History of Lehigh county, Pennsylvania and a genealogical and biographical record of its families, Vol. II, Part 57

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 57

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Adam Dreisbach, second son of Simon, Sr., was born in Oberndorf, Witgenstein, Nov. 13, 1722, and died near Easton, Jan. 10, 1803. He was confirmed in the Reformed Church and mar- ried, in. 1749, Susanna Koerber. They had three sons and five daughters.

Simon Dreisbach, Jr., was born at Oberndorf, Feb. 18, 1730, and died near Weaversville, Dec. 17, 1806. He was a farmer and miller in Le- high township, and at the outbreak of the Revolu- tion was a member of the Provincial Convention. He was a member of the Assembly from 1776 to 1780, and on Oct. 20, 1782, became a member of the Council of Censors. After the war he

served several terms in the Assembly and was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1790. His first wife, Maria Dorothea, died in 1773. He married, second, Mrs. Anna Maria Kuder, daughter of Conrad Fuchs. He had eleven chil- dren, four of whom: George, born Jan. 31, 1756; Adam, born May 8, 1761; Daniel, born May 29, 1764; and Sophia, born Feb. 1, 1766, were deaf and dumb. His other children were: John, born Aug. 21, 1752, died Sept. 20, 1825; Peter, born Nov. 3, 1757; Jacob, born July 27, 1759; Elizabeth, born Aug. 29, 1762; Magda- lena, born Dec. 1, 1767; Catherine, born Jan. 8, 1769, married, July 9, 1787, George Butz; and Susanna born Jan. 25, 1771, married ( Ist) George Deshler, and had children: Mary and David, and (2d) a Mr. Lynn.

Jacob Dreisbach, third son of Simon, Jr., was born July 27, 1759, and died Jan. 14, 1817. He was an ensign in the Revolution and married Anna Margaret Bieber, born March 27, 1763, died April 6, 1857. Jacob Dreisbach, son of Jacob, was born Aug. 6, 1794, and died April 30, 1825. He married Magdalena Bliem, born Jan. 25, 1798, died Nov. 2, 1847. They had four daughters. Catharine Dreisbach, daughter of Jacob, Sr., married Abraham Helman. He was the son of Christian and Rosanna Helman, whose children were: Catharine, m. Daniel Rohn ; Magdalena, m. Caspar Rohn; John; Anna Maria; Jacob; Rachel, m. Nicholas Mittenber- ger ; Abraham ; and Elizabeth, m. Michael Kress- ler. Abraham and Catharine (Dreisbach) Hel- man had six children: Sarah, m. Wm. Fennicle ; Reuben, m. Mary Schnell; Edward, m. Emme- line Scholl ; William, m. Julia Briggs ; Abraham ; and Katharine, m. Alexander Miller.

Abraham Helman, Jr., was born in 1825, and died in 1907. He was a wheelwright and con- tractor and built many saw-mills and coal break- ers near White Haven, Wilkes-Barre, and Hazle- ton. He married, in 1849, Mary M. Drum, of Butler Valley, who died in Missouri. Their chil- dren are: George, with the Southern Pacific Railway, at San Antonio, Texas; Hiram F., of Slupeck & Helman, printers, Chicago, Ill .; Mrs. William Kildare; Alice; and Laura, Jennie and Lillian, who are active members of the First Presbyterian church of Catasauqua, and mem- bers of Liberty Bell Chapter, D. A. R.

Henry Dreisbach was born Nov. 17, 1800, and died March 14, 1890. He married Elizabeth Solt, who was born Feb. 12, 1802, and died Sept. 9, 1881. They are buried at Kreidersville church.

Daniel Dreisbach, son of Henry, was born at Kreidersville, and was a shoemaker. He enlisted in the United States army in the Civil War, and died at Memphis, Tenn., where he was buried.

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HISTORY OF LEHIGH COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

He married Christiana Kratzer, who died in 1914, aged 81 years.

AMMON P. DREISBACH, son of Daniel, engi- neer of the Trexler Lumber Company, was born Dec. 12, 1850, at Pennsville. He attended school until the age of sixteen, after which he worked on the farm for three years and learned the mil- ler's trade, which he followed for ten years. He then became a locomotive fireman on the L. V. R. R., and after being thus employed for nearly nine years, became the first fireman of the Allen- town Steam Heat & Power Company, which sup- plied the power to the street railway system.

He was subsequently engineer for E. J. Schneck & Sons for ten years, and for the Atlas Portland Cement Company for three years. In 1906 he became chief engineer for the Trexler Lumber Company, which position he still fills most ac- ceptably. He is affiliated with the American Order of Steam Engineers (being financial sec- retary), and the Independent Order of Ameri- cans.

Mr. Dreisbach married ( Ist) Flora Anna, daughter of Phaon and Margaret Dorward. She died Feb. 22, 1906. They had 12 children : Rob- ert ; Jennie; Marie; Mabel; Charles; Russell ; Ada; Edward G .; Halpin, in the United States infantry, serving at Honolulu; Maud, and two that died in infancy. He married (2d) Nov. 29, 1909, Mary Alice, daughter of Daniel and Caro- line Sensinger. Mr. Dreisbach is a Lutheran and his wife is a member of the United Evangeli- cal Church.

AMANDUS DREISBACH.

Simon Driesbach followed the carpenter trade for a number of years, afterwards the butcher business. He enlisted as a soldier in the Civil War, in which he contracted sickness while in service, and after serving about two years, he came home and died shortly afterwards. He was married to Susan Lorish, with whom he had the following children: Elemina, married to Edward Sherry, of Parrysville; Alexander, born in 1849, died in March, 1912. Harriet married to Lawrence Seizer, she died in 1880; Amandus, of Hokendauqua; Fretta, married to Robert Sherry, of Norristown; Nathaniel, deceased ; and Robert, South Bethlehem. Mr. and Mrs. Dreis- bach are buried at the Towamensing church.

Amandus Dreisbach, a son of Simon and Susan (Larish) Dreisbach, was born in Carbon county, Dec. 2, 1854. The first eighteen years of his life were spent on the farm. He then began working at public works in his native county. He was employed by the Carbon Iron Company until 1876, when he moved to Hokendauqua and became an employee of the Thomas Iron Com-

pany, where he has filled various positions of trust up to the present. He is the general foreman in the furnace department since 1888. Socially he holds membership in the following organizations: Catasauqua Lodge, No. 269, I. O. O. F .; No Sur- render Council, Jr. O. U. A. M .; and the David Thomas Lodge, Knights of Friendship. Mr. Dreisbach and family are members of the Re- formed congregation of Mickley's church. He was a member of the school board of Hokendau- qua independent district for eight years. In 1873 he was married to Belinda Silfies, a daughter of Reuben and Lucinda (Smith) Silfies, formerly from Kunkeltown, later from Hokendauqua. This union was blessed with ten children: Wil- liam, a graduate of the K. S. N. S .; Robert Y., deceased ; Lillie E., married to Palmer Bartholo- mew, of Coplay ; Susan E., deceased ; Helen L., married to Irwin Saeger, Hokendauqua; Mary B .; Emily R., married to Frank Steckel, Cemen- ton ; David A., deceased ; Florence C., deceased ; and Paul Newell, a graduate of the Hokendauqua high school.

DUBS FAMILY.

On the 30th of September, 1732, the ship "Dragon," Charles Hargrave, master, entered the port of Philadelphia. On board were one hun- dred and eighty-five passengers, most of whom were in fact, natives of Switzerland, from which country there was then an extensive emigration to America.

Among the pasengers was a young Swiss gun- smith named Jacob Dubs. When the ship ar- rived at Philadelphia he was ill and could not personally appear to be qualified so that the clerks had every opportunity to play havoc with his name. In one list it is written "Tubs" and in another "Dubbs."

Jacob Dubs was born August 31, 1710, in the hamlet of Aesch, parish of Birmensdorf, Can- ton, of Zurich, Switzerland. His parents, Jacob Dubs and Anna Glattli, of Bachstetten, had been married in the parish church of Birmensdorf, March 24, 1705. Two older sons both successive- ly named Hans Ulrich, had died in early infancy, and Jacob remained only surviving child.

The Dubs family had for many generations been settled at Birmensdorf and in the neighboring village of Affoltern. For a long time they had been gunsmiths, but in the earliest records they are called armorers.

Though so long resident in Switzerland, there was a tradition that the stock had been remotely of Bohemian origin. The name certainly comes from the Bohemian (Czech) word dub, which signifies an oak. More directly it is held to be derived from the name of a town near Prague,

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called Duba ("The Oaks"), or in German Eichen, or Aycha. In Bohemia the name is well known, though in the language of the country it is often written Dubsky. According to Merian ("Topographia Bohemia," p. 26), the families Von Eichen and Berka were originally named Dubs, the name first mentioned being a trans- lation and the second derived from an estate. A branch of the Bohemian family, the tradition relates, became Hussites in the fifteenth century, and during the succeeding wars were compelled to flee to the Austrian province of Styria, where we find them settled in 1446. The head of the family there entered the military service, and distinguished himself in an expedition against the Swiss. He was knighted on the field of bat- tle by the Emperor Maximilian I., who also gave him the privilege of occupying a clearing in the imperial forest. The arms granted on this oc- casion were carefully preserved by his descend .. ants, and were recognized and approved by Fred- erick I., King of Prussia, in 1701. They appear in the "Europaische Wappensammlung," publish- ed by John Rudolph Helmers, Nuremberg, 1705, Vol. V, p. 38, and represent a silver lance with pennon on a blue shield, surmounted, as a crest, by three ostrich feathers (the Bohemian Plumes), two silver and a centre blue.

About the beginning of the protestant reform- ation a younger son or grandson, of the Styrian knight removed to Switzerland. The motives of his removal it might now be difficult to deter- mine, but it may perhaps be supposed that he was influenced by Hussite family traditions to cast his lot with the rising cause of the reformation. At any rate, he became an earnest protestant, while the family in Styria has remained catholic to the present day.

Having settled some six or eight miles from the city of Zurich, the Styrian immigrant became a manufacturer of weapons. In 1531, Zurich was unexpectedly invaded by the army of the Catholic cantons, and the artisian at once became a soldier. He fought bravely in the army of de- fence, but lost his life, with the Reformer Zwingli, in the fatal battle of Cappel, October II, 1531. It is recorded in the ancient chronicle of the church at Affoltern that the armorer (der Waffenschmid) Dubs, of Birmensdorf, was slain at Cappel in defence of his faith. The fact is also stated by Henry Bullinger, the successor of Zwingli, in his "Reformation Geschichte" (reprint of 1840, Vol. III, p. 153) ; but in this case the author has got the name twisted and makes it Jacob Dubbs.

Jacob Dubs, the subject of our sketch, became, like his father, a gunsmith. He was fairly well educated and wrote an excellent hand. Family

tradition has it that in his early boyhood his mother died. His father married a second time and had another son, then he, too, passed away. By this time Jacob was of age, and after due consideration he determined to emigrate. Several of his cousins, "nearer or more remote," had al- ready crossed the sea.

Arriving in Pennsylvania, it was but natural that he should seek the society of his countrymen ; and we next find him at Great Swamp, in what was then Bucks county, where the Rev. John Henry Goetschius, of Zurich, had recently found- ed a congregation. On the oldest list of mem- bers his name appears.

Not far from the Great Swamp Church, in what is now Lower Milford township, Lehigh county, Jacob Dubs fixed his home. The tract had hitherto been unoccupied, and, according to the earliest draft, all the surrounding land was vacant, except that Jacob Wetzel had just taken up a piece along its southern line. The earliest survey was made for Jacob Dubs by Nicholas Scull on the 28th of September, 1734. Accord- ing to this survey, the "home farm" originally included one hundred and fifty acres, "with the usual allowance of six per cent.," but it was in- creased by subsequent purchases. A branch of the Perkiomen ran through the tract and fur- nish excellent water power. One of the settler's first acts was to utilize this stream by the erection of a small forge, where he engaged in the manu- facture of arms and iron implements. He was, first of all, a gunsmith, but it was said of him that he made everything "from a plough to a darning-needle." Men called him "ein Tausendkunstler," which was a rather polite way of saying that he was a "Jack of all trades." At a later date he made, in his leisure hours, a musical instrument called "ein Flugel" -- a harpsichord, an instrument now superseded by the piano-which was long in possession of the descendants. Though his various enter- prises were continued by his son and grand- sons the fact remains that he laid the foundations of what were in their day a series of important undertakings.

In 1734, Jacob Dubs was "duly qualified and invested with all the rights of natural-born sub- ject of Pennsylvania." A little later he was married to Veronica Welker, who was a native of the Upper Palatinate, but had relatives in America. George Welker, of Goshenhoppen, who speculated extensively in land, and whose name appears on many ancient deeds, was nearly related. She is said to have been a woman of some culture, and, when the neighborhood began to be settled, she gathered the children in her kitchen and taught them to read.

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HISTORY OF LEHIGH COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

The following list of children of Jacob and Veronica Dubs is extracted, with the correction of a single date, from the records of the Great Swamp Church :

I. FELIX, born February 28, 1738, baptized by the Rev. J. H. Goetschius. Sponsors, Felix Brunner and his wife Barbara.

2. BARBARA, born April 5, 1744; baptized by the Rev. George Michael Weiss. Sponsors Jacob Wetzel and Barbara Wetzel.

3. MARGARETHA, born 1746; baptized by the Rev. G. M. Weiss. Sponsor, Anna Maria Wet- zel.

4. DANIEL, born October 5, 1748; baptized by the Rev. G. M. Weiss. Sponsors, Daniel Christman and his wife Margaret.

5. ELIZABETH, born October 16, 1750; bap- tized by the Rev. G. M. Weiss. Sponsor, Eliza- beth Huber.

That the family, like other pioneers, was ex- posed to dangers and privations will be readily understood. This is illustrated by a tradition related to the writer by a descendant. There were wolves in the woods near the house, and when Daniel was a little boy he often amused himself by imitating their barking. Once, while he was doing this, a wolf rushed out of the woods to attack him; but he escaped by running to the open window of the kitchen, and his mother drew him in.

Jacob Dubs was a man of peace, but when the Indians were making incursions into the Lehigh Valley, he joined a military company and fol- lowed the enemy beyond the Blue Mountains. They tracked the Indians for many miles, but there was no conflict.

In the welfare of the church the subject of this sketch was profoundly interested. He was chosen a ruling elder, and it has been mentioned as a somewhat unusual fact that in the same con- gregation this office was held by three generations of his descendants.

About the year 1759 the family was visited by a severe affliction. The eldest son Felix, had grown up to be a bright young man, was still unmarried. Having started for Philadelphia with a load of farm produce, he spent a night at North Wales, at the house of Matthias Schwenk, whose daughter Elizabeth was afterwards mar- ried to his brother, Daniel. Rising early in the morning, while it was dark, Felix fell into the well, which, it seems, was not properly covered, and was drowned.

The daughters were all happily married. Barbara became the wife of Jacob Boyer, a man who was highly esteemed in the community. During the revolution he sold his farm, and was paid in depreciated money. Becoming financially

involved, he removed to the West, and finally settled in Tennessee, where he is said to have many descendants. After some years he revisit- ed his old home in Pennsylvania and paid all his old debts, with interest.

Margaretha became the second wife of Jacob Dillinger, and had three children. Her descend- onts are numerous.

Elizabeth was married to Jacob Haak, of Berks county, and from them many of the Haaks, Sells, Gabels, and other Berks county families derive descent.

When the daughters were married, Daniel, the only surviving son of Jacob Dubs, remained with his parents at the homestead. As he had grown up to be a man of almost gigantic frame and was of good mental capacity, his father's business naturally passed into his control. In 1772 the father sold his real estate to his son for three hundred and fifty popunds.

The exact date of the death of Jacob Dubs the writer has not been able to determine. The church records are for several years incomplete, and his tombstone has crumbled so that its in- scription has become illegible. The writer has the impression that he lived to the age of sixty- five, so that his death must have occurred in 1775 and this date cannot be far out of the way. His wife survived him several years. Both lie buried in the old church-yard of the congregation of which they were members, adjacent to the tomb of their son, Daniel.

It may be interesting to add that, under the care of Daniel Dubs, the industries established by his father were greatly extended. After his marriage to Elizabeth Schwenk, he built for him- self a large brick house, which is still standing in excellent condition. According to undisputed tradition, it was the first brick house built with- in the present limits of Lehigh county.

The forge erected by his father was enlarged, and became what would now be called a machine shop. In those days they called it "die Schleif- muehle." Sickles were produced in large num- bers, and screw-augers manufactured there not many years after their invention by Judge Wil- liam Henry, of Lancaster. The business finally passed into the hands of his son, John, who was no less skilful than his father. At this shop a large number of muskets were made for the gov- ernment during the war of 1812.

The grist mill was built about the beginning of the present century. It became especially well known for peculiarly fine buckwheat flour, which was a staple article in the Philadelphia markets.

To trace the history of the several industries established by Daniel Dubs would be impossible without access to original records, and these have

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apparently long since disappeared. There was, however, a tannery, as well as a sawmill, an oil- mill, and, in fact, a whole cluster of enterprises, such as in those days were not infrequently con- ducted by a single man. In December, 1824, Daniel Dubs disposed of his real estate by sell- ing it to three of his sons. John took the forge, Daniel, Jr., the mill, and Jacob, the tannery. They had, in fact, been in possession of these interests at a much earlier period, and in 1815 a division was effected by written agreement, but it seems to have been discovered that a more formal act of transfer was a legal necessity.

Elizabeth Dubs, the mother of the family, passed away from life on the 20th of February, 1818. Her husband, Daniel, lived more than ten years longer, and died September 22, 1828. The following were the surviving children :

I. ANNA MARIA, born June 27, 1777. Mar- ried to Henry Eberhard. The late Michael D. Eberhard, of Allentown was her son.

2. JACOB, born June 21, 1779; died May 17, 1852. He received a part of the home farm, and built a stone house which is still (1894) oc- cupied by the widow and daughter of his youngest son. One of his grandsons, the Rev. Jacob G. Dubbs, is a minister in Lehigh county.

3. HENRY, removed to Hamilton, Butler county, Ohio, about 1825, and has many descend- ants. The wife of the Rev. F. W. Berleman, D.D., pastor of Salem Church, on Fairmount avenue, near Fouth street, Philadelphia, is a granddaughter.

4. DANIEL, born April 7, 1786. In 1836 he removed to Montgomery county, Ohio. One of his sons, Daniel L., was a graduate of Heidel- berg College, Ohio, and for some time a student at the Theological Seminary in Mercersburg. He became an officer in the army, and was fatally wounded at the battle of Fredericksburg.

5. JOHN, born September 5, 1788; died No- vember 25, 1869. He lived all his life at the old homestead, which at his death passed to Aaron his only son.

6. SOLOMON, born October 10, 1794; died May 24, 1880. He resided near Allentown, Pennsylvania, and has descendants.

7. REV. JOSEPH S., born October 16, 1796; died April 14, 1877.

Joseph S. Dubbs, the first Reformed pastor of St. John's Church Mickley's, Pa., was born at the old family homestead in Upper Milford (now Lower Milford township), Lehigh county, Pa., on the 16th day of October, 1796.

In an unfinished autobiographical sketch he gives the following account of his early Christian training :

During the long winter evenings we were re-

quired to commit the Catechism and read the Psalter and New Testament. We read alter- nately and the elder were the teachers of the younger, and each one manifested a degree of zeal and anxiety to excel such as is rarely found in schools. On Sundays when there was no serv- ice in the church, we were required to spend the forenoon in religious study, but whenever it was possible we went to church and listened to the preaching of the gospel. After we returned from church and had taken dinner the Bible was brought and the chapter from which the text was taken read and commented upon. When this was done we were allowed to enjoy a little inno- cent recreation.

It was about the time of his confirmation that he felt an earnest longing to become a minister of the Gospel. He placed himself under the care of Rev. F. L. Herman, D.D., who prepared many candidates for his profession. For four years he was under the instructions of Dr. Her- man. The school which he conducted was popu- larly known as the "Swamp College." In 1822 he was licensed to preach the gospel with special authority to administer the sacraments. He was ordained in 1823 at Kutztown. His first charge consisted of Windsor and Weiss churches. His salary from the whole charge amounted to $100 per annum. In 1824 the Epless church, and in 1826 the Haines church was added to his charge of which he remained pastor until July, 1831.

In 1831 Father Dubbs accepted a call to the charge in Lehigh county consisting of Allentown, Egypt, Union and Jordan churches.

He remained pastor of this charge from 1831 to 1861 ; during the latter years he was assisted by his son, Alfred, and Rev. C. R. Hessler. It was while pastor of this charge that Mickley's Church was organized, of which he became the first Reformed pastor.

In 1861 he resigned the church in Allentown and continued to preach in the other congregations until 1868, when he resigned and removed to Allentown where he lived in retirement until his death which occurred April 14, 1877.

Dr. Dubbs was married twice, the first time in 1825 to Susan Getz, the second time in 1837 to Mrs. Eleanor Murphy.

The first marriage was blessed with three chil- dren, Rev. Alfred J. G. Dubbs and two daugh- ters were respectively married to Owen L. Schreiber and James O. Shimer.

By the second marriage he had two sons. Silas who died in childhood and Joseph H.

Rev. Joseph S. Dubbs preached over eight thousand sermons, baptized 7,076 infants and adults, officiated at 2,778 funerals; solemnized 2,176 marriages.

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HISTORY OF LEHIGH COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

Alfred Joseph Getz Dubbs was the oldest son of the Rev. Joseph S. Dubbs, D.D., and his wife, Susan, whose maiden name was Getz. He was born in Windsor township (now Perry), Berks County, Pa., on June 8, in the year 1826. In the spring of 1845 he went to Mercersburg, Pa., the seat of Marshall College, where he pursued his studies until the fall of 1849, when he took charge of a select school. Up to this time he had no fixed conviction in regard to his vocation in life, but now he must settle the question. For his subsequent history it would seem that the Lord had only one path which he was at liberty to pursue, and after the most earnest and prayer- ful consideration he felt it his duty to prepare for the Christian ministry. With this purpose he studied theology, and in the spring of 1851 East Pennsylvania Classis examined and licensed him, at its annual session, in Plainfield, North- ampton county. In the fall of the same year he was ordained to the holy ministry, in Zion's Re- formed Church, Allentown, where for one year he served in the capacity of assistant pastor to his father, preaching in the English language.

In 1852 he became pastor of the South White- hall (Mickley's) Church, of which he remained the pastor to 1860. In 1857 Rev. Mr. Dubbs was called to the charge composed of Trexler- town, Macungie, Upper Milford, Salisbury, and Frieden's congregations, which he served faith- fully and successfully for fourteen years, when the charge was divided and he became the pastor of the first four named congregations, which he served until 1876.

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History of Lehigh county, Pennsylvania and a genealogical and biographical record of its families, Vol. II, Part 57

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