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 > Part 28
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 | Part 42
In 1893 he came to Weatherly and secured employ- ment in a clerical capacity in the mercantile estab- lishment of Elmer Warner. For six years he was em- ployed as a salesman for O. J. Saeger, a wholesale fruit and produce dealer, of Lehighton. In 1900 Mr. Christman purchased the Alameda Restaurant, which he has successfully conducted since that time.
On December 31, 1887, he was united in marriage to Mary L. Shiner, daughter of John A. Shiner and his wife Fiana, of Slatington. Their children are: Harvey J., Jennie E., William E., Edward H., and Bessie A. Christman.
408
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
Harvey is employed as a clerk in the First National Bank of Lehighton, while William is a graduate of the Lehighton high school and of the South Bethlehem Business College.
Mr. Christman holds membership in the Odd Fel- lows, Knights of Malta, Red Men, and the Eagles. He is also connected with the Germania Saenger Bund, of Lehighton, and with the Rod and Gun Club of that town, besides being associated with Lehigh Fire Com- pany, No. 1. He was elected to the office of jury commissioner of Carbon county in 1906. He is now a member of the Lehighton Board of Commerce.
Christman, Hiram, operating one of the finest and most productive farms in Towamensing township, is a son of William H. and Lavina (George) Christman. The father was a native of Towamensing township, born in 1834. He followed the vocation of a farmer and was the parent of five children. He died at the age of thirty-one.
Hiram Christman was born in Eldred township, Monroe county, February 27, 1856. He attended the public schools until his seventeenth year, while all of his mature life has been spent in agricultural pursuits. In 1883 he purchased sixty-one acres of land in Towa- mensing township, the nucleus of his present farm of two hundred and fifty acres, and proceeded to clear the ground, which was thickly covered with brush. He there built his home, at a distance of about four miles from Trachsville, and has lived there continuously since.
As a member of the township school board Mr. Christman has taken an active interest in the cause of popular education, manifesting progressive tendencies. His political allegiance is given to the Republican party.
409
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
At the age of twenty-two he was married to Sarah B. Strohl, a daughter of Joel Strohl, of Towamensing township. Their children are: Harrison A., Emma J., wife of Oliver Koons, of Philadelphia; William H., Cora M., wife of John Bollinger; Eugene E., Martin F., Sallie A., and Mamie M. Christman.
Mr. Christman and his family are members of the Lutheran church.
Clewell, William H., a Summit Hill physician and surgeon, and postmaster of that town, is descended from ancestors who settled in Pennsylvania during Colonial times. The first of his family to come to America was Louisa Frache Clevel, a widow, who was accompanied by her two sons, George Craft and John Franz. The grandparents of these boys were natives of the province of Dauphine, France.
They were Huguenots, and upon the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, they fled to Auerbach, in Baden. It was in 1737 that the widow and her sons emigrated thence to Philadelphia. Franz was born in 1720, while George was six years his junior.
Being bound out to pay for their passage, then a common practice, the family lived for a time at Oley, Berks county, going from there to Nazareth, North- ampton county. All are buried in the Schoenech Mor- avian cemetery in Northampton, near Nazareth. Franz was the great-great-grandfather of the subject of this memoir.
William H .; son of Jacob L. and Emma L. (Schmueckle) Clewell, was born at Nazareth on Sep- tember 19, 1869. His father was a cabinet maker, and he gained his early training in the Moravian parochial schools of his native town. In 1881 the family removed to Philadelphia, where he attended the public schools. Learning the drug business he became a registered
410
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
pharmacist, following his calling for several years in New York city.
At the expiration of this period he entered the Medico-Chirurgical College at Philadelphia, from which institution he was graduated in 1896. After practising his profession in Philadelphia for a year, Dr. Clewell came to Summit Hill, where he has since lived, enjoying a large practise. He has long taken a keen interest in military affairs, and during his resi- dence in New York was connected with the militia of that state. During the war with Spain he recruited and organized Company L of the Ninth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, being commissioned as first lieutenant, and serving as such until the company was mustered out. He has since served in various official capacities in the National Guard, and is now a first lieutenant in the Medical Reserve Corps of the United States Army.
His services were of value in the organization of the First Regiment of the P. O. S. of A. Reserves, of which he is the lieutenant-colonel.
Dr. Clewell, who is a Republican, has held various offices in Summit Hill. His appointment as postmaster of the town came in 1906. He is a member of several Masonic bodies, and is a Past Exalted Ruler of the Tamaqua lodge of Elks, also being identified with a number of other fraternal societies, and with the Naval and Military Order of the Spanish-American War. He is affiliated with the Carbon County Medical Society, the Pennsylvania Medical Society, and with the Philadelphia Medical Club.
In 1888 he was married to Nellie B., daughter of John E. and Emeline Armour, of Philadelphia. Their only son is John A. Clewell.
-
411
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
Cortright, Nathan D., Jr., whose family name has been intimately associated with the anthracite coal industry since the early development of the Lehigh region, is a representative of one of the pioneer fam- ilies of the Wyoming Valley, and of early appearance in New Netherland.
The Cortrights originated in the old town of Kort- ryk, in Flanders, which place is celebrated in history, for not far from its walls was fought the famous "Bat- tle of the Spurs." There the flower of the French no- bility was overthrown by the Flemish army, largely composed of the weavers of Ghent and Burges. After the conflict the victors gathered up from the corpse- strewn field some four thousand golden spurs, hence the name which designates the bloody event.
During the early years of the seventeenth century civil wars and persecutions devastated the land, while the village of Kortryk several times changed hands.
Among those who left these turbulent scenes for a haven of safety in America, was Sebastian Van Kort- right, who embarked on April 16, 1663, in the ship "Brindle Cow." He brought with him his family, paying for their passage more than two hundred and four florins, the charge being thirty-nine florins for each adult, and half that sum for children of ten years and under.
Among his children were two sons, Michael and Jan Bastian. He settled in Harlem, New York, becoming one of the most opulent men of that time and place. From this source sprang Elisha Cortright, the great- grandfather of the subject of this memoir, who was among the first to settle on the rich and inviting soil of the Wyoming Valley. During the trying scenes of the Indian wars and the Revolution, he shared the hardships and vicissitudes incident to that period.
412
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
Being incapacitated at the time of the battle of Wy- oming, more commonly known as the "Wyoming Massacre," his brother John served in his stead and was killed.
Isaac Cortright, son of the aforementioned, spent his entire lifetime as a farmer on the banks of the beautiful Susquehanna. Among his eight children was Nathan D., the father of N. D. Cortright, Jr. Born in Salem township, Luzerne county, February 11, 1817, he grew to maturity at the place of his birth. At the age of nineteen he came to Beaver Meadow, Carbon county, and secured a position on the engineering corps of Ario Pardee and J. G. Fell, engaged in the construc- tion of the Beaver Meadow Railroad. Soon thereafter he was appointed as the general shipping and boat agent of the Hazleton Coal Company, of which he later became the superintendent, continuing as such until 1857, when he embarked in the coal business for him- self, living at Mauch Chunk.
He participated in the development of the coal and iron interests of the Lehigh region, and in a more lim- ited sense, extended his activities to the Wyoming coal fields. For nearly sixty years he lived on the same spot of ground in Mauch Chunk. Although modest and unassuming he was recognized as one of the most useful and public spirited citizens of that place.
He chose as his life companion Margaretta L., daughter of Ezekiel W. Harlan. Her parents were of Quaker origin, coming to Mauch Chunk from Chester county in 1826. Mr. Harlan was associated with the late Asa Packer in the operation of the mines at Nes- quehoning and in a number of other enterprises.
Nathan D. Cortright, Sr., passed away on October 11, 1902.
TILF NEW YOHN WISHARY
HELENLAND
413
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
N. D. Cortright, Jr., the second of a family of six children, was born at Mauch Chunk, on November 24, 1847. Having attended the schools of the place of his nativity, he finished his education at Dickinson Sem- inary, Williamsport, Pa. He then entered his father's office, and in 1873 was taken into partnership with him under the style and title of N. D. Cortright and Son. This relationship was maintained until the death of the elder, since which time Mr. Cortright has conducted the business under the old firm name.
He is financially interested in various mining prop- erties, while being a wholesale dealer in coal, and he is the president of the Beaver Run Coal Company, oper- ating a mine at Beaverdale, Pa., which is in the bitu- minous region. He is also a director of the Mauch Chunk Trust Company.
Mr. Cortright is a Republican, and served as post- master of Mauch Chunk under the successive adminis- trations of Hayes, Garfield, Arthur and Cleveland. He attends the First Presbyterian church of Mauch Chunk, of which he is one of the trustees.
On October 22, 1874, he was married to Margaret S., a daughter of John and Margaret (Connell) Kennedy, of Port Kennedy, Montgomery county, Pa. Their chil- dren are: Charles Homer, who is in business with his father; Frank Barton and Harry Kennedy, who are associated in the coal business in Philadelphia under the name of the Cortright Coal Company; Edgar Maurice, a mining engineer in the west; Donald Nath- an, connected with the Philadelphia Press, and Mar- garet Kennedy Cortright.
Craig, Hon. Allen, who achieved distinction as a lawyer, jurist and legislator, was born at Lehigh Gap, Carbon county, on December 25, 1835. His ancestors, who were of Scotch-Irish extraction, came to America
414
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
1
in 1714, locating in Philadelphia, and, in 1728, remov- ing to Northampton county, Pa.
General Thomas Craig, his grandfather, served gal- lantly under Arnold in the French and Indian War, and during the Revolution he commanded the Third Pennsylvania Regiment. Upon the declaration of the second war against England, still hale and hearty, he was appointed as a general in the American Army. In civil life he followed the occupation of a farmer.
His son, Captain Thomas Craig, the father of Judge Craig, was born in Northampton county in 1772. In 1795 he accompanied his parents on their removal to Towamensing township, which later became a part of Carbon county. Subsequently he became a dealer in' general merchandise at Lehigh Gap, also engaging in the lumber business.
In addition to his other interests, he conducted a stage line making regular trips between Easton and Mauch Chunk, being also the owner of the Lehigh Gap Inn, which was a stopping place for travelers on the turnpike leading from Berwick to Easton.
His military title was bestowed upon him as com- mander of a troop of horse in the Pennsylvania militia. He also represented his district in the state legislature, and was a leader of thought in his community.
His first wife was a Miss Kuntz, who bore him two sons, Thomas and Samuel. Subsequent to her death, he married Catherine Hagenbach. Their five children were: Eliza, John, Allen, William and Robert.
Allen Craig was educated at the old Vandeveer Acad- emy at Easton and at Lafayette College, graduating from the last named institution in 1855. Choosing the law as his profession, he became a student in the of- fice of Hon. M. M. Dimmick, of Mauch Chunk, being admitted to the bar of Carbon county on June 4, 1858.
415
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
His subsequent career was one of usefulness and honor. In 1859 he was elected as district attorney of Carbon county, which position he filled until 1866. During the latter year he was elected to membership in the state legislature, serving for three successive terms. Higher political honors came to him in 1878, when he was chosen to represent his district in the state senate for the term of four years.
In 1879 he formed a partnership with James S. Loose, of Mauch Chunk, and the firm which was then established became one of the best known in the legal profession of the Lehigh Valley. Judge Craig was prominent as a corporation lawyer. He was one of the group of able attorneys who represented the Com- monwealth in the famous Mollie Maguire trials, which resulted in the breaking up of that organization during the seventies.
In 1892, as the nominee of the Democratic party, he was elected president judge of the courts of Carbon and Monroe counties, serving until 1901, when Carbon was constituted a separate judicial district. Hon. Horace Heydt was then appointed to the bench of Car- bon county, while Judge Craig was transferred to the district comprising Monroe and Pike counties. During the following year both were candidates for the judge- ship of Carbon county for the full term of ten years, Judge Craig being defeated in a close contest.
During the early years of his tenure on the bench, he was unable to hold court to any great extent in Mauch Chunk, owing to his previous connection as an attorney with much of the litigation of the county. As a judge he was fair and broad-minded. Well versed in the intricacies and technicalities of the law, he was also possessed of a generous fund of common sense, upon which he drew liberally in rendering his deci-
416
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
sions, with the result that he was seldom reversed by the higher courts.
In demeanor he was genial and courteous, which, to- gether with his scholarly attainments, made his com- panionship delightful.
A short period of service in a Pennsylvania regiment during the Civil War entitled him to membership in the Grand Army of the Republic. He was always a favorite with the old veterans, and few camp-fires or gatherings of that nature were held in Mauch Chunk at which he was not present, lending eloquence and good-fellowship to the success of the occasion.
He was one of the prime movers in the erection of the Carbon county Soldiers' Monument, dedicated at Mauch Chunk on September 28, 1886.
For years he was a director of the First National Bank of Mauch Chunk, being also interested in the gas and water companies of the borough.
Judge Craig was married in 1866 to A. Isabel, daughter of Edwin A. and Harriet (Dexter) Douglas. Four children were born to them: Douglas, Henry D., Harriet, and Gay Gordon Craig. The father died on December 31, 1902.
Craig, Hector Tyndale, whose forefathers for gen- erations figured conspicuously in the civil and military annals of the commonwealth, is one of the prominent young business men of the lower end of Carbon county. He is associated with his brother, Thomas B. Craig, in the conduct of the mercantile business, and other in- terests established by his father, the late Colonel John Craig, at Lehigh Gap.
Born at Lehigh Gap, October 17, 1873, Mr. Craig received his education in the schools of Lower Towa- mensing township, entering the employ of his father at the age of seventeen, and growing up in the business.
THE NEW YOR PUBLIC LIBRARY
TILD' N' FOUNDAT ONO.
your Pekar The Orange
417
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
He is a director of the First National Bank of Sla- tington, and is secretary and treasurer of the Lehigh Water Gap Bridge Company.
Mr. Craig is a "companion of the first class" in the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, and is a member of the various Masonic bodies. He is also identified with the Odd Fellows and the Sons of Veterans.
In 1907 he was united in marriage to Annie C., daughter of the late James B. Roeder, who was a teller in the Second National Bank of Allentown. Three children have been born to them: Richard T., Ruth, and James I. Craig. They reside in the old Craig homestead at Lehigh Gap.
Craig, Colonel John. One of Carbon county's most distinguished native sons passed away, when on Octo- ber 22, 1908, full of years, and leaving behind him the record of a life of service and of usefulness, Colonel John Craig, of Lehigh Gap, died. His ancestral his- tory is one of distinction and of honor. From an early epoch in the colonization of Pennsylvania, members of the family have figured prominently in military and civil life, and the record of Colonel Craig is in harmony with that of his forefathers, he having served his coun- try with loyalty and capability upon the field of battle and in the halls of legislation, as well as through the avenues of business activity, leading to the substantial upbuilding and material progress of the state.
The pioneer ancestor of the family emigrated hither from Ireland about the close of the seventeenth cen- tury, settling in Philadelphia. Thence, in 1728, Colonel Thomas Craig removed to Northampton county, loca- ting in what was afterwards known as Craig's or the Irish Settlement, this tract of land being the property of William Penn and later that of his son, Thomas
418
:
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
Penn. The name of Colonel Thomas Craig appears upon the roll of the Synod of Philadelphia for the first time in 1731, and by it we learn that he occupied the office of elder. As it was in the year 1731 that the Presbyterian church was organized in the settlement, it may reasonably be supposed that he was the original elder.
Thomas Craig, son of Colonel Thomas Craig, was but a lad when his father came to Craig's. During his boyhood days he assisted in clearing the land and till- ing the soil, and, after attaining manhood, engaged in farming for himself.
The next in line of descent was Thomas Craig, whose birth occurred in the year 1740. In 1771, at the break- ing out of the Pennamite war, he was appointed to the rank of lieutenant in the Pennsylvania militia, and during the term of his service won a reputation for gallant and heroic conduct. He was an active cham- pion of the colonies from the opening of the Revolu- tionary War, and on January 5, 1776, was commis- sioned captain, being assigned to Colonel St. Clair's Pennsylvania Battalion. After several engagements in the Canadian campaign, he was promoted to the rank of major, September, 1776, and in the summer of the following year became Colonel of the Third Pennsylvania Regiment of the line. He performed meritorious service under the command of Washing- ton in the state of New Jersey, and subsequently par- ticipated in the battles of Brandywine and German- town. In the storming of Fort Durkee, near Wilkes- Barre, in 1771, Captain Craig, grandfather of Colonel John Craig, led the van with an impetuous rush, and gave the first alarm by springing into the midst of the astonished multitude, when he commanded a company under Ogden. He stepped lightly in advance of his
419
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
men, and speaking in a low tone and in friendly terms to the sentinel, threw him off his guard, knocked him down and entered the fort. Early in the Revolution- ary War he led a company into service under Washing- ton, and rose to the command of a regiment. Not only was he brave, but constitutionally impetuous. He was at Quebec, at the battles of Germantown and of Monmouth, and at the surrender of Lord Cornwallis. His intrepid and humane conduct in the storming of Fort Durkee and preserving the prisoners from slaugh- ter won him the esteem of all. Though brave as either, in his social walk he resembled Mark Anthony rather than Scipio.
Having quit the tented field, he sought excitement and pleasure amid the lilacs and roses with the blonde and brunette beauties of old Northampton.
On the afternoon of December 12, 1777, the British adjutant-general, who had his headquarters directly opposite, called at the famous old Loxley house, at the corner of Second and Little Dock streets, Phila- delphia, and notified (Mrs.) Lydia Darrah to have fire and candles lighted in a certain room which he had appropriated for a council chamber there. "And be sure," he added, "that your family are all in bed at an early hour." The Darrahs were members of the So- ciety of Friends, and William, the husband, was a school teacher. Lydia obeyed instructions, doubtless with her husband's consent and co-operation, and at the appointed hour, admitted the officers, being told by the adjutant that he would call her when they were ready to go. She then withdrew to an upper chamber. Friend though she was, her heart sympathies could not be silenced, and she trembled lest this secret council might bring to her friends and kindred some serious disaster. Slipping off her shoes and gliding noiseless-
420
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
ly down the stairs, she approached the entrance of the officers' room, and, placing her ear against the door, eagerly listened. At first she could only hear a mur- mur of voices; then ensued a long conference followed by a deep silence, broken at last by the loud voice of an officer reading an order from General Howe for an attack upon Washington's position at White Marsh, on the evening of December 4. Not waiting to hear more she tremblingly made her way back, and had scarcely closed the door when the adjutant knocked. Pretending not to hear until he had repeated the alarm for the third time, she answered the summons, drows- ily rubbing her eyes, as though just aroused from sleep, and let the officers out.
It was cold next morning, and there was snow on the ground; but, making the excuse that she needed flour, and could not spare the servant to go for it, Lydia se- cured a pass and set out for Frankford, a distance of five miles. Reaching the mill, and leaving her sack to be filled, she speeded on until near the American lines, when she met Lieutenant-Colonel Craig, a mounted scout, to whom she was well known, and who inquired her errand. As he was at the head of a company, she answered evasively, saying she was in search of her son, who was an officer in the American army. Then she added in a lower tone: "I have something im- portant to say to thee." He at once dismounted and walking slowly beside her, received the startling in- formation gratefully; then assuming a careless air, bade her good-by, when she unceremoniously departed, returning to the mill for her flour and hurrying home.
Resuming her household duties as though nothing unusual had occurred, she waited the outcome, calmly noting the departure of the British soldiers on the evening of December 4; listening to the distant boom-
421
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
ing of cannon on the morning of the 5th, and three days later witnessing their hasty return to camp, when the generally disturbed surroundings told her that they had been repulsed. Following this reverse, a cloud of suspicion settled on the place, and strict inquisition was made to locate the spy or traitor there. It was whispered that he had been concealed in the Darrah house. The adjutant-general sent for Lydia, and, lock- ing the door, questioned her closely, but without elicit- ing any incriminating evidence. "Thee knows," she said in conclusion, "that we were alone, and that all but myself had retired." "Yes, I do know," he re- plied, after a pause. "And you, yourself, were asleep, for I had to rap loudly three times before I could awaken you, and you were almost dreaming when you came to let us out. Still it is quite plain that we were betrayed. Strange! Very strange!" Thus Lydia Darrah's daring deed, tradition tells us, saved Wash- ington's army-perhaps the country-and thus she be- came a heroine in American history.
On April 12, 1778, at Valley Forge, Colonel Craig addressed a letter, strongly appealing for clothing for the soldiers, this fact showing their destitute condi- tion in that respect. In the battle of Monmouth his regiment displayed unusual courage, which fact was attributed largely to the coolness and bravery of their leader, who was eminently qualified for the high posi- tion which he occupied. After the close of hostilities, and upon his return to Northampton county, in July, 1783, Colonel Craig was appointed lieutenant. The following year Montgomery county was formed from Philadelphia, and he was appointed associate judge, clerk of courts, and recorder, all of which positions he held until 1789, a period of five years. For several years he was major general of the Seventh Division
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.