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 33
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A direct result of the freshet was the building of the Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad, the legislature pro- hibiting the rebuilding of the canal between Mauch Chunk and White Haven.
The engineering corps to which Mr. Kemmerer be- longed undertook the survey of this road, and he re- mained with them for several years in the capacity of an assistant engineer. At the expiration of this period he accepted a position as mining engineer and assistant superintendent of the Upper Lehigh Coal Company, of Luzerne county. After four years of service in the employ of this company he began his active business career as a member of the firm of Whitney, McCreary & Kemmerer, dealers in coal, the firm subsequently becoming Whitney & Kemmerer.
In 1876 he engaged in the mining of coal at Harleigh, Pond Creek and other collieries, achieving honorable success from the start. He became financially inter- ested in the Connellsville Coke and Iron Company, the Carbon Iron and Pipe Company and the Carbon Roll- ing Mill Company, in all of which enterprises he served as a director. He also served as secretary and treas- urer of the Virginia Coal and Iron Company, and as a director of the Alden Coal Company, of Wilkes- Barre.
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
Mr. Kemmerer is largely interested in mining prop- erties in the West, and the town of Kemmerer, Wy- oming, is named in his honor. For years he has held the controlling interest in the iron works at Parry- ville. He is also the president of the Mauch Chunk National Bank.
Governor Pattison appointed Mr. Kemmerer as one of the commissioners in the matter of revising the mining laws of the state. He has always upheld the principles advocated by the Republican party, and is a communicant of the Presbyterian church.
On December 1, 1868, Mr. Kemmerer was married to Annie L., daughter of Hon. John Leisenring, who was one of Mauch Chunk's foremost citizens. John L., Mahlon L., and Gertrude L. are their three children.
Kennedy, Thomas, president of the Seventh District, United Mine Workers of America, comprising Carbon county and portions of Luzerne and Schuylkill, is a son of Peter Kennedy, who emigrated to this country from Ireland in 1878, and located at Coal Dale, Schuylkill county. He was married to Mary, a daughter of James Boyle, of Lansford, in 1885. They had eight children, all of whom are yet living.
The father was killed by a fall of coal in one of the mines of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company in the year 1902.
Thomas Kennedy was born at Lansford, November 2, 1887. At the age of eleven he left school and began his life as a worker by picking slate in the breaker. He filled various positions in and about the mines, finally becoming a full-fledged miner. He early mani- fested an interest in economic problems, and at the age of sixteen began to show an understanding of the questions affecting capital and labor.
Thomas Kennedy
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONE.
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
He has attended every national convention of the United Mine Workers as a delegate since he became seventeen years of age.
In 1908 Mr. Kennedy received a large vote for the office of secretary of his district, but failed of election. Two years later he was elected to the presidency of District No. 7, and is now the youngest district presi- dent of his union in the United States.
In this honorable position he is working intelligently for the amelioration and betterment of the condition of the men whose interests he represents. He took a leading part in the conferences between the representa- tives of the miners and the operators, resulting in the peaceful settlement of the differences between capital and labor in the coal region in 1912.
By virtue of the position he holds, Mr. Kennedy is a member of the Anthracite Conciliation Board, which came into being under the award of the Anthracite Strike Commission of 1902. He was married in 1912 to Miss Helen Melley, of Philadelphia.
Kistler, D. Amandus, conducting a grist mill in Ma- honing township, on the site of the mill built by Benja- min Gilbert in 1775, and destroyed by the Indians some years later, is the son of David D. and Mary A. (Mantz) Kistler, both natives of West Penn, Schuyl- kill county.
D. Amandus Kistler was born in Mahoning town- ship on April 4, 1858. The place of his nativity was the farm which was originally settled by Samuel Dod- son, whose daughter, Abigail, was taken captive by the Indians, together with Benjamin Gilbert and his family. At the age of twenty-two Mr. Kistler pur- chased this farm from his father, occupying and tilling the same until 1911, when he disposed of it to the present occupant, Ira Troxel.
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
Mr. Kistler purchased his present home, together with the mill which he operates, in the autumn of 1908. He was married on December 14, 1887, to Alvena, the daughter of Joseph Zimmerman, of West Penn town- ship. Their children are: Oscar, Ada, Mabel, Clif- ford and Warren.
Mr. Kistler has for years been a member of the Re- publican executive committee of Carbon county.
Kline, C. Fred, cashier of the First National Bank of Lansford, is the son of Charles F. and Hannah (Hart) Kline. His father is a native of Summit Hill, and is now a general merchant at Lansford, while his mother came from New Jersey.
C. Fred Kline was born at Summit Hill on December 4, 1869. He attended the public schools until his four- teenth year, when he began life as a clerk in his fa- ther's store. During the spring of 1888 he entered the service of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company, becoming the chief clerk of the company. For about ten years he also held the position of cashier of that corporation. His duties brought him into intimate contact with the workmen of the company, and for a period of fifteen years he assisted in the pleasant duty of paying them their wages.
Early in 1911 he resigned to accept the cashiership of the First National Bank, of which he was one of the organizers. He has been a member of the board of directors of this institution since its inception.
Mr. Kline served as secretary to the directorate of the Middle Coal Field Poor District for about six years. In the autumn of 1892 he was married to Ella C., daughter of J. B. Rickert, the veterinary surgeon of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company at Lans- ford. He is a member of various Masonic bodies, and is a communicant of the Methodist Episcopal church.
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
Kresge, George D., a representative business man of Lehighton, was born at Stemlersville, Carbon coun- ty, Pa., on October 17, 1867. His father, Paul Kresge, was a native of Gilberts, Monroe county, the year of his birth being 1840.
On November 3, 1862, he enlisted in Company F, One Hundred Seventy-Sixth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and was honorably discharged as a corporal on August 17, 1863. Re-enlisting on March 7, 1865, he became a member of the Second Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry, and was finally dis- charged on July 6th of the same year.
Soon after the close of the Civil War, Mr. Kresge took up his residence at Stemlersville, Carbon county, where he conducted a general store and engaged in farming pursuits. He was also postmaster at Stem- lersville and was a justice of the peace for many years.
In 1879 he was the nominee of the Democratic party for the office of sheriff of Carbon county, but was de- feated by the narrow margin of fourteen votes.
Mr. Kresge was also one of the organizers of the Citizens' National Bank, of Lehighton, and was one of the first directors of that institution. He was married to Mary, a daughter of Daniel Stemler, and they be- came the parents of nine children. Mr. Kresge died September 2, 1908, leaving behind him the record of a life of usefulness and honorable conduct.
George D. Kresge, after leaving the public schools, attended Broadheadsville Academy and the Polytech- nic Institute, both Monroe county institutions. He taught school for two years, and, in 1885, located at Lehighton, opening a general store, which he has con- ducted with growing success to the present time.
Mr. Kresge has been a member of the school board of Lehighton for a dozen years, in which capacity he
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
has taken an active and intelligent interest in educa- tional work. He is also a director in the Lehigh Valley Building and Loan Association. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, of the Independent Americans, and of the Knights of Malta, while being an adherent of the Reformed church.
On November 30, 1889, George D. Kresge was united in marriage to Glendora, a daughter of David Beltz, of Franklin township. Their children are: Mary, Eva, Myrtle, and Russell Kresge.
Kressley, Daniel, a veteran of the Civil War, and a farmer of Mahoning township, was born at Lynnport, Lehigh county, Pa., on January 18, 1844. His parents were Jonathan and Elizabeth (Brobst) Kressley, both natives of Pennsylvania.
When Daniel was six years of age, the family re- moved to Mahoning township, Carbon county, where he grew to manhood. He was one among thirty-seven, in one manner or another connected with the public school at New Mahoning, who volunteered in the war for the preservation of the Union.
First enlisting as a private in Company F, One Hun- dred Thirty-Second Regiment, P. V. I., on August 9, 1862, he was discharged on account of disability on January 17, 1863, having been sick with typhoid fever in a Washington hospital for nine weeks.
Re-enlisting as a corporal in the Two Hundred and Second Pennsylvania Regiment he served until honor- ably discharged, August 3, 1865.
Among the wartime memories which stand forth prominently in his mind are the battle of South Moun- tain, where he participated in a parting volley which wrought havoc in the ranks of the enemy, and the Bloody Lane of Antietam, where he was wounded. He also recalls with vividness an encounter between his
TURING HAARRY
Ihreasley
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
regiment and the command of the celebrated Mosby, at Salem Heights, Va., in which the Confederates were worsted.
After the war Mr. Kressley returned to Mahoning township, where, during the winter months he taught school for thirteen years. Between terms he was em- ployed as a car builder by the Lehigh Coal and Navi- gation Company and the Lehigh Valley Railroad Com- pany.
Since 1884 he has devoted his energies to agricul- tural pursuits on a farm which he had previously pur- chased.
On April 21, 1867, he was married to Mary A., daughter of Gabriel Dilcher. They have eight surviv- ing children, two sons and six daughters. Both sons are preachers of the Reformed church. Clement Dan- iel, the eldest, is located at Higens, Schuylkill county, Pa., while Thomas M. is stationed at Pine Grove, in the same county.
Mr. Kressley is connected with the Lutheran church. He is a charter member of John D. Bertollette Post, No. 484, G. A. R., of Lehighton, Pa.
Kressley, James Franklin, one of Weatherly's fore- most citizens and a prominent member of the Grand Army of the Republic, was born at Lynnport, Lehigh county, on November 29, 1846. His father, Jonathan Kressley, who was a carpet and linen weaver, was also a native of Lehigh county. He chose as his life com- panion Elizabeth Brobst, who came from a family well known in that section of the state. They became the parents of two sons and three daughters.
When James was still a child the family removed to New Mahoning, Carbon county, and at the age of nine he began to earn his own way by working for a farmer. In June, 1863, when the call was issued for volunteers
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1
to repel Lee's invasion of Pennsylvania, Mr. Kressley, though but little past sixteen years of age, enlisted for the required period of three months. Later he re- enlisted for three years, or during the continuance of the conflict, becoming a member of the One Hundred and Sixteenth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer In- fantry, and serving until the close of the war. He was honorably discharged as a sergeant in June, 1865.
Returning to civil life, he fitted himself as a teacher by attending the Carbon Academy at Lehighton for five months. He taught school for two years, after which he came to Weatherly, where he served in the general store of W. W. Blakslee in various capacities for sixteen years.
In 1885 Mr. Kressley established himself as a dealer in hardware and lumber at Weatherly, selling out the business two years later to J. C. Sendel, and removing with his family to Birmingham, Alabama, for the ben- efit of his wife's health. After a sojourn of a year in the South he returned to Weatherly, and soon there- after purchased the general store of J. G. Eadie, con- ducting the business for six years.
He spent a year in aiding to organize the Weatherly Foundry and Machine Company, acting as the secre- tary of the company, and becoming a member of its board of directors. He was then chosen as the presi- dent of the Allen Candy Manufacturing Company, in which capacity he is still serving. He has given his best efforts to the building up of the business of this company, the affairs of which are in a prosperous con- dition.
Mr. Kressley has been an independent in politics and has been a leader in the movement for the abolition of the liquor traffic. Some years ago he was elected to the office of chief burgess of Weatherly, which he filled
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
for a single term. For many years he has been the su- perintendent of the primary department of the Sun- day school of the Centenary Methodist Episcopal church. He was a prime mover in the erection of the Soldiers' Monument, dedicated at Weatherly in 1906.
Mr. Kressley was united in marriage to Sallie, a daughter of John Derr, of Weatherly, in 1870. They are the parents of two sons, Walter and Robert Kress- ley.
Kuehner, Eugene V., deputy clerk of courts for Car- bon county, and for thirteen years a teacher in the public schools, is one of the nine children of Augustus and Christiana (Eckhart) Kuehner, of Towamensing township. His father followed the vocation of a farm- er, having been married in 1859.
Eugene V. Kuehner was born on March 6, 1870, in Towamensing township; he attended the district schools until his seventeenth year, and later attended Muhlenberg College at Allentown, being also a gradu- ate of Palm's Business College, of Philadelphia. In addition to this he attended a number of select and summer schools.
Mr. Kuehner served as a justice of the peace in Towamensing township for a number of years, later , becoming deputy prothonotary and clerk of courts under W. J. Zerbey in 1901. This office was di- vided by act of the legislature during the incumbency of Mr. Zerbey, who served three terms as clerk of courts, but Mr. Kuehner held both deputyships until November 6, 1909, when he relinquished his duties in the office held by Mr. Zerbey, but continued in the of- fice of the prothonotary until January, 1910.
He was himself a candidate for the Republican nom- ination for clerk of courts in 1909, being defeated by a narrow margin at the primaries, but was appointed as the deputy of that officer in January, 1910.
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
Mr. Kuehner was wedded to Sabina A. Anthony, of Little Gap, Carbon county, on October 23, 1893. Elsie Kuehner is their only child.
Mr. Kuehner is a member of the Patriotic Order of Sons of America and of the Independent Order of For- esters.
During the presidential campaign of 1912 he sup- ported the candidacy of Theodore Roosevelt. He as- sisted in organizing the Washington party in Carbon county, and was chosen as the first secretary of that party in the county. Mr. Kuehner is the Mauch Chunk correspondent for a number of daily metropolitan journals.
Kunkle, Harry F., conducting a general store at Trochsville, is the son of Harrison and Amanda (Dory) Kunkle, the former a native of Monroe county, and the latter of Northampton. The father was born in 1839, and when a young man engaged in the lumber business. Later he came to Trochsville, Carbon coun- ty, establishing himself in the mercantile business. He served as the tax collector of Towamensing township and as a member of the school board, besides holding a number of other offices.
Harry F. Kunkle was born at Trochsville on May 31, 1882. He was educated in the common schools, at the Polytechnic Institute, Gilberts, Monroe county, and at Schissler's Business College, Norristown, Pa. After leaving school he took a half interest in the business of his father, acquiring full control of the same through purchase in 1909. He was the postmaster of Carbon until the elimination of the office in 1911.
Mr. Kunkle was married on March 13, 1903, to Tillula, the daughter of Dennis Moyer and his wife Amanda, of Trochsville. Stanley, their only son, was born in June, 1904.
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
Mr. Kunkle is a member of the Reformed church, and has been the superintendent of the Sunday school of that denomination at Trochsville for several years. He is identified with the Patriotic Order of Sons of America, and is a believer in the principles advocated by the Republican party.
Kutz, Wilson L., a physician and surgeon, of Weiss- port, was born in Berks county, Pa., May 9, 1854, the fourth son of Samuel D. and Caroline (Dry) Kutz. He grew to maturity on his father's farm, receiving his preliminary education in the district schools and at Kutztown State Normal School, where he graduated in 1870.
Enrolling as a student at the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, he completed his course in 1874. Choos- ing the profession of medicine, he entered Jefferson Medical College, from which he was graduated with the class of 1878. After practising in Philadelphia for two years he located at Parryville, Carbon county, where he remained for six years.
In 1887 he came to Weissport, forming a partnership with Dr. J. G. Zern, under the firm name of Zern and Kutz. This partnership was dissolved after about fif- teen years, since which time Doctor Kutz has practised quite successfully on his own account.
In 1891 he was elected as coroner of Carbon county, and he has held most of the offices in the gift of the people of Weissport. He is a member of the Carbon County Medical Society, having served as president of that body, being also identified with the Lehigh Valley Medical Association and the American Medical So- ciety. For some time past he has been a surgeon for the Lehigh Valley Railroad.
He is a member and past officer of the Masonic fra- ternity at Lehighton, Lilly Chapter and Packer Com-
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
mandery, at Mauch Chunk, and is connected with Irem Temple, Order of the Mystic Shrine, of Wilkes-Barre, while belonging to a number of other organizations.
In 1872 Doctor Kutz was married to Victoria Diehl. They have two sons, Leroy and Harry Cooper Kutz.
Lauderburn, A. J., who was numbered among Weatherly's most prominent and influential citizens, was born at Youngstown, Westmoreland county, Pa., on November 5, 1823.
Frederick Lauderburn, his grandfather, was of Swiss parentage, but his family had removed to Ger- many, whence he emigrated to America during Colon- ial times. He was a soldier of the Revolutionary War.
Christian, the eldest of the three children of Freder- ick Lauderburn, and the father of the subject of this memoir, was born in Philadelphia in 1770, and became a prosperous iron master.
Alexander J. Lauderburn attended the public school in the place of his birth until his twelfth year, when his parents located at Orwigsburg, Schuylkill county, Pa., where he finished his education. Having had some military experience in his youth, he was, in 1851, com- missioned as a lieutenant-colonel of the State Militia, and served as an aid-de-camp on the staff of Governor William F. Johnston.
He began life as a railroader, but soon abandoned this for clerical work. After a residence of several years at Tuscarora, Schuylkill county, he, in 1862, en- tered the service of Samuel Hudson, at Beaver Mea- dows. Subsequently he engaged in the mercantile busi- ness for a time.
In 1867, Mr. Lauderburn removed to Hudsondale, near Weatherly, where, in association with Sampson Smith and Samuel Hudson, under the firm name of Lauderburn, Smith and Hudson, he built and equipped
John &haver
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
a large flour and grist mill. At the expiration of three years, the enterprise was abandoned as an unprofitable one, while the property was rented. The mill is now owned by the Hazleton Water Company.
In 1871 Mr. Lauderburn took up his residence in Weatherly, where he spent the remainder of his life. He was first connected with a store which was conduct- ed on the co-operative plan. Later he opened a store on his own account, taking his son, A. H. Lauderburn into partnership with himself. This business was suc- cessfully continued for thirty years, and as his finan- cial resources increased, Mr. Lauderburn made ju- dicious investments in real estate, becoming the owner of considerable property in Weatherly and Hazleton.
Contributing in many ways to the welfare of the town of his adoption, he was one of its most honored and useful citizens. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity, and was a loyal and devoted supporter of the Methodist church. During his residence at Hud- sondale he organized and conducted a Sunday school which is still flourishing.
His companion in life bore the maiden name of Margaret Duel, to whom he was married at Tamaqua, Schuylkill county, in 1849, Of their seven children, four survive: Albert H., Ella, wife of S. G. Eby; Frederick and Edward.
The father passed away in December, 1906, in his eighty-fourth year, while Mrs. Lauderburn died on April 7, 1910.
Lauer, John E., one of the best known residents of Lansford, is descended from pioneer settlers of York county, Pa. His ancestors emigrated thither from the Palatinate, in Germany, about 1736. They were in- fluential in the establishment of the Reformed church
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in that section of Pennsylvania, and participated in the struggle for American independence.
Reuben, the father of John E. Lauer, was a wealthy and progressive farmer of York county. His wife bore the maiden name of Caroline Spangler. Their family consisted of four sons and four daughters.
The subject of this memoir was born in Dover town- ship, York county, on February 11, 1850. He grew to maturity on his father's farm, receiving his early training in the schools of the neighborhood, which in those days were kept in session but a few months of the year.
Entering Millersville State Normal School, he was graduated with the class of 1871. During his twenty- second year he came to Summit Hill, Pa., to assume the principalship of the schools of that place. At the expiration of the term he forsook teaching to take a clerical position with the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company at Nesquehoning. Later he was transferred to the Lansford offices of the company, becoming, after a time, the purchasing agent at that point, and continu- ing in that capacity until January 1, 1909, when he retired, having spent thirty-seven consecutive years in the service of the company.
Mr. Lauer was among the first to recognize the possi- bilities of growth which lay in Lansford, early invest- ing in real estate which has since increased immensely in value. For a time he was the secretary of the Fi- delity Building and Loan Association, of Summit Hill, the first institution of its kind in the Panther Creek Valley, and he has been financially interested in the four associations that have followed this in Lansford. He was one of the organizers of the Panther Valley Electric Light, Heat and Power Company, of which he is still a stockholder, while being one of the found-
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
ers of the First National Bank of Lansford, of which he is a director. For a time he was vice president of the First National Bank of Tamaqua. He is now the secretary and one of the owners of the Carbon Tele- phone Company. Mr. Lauer has also for years con- ducted a general insurance business.
For more than thirty years he has been a member of the English Congregational church, of Lansford, hav- ing actively participated in the erection of the first building of that congregation. He served two terms as a member of the school board of the borough, and was twice an unsuccessful aspirant for the Democratic nomination for Congress in his district.
In 1904 he was a delegate to the Democratic national convention at St. Louis, which nominated Alton B. Parker for the presidency.
Mr. Lauer was married on November 17, 1872, to Henrietta G., daughter of Frank Zehner, of Summit Hill, and a sister of the late William D. Zehner, who was for thirty-six years the general superintendent of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company.
Joseph F. Zehner, a well-known contractor, who was cruelly murdered near Nesquehoning on September 7, 1911, was a brother of Mrs. Lauer.
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