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 38
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Mr. Ross was married to Mary, the youngest daugh- ter of Leonard Yeager, one of Mauch Chunk's oldest and most esteemed residents, on October 28, 1884. Their children are Helen, Katherine, and Ira G. Ross, Jr. The former is a graduate of the Mauch Chunk high school.
Mr. Ross is prominent in Masonic circles, being a past officer in all the bodies of that order in Mauch Chunk, and belonging to Irem Temple, Mystic Shrine, of Wilkes-Barre. He has been the representative of Carbon Lodge to the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania for a number of years.
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
He is a member and vestryman of St. Mark's Epis- copal church, of Mauch Chunk, and is treasurer of the parish. He was borough treasurer for six or seven years, and was a member of the board of education for a number of terms, having successively been secretary, treasurer, and president of that body. In addition to his other duties, he is secretary and treasurer of the Mauch Chunk Heat, Power and Electric Light Com- pany, and is a member of the board of directors of that company.
Ruddle, George, who was a prominent resident of East Mauch Chunk, was the son of John Ruddle, who emigrated to America from Herefordshire, England, in 1818. The elder Ruddle came to Philadelphia. He secured employment with the Lehigh Coal and Navi- gation Company, which was then just beginning its operations, and was sent to Mauch Chunk. He soon be- came the chief clerk of the company, or what would now be called the auditor, so continuing until his death, which occurred in 1866.
He was married to Ann Pryor, of Philadelphia. Their children were: Ann, who became the wife of Alexander W. Leisenring, and George, the subject of this sketch.
The latter was born at Mauch Chunk, March 3, 1828. Educated in the local schools, he served as a boy in a clerical capacity in the old Corner Store in Mauch Chunk.
When Carbon county was cut off from Northampton, he was a member of the surveying corps that ran the lines of the new county. Later he entered the employ of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company, succeed- ing his father as chief clerk, and occupying that po- sition until the department was moved to Philadelphia, after the fire of 1868. During 1866 to 1869, when the
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company was extending its railroad to connect with the Central Railroad of New Jersey at Phillipsburg, he acted as cashier and paymaster, bringing the funds from Philadelphia, and distributing them to the contractors and employes.
After the removal of the accounting department to Philadelphia, he became the cashier and real estate agent of the company, which position he held as long as he lived.
Mr. Ruddle was also the secretary and treasurer of the Carbon Iron Company and its successors, the fur- naces of which were located at Parryville. He was one of the managers of the Mauch Chunk Bank, later known as the First National Bank, and now the Mauch Chunk National Bank, serving as a member of the board of directors to the end of his career.
Mr. Ruddle was elected a vestryman of St. Mark's Episcopal church in 1850, being reelected each succeed- ing year until 1892, when St. John's church, of East Mauch Chunk, became an independent parish. He then became a vestryman of that parish.
When East Mauch Chunk became a borough, John Ruddle was chosen as the first chief burgess, while George Ruddle was elected the first secretary, the lat- ter holding office until 1871, when he declined reap- pointment.
George Ruddle was married on January 6, 1858, to Elizabeth Sharpe, of Wilkes-Barre.
Their surviving children are: John; Anna Sharp, wife of William C. Kent, of Philadelphia; Richard Sharp; Laura Leisenring; Elizabeth Georgiana; and Elinor Frances, wife of Rev. N. T. Houser, of Auburn, N. Y.
George Ruddle died June 28, 1904. His widow de- parted this life September 29, 1912.
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
Rutter, Charles B., a well-known Lansford business man, was born at Packerton, Carbon county, July 26, 1873. He is a representative of one of the oldest Penn- sylvania families. His paternal ancestor, Thomas Rutter, was one of the original settlers of Germantown, as was Thomas Potts, from whom he is descended on the maternal side of the house. Both branches of the family were closely associated with Francis Pastorious, who played such a useful and conspicuous part in the early history of Germantown. Thomas Potts was mar- ried to Martha Keurlis in 1699, she having crossed the Atlantic on the same vessel with Pastorius in 1683. Both the Potts and the Rutters were Quakers.
To the Potts family belongs the credit for having manufactured the first iron in America. Their War- wick furnace, situated on French Creek, near Potts- town, furnished guns and munitions for the Continental army during the Revolutionary War.
John C. Rutter, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Lancaster county in 1845. He served in the 79thi regiment, Pennsylvania volunteer in- fantry, during the Civil War, and was with Sherman on his march to the sea. After the war he came to Sum- mit Hill, entering the engineering corps of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company, of which he became the chief. He retired in 1907 after a continuous service of forty years. His partner in life bore the maiden name of Ella McMurtrie. Her ancestors, who were of Scot- tish extraction, were among the pioneer settlers of Conyngham Valley, Luzerne county.
Charles B. Rutter graduated from the Lansford high school with the class of 1888, which was the first gradu- ating class of the school. Entering Lehigh University, he graduated as a mining engineer in 1894. During the same year he assisted in the construction of the Tama-
OfButter.
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
qua and Lansford Railroad. Becoming a member of the engineering force of the Lehigh Coal and Navi- gation Company, he continued in the employ of the company until 1908. He then embarked in the whole- sale flour and feed business at Lansford, being still so engaged.
Mr. Rutter was married in 1908 to Mary J., daughter of George M. Davies, one of the best known citizens of Lansford. They have an only daughter, Anna Potts Rutter. Mr. Rutter is prominent in Masonic circles and a member of the Society of the Sons of the Revolu- tion. He is a director of the Citizens' National Bank of Lansford, and a vestryman of Trinity Episcopal church of Lansford.
Schaefer, Joseph, Carbon county's best known hotel man, now living at East Mauch Chunk, was born at Easton, Pa., April 5, 1861, the youngest son of Bern- hard and Theresa (Pfeffer) Schaefer.
His parents were natives of Wurtemberg, Germany, whence they emigrated to the United States about 1850, their marriage having been celebrated in the fatherland.
Joseph acquired his early training in the German parochial schools of South Easton, subsequently pur- suing a general business course in the city of his birth. He was first employed in a general store at Easton, beginning at the age of twelve years.
His connection with the hotel business of Carbon county dates back to 1879, when he entered the service of P. H. Schweibinz, owner of the European Hotel, since known as the Central, at Mauch Chunk.
In association with E. I. J. Paetzel, a former pro- thonotary of the county, he, in 1894, secured a lease of the Armbruster House, conducting it for five years. At the expiration of that time, Mr. Schaefer became
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
the landlord of the Central Hotel, continuing as such until the fall of 1911, when he retired, after an unin terrupted and prosperous career of thirty-three years on the same square.
His hospitable nature and the homelike atmosphere which pervaded his hostelry were the prime factors in his success.
On November 29, 1893, he was married to Annie M., daughter of Anthony Armbruster, of East Mauch Chunk. They have two sons, Bernhard and Joseph. A daughter, Marie, died at the age of ten years.
Mr. Schaefer is identified with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Eagles, and a number of German societies. His political allegiance is given to the Democracy.
Schweibinz, Pius, for many years a prominent figure in the affairs of Mauch Chunk and East Manch Chunk, was born at Dettensee, Hoenzollern, Germany, July 4, 1842. In 1859 the family came to America, locating at Lehighton, where the father, who bore the name of Alosius, died after the lapse of about two years.
The young man was a boatman on the Lehigh Canal for amout ten years. In 1870 he entered the hotel busi- ness on Susquehanna street, Mauch Chunk. At the age of twenty-eight Mr. Schweibinz was united in marriage to Mary Anna, daughter of Martin Markle, then of Lehigh Gap. In 1871 he went to Shamokin to engage in the brewing business in association with his father- in-law. Six years later he returned to Mauch Chunk to resume the hotel business, being so engaged until 1879, when he purchased a brewery in East Mauch Chunk which was then operated by an Easton firm. He rebuilt and enlarged this property, conducting the busi- ness until 1913, when he disposed of his interests to the Ortlieb Brewing Company.
Suis Schweibing
frost
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Mr. Schweibinz was a man of wide acquaintance and many warm friendships. His public spirit and his generosity were unbounded, while his family life was ideal. The following children were born to him and his devoted wife: Martin, Charles, Agnes, wife of Maurice Eichorn; Celia, wife of Edward Schlegen; Anna, wife of Joseph Sauerall of East Mauch Chunk, and Mary, the wife of Anthony Berkle, of South Bethlehem.
Mr. Schweibinz departed this life on February 5, 1915, in his seventy-third year. His remains rest in St. Joseph's Catholic cemetery in East Mauch Chunk.
Scott, E. E., a lawyer of Summit Hill, is one of the leading home builders of Carbon county, having been prominently connected with the organization of three very successful building and loan associations in the Panther Creek Valley section-one at Coal Dale, an- other at Lansford and the other at Summit Hill. The last named is the Homestead Building and Loan Asso- ciation, which furnishes the funds for the building of thirty homes a year on an average. It has assets of $380,000, and undivided profits in the sum of $80,000. It is over seventeen years old and Mr. Scott has been the secretary for over thirteen years.
Joseph, the father of E. E. Scott, was born in Ire- land, and emigrating to America, located at Mauch Chunk, where, in the early fifties, he married Fanny Crummer, also a native of the Emerald Isle. For thirty years he served in various capacities for the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company.
Their children were: Joseph, who is a dentist at Avoca, Pa .; Ellsworth E., William C., who is a dentist at Lansford; Leighton C., an attorney of the same place, and Mary E. Scott, a former successful teacher of Lansford, now a resident of the same place.
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
Ellsworth E. Scott was born at Upper Mauch Chunk, December 23, 1861. At the age of nine years he be- came a wage earner as a slate picker on the boats of the Lehigh Canal at Mauch Chunk. The family moved to Coal Dale where he followed the same occupation. At fourteen he went inside as a door and sheet tender, and was finally promoted to bell boy at the head of the slope on the night shift. This permitted him to attend the public schools for several hours each day. He filled various positions about the mines until he became twenty-one years of age when he went to Millersville Normal School for a short time. After one year's ex- perience as a teacher at Penn Haven Junction school, he returned to the mines as a fireman because of better pay. Three years later he again took up teaching, having been elected to the Jamestown Grammar School at Summit Hill, which he taught for eleven years. He served four years as principal of the Summit Hill schools, resigning this position to study law in the of- fices of Messrs. Bertolette and Barber, and was ad- mitted to the bar January 13, 1902.
Mr. Scott has been the solicitor for the borough and school district for several years. He is a vestryman of St. Philip's Protestant Episcopal church at Summit Hill and belongs to the Tamaqua Masonic Lodge. He is also a member of the Patriotic Order Sons of Amer- ica.
He was married to Mary L., daughter of Rev. Henry Margetts, of Cambria Center, N. Y., August 5, 1886. Three children have been born to them: Leighton Pearson, a Princeton honor graduate of the class of 1909, and a graduate of the law department of the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania, now practising his profession in Philadelphia; Evelyn M. F., a graduate of Perkio- men Seminary, and now stenographer in her father's
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office; W. H. Eldon Scott, attending the Summit Hill Grammar School.
Mr. Scott was elected a director of the Citizens' Na- tional Bank of Lansford at its organization and has been the secretary of the board of directors ever since. He is also secretary of the Summit Hill Water Com- pany. He stands for every movement for the better- ment of the town and has been connected with the pub- lic schools for the past twenty-five years, either as teacher, director or solicitor. It was mainly through his grit, foresight and effort that the grand new high school building of the town became possible. The boys and girls of the future will have cause to grate- fully remember him.
Seidle, Ira E., junior member of the law firm of Balliet and Seidle, of Lehighton, is the son of Hon. Charles H. and Kate A (Nothstein) Seidle. He was born at Normal, Mahoning township, the home of his maternal ancestors since Revolutionary times, on De- cember 11, 1869.
Graduating from the Lehighton high school with the class of 1884, he entered Palatinate College in 1886; a year later he entered Muhlenberg, which has since hon- ored him with the degree of A. M., graduating from that institution in 1890.
In 1891 he went to Yale, where he completed his gen- eral education, and received the degree of B.A. He began his legal studies at the Yale law school, finish- ing his course at the law school of the University of Pennsylvania in 1895, and receiving the degree of L.L.B. During this year he became a member of the Philadelphia bar, and was later admitted to practise before the Superior and Supreme courts of Pennsyl- vania.
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Prior to this he had taught school for two terms and had served as principal of the Normal Institute for a year. After practising his profession in Philadelphia for a time he formed a partnership with his brother-in- law, N. M. Balliet, succeeding to the legal practise of the late Senator W. M. Rapsher at Lehighton. The firm also maintains an office at Palmerton. In addition to his other affairs, Mr. Seidle is the manager and treasurer of the Lehighton Brick Company, and is the secretary of the Lehigh Valley Building and Loan Association, of which he is a director. He is also a di- rector of the Carbon County Industrial Society, under the auspices of which the county fair is annually held at Lehighton, having served as the secretary of the association.
For some time he held the position of postmaster at Normal and was borough solicitor of Lehighton for one year. Mr. Seidle is a member of the Masonic fraternity at Lehighton, being also identified with Lilly Chapter, R. A. M., and Packer Commandery, K. T. of Mauch Chunk. He is a past officer of all these bodies. His political allegiance is given to the Demo- cratic party, and he attends the Lutheran church.
On October 2, 1900, he was married to Elizabeth M., daughter of Jesse L. and Amanda (Heberling) Gabel, of Lehighton. Their only child, Louisa A. Seidle, was born on December 24, 1902.
Serfas, Theodore A., Carbon county's leading figure in the automobile trade, was born at Effort, Monroe county, July 23, 1881. He is the son of Jackson and Cornelia (Shupp) Serfas, descendants of the early set- tlers of Monroe county. The father is a dealer in gen- eral merchandise at Effort, and is the vice-president of the Security Trust Company of Stroudsburg.
.
! a Serfas
C.G. Setzer
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
Theodore was educated at Perkiomen Seminary and at Princeton University, graduating from the first named institution in 1904 and from the latter in 1908. At Princeton he specialized in political science, pur- suing the course mapped out by Woodrow Wilson, now president of the United States.
Upon the completion of his studies, he entered the automobile business at Lehighton, organizing the Ser- fas Motor Company, of which he is the head. This com- pany conducts a general garage at Lehighton, two at Mauch Chunk, and one at Pottsville. From small be- ginnings its business has grown to large proportions, the sale of cars mounting from year to year.
Mr. Serfas was married on July 31, 1909, to Iva L., daughter of Penrose Knappenberger and his wife, Emma, of Mertztown, Pa. She is a product of the Key- stone State Normal School. Their children are Jack- son Penrose and Ethel Iva Serfas. Mr. Serfas is prominent in Masonic Circles and is a mem- ber of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He has been an earnest worker in the interests of Lehighton and vicinity, and was honored by being elected presi- dent of the Lehighton Board of Trade. He is an en- thusiastic and active Democrat.
Setzer, Chester G., district attorney of Carbon coun- ty, prominent in fraternal society circles and as a worker in the cause of popular education, is the son of ex-sheriff Milton Setzer and his wife Hannah.
He was born November 17, 1880, one year prior to the removal of the family of his father from Monroe county to Franklin township, where he grew to matur- ity and where he still resides. His early education was acquired in the public schools of this district and in those of Mauch Chunk, graduating from the high
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school of the last named place with the class of 1899.
After serving three terms as a school teacher he en- tered Dickinson Law School, from which he graduated in June, 1905. He was admitted to practice in the supreme court of Pennsylvania during the same month, while he became a member of the bar of Carbon county in October, 1905.
Opening an office in Weissport, he has successfully practised his profession there since. He was elected to the office of district attorney, as the candidate of the Republican party, in 1911, by a large majority.
Mr. Setzer has been a member of the school board of Franklin Independent District for a number of years. acting as its secretary. He is also secretary of the School Directors' Association of Carbon County, while he has served as a delegate to the meetings of the State Association of School Directors on several occa- sions.
He is a member of the Eagles, P. O. S. of A., O. of I. A., and of the Junior Mechanics; he was also state president of the Pennsylvania Deutsch Gesellschaft in 1907.
Sharpe, Hugh J., a well-known Lansford business man, is the third of the ten children of Charles and Annie (Byrne) Sharpe, natives of County Donegal, Ireland, who came to America in their youth.
Hugh was born at Lansford on May 30, 1860. The elder Sharpe was a miner, and at the age of twelve Hugh went to work as a slate picker on the breaker. In the course of time he, too, became a miner. Meeting with an accident, however, he quit the mines to work in a clothing store for some years.
In 1900 Mr. Sharpe completed a course of instruction in the United States School of Embalming at New York, opening an undertaking establishment which he
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still conducts. He is also a wholesale dealer in tobacco, cigars, and confectionery. Mr. Sharpe was one of the organizers of the Dime Bank, of Lansford, of which he is the vice-president. He is also the owner of the Lans- ford Opera House.
He is a charter member of Division No. 8, Ancient Order of Hiberians, being also a member of the Knights of Columbus and of Saint Ann's church, Lansford.
Mr. Sharpe was married in 1898 to Kate, daughter of Edward O'Donnell, a public school teacher of Coal- dale. Their surviving children are: Anna, Kathleen, and George. Mr. Sharpe located in his present place of business at the corner of Ridge and Spring Garden streets in 1914, having previously been located farther west on Ridge street. He is an active and influential Democrat.
Shull, Brinton M., supervisory principal of the schools of Lehighton, is a native of Perry county, where he was born January 17, 1873. He is the son of David and Lea (Yohe) Shull, being one of a family of ten children. He spent his early life on his father's farm, attended the public schools and graduated from Marysville high school with the class of 1889.
In 1892 he graduated from the Shippensburg State Normal School, later taking a post graduate course at the West Chester State Normal School, a course in the Harrisburg School of Commerce and in Milton Univer- sity, Baltimore.
Prof. Shull began his career as a teacher in a dis- trict school of his native county ; he taught one year in a village high school in Dauphin county, and then in the high school of his home township. He came to Lehigh- ton in 1898, being first employed as a grammar school teacher, and serving successively as principal of the First Ward building, assistant principal, and then
36
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
principal of the high school. In 1908 he was appointed to the newly created office of supervisory principal of all the schools of the borough.
While being abreast of the times along lines of the best thought in his chosen field of endeavor, and while striving intelligently and systematically for the im- provement and upbuilding of the schools under his supervision, Prof. Shull is opposed to fads and non- essentials in educational work.
He was married, November 28, 1907, to Carrie E., daughter of Reuben Fenstermacher and his wife La- vina, of Lehighton.
Fraternally Mr. Shull is connected with the Patriotic Order Sons of America, Knights of Malta, Odd Fel- lows and Free and Accepted Masons. He is a mem- ber of the United Evangelical church.
Sinn, Francis Peirce, superintendent of the plants of the New Jersey Zinc Company (of Pa.) at Palmerton, was born at Germantown, Philadelphia, October 7, 1882.
He is the son of Joseph A. and Ella (Wise) Sinn. His ancestors on both sides of the house were members of the Society of Friends. His father is a vice-president of the National Surety Company, of New York.
Mr. Sinn received his early education in the public schools of Philadelphia, graduating from the Central High School. Entering Lehigh University, he was graduated as a mining engineer in 1904.
Having followed his profession in Mexico and the western part of the United States for a period, he re- turned to Germantown, and was for a short time in the employ of the Alan Wood Iron and Steel Company.
In September, 1905, Mr. Sinn came to Palmerton, be- ginning his service in the plants with which he is now connected by working in the chemical laboratory.
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
Being transferred to the spelter department, he was made chief of the department in 1907. In June, 1912, he was made assistant superintendent of the west plant, located at Hazard, and in January of the succeeding year he entered upon the duties of his present position as superintendent of both plants of the company, des- ignated as east and west.
There are few greater industrial enterprises in the state than the works of the New Jersey Zinc Company, and the plants of the company, which are already im- mense, are constantly expanding.
Mr. Sinn is a member of the Masonic order, of the Chi Psi Fraternity, and of the following technical so- cieties : The American Institute of Mining Engineers ; The American Iron and Steel Institute; The Mining & Metallurgical Society of America, The American Chem- ical Society, and the American Society for Testing Materials. He is the president of the Lehigh Valley Local Safety Council, which is a branch of the National Safety Council.
Mr. Sinn was married in 1906 to Margaret Cortright Convers, daughter of George Goddard Convers, of South Bethlehem. Margaret Elizabeth, an only daugh- ter, was born on February 23, 1912.
Sitler, Daniel W., a well-known member of the bar of Carbon county, and a resident of Mauch Chunk, was born in Mahoning township, January 28, 1867, a son of Charles and Priscilla (Snyder) Sitler.
The father was a farmer of much native ability, and was well-read; having missed the privileges of a liberal education, however, he was willing to make sacrifices in order to make them possible to his children.
Three of his daughters became teachers; two grad- uated from normal schools, while one of the number, Ida Sitler, is a product of the University of Michigan.
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
After some preparation at the Normal Institute, situated near his home, Daniel taught district school for four years. Entering Williams College, Massa- chusetts, in the fall of 1887, he graduated with the class of 1891. Subsequently he was engaged as an in- structor of mathematics in a private school in Phila- delphia for a year.
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