USA > Pennsylvania > Northampton County > History of Northampton County [Pennsylvania] and the grand valley of the Lehigh, Volume II > Part 18
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BIOGRAPHICAL
vania State Bar Association, member and president of the Northampton Bar Association, member of the Pomfret Club of Easton, and a member of the Union League Club of New York. He is a Presbyterian in religious faith, and affiliated with the Brainerd-Union Presbyterian Church of Easton. In 1902 he received the honorary degree of LL.D. from Washington and Jefferson College.
Judge Kirkpatrick married, May 20, 1873, Elizabeth Huntington Jones, daughter of Matthew Hale Jones, of Easton. They were the parents of two sons : William Huntington, born October 2, 1885, later a member of the Northampton bar, associated with his father as a partner ; and Donald Morris. born March 17, 1887. The former son was graduated at Lafayette College as a member of the class of 1905, and afterwards pursued the study of the law under the tuition of his father and attended the law school at the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania. He was admitted to the bar of the county of Northampton, October 5, 1908, and became a member of the firm of Kirk- patrick & Maxwell, since which time he has been actively engaged in the practice of the law and in the conduct and trial of many cases in the courts of this and neighboring counties, in the Supreme and Superior courts of the State of Pennsylvania, and the United States courts of this Federal circuit. In September, 1918, he entered the army of the United States, being com- missioned as a judge advocate with the rank of major, and subsequently was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel and duly commissioned as such. Upon his appointment he was assigned to the office of the judge advocate general at Washington, D. C., and has since served as a member of the Board of Review in the Chief Military Justice Division of the said department. The duties of this board are in the nature of those of an appellate tribunal, in review of all proceedings and all general courts-martial of the United States Army returned and received in the said department. After the close of the war with Germany, he received his honorable discharge, and has resumed the practice of the law as a member of the firm of Kirk- patrick & Maxwell.
Donald Morris Kirkpatrick, the younger of the sons, was born March 17, 1887, and is a graduate of Lafayette College, class of 1908, and of the School of Architecture of the University of Pennsylvania. In 1912 he competed for the Paris international prize in architecture, and out of a large number of competing architects throughout the United States, received the award of the prize, which, with the large sum of money awarded, carried a two years' course in the celebrated Beaux Arts School at Paris. Upon his return, at the break- ing out of the European War of 1914, while engaged in business in Phila- delphia, he entered the Officers' Training Camp at Fort Niagara, and in 1918 was commissioned a first lieutenant and sent to France, where he was as- signed to the First Division, United States Army, and while in service was promoted to a captaincy in same division, was wounded at Soissons, and after his recovery, went through the battles of the Argonne Forest, and in June, 1919, was honorably discharged from the service and returned to America, where he is now engaged in his profession as an architect in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was cited several times for distin- guished service during his campaigns abroad.
STOUDT FAMILY-The name Staudt (Stoudt, Stout) is one of the early Palatinate names. Members of the family figured prominently in some of the Crusades. The family spread northward into Holland, where several members obtained noble rank. During the persecutions of Bloody Alba, some members of the family fled to England, one of them, Richard by name, enlisted in the English Navy. Upon one of his visits to New Amsterdam he met Penelope Van Princis, who later became his wife, and they settled in Middletown, New Jersey, prior to 1688, becoming the progenitors of a large and honorable family.
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NORTHAMPTON COUNTY
The Staudts of Pennsylvania come directly from the Palatinate, and seem to be divided into two groups, that of Berks and that of Bucks county. On August 30, 1737, there landed at Philadelphia, John Jacob, Johannes and Hans Adam Staudt, and on September 24, of the same year, Peter Staudt. These four, it is believed, were brothers. The following year Peter and Daniel arrived, and in 1741 another Peter, and these were joined in 1744 by George Wilhelm. It is believed that all of the above named were related.
Jacob Stout (Staudt) was born October 10, 1710, in the Palatinate, and settled at Perkesie, Bucks county, Pennsylvania. He was a potter by trade. He married the widow of John Lacey. To them were born the following children: 1. Abraham, who became a man of prominence, serving during the Revolutionary War as a member of the Committee of Safety, the Com- mittce of Observation, the Constitutional Convention of 1787, and the Con- vention of 1789-90. 2. Isaac, who removed to Williams township, Northamp- ton county, where the name is perpetuated by Stout's Mill, Stout's School District, and the post-office of Stout's; he was the father of eleven children : Jacob, George, Isaac, Abraham, Catherine, married Henry Stover ; Barbara, married Henry Stover; Magdalena, married David Lerch; Susanna, Mrs. Yerker; Jacob; Salome, married Gabriel Schwartzlander, of New Britain ; Catherine, married to Jacob Schlieffer.
Peter Stout, of the above mentioned immigrants, settled in Plainfield township, Northampton county, Pennsylvania, having taken out a patent for land on April 8, 1752. He made a will which was probated May 25, 1795, in which he mentions his wife, Eva Elizabeth, and the following children : Christian, Joseph, Peter, Catherine, married Nicholas Happel ; Maria Elisa- beth, married George Quier; Anna Maria, married Leonard Schertzer ; Mar- garet, married Jacob Rauschenberger; Hannah, married George Geberich. Of the above, Christian and Joseph were members of Colonel Kichlein's Fly- ing Camp, and participated in the battle of Long Island in the American Revolution. Joseph, who was killed in this battle, left two sons: John and Christian. The Stouts of Lehigh and Northampton counties are chiefly. descendants of the Bucks group.
At the head of the Berks group stands John Michael Staudt, who took the oath of allegiance at Philadelphia, September 18, 1733. Tradition says that his father died at sea, and that the headship of the family fell upon him, though he was only twenty-one years of age. How large the family was is not known, but that Mathias, aged eight, and Johannes, probably still younger, were in the group is certain, and it is quite probable that the family was even larger.
John Michael Staudt was born 1711 or 1712, and died May 13, 1776, aged sixty-three years, five months and - - days. His body and that of his wife Barbara were buried at the Berne Church, of which he is said to have been one of the founders. On October 25, 1737, there was surveyed for John Michael Staudt, a tract of land consisting of one hundred and eighty acres on the west bank of the Schuylkill river opposite the "flat meadows." Later this number of acres was almost doubled. The estate is beautifully located, sloping towards the south and the river. The dwelling, a substan- tial stone building, was built over a fine spring of water, no doubt in order to have water in case of an Indian attack. The scenery along the river is romantic. a bridge now spans the river where formerly a ferry was the means of crossing. The bridge is known as Stoudt's Ferry Bridge, and is said to be the longest single span wooden bridge known. To him and his good wife Barbara were born the following children: Johannes, Jacob, Michael, George, William, John George, Jost, Anna Barbara, Catherine, Apo- lonia and Elisabeth. John Michael Staudt frequently acted as sponsor and guardian, the first act thus recorded is found in the baptismal record of Rev. John Casper Stoever, when he, John Michael Staudt and Elisabeth Brauer,
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BIOGRAPHICAL
stood sponsor for Elisabeth, a daughter of Jacob Amman, of Schuylkill, on April 29, 1735. He was naturalized as a citizen of Berks county on April IO or II, 1761, at which time he had declared he had taken the Sacrament on April 1, 1761.
Mathias Staudt (1725-95) married Anna Margaret Schrader, born Octo- ber 13, 1728, died May 22, 1797. They lived in Berne township, and were members of the Berne Reformed congregation, where their ashes reposc. To them were born five children: John, Mathias, Jacob, Catharine Maria, married Thomas Umbenhauer ; and Elizabeth.
John (Johannes) Stoudt settled in Brunswick township, now Schuylkill county, where he had an estate of one hundred acres. He died prior to October 28, 1773. At this time his eldest son John, about fourteen years of age, petitioned the court that his uncle, Michael Staudt, of Berne township, be appointed his guardian. November II, 1773, Michael Staudt was also appointed guardian for the other three children of John Staudt, of Brunswick -- Daniel, thirteen years of age; Jacob, eleven years of age; and Anna Mar- greth, eight and one-half years of age.
Jacob Staudt, son of Michael Staudt, was born in Berne township, No- vember 12, 1738, and died in Richmond township, January 20, 1802. His remains and those of his wife lic buried at St. John's Union Church, Kutz- town, Pennsylvania. He is recorded as having a tract of land consisting of ninety-five acres in Berne township in 1768. In 1790 he moved from Berne township to Richmond township, having purchased the farm now owned by Edwin Kutz. Margaretha, wife of Jacob Staudt, died cir. 1819, and was also buried at Kutztown. To them were born the following children: John Jacob, born May 17, 1776; Adam, born 1777, died 1853; John Henry, born May 17, 1780; Daniel; Barbara, married John Schucker; Mary, married Michael Knittle; Catharine, born October 27, 1793, died May 28, 1804; and Elizabeth, married William Ebling.
Daniel Staudt, son of Jacob Staudt, and grandson of Michael Staudt, was a distiller by trade. He resided in Maiden Creek township, but his declining years were spent in and about Kutztown, where he died in 1853, and was buried in Hottenstein's private cemetery. His wife, a Miss Bowman, whose parents removed to Ohio, and lived neighbors to the Breyfogel family, is said to have been one of the best spinners of her day, both as to quality and quantity. Their children were: Adam, moved to Logansport, Indiana, where he died ; George, married Hannah Borrel, and reared a family of nine children ; Reuben, mentioned below; Frank, died unmarried; Margaretha, married Jacob Saul, of Molltown ; Polly and Hannah, died unmarried ; Maria, married Joseph Hampshire, and lived at Bower's Station; Hettie Esther, died young; Isaac, served in the Mexican War, and soon after his return left again for the Western country.
Reuben Stoudt, third son of Daniel Staudt, married Hannah Koch, daughter of John Koch, and his wife Catharine (Gehret) Koch, of Huguenot extraction. This union was blessed with the following children: Benjamin, who located at Pine Grove, Schuylkill county ; Daniel, who located at Circle- ville, Ohio; William, who located at Pottstown, Schuylkill county ; Henry ; Kate. who died unmarried; Hannah, married a Mr. Lobo, and removed to Chicago; Reuben, who was killed in the Civil War; James, who served in the Civil War, and afterwards located in California; Samuel, who settled in Carlisle, Pennsylvania ; Charles, who died of disease contracted in the Civil War: Melinda and Ellen, unmarried, who live at Reading; and Sarah, who married a Mr. Yingst, and lives at Carlisle.
Henry Stoudt, son of Reuben Stoudt, was born March 27, 1827, and died September 23, 1859. He was married to Otilla, a daughter of Peter and Elizabeth (Oswald) Reppert. She was born December 12, 1827, and died August 3, 1877. Their remains were buried at DeLong Reformed
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NORTHAMPTON COUNTY
Church, of which they were members. They resided at Topton. This union was blessed with six children: John R., Hannah, Francis, Oliver, Daniel and Lucius.
John R. Stoudt, son of Henry and Otilla Stoudt, was born February 10, 1848. He was reared on the farm, received but a common school education, and later learned the art of milling. On June 10, 1876, he was married to Anna Amanda, daughter of Charles Baer and Anna Carl, whose ancestors were Huguenots. The following year he engaged in farming, which occupa- tion he continued up to the time of his death, February 3, 1907. Mr. and Mrs. Stoudt were members of the Reformed church, and were confirmed at DeLong's church, Bowers, Berks county. After the death of her husband. Mrs. Stoudt removed to Fleetwood, where she and the family reside. To Mr. and Mrs. Stoudt were born six children: I. Charles Henry, member of the police force of Reading, Pennsylvania ; married Minnie Lease; has two children, Mabel and Charles: resides in Reading. 2. Rev. John Baer, see below. 3. George B., a machinist, resides at Topeka, Kansas; married, and has sons: Calvin, Francis, Paul and Kenneth. 4. Jacob, a moulder, married Katie Kline, resides at Fleetwood and has two daughters, Anna and Esther. 5. Annie L., who departed this life May, 1916; she married John Herring, a member of the State constabulary ; their union was blessed with one son, Harold Robert. 6. Lieut. Frederick M., who served one and one-half years as a lieutenant in the Motor Transport Corps, with the American Expedi- tionary Forces in France.
Rev. John Baer Stoudt, pastor of Grace Reformed congregation, was born in Maxatawny township, Berks county, Pennsylvania, October 17, 1878, and later removed with his parents to Richmond township, near Fleetwood. He was reared on the farm, attended the local public schools and the Fleet- wood High School. In 1896 he was licensed to teach in the public schools, which profession he followed for three years. He was graduated from the Keystone Normal School in 1900, and Franklin and Marshall College in 1905. While at the normal school and college he took an active interest in literary and oratorical work, winning a number of collegiate and inter-collegiate prizes. After graduating from college, he entered the Eastern Theological Seminary of the Reformed Church, from which he was graduated with honors in 1908. During the summer of 1906 he studied theology in the University of Chicago. On June 3, 1908, he was examined and licensed to preach the Gospel by Lehigh Classis of Jacksonville, Lehigh county. On September Ist, of the same year, he accepted a call from the Salisbury charge, Emaus, Penn- sylvania, consisting of the congregations of New Jerusalem, Western Salis- bury ; St. John's, Emaus; and St. Marks, South Allentown, and was ordained and installed on Sunday evening, September 27, in St. Mark's Church, South Allentown. Having received a unanimous call from Grace Reformed congre- gation, Northampton, Pennsylvania, he removed from Emaus to Northamp- ton, February 9, 1911, in which field of labor he still continues.
Though popular as a preacher and pastor, Rev. Stoudt is known to the public-at-large as an antiquarian and historian. He is frequently called for sermons and addresses on anniversary occasions, historical gatherings and family reunions. He was the organizer and first president of the Huguenot Society of Pennsylvania ; a member of the executive committee of the Penn- sylvania German Society; the council of the Historical Society of the Re- formed Church in the United States; and a member of the Lehigh, Lancaster and Berks County Historical societies, and is archivist of the borough of Northampton. During the recent war he served on many local committees, and is a member of the committee for Christian Service in France and Belgium of the Federal Council of Churches. His contributions to the his- tory of his State are many and varied. The principal works are: "The History of the Western Salisbury Reformed Congregation," "The History
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THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
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JohnM Difenderfer
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BIOGRAPHICAL
of the Grace Reformed Church, Northampton, Pennsylvania," "Michael Schlatter in the Valley of the Lehigh." "Rev. Philip Jacob Michael, a Revo- lutionary Chaplain," "The Moravians in the Oley Valley," "The Life and Services of Col. John Siegfried." "The Dispersion of the Kocherthal Colony," "The Borough of Northampton in the World War," "The Pottery Inscrip- tions of the Pennsylvania Germans," "The Folklore of the Pennsylvania Germans," and was joint author of the "Centennial History of Lehigh County" (3 vols.).
On October 15, 1908, he was united in holy wedlock with Elizabeth A. DeLong, a daughter of Joseph and Mary (Yoder) DeLong. This union is blessed with one son, John Joseph, born March II, 1911. Mrs. Stoudt is a member of the Liberty Bell Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution. During the war she served on many local committees of the American Red Cross, Liberty Loan campaigns, etc.
JOHN M. DIEFENDERFER-In youth, Mr. Diefenderfer gave himself to the teaching profession, and is one of the educators of the city of Bethle- hem who have made the schools of that city noted for the high plane of efficiency attained and for the splendid spirit permeating the teaching corps. He is of ancient lineage, the records stating that his family derives its name from the village of Dubendorf, situated on the left side of the Glett river in a district belonging to the city of Zurich, Switzerland. The church at Dubendorf is mentioned as early as 1420, but the records were destroyed by a fire in 1690 and no records of the ancient home of this family prior to 1690 are extant. John Michael and Alexander Diefenderfer, sons of John Diefen- derfer, were born at Nersheim, near Heidelberg, Germany, both these sons coming to the Province of Pennsylvania, on the ship William and Sarah, arriv- ing at Philadelphia, September 18, 1727. John Michael Diefenderfer settled in New Holland, Lancaster county, his descendants there and in the western part of Pennsylvania spelling the name Diffenderffer.
Alexander Diefenderfer (the spelling in this branch) arrived on the William and Sarah, September 18, 1727, with his brother John Michael, and on June 1, 1734, is recorded as receiving a warrant for one hundred and fifty acres of land, then in Bucks county, but now partly in Bucks and partly in Lehigh counties. He was naturalized in September, 1740, farmed his tract of land industriously, and was a man of influence in his community. Hu was a member of Great Swamp Reformed Church, and was buried in the church burying ground. He died November 29, 1768. His widow, Gertrude, died in 1789. They had five children: Anna Margaret, Godfrey, Gertrude, Alexander and John. This record deals with Godfrey, the eldest son, the ancestor of John M. Diefenderfer, principal of the Jefferson School of Beth- lehem, Pennsylvania.
Godfrey Diefenderfer was born February 19, 1730, and about 1750 moved to Macungie township, in Lehigh county, where he secured a tract of one hundred acres by warrant of August 22, 1734. to which he added to until his farm contained two hundred acres. He and his sons, John and Jacob, were enrolled as privates in Captain Greenmeyer's company of the First Battalion of Northampton county militia, commanded by Lieut .- Col. Stephen Balliet in 1781 and 1782. He was confirmed a member of the Great Swamp Re- formed Church, and in 1784 was one of the founders and an elder of the Reformed Church at Trexlertown. He died April 16, 1806, and was buried in the Trexlertown church graveyard. He married, May 3, 1753. Anna Mar- garet Mattern, born October 6, 1727, died April 6, 1801, daughter of Peter and Catherine Mattern. Godfrey and Anna Margaret (Mattern) Diefenderfer were the parents of seven children: John, Gertrude, Jacob, Margaret, Henry, Anna, Elizabeth and Philip. Descent is through the eldest son, John.
John Diefenderfer was born at the homestead in Macungie township,
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NORTHAMPTON COUNTY
Lehigh county, January 25, 1754, and died at his farm, which is now included within the limits of the city of Allentown, Pennsylvania, March 27, 1815, and was buried in the old graveyard at Tenth and Linden streets. In 1784 he bought a tract of two hundred acres along the Lehigh river, then a part of Salisbury township, but which later became a part of Northampton town- ship. On this tract was a story and a half log house with a long slanting roof, above which towered a great black walnut tree. A fine spring bubbled out of the ground close by the house, its overflow running into the Lehigh river, until the building of the barn, which destroyed the spring. "Diefen- derfer's Spring" was a famous picnic ground, and many political meetings were held there prior to 1830. Later the farm was the site of the Allentowit Iron Company's furnaces. The family lived in the old log house, and thic father, John Diefenderfer, was one of the pillars of Zion Reformed Church of Allentown. He married, in Macungie township, February 6, 1781, Char- lotte Elizabeth Shankweiler, born March 25, 1759, died June 27, 1821, daugh- ter of Jacob and Anna Louisa Shankweiler. They were the parents of six children: Anna Margaret, Abraham, Salome, John, of whom further ; Isaac, died in infancy ; and Jacob.
John (2) Diefenderfer was born at the homestead on the Lehigh river, now part of the city of Allentown, Pennsylvania, March 17, 1788, and died at his farm in Whitehall township, Lehigh county, June 5, 1862. He remained at the homestead until 1830, then purchased a farm near Fullerton, in Whitehall township, which he cultivated until his death. He married Salome Sterner, born in Whitehall township, August 4. 1795, died November 22, 1856, daughter of Abraham and Elizabeth Sterner. They were the parents of twelve children, the eldest dying aged two weeks, the youngest at the age of eleven months. The ten hereinafter mentioned all married and reared families: Moses, Solomon, Esther, married Adam Berlin ; Ephram ; John (3). of further mention; Sally, married James W. Snyder; Lucetta S., married Jesse Reichard; Owen, Aaron, Matilda, married Lewis Biery. Of these children, Moses, Solomon, John, Sally, Owen and Aaron settled cach on a portion of their father's land in Whitehall township; Esther, at Berlinsville, in Northampton county ; Ephram, at Allentown; Lucetta S., upon a portion of the Jacob Yundt tract; Matilda, on a tract lying along Coplay creek, in Lehigh county.
John (3) Dicfenderfer was born at the homestead near Allentown, Penn,- sylvania, January 21, 1821, died September 22, 1901. He located upon a part of his father's farm in Whitehall township, and there spent his life engaged in agriculture. He married Sarah A. Reichard, born October 25, 1825, died February 24, 1882. They were the parents of eight children: I. Moses H., born August 16, 1846, died from the effects of a stroke of apo- plexy, February 27, 1901. He began his education in the public schools, entered Allentown Academy in 1868, Franklin and Marshall College, Lan- caster, Pennsylvania, in 1869, and was graduated from the last-named institu- tion, class of 1873. He pursued theological studies at the Reformed Church Seminary until graduation, May 9, 1876, and was licensed to preach by the East Pennsylvania Classis, May 25, 1876. He was ordained a minister of the Reformed church by Clarion Classis, having accented the pastorate of the Plum Creek Church in Armstrong county. In 1881 he accepted a call from Somerset county, Pennsylvania, and there labored for three years, when he resigned, being unable to withstand the rigors of the climate. On July 15, 1884. he was installed pastor of Christ Reformed Church, Allentown, Penn- sylvania, which he most faithfully and acceptably served until December 31, 1900, when ill health caused his resignation. During his pastorate the present handsome church edifice, in which that congregation worships, was crected. For twelve years he was stated clerk and treasurer of the Lehigh Classis. lle married, September 24, 1878, Salome H. Alshouse, of South Bend, Arm-
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BIOGRAPHICAL
strong county, Pennsylvania, and they were the parents of two sons: Alpha A .; and Walter, who died when ten years of age. Alpha A., a graduate of Allentown High School and Lehigh University, is now associate professor of quantitative analysis and assaying at Lehigh University. He is an authority, and frequently called in consultation. Other children of John (3) and Sarah A. (Reichard) Dicfenderfer are : Eliza A., born June 29, 1849, died December 26, 1918, aged sixty-nine years, five months and twenty-seven days, married Alfred Nagle, of Fullerton, Pennsylvania; Mary Jane, born December 27, 1851, died June 5, 1916, aged sixty-four years, five months and eight days. married Dr. Theo. J. Koehler, of Easton, Pennsylvania, now deceased ; Men- tana, a graduate of Allentown Female College, class of 1878, taught school for several years, and is now assistant postmaster at Fullerton and resides with her brother, Eugene E .; Eugene E., for many years master mechanic of the Bryden Horse Shoe Works at Catasauqua, later was with the Cadillac Motor Company of Allentown, now with the Bethlehem Steel Company, and married Omie Tilden, of South Easton, and they are the parents of seven children : Emily, Bessie, Florence, Margaret, Omic, Paul and Carl; Sarah, married James W. Graffin, and now resides on the Owen Diefenderfer farm, now owned by Thomas F. Diefenderfer, Esq., of Allentown, and they are the parents of a daughter, Helen Graffin, who married Harry Roth, of Fuller- ton ; Josephine, born March 7, 1858, a graduate of Allentown Female College, class of 1878, and married Israel Schadt, of Allentown, whom she survives with a daughter, Anna Schadt, who is now supervising principal of drawing in Allentown public schools; John M., of whom further and extended mention is made.
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