History of Lehigh county, Pennsylvania and a genealogical and biographical record of its families, Vol. I, Part 70

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 70

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SEC. 6. Said Commissioners shall proceed to erect said buildings, and shall make report to the Board of Public Charities of the amount of money ex- pended by them and of the progress made in the

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HISTORY OF LEHIGH COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

erection of the buildings, semi-annually at least, and oftener if required by the Board.

SEC. 7. The said Commissioners, upon the com- pletion of said Hospital, shall surrender their trust to a Board of Trustees, to consist of nine members, who shall serve without compensation, and be ap- pointed by the Governor, and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Said Trustees shall be a body politic or corporate, by the name and style of the Homeopathic State Hospital for the Insane. They shall manage and direct the concerns of the institution, and make all necessary by-laws and regu- lations, not inconsistent with the Constitution and Laws of the Commonwealth. Of the Trustees first appointed three shall serve for one year, three for two years, and three for three years, and at the ex- piration of the respective periods the vacancies shall be filled by the Governor, by appointment for three years, as hereinbefore provided : and should any va- cany occur by death or resignation, or otherwise, of any trustee, such vacancy shall be filled by ap- pointment as aforesaid, for the unexpired term of such manager.

SEC. 8. The said Board of Trustees shall appoint a competent and skilful physician, of the homeo- pathic medical school and practice, who shall be Superintendent, and shall have charge, supervision and direction of the Hospital, both professional and otherwise. He shall nominate for appointment such and so may assistants, attendants and other em- ployees as may be considered necessary by said Board of Trustees : and in the absence or disability of the said Superintendent, the next medical officer in rank shall perform the duties thereof. The said Superintendent, with the approval of the Trustees, shall appoint a Steward, who shall have charge, under the direction of said Superintendent, of the purchase, production and distribution of all supplies, under such rules and regulations as may be estab- lished by said Trustees. The salaries of the Super- intendent, assistants, employees, and attendants of the Hospital shall be fixed by the said Board of Trustees.

SEC. 9. The laws now regulating the support and maintenance of the indigent insane in the State Hospitals for the Insanc, and the payment thereof, shall apply to the Homeopathic State Hospitals for the Insane.

SEC. 10. The said Trustees shall make, under oath by their president or treasurer, a quarterly report to the Auditor General of the State and to the Board of Public Charities, containing an itemized statement of the expenses of the institution during the pre- vious quarter: and unless such itemized report is made, and approved by the Board of Public Chari- ties, Auditor General and State Treasurer, the State Treasurer is hereby directed not to pay any more money to said institution until such report is made and approved as aforesaid.

SEC. II. Whenever the said Hospital shall have sufficient accommodations for the proper care of a larger number of insane patients than shall be committed to it from the district above named, the Committee on Lunacy of the State Board of Chari- ties shall have authority to transfer to said hospital patients from any other State Hospital for the In- sane, or to authorize the commitment to said Hos- pital of patients from any other part of the State, giving the preference in all cases to those whosc family or friends desire them to receive homeo- pathic treatment.

SEC. 12. The Governor, judges of the several

courts of record of . the Commonwealth, members of the Legislature, and members of the Board of Public Charities shall be ex-officio visitors of said Hospital.

July 18, 1901 .- This bill was approved except as to Section Five, which provides for an appropriation of $300,000 to enable the Commissioners to purchase land and commence the erection of buildings, from which Governor William A. Stone withhold his ap- proval in the sum of $250,000 because of insufficient State revenue.

The commission received several propositions from places in the section designated. On Dec. 18 and 19, 1902, the commission visited a num- ber of the sites that were offered to them in Le- high, Northampton, Monroe, Bradford, and Wayne counties. Three sites in Lehigh county were under consideration. The Weikel Hill farm near Coopersburg; a farm west of Bingen station, between Coopersburg and Bethlehem, and the Rittersville section.

Finally the Rittersville section was chosen to locate the new hospital. The tract secured by the State was formerly owned by the following persons : J. M. Wright, Robert E. Wright, Thomas Schaadt, William H. Diehl, Matilda Ritter, Mathias Koenig, Joseph L. Stone and the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Co., comprising 209 acres.

The corner-stone was laid June 27, 1904. The failure of the Legislature to appropriate and the Governor to approve what the Legislature did appropriate, the moneys that were necessary to expeditiously proceed with the erection and furnishing of the buildings caused a great deal of delay in the completion of the institution.

The institution was opened for the reception of patients Oct. 3, 1912. The cost of the land and erection of buildings is as follows: Farm, $58,000; reservoir, $29,950; pumping station, $22,320; buildings, $1,821,000, a total of $1,- 931,270. The capacity of the institution is 1,000 inmates. The number of patients at present is 867.

The institution is located on a high tract of land on the north bank of the Lehigh River, be- tween Allentown and Bethlehem, about one and a quarter mile from the bridge crossing the Le- high at Allentown, and three miles from Bethle- hem. The Central Railroad of New Jersey runs immediately adjacent to the farm at the foot of its southern slope. The Allentown & Beth- lehem trolley line passes along the front of the property to the north.

The hospital at Rittersville is the first homeo- pathic institution of its kind in Pennsylvania. Similar institutions are found in New York, Massachusetts, Minnesota and California.

The improvements of the institution consist

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CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS.

of administration department, three buildings, four ward buildings, two chapels, building con- taining staff and congregate dining rooms, operat- ing room and auditorium, kitchen, ice and cold storage plant, laundry, boiler and power plant and electric light plant. The main water sup- ply is obtained from the Bethlehem city water works, brought to the hospital grounds by grav- ity from which point it is pumped into two mil- lion capacity reservoirs. In addition to this the institution has an artesian well and a 3,600-gal- lons storage tank for emergency use for boilers and ice plant.

The present Board of Trustees was appointed by Governor Tener in February, 1912. They

The officers of the institution are: Henry I. Klopp, M.D., Superintendent; Harry F. Hoff- man, M.D., Assistant Superintendent; Walter E. Lang, M.D., Senior Assistant Physician ; Charles S. Trites, M.D., Junior Assistant Physi- cian ; Sarah Adleman, M.D., Junior Assistant Physician ; Charles B. Reitz, M.D., Pathologist ; Charles W. Fritchmann, Steward.

PHOEBE DEACONESS AND OLD FOLKS' HOME.

This institution is one of the newest charitable institutions of the Reformed Church.

The desire or impetus for the organization and establishing of a Deoconess Home in the Le-

PHOEBE DEACONESS AND OLD FOLKS' HOME.

are: Harry C. Trexler, president; E. M. Young, Secretary and Treasurer; Russell C. Stewart, Archibald Johnston, John J. Tuller, M.D., Wil- liam A. Seibert, M.D., Leonard Peckitt, F. J. Slough, M.D., George R. Bedford Dr. Henry I. Klopp was elected superintendent, Feb. 17, 1912, and entered upon his duties March 18, 1912. Since the present Board of Trustees and officers have assumed the management of the institution, very efficient work has been done, and it is very gratifying to note how much has been accom- plished in the way of finishing the buildings and running the institution in so short a time.

high Valley can, to a large extent, be traced to a paper which was read before the Ministerial Association of the Lehigh Valley by Rev. A. B. Koplin, D.D., of Hellerstown.

At the annual meeting of Lehigh Classis in 1901 an overture was received from Tohickon Classis asking Lehigh and East Pennsylvania Classis to join Tohickon Classis in the establish- ing of a Deaconess Home. At this meeting a committee was appointed to confer with similar committees from the other classes. A meeting of these committees was held in Christ Reformed Church, Bethlehem, Sept. 10, 1901. At this

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HISTORY OF LEHIGH COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

meeting Dr. Koplin was asked to prepare a paper on the "Importance of Deaconess Work" which should appear in the church papers, and a com- mittee was appointed to inquire into the feasabil- ity of establishing such a home in mutual, help- ful relation with St. Luke's Hospital, South Bethlehem, or Allentown Hospital. At the next annual meeting of Classis the committe recom- mended the establishing of a Deaconess Home which was to be located at Allentown in mutual, helpful relation with the Allentown Hospital. The three Classes passed resolutions giving the committee power to act and authorized them to carry forward the necessary work.

Each of the three Classes elected three trus- tees and the Board of Trustees elected six more. The following persons constituted the trustees for the first year: Rev. A. B. Koplin, D.D., Hellerstown, Pa .; Rev. Franklin J. Mohr, Quakertown, Pa .; Rev. G. A. Schwedes, Beth- lehem, Pa .; Rev. Wallace H. Wotring, Naza- reth, Pa .; Rev. D. E. Schoedler, D.D., Allen- town, Pa. Rev. David A. Winter, Lehighton, Pa .; Jacob Rader, Easton, Pa .; Samuel Wolf, South Bethlehem, Pa .; Howard Seabold, Le- highton, Pa .; George W. Hartzell, Sr., Allen- town, Pa .; W. H. Hartzell, M.D., Allentown, Pa .; M. H. K. Laros, Allentown, Pa .; Clin- ton H. Leaser, Allentown, Pa .; John T. Scheirer, Allentown, Pa .; John N. Lawfer, Allentown, Pa. The Board was organized in Christ Re- formed Church Bethlehem, in September, 1902. The charter was granted by the Lehigh county court, Jan. 20, 1903. At a meeting of the Board held in St. John's Reformed Church, Allentown, March 24, 1903, a constitution for the govern- ing of the home was adopted and the same was ratified at the annual session by all the Classes interested. At the meeting of the Board in Sep- tember 1903, through the efforts of Rev. R. M. Kern, the plan of the Old Folks' Home was added to the original plan of the Deaconess Home. In 1904 the property known as the Griesemer homestead, located between Turner and Chew streets and Nineteenth and Lafayette streets in Allentown, was purchased. The tract comprised about three acres of land whereon there was erected a large three-story brick dwelling with modern improvements and in good condi- tion. The first inmate was received into the Home, Sept. 8, 1904. The Home was dedicated Oct. 13, 1904. The first Deaconesses of the home were ordained June 7, 1908, in Zion's Re- formed Church, Allentown, Miss Gold, of Nazareth, Pa., and Miss Frick, of Irwin, Pa.

Soon after the founding of the Home an Auxil- iary Society was organized including members of

all the Reformed Churches in Allentown of which Mrs. Reuben P. Steckel was the faithful presi- dent up to the time of her death. Chapters have been organized at Hellertown, Bethlehem, Rich- landtown, Perkasie, South Bethlehem, Indian Creek, Souderton, Emaus, Trumbaursville, East Greenville and Northampton. These societies have furnished a large amount of the money for the purchasing of the original Home, the erec- tion of the new building and for the mainte- nance of the Home. The Home maintains two prominent and important charitable works side by side. The one feature is a training school of candidates for the deaconess work where they receive instruction and training which will fit young women for this vocation. The other fea- ture is to provide a home for the aged fathers and mothers who have toiled long and faithfully and are deprived of the blessings of a Christian home. The Home is maintained through free-will of- ferings from the friends of the institution and the dues of auxiliary and corporation members. The dues for auxiliary members is $1.00 a year. A person contributing $10.00 at any time and $5.00 annually can become a corporation mem- ber, a life member by paying $150, or an honor- ary member by paying $1,000.

The following constitute the Executive Com- mittee: Dr. W. H. Hartzell, President ; Rev. Robert M. Kern, Secretary; Rev. A. P. Kop- lin, D.D., Rev. W. H. Wotring, D.D., and John T. Scheirer.

The Home had not been opened very long be- fore the trustees felt that the building was too small to accommodate the many who were seek- ing admittance As early as 1906 only two years after the opening of the Home the Ladies' Aux- iliary proposed the building of an annex to the old building. In 1909 the Auxiliary reported having $7,000 on hand for an annex or new building. In 1910 a committee of the trustees was appointed to procure plans and specifications for a new building. The plans which were adopted call for a large central administration building with two wings, one to be a deaconess building. The corner-stone of the new Old Folks' building was laid on June 22, 1911, and the building was dedicated June 20, 1912. Dur- ing the same year a green house was erected at a cost of $1,000, the gift of Mr. and Mrs. Mahlon Hillegass, of East Greenville, Pa. The building was erected at a cost of $35,000. The furnish- ings were provided for by individuals, and the various chapters and congregations at a cost of $8,000. The Auxiliary is now engaged in rais- ing funds to install a $1,400 laundry in the Home.

The Good Shepherd Home, Allentown, Pa.

For Infant Orphans .

For Crippled and Blind Orphans.

For Old People and Nurses.

For Manual Training. Laundry and Power- house.

Here The Helpless Shall Find Compassion.

BOARD OF TRUSTEES.

REV. IRA W. KLICK. MRS. ESTELLA RAKER, Matron.

ROBERT W. KURTZ.

REV, PROF. WILLIAM WACKERNAGEL, D.D.

REV. JOHN H. RAKER.

I was born blind. My mother is dead.

All I need is a little help now.

I was my mother's last thought and care.

Blind and unable to move.

Aunt Polly Nauman 107 years old on Sept. 11. 1913.

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CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS.

Miss Johanna M. Baur, of the Bethesda Deaconess Home of Cincinnati, O., the first su- perintendent, came to the Home, Sept. 6, 1904, and remained with the Home until Feb. 1, 1910. when her relations with the Hoine were severed. Miss Carrie J. Dreibelbies, a highly educated lady of large experience in mission and deaconess work, has been filling the office of superintend- ent since 1910.

The Good Shepherd Home for Crippled Orph- ans, Infant Orphans, Destitute Chil- dren, Old People, and Aged or Disabled Ministers.

The Good Shepherd Home, located in the Twelfth Ward of the city of Allentown, Pa., had its origin in the heart and mind of the Rev. J. H. Raker, a minister of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, and of his estimable wife, (a descendant of Conrad Weiser ), while they were at the head of the Berks County Orphans' Home at Topton, Pa. Mr. Raker, having become pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in the Twelfth Ward of Allentown, after some time given to the study of Inner Mission problems, felt con- strained to prove his obedience to his Master by a "faith which worketh by love"-as all true Christians do. On February 21, 1908, he re- ceived the first crippled orphan in his house. A few days later he bought the old Kline homestead at Sixth and St. John Streets, for $7,500.

Possession was taken on April Ist, and on No- vember 15, 1909, a charter was granted to "The Good Shepherd Home," by Judge Trex- ler, of the Court of Lehigh county. The prop- erty was transferred to the corporation, at the purchase price. The board of trustees, consist- ing of five members. The advisory board con- sists of 25-30 members. Public statement of the management of the home is given by the super- intendent and the treasurer annually at the home's anniversary in the first week of Septem- ber. The report is given in print in Sweet Charity, the bi-monthly organ of the home, the subscription list of which shows almost 7,500 paying readers on June 1, 1913. Mr. Raker is the editor.

The house standing on the lot, corner of Sixth and St. John's Streets, was soon filled to its utmost capacity. The board of trustees pur- chased an adjoining property for $3,500, in order to make room for the infant orphans, the first of whom had already been received in October, 1908. The new cottage for infant orphans was opened in August, 1910. And again better quarters had to be found for the old people and the nurses. The board of trustees acquired

possession of a house on the corner of Fifth and St. John's Streets, valued at $7,500, in April, 19II. The first old person received in the home was Mrs. Mary Schindel Eisenhardt, the well- known church-woman, "Aunt Mary."

Other buildings to be mentioned, the laundry, power house and manual training, erected on a lot adjoining the old people's house. The lot, the brick-building, the machinery, furnace, etc., require an outlay of $10,000.00.

The very active Allentown Ladies' Auxiliary has pledged itself for $2,000. There are such in Mauch Chunk, Hegins, Reading, Birdsboro, Bethlehem, South Bethlehem, and Hellertown. The Fairview Cemetery Association donated a beautiful burial plot to the home. At present the Good Shepherd Home has over $35,000 worth of property with less than $14,000 of debt. There are so many pressing applications for admission that in the near future more prop- erty must be acquired or the old house remodeled and enlarged. The Good Shepherd Home cer- tainly is a necessity and a benefaction.

At present (June, 1913) there are 43 crippled. blind, and mute orphans, destitute children, in- fant orphans, and nine old people (Aunt Pollv is 106 years old), and one retired minister in the home, besides 9 nurses, one of whom is a public school teacher, and another one a kin- dergarten teacher.

The home is a charity institution of the Evan- gelical Lutheran Church open to all that need help, which is willingly rendered if possible.

Centurion Bands have been organized in the Wilkes-Barre, Danville, and Lancaster confer- ences. The Wilkes-Barre conference supplies the home with coal; the Danville Conference assumed the present cost of the infants' cottage, $4,000. They pay the interest and also the improvements. The Lancaster Conference has not yet specified what special work they will do. The money has simply been sent to the treas- urer of the home.

The Good Shepherd Home is especially for the most needy ones that are not admitted in other institutions of mercy. Many people have promised to remember the Home in their wills. People are invited to visit the home at any time, except on Sundays. The Ministerium of Penn- sylvania, appointed a committee to investigate the Home, and report before the annual convention.

THE ALLENTOWN HOSPITAL.

The need of a hospital in Allentown with its increasing population and densely settled sur- rounding territory where a large number of men are employed in the cement mills and other industrial establishments, was felt for a number

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HISTORY OF LEHIGH COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

of years. In accordance with a resolution intro- duced into council by M. J. Lennon and Win- slow Wood and passed Nov. 1, 1892, Mayor S. D. Lehr called a public meeting in the council chamber on Dec. 14, 1892, to consider the pro- ject of establishing a hospital. The mayor was elected chairman of the meeting and Dr. H. H. Herbst, secretary. Addresses on the importance of erecting a hospital were made by Drs. H. H. Herbst, E. G. Martin, P. L. Reichert, H. K. Hartzell, W. P. Kistler, Hon. E. S. Shimer, J. F. Gallagher, and Rev A. R. Horne. At a meeting held in the mayor's office on Dec. 27, 1892, the name for the institution "Allentown Hospital," was adopted. A charter of incorpor- ation was obtained from the Lehigh county court, Feb. 6, 1893. At a meeting held on the fol- lowing day the following officers were elected : President, S. D. Lehr; Secretary, E. S. Shimer ; Treasurer, H. W. Allison. Messrs. Allison and Lehr were appointed a committee to draft by- laws for the Corporation. It seems that for a few years the project lay dormant.

At a public meeting held in the court house on Oct. 16, 1895, the project for a hospital in the city of Allentown, was revived.

Addresses were delivered by Hon. Edward Harvey, Dr. W. H. Hartzell, Rev. J. A. Sing- master, and Rev. John B. Maus. A committee of fifteen was appointed by the chairman of the meeting, Mayor H. W. Allison, to devise a plan for organization. The committee appointed consisted of the following persons: Hon. Edwin Harvey; Revs. J. A. Singmaster, G. W. Rich- ards, John B. Maus, Dr. W. H. Hartzell, H. C. Trexler, Henry Leh, W. R. Lawfer, S. A. Butz, Henry Cole, Leonard Siefing, James K. Mosser, Christian Swartz, and James F. Gal- lagher. At a meeting held on Oct. 23d a res- olution was passed that no proposal looking to sectarian control of the hospital, should be en- tertained. The organization was effected on Nov. 15, 1895, when the following officers were elected : Chairman, Mayor H. W. Allison ; sec- retary, James F. Gallagher; Treasurer, John E. Lentz. Rev. J. A. Singmaster, Dr. W. H. Hartzell, and M. J. Kauffman were appointed a committee to draft a constitution and by-laws. This committee reported at a meeting on Dec. 13, 1895, when the constitution and by-laws were adopted. The charter for the association was granted Jan. 20, 1896. The following persons were elected to serve as trustees for the insti- tution: Dr. W. H. Hartzell, John E. Lentz, Revs. G. W. Richards, J. B. Maus, and J. A. Singmaster, for three years; Dr. Orlando Feg- ley, James F. Gallagher, Col. H. C. Trexler, H. S. Shimer, and H. W. Allison, for two years ;

Hon. Edward Harvey, Rev. S. A. Repass, Henry Leh, John R. Gossler, and James F. Hunsicker, for one year. Rev. Singmaster was elected president of the board; Hiram S. Sheimer, vice- president ; James F. Gallagher, secretary, and John E. Lentz, treasurer.

A meeting of the old organization, known as the "Allentown Hospital," was held on April 17, 1897, when a resolution was passed agreeing that all the property and corporate franchises be assigned and transferred to "The Allentown Hospital Association," this organization hav- ing received some money by will from Barbara Schaadt.

After the election the trustees of the new organization at once made an effort to raise money and secure a suitable location for the erection of a hospital.

Efforts were made to secure from the city a whole or a part of the "reservoir tract." Later on the trustees also made an effort to buy a part of West End park at a nominal sum. Both of these requests were refused. Several tracts were offered to them. Henry Leh offered to donate two acres at the northwest corner of Fourteenth and Union Streets. The Highland Cemetery As- sociation offered to donate three acres of ground for a hospital site. Col. Trexler and Mr. Klein offered to give three acres northwest of Fair- view cemetery. None of these tracts were ac- cepted.

When the Solomon Griesemer tract at Sev- enteenth and Chew, was offered for sale, one of the conditions of the sale was that none of the lots would be sold for hospital purposes. Four individual members of the board, Col. H. C. Trexler, Henry Leh, Hiram S. Sheimer, and Frank M. Trexler, purchased the lots and later the deed for the tract was made out in the name of the hospital association. The cost of the hospital site was $5,297.51. Building operations were started during the summer of 1898, and the institution was opened for the reception of patients on May 22, 1899. The building and improvements of the ground cost $20,243.63, and the furnishings and supplies $3,856.36. The first hospital consisted of a fine operating room. Twenty-three beds and two cots in the wards; five beds in single rooms, and one in the receiv- ing ward and twelve for the employees. The first medical staff of the hospital was as follows: Surgeon in Chief, Dr. Orlando Fegley; Assist- ant Surgeons, Drs. C. D. Schaeffer, A. J. Yost, Daniel Hiestand, and R. E. Albright; Physician in Chief, Dr. W. H. Hartzell; Assistant Phy- sicians, Drs. C. S. Martin, H. H. Herbst, C. J. Otto, and I. F. Huebner ; Ophthalmologist, Dr. G. F. Seiberling; Pathologist, Dr. M. F. Caw-

ALLENTOWN HOSPITAL, 1898.

ALLENTOWN HOSPITAL, 1902.

ALLENTOWN HOSPITAL, 1912.

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CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS.

ley ; consultants : Surgeons, Drs. John B. Deav- er, and H. Y. Horn; physicians, Drs. H. H. Riegel and William B. Erdman. The surgeon in chief, Dr. Fegley, was not able to serve on account of sickness. Dr. Schaeffer was appoint- ed temporarily to take his place. After Dr. Feg- ley's death on March 10, 1900, Dr. Schaeffer was elected surgeon in chief. Seymore Davis, of Philadelphia, was the architect of the building, and the contractor was James M. Ritter. The following members constituted the building com- mittee: J. A. Singmaster, J. F. Hunsicker, W. H. Hartzell, W. P. Moyer, and J. B. Maus.

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History of Lehigh county, Pennsylvania and a genealogical and biographical record of its families, Vol. I, Part 70

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