History of Lehigh county, Pennsylvania and a genealogical and biographical record of its families, Vol. II, Part 45

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: 948

USA > Pennsylvania > Lehigh County > History of Lehigh county, Pennsylvania and a genealogical and biographical record of its families, Vol. II > Part 45

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Tobias Deibert, Jr., received his father's farm and later purchased the adjoining Kuntz farm. He was a blacksmith by trade. He was married to Esther Dorward (1808-1888). He was elected supervisor of Highways in 1840, 1851, 1857 and 1866, and was the father of thirteen children: Polly, Elias, Jeremiah, Edwin (1836- 1908), Daniel (1829-1898), Alfred, Lydia, (Mrs. Emanuel Hunsicker, 1839-1904), Lucy and Mary (twins), Sallie, Maria, Eliza, and Elizabeth ( 1828-1880).

Elias took the tract owned by his father. He is now living at Siegfried. He was elected school director of North Whitehall in 1880. He was married to Miss Miller, and had four children: Emma (Mrs. Frank Deibert) had two children; William P .; John; and Agnes ( 1864-1905) married to Thomas Baer, who had five children.

Edwin was married to Sallie Frantz. He had

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two children, Isadore and Rosa (Mrs. Wm. Ritter) who has one son, Clarence, and one grandson, Clarence.

Daniel, married to Adeline Raber (1831- 1900), had these children: Ellen (Mrs. Frank Deibert), Mary (Mrs. Peter Frantz), Hannah (Mrs. John Creitz), Josephine, Osville (1860- 1873), William, Flora.

Lucy (Mrs. Frank Smith) had five children : Rebecca (Mrs. William Osman), Alice (Mrs. Hecht) William, Erwin, and Milton.

Mary (Mrs. Owen Semmel) had the follow- ing children :- Amanda (Mrs. John Young), Ellen (Mrs. Owen Krause), Adelina (Mrs. Kratzer), Henrietta (Mrs. James Bartholo- mew), Tevillia (Mrs. Leibenguth), Osville, Willoughby, Eli, Daniel, Erwin, and Robert.

Sallie (Mrs. Tilghman Wassum) had these children :- Amanda, Henry, Emanuel, George, Ellamina, Lillie (Mrs. John Liskey), Catharine, Alice, and George.

Christina Deibert, grand daughter of the or- iginal Michael Deiber, was married to Daniel Zerfass, and had seven children: Mary (Mrs. Edmund Roth) Henry, married to Rebecca Frantz, Griffith, married to Sarah Walp, Lewis, married to Mary Kern, Elias, married to Sarah Walp (first wife), Lovina Newhard (second wife), Violetta Kemerer (third wife) Peter mar- ried to Mary Miller, and Amanda.

William, a farmer near Newhard in Wash- ington township had these children: John, Wil- liam H., and Fianna (Mrs. Stephen Deibert).

Peter, married to Susanna Newhard (1814- 1884) had two children, Frank and Menno.

WILLIAM P. DEIBERT, son of Elias, a former street commissioner of Allentown where he now lives, was born in North Whitehall township, Oct. 10, 1865. At the age of seventeen years he came to Ballietsville and for two years was employed by Aaron Balliet. He then accepted a position as clerk in the general store of B. F. Ritter at Ballietsville for two years and from there he went to Neffs and clerked for Andrews & Kern until 1890, then came to Allentown and for ten years clerked at the Pennsylvania Hotel for Bittner & Hartman, proprietors. The fol- lowing five years he clerked in the general store of A. E. Bittner. At this time Mr. Diebert be- came the proprietor of the Mansion House, at Lehighton, which he conducted for three years then removed to Allentown, and built upward of twenty houses in four years time. In 1908, he was appointed street commissioner by Mayor C. O. Hunsicker. In 1912 he engaged in the real estate and building business again. He is a mem- ber of Constantine Lodge No. 1113, I. O. O.

VOL. II-15

F. of Allentown, and Camp No. 119, P. O. S. of A., of Slatington.

On Thanksgiving Day, 1899, he was married to Mantana C. Anthony, a daughter of Daniel Anthony.

William H. Deibert, son of William, son of Tobias, Sr., was born Oct. 15, 1848, and died July 7, 1886. He was a shoemaker at Hoffman's, this county. He served Washington township as its constable for many years. He married Sarah Heilman, a daughter of David Heilman. She was born Sept. 8, 1848, and died on Jan. 23, 1889. Their children are Charles F., and Mary married to C. E. Gehris, of Walberts Station.

Charles F. Deibert, a grocer of Allentown, was born in Washington township, Jan. 18, 1874. He learned the carriage painting trade at Crack- ersport and followed it eight years. Later he became a clerk at Allentown, and was employed respectively at Bowens, Farrs and afterward ac- cepted the position of manager with the United Grocery Stores until in 1908 he engaged in busi- ness for himself at 223 North Eleventh street.

He is a member of the St. Stephens Church council; Past Grand of Constantine Lodge No. III3, I. O. O. F., Livingstone Castle No. 258, K. G. E., Past President of Camp 378, P. O. S. of A. of Guthsville and the Modern Wood- men of America.

He married Oct. 15, 1896, Libbie E. H. Rab- enold, a daughter of Peter A. and Mary A. (Gehry) Rabenold. Issue: Mildred M. A. Dei- bert.

JOSEPH P. DEIBERT.

By a former pupil, William Kistler Huff.

Whole libraries have been written on the in- fluence of the schoolmaster, his power for good in the lives of his boys and girls; but one con- crete example is infinitely more convincing than volumes of generalities. Those who can look back to schooldays under Joseph P. Deibert, principal of the schools of Schnecksville, Lehigh county, always regard him one of the most whole- some influences in their lives. Mr. Deibert was born in Schnecksville, attended the village schools, and in 1872 entered the Keystone State Normal School, from which he was graduated as valedictorian of the class of 1875. After teaching a year in Schnecksville he was for two years instructor in English in Northwestern Uni- versity, Watertown, Wisconsin. This universi- ty conferred upon him the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Soon after returning east he was married to Miss Flora Kern, of Slatington. Again elected principal of the Schnecksville schools he has been teaching in North Whitehall township con- tinuously for thirty-five years. He started a

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HISTORY OF LEHIGH COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

subscription summer school, which in 1885 be- came the Schnecksville Summer Normal. The fame of this training school for teachers spread rapidly, until it became necessary year after year to turn many away for lack of room. Pu- pils came from Lehigh and surrounding counties, in such large numbers that it became necessary to turn many away for lack of room. The pur- poses of the Schnecksville Summer Normal com- bined those of the old time academy and of the teachers' training school. Mr. Deibert is popu- larly known as the "Father of Teachers"; prob- ably a hundred and fifty of his former pupils are now teaching, most of them in Lehigh county, an equal number having gone into law, medicine, the ministry, and business.

During the three years, 1906-1909, when he was principal of the North Whitehall Township High School, the number of annual graduates increased from four to sixteen. His success is to some extent due to his "School Outlines," pub- lished and copyrighted in 1905, revised and en- larged in 1912, consisting of facts, definitions and queries in Physiology, English Grammar, Spell- ing, Geography, American History and Civics.

The bare facts of his life, however, furnish a simple record, and fail utterly to do justice to his real work. To understand its real significance one must be on the ground as a pupil and have the benefit of his masterly teaching, his attractive personality, and his inspiring sympathy. In "The Ideal Teacher" George Herbert Palmer, one of the world's really great teachers, outlines the re- quirements of the ideal teacher, and Mr. Dei- bert stands the test: the scholarship, the inspira- tion, the forgetfulness of self in the desire to help the pupil, the understanding, and sympathy, of the ideal teacher, these are Mr. Deibert's domi- nant qualities. Had he desired to seek glory in that world beyond the quiet hills of North Whitehall he could doubtless have attained it; but he has done work equally great, he has made his community a better place to live in, and, above all, a better place to go to school in. He has raised the standards of its teaching unmeas- urably by his influence upon the work of his pupils; and has by his precept and example in- stilled efficiency and inspiration into many a school-room in a way that printed books on peda- gogic methods can never hope to do. Charles Rudy, once a teacher in Schnecksville, as the head of a great private school in Paris, the In- ternational Institute, brought fame to the Penn- sylvania German village which had been his home, but Joseph P. Deibert is to-day revered by his community as Schnecksville's greatest school- master.

In David Grayson's masterly "Adventures in

Contentment" probably the finest character is John North, the country doctor. After his death David Grayson sums up the doctor's lifetime of service in the simple phrase "He left his mark upon these hills." The whole countryside was better and happier for his presence and such in- evitably is the highest service of a John North or a Joseph P. Deibert.

Here is a type of the true elder race, And one of Plutarch's men stands-

With us, face to face.

DELONG FAMILY.

One of the most interesting strains among the Palatinate emigration to the new world, and espe- cially to eastern Pennsylvania, is that of the Hu- guenots. These French Protestants (Reformed) after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, fled to Switzerland, to the Palatinate and to Holland, whence many of them finally came to Pennsyl- vania, and quite a few settled in Lehigh county. Dr. W. H. Egle says of them: "The Huguenot emigrants as a class have furnished a larger num- ber of men of eminence in proportion to their number, than any other nationality. So strongly marked were their characteristics that neither time nor amalgamation with other races has as yet extinguished the traces of their high moral senti- ments and love of liberty from the character of their descendants. This character is still a dom- inant force in our national life. In the fire of the pulpit, in the eloquence of the legislature hall, in the various fields of learning and research, the Huguenot spirit still leads the van." Among the many Huguenot families of eastern Pennsylvania the DeLong and allied families stand out prom- inently. The exact date of their arrival is uncer- tain. According to the New England Genealogi- cal Register, there lived in Ulster county, New York, in 1711, a certain Francis DeLong, the father of four sons. He is said to have been a native of Ulster county.

Peter DeLong, the ancestor of the DeLong's of Berks county, migrated from Ulster county, New York, to Pennsylvania, and settled in Maxa- tawny township, Berks county (then Philadel- phia county), in 1738. A patent for 186 acres was granted to him June 27, 1738. He was married in 1722 to Eva Elisabeth Weber, a daughter of Jacob and his wife, Anna Elisabeth Weber. Mr. Weber was a member of the famous Rev. Joshua Kocherthal Colony, which settled in Duchess county, New York, in the spring of 1709. In a record of the colony made April 20, 1710, we find the following mention of him and his family: "Jacob Weber, aged 30, husbandman and wine-dresser; his wife Anna Elisabeth, 25, their children Anna Maria, 5; and Eva Elisa-

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beth, I." On the early record of St. Paul's Evan- gelical Lutheran church of West Camp, New York, we find the following entries: "In the year 1708 on board the ship, the Globe, the fol- lowing were baptized by me: 'September 14, Jo- hann Hermann, son of Jacob and Anna Elisabeth Weber, sponsors: Hermannus Schunemann the clerk and Johann Roth the constable :on board the ship; April 19, 1710, baptized by Rev. Jus- ties Falckner (in the absence of Rev. Kocher- thal ) Johannes, child of Jacob and Elisabeth Weber, sponsors Michael Weigand and wife Anna Catharine.'" In 1719, there was patented, on the west side of the Hudson river, above the highlands of Ulster, near the place called Quas- saick, lot No. 7, containing two hundred acres, to Jacob Weber and Anna Elisabeth, his wife, Eve Maria, and Eva Elisabeth, their two daugh- ters, that is to say to each of them fifty acres." Mr. Weber was one of the trustees of the Lu- theran congregation at Newburg. He is said to have removed to New Holland, Lancaster county, in 1736.

The land selected by Peter DeLong was a level tract of land, well timbered, a few acres of the original forest are still standing, and well watered, is rich and productive. He, the pioneer, toiled and struggled clearing the land and build- ing a house and rearing a God-fearing family. Near the close of his life, Oct. 8, 1759, this pious Reformed Huguenot gave two acres of land for an "Evangelical Reformed Church and school house, not only for a short period, but as long as the sun and moon shall shine in the heavens and the rivers run down to the sea." It is therefore, not without reason that from the loins of this plain but God-fearing settler have sprung a long list of staunch Protestant heralds of the cross. He died about 1760 and his remains and that of his wife no doubt repose in the cemetery of the church of which he is regarded as the founder.

From the different records of will, church books, tombstone inscriptions, family Bibles, and baptismal certificates, the following genealogical table has been constructed: Peter DeLong, and his wife, Eva Elisabeth Weber DeLong, had the following children: I. John. 2. Henry, born 1733, had fourteen children, five sons and nine daughters: Henry, Peter, John, Andrew, David, Catharine (Gressly), Elisabeth (Wassum), Sar- ah, Magdalena, Susannah, Maria, Elizabeth (Pick), and Catharine. Of these Peter settled at Shepherdstown, West Virginia, at the time of the American Revolution; descendants of the branch live at Topton, in the persons of Tilgh- man DeLong, and near Shenandoah, Henry De- Long. 3. Jacob, who sold his farm to Henry in 1769, was living in 1778, when his brother

Abraham died, and is mentioned as a beneficiary in Abraham's will. 4. Michael ( 1739-1819) had a family of twelve children, eight sons and four daughters: Gideon, Abraham, Michael, Isaac, David, Daniel, Polly, Gronan, Susan, Mrs. Rep- pert, Mrs. Rauzahn. He owned that portion of homestead where Bower's Station is situated. David had twelve children : five sons and seven daughters : David, Samuel, Ephraim, Joel, Alvin, Caroline (Roth), Catharine (Croll), Esther (Ahn), Helena (Siegfried), Judith (Fegely), Sarah ( Hensinger), Susan (I. Hellick, 2. Brandt). 5. Abraham married - died before he was 35 years old, in 1778, leaving widow, no children. He left a considerable estate and bequeathed moneys to each of a number of nieces and nephews with express provision same to be expended on their education so they might learn to read the Holy Bible. His home was the present Grimm farm, north of Bower's, part of original DeLong tract. 6. Barbara, married, of her little is known. 7. Frederick, settled in Brunswick, now Schuylkill county, Pa. ()n Oct. 20, 1801, bought by patent 140 acres located here. Oct. 3, 1809, sold his land to his son Peter for 100 pounds in cash and support of self and wife during life. Descendants settled in Ohio.

John DeLong, son of Peter, was born in Ulster county, New York, March 27, 1723, and re- moved with his parents to Maxatawny. On April 4, 1749, he was married to Maria Cath- arine Dussinger. She was born in Nassau, Ger- many. He lived on a part of the old homestead now owned by James DeLong. On the fly-leaf of the old German Bible still in use in DeLong's Reformed church at Bower's Station appears his name under the date of Nov. 27, 1767, as the purchaser of the same on behalf of the congrega- tion and his name also heads the subscription list, subscribing 5 shillings. During the Revolutionary War he espoused the cause of freedom and on May 25, 1777, appeared before esquire Samuel Ely and swore allegiance to the new government. He died Nov. 22, 1813, and was buried on the congregational cemetery at DeLong's church, where also the ashes of his wife and many of his descendants repose. To him and his good wife were born five sons and four daughters: Jo- hannes, born Feb. 5, 1755; John Nicolaus, born July 19, 1756; Anna Maria (Neiss), born Aug. 15, 1757; Anna Margretha (Guth), born Aug. 18, 1759; Joseph, born March 18, 1764; Peter, born May 8, 1766; Moses, born Feb. 19, 1768; Eva Elisabeth (Neiss), born Feb. 28, 1770; Catharine (Leindeker), born Jan. 23, 1772. Cap- tain DeLong, of the ill-fater Jeanette polar ex- pedition was of this line.

Moses DeLong, son of Johannes, resided on

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that part of the old homestead was known as the Grim farm. He was anxious to have his children learn English. He erected a log school house on his premises and employed an English teacher. To this school came pupils for miles to learn English, it being the only English school in that section of the country. This building has long disappeared but the public school district is still known as DeLong's district. He was the father of seven children, of whom Joseph, Levi, and Lydia, went to New York; Jonathan, to Massa- chusetts ; Abraham to Illinois; and Catharine and Margaret lived in Allentown. Of the above, Joseph still survives, residing in Brooklyn, N. Y. Recently he celebrated the hundredth anniversary of his birth.

Joseph DeLong, son of John and grandson of Peter, was twice married, the first time to Susanna Weber, of Upper Milford township, Lehigh county, by the Rev. John Henry Helfrich, May 17, 1795. She was born Sept. 4, 1775, and died Aug. 26, 1808. She was survived by: Joseph, who was married to Anna Wetzel, and had two daughters, Carolina Heston and Harriet Hum- mel; Elizabeth, married to Daniel DeLong; and Jacob. On May 16, 1809, he was married to Susanna Butz (See Butz Family). They had issue : Catharine (Nov. 28, 1812-June 16, 1886), married to Peter Hensinger; Francis; and Jane, married to Reuben Miller.

Jacob DeLong, son of Joseph and grandson of John, and great-grandson of Peter, was born on the old homestead March 27, 1803, and was married, May 1, 1836, to Sarah Schaeffer, a daughter of Philip Schaeffer, of Richmond town- ship, Berks county. He was a life-long farmer and resided near Topton, Pa. He was acci- dentally killed while hauling lumber from Allen- town for the erection of a horse-power shed, Oct. 23, 1851. Mrs. DeLong survived her husband many years, living to be 92 years, 8 months and 18 days. Their ashes repose on the family plot at the DeLong's Reformed church, of which they were faithful members. Their union was blessed with four children: Joseph; Alfred; Philip; and Elizabeth, married to the late Daniel Merkel, of Fleetwood.

Joseph DeLong, son of Jacob, was born near Topton, Feb. 11, 1837. At his baptism the grand- father, Joseph DeLong, was god-father. When the officiating minister inquired as to the name to be given to the child, instead of giving the name which the parents had selected he gave his own and the pastor, before the parents could interfere, baptized him Joseph. He was educated in the public schools and reared on the farm. On Dec. 25, 1861, he was married to Mary H. Yoder, daughter of Martin and Catharine (Hoch)

Yoder, and a granddaughter of Martin and Susanna (Peter) Yoder, of Oley township, Berks county, Pa. This union was blessed with seven children, of whom Katie, Sallie and Harvey J. died in childhood, and S. Mollie, who was mar- ried to Marion Hertzog, was fatally injured in an explosion in Berwin garage at Allentown. Those still living are Calvin M. DeLong, pastor of the New Goshenhoppen Reformed church, East Greenville, Pa .; Elizabeth A., married to Rev. John Baer Stoudt, pastor of Grace Reformed church, Northampton; and Frederick H., who possesses the old homestead and resides with his mother at Topton. Joseph S. DeLong died Feb. 25, 1896, and his remains were buried on the fam- ily plot at DeLong Reformed church, Bower's, Pa.

Francis DeLong (Feb. 20, 1815-Nov. 1, 1880) son of Joseph and Susanna (Butz) DeLong, was born and reared and lived on the old homestead near Bower's, Pa. He attended public school and was confirmed as a member of DeLong's Re- formed congregation of which he and his good wife were faithful members and where their ashes repose. To him and his wife, Esther Schaeffer (Jan. 8, 1816-Nov. 20, 1893), a daughter of Philip Schaeffer and a sister to Sarah, the wife of Jacob DeLong, his brother, to whom he was mar- ried in 1837, were born seven children: Joseph ; Rev. John F .; James; Winfield ; Susan, married to Isaac Kutz; Maria, married to Rev. D. K. Humbert ; and Hettie. "They were God-fearing parents and brought up their children strictly not only according to our Christian faith in gen- eral but strictly also according to the faith and customs of the Reformed Church. It was a rule of his house that not only the children but also the hired help as well had to go to the house of worship on Sunday. Apparently he believed with Joshua of old, that what ever authority came to him as the head of a household should be used by him to its fullest extent in the service of God."

REV. JOHN F. DELONG, D.D., was born on the old homestead near Bower's Station, Nov. 8, 1847, and was reared on the farm. He attended, in addition to the local school, Wyoming Semin- ary, Kingston, New York, and the Keystone Nor- mal School at Kutztown, and in the fall of 1868 entered the sophomore class at Franklin and Marshall College from which he was graduated in the spring of 1871 with highest honors. In the fall of the same year he entered the Theological seminary at Lancaster, Pa., from which he was graduated in the spring of 1874. In June of the same year he took charge of Emanuel's Reformed congregation in Williamsport, Pa., and continued as its pastor until December, 1879, when he ac- cepted a call from the Bellefonte charge, which

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he served until May, 1886. During his pastorate there, both the parsonage and the church were re- built. From 1886 to 1891 he served the First Reformed church at Lewisburg, Pa., and from 1891 to 1905 the Reformed congregation of Free- mansburg, Pa. In connection with the latter con- gregation he also served the Rittersville Reformed congregation from 1891 to 1900 and the newly organized congregation of West Bethlehem. In the summer of 1905 he resigned his charge and re- tired from the active ministry. Rev. DeLong is a careful student, clear thinker and earnest preacher. He stands high in the council of his church and in classical and synodical gatherings his advice is frequently sought. He is one of the leaders of thought in his church, especially in the line of liturgics, of which he is a master. In recognition of his ability, scholarship and char- acter, his alma mater conferred upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity. He served as a member of the board of trustees of the Allentown College for Women from the time the college passed under the control of Eastern Synod until the fall of 1912, when he resigned on ac- count of failing health.

Rev. DeLong is married to Amanda Laubach, a daughter of Samuel Laubach (See Laubach Family). This union is blessed with four daugh- ters : Lucy; Helen, married to Rev. Paul S. Leinbach, of New York City; Miriam; and Dorothy. The family resides in their beautiful home on Broad street, West Bethlehem, and are happy in their large circle of acquaintances and friends.

Joseph DeLong, son of Francis and Esther (Schaeffer ) DeLong, was born in Siegfried's Dale, Maxatawny township, Berks county, Pa. In choosing his life's work, he followed the ex- ample of his father and grandfather, namely the agricultural pursuit, which he followed for a period of twelve years in his native place, after which he moved to Bower's. He was a member of the school board for a number of years. He and family are members of the Reformed church at Bower's, which he served faithfully as deacon and elder. He was married to Catharine Sieg- fried, with whom he had the following children : John F., a farmer residing on the old homestead ; Hattie H., married to James McKeever ; Joseph, died in infancy ; and Dr. George J.

DR. GEORGE J. DELONG, son of Joseph and Catharine (Siegfried) DeLong, was born at Sieg- fried's Dale, Oct. 8, 1876. He was educated in the public school of his native place, the Key- stone Normal School and graduated from Phila- delphia Dental College in 1897. After gradua- tion he located at 16 North Seventh street, Al- lentown, where he has built up a fine practice.

He is a member of Salem's Reformed church, which he has served as deacon. He is a member of the following dental associations: Lehigh Val- ley, Susquehanna, Penn State, and National Den- tal Associations. He belongs to the following fraternal organizations: Barger Lodge, No. 333, F. & A. M., of Allentown; Allen Chapter, 203 ; Allen Commandery, No. 23, all of Allentown; Rajah Shrine, of Reading; and K. of G. E., No. 258. Dr. DeLong was married to Cora V. Bernd, daughter of Henry and Clara ( Leibensperger) Bernd, now of Danbury, Conn., formerly from Allentown. This union was blessed with two children : Arline G. and Christine L.

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History of Lehigh county, Pennsylvania and a genealogical and biographical record of its families, Vol. II, Part 45

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: 948

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: 948