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 27
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Bowman, Penn, a leading and influential resident of Bowmanstown, is a descendant in the fifth generation of John Deter Bowman, who was one of the first set- tlers of that portion of Northampton county lying north of the Blue Ridge, and now a part of Carbon county.
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
His father, Josiah Bowman, was the youngest son of John D. Bowman, and was a great grandson of the original settler.
Josiah Bowman was born in the old stone hotel at Bowmanstown, builded by his father, and in early life he became the landlord of this hotel. Later he engaged in contracting and lumbering, besides operating two farms. With his brother, Henry, he was one of the pioneers in the manufacture of brown metallic paint, the ore from which this product is made being found in the Stony Ridge, near Bowmanstown. He was also financially interested in the iron works at Parryville, established and originally conducted by the firm of Bowman Brothers and Company.
Mr. Bowman chose as his life partner Louisa Berke- meyer, of Heidelberg, Lehigh county. Their children were: Henrietta L., wife of Lewis F. Balliet; Mar- garet, who married Abel Boyer ; Penn, Lillie Q., widow of Harry J. Aaron, and Alton H. Bowman. Two oth- ers died in infancy.
Penn Bowman was born at Bowmanstown, May 21, 1864. He attended the public schools and was for several terms a student at Kutztown State Normal School. He is also a graduate of the Allentown Busi- ness College. For a short time after leaving school he was employed as a bookkeeper at Allentown, but in 1889 formed a partnership with E. A. Boyer, starting in the mercantile business at Bowmanstown under the firm name of Boyer and Bowman. Purchasing the in- terest of his partner in 1893, Mr. Bowman conducted the business as sole owner until 1905, when he, in turn. sold out to Mr. Boyer.
He then operated a planing mill for several years, and followed the business of a general contractor.
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
Mr. Bowman is a director of the Citizens' National Bank of Lehighton, being associated in a similar capa- city with the Towamensing Fire Insurance Company. He was one of the organizers of the Lutheran church at Bowmanstown, and has served as superintendent of the Sunday school connected therewith for a number of years.
In 1889 he was united in marriage to Agnes M., daughter of Edward Boyer, of Millport, Carbon county.
Bowman, Robert, a well-known Lehighton young man, was born there on April 15, 1884, the son of Fran- cis and Amelia (Freeman) Bowman. He is one of the numerous descendants of John Dieter Bowman (or Bauman), a native of Germany, who emigrated to this country in the year 1727, first settling in Philadelphia. He was one of the earliest pioneers north of the Blue Ridge, becoming a large landholder near Lehigh Gap. His grandson, John D., built the first house in Bow- manstown in 1796, and the town is named in his honor.
Robert Bowman was graduated from the Lehighton high school with the class of 1902. Entering the serv- ice of the Lehigh Valley Railroad at Packerton in a clerical capacity, he is now the chief timekeeper of the yard at that place.
Taking an active interest in borough affairs, he was elected to town council in Lehighton, being the presi- dent of that body. He is also the vice-president of En- gine Company No. 2.
Mr. Bowman was married on December 6, 1906, to Elmira, daughter of Jacob Snyder and his wife, Eme- line, of Towamensing township. Their children are Emma and Arthur.
Boyle, James J., editor and owner of the Mauch Chunk Daily Times, the pioneer daily newspaper of
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Carbon county, is the son of Daniel and Grace (Han- lon) Boyle, and was born at Seek, Schuylkill county, April 4, 1872. His father emigrated to this country from Ireland in 1869.
When James was still quite young, his parents re- moved to Old Buck Mountain, Carbon county, where the father was employed as a coal miner, while his son picked slate on the breaker of the colliery and during the winter months attended the public schools. After a residence of fifteen years at this place, the family removed to Beaver Meadow, where Mr. Boyle received the rest of his schooling and worked in and about the mines in various clerical and mechanical capacities.
In 1902 he became a reporter on the staff of the Daily Standard, the only morning paper published in Hazleton, continuing in this position for six years. On February 21, 1908, he purchased the journal, together with the job printing business which he now owns.
The forerunner of the Times was the Lehigh Pioneer and Courier, first issued on April 2, 1833, and the old- est newspaper in the Lehigh coal region. The paper is clean and reliable, reflecting the personality of its editor and publisher. It is accorded liberal advertis- ing patronage.
Mr. Boyle was married to Annie E., daughter of Lawrence Boyce, a mine foreman of Duyrea, Luzerne county, but formerly of Beaver Meadow, June 3, 1903.
Boyle, John R., a Summit Hill hotel man, was born there on July 28, 1888. He is the son of Cornelius and Edith ( Daubenspeck) Boyle. The father is employed as a stationary engineer by the Lehigh Coal and Navi- gation Company. It was as an engineer for the same company that John began life as a worker at the age of sixteen.
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
In 1910 he became the landlord of the Summit Inn, which he is still conducting. This hotel is situated close to the spot where Philip Ginter found coal in 1791, and the famous burning mine, which is one of the lead- ing attractions of Summit Hill, is not far away. Dur- ing the summer months, many tourists and excursion- ists are entertained at the hotel, which is situated alongside of the station of the Switchback Railroad. Mr. Boyle has made many improvements to the prop- erty during the time he has occupied it.
On October 24, 1910, he was married to Johanna, daughter of Jeremiah Geary and his wife Mary, of Scranton. Their children are: James, Cornelius, John R., and Jeremiah.
Branch, Ben, junior member of the law firm of Frey- man, Thomas and Branch, was born at Nesquehoning, December 7, 1884. His father, William R. Branch, who has for years been engaged in the mercantile business at Nesquehoning, is of Cornish descent, while his mother, who bore the maiden name of Mary A. Ham- mond, is a native of Wales.
Ben graduated from the Nesquehoning high school. As a boy he worked on the breaker during the summer months, later becoming a miner. He taught school for five years. Entering Dickinson Law School, he was graduated with the class of 1910, being admitted to the Carbon county bar in October of the same year. Two years later he entered into partnership with W. G. Freyman and W. G. Thomas, the firm name being Frey- man, Thomas and Branch, maintaining offices at Mauch Chunk and commanding a large general practice.
In September, 1914, Mr. Branch was married to Sadie A., daughter of Henry and Sallie Grow, of Le- highton. Their children are named William and John.
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Mr. Branch holds membership in the American Acad- emy of Political and Social Science; the American So- ciety of International Law; the American Geographic Society; the Carbon County Historical Society; the Sigma Chi Fraternity, and various kindred organiza- tions. He is also one of the leaders of the Republican party in the county. Mr. Branch was commissioned by Governor Brumbaugh to receive Pennsylvania's soldier vote in France in the fall of 1917.
Brenckman, Henry L., was born at Hazleton, Pa., on September 15, 1869, the son of Frederick and Su- sannah (Bittner) Brenekman. His paternal grand- father, who also bore the name of Henry, emigrated to the United States from Germany, about 1835, settling at Beaver Meadow, where he conducted a hotel until his death.
Frederick Brenckman learned the trade of a car- penter, which he followed all his life, also acquiring a farm at Hudsondale, where he died in 1884 at the age of forty-four years.
Henry was but fifteen when he became the bread- winner of a family of six children and a widowed mothi- er, and he played the part of both a father and a brother toward his younger brothers and sisters.
In 1889 he entered the service of the Tide Water Pipe Company, at Hudsondale, where he is still em- ployed as a stationary engineer. He has been the pres- ident of the Packer township school board for many years, and has always taken great interest in Sunday school work. He has been the teacher of the Bible class of the Hudsondale Sunday school for more than twenty years, having also served as superintendent of this organization for nearly the same period of time. It was under his leadership that the handsome chapel of the school was built.
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Formerly he was the Democratic county committee- man for his district, but in 1912 he joined the Progres- sive movement and supported Theodore Roosevelt for the presidency.
On September 1, 1892, Mr. Brenckman was married to Minnie, daughter of Herman Strunk and his wife Ellen, of Hudsondale. Their children are: Raymond, Virginia, Lillian, Herman, Dorothy, Ruth, deceased; Esther, Frederick and Louise.
Breslin, Andrew, president of the Citizens' National Bank of Lansford, and one of the foremost contractors and builders in this portion of the state, is a resident of Summit Hill.
His grandfather, Patrick Breslin emigrated to this place from County Donegal, Ireland, in 1824, at which time there was not a house on the present site of the town, while there were but two or three dwellings in the locality. He was one of the pioneer miners of an- thracite coal, spending nearly the whole of his active life in the employ of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company as a foreman. His death occurred at Sum- mit Hill in 1865.
John F. Breslin, a son of the aforementioned, was born at Summit Hill on September 7, 1845. He was a cabinet maker, later becoming a contractor and build- er. He was married to Ann, daughter of Andrew and Susan Boyle, of Tamaqua, in 1866, who bore him four sons and three daughters. Mr. Breslin served on the side of the Union during the Civil War, and was an active Democrat, being one of the most influential cit- izens of Summit Hill. He died on September 20, 1892.
Andrew Breslin, son of John F. Breslin, claims Al- lentown, Lehigh county, as the place of his nativity, his parents having made their home here for a few years. He was born on August 1, 1870, while his boy-
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hood was passed at Summit Hill, where he attended the public schools. Under his father's instructions he learned the carpenter's trade, which he followed until his twenty-first year, when he entered the office of a Philadelphia architect as a student of that profession.
The death of his father taking place a year later, he was compelled to forego his ambition in this direction to take charge of the affairs of the deceased, who, in addition to his other interests also conducted an In- dertaking establishment. This portion of the business he turned over to his brother, John J. Breslin, in 1907.
Among the more important buildings which Mr. Bres- lin has constructed, the following may be mentioned : The Schwab school building, at Weatherly; the Third Ward school building, at Lehighton; the Greek Cath- olic church, of Nesquehoning; the Philadelphia Bar- gain Store and the Elks' Building, in Tamaqua; the Citizens' National Bank, of Lansford; the magnificent new high school building at Summit Hill; the public school building of Coal Dale, and the plant of the Freeland Brewing Company, of Freeland, Luzerne county. He also built the sewer systems of Summit Hill and Coal Dale, among the first of the flush-tank variety in the state, besides the large storage reservoir of the Summit Hill Water Company. He owns and conducts a planing mill at Summit Hill, which is the principal enterprise of an individual nature in the borough.
Mr. Breslin was one of the organizers of the Citi- zens' National Bank, of Lansford, of which he was elected president in 1909. He was president of the town council for three years, and has served as a mem- ber of the school board. His political allegiance is given to the Democracy, being now a member of the county executive committee of that party. He is a
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member of the Sons of Veterans and of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, while being an adherent of the Roman Catholic church.
Mr. Breslin was married on April 3, 1893, to Agnes Daly, daughter of Eugene and Ann Daly, of Mahanoy City, Pa. Their three children are: Annie, Mae, and John F. Breslin.
Breslin, James M., a leading member of the bar of Carbon county, residing at East Mauch Chunk, was born at Tresckow, Banks township, on January 1, 1870. He is the son of Daniel and Ann (Gallagher) Breslin, both natives of Ireland. His father was born in County Donegal, August 6, 1833. Emigrating to the United States at the age of sixteen, he located at Buck Mountain, spending the whole of his active life as a miner at various operations in the L'ehigh district. He was a Democrat, and took an active part in the political affairs of Banks township and of the county at large.
Seven of his ten children, all of whom attended the public school at Tresckow, became school teachers. The father died at Beaver Meadow, February 6, 1908.
James M. Breslin started life as a slate picker, later working in and about the mines of Banks township. He taught school for ten successive terms, and choos- ing the law as his profession, he became a student in the office of Hon. E. M. Mulhearn, of Mauch Chunk. Being admitted to the bar of Carbon county in October, 1897, he opened an office at Mauch Chunk, soon gaining recognition and building up a good general practice.
Mr. Breslin has been particularly successful as a criminal lawyer. He has defended many cases coming under this category, and his record is one of unbroken successes. For three years he served as the legal ad- viser of the county commissioners, having also been
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retained in a similar capacity by the officers of varions districts of the county.
During a period of nearly ten years, Mr. Breslin, in association with David Pursell, very successfully oper- ated the old coal mines at Hacklebernie, near Mauch Chunk. On February 14, 1899, he was married to Miss Elizabeth Murphy, a school teacher, of Wilkes-Barre, Pa. They have two children: James D. and Eliza- beth, aged nine and seven years, respectively.
Mr. Breslin served several terms as a member of the school board of East Mauch Chunk. He is a supporter of the principles advocated by the Democratic party, and a communicant of the Roman Catholic church.
Bretney, Clement H., the leading photographer of Lehighton, was born in Mahoning township, Carbon county, on September 18, 1873. He is the son of Thomas J. and Mary (Schaffer) Bretney, both natives of Mahoning township. His father was formerly a railroader, and later owned a local freight and express business in Lehighton, where he now conducts a baking establishment.
After leaving the public schools, Clement studied the art of photography as a private pupil under H. Parker Rolfe, of Philadelphia. Subsequently he pursued a general course at the Curtis-Taylor Studio in the same city. Following this he worked with W. D. Rishel, a Lehighton photographer, whose establishment he pur- chased, and whom he succeeded in business, in 1899. This studio was situated on the Bankway, and was oc- cupied by Mr. Bretney for two years, when he built his present place on Second street. Here, by painstaking and artistic work, he has secured a large and con- stantly growing patronage.
He is also a dealer in kodaks, and carries a large stock of all kinds of photographic supplies, besides
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doing finishing work for amateurs. He has one of the largest and best equipped establishments of its kind in the Lehigh Valley.
Fraternally Mr. Bretney is identified with the Pa- triotic Order of Sons of America, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is a member of various Ma- sonic bodies. He attends the United Evangelical church, and is still unmarried.
Bretney, Henry J., cashier of the First National Bank of Lehighton, is a son of Clinton Bretney, and was born at New Mahoning, Carbon county, January 12, 1856. His father, in the early fifties, married Amanda Meinhard, a native of Carbon county. The family removed to Lehighton in 1861.
Mr. Bretney received his education in the public schools of Lehighton and at the Carbon Academy, which last named institution started many of the young men of the lower end of the county upon successful careers. After leaving school, Mr. Bretney learned the trade of a coach painter, after which he entered the forwarding office of the Lehigh Valley Railroad Com- pany at Packerton, serving in a clerical capacity at this place for nine years. For four years he was employed by the same corporation at Mauch Chunk.
On January 1, 1892, he entered the employ of the First National Bank of Lehighton as a bookkeeper, being promoted to the cashiership October 1, 1908. Mr. Bretney has served as borough auditor and as school director, while he has been the borough treas- urer for eighteen years. He was also treasurer of the Lehigh Valley Building and Loan Association for twelve years. He is a charter member of Zion's Re- formed church, of which he is also the treasurer. Mr. Bretney is also a charter member of Lehighton Coun- cil, No. 370, Royal Arcanum, having served as secre-
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tary of this lodge for a quarter of a century. He also belongs to the Knights of Malta.
In 1878 Mr. Bretney was married to Mary A. Trox- ell, daughter of Paul Troxell and his wife Mary, of Egypt, Lehigh county. Their children are: Clara, Charles, Bessie and Florence. Clara is a graduate of East Stroudsburg State Normal School, and has been a teacher in Lehighton for a period of nine years; Charles is cashier of the First National Bank of Weatherly, and was married to Mayme Portz, of Lansford; Bessie is the wife of Robert R. Ash, of Lehighton, while Florence remains at home.
Brobst, Henry J., treasurer of Carbon county, and well-known in railroad circles, was born at Zion's Grove, Schuylkill county, May 9, 1881. He is one of the twelve children of Daniel and Matilda (Van Blar- gen) Brobst. His father, who still lives at Shenan- doah, followed the lumber business the greater part of his life.
The ancestors of Mr. Brobst came to this country from Germany, settling in Pennsylvania prior to the Revolution. His great-grandfather, Valentine Brobst, was the private secretary of Stephen Girard, the fore- most merchant of his day on this side of the Atlantic, and the founder of Girard College.
John Brobst, the grandfather of Henry, was an early settler of Conyngham Valley, Schuylkill county. He engaged in lumbering on a large scale and reared a family of sixteen children.
Henry Brobst began life as a slate picker at the age of twelve years. At fourteen he drove mules in the mines. Then he learned the machinist's trade, which he followed for three years. Upon attaining his ma- jority he came to Lehighton, where he entered the em- ploy of the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company, serving
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successively as a brakeman and a conductor. In 1905 he sustained an injury which incapacitated him for this branch of the service, and he became a signal tower- man, being still so engaged.
As the secretary of Lehigh Lodge of the Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen, he has been a delegate to na- tional conventions of the order in many parts of the country. He has been an active Democrat, and is now a member of the executive committee of that party in the county. For some years he was a member of the school board of Packerton Independent District, his home being at Jamestown.
In the fall of 1915 he was elected to the office of county treasurer for the term of four years.
Mr. Brobst was married to Bertha Irene, daughter of Willoughby Miller, of Berks county. Their children are Irene and Mattie.
Browell, Joseph H., a prominent young business man of Palmerton, is the son of John and Margaret (An- gus) Browell, both natives of Northumberland county, England. They were married in 1872, becoming the parents of five children. In 1880 the family emigrated to America, first settling at Jeddo, Luzerne county, Pa., and later removing to Centralia, Pa. The father was a contract miner and rockman.
Joseph H. Browell was born at the old home in Eng- land on January 7, 1876. He graduated from the high school of Centralia, and at the age of fourteen entered a drug store in that town with the object in view of learning the business. Four years later he went to Philadelphia, where he was employed in a similar es- tablishment, being afterwards successively located at South Bethlehem and at East Mauch Chunk. It was while stationed at the last named place that he was
26
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
licensed by the pharmaceutical examining board of the state.
In 1901 Mr. Browell took charge of the drug store of J. M. Hess, at Palmerton, becoming a partner in the enterprise at the end of a year. Subsequently the firm also engaged in the hardware business, and in 1909 Mr. Browell purchased the interest of his partner and became full owner.
He was one of the promoters of the First National Bank of Palmerton, of which he has been a director since its organization. Every measure intended for the welfare and upbuilding of Palmerton receives his loyal and constant support.
In June, 1903, Mr. Browell was married to Daisy, daughter of Luther and Alice La Barre, of East Mauch Chunk. They have two children: Jack and Margaret L. Browell.
Butler, Henry A., a representative Mauch Chunk business man, was born at that place on January 3, 1861. His father, Alexander W. Butler, whose birth occurred in 1822, was a native of Susquehanna county. When a boy he came to Mauch Chunk, and by industry and integrity he established himself in the confidence of the community in which he spent the remainder of his life as an honored and influential citizen. For a period of about thirty years he was the cashier of the First National Bank of Mauch Chunk, the predecessor of the Mauch Chunk National Bank of to-day.
In early life he was married to Anna, daughter of John Richards, an ironmaster, of Weymouth, N. J., who was also interested for a time in the operation of the Maria Furnace, in Franklin township, Carbon county. They became the parents of these children: William R., Elizabeth, wife of Hon. Laird H. Barber; Mary, who married C. A. Braman, of New York city;
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Fannie, and Henry Butler. The father died during the year 1888.
Henry A. Butler gained his elementary education in the public schools of his native town, graduating from the high school with the class of 1879. Entering Le- high University he completed his course in 1883 withi the degree of B.S. For a few years he was employed as a bookkeeper by the Mauch Chunk National Bank, later entering the service of B. F. Barger, a wholesale dealer in lumber and grain, at Mauch Chunk, as a book- keeper and salesman.
In 1889 he accepted a position as private secretary to M. S. Kemmerer, for whom he also very successfully managed the Parryville Iron Works until 1905. Since then he has been engaged in business on his own ac- count as a wholesale dealer in coal, maintaining an of- fice at Mauch Chunk. He is also interested in a man- agerial way, in a number of coal properties in the South.
In association with W. A. Leisenring, Mr. Butler, in 1895, established the Penn Forest Brook Trout Hatchi- ery, which soon became famous as the largest of its kind in the world. Mr. Butler was principally instru- mental in the prosperity which attended this enterprise during the ten years he was associated with it. He is the president of the Mauch Chunk Gas Company, and is one of the trustees of the Dimmick Memorial Li- brary.
On October 26, 1887, he was married to Nellie L. Blakslee, daughter of W. W. Blakslee, of Weatherly, Pa. Their children are: Marion L., Alexander W., and Edith B. Butler. Marion is a graduate of the Na- tional Cathedral School, of Washington, D. C., while Alexander is a student at Lehigh University.
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Mr. Butler is a member of St. Mark's Episcopal church, of Mauch Chunk, of which he has been a ves- tryman for more than fifteen years, also being a mem- ber of the Masonic fraternity. His home is in East Mauch Chunk.
Christian, Harry A., chief of the construction depart- ment of the New Jersey Zinc (of Pa.), of Palmerton, was born at Allentown on January 3, 1875. He is the son of Thomas J. and Sarah (Hawke) Christian. The father was a soldier in the Civil War, participating in most of the important engagements of the Army of the Potomac. He died in 1891.
When Harry was nine years of age the family moved to Mauch Chunk. He attended the high school of that town and the East Stroudsburg State Normal School, also pursuing a course in the American Business Col- lege at Allentown.
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