USA > Pennsylvania > Carbon County > History of Carbon County, Pennsylvania; also containing a separate account of the several boroughs and townships in the county, with biographical sketches, 2nd ed > Part 25
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William Arner is a product of the Summit Hill high school. For about twenty years he conducted a tailor- ing establishment at Summit Hill, later engaging in the confectionery business. He was elected to the office of Register of Wills in 1915 as the candidate of the Democratic party, with which he has been actively iden- tified.
William Gruer
Eugene W. Bau
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY. .
On May 15, 1895, Mr. Arner was married to Mary, daughter of Henry Seibott, of Philadelphia. The fol- lowing children have been born to them: Reinhold, Edwin, Henry, Elizabeth, and Ethel.
Assmann, Rev. Joseph A., rector of St. Joseph's Roman Catholic church, of East Mauch Chunk, was born at Grevenstein, Westphalia, Germany, March 14, 1868. He was educated at Paderborn, Germany, and at St. Charles Seminary, Overbrook, Philadelphia.
Coming to America in 1886, he was ordained to the priesthood in 1894. He served successively as curate of Holy Trinity church, St. Bonaventure church, and Our Lady Help of Christians, all of Philadelphia. Later he was the rector of St. Vincent's church of Tacony. After serving St. John's church at Haycock, Bucks county, for eighteen months, he was for ten years the rector of the church of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, at Minersville, Schuylkill county.
Rev. Assmann came to St. Joseph's church in the spring of 1911. During his pastorate the church prop- erty has been improved, and a handsome parochial school building, costing $30,000, has been built. This is one of the most modern school buildings in the coun- ty, housing about three hundred children, being taught by seven Sisters of Christian Charity. Under the effi- cient administration of Rev. Assmann, the devoted pas- tor, St. Joseph's parish is in a flourishing condition, the parishioners are a strong, moral force in the commu- nity, and the carefully trained children will become the good Christians and the useful citizens of the future.
Baer, Eugene W., one of the most conspicuous fig- ures in Carbon county's business and industrial affairs, is the principal stockholder and president of the Baer
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Company, which operates a large silk mill at Lehigh- ton.
He was born at Paterson, New Jersey, September 9, 1868, his parents, Jacob F. and Louise (Blattner) Baer, being natives of Switzerland.
Jacob F. Baer was born November 27, 1836, and was educated in the schools of his native country, learning the trade of a silkmaker under the direction of his father, John F. Baer.
In 1856, being then twenty years of age, he emigrated to America, hoping to find in the new world better op- portunities for advancement and the achievement of success than the old afforded. He located in New York city, where for a short period he was engaged in the silk business, later taking up his permanent resi- dence at Paterson, New Jersey, where he prospered in his chosen field as a manufacturer of silk, having be- gun in a small way.
He suffered heavy financial losses in the panic which followed the failure of Jay Cooke & Company in 1873, and was obliged by force of circumstances to discon- tinue operations.
For several years subsequent to this period he served in managerial capacities in a number of large silk mills. The year 1888 found him again engaged in business on his own account, having established the Helvetia Silk Mills, numbered to-day among the lead- ing industrial enterprises of Paterson.
Jacob F. Baer was married in 1858. his children being as follows: Frederick A., Ralph, Eugene, Wil- liam A., Lewis C., Anna, Louise and Rose L. Baer.
The father died on November 29. 1905.
Eugene W. Baer is a product of the public schools, beginning his business career at the age of fourteen as an employe of J. Walder, a manufacturer of silk
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mill supplies, with whom he remained for two years. Subsequently he spent a year with the firm of Ulrich & Company, engaged in the same line of business, after which he served an apprenticeship of three and a half years with the Eastwood Company, builders of textile machinery. From 1888 until 1896 he was in the employ of his father in the Helvetia Mills in Paterson. It was during this period that Mr. Baer gained the prac- tical experience in the various departments of silk manufacture upon which his success has been built. The mechanical knowledge which he gained during the term of his apprenticeship here stood him in good stead, and being of an inventive turn of mind, he insti- tuted various new processes and devices.
He had now come to the point at which every man of force and originality arrives sooner or later. Serving in a subordinate capacity was no longer congenial to him, and he yearned to employ his energies and abil- ities unhampered by the will of a superior. Accord- ingly he formed the firm of Eugene W. Baer & Com- pany, and set up a silk spinning manufactory at River- side, one of the suburbs of Paterson.
After the business had been well established, Mr. Baer admitted his father to partnership with himself, and in 1898 the plant was removed to Lehighton, where large and modern buildings had been specially erected. This industry now gives employment to more people than any other in Lehighton.
In 1903 Mr. Baer purchased his father's interest in the business and the concern was incorporated under the style and title of The Baer Company, the heads of the various departments in the mill being permitted to become stockholders, while Mr. Baer assumed the presidency of the company. In 1907 a branch mill was
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erected at Berwick, Pa., and this has a capacity not much less than the mill at Lehighton.
Mr. Baer is also a partner and stockholder in the Helvetia Silk Mills, and is a member of the board of directors. He was chiefly instrumental in the organi- zation of the Citizens' National Bank of Lehighton, of which institution he was president for several years. He resigned from this position June 23, 1910.
In December, 1889, Mr. Baer was united in marriage to Miss Cora B. Tice, daughter of David and Elizabeth Tice. Their children are: Cora E., Genevieve R., Rose L. and Eugene W., twins; Carlos A. and Margie E. Baer. All were born in Paterson excepting Margie, who claims Lehighton as the place of her nativity. Cora and Genevieve are now enrolled as students at the National Park Seminary, a select school for young women, at Washington, D. C.
Mr. Baer is an active member and liberal supporter of the Presbyterian church.
Balliet, Dr. Calvin J., a Lehighton physician and surgeon, is the son of Nathan and Sarah (Meinhard) Balliet. He is one of the numerous descendants of Paulus Balliet, a native of Alsace, Germany, who was born in the year 1717. Emigrating to America on the ship "Robert Oliver," Walter Goodman commanding, he landed on September 10, 1738, becoming one of the pioneer settlers of North Whitehall township, Lehigh county. He was a large landowner, and was a well- known inn keeper, being commonly referred to as "Bowl" Balliet, a name which, according to tradi- tion, was conferred upon him by the Indians, to whom he was accustomed to furnish refreshments from a wooden bowl.
Calvin J. Balliet was born in Mahoning township on January 11, 1875. His early training was received in
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the common schools of that district, and at the Normal Institute. Later he attended Palatinate College, Mey- erstown, Pa., and the Polytechnic Institute, of Balti- more. Entering Jefferson Medical College, he was graduated with the class of 1897, after which he took a post-graduate course at the Polyclinic Hospital, Phila- delphia.
In the fall of 1897 he located in Lehighton, where he has since practiced his profession, having built up a good practice among the friends and associates of his lifetime. He holds membership in the Carbon County Medical Society, the Pennsylvania Medical Society, the Lehigh Valley Medical Society and the American Med- ical Association.
Dr. Balliet was married in 1898 to Meta, daughter of Dennis Nothstein, of Mahoning township. They are the parents of six sons: Herman, Henry, Calvin, Jos- eph, Robert and Thomas.
Balliet, Nathan M., the senior member of the law firm of Balliet & Seidel, of Lehighton, is a representa- tive of one of Carbon county's foremost professional families.
Balliet is a name that has been prominent in eastern Pennsylvania since Colonial times. Joseph Balliet, the grandfather of N. M. Balliet, was a farmer in that portion of the Mahoning Valley which was formerly embraced in the territory of Northampton county, but which in 1811 became a part of Schuylkill county. The father of N. M. Balliet also bore the name of Nathan, and he was born in West Penn township, Schuylkill county. He was a farmer by occupation. In early life he was married to Sarah Meinhard, who was born at Nesquehoning, but spent her girlhood in the Mahoning Valley.
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Their children were: Thomas M., Francis S., Tilgh- man M., Nathan M., Andrew J., David M., Calvin .J .. Susan, Mary, Hannah, Emma and Amanda.
Thomas was for six years the superintendent of schools for Carbon county. Later he was superintend- ent of the schools of Springfield, Massachusetts, while he is now the dean of the school of pedagogy of the University of New York. He bears a national reputa- tion as an educator. Francis is a farmer, and lives on the old homestead. Tilghman is a practising physician in Philadelphia ; he also holds the chair of theraputics at Dartmouth Medical College. Andrew is an attorney at Seattle, Washington, and for a time he held a judi- cial position under the federal government in Alaska. David is a traveling salesman, living at Meyerstown. Pennsylvania. Calvin is a physician at Lehighton, while Susan is the wife of Edwin Hunsinger, of the same place. Mary, Hannah, and Emma remain at home; Amanda is married to Daniel W. Sittler, Esq., of Mauch Chunk. The father of this family died in 1896.
N. M. Balliet was born in Mahoning township, Car- bon county, on October 19, 1861. He acquired his early education in the public schools and at the Nor- mal Institute, located in his native township and founded by his brother, Prof. Thomas M. Balliet. He attended Kutztown State Normal School, and later studied at Franklin and Marshall College, from which he graduated with the class of 1886. Mr. Balliet taught in the public schools for a few years, after which he became an instructor in Greek and Latin at Palatinate College. Accepting a professorship at Ursinus Col- lege, he taught Latin and Roman literature there for two years, during which time he was also president of the summer school of languages at the same college.
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Forsaking the profession of teaching, he entered the New York Law School, from which he was graduated in 1895. Being admitted to practise in the courts of the state of New York, he maintained an office in New York city for a brief period.
In the fall of 1895 Mr. Balliet was admitted to the Carbon county bar, succeeding to the practise of the late Senator William M. Rapsher, and opening an of- fice in Lehighton. In 1896 he formed a partnership with his brother-in-law, Ira E. Seidel, under the firm name of Balliet & Seidel, and in addition to the office in Lehighton, they maintain a branch at Palmerton.
Mr. Balliet is a member of the board of education of Lehighton, while he is connected fraternally with the Masons and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is a member of the board of trustees of the Allen- town College for Women, and of the Publication Board of the Reformed Church of the United States.
N. M. Balliet was married to Emma L., daughter of Hon. Charles H. Seidel and his wife Kate, of Ma- honing township, on August 6, 1891. Their children are: Charles M., Paul, Nevin, and Katie S. Balliet.
Barr, Rev. W. Penn, A.M., pastor of Zion's Evan- gelical Lutheran church at Weatherly, was born at Mauch Chunk, February 16, 1867. He is a grandson of John Barr, who was a prominent business man of Berks county. His father was Francis A. Barr, a merchant tailor, also born in Berks county ; his mother bore the maiden name of Lizzie A. Helffrich, a native of Lehigh county.
William Penn Barr is one of a family of ten chil- dren; when he was four years old his parents removed to Lyons, Berks county, where he received his early education. Later he accompanied the family of his father to the state of Delaware, and after a residence
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of five years they established their home at Elizabeth- ville, Dauphin county, Pa. Following the trade of his father, Mr. Barr was for a number of years a merchant tailor, and then a bookkeeper. Entering Muhlenberg College, he graduated in 1896 with the degree of A.B. Three years later he graduated from the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Mt. Airy, Philadelphia, and was honored with the degree of A.M. by Muhlenberg College. Immediately upon his graduation he accepted a call from Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, of Mt. Joy, Pa. After serving this congregation for four years, he assumed the duties of his present pastorate at Weatherly, July 1, 1903. This charge also includes a preaching point at Lowrytown and St. Matthew's church in Packer township; he preaches at each on al- ternate Sundays in the afternoon. Under Rev. Barr's pastorate the church at Weatherly was enlarged and rebuilt at an outlay of seven thousand dollars. The church in Packer township was also remodeled and greatly improved. The debt so incurred has been liqui- dated in full, while much of the good showing that has been made by the congregations which he serves is due to his qualities of leadership.
Rev. Barr was first married to Miss Laura M. Swab, of Elizabethiville, Dauphin county, March 25, 1890, several years before he began his career as a student. She died on September 29, 1906, having borne him three children : Bernice E., Margaret V., and Francis A. Barr. Bernice was until recently located at Ches- ter, S. C., where she presided over the organ of the Presbyterian church.
Mr. Barr was re-married to Mary A. Koch, of Weatherly, October 25, 1907. She is a daughter of Hugh Koch and his wife Fietta, of MeKeansburg. Schuylkill county.
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
Barrington, Rev. William R., rector of St. Joseph's Roman Catholic church, of Summit Hill, is one of the ten children of John and Elizabeth (Payne) Barring- ton, natives of Ireland, who emigrated to America in 1846, settling in Philadelphia.
Father Barrington acquired his rudimentary train- ing in the public schools, completing his education at La Salle College, Philadelphia, and at St. Charles' Seminary. He was ordained to the priesthood on May 30, 1896. After serving various churches in Philadel- phia, he came to Summit Hill from St. Thomas' church in April, 1910.
St. Joseph's church is one of the oldest of the Cath- olic churches in this portion of the coal fields. As early as 1826 missionaries of the Catholic church from Eas- ton, Pottsville, and Tamaqua paid occasional visits to this locality, but it was not until about a quarter of a century later that a church edifice was erected.
During the comparatively short pastorate of Father Barrington many improvements have been made to the church and the rectory. Father Barrington has not only been the spiritual leader of his congregation, but he has taken an active and sympathetic interest in the temporal well-being of his people. He has won the warm regard of all classes in Summit Hill. He is a lover of art and is a talented musician.
Bauman, Dennis, an honored representative of one of Carbon county's pioneer families, now living in re- tirement at Allentown, was born at Bowmanstown, then a part of Northampton county, on April 10, 1819. The pioneer of his family in America was John Deter Bauman, who is known to have purchased land near the mouth of Lizard creek, in what is now East Penn township, Carbon county, in the year 1760. He was one of the first settlers of Northampton county north
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of the Blue mountains. Not only did he become an extensive land owner in this portion of the county, but he was also a successful hunter and trapper, as were his descendants for several generations. He was the father of four children: Bernhard, Henry, Mary, and Sabilla.
Henry settled near the point where St. John's church now stands in Lower Towamensing township, and about two miles north of Lehigh Gap, following farming and lumbering. His family consisted of two sons and two daughters. Occasionally the family was threatened by the Indians, and in one instance the head of the household sent his wife and children to a place near Easton for safety, while he remained alone in the wilderness.
The elder son, John D., the father of Dennis Bau- man, was born about the year 1772. In 1796 he settled where Bowmanstown now stands, erecting a dwelling of logs. He became a farmer and lumberman, and. like his predecessors, he spent much time in hunting and trapping. In 1808 he built a large and substantial stone house, and obtaining a license he conducted it as a hotel until the year 1853, the time of his death. The house was on the line of the old turnpike leading from Berwick to Easton, and was a stopping place for trav- elers on that highway.
Mr. Bauman served as a commissioner of Carbon county for the term of three years. He was the father of twelve children and was respected and loved by all who knew him. His brother, Henry, settled on a farm a short distance north of Lehigh Gap, on the east bank of the river, where he spent his entire life. He, too, reared a large family, and died at the advanced age of ninety-two years.
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
Dennis Bauman in early life assisted his father in his farming and lumbering operations, receiving the educational equipment then afforded by the district schools, and later pursuing a course of study at a boarding school in Bucks county, where he was in at- tendance for two successive winters. Mastering the art of a surveyor, he followed this as his principa! occupation for nine years, being appointed also as deputy surveyor of Carbon county by Governor Shunk. In 1849 he was elected to the office of prothonotary, while three years later his conduct of the affairs of the office was given the stamp of public approval in his unanimous re-election. He was next chosen as one of the associate judges of the county, serving in that ca- pacity for five years.
About the year 1855 he became a member of the firm of Bauman Brothers and Company, which established and operated an anthracite blast furnace at Parryville. Upon the dissolution of this co-partnership, of which Mr. Bauman was the acting financial member, in 1857, the Carbon Iron Company was organized and incor- porated. He was chosen as its president, and was regu- larly re-elected from year to year until 1876. The great panic which was then in progress closed down most of the iron manufacturing establishments of the Lehigh Valley, and the plant at Parryville proved no exception, the property passing to the Carbon Iron and Pipe Company. After this Mr. Bauman spent most of his time in looking after his private interests.
He was one of the founders of the Carbon Metallic Paint Company, which was organized about 1867, serv- ing as a member of its board of directors until 1902, and being the secretary and treasurer of the company during most of that time. He was also one of the or- ganizers of the First National Bank of Lehighton, in
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1875, being a member of its board of directors for more than a quarter of a century, and for a time its vice-president.
When Parryville was incorporated as a borough, in 1875, Mr. Bauman was honored in being chosen as the first chief burgess of the town, which position he held for several terms, finally declining further re-election, but serving as a member of the borough council for years thereafter. He became a member of the Manch Chunk lodge of Odd Fellows in 1849, still retaining his membership, and never having joined any other lodge or club. His partner in life was Mary, daughter of Henry Kress, of Northampton county. Four sons and a daughter were born to them. The wife and mother died on March 7, 1904, and in the fall of that year Mr. Bauman took up his residence with a daughter at Al- lentown, where he has since remained. He has been an earnest member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and a loyal Sunday school supporter since 1858, having filled many offices of honor and trust in these societies. He is indeed a grand old man in the full sense of the term, looking back from the eminence of years with patriarchal serenity upon his long life of probity and usefulness.
Berger, Adam, a hotel keeper of East Penn town- ship, and a former member of the board of county auditors, is the son of George and Kate (Kemmerer) Berger. His father was a native of Berks County. Establishing himself in the mercantile business at Ma- hanoy City, he remained there for a few years. Later he followed the occupation of a farmer in Mahoning and East Penn townships.
Adam Berger was born in Berks county on November 12, 1861. His early life was spent beneath the paternal roof, while his educational advantages were those sup.
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
plied by the public schools. Reaching man's estate, he engaged in farming in Mahoning township, later pur- suing the same occupation in East Penn. In 1892 he entered the hotel business in the latter township, where he has since lived, excepting a residence of a few years in Lehighton. He served one term as tax collector of East Penn township, and is now a member of the school board of that district.
In 1902, as the nominee of the Democratic party, he was elected to the office of county auditor, which he held for three years.
At the age of twenty he was married to Priscilla, daughter of Joseph Ruch, of East Penn township. Their children are: George V., Emma S., wife of Ed- ward Exner, and Stanley J. Berger.
Mr. Berger is identified with the Patriotic Order of Sons of America, the Junior Order of United Amer- ican Mechanics, and the Order of Independent Ameri- cans.
Bertolette, Frederick, for many years one of the lead- ing members of the Carbon county bar, and a public- spirited citizen of Mauch Chunk, was born near Potts- town, Montgomery county, April 26, 1851.
The family moved to Lewisburg, Union county, when he was quite small. He received his preliminary edu- cation there, and entering Bucknell University, he was graduated from that institution in 1872.
Coming to Mauch Chunk, he studied law in the office of his cousin, Colonel John D. Bertolette, who served with distinction in the Rebellion. He was admitted to the bar in 1874. He enjoyed a large practice, being particularly successful as a corporation lawyer. He took a prominent part in the famous Mollie Maguire trials, which gave him a reputation as a criminal law- yer. Later he defended the members of the train crew
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who were charged with the Mud Run Disaster, one of the most fatal wreeks in the annals of railroading, and secured their acquittal.
Mr. Bertolette was a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, and attended all its meetings so long as his health would permit.
He never sought public office; but at the time of his death he was burgess of Mauch Chunk, to which posi- tion he was appointed to fill out the unexpired term of his friend and neighbor, Asa P. Blakslee.
Every movement for the improvement and up-build- ing of the town of his adoption always had his cordial cooperation and support.
Mr. Bertolette was united in marriage to Louise, daughter of Lafayette Albright, of Lewisburg, in 1875. The following children were born to them: Helen, the wife of Rev. A. C. Dieffenbach, of Hartford, Conn .; Florence, who wedded H. N. Chapin, of Cleveland, Ohio, and Walter, who died in 1914 at the age of thirty- three.
Mr. Bertolette departed this life very suddenly at his home on March 10, 1915, in the sixty-fourth year of his age. As a mark of respect to his memory, all business was suspended in Mauch Chunk on the day of his burial.
Bevan, James J., who has been superintendent of schools for Carbon county since 1902, is of Welsh parentage, his father, William E. Bevan, having been born in Glamorganshire, Wales, in 1829. At the age of 21 he was united in marriage to Ann Jenkins, at Merthyr Tidvil. Shortly after their marriage the young couple emigrated to the United States, settling near Pottsville, Schuylkill county, Pa., where Mr. Bevan became a coal miner. After a short residence there, the family removed to Tresckow, Carbon county,
James J. Bevan
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
where the father became an influential member of the community and a prominent factor in Banks township politics. In 1873 he was elected to the office of county treasurer. He died in 1884.
James J. Bevan was born at Tresckow, January 31, 1861. At the age of fifteen he accompanied his fa- ther's family to Alabama, where the elder Bevan held an executive position about a soft coal mine. During his stay in the south, James was a student at the Shelby Collegiate Institute, located near Birmingham. Returning to the north in 1881, he was for a short time employed as a hoisting engineer at the mines near Tresckow. He then entered West Chester State Nor- mal School, where he pursued a scientific course. Two years after his graduation, this institution conferred the degree of M.S. upon him.
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