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 36
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
On December 25, 1870, Mr. Mulhearn was united in marriage to Annie, daughter of James and Bridget McBride, of East Mauch Chunk. Their children are: John and Sarah, deceased; Edward J., Sallie, wife of Patrick Dolan, of Hazleton; Hanna S., the wife of Charles Scott, of Hazleton; Mary A., Bridget and Annie, the two latter being deceased.
Mr. Mulhearn is a member and past commander of Chapman Post, No. 61, G. A. R. He is a communicant of the Roman Catholic church, and is identified with the Knights of Columbus.
Hon. E. M. Mulhearn, the well-known Mauch Chunk lawyer, is his brother.
Mulhearn, Hon. E. M. One of the most widely known of Carbon county's native sons, and one who is everywhere esteemed for his qualities of mind and heart, as well as for his gifts of utterance, is E. M. Mulhearn, Esq.
r
E. M. Muchame
521
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
He has held many positions of honor and trust with- in the gift of the people of the county and of those of the borough of Mauch Chunk, where he has resided since his birth. He is what is familiarly known as a "good mixer," and, in his youth, had a taste for poli- tics, which he outgrew as the years went by.
It was alone his loss of interest in this direction that cut short a public career of unusual promise, Mr. Mul- hearn, of his own volition, devoting his energies and talents to his large and lucrative law practise rather than follow the beckoning finger of ambition, which earlier in his career pointed so unmistakably to polit- ical success.
He is of Irish descent, his father, John Mulhearn, having been born in County Donegal, Ireland, in 1812. His mother's maiden name was Annie Sweeney, and she first saw the light of day in the Emerald Isle in the year 1808.
The father emigrated to America in 1835, settling in Philadelphia. He and his future bride did not meet until they came to the United States. They were mar- ried in Philadelphia in 1843, subsequent to which event they removed to Pottsville, where Mr. Mulhearn be- came a coal miner.
From Pottsville the family came to Mauch Chunk, Mr. Mulhearn spending the remainder of his active life in the capacity of a miner for the Hacklebernie Coal Company. His wife bore him six children: Hugh, Patrick F., Dennis C., Edward M., John J., and Han- nah V. Dennis and Hannah still live at Mauch Chunk.
E. M. Mulhearn was born at Mauch Chunk June 15, 1849. He attended the public schools, and at an early age picked slate in the breaker at Hacklebernie. He also boated for five seasons on the Lehigh Canal. En- tering Villa Nova College, he graduated in 1871. Im-
522
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
mediately thereafter he began to read law in the office of Daniel Kalbfus, who was not only a successful law- yer, but a forceful and brilliant orator, and who was in demand as a political campaigner all over Pennsyl- vania and in some of the nearby states.
Later Mr. Mulhearn continued his studies under John C. and Edward C. Dimmick, of Mauch Chunk, being admitted to the bar on June 20, 1873. His rise to prominence in his profession was rapid, his standing as a lawyer being such that when the Mollie Maguire trials came, a few years after his admission to the bar, he was called upon to play a leading part for the de- fense, among his clients having been Campbell, Doyle, Kelly, Kerregan, "The Squealer," and "Yellow Jack" Donahue.
Mr. Mulhearn early affiliated himself with the Re- publican party, serving successively as secretary and chairman of the county central committee for nearly a decade. Chosen as district attorney of the county in 1881, he was re-elected in 1884. In 1889 he was elected to the state legislature, declining a renomination two years thereafter.
He has been the solicitor of the borough of Mauch Chunk for about ten years, while for six years he was the legal adviser of the county commissioners.
On November 10, 1881, Mr. Mulhearn was married to Mary A., the daughter of John and Mary Behrndt, of Mauch Chunk. Their domestic life was one of hap- piness and of mutual helpfulness. Two children were born to them, John B. and Mary D., the wife of Walter A. Meekins, of Wilkes-Barre.
Mrs. Mulhearn, who was a member of St. John's Lutheran church, died on February 28, 1891.
Mr. Mulhearn is a member of the Catholic church of the Immaculate Conception. For seventeen years he
523
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
has been the president of the St. Vincent De Paul So- ciety, of this church, which has done noble charitable work.
He is a charter member of the Pennsylvania Bar As- sociation, and is the president of the Carbon County Law Library Association.
Mr. Mulhearn is fond of out-door life, and he spends his summer vacations on the banks of Lake Harmony, in Kidder township.
Mulhearn, John B., the only son of Hon. Edward M. and Mary A. (Behrnt) Mulhearn, was born at Mauch Chunk, Pa., on September 20, 1882. His early educa- tion was secured in the parochial schools of the bor- ough, which he attended until 1899. He prepared for college at the Swarthmore Preparatory School, finish- ing his general education at Villa Nova.
Entering Dickinson Law School, he graduated in 1909 with the degree of LL.B.
Subsequently he lived the life of a ranchman in east- ern Montana for a time. Returning to Mauch Chunk, he established himself in the general insurance and real estate business, in which he has since been pros- perously engaged.
On November 9, 1911, he was married to Rosa A., daughter of John and Celia O'Donnell, of East Mauch Chunk.
Mr. Mulhearn is a member of the Delta Chi Fratern- ity, belongs to the Roman Catholic church, and is iden- tified with Damien Council No. 598, Knights of Colum- bus. He is one of the active Republicans of Mauch Chunk, and as a member of the fire department of the borough, holds membership in the Marion Hose Com- pany.
Mulhearn, James T., a member of the board of county commissioners, and a prominent Democratic leader,
524
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
was born in County Donegal, Ireland. He is one of the seven children of Thomas and Sarah (Brady) Mul- hearn. The father also came to America, but returned to his native land, where he died.
Mr. Mulhearn formerly lived in Summit Hill, where he followed the occupation of a miner for about sixteen years. Over forty years ago he took up his residence in Lansford, where he conducted a wholesale liquor es- tablishment, retiring a few years ago. For more than a score of years he was a member of Lansford town council, and for nearly a decade he was Democratic chairman of Carbon county.
In 1890 he was elected to the office of treasurer of Carbon county. In 1902 he was the candidate of his party for state senator, but was defeated. He was elected to the office of county commissioner in 1915.
Mr. Mulhearn was united in marriage on June 26, 1879, to Elizabeth, daughter of Frank Early, of Lans- ford. Their children are as follows: Annie, who mar- ried Robert Canfield, of Lansford; Thomas F., a gradu- ate of Mt. Saint Mary's College, Philadelphia; Mary, a public school teacher; Elizabeth, who is a trained nurse in Philadelphia ; Winifred, James V. and Daniel.
Neast, Charles, senior member of the firm of Charles Neast and Company, contractors and builders, of Mauch Chunk, and a representative man of affairs, was born in Mecklenberg, Germany, on October 2, 1851.
His father, John Neast, emigrated to this country with his family in 1854, settling at Manch Chunk.
Charles early left the public schools to pick slate in the breaker at Hacklebernie, later serving as a boat- man on the Lehigh Canal and assisting in the construc- tion of the Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad as a la- borer. Learning the trade of a carpenter, he soon be-
That heass
525
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
came a contractor and builder, which business he has since very successfully followed.
In addition to the numerous dwelling houses which he has erected, the following well-known Mauch Chunk buildings may be mentioned: The depot of the Central Railroad of New Jersey; the building of the Young Men's Christian Association; both of the public school houses of the borough, the Roman Catholic Church, and the parochial school building. He also erected the Meeds Memorial church, of Nesquehoning; the Epis- copal church and vicarage, of Lehighton; the Reform- ed church, of East Mauch Chunk, and various other prominent buildings.
The firm of Charles Neast and Company was organ- ized in 1902, Mr. Neast taking his sons, George and Frank and his son-in-law, Thomas Costenbader, into partnership with himself. In addition to its other in- terests, the firm operates a well equipped planing mill in East Mauch Chunk.
Mr. Neast is the president of the Mauch Chunk Silk Mill Company, of which he was one of the organizers. This company operates mills at Mauch Chunk and at Nesquehoning. He is also president of the Progres- sive Building and Loan Association, of East Mauch Chunk, while being a director of the Mauch Chunk Trust Company.
He is active in religious circles and is a member of the United Evangelical church. Politically speaking, he is a Republican.
Mr. Neast was married in 1874 to Anna, daughter of Charles Lobien, of Bloomingdale, Carbon county. Their surviving children are: George, Frank, and Mary, the wife of Thomas Costenbader.
Niehoff, Paul, a Lehighton florist and public spirited citizen of that town, was born in Saxony, Germany, the
526
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
son of Gustave and Anna Niehoff, in the year 1868. His preliminary education was intended to fit him for the practise of medicine, but his sight became defective, and he was obliged to abandon his early ambition, de- voting himself to the culture of flowers, in which he soon became proficient, because his vocation was congenial to him.
On August 27, 1891, he was united in marriage to Miss Mary Wille, a native of the Fatherland, and soon thereafter they emigrated to the United States, settling in Baltimore. Within a year they took up their resi- dence in Weissport, Carbon county, starting in with a capital of twenty-five cents. But by loyally working together and by giving their customers satisfaction they soon built up a successful business. In 1897 Mr. Neihoff established himself in a more desirable location in South Lehighton, near the spot where the ill fated mission of Gnadenhutten formerly stood. Each pass- ing year has seen his trade grow larger and more valu- able. The product of his hot houses now finds ready customers all over eastern Pennsylvania and in Phila- delphia and New York. He also makes a specialty of landscape gardening and the floral adornment of public parks.
He is strongly attached to the country of his adop- tion and has been a tireless worker in the cause of civic betterment in Lehighton. He is now a member of town council, being also a member of the Germania Sanger- bund, of Lehighton, together with many fraternal so- cieties. Mr. Niehoff was a member of the committee which gathered the funds and superintended the erec- tion of the handsome memorial to Colonel Jacob Weiss, a Revolutionary hero and pioneer settler, which graces the public park in Lehighton.
527
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
Mr. Niehoff and his wife are the parents of the fol- lowing children: Mary, wife of Warren Downs, of Lelighton; Paul, Margaret, William, Gustave Adolph, Carl, Helen, and Walter.
Nuss, Lewis C., a Weatherly business man, was born there on May 16, 1868. His father, Joseph Nuss, was a native of Columbia county, Pa. He was a plumber and tinsmith. Early in life he located at Summit Hill, Carbon county, later removing to Weatherly, where he spent the remainder of his active years in the employ of the Lehigh Valley Railroad. His wife, before her marriage, was Matilda Walton. They became the parents of seven sons, all of whom survive, and a daughter, now deceased. The father died in 1904, at the age of seventy-nine years.
Leaving the public schools in his seventeenth year, L. C. Nuss entered the hardware and plumbing estab- lishment of his brothers, W. A. and H. E. Nuss, as an apprentice. They conducted their business in the build- ing formerly occupied by the Co-operative Store, one of the old landmarks of Weatherly. After a time they sold out to J. F. Kressley, who, in 1889 was succeeded by L. C. Nuss, acting individually. Mr. Nuss erected his present substantial place of business in 1898. He is a dealer in electrical supplies, stoves, roofing and hardware, and his establishment is equipped to furnish steam and hot water plumbing and similar work.
On March 4, 1895, Mr. Nuss was married to Gertrude Koch, a native of Schuylkill county. Carden, a son, and Doris, a daughter, are their children.
Mr. Nuss is one of the trustees of the Presbyterian church of the borough, and he is identified with the Patriotic Order of Sons of America and the Free and Accepted Masons. He is a believer in the principles of Democracy.
528
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
Packer, Asa, builder of the Lehigh Valley Railroad, founder of Lehigh University, and one of Pennsyl- vania's foremost men of affairs, was equally conspicu- ous for the dominating influence which he exerted in the development and growth of the Lehigh Valley, for his liberal public benefactions, and for those rare personal attributes which won for him the love and good will of his fellowmen.
Born of humble but worthy parentage at Mystic, Connecticut, on December 29, 1805, his early educa- tion was such as was to be obtained in the district schools of that day and locality.
While the training thus secured might be looked upon as a meagre preparation for the manifold duties and demands of the distinguished position to which he attained in life, the disadvantage under which he labor- ed was more than counterbalanced by his native abil- ities and his strong, virile character.
As a youth of seventeen he bade farewell to the scenes of his childhood, and carrying all his personal possessions on his back, set out on foot for Brooklyn, Susquehanna county, Pa., the home of his cousin, Ed- ward Packer. Having accomplished his wearisome journey, the ambitious boy determined to learn the carpenter's trade under the direction of his cousin. Applying himself to his work with enthusiasm and characteristic thoroughness, he soon became a skilled mechanic.
Having completed his apprenticeship, young Packer went to New York, where he followed his trade for a year. The city held no fascinations for him, however, and he returned to Susquehanna county, locating in Springville township. There he pursued his vocation, and on January 23, 1828, was married to Sarah M. Blakslee. The couple soon settled on a farm. But
529
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
nature yielded her crops scantily, the markets were distant, and at the end of four years they found them- selves scarcely any better off than when they began.
During the winter of 1833, learning that there was a demand for boatmen on the Lehigh Canal, Mr. Packer drove to Mauch Chunk in a primitive sled, and made arrangements to engage in this work on the opening of navigation in the spring, after which he returned home to close up his affairs.
As the time arrived for his departure for his new field of endeavor, he walked to Tunkhannock; board- ing a raft there he floated down the Susquehanna to Berwick, covering the remainder of the distance to Mauch Chunk on foot. He at once became the com- mander of a canal boat, and soon gained control of an additional vessel, which he placed in charge of his brother-in-law, James I. Blakslee.
During the summer he brought his family to Mauch Chunk. So well did he prosper that at the expiration of two years he retired from active service as a boat- man, but retained an interest in the enterprise.
Purchasing the large mercantile establishment of E. W. Kimball, which stood on the site now occupied by the Navigation Building at Mauch Chunk, he in- stalled Mr. Blakslee as manager, while he himself es- tablished a boat yard and engaged in the building of canal boats, in which work his training as a carpenter proved quite useful. He took large contracts for the construction of locks on the upper section of the Le- high Canal, extending from Mauch Chunk to White Haven. These he completed with handsome profits in 1839.
In association with his brother, Robert, he, during the ensuing year, began to build canal boats at Potts- ville. This partnership was dissolved at the end of
34
530
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
three years. Turning his attention next to the mining and shipping of coal, Mr. Packer operated the mines at Nesquehoning, carrying the output to market in his own boats from Mauch Chunk.
Success had uniformly crowned his efforts since coming to Mauch Chunk, and he had amassed a com- fortable fortune, when, in 1852, he began the greatest undertaking of his career, the building of the Lehigh Valley Railroad. With prophetic discernment he had long foreseen the immense possibilities of this enter- prise, to the consummation of which he devoted years of the most exhausting labor, being often beset by innumerable difficulties and discouragements. After the financial revolution of 1857 he was harassed almost beyond endurance by the perplexities which he en- countered in financing his operations.
But he was resolute in purpose, and even in the dark- est hours of his financial troubles he predicted that the Lehigh Valley Railroad, when completed, and its re- sources under fair development, would be the most successful railroad enterprise in the state, and he lived to see the fulfilment of even his highest hopes. For fully a quarter of a century this road stood first among the railroads of Pennsylvania in point of credit, while enjoying the highest measure of prosperity.
Notwithstanding the many exactions and responsi- bilities of his busy life, Mr. Packer found time to par- ticipate actively in politics. But political honors were thrust upon him rather than sought by him. In 1841 he was elected to the legislature, serving for two suc- cessive terms. Upon the organization of Carbon coun- ty, in 1843, he was appointed by the governor to the office of associate judge, which he filled for five years.
Being elected to congress in 1852, he was re-elected two years later. In the Democratic national conven-
531
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
tion of 1868, he was honored with the unanimous vote of the Pennsylvania delegation for the nomination for the presidency.
During the succeeding year, without seeking or de- siring it, he was given the Democratic nomination for governor, being defeated for this office by Governor Geary, who was then a candidate for re-election. The majority returned for Geary in the state was 4,596 votes, and so persistent were the supporters of Mr. Packer in declaring that the election had been carried by fraudulent means that a contest was narrowly averted.
Judge Packer, as he was familiarly known in Car- bon county, was a man of excellent presence, with a finely chiseled face that rarely expressed emotion, and he was very quiet and unassuming in conversation.
Prosperity is the true touchstone of the heart, and it must be said of Asa Packer that he was not spoiled by the possession of great wealth. He and his devoted wife always retained the simple tastes of their early life. She continued to the end of her days to knit her stockings, to fashion many of her own garments, and it was with difficulty that she could be persuaded to ride in her own carriage. They both loved the quiet of their home and were sternly severe to ostentatious display. He had no taste for society, and all formal social du- ties were extremly irksome to him.
Generous and whole-souled, however, he was the author of countless personal benefactions, always so modestly bestowed that the knowledge of them seldom reached the general public. As one of the wealthiest men of his time in Pennsylvania, he contributed to edu- cational, charitable and religious institutions with munificent liberality. His public spirit was shown at the breaking out of the Mexican War, when he mag-
532
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
nanimously defrayed the cost of transporting the troops sent to the front from Carbon county.
During the Civil War, when Pennsylvania was in- vaded, many of the men in the employ of the Lehigh Valley Railroad, of which he was then almost the sole owner, volunteered for the emergency, receiving full pay during the period of their absence.
One of the favorite objects of his benevolence was St. Luke's Hospital, of South Bethlehem. In addi- tion to the large sums which he gave to this institution during life, he left it a bequest of $300,000 upon his death. To St. Mark's church, of Mauch Chunk, of which he was for forty-four years a warden and ves- tryman, he left the sum of $30,000.
Deprived as he had been of the advantages of a liberal education, he was desirous of affording the youth of the state opportunities such as had been de- nied to him, and he crowned his life in the establish- ment of Lehigh University, which has become a fore- most seat of scientific and technical education.
In 1865 Judge Packer purchased fifty-six acres of land at South Bethlehem for the purpose he had in view, besides giving the sum of $500,000. Ten years later he added fifty-two acres to the University tract, at which time he also erected a fine library in memory of his daughter, Mrs. Lucy Packer Linderman.
This proved to be his last personal undertaking in connection with the institution, his death taking place a few years afterwards.
Under the provisions of his will, he left a perma- nent endowment of $1,500,000 for general maintenance, and $500,000 for library purposes. His total contribu- tions to the university amounted to about $3,000,000, and that institution will receive one-third of his estate when it is finally distributed.
.
WEPacker
533
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
A beautiful edifice, adorning the spacious grounds of Lehigh University, is the Packer Memorial church, erected in 1886 by Mrs. Mary Packer Cummings, a daughter of Judge Packer.
Mr. Packer was a member of the Masonic fraternity, while Packer Commandery, No. 23, Knights Templar, of Mauch Chunk, was named in honor of his son, Rob- ert Asa.
His death occurred on May 17, 1879, in the seventy- fourth year of his age. His widow passed away three years later, and the remains of both repose in the Mauch Chunk cemetery.
Mrs. Mary Packer Cummings, who was their sole surviving child, died in the autumn of 1912. During her life-time she contributed generously to various worthy causes, and she left many large bequests to Mauch Chunk and its institutions, besides lavishing her benefactions in numerous other directions.
In recognition of her liberality and public spirit, the people of Mauch Chunk and of East Mauch Chunk have set aside the third Thursday of May of each year, to be observed as a holiday, and to be known as Mary Packer Cummings Day.
Packer, Harry Eldred, the younger son of Asa and Sarah M. (Blakslee) Packer, was born on June 4, 1850, at Mauch Chunk. Educated at Lehigh University, which was founded and so liberally endowed by his fa- ther, he early became prominently indentified with the coal and transportation interests of the Lehigh Valley. In 1879, he was elected a director of the Lehigh Valley Railroad, and prior to that served as superintendent of the New Jersey Division of that road.
Elevated by successive steps, he was elected to the presidency of the company in 1883. Generous and pub- lic-spirited, he manifested great loyalty and attach-
534
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
4
ment toward the place of his nativity, contributing liberally in various ways to the betterment and pros- perity of Mauch Chunk.
He was an active and influential Democrat, and his popularity with all classes of citizens throughout the county led to his being chosen without opposition, in 1881, to the office of associate judge. He succeeded his father as a vestryman of St. Mark's Parish.
On August 29, 1872, he was married to Mary Au- gusta, daughter of Alexander Lockhart, a pioneer resi- dent of Mauch Chunk.
Mr. Packer's untimely death, on February 1, 1884, in the thirty-fourth year of his age was the source of deep regret to all who knew him. His widow died at Pekin, China, during the spring of 1911, while making a tour of the world.
Packer, Robert Asa, the elder of the two sons of Asa Packer, was born at Mauch Chunk on November 19, 1842. He received a fair English education, and began life as a member of a corps of engineers, en- gaged in locating and constructing that portion of the Lehigh Valley Railroad extending from White Haven to Wilkes-Barre.
Beginning his career as a railway executive in the capacity of superintendent of the Wyoming Division of this railroad, he spent practically the whole of his mature life in directing the affairs of various railway lines belonging to the Lehigh Valley system.
For a time he was the superintendent of the Penn- sylvania and New York Canal and Railroad Company, of which he became the president in 1881. At the com- mencement of this connection he removed to Towanda, and later to Sayre, Pa., where he resided permanently.
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.