie Hauck, and they have one daughter, Florence. R. Tillie is the wife of Charles J. Ap- ple, and has two children, May and Charles. An- nie is the wife of L. O. Shankweiler, and has four children: Claude, Edna, Raymond, and Anna.
Jacob W. Grim was a pupil in the public school of his native city in his early boyhood days, and after acquiring a knowledge of the pre- liminary branches of learning became a student in the Allentown Business College. On leaving that institution he secured a position as book- keeper in a leather store, and in the spring of 1877 he was appointed bookkeeper of the Allen- town Tannery, owned by the firm of Mosser & Grim, the junior partner being his father. He acted in that capacity until 1881, when the part- nership was dissolved. Not long afterward Ja- cob W. Grim entered into a business relation with his brother, Albert P. Grim, and they embarked in mercantile pursuits, establishing a ninety-nine cent store, which they conducted with varying success until 1887, in which year they disposed of this enterprise. In the spring of 1888 they
farbst Grim
albert P. Prim
361
GENEALOGICAL AND PERSONAL MEMOIRS.
began to manufacture building and joining brick, which industry has proven a lucrative means of livelihood, and to its conduct they have devoted their entire attention up to the present time, 1904. They purchased property in South Allentown, Pennsylvania, and their plant, which is equipped with the best and most modern machinery, has an annual output of between three and four mil- lion bricks. A small portion of their goods is shipped away, but the greater part finds a ready sale on the home market. This is one of the lead- ing industries of the community, and is managed in an honorable and businesslike manner. Mr. Grim is an advocate of the principles of Republi- canism, but has never allowed his name to be used in connection with the candidacy for any politi- cal office, preferring to devote his leisure hours aside from his business pursuits to the enjoyments of home life and the companionship of his wife and children.
Mr. Grim has been married twice. His first wife was Mary Miller, who bore him one child, Anna, and his second wife, Aggie (Miller) Grim, is a sister of his first wife. They were the daugn- ters of Henry and Sarah (Siebert) Miller, who in addition to the children above mentioned, were the parents of Ann, wife of James N. Rhoda, and mother of five children, viz : Ralph, who mar- ried Julia Hecker ; Warren, William, Margaret and Noble Miller ; and William Miller, who mar- ried Emma Bleam. Mr. Grim and his family are members of the Reformed church.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.