History of Lehigh county, Pennsylvania and a genealogical and biographical record of its families, Vol. III, Part 103

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: 854

USA > Pennsylvania > Lehigh County > History of Lehigh county, Pennsylvania and a genealogical and biographical record of its families, Vol. III > Part 103

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STILES FAMILY.

The Stiles family is one of great antiquity, and is found in all parts of the United States.

The family is of early Anglo-Saxon origin, and, as remarked by the scholarly Henry Reed Stiles, M.D., the family historian and an accom- plished genealogist, "if other families claim that their ancestors came into England with William the Conqueror, ours may rest assured that it was in Britain before the conquest," and in the argu- ment upon which he bases his proposition he ad- duces some philological evidence which is at once interesting and convincing. The family seat was in Melbroke, Balfordshire, England, whence came the founders of the American family of Stiles- Francis, Thomas, Henry and John. They came March 16, 1634, in the ship "Christian," a small vessel of forty tons. They were of a company of twenty-two adult males, three adult females

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GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL.

and two children. The Rev. Ezra Stiles, pastor of the Second church, of Newport, R. I., writ- ing in 1762, with the family records before him, said of them that they were of those who "for the sake of a free exercise of pure religion fled out of England from the tyranny and persecution of King Charles the First, and settled in New England. Our family of Stiles was one of this original accession, and purely English blood."

John Stiles (1), the immigrant, was born in Milbroke, Bedfordshire, England, Dec. 25, 1595. He came to America with the company above mentioned, and March 16, 1634, was indentured to his brother, Henry, as a carpenter's apprentice. He settled in Windsor, Conn., and was appor- tioned land near his brother's. He became a man of considerable property, as shown by vari- ous minutes in the records of the church and town. In the seating of the meeting house ( 1659- 60) among those who "have paid and were placed in the long seats when they were paid, were John Stiles, Sr., and his wife. His wife was Rachel (family name unknown) and she was presumably of the company of immigrants with which he came. He died June 4, 1662, aged sixty-seven years, in Windsor. He made his will "the last day of May, 1662," a few days before his decease, making an equitable division of his estate, which was inventoried at £222 4s, a large sum for that day. His wife survived him more than twelve years and died Sept. 3, 1674. They were the parents of four children: Henry, born in England, 1629; John, born in England, about 1633; and Isaac and Sarah, born in Windsor, Conn.

John (2), son of John (1), is referred to by Doctor Stiles in his "Genealogy of the Stiles Family," who relates a family tradition that "a woman and her child paid only a single passage, but double if the child were weaned; and though John Stiles was old enough to wean when they came from England in 1634, yet his mother suckled him during the voyage, and so gained his passage." This John (2) grew up in Windsor, Conn., and was a citizen of good repute. June 5, 1656, he was defendant in quarterly court in an action brought against him for carrying passengers over the river and judgment was given in his favor. In the tax list of 1675 to raise money for the support of the ferry at Windsor, he is mentioned as having "family, horse and four oxen." He married Oct. 28, 1658, (or 1657) Dorcas, born in 1638, daughter of Henry Burt, of Springfield, Mass. Stiles, the historian, re- lates a tradition that her mother before she came from England, was laid out for dead, and put into her coffin. At the funeral, signs of life ap- peared, and she was uncovered and came to New

England, settling in Springfield, Mass .; she was the mother of nineteen children, among whom was Dorcas. John Stiles (2), died at Windsor, Conn., Dec. 8, 1683, aged about fifty years. He was the father of five children.

Ephraim (3) was fourth child and second son of John (2) and Dorcas (Burt) Stiles. The date of his birth is unknown, and he died about 1755, aged eighty-five years. He married, Aug. 2, 1694, Abigail Neal, of Westfield, Mass., where he settled. They were the parents of five children. "Of this generation, consisting of 123 souls-sixty-one males and sixty-two females, of which number twenty-nine, or nearly one-fourth died in infancy. The third generation is four times the number of the second. Of this gen- eration by 1764 are fifty-three marriages already, of which only one barren, seven dead, seven done bearing, leaving thirty-seven families in 1764." -Doctor Stiles.

Isaac (4), second child and eldest son of Ephraim (3) and Abigail (Neal) Stiles, was born in Westfield, Mass., Oct. 6, 1696, and died Oct. 4, (or 9) 1790, aged ninety-four years. He married a cousin, Mary Brooks, their intentions of marriage having been published Nov. 12, 1720, and the ceremony was performed by John Ashley, justice of the peace, Dec. 22, following. She died Oct. 21, 1734, and he married, second, Deborah Harmon, of Suffield, Conn., in May, 1757. He had seven children, all of his first wife.

Daniel (5), sixth child of Isaac (4) and Mary (Brooks) Stiles, was born in Westfield, Jan. 20, 1732-3. He was the second of his parents' chil- dren to bear the name of Daniel, the first Daniel was born Oct. 17, 1729, dying Oct. 12, 1731. He died in service during the French War. He married Amy Hillyer, of Simsbury, Conn., about May 11, 1754. They were the parents of five children.

Daniel (6), second child and eldest son of Daniel (5) and Amy (Hillyer) Stiles, was born in Westfield, Jan. 15, 1757, and is said to have died in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., date unknown. He married, first, Sarah, daughter of Daniel Rogers, dren.

Lewis (7), eldest child of Daniel (6) and Sarah (Rogers) Stiles, was born in Kingston, Pa., March 22, 1789, and died at the age of fifty-six years, in 1845, in Town Hill, Luzerne county, Pa. He was a farmer. March 21, 1811, he married Sarah, a daughter of John Dodson. She was born July 29, 1791, and died Feb. 19, 1874. They were the parents of twelve chil- dren, of whom nine were sons.

John Dodson Stiles (8), seventh child of Lewis and Sarah (Dodson) Stiles, was born in

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HISTORY OF LEHIGH COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

Town Hill, Luzerne county, Pa., Jan. 15, 1822. He became one of the most prominent men of his day, and lived a life of great usefulness in state and national, as well as in community affairs. He acquired a liberal academical edu- cation, afterward studied law, and was admitted to the bar of Mauch Chunk, Pa., June 24, 1844, shortly after attaining his majority and on Sept. 5th, of the same year, he was admitted to the bar at Allentown, in which city he took up his residence, and with which he was prominently identified thenceforth through his life. He be- came a leading practitioner and throughout his life conducted an extensive and lucrative prac- tice. His entrance upon the public life dates from 1853, when he was elected district attor- ney for Lehigh county, to which he was elected without any opposition, and in which position he served for three years, acquitting himself most creditably. He was a Democrat in politics, and in 1856 was chosen a delegate to the national convention which nominated for the presidency James Buchanan, whom he aided largely in ob- taining his nomination, and whom he held in honor as a statesman and in affection as a friend. In that memorable contest the organization of the party was attributable to the young men of Pennsylvania, prominent among whom was Mr. Stiles. In his county, Mr. Buchanan received a larger increased majority than in any other county in Pennsylvania. Mr. Stiles never asked and never received an appointment to office, Fed- eral or state.

In 1860, Thomas B. Cooper, Democrat, an intimate friend of Mr. Stiles was elected to Con- gress from the fifth district of Pennsylvania, composed of the counties of Lehigh and Bucks, by a majority of 100 votes. Mr. Cooper entered upon his duties, but in the beginning of the second session of the Thirty-seventh Congress, died, and Governor Curtin, fearing that a Demo- crat might be elected, delayed his proclamation for a special election for an unreasonable length of time, but finally ordered an election for the 24th day of May, 1862. Mr. Stiles with great unanimity received the Democratic nomination, but a single week before the election. Congress was then in session, and the outbreak of the war caused the election to be one of the most excit- ing that ever took place in the state. The dis- trict had been represented by a radical in the preceding congress, and was considered a doubt- ful one. Mr. Stiles was elected by 585 majority, a greater majority than had been given any Demo- crat for years. He assumed his seat in the Thirty- seventh Congress on the 3d day of June, 1862, and at once took an active part in its proceedings. In that body he served upon the committees on

expenditures in the state department, and on revolutionary claims.

By the apportionment of the state in 1862, his congressional district was changed, Mont- gomery county having been annexed to Lehigh, and Bucks county with Philadelphia. In the new district of Lehigh and Montgomery, Mr. Stiles was by unanimous consent placed in nomination for re-election. The radicals made vigorous efforts to defeat him. His record in congress on the war was made the cause of bitterness, and he was more strenuously opposed because of his position on the first tax bill, against which he spoke and voted in the Thirty-seventh Congress. His opponent, Judge Krause, who shortly before deserted the Democratic party, was a man of large popularity, and of great ability. He was denounced a "war Democrat" and hoped to re- ceive a sufficient support from the democracy to carry the district. Mr. Stiles received a most flattering endorsement, carrying his district against fierce personal opposition by a majority of 3,224.

In 1864 Mr. Stiles was not a candidate for re-nomination. He was a delegate to the Demo- cratic national convention in 1864, which nomi- nated General Mcclellan, whom he supported. He took an active part in the ensuing campaign. In 1866 he was a delegate, appointed by the Democratic state central committee to the Na- tional Union convention, which assembled at Philadelphia. In the Democratic state conven- tion of 1866 Mr. Stiles, though not a candidate, received the vote of his own and several other counties for governor. In 1868 he was a dele- gate to the national convention which nominated Mr. Seymour, and in the same year, his county again being entitled to the candidate, he was unanimously placed in nomination, and was elected to the Forty-first Congress by a majority of 2,679. He died at Allentown, Oct. 29, 1896.

Mr. Stiles married, June 11, 1849, Mary Amanda, daughter of John S. and Sarah A. Gibons, of Allentown, who was born Dec. II, 1826, and died Jan. 23, 1880. The following named children were born of this marriage: (1) John Lewis, born March 17, 1853; (2) Harry Gibons, born Dec. 16, 1856; (3) Mary Amanda, born Sept. 3, 1859; (4) Clarence Herman, twin with Mary Amanda; (5) Charles Frederick, born June 20, 1862; (6) Blanche G., born Nov. 20, 1865.

Harry Gibons Stiles (9), second child and second son of Hon. John D. (8) and Mary (Gibons) Stiles, was afforded excellent educa- tional advantages. He began his studies in the public schools of Allentown, and was graduated from the high school June 30, 1874, at the age

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of seventeen years. For two years thereafter he pursued special branches in Muhlenberg Col- lege, and then entered the Law School of Har- vard University, from which he was graduated in 1878, shortly after attaining his majority. He was also favored with instruction by his father in his professional studies, and on April 14, 1879, he was admitted to practice at the bar of Allen- town, and shortly afterward became associated with the parent in the well-known law firm of John D. Stiles & Son. In 1884 he was nomi- nated as a presidential elector, and was the young- est man ever placed on that ticket for that posi- tion. In 1889 he was elected district attorney for a term of three years, and acquitted himself with great ability. In 1894 he was elected to the state senate on the Democratic ticket. In that year the Republican party had phenomenal vic- tories over the country, and in Lehigh county every Democrat on the ticket was defeated ex- cept Mr. Stiles. In 1898 he was re-elected by the handsome majority of 2,000 votes.

In 1908 he was elected Mayor of Allentown by a plurality of 778 votes. He died in office, Nov. 8, 1908. Mr. Stiles married, Sept. 27, 1889, Annie, daughter of Joseph and Caroline Yhenlon.

CLARENCE H. STILES, third son of John D., secured his education in the schools of Allentown and the Allentown Academy. On Aug. 25, 1875, he entered the stationery and book business, in which he has been continuously engaged at 531 Hamilton street. He has been active in the circle of politics, and represented the Ninth ward in select council for eleven years. He is a member of Greenleaf Lodge, No. 561, F. and A. M., of which he was W. M. in 1892; Allen R. A. Chapter, No. 203; Allen Council, No. 23, R. and S. M .; Allen Commandery, No. 20, K. T .; Rajah Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S .; Allentown Aerie, No. 110, F. O. of E .; Allentown Nest, No. 72, Order of Owls; Livingston Club and Lehigh Country Club, and his religious affiliation is with Grace Episcopal church.

STONEBACK FAMILY.

Daniel Stoneback, born in England, about the year 1800, emigrated to Pennsylvania, and set- tled in Montgomery county. He was a tanner by trade and owned a farm of 60 acres which was located at the Branch Church. He and family were Reformed members of the church and Mr. Stoneback served it as an official. His children were: Daniel, whose history follows; Mahlon, lived in Philadelphia; William, lived in New York City; Jacob, removed to Jacksonville, Florida; Hetty Ann, married to Ephraim Cope ; Lucy Ann, married to William Williams; Mary

Ann, married to William Willer ; Julia Ann and Lizzie Ann, both died single.

Daniel K. Stoneback, son of Daniel, was born Sept. 3, 1830, in Montgomery county. Soon after 1857 he came to Lower Milford township, Lehigh county, where he was engaged in agricultural pursuits for 42 years. In 1899 he retired and located at Coopersburg, where he died on April 30, 1904, and was buried at the Blue Church, of which he had been an active member almost fifty years. In 1857 he married Elizabeth Berkenstock, a daughter of Henry Berkenstock, of Lower Milford township. Mrs. Stoneback is still living. Their children were: Charles H., whose history follows; and Maria, who is the wife of C. H. Schantz, of Coopers- burg.

CHARLES H. STONEBACK, manufacturer, bank director and prominent citizen of Coopersburg, was born July 3, 1859, in Lower Milford town- ship, son of Daniel K. Stoneback.

He was educated in the public schools, the Keystone State Normal School and Pierce Busi- ness College, of Philadelphia, graduating in 1880. He taught school from 1876 to 1888. Of this time he taught seven years in Lower Macungie and four years in Upper Saucon township. On March 31, 1888, he engaged in the manufactur- ing of shoes, at Coopersburg, a business he has continued up to the present, giving employment to a large number of persons. He is a director of the Quakertown National Bank, the Lehigh Valley Cold Storage Company, of South Beth- lehem, and holds directorates and official posi- tions in a number of local corporations which are all successful. Politically he is a Democrat, was burgess of Coopersburg; school director for thirteen years and Democratic committeeman of his town for seven years. He and his family are members of the Reformed Church, which he served as deacon, elder and trustee.

In 1886 he was married to Emma, a daughter of Frank Jordan, whose full history appears in this volume. They have these children: Ralph, an officer in the Quakertown National Bank; May J., married to Miles K. Fisher, of Quak- ertown; Grace J., widow of Austin Mumbauer. They have a daughter, Marguerite Mumbauer. Ralph and Mary J. Stoneback are both graduates of the Coopersburg high school and East Strouds- burg State Normal School, classes of 1906 and 1909 respectively.

ROBERT S. STONEBACK.

Robert S. Stoneback, the active and wide awake bookkeeper of the Dery Silk Mill, of Emaus, Pa., was born at Sternsville, Bucks county, March 11, 1881. At the age of ten

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HISTORY OF LEHIGH COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

years he removed with his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Carl, from Steinsvile to Em- aus. He attended the public schools and was graduated from the high school in 1897, and after completing a post graduate course of one year he was licensed to teach in the public schools of Lehigh county. He followed the profession of teaching for a period of eight years, teaching one year at Dillingersville and seven in the bor- ough schools of Emaus. Upon the opening of the Dery Silk Mill, he accepted the position of bookkeeper, which position he has continued to fill with credit to himself and satisfaction to his employer. Through his activity, far-sighted- ness and publc spirit, Mr. Stoneback has made himself invaluable to his community. He is a member of St. John's Reformed congregation and has served as deacon for a period of five years, and for a period of twelve years has acted as secretary for the Lutheran and Reformed Union Sunday school. He has been the secretary of the town council for ten years and of the Board of Trade since its organization, and was the secretary of the general committee of the Golden Jubilee in 1909. In 1909 he and R. J. Butz opened an office for real estate, insurance and investments, and now occupy a suite of rooms in the Stortz and Eisenhard building. In the same year he was also appointed notary public. Mr. Stoneback is very popular in fra- ternal circles and enjoys membership in the fol- lowing orders: I. O. O. F., also of the En- campment, P. O. S. of A., Jr. O. U. A. M., and B. of A. He is a charter member of the Emaus Fire Co., No. I, and holds membership in Hill- side Rod and Rifle Club, Mercantile Club, and Lehigh Sangerbund. He is also the reporter for the Morning Call for Emaus and vicinity, in which field of work he is unsurpassed. He is married to Lillie H. Wickert, a daughter of Dr. H. T. Wickert of Emaus (see Wickert family). This union is blessed with one son, H. Walter.

STOPP FAMILY.

Descended from the old German baronial Von Stapff family, John Valentine Stopp, pioneer settler and Revolutionary soldier, came to Amer- ica soon after the middle of the eighteenth cen- tury, and in 1772 by patent together with his friend, John Silvius, he took title to certain lands along the Jordan. He was not permitted to enjoy many years of peaceful activity when he re- sponded to the call of the state to which he had sworn allegiance, and entered the patriot army, being enrolled in Company No. 7, recruited from Northampton county and commanded by Cap- tain Thomas Craig. With his company he was

captured at Fort Washington in November, 1776, and his rifle was taken from him in the action. Later he was reported among the sick at the same place and without doubt he spent the eventful winter of 1777-1778 with Washington and the crippled forces at Valley Forge. As he never returned to his family from the war, he probably died in the service of his country and may lie to-day among the thousands of unknown dead buried on the quiet hills of Valley Forge. During his absence his family suffered at the hands of the Indians, who destroyed his property, but spared their lives. His widow was subse- quently married to a man named Kleckner.

The sons of John Stopp were John, Jacob, Samuel and Abraham. Samuel settled in Easton and married Salome Fox. Many of his descend- ants are still living in Northampton county and New Jersey. Jacob, born in 1772, lived along the banks of the Jordan. He married Christine Anewalt, daughter of Valentine Anewalt, found- er of the well-known family of that name and himself distinguished by service in the patriot army during the War of the Revolution.

He was a member of the Egypt Reformed church, in whose fellowship he died in 1839. His grave, in the old churchyard of that historic church, is next to that of General Peter Ruch.

The children of Jacob and Christine Anwalt Stopp were: Elizabeth, married to George Sieg- er; John, whose first wife was Barbara Fry, and his second, Susanna Clewell; Peter; Ann, mar- ried to Reuben Daubt ; Jacob, who married Anna Biery ; Mary, whose husband's name was Strohm ; Charles, married first to Abbie Rinker, and then to Lydia Zimmerman; Katherine, married to Peter Muschlitz; and Joseph.

Joseph Stopp, the youngest son of Jacob Stopp, was born in Whitehall township in 1815. After receiving the meager education of that day, he learned the trade of carpenter and undertaker and as a young man went to New Jersey, where he lived about fifteen years. He became a mem- ber of the Greenwich Presbyterian church, not very far from Phillipsburg. He later engaged in business at Nazareth and Bethlehem, and in 1854 moved to Allentown, where his family has since resided. In Warren county, New Jersey, he met and married Margaret Ann Hamlin, of old English stock and the grand-daughter of Thomas Hamlin, a soldier from New Jersey in the Revolutionary War. Mr. Stopp was in- tensely patriotic in the days of the Civil War and went over the battlefield of Gettysburg on July 4, 1863. His wife and he were among the early members of the Presbyterian church in Al- lentown. He died in 1866, leaving his widow and the following children: Mary Martha, mar-

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ried to the Hon. Samuel A. Bridges, who repre- sented this district in Congress for three widely separated terms, during the Mexican War in the 40's, again in the 50's and again in the 70's, and after Mr. Bridges' death, to the Hon. Edward M. Paxson, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania; Sarah Louise and Margaret Ann, still living at the old homestead in Allen- town; Matilda Cornelia; Edward Anewalt ; George Brainerd; and John. Mr. Stopp was one of the most active citizens and successful merchants of old Allentown and his name was sy- nonymous with integrity and fair dealing.

John Stopp, son of Joseph Stopp, was born at Springtown in 1844. He was educated at Pro- fessor Gregory's well-known Allentown Academy and later studied law at Yale University, but was obliged to discontinue his studies because of ill health. He responded to his country's call for volunteers twice during the Civil War, in 1862, and again in 1863, in the 27th Pennsyl- vania Regiment, Co. H, Pennsylvania Volun- teers, Captain Gregory, his old teacher .of the Allentown Academy, in command. Had not the Confederate forces burned the bridge over the Susquehanna river at Columbia, where his regi- ment was in camp, he would have been a par- ticipant in the battle of Gettysburg.

In 1874 Mr. Stopp married Miss Ella C. M. Dech, daughter of Solomon and Matilda Dreis- bach Dech, great-granddaughter of Ensign Jacob Dreisbach, whose father, Simon Dreisbach, and uncle, Col. Jost Dreisbach, rendered distinguished services in the Revolutionary War. His sons were the Rev. Samuel A. Bridges Stopp, a Lutheran minister; Joseph Herbert Stopp, Esq., lawyer and banker, of Philadelphia; and John Franklin Stopp, engaged in the real estate business in Los Angeles, California.

Recommended by Senator Quay and Post- master-General John Wanamaker, Mr. Stopp was appointed postmaster of Allentown by Presi- dent Harrison in 1889 and filled that responsible office most creditably for four years from 1889 to 1893. He did much toward the improvement of the city by building stores, dwellings and the structures used by the government for the Post Office and by the city for municipal purposes until the present government building and city hall were erected. At one time he was a trustee of the First Presbyterian church, of which he was a lifelong member. Mr. Stopp died in Al- lentown, July 21, 191I.

REV. SAMUEL A. BRIDGES STOPP.

Samuel Augustus Bridges Stopp, the son of John and Ella C. M. Dech Stopp, was born in Allentown, Pa., March 19, 1875. He was edu-

cated at the Muhlenberg Academy and at Muh- lenberg College, from which he was graduated in 1896, being honored by an appointment as one of the speakers. During his college course he was a member of the Enterpean Literary Society, assistant editor of the Ciarla, the Junior annual, and editor-in-chief of the Muhlenberg. In the fall of 1896, Mr. Stopp entered the Senior class of Princeton University, and entered the classes of Woodrow Wilson. He became a member of Whity Hall, one of whose distinguished found- ers was President James Madison, of the class of 1771, and of the Philadelphia Society whose organization antedates that of the college Y. M. C. A. Graduating with honors in 1897, Mr. Stopp took a year's post-graduate course in lin- guistic and literary studies and received the de- gree of Master of Arts from Princeton Univer- sity in 1898. After taking a three years' theo- logical course at the Lutheran Theological Sem- inary at Mt. Airy, Philadelphia, he was gradu- ated from that institution in 1901, and delivered an address at the commencement exercises in St. Michael's church, Germantown.

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History of Lehigh county, Pennsylvania and a genealogical and biographical record of its families, Vol. III, Part 103

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: 854

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: 854