History of Lehigh county, Pennsylvania and a genealogical and biographical record of its families, Vol. II, Part 56

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 56

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(married to Rudolph Sechler) ; and Eliza (mar- ried to Nathan Bachman). And his third wife was Anna Maria Horn, nee Wehr, by whom he had no children. She was born May 28, 1778, and died June 15, 1858, in her 82nd year.

Elias Donat, one of the sons. of Martin, was a farmer near Jacksonville, in Lynn township, where he was born, and he died there at the age of 73 years. Besides owning a farm which con- tained a valuable deposit of slate, he was also the owner of the store-stand at Jacksonville, and at his death he left a large estate. He was a man of pleasing appearance, possessed of great energy and perseverance, and was recognized by all for his superior character. Previous to his death, he was a great sufferer from dropsy, but he bore his affliction with great patience and resignation under the guidance of a Christian spirit. His wife was Maria Behler, and they had three children: David, Amanda (married to E. F. Lutz, of Jacksonville), and Didama (married to Joseph Gerber, of West Penn town- ship, Schuylkill county). They were buried in the graveyard at Jacksonville.

Aaron Donat, one of the sons of Martin, was born in Lynn township, July 3, 1811, and he died there October 7, 1897. He was a farmer and lived there all his life. His farm of 80 acres was situated near Wanamaker, and it is now owned by his son, James. He was one of the organizers and first school directors of the public school system in the township, having been a strong advocate of free schools and al- ways deeply interested in the educational wel- fare of his own family and of the people of the township. In later years he again served as a director for a long period of time, and it was he and William Mosser who established a private school near Mosser's Mill for higher education. He was prominently identified with the Jacob's church at Jacksonville for many years. During 1862 and 1863 he was chairman of the building committee which erected the present church. He was deacon, elder and trustee successively of the Reformed congregation and took a very active part in the consistory for more than a quarter of a century, and he was generally recognized as a conservative and representative citizen of the highest type. His wife was Mary Magdalena Dietrich, daughter of John Dietrich, born Sep- tember 8, 1819, and died July 28, 1907, aged 88 years, 10 months and 20 days. She was held in the highest esteem by the community and reverently addressed as "Mother Donat." Her piety, intelligence and affection exerted a strong influence over her family, so much indeed that two of her sons became ministers of the Gospel

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and one a public school teacher. They had eight children: Rev. Willoughby (born Nov. 1, 1841); Mary Christiana (born Nov. 2, 1842, married Charles H. Lutz) ; Charles A. (born Feb. 8, 1845) ; Rosanna (born Nov. 14, 1847, married Alfred A. Haberman) ; Rev. Wilson D. (born April 22, 1851, married first to Emma A. Meckley, and second to Sallie A. Miller) ; Allen M. (born Jan. 26, 1853, who died young) ; Prof. James A (born April 17, 1855, married Victoria A. Lutz) ; and Lewis J. (born May 27, 1858, married Mary A. Scheetz).

JAMES A. DONAT, a representative farmer and former school teacher of Lynn township, near Wanamaker, who resides on the homestead of his grandfather, was born there April 17, 1855, and educated in the public schools of the township and also a select school established at Steinsville. In the Centennial year, 1876, he was licensed to teach and he taught his first term in Albany township, Berks county. The fol- lowing two terms he was the teacher in the "Donat School" in Lynn township; but owing to the weakness of his eyes he was compelled to abandon a professional career, and then for eight years he assisted his father in farming operations. In 1888 he became the farmer of the place, and he has since carried on the farm, being now the owner of it. In politics he is a Democrat and he has served the township as a school director. For twenty-five years he was prominently iden- tified with Sabbath-school work at Steinsville, having served as superintendent for many years; but in 1910 he was also obliged to discontinue his earnest efforts in that behalf. He has been one of the most earnest advocates of the re- unions of the Lutz family since its organization. Mr. Donat was married to Victoria A. Lutz on February 18, 1883, and they have four children : Annie V. (wife of Charles O. Oswald, farmer near Jacksonville, and she is a graduate of the Keystone State Normal School at Kutztown, and a former teacher in Lynn township) ; Charles L. (educated in the local schools and the Normal School at Kutztown, and now tak- ing a special course in the Agricultural Depart- ment of the Pennsylvania State College) ; Thomas A. (who died in infancy) ; and Hattie M.

LEWIS J. DONAT, a prosperous agriculturist of Lynn township, son of Aaron, was born near Wanamaker on May 27, 1858, reared upon a farm. He attended the public schools of his district, and was in the employ of his father on the farm until he became thirty years old, hav- ing been paid a salary at the rate of $65 per annum after he had become of age. In 1884 he

moved upon the farm where he has since re- sided, and in 1888 he began to cultivate it for himself, in which he has been very successful. The tract contains 901/2 acres.

In 1814, Michael Brobst sold this farm to Jacob Sechler and from him it descended to his son Jacob. The next owners were Albright & Wagner; and Aaron Donat became the pur- chaser in 1873, and it continued in his name until 1897, when the title passed to the present owner. The buildings are of a superior char- acter, Mr. Donat having built the dwelling in 1899, and the large barn in 1905. There is an old log house still on the property which was the second dwelling on the land since its oc- cupancy by the first settler.

Mr. Donat has affiliated with the Democratic party ; and he is a member of the Reformed con- gregation at the Jacobs church, which he has served as deacon, elder and trustee. He was married on June 18, 1882, to Mary A. Scheetz, and they have three children: Calvin N., Ed- win A. (who has been a school teacher of Lynn township since 1908), and Harry J. (student at Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster.)

DORNEY FAMILY.

The name Dorney is found in old records spelled various ways, as Durney, Dorni, Thurney, Turnet and Tournet. From the latter spelling it appears that the name was of French origin.

Henry Dorney, who arrived at Philadelphia on Sept. 30, 1743, settled in Whitehall township, where we find the first mention of him on Nov. 10, 1745, when Eva Catharine, a daughter of Henry and Appolonia Dorney, was baptized. The sponsors were Lorentz Guth, Daniel Trach- sel, Catharine Bear, and Eva Catharine, eldest daughter of Adam Deshler. In 1768, Henry Dorney rented 300 acres of land from Caspar Wistar, for which he was taxed £24. 16s. o. He died previous to Dec. 18, 1771, leaving a number of children.

Peter Dorney, who arrived at Philadelphia Oct. 12, 1741, settled in this vicinity, as his name appears in 1749.

Daniel Dorney was taxed in Macungie town- ship in 1768 upon sixty acres of cultivated and one hundred and forty acres of uncultivated land. On Dec. 31, 1774, Mary Plumstead, widow, and the executor of the late William Plumstead, Esq., sold to Daniel Dorney (spelled Turney) four tracts of land for 900£. Two hundred seventy- nine acres of this land was located along the Cedar creek. Daniel Dorney died in 1779. He and his wife Elizabeth had eleven children : John ; Daniel; Henry; Philip; Anna Maria, wife of Lorentz Guth, Jr .; Eve; Barbara; Catharine ;

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HISTORY OF LEHIGH COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

Magdalena ; Peter; and Adam, who was born in 1768:

Daniel Dorney, son of Daniel, was the owner of 140 acres of land in Whitehall and 49 acres in Salisbury township. He died intestate in 1788. He married, in 1771, Eva Barbara Guth, daughter of Lorentz Guth, Sr. She was born Jan. 8, 1749, and died Sept. 5, 1826. They had two children : Eva Catharine Dorney, born Jan. 30, 1772, and married a Mr. Myer; and Peter Dorney, born Jan. 5, 1775, and died Feb. 7, 1815. He was a saddler by occupation and had no children. Eva Barbara, widow of Daniel Dorney, subsequently married George Henry Mertz, who was born Sept. 4, 1755, and died July 23, 1827. With the second marriage she had one son, Henry Mertz, who was born July 21, 1782, and died March 11, 1844. Peter Dorney, saddler, having no children, left his property to his god-son, Charles Mertz, the son of his step-brother, Henry Mertz. This included the mansion house erected by his father, Daniel Dorney, Jr., and the 140-acre tract in White- hall township.

Adam Dorney, who was probably a brother of Daniel, Sr., died in 1818. He was the owner of 150 acres in Whitehall township and served as an ensign in the Revolution. He and his wife Eva Margaret had six children: Peter, Adam, John, Margaret, Henry, and Hannah.

Peter Dorney, the eldest son, was born Oct. 2, 1771. He was a farmer and hotel-keeper at Dorneysville. He married, May 9, 1797, Mary Susanna Beck. She was born Sept. 24, 1772, and died July 28, 1858. Their children were: John, born in 1802 and died in 1871, he married Eliza- beth Biery, and had eight children; Saloma, wife of Henry Schantz; Kate, born in 1800 and died single in 1875; and William, born in 1807 and died in 1881. He married Mary A. Mertz, and had a son, Henry and four daughters, Rebecca, married David Flexer ; Emma, Maria, and Mat- tie A.

John Dorney, son of Peter and Mary Susanna (Beck) Dorney, was born Nov. 4, 1802. He was a farmer and hotel-keeper at Dorneysville and also a dealer in grain and lumber. He married Elizabeth, daughter of John and Catharine (Troxell) Biery. She was born March 12, 18IC, and died Feb. 10, 1885. Mr. Dorney died March 18, 1871. Their children were: Tilghman ; David; Mary, married James Yeager; Mrs. Adam Merkel ; Matilda, married Edwin Muse ; William; Elizabeth C., married Wm. F. Ruth; Lydia A., married Edwin H. Romig; Sallie A., married Willoughby Kline; Daniel D., born Aug. 19, 1848, died Dec. 3, 1912: and Leanda, died young.

Adam Dorney, second son of Adam Dorney, Sr., was born Sept. 26, 1774, and died March 29, 1845. He married Mary Magdalena Bogert. She was born Oct. 11, 1780, and died Oct. 20, 1840. They are buried in the Salisbury church cemetery.

Solomon Dorney, son of Adam Dorney, Jr., was born Feb. 6, 1807, and died April 20, 1856. He married Susanna Scholl, daughter of David Scholl. She was born Oct. 27, 1810, and died Nov. 25, 1890. They had six children: Solo- mon ; Charles A .; William T .; Isabella, wife of Tilghman H. Dorney ; Ellen, wife of Dr. C. H. Apple; and Mary, wife of Thomas B. Faust.

Charles A. Dorney, son of Solomon, Sr., was born May 20, 1844, at the old homestead. He spent his youth upon the farm, attended the district school and was employed in mercantile pursuits. In 1869 he embarked in the furniture trade with Henry Berkemeyer under the firm name of Berkemeyer & Dorney. In 1873 Mr. Dorney sold his interest to Thomas B: Faust & Company. Five years later he again became in- terested in the company as the sole owner, after which he incorporated the C. A. Dorney Furni- ture Company. In 1898 Mr. Dorney retired from business, at which time the paid up capital of the firm was $200,000 and it employed two hundred men. He owned 12,000 acres of land at Hickory Run and was president of the Hick- ory Run Brick Company. On Dec. 10, 1865, Mr. Dorney married Caroline, daughter of Charles Mertz. They had no children. He died May 8, 1903.

The other children of Adam Dorney, Sr., were John, born Jan. 18, 1778; Margaret, born Jan. 9, 1781, and died Nov. 10, 1852, who married, April 21, 1800 Christopher Mohr; Henry, born Aug. 19, 1786, and died Sept. 4, 1871. He married Mary Mertz, and had children: Peter, Tilghman; Henry ; Eliza, wife of Edwin Acker ; Mary Ann, wife of August Christ, of Bethlehem ; Carolina, wife of Andrew Keck; Lucy, wife of Henry Ludwig; Clara, wife of Charles Litzen- berger ; and Sarah, wife of Frank Farry.

Hannah Dorney, youngest daughter of Adam Dorney, Sr., was born Aug. 25, 1783, and died March 9, 1844. She married Gen. Henry Mertz. They had eighteen children. Adam Dorney, Sr., bequeathed £800 to each of his two daughters, a tract of 1012 acres to his son, Henry, and the balance of his land to his other three sons.

Solomon Dorney, father of Oliver C. Dorney, was born Aug. 12, 1831, and died June 11, 1901. He was a farmer, and at one time engaged ex- tensively in the manufacture of carriages and sleighs. He also conducted Dorney's Park for thirty years, as well as a general store. For fif-

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teen or twenty years he held the office of post- master of Cedarville, Lehigh county. He married Elmina, daughter of Jonas and Lydia (Jones) Faust, and their children were: Ellen R., widow of H. O. Weaver ; Franklin T .; Oliver C .; Al- bert H .; and Edward J.

Mrs. Dorney was a woman of unusual intelli- gence and energy and assisted her husband in his duties as postmaster and in the conduct of a gen- eral store.

FRANKLIN T. DORNEY, son of Solomon, was born in South Whitehall, Dec. 26, 1854. He was educated in the public schools and the Allen- town Business College, after which he assisted his father in his general store at Cetronia and in the establishment of Dorney's Park. He then learned the baker trade in the county home bak- ery, and subsequently erected a building at the park, where he established the Dorney Park Bak- ery, which he still conducts and in which he has met with unusual success. He is the owner of several homes and a tract of land at the park, and holds membership in the Reformed Church. Mr. Dorney married, in 1877, Emma L. G., daughter of David and Abigail ( Handwerk) Gil- bert, and they have five children : Jennie, married Richard Peters ; Cleon, married Beulah Henning- er ; Ellis, married Annie Guth; Marcus, married Edna Woodring; and Russell.

OLIVER CHARLES DORNEY, son of Solomon and Elmina (Faust) Dorney, was born March 18, 1862, in South Whitehall township, Lehigh county, Pennsylvania. He received his early edu- cation in the district schools from which he grad- uated at the age of fifteen. Upon the completion of his public school education in 1878, he entered business college in the city of Allentown, where he completed the course and having been a first honor graduate was at once retained as a teacher of these subjects, teaching during the winter months and helping his parents in their business during the summer months.

After having definitely determined to make the teaching of business his life work, and realiz- ing the need of expert and special training along these lines he, in 1884, entered Kibbe's Writing Parlors and Gallery of Pen Art, Utica, N. Y., placing himself under the direct and personal supervision of H. W. Kibbe (the proprietor ) that famous pen artist, who, as a critic and all-around penman in every branch of the art, had no super- ior and few if any equals.

Upon the completion of this professional course he returned to assume the management of the local business college, until the spring of 1899, when he resigned his position to establish The Ameri- can Commercial School of which he is still presi- dent.

In 1895 his institution was incorporated and chartered under the laws of the state of Pennsyl- vania, with a capital stock of $30,000.00, which represents the cost of its equipments, and there are few schools in America that compare with it in appointments and facilities for the successful training of young men and women for business pursuits.

During the early eighties, in addition to the practical training in his father's large manufac- turing plant, general store and post office, he ac- quired broad and valuable experience as general manager of the famous Dorney Park and Trout Hatchery which was established by his father, and which remained in the family, not only as the family homestead, but also as the most popular summer resort in eastern Pennsylvania, visited annually by several hundred thousand people in- cluding sportsmen who were attracted from all sections of the country for the angling of "speck- led beauties" in season.

After his father's death the old homestead and park was sold to the Allentown & Reading Trac- tion Company, on whose lines it is located.

Owing to his wide and practical experience as a business man and accountant, he, through his uncle, C. A. Dorney, who financed this road and who held its controlling interest, was appointed to the position of chief accountant, which afforded him an opportunity to become familiar with the details of the electric railroad business, and which soon led to the promotion to the position of gen- eral manager and which he held for a number of years. Upon the death of his uncle, however, he resigned his position with the electric railroad company to devote his entire time to the school founded by him.

With such able leadership the growth of the school was so rapid that three times it outgrew its quarters, compelling it to seek larger and bet- ter accommodations until it finally had built for its own convenience and requirements, according to the plans and specifications of its founder, an entire floor in the Y. M. C. A. building, located on the southeast corner of Centre Square, a structure costing, with its equipments, a quarter million of dollars, and where it is still located.

The object, however, of locating in the Y. M. C. A. building was three-fold :

First: To secure the needed accommodations in floor space.

Secondly: To throw around every student the highly moral and spiritual influences such as the Y. M. C. A. only could afford.

Thirdly: To conduct the educational classes of the Y. M. C. A. affording its members all the advantages and facilities of every department of the institution.

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Hence, the advantages of both institutions have become affiliated, and in this connection it should be said that since President Dorney foresaw the incalculable benefits to be derived by the mem- bers of both institutions through the consolida- tion of interests as indicated, to him belongs the honor of effecting the first arrangement of this nature ever made in this country between any purely business educational institution and a Young Men's Christian Association.

The crowning feature of this educational insti- tution, however, is its employment service, which, like the school is regularly incorporated and has been in successful operation since the organization of the school in 1889. Through it upwards of 12,000 young men and women have been placed into positions of responsibility and trust.

In 1895, he erected the Dorney building, the first apartment building in the city.

In this building he organized "The O. C. Dorney Co.," for the purpose of conducting a general designing, engraving and printing business. The first two floors are equipped with all the lat- est and best electric machinery, all of which was electrically controlled by the mere pressing of a button and was considered the mot modern and up-to-date plant of its kind in America.

In 1900, Mr. Dorney was commissioned by the State Board of Examiners and chartered by the governor of the State of Pennsylvania, con- ferring upon him the degree of C. P. A. (Certified or Charatered Public Accountant ).

For years, however, before as well as after this commission was conferred upon him, he devoted much of his time to the adjustment of partner- ship, manufacturing and corporation affairs, as well as doing auditing, and public accounting work of every variety, the planning and install- ing of office systems, preparing and supervising advertising campaigns for many of the largest concerns in this section of the country.

As an expert penman, he has also for many years been consulted by, and frequently figured in, the local courts as a witness and expert on forged or questioned hand-writing.

In 1905, he drew up his own plans for and immediately started in the building of twenty modern, three-story, nine-room houses, consist- ing of brick, stone and cement, in one of the most desirable sections of Allentown, involving an in- vestment of upwards of $100,000.00, making a most valuable addition to one of the city's most important suburbs.

Mr. Dorney is an inventor. Not only of an intensely practical, but also of an inventive turn of mind, he devotes what spare hours he has at his command to the development of practical and useful devices.

He has invented and holds letters patent and copyrights on the following :

Adjustable school desks.

Adjustable school, office and typewriter chairs. Adjustable typewriter and reading tables.

Adjustable artists' and drafting tables.

Adjustable copy-holders and devices for teach- ing touch typewriting.

Electric signal clock.

Adjustable neck-tie guard.

The Dorneyrian system of spelling.

The Dorneyrian card system for roll call.

The Safe Guard Check and Banking System: an entirely new, novel and effective system for indexing records for the various makes of talking machines, as well as numerous other time and labor-saving office systems and devices.

He is a prominent and active member of the following organizations : The National Com- mercial Teacher's Federation; the Private Com- mercial School Managers' Association ; the Eas- tern Commercial Teacher's Association ; the Na- tional Association of Accountants and Bookkeep- ers; the Bookkeepers' Literary Club; the Na- tional League of Business Educators; the National Association of Accredited Com- mercial School ; the Allentown Chamber of Com- merce. In the last named organization he has served on the committee of statistics, publication and advertising for many years.

In 1883, he was married to Jennie Clapp Rey- nolds Wood, daughter of a prominent contractor and builder of Providence, R. I., who has been actively engaged and deeply interested in her hus- band's welfare not only in the founding of The American Commercial School, but also in filling the important position of matron and instructor in moral and business ethics.

Mrs. Dorney, a woman of exceptional talent and energy, joined to a most attractive personality, is of English descent, and the great-great-grand- daughter of Samuel Gorton, one of the founders of American liberties ; twice president judge; one of the authors of the fine political code adopted by the first assembly of the United Colonies of the Providence, R. I., Plantation ; the writer of a statute against negro slavery and the first edict adopted in America; a noted author and writer and whose writings and words have been recog- nized and recently commented upon by the lead- ing newspapers and magazines of the country, notably among which The Christian Science Monitor, published in Boston, Mass.

Mrs. Dorney is a Colonial Dame and a mem- bers of the Daughters of the American Revolu- tion, on five direct lines, and her husband's success in educational, as well as in every one of his other business and professional enterprises, is largely

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due to her influence and indomitable efforts to be the greatest possible service to him.

The work to which Mr. Dorney has thus far devoted his life is far-reaching, the knowledge and training acquired in the institution on which he has stamped the impress of his personality being carried by his pupils to every part of our own land and to every quarter of the globe. It is also enduring, in that its influence will not cease with his own life or with the lives of those whose characters and destinies he has helped to mould. It will animate the generations of the future. His influence is always exerted on the side of reforms and good government, and no proj- ect which, in his judgment tends to further the welfare and progress of Allentown, ever lacks his co-operation and support. In politics he is a Progressive Republican.

DREISBACH FAMILY.

Simon Dreisbach was born Aug. 7, 1698, in Witgenstein, on the Danube, near Ratisbon, now Bavaria, and came to America Sept. 20, 1743, at the age of 45 years. He settled in Lehigh town- ship, Northampton county, where he died March 21, 1785, and was buried at Kreidersville Stone church. He and his wife, Mary, had sons: Jost, Adam, John, and Simon.

Jost Dreisbach was born Nov. 21, 1721, and died Oct. 17, 1794. He was a member of the County Committee of Observation in 1774, cap- tain of a company from Lehigh township in 1775, and colonel of the Third Battalion of the county in 1776. He married Elizabeth Rachen- berger and had children: Catharine, born March 5, 1754, m. Henry Bauman; Elizabeth, born April 23, 1755; John J., born Oct. 20, 1757; Simon, born July 10, 1760; Adam, born Oct. 25, 1762 ; Jost, born April 11, 1764, died March 18, 1854, m. Margaret Solt, b. 1764, d. 1842, and had sons: John, Daniel. and Peter; Gertrude ; Appolonia ; Philip ; Michael; Susanna; and Mag- dalena.

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History of Lehigh county, Pennsylvania and a genealogical and biographical record of its families, Vol. II, Part 56

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