History of Lehigh county, Pennsylvania and a genealogical and biographical record of its families, Vol. I, Part 51

Author: Roberts, Charles Rhoads; Stoudt, John Baer, 1878- joint comp; Krick, Thomas H., 1868- joint comp; Dietrich, William Joseph, 1875- joint comp; Lehigh County Historical Society
Publication date: 1914
Publisher: Allentown, Pa. : Lehigh Valley Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1158

USA > Pennsylvania > Lehigh County > History of Lehigh county, Pennsylvania and a genealogical and biographical record of its families, Vol. I > Part 51

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).

THE ALLENTOWN COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE AND MILITARY ACADEMY.

In March, 1864, this institution was regularly chartered by the Legislature of Pennsylvania, under "the name, style and title of the Allentown Collegiate Institute and Military Academy." Under this charter it possessed collegiate powers and privileges. Notwithstanding the fact that

263

EDUCATION IN THE COUNTY.

it had the chartered rights of a college, and was nominally under the control of a board of trus- tees, it was in reality merely a private school. Rev. M. L. Hofford was the only president of the institution under the above charter.

The Board of Trustees consisted of 17 mem- bers: Hon. S. A. Bridges, President ; Col. Henry C. Longnecker, Vice-President; Jacob S. Dil- linger, Esq., Secretary ; Wm. S. Young, Esq., Treasurer ; Hon. R. E. Wright, Hon. J. D. Stiles, C. Pretz, Thomas Jacoby, Charles W. . Cooper, John H. Oliver, Henry Weinsheimer, Geo. P. Weil, John D. Lawall, Wm. H. Blumer, Thomas B. Wilson, Boas Hausman and Charles Kramer. The following constituted the faculty : Rev. M. L. Hofford, A.M., President; Rev. Wm. R. Hofford, A.M., Vice-President ; Rev. J. S. Kessler, D.D., Edward Brodie Glasgow, G. A. Aschbach, Hon. Robert E. Wright, Major G. Eckendorff, Prof. C. F. Herrmann, Joel J. Rossister and Charles H. Asay. The circular of 1865-66 shows to what extent the institution had become a military academy for the title had become "Military and Collegiate Institute, Al- lentown, Pa." Rev. M. L. Hofford continued as president and the names of the following instruc- tors appear in the circular of 1865-66: Rev. E. J. Koons, A.M., Rev. M. H. Richards, A.M., Rev. G. A. Hinterleiter, Rev. J. W. Wood, A.M,, George Herman Rupp, F. H. Hutchings, W. W. Johnson, A. Spangler and S. Hughes. The female department was continued, but the names of the female students do not appear in the catalogue. Rev. M. L. Hofford, A.M., President, resigned in the Spring of 1867. The institution was continued until June 16, 1867, when it was closed. The purposes of its found- ers, however, are continued in the two splendid institutions of learning, Muhlenberg College and the Allentown College for Women, both of which are the outgrowth of the Allentown Seminary.

MUHLENBERG COLLEGE.

(Rev. Solomon E. Ochsenford, D.D., formerly Professor of English and Social Science, Muhlen- berg College.)

Muhlenberg College was established in the year 1867, to meet a want, long felt by many of the pastors and lay members of the Lutheran Church in eastern Pennsylvania, where the Lu- theran population is very strong. Prior to this period these people had no institution of their own for the higher education of their young people. It was felt by many that a college under Lutheran mangement was needed, should be established, and could be maintained. The institution, therefore, is a church school, but it

is by no means to be regarded, on this account, as sectarian. It is a Christian institution of higher education, established and maintained for the Christian training of the young, not only for those who expect to enter the office of the min- istry, but also for those who wish to prepare for other pursuits in life, and who admittedly need the healthful and inspiring influences of Christianity as much as those who assume respon- sible duties of the Christian ministry.

The immediate cause that led to the establish- ment of Muhlenberg College by the Lutheran . Ministerium of Pennsylvania was the establish- ment of a Theological Seminary at Philadel- phia, in 1864, by the same body. A college closely identified with the interest of the Sem- inary was felt to be necessary. This led to the establishment of the college at Allentown.

In the Providence of God it happened that there existed in the center of the territory of the Ministerium, at this critical period of its his- tory, an institution of high grade and with col- legiate powers in which Lutheran clergymen and laymen had been deeply and actively interested from the beginning of its existence, the authori- ties of which were ready and anxious to turn it over to the Ministerium of Pennsylvania. Thus it happened that Muhlenberg College became the successor, to some extent, at least, of the Al- lentown Seminary, and of the Allentown Col- legiate Institute and Military Academy, which succeeded the Seminary in 1864. Under the charter granted by the Legislature of Pennsyl- vania the latter institution, into which the origi- nal seminary had developed, possessed collegiate powers and privileges, and made its first ad- vancement towards the grade of a college. In the year 1867 the Evangelical Lutheran Minis- terium of Pennsylvania assumed partial control of the institution, elected one-third of the trus- tees, and advanced it to the grade of a college. Ten years later the same body assumed the en- tire management of the college.

The original Board of Trustees of the Col- lege consisted of the following persons, elected by the stockholders: Rev. Frederick A. Muhl- enberg, D.D., ex-officio president; Rev. Edward J. Koons, secretary; Jonathan Reichard, treas- urer ; Hon. Robert E. Wright, Rev. Samuel K. Brobst, Melchior H. Horn, Charles W. Cooper, William Saeger, William H. Blumer, Rev. Wil- liam Rath, Rev. Joshua Yeager, Christian Pretz and Rev. F. J. F. Schantz ; elected by the Min- isterium: Revs. Joseph A. Seiss, D.D., William J. Eyer, and George F. Miller, and Messrs. Amos W. Potteiger, Lewis Klump and Benja- min F. Trexler.

264

HISTORY OF LEHIGH COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

The College Building.

As soon as the joint stock company had se- cured its amended charter entitling it to estab- lish a college with all the powers and privi- leges of such an institution, had elected its board of trustees and a president, work was begun to arrange the buildings for the larger field of operations to which they were in future to be devoted. The property of the new college con- sisted of about five acres of land in the south- eastern part of the city of Allentown, on which had been erected several commodious buildings devoted to the use of the institution.

Organization of the College.

Muhlenberg College was named in honor of the Rev. Henry Melchoir Muhlenberg, D.D., the patriarch of the Lutheran Church in Amer- ica, who had labored not only for the spiritual welfare of the people in a general way, but also put forth strenuous efforts to organize the vari- ous and manifold works of the Church for the intellectual and spiritual benefit of future gen- erations in the organization of the first Lutheran Synod, in 1748, and in the effort to establish a literary and theological seminary in Philadel- phia. He failed in the successfully carrying out of the latter project, but because the time was not propitious, nor were the people prepared for the important step contemplated. Nearly a hun- dred years later the Ministerium of Pennsyl- vania succeeded in carrying out his pious wishes, inaugurated its educational work on its own ter- ritory, in the spirit of Muhlenberg, by establish- ing a theological seminary at Philadelphia, in 1864, and a college at Allentown in 1867, and rightly called one of these by his honored and revered name-Muhlenberg College. Although the name of this eminent pioneer labored in spir- itual things may not now be widely known in this country, to the Lutherans in Europe and America, and in India and Africa, it is a familiar and honored one, a name that stands for every- thing that is noble and ennobling in the sphere of religion and right life.

The course of study adopted at the beginning of the history of the college was like those of similar institutions at that time, embracing all the branches usually included in the regular col- lege course and leading to the degree of bachelor of arts and a four years' scientific course leading to the degree of bachelor of science, and enables graduates to enter any medical school in the country.

The first faculty had as its head the Rev. Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg, D.D., LL.D.,

who was called from the chair of Greek at Penn- sylvania College, Gettysburg, Pa., to take charge of the new college, named in honor of his dis- tinguished ancestor. He came to the new insti- tution with many years of experience as a suc- cessful teacher, and the reputation of being one of the best Greek scholars of his time. Born at Lancaster, Pa., Oct. 25, 1818, the son of Fred- erick A. Muhlenberg, M.D., and educated at Pennsylvania and Jefferson Colleges and Prince- ton Theological Seminary, he was well quali- fied to take up the profession of teaching, and, . after teaching for twelve years at Franklin Col- lege, Lancaster, Pa., and for seventeen years at Pennsylvania College, Gettysburg, he, in the prime of mature manhood, and with a wide and varied experience in his chosen profession, as- sumed the responsible position of organizing a new institution of learning, his high standing as an educator and a scholar giving at once promi- nence and character to the new institution.

The other members of the faculty were also men of distinction and wide experience in their various departments. These were, besides Dr. Muhlenberg, president and professor of Greek, mental and moral sciences, and evidence of Chris- tianity, the Rev. Edward J. Koons, A.M., vice- president and professor of mathematics, astron- omy and physics; the Rev. William R. Hofford, A.M., professor of Latin; the Rev. Samuel Phil- ips, A.M., professor of rhetoric, logic, English literature and political economy ; the Rev. Joseph F. Fahs, A.M., professor of German; and Theo- dore C. Yeager, M.D., professor of chemistry, physiology and botany. At the head of the aca- demic department, and assistant professor of Greek, was the Rev. Theodore L. Seip, A.M., then recently graduated from the Theological Seminary at Philadelphia and ordained to the office of the ministry by the Lutheran Minis- terium of Pennsylvania.

During the earlier years of the history of the college, there were frequent changes in the per- sonnel of the faculty, but these did not affect the successful wok of the institution. As the places were vacated by members of the original faculty, they were filled by eminent and success- ful teachers, some of whom spent their lives in connection with the institution. Among these deserve to be specially mentioned, Professor Davis Garber, Ph.D., professor of mathematics and allied branches from the year 1869 until his death in 1896; and the Rev. Matthias H. Rich- ards, D.D., author and scholar, professor of English language and literature from 1868 until his death in 1898.

The period of Dr. Muhlenberg's presidency was also the period of struggle for the newly-

265

EDUCATION IN THE COUNTY.

founded college. In acquiring the property, ar- ranging it for enlarged usefulness, erecting new buildings, and providing for the maintenance of the institution, without a dollar of endowment, the Board of Trustees had assumed enormous re- sponsibilities. Everything had to be provided for the successful operation of the new enterprise. They began with fair prospects of success; but the panic of 1873-75 came upon them and almost wrecked the enterprise. During the financial stress caused by the panic, the Rev. Dr. Seip was appointed as the financial agent of the in- stitution and by his untiring efforts succeeded in re-establishing confidence in the institution, in securing new students, and in collecting large sums of money to relieve the most pressing needs. As one of the results of his efforts he could report the endowment of the Mosser-Keck professor- ship of Greek. Some years later, as an indirect result of his labors, came the endowment of the Asa Packer professorship of Natural and Applied Sciences. Dr. Muhlenberg continued as presi- dent of the College and as professor of Greek until the close of the year 1876, when he re- signed in order to accept the professorship of Greek in the University of Pennsylvania at Phila- delphia. His withdrawal was a cause of sincere regret to the best and most deeply interested friends of the College. He remained long enough, however, to establish the institution on a firm educational basis and give it a prominent place among the educational institutions of the State.

Later History of the College.

In the year 1876 the Rev. Benjamin Sadtler, D.D., who had been successful in the active ministry of the Church as a pastor of various congregations, and as principal of the College for Women at Lutherville, Maryland, was elected to the presidency of the college, and en- tered upon his duties on January 1, 1877. He was inducted into office by the president of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania at its convention held at Allentown, May 28, 1877. At this con- vention, also, the full control and responsibility for the maintenance of the college were assumed by the Ministerium, and the entire Board of Trustees was elected by this body. Dr. Sadtler, the son of Philip B. Sadtler, was born at Baltimore, Maryland, Dec. 25, 1823, and was educated at Gettysburg College and Theological Seminary, entered the Lutheran ministry in 1844, for eighteen years served as pastor of Lutheran congregations in Pennsylvania, and for fifteen years as president of the College for Women at Lutherville. During Dr. Sadtler's presidency at Muhlenberg College, few changes occurred, either in the faculty or in the external manage-

ment of affairs. In 1879, Asa Packer's bequest of thirty thousand dollars was received, and avas set apart as an endowment of the chair of Nat- ural and Applied Sciences. In June, 1881, Pro- fessor Edgar F. Smith, Ph.D., now provost of the University of Pennsylvania, was elected as the first incumbent of this professorship, and he it was who organized this department at Muhlenberg, and by his ability as a scholar and teacher gave to it immediate prominence. Dr. Smith remained only a few years, but the col- lege has been successful in securing competent men, and much has been accomplished since then in the line of natural sciences. Dr. Sadtler ad- ministered the affairs of the institution until the Fall of the year 1885, when a fall on the ice dis- abled him for life, and constrained him to retire from active duties, and in the Summer of 1886 he removed to Baltimore, where he lived in re- tirement until his death, which occurred April 28, 1900. His successor was elected Nov. 5, 1885, his term of office beginning Jan. 1, 1886. This was the Rev. Theodore Lorenzo Seip, D.D., who was the efficient and esteemed head of the institution until his death, Nov. 28, 1903. When the vacancy occurred, occasioned by the resignation of Dr. Sadtler, the Board of Trus- tees and the Ministerium of Pennsylvania unani- mously turned to Dr. Seip as the most suitable and best-equipped man for this responsible posi- tion. Dr. Seip was the son of Reuben L. and Sarah A. Seip, and was born at Easton, Pa., June 25, 1842. He received his classical train- ing in Pennsylvania College, Gettysburg, Pa., and his theological training in the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, having en- tered the latter institution in the year 1864, as a member of the first junior class in the newly- established seminary. In the year 1867, after graduation from the seminary, he was ordained to the office of the ministry by the Ministerium of Pennsylvania, and immediately afterward ac- cepted the position of principal of the Academic Department at Muhlenberg College and assist- ant professor of Greek in the college department, having previously come to Allentown, while yet a student at the seminary, to assist in winding up the affairs of the Allentown Collegiate In- stitute and Military Academy, preparatory to the opening of the new college. During the War of the Rebellion he served in various capacities dur- ing portions of several years. As a member of the first faculty, and its secretary, he assisted the first president in the organization of the various departments. Later, he became professor of Latin and Greek, and in addition taught other branches in the college department. The follow- ing are the positions he held prior to his election

266

HISTORY OF LEHIGH COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

to the presidency: Principal of the Academic Department and assistant professor of Greek, 1867-73; professor of Latin, 1873-77; financial agent, 1876-77; professor of Greek and Latin, 1877-81 ; Mosser-Keck Professor of Greek, 1881- 86; president and professor of Greek, Moral Science and Evidence of Christianity, 1886-1903. When, therefore, he accepted the presidency of the college, he had practically passed through all the various departments of the institution, had helped to formulate the courses of studies for the several departments, had passed through the period of trial and struggle incident to the early history of the institution, had secured large sums of money for current expenses and endow- ment, was thoroughly acquainted with the needs and the work of the college, and had withal at- tained such a fine and ripened scholarship in general, but especially in the classics, that all interested in the future welfare of the college and acquainted with its needs, felt that he was the man providentially trained for the vacancy, and he was unanimously and by acclamation elected by the Board of Trustees. Nor has the church made a mistake in the view taken in this matter ; for with the advent of the new ad- ministration began a new period of wider influ- ence and greater prosperity than the institution had previously enjoyed. His fine scholarship gave the institution an excellent reputation among other institutions of learning. The courses of studies were amplified and improved, the number of students was largely augmented, and the financial condition was placed on a solid basis. To-day, Muhlenberg College is known as one of the best institutions of learning in the Lutheran Church in America, and is generally regarded as the representative Lutheran college. He was also active in bringing the institution into closer and more prominent relations with other colleges and universities of the country through his active connection with the College Association of Pennsylvania, and as a member of the University Council of Pennsylvania by ap- pointment of the Governor of the State. He lived long enough to see the beginning of that expansion for which he had been working for many years. Greater Muhlenberg has been made possible through the efforts, self-sacrificing labors, and his wise plans for the best interests of the in- stitution to which he devoted his entire active life. On June 18, 1903, he laid the corner- stone of the new administration building of the

college, on its new site, and in October of the same year he participated in the services con- nected with the laying of the corner-stone of Berks Hall, the first of the series of dormitories to be erected on the college grounds. But he

was not allowed to see the completion of this new enterprise, for he died on Nov. 28, 1903. After the death of Dr. Seip, the Rev. William Wacker- nagel, D.D., senior member of the faculty and professor of German, French, Spanish and his- tory was appointed acting president of the in- stitution to serve until a permanent president could be secured. The vacancy in the presi- dency of Muhlenberg College, occasioned by the death of Dr. Seip, was filled in 1904 by the elec- tion of the Rev. John A. W. Haas, D.D., of New York City.

Among those forces that in an age of vast ma- terial progress and the setting up of the gods of material success in such an age of commercialized ideals, one of the great factors in the deeper, saner life of the nation is the influence and lead- ing of the great men at the head of the educational institutions. The power of a great personality placed in such a position of responsibility is of the most momentous kind, and that the present Euro- pean civilization in both hemispheres does not meet the fate of the earlier empires, will be due in a large measure to the work of that body of men who have charge of the wielding and direct- ing of the ambitions and energies of the nation's youth.

To this class of men, heads of colleges, that play so vital a part in the life of the time, belongs Dr. John A. W. Haas, the son of John Christian and Margaret Haas. John A. W. Haas inherited his fathers' ability as a teacher, he having been an able educator in parochial schools. His par- ents came of that substantial Pennsylvania Ger- man stock that has contributed so important an element to the sturdy strength of that great state. He is a younger brother of George Christian Frederick Haas, an eminent Lutheran divine of New York City. He was born in Philadelphia, August 31, 1862, and was sent to the schools of his native city, attending the parochial school of the Zion Evangelical Lutheran church, and later the Protestant Episcopal Academy, graduating from the latter in 1880. He then entered the University of Pennsylvania in the arts course, and received his degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1884. A course in the Lutheran Theological Seminary, Mount Airy, Philadelphia, followed, and from this he graduated in 1887, in which year he also received from the University of Pennsylvania the degrees of Master of Arts and Bachelor of Divin- ity, and took a course at the University of Leip- sic, Germany.

After his return to America he was ordained to the Lutheran ministry and appointed the pastor of Grace Lutheran church, New York City, ad- ministering that charge for eight years. For an- other eight years ( 1896-1904) he held the pastor-

EDUCATION IN THE COUNTY.

267

ate of St. Paul's Lutheran church, New York City. During his incumbency of St. Paul's, a new church building was erected, and the growth in other directions was also marked. In 1902, Thiel College conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity. While pastor of St. Paul's church, Dr. Haas was called to the presidency of Muhlenberg College. He has brought to that college qualifications that eminently fit the re- quirements of the work-thorough scholarship, a wide experience in dealing with the deeper as- pects of the national life, and that indefinable power of leadership which sets him, whatever his official position, in the class of those who move others and are themselves unmoved.

6, 1891, Charlotte, daughter of Charles D. and Fredericka Boscheus.

The present faculty consists of Rev. John A. W. Haas, D.D., George T. Ettinger, Ph.D., Rev. William Wackernagel, D.D., Rev. John A. Bauman, Ph.D., Robert C. Horn, A.M., William H. Reese, M.S., Robert R. Fritsch, A.M., Harry D. Bailey, A.M., Stephen G. Simpson, A.M., James H. S. Bossard, A.M., Rev. John D. M. Brown, A.M., Albert C. H. Fasig, M.S., Harold K. Marks, A.B., George McCaa, B.S., Willard D. Kline, M.D.

Muhlenberg College has graduated more than eight hundred young men, many of whom have already become eminently successful in the varied

MUHLENBERG O COLLEGE ALLENTOWN, PA.

ADMINISTRATION BUILDING

PRESIDENT'S RESIDENCE

DORMITORIES.

POWER HOUSE.

Dr. Haas was for several years secretary of the Association of College Presidents of Pennsylva- nia, and is a member of the Pennsylvania Society of New York City. He is a frequent contributor to religious periodicals, and is the author of "Com- mentary on the Gospel of Mark in Lutheran Commentary," 1895; "Bible Literature," 1903; and "Biblical Criticism," 1903. He was also a co-editor and a contributor to the "Lutheran Cyclopedia," 1899. In 1914 the University of Pennsylvania conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Laws.

Dr. Haas married in New York City, October

spheres of life which they have entered, either professional or commercial. More than three thousand young men have either wholly or partly received their education in this institution, and have been more or less influenced by the spirit that pervades its work. Forty-five years is a short period of time in the history of an institu- tion of learning, being sufficient merely to or- ganize fully its various departments, and to set its operations in motion, and the men who have graduated from it must be comparatively young, many only in the beginning of their careers in practical life. Yet many of the sons of Muhlen-

268

HISTORY OF LEHIGH COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

berg have already distinguished themselves as presidents of institutions of learning, professors in theological and literary institutions, as pastors of important parishes, as superintendents and of- ficers of public institutions, as authors, editors, and writers for the religious and secular press, as legislators and men of prominence in other

The future of Muhlenberg College is as- sured. At its new location, with modern and well-equipped buildings, and with better facili- ties for its legitimate work, it will be able to ex- pand its work, extend its influence, and carry on its work more successfully than at any period of its history.

The college grounds consist of seventy-two acres, beautifully located at the western end of the city, between Twenty-third and Twenty-fifth streets, and Chew and Liberty streets. The site is elevated, overlooking the picturesque Cedar Creek valley. The administration building, 190 feet long and 65 feet wide, three stories in height, is built of granolithic stone, with Indiana lime- stone trimmings, in the English Renaissance style. It contains the fine library of the college, the chapel, recitation rooms, laboratories, halls, gym- nasiums, etc.

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.

History of Lehigh county, Pennsylvania and a genealogical and biographical record of its families, Vol. I, Part 51

Author: Roberts, Charles Rhoads; Stoudt, John Baer, 1878- joint comp; Krick, Thomas H., 1868- joint comp; Dietrich, William Joseph, 1875- joint comp; Lehigh County Historical Society Publication date: 1914 Publisher: Allentown, Pa. : Lehigh Valley Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 1158

Author: Roberts, Charles Rhoads; Stoudt, John Baer, 1878- joint comp; Krick, Thomas H., 1868- joint comp; Dietrich, William Joseph, 1875- joint comp; Lehigh County Historical Society
Publication date: 1914
Publisher: Allentown, Pa. : Lehigh Valley Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1158