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 37
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He was the president of the Geneva, Ithaca and Sayre Railroad, the Lehigh Valley Railway Company,
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Morris S. Prutyman.
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
running from the Pennsylvania state line to Buffalo, and of the Lehigh Valley Transportation Company, owning a line of steamers plying between Buffalo and Chicago.
Mr. Packer was also a member of the board of di- rectors of the Lehigh Valley Railroad, chairman of its executive committee, a trustee of Lehigh University, and one of the trustees of the estate of his father.
In 1883 he was appointed managing director of the Southern Central Railroad.
He was in politics a Democrat, and while he was re- peatedly urged to accept nominations for public office, he uniformly declined all honors of this nature, con- tenting himself with championing the cause of others who advocated the principles of his party.
Possessed of a fine personality and many excellent traits of character, he had hosts of loyal friends. He took pleasure in doing all in his power to build up and beautify the town of Sayre, and he was no less identi- fied with the educational and religious improvement of the place of his adoption than with its material ad- vancement.
His companion in life was Emily, the only daughter of Hon. Victor Piollet.
Mr. Packer's death occurred at his winter home, near Jacksonville, Fla., on February 20, 1883.
Prutzman, Morris G., a member of one of Carbon county's oldest families, is an architect, having his of- fice in the court house at Mauch Chunk, while living in East Mauch Chunk.
His maternal great-great-grandfather was Freder- ick Boyer, who was taken captive by the Indians dur- ing the uprising of 1755, being carried to Canada, where he was held as a prisoner for five years. Upon regaining his freedom he returned to his home, where
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Millport now stands, and where his father had been slain by the savages.
Abraham Prutzman, the grandfather of the subject of this notice, was of English descent, coming to Car- bon county from South Easton, and settling on a farm on the present site of Palmerton.
Morris G. Prutzman, son of Charles and Christiana (Boyer) Prutzman, was born on this farm, March 9, 1865. His father was a contractor and builder.
Morris was educated in the public schools and under a private tutor, being apprenticed to a decorative painter at Bethlehem when he became fifteen years of age. Following this art for a time, he later took up architecture, under a private instructor. Locating in East Mauch Chunk in 1897, he opened an office at that place, later establishing himself in Mauch Chunk. He is the only professional architect in the county, and has made a special study of school construction. He de- signed the first one-room school building having an indirect heating and ventilating system, without spe- cial apparatus, erected in this portion of the state.
The public school buildings at Palmerton and Bow- manstown, the Greek Catholic church at Nesquehoning, and No. 2 Fire House at Lehighton are examples of his work, while he has designed many other public and private buildings throughout this section.
He is the architect of the parochial school building of St. Joseph's Catholic church, of East Mauch Chunk, which is soon to be erected.
Mr. Prutzman was married on December 12, 1899, to Jennie L., daughter of Conrad Ebert, of Lehigh county. She is a graduate of the Allentown high school, and was engaged as a teacher prior to her marriage. Allen Ebert is their only child.
Mr. Prutzman is a communicant of the Lutheran
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church, while politically speaking, he is an independent Democrat.
Quinn, A. John, one of Lansford's best known busi- ness men, being one of the pioneer residents of that borough, is the son of James and Catherine (Heather- man) Quinn, and was born at Buck Mountain, Carbon county, May 10, 1848.
His parents were natives of Limmerick, Ireland, where they were married. They came to the United States in 1845, and made their home at Buck Moun- tain, where Mr. Quinn became a miner. Of their six children, Elizabeth and John A. alone survive.
John A. Quinn acquired his early training in the public schools of Buck Mountain and those of Hazle- ton; in 1872 he graduated at Eastman Business Col- lege, Poughkeepsie, N. Y. He taught school in the vil- lage of his birth and at Ashton (now Lansford) for several terms. Learning the drug business under Dr. J. B. Longshore, who was then one of the most prom- inent physicians of the Hazleton region, and at Phila- delphia, Mr. Quinn opened a drug store in Lansford. Disposing of this business he secured a contract from the Central Railroad of New Jersey to build a section of the line of that road between Eckley and Drifton, Luzerne county.
Upon the completion of this work he went to Mon- tana, in 1878, locating at Philipsburg, near Butte. He carried the civil law into this border town, becoming its first justice of the peace and teaching school there.
Returning to Pennsylvania after an interval of three years, Mr. Quinn formed a partnership with L. P. Jen- kins, and re-entered the drug business; at the expira- tion of a year he purchased the interest of Mr. Jenkins, and has since conducted the store as sole owner. He has also conducted an undertaking establishment for
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many years, and has been interested in various other business enterprises. He has been a director of the First National Bank, of Lansford, since its organiza- tion, while he is the president of the Carbon Telephone Company, and vice president of the Panther Creek Valley Electric Light, Heat and Power Company.
Mr. Quinn bore a conspicuous and heroic part in the small-pox epidemic which for a time threatened to wipe out the entire population of Lansford in 1874. The large majority of those who were seized with the dread disease died, and new cases were of almost daily occur- rence.
The people of the village were panic-stricken, and many fled from their homes. Under the circumstances it was naturally difficult to secure the services of any- one who was willing to jeopardize his own safety by ministering to the sick, and, excepting the physicians who were on the scene, cheerfully incurring all hazards in the discharge of their professional duty, Mr. Quinn alone volunteered, doing all in his power to alleviate the miseries of those who suffered from the visitation.
On his return from Montana, in 1881, Mr. Quinn was united in marriage to Marcella F. Kennedy, daughter of Matthew and Ellen Kennedy, of Summit Hill. The names of their surviving children are as follows: Vin- cent De Paul, Ellen L., wife of John B. McGurl, a Minersville attorney ; Catherine B., Sidney A., John J., William T., and Matthew K. Quinn. Vincent has charge of his father's drug store, while Sidney is a student at Jefferson Medical College; Jolin is a grad- uate of the Medico-Chirurgical College, of Philadel- phia ; Matthew is a student in the Lansford high school.
Mr. Quinn is an active member of St. Ann's Roman Catholic church, while being connected with the Auxil-
CAPT. E. H. RAUCH.
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iary Association of Eli T. Connor Post, G. A. R., of Summit Hill.
Rauch, E. H., politician, soldier and editor, was born at Warwick, Lancaster county, on July 19, 1820, the fourth son of Christian H. and Mary M. Rauch.
His grandfather, Johann Heinrich Rauch, came to America from Köhn, on the Rhine, Germany, in 1769. He was by trade a whitesmith, and located at Lititz, Pa., where he engaged in the manufacture of edge tools, gun locks and coffee mills. In 1776 he was im- pressed with the fact that an auger that would bore a hole and at the same time eject the chips would be an improvement on the old style "pot" auger then in use. With this idea in mind, he invented the principle and bit of the auger of to-day.
Edward H. Rauch was educated at Lititz, and at the age of fourteen went to work on a farm for two dollars a month. Soon thereafter he was apprenticed to a cabinet-maker, named Jacob Bear, at Lancaster, being bound to serve until attaining his majority. He became a good workman, while Bear developed into a severe task-master.
This led the young apprentice to run away two years before the expiration of the time he was expected to serve. He went to Philadelphia, where he found em- ployment.
His father being responsible for his service, com- promised with Bear for one hundred and twenty-five dollars, which sum young Edward refunded in instal- ments.
In 1840 he went to Mullica Hill, N. J., where he worked as a carpenter. He began his political career and made his maiden speech during the presidential campaign of that year. He next returned to Warwick to assist in the conduct of the affairs of his father,
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while his brother Rudolph secured for him an appoint- ment to a clerkship in the office of the prothonotary of Lancaster county.
During the year 1846 he entered into partnership with John Willard as a house painter, which continued for about a year.
It was at this period, with Thaddeus Stephens and others, that he became connected with what was known as the Underground Railway.
George Hughes, a slave-catching detective had head- quarters at Lancaster, and being illiterate, needed some one to do his writing. Not knowing Mr. Rauch's sentiments, he asked him to become his secretary, which was agreed to. This gave the underground rail- roaders certain knowledge of the plans and movements of the slave-catchers, and it is noteworthy that during the time this arrangement remained in force, Hughes was unsuccessful in catching a single runaway slave.
In 1847 Mr. Rauch was a collector of toll on the Philadelphia and Lancaster turnpike, which afforded him an opportunity to enter more actively into politi- cal affairs. By shrewd manipulation of a primary election he secured the nomination of Thaddeus Stephens for congress, saving the great Commoner from defeat at a most critical stage in his career.
Shortly afterwards he became deputy register of Lancaster county.
Under the leadership of Thaddeus Stephens, a com- pany was formed in 1848 to publish a daily and weekly newspaper as the organ of the anti-slavery element of the Whig party. Mr. Rauch and Edward McPherson were placed in charge of the paper, the Independent Whig and Inland Daily, of Lancaster. This was the beginning of Mr. Rauch's long and varied career as a journalist. After about six years he disposed of his
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interest in this establishment, removing to Bethlehem, where he founded the Lehigh Valley Times, which be- came a Republican organ in a Democratic stronghold.
Coming to Mauch Chunk in the spring of 1857, he purchased the Mauch Chunk Gazette, resulting in the political revolution of Carbon county. He was ap- pointed to the position of transcribing clerk in the House of Representatives at Harrisburg in 1859, and was chief clerk of the House in 1860-61. In 1860 he was a delegate to the convention which nominated Abraham Lincoln for the presidency.
During 1861, although still holding his position at Harrisburg, he recruited Company H of the Eleventh Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and was appointed captain. On returning to Harrisburg he was astonished to learn that he had been nominated for re-election. After much hesitation he decided to accept, on condition that he be granted leave of absence during the session, whilst his regiment was in winter quarters at Annapolis.
During his service as a soldier, Captain Rauch par- ticipated with his company in the engagements of Cedar Mountain, Thoroughfare Gap, Second Bull Run, Fredericksburg, and in the fighting on the Rappahan- nock. At the battle of Second Bull Run he was wound- ed in the thigh. Soon after the battle of Fredericks- burg he became afflicted with rheumatism, and in April, 1863, was discharged on that account. During the re- mainder of his life he was never entirely free from this complaint.
At the close of the war he was offered a majorship in the regular army, but rejected it, later becoming pro- vost marshal for Carbon and Luzerne counties, and participating in many important arrests of Buckshots
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
or Mollie Maguires, who were then terrorizing the mining region.
Finding his printing establishment ruined and neg- lected upon his return from the army, he did not at- tempt to rehabilitate it, but went to Reading, where he started the Berks County Zeitung. After a time he concluded that he was unfitted to conduct a real Ger- man newspaper, abandoning the venture to become the editor of the Reading Daily Eagle.
A venture which proved a complete success was the publication of a campaign paper called The Father Abraham. This he conducted in association with Thomas Cochran at Lancaster. Its circulation reached twenty thousand copies, which was at that time consid- ered a very large list.
After the campaign of 1868 he became the sole owner of the establishment, conducting the paper under vari- ous names through several campaigns.
In 1872 he joined the Liberal Republican movement for Greely, serving as one of the secretaries of the state committee under the chairmanship of A. K. Mc- Clure. Four years later he supported Tilden, and pub- lished a campaign paper under the name of Uncle Samuel.
To meet a local political emergency, he was induced to return to Mauch Chunk, in 1877, to take charge of a newspaper, known as the Carbon County Democrat, which successfully advocated the candidacy of Robert Klotz for congress.
Having served its purpose, this paper was after a time merged with the Mauch Chunk Democrat, then owned by H. E. Packer, Mr. Rauch being retained as editor. Upon the death of the former, Mr. Rauch and his son Lawrence purchased the property. In 1892
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they started the Daily News, later taking in R. C. Ranch as a partner.
Soon after the close of the war Mr. Rauch began the publication of what became famous as the "Pit Schwefflebrenner" letters, written in Pennsylvania Dutch, and regularly appearing in his newspapers until the time of his death. They teemed with homely wisdom and subtle humor, and with many of his read- ers they constituted the most popular feature of his paper.
He was the author of a handbook on Pennsylvania Dutch, a translation of Rip Van Winkle, and a number of other publications in that dialect.
He was probably the first, and certainly the most consistent, advocate of building a railroad to the Flag Staff, now a popular pleasure resort, towering on the mountain above Mauch Chunk, and he lived to par- ticipate in driving the golden spike, signalizing the completion of that project.
Mr. Rauch's most remarkable specialty was that of a handwriting expert. He was first called in this con- nection before a legal tribunal at Lebanon, about 1850. His success in this instance established his reputation, and he subsequently served in hundreds of similar cases in various parts of the Union.
Mr. Rauch was married in 1851 to Mrs. Theresa Cle- well, with whom he lived happily for nearly half a cen- tury. William H., Edward C., Lawrence L., and Rich- ard C. Rauch are their surviving children.
Captain Rauch enjoyed the acquaintance of most of the men prominent in public life in state and nation during two generations, while as an editor his name was familiar from one end of Pennsylvania to the other. His death occurred at Mauch Chunk on Sep- tember 8, 1902, in his eighty-third year.
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
Reeves, Archie, a retired mine foreman, of Lansford, was born at Airdrie, Scotland, August 23, 1846. He is one of the eight children of John and Jane (Scobbie) Reeves. Leaving school at the age of nine to become a worker, he finally became a railroader, and later a coal miner in his native country.
In 1868 Mr. Reeves emigrated to America, settling at Lansford, where he was successively a laborer, miner, and mine foreman in the employ of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company. He was placed on the retired list after a continuous service of over forty-two years.
The year of his coming to America witnessed his marriage to Jane, daughter of John Brown, of Airdrie, Scotland. The following children were born to them: John, Jane, the wife of Benjamin Crowe, of Lansford; Archie, Thomas, William, Agnes, Alice, deceased, and Ellen, wife of Charles Manning.
Mr. Reeves has taken an active part in municipal af- fairs in Lansford, having served as a member of town council, the school board and the board of health. He is one of the best known men of the older generation in mining circles in the Panther Creek Valley. Mr. and Mrs. Reeves have paid numerous visits to their old home in Scotland since coming to America.
Rehrig, Dennis A., president of the Carbon Silk Mill Company, of Lehighton, is one of the numerous de- scendants of Conrad Rehrig, a Revolutionary soldier, who was one of the early settlers of the Lizard Creek Valley.
The son of George and Leah (Andreas) Rehrig, Den- nis A. Rehrig was born in Mahoning township, Carbon county, on November 26, 1855. He grew up on his father's farm and at the age of thirteen began life as a laborer at the Parryville Iron Works, then conducted by the Bowman family. Later he went to Scranton,
DaKefrig
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
where he learned the carpenter trade, becoming a con- tractor and builder. For about eleven years he was the carpenter foreman of Calvin Pardee & Company, at Hollywood, Luzerne county.
In 1887 Mr. Rehrig took up his residence on the farm formerly owned by his father at Nis Hollow, where he still lives, engaging in contracting and building at Le- highton.
Mr. Rehrig was one of the organizers of the Carbon Silk Mill Company, which was established at Lehighton in 1906, being chosen president, in which capacity he is still serving.
He was married in 1875 to Julia Elizabeth Lentz, of Nis Hollow. They are the parents of the following chil- dren : Pierce, Charles, Ella, wife of Frank Ronemus; Nora May, wife of George Rex; Bertha, wife of Irvin Steigerwalt.
Rehrig, Pierce F., a Lehighton silk manufacturer, was born at Nis Hollow, Mahoning township, Carbon county, on October 19, 1875.
He is the son of Dennis A. and Elizabeth J. (Lentz) Rehrig, both natives of Carbon county. On the pa- ternal side the family has been established in this coun- try since Colonial times and took part in the struggle for American independence.
When Pierce was about three years of age the family removed to Hazleton, where they lived for ten years, following which they returned to Nis Hollow to live on a farm. He learned the carpenter trade, which he fol- lowed for about six years, later engaging in the grocery business in Lehighton for seven years.
In 1906, Mr. Rehrig joined with his father and O. F. Acker in the organization of the Carbon Silk Mill Com- pany, whose plant is located at Lehighton. Four years later Mr. Acker disposed of his interest in the enter-
35
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
prise, which is now owned and operated by Dennis A. Rehrig, president, and his sons Pierce and Charles. Pierce is the manager of the company, while Charles is the secretary and treasurer. The mill employs about sixty operatives.
Mr. Rehrig was married in 1900 to Emma L., daugh- ter of O. F. Acker, of Lehighton. They have an only daughter, Mildred E. Rehrig.
Rehrig, Rev. W. M., pastor of St. John's Evangel- ical Lutheran church, of Mauch Chunk, and a man of broad public spirit and activity, is descended from Revolutionary stock, his great-grandfather, Conrad Rehrig, having fought as a soldier under Washington. At the close of the war, he settled in what is now East Penn township, Carbon county, where some of his de- scendants are still engaged in agricultural pursuits.
The grandfather of the subject of this memoir was named John. His farm in East Penn township, con- sisted of four tracts, one of which originally belonged to William Thomas, whose estate was confiscated on the charge of treason during the war of Independence. Subsequently it was deeded to George Crossley by John Adams, then vice-president of the United States. After a number of transfers, it was in 1813 purchased by Mr. Rehrig, and he erected a log house and barn thereon.
It was in this house that Wilson Meyer Rehrig, son of Gideon and Susan (Meyer) Rehrig, was born on November 16, 1853. He prepared for college at the Lehighton Academy and in the academic department of Muhlenberg College, from which institution he was graduated in 1879. Entering the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, he completed his course in 1882, being ordained as a minister of the Lutheran church in June of the same year.
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Immediately after his ordination he located at Girardville, Pa., where he organized a mission. Upon his resignation, in 1887, he had gathered a self-sustain- ing congregation of more than three hundred members.
Removing to Greenville, Mercer county, Pa., he as- sumed charge of a country parish, later becoming pas- tor of the church of Thiel College, where he remained until 1898. During his pastorate here he was acting German professor of the college, besides being an in- structor in various other subjects. After leaving Greenville, Rev. Rehrig served the congregation of St. John's church, at Sayre, Pa., for two years, assum- ing the duties of his present charge on June 1, 1900. He has given his best efforts and, perhaps, the best years of his life to this congregation.
Rev. Rehrig served as president of the Wilkes-Barre Conference of the Lutheran church for a number of years, while he has been a member of the board of trustees of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia for about eight years. He is also presi- dent of the Slav Mission Board of the United States, which organization is maintained by the General Coun- cil of the Lutheran Church.
During the month of June, 1910, he attended the World's Missionary Conference, held at Edinburgh, Scotland, as the delegate of the churches of Carbon county, being accompanied by his wife, and making a general tour of Europe.
For post graduate work in philosophy, Thiel College conferred the degree of Ph.D. upon Rev. Rehrig, while the Lutheran Theological Seminary of Chicago hon- ored him with the degree of B.D.
He was married to Margaret M., daughter of Isaac M. English, of Harrisburg, February 26, 1884. Their
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two sons, John and Ralph, both died at the age of sev- enteen years.
Rimert, Charles S., a well known general contractor, of Lansford, was born at Sunbury, Northumberland county, July 19, 1875. He is the son of Martin L. and Katherine (McWilliams) Rimert. The father is a re- tired farmer and veteran of the Civil War, living at Williamsport, Pa.
Charles grew up on his father's farm, later entering the contracting and lumber business. For six years he was superintendent of the Link Belt Engineering Company, of Philadelphia.
In 1908 Mr. Rimert came to Lansford, where he has since been a general contractor, often employing large numbers of men. He was elected to town council in 1912, of which body he was chosen president three years later.
He was married to Amelia May, daughter of Captain David Fox, a soldier of the Rebellion, of Millersburg, Pa.
Mr. Rimert is fond of hunting and fishing and the life out of doors. He is a member of the Forest and Stream Rod and Gun Club; the Mountainside Rod and Gun Club, and the Panther Valley Rod and Gun Club. He has taken a prominent part in the affairs of the Red Men of Pennsylvania, and he was the organizer of Ta- hoe Tribe, No. 432, of Millersburg. His allegiance is give to the Republican party.
Ross, Ira G., cashier of the Mauch Chunk National Bank, and for many years prominently identified with the financial interests of that place, is descended from Colonial ancestors.
His paternal forefathers were of Scottish lineage, while his father, James S. Ross, was born in Lehigh county, coming to Mauch Chunk in 1864. Entering
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the service of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Com- pany in a clerical capacity, he, after a time became the general boating agent of that corporation.
He was married to Flora Osmun, of Allentown, whose father was of English extraction, while her mother was descended from Pennsylvania German stock.
Ira G. Ross was born at Bethlehem, Pa., February 23, 1861. He was for a time a student at St. Mark's Academy, at Mauch Chunk, and later, entering the high school of that borough, he was graduated with honors in 1879.
Beginning life as a clerk for the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company, he was so engaged for about a year; and, in 1880, he entered the First National Bank of Mauch Chunk as a bookkeeper. He successively filled the various positions in the bank, and was finally appointed assistant cashier.
After the consolidation of the First National and the Linderman National Banks, in 1903, under the name of the Mauch Chunk National Bank, he was ap- pointed assistant cashier of the consolidation, holding that title until 1912, when he became cashier.
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