USA > Pennsylvania > Northampton County > History of Northampton County [Pennsylvania] and the grand valley of the Lehigh, Volume II > Part 20
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BIOGRAPHICAL
law and order, and anarchy and disorder; and while he might have pur- chased place and ease by surrendering to the slave owners, he stood by his honor as an honest, patriotic Democrat, and as a result was removed from office after refusing to resign. But feeling that the cause needed him, Governor Reeder returned to Kansas and was elected to Congress as "terri- torial delegate," but was refused his seat upon appearing in Washington. While a Congressional committee was taking testimony in Kansas, a charge made by Judge LeCompte, chief justice of the territory, to a grand jury, caused that body to indict Governor Reeder for treason, no evidence being taken by the grand jury. He defied the marshal to arrest him, but the pro- slavery men were determined to "get" him, and, disguised as a laborer, the former governor escaped to free soil. He returned to Easton, and resumed the practice of law. During Buchanan's administration he was at first silent on politics ; as he saw the drift of events, he publicly announced his adhesion to the Republican party.
His course at the Chicago convention, as chairman of the Pennsylvania delegation which nominated Abraham Lincoln, in 1860, for president (and also honored him, notwithstanding his protest against the consideration of his name, with the third highest vote for the vice-presidential nomination), and his success in having Simon Cameron appointed Secretary of War, kept the eyes of the country on him, so that no one was surprised when President Lincoln, in 1861, turned to him as a man whose character, revealed in Kansas, indicated that he had the sort of temper needed to deal with armed rebellion, and appointed him brigadier-general in the regular army. As is well known, the Governor declined because he had not sufficient military education, except that he had been captain of a military company at Easton. In 1864 he was again chairman of Pennsylvania's delegation to the Republican convention, which renominated President Lincoln. He stood high in the President's esteem and was always a welcome caller at the White House. Unfortunately, he was not destined to live to see the day of triumph, April 9, 1865. On July 5, 1864. while Grant was still confronting Lee before Richmond, and Sherman advancing on Hood, the country was startled to hear that the man who had felt the first onset of the rebellion in our territories, and the eloquent advocate of freedom and union, had passed away at the comparatively early age of fifty-seven years. His work as chairman of the commission to investigate the charges against Surgeon-General Hammond had been too much for his strength.
Governor Reeder married at Easton, Pennsylvania, September 13, 1831, Fredericka Amalia Hutter, born at Easton, October 7, 1810, and there died August 16, 1878, daughter of Colonel Christian Jacob and Maria Charlotte (Bauer) Hutter. Her father, Colonel Hutter, was the founder of the Easton Centinel, July 1, 1817. Christian Jacob Hutter was born May 17, 1771, at New Deitendorf, in Saxe-Gotha, Germany. His father, Johann Ludwig Hutter, born May 5, 1726, at Frishborn, on the Vogelsberg, was a manufac- turer of leather, and managed a large tannery for the Moravian brethren. He was married in 1767 to Anna Maria Kuntz, born March 5, 1729. In 1773 he located at Zeist, in the Province of Utrecht, in the United Nether- lands, with his wife and two sons, the youngest of whom was Christian Jacob. Here he also met with success in his business and was considered a man of fortune. He died on March 23, 1791, and his wife on September 30, 1805. The elder son, Johann Ludwig, born January 24, 1769, died September 4, 1820, continued the business of his father. The youngest son, Christian Jacob Hutter, on October 20, 1789, was sent by the Moravians of Zeist to their American settlement at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where he engaged in business, and where, on August 4, 1791, he married his first wife, Maria Magdalene Huber.
In 1799, Mr. Hutter, at Lancaster, founded Der Lancaster Correspondent, N. H. BIOG .- 3
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the first number of which was issued May 25, 1799, and the last on September 3, 1803, whereupon he removed to Easton and founded there, carly in 1806, Der Northampton Correspondent, to which journal he transferred the motto of his Lancaster venture, "Frey, Standhaft and Gemaszigt." On August 10, 1808, he established the Pennsylvania Herald and Easton Intelligencer, which lived two years, and was followed by The People's Instructor, also probably short-lived. The Centinel was his fourth journalistic venture, but after his financial reverses in 1821, he gave little personal attention to journalism, his sons and sons-in-law having succeeded him. Mr. Hutter, in addition to his newspaper interests, was engaged in a variety of mercantile pursuits, but chiefly as an apothecary. He also took an active interest in military and political matters. He was actively engaged in the War of 1812 as a lieutenant- general in command of the Northampton, Lehigh and Pike Counties' militia. From 1822 to 1825 he was a member of the State House of Representatives, and in 1829 was County Recorder of Deeds. He was one of the founders and the first worshipful master of Easton Lodge of Masons. Colonel Hutter, by his first marriage, August 4, 1791, with Maria Magdalene Huber, born March 31, 1769, died December 7, 1804, had issue as follows: I. Charles Lewis Hutter, born May 25, 1792, died September 22, 1830. Early in the century he published Der Unabhangige Republikaner und Lecha County Frei- heits Freund, at Allentown. July 19, 1812, he married Maria Wilson, born August 21, 1791. 2. George Christian Hutter, born November II, 1793, served as a lieutenant of volunteers in the War of 1812. After the termina- tion of this war he was appointed a lieutenant in the regular army, served in the Seminole War in Florida, in the Black Hawk War, and later in the Mexican War as captain in the Sixth U. S. Infantry. At the close of the Mexi- can War he was promoted to the rank of major and paymaster; he was stationed at Charleston, South Carolina, from 1857 to 1861, and as paymaster made the last payment before the bombardment of Fort Sumter to Major Anderson's command, by permission of the Governor of South Carolina. He resigned his commission in April, 1861, refused a commission of high rank in the Confederate Army, and lived in retirement during the war on his plantation "Sanduskey," near Lynchburg, Virginia, where he died in 1880. Ile was married July 6, 1830, to Harriet James Risque, born at Fincastle. Virginia, November 6, 1807, daughter of James B. Risque, a distinguished lawyer of Virginia, who served through the War of 1812 as major of a Battalion of Virginia Volunteers, acting as General Andrew Jackson's body- guard. 3. Henry August Hutter. 4. Frederick William Hutter. These two twin brothers were born July 25, 1800. Both died unmarried, the former on March 1, 1824, the latter on December 21, 1824. They were associated with their father in the editorial and business management of his newspaper publications, and for some time the two brothers were the publishers of the Pennsylvania Herald, The People's Instructor and the Centincl. Both brothers were members of the Easton Guards. 5. Maria Henrietta Hutter, born at Easton, Pennsylvania, August 7, 1802. She married July 27, 1822, at Easton, Pennsylvania, Alexander Wallace, born February 18, 1797.
Colonel Christian Jacob Hutter married (second) on December 9, 1805, Maria Charlotte Bauer, born April 1, 1774, died August 10, 1829, and they were the parents of the following children: 6. Charlotte Louisa Hutter, born at Easton, Pennsylvania, December 23, 1806, died at Easton, Pennsylvania, March 22, 1865. She married December 0, 1823, at Easton, Pennsylvania, Frederick William Muller, born July 5, 1800, died March 24, 1861, a well- known journalist of his day. 7. Ferdinand Quintus Hutter, born at Easton, Pennsylvania, August 10, 1808, died January 11, 1832. During his short life he was actively connected with the management of his father's newspaper publications. He died unmarried. 8. Fredericka Amalia Hutter, born at Easton, Pennsylvania, October 7, 1810. Educated at Moravian Female Semi-
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nary, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. She married at Easton, Pennsylvania, Sep- tember 13, 1831, Andrew Horatio Reeder. 9. Edward Sixtus Hutter, born at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, September 6, 1812. Married at "Poplar Forest," Virginia, October 7, 1840, Emma Williams Cobbs, born at "Glen Alpin," Vir- ginia, October 25, 1822; she was the only child of William Cobbs, of "Glen Alpin" and "Poplar Forest," Virginia, and died at "Poplar Forest," November 7, 1875. Edward Sixtus Hutter was educated at Mount Airy College, Ger- mantown, Pennsylvania; was commissioned as midshipman in the U. S. Navy by President Andrew Jackson, on February 24, 1832; was an officer of the United States steamship Peacock when she was wrecked off the coast of Arabia, and he, together with other officers of the crew of the vessel, was the recipient of great kindness at the hand of the sultan, a man-of-war with armament, etc., com- plete. He was commissioned passed midshipman by President Martin Van Buren, on June 23, 1838. He resigned his commission in 1844 to give his entire attention to his large landed interests in Virginia, Kentucky and Missouri. The landed estate of "Poplar Forest," Virginia, was formerly the property of President Thomas Jefferson, and the fine mansion on the place was built by President Jefferson on precisely the same model or design as the house previously built by him and universally known as "Monticello." He died at "Poplar Forest," Virginia, November 7, 1875. Colonel Christian Jacob Hutter married (third) February 28, 1833, Elizabeth Gobrecht, born May 2, 1783. One daughter, Adaline Hutter, was born of this marriage, March 25, 1834, and died December 3, 1847.
Governor Andrew H. Reeder had children: 1. Ida Titus Reeder, born at Easton, Pennsylvania, May 22, 1837, married at Easton, Pennsylvania, May 25, 1858, William Wallace Marsh, lawyer of Schooleys Mountain, New Jer- sey, born August 13, 1827, graduate of Princeton College, class of 1842, died August 30, 1892. 2. George Marchand Reeder, born at Easton, October 26, 1839, served during the Civil War as captain of the First Regiment, Kansas Volunteer Infantry ; married in New York City, December 1, 1849. He was publisher and editor of the Easton Daily News. 3. Emma Hutter Reeder, born at Easton, Pennsylvania, March 25, 1841, married at Easton, May 14, 1861, J. Charles Ferriday, of Concordia Parish, Louisiana (Lafayette College, class of 1850) ; died May 12, 1865. 4. Howard James Reeder, born at Easton, Pennsylvania, December 11, 1843. Educated at Princeton College, class of 1863. and Harvard Law School. Served in the Civil War as lieutenant, First Regiment, U. S. Infantry, and captain 153d Regiment, Pennsylvania Volun- teers. Wounded at battle of New Madrid, Missouri, March 13, 1862. Married at Easton, Pennsylvania, May 7, 1867, Helen Burke, born at Easton, Penn- sylvania, May 26, 1845. Commissioner of Fisheries of the State of Pennsyl- vania, 1873-1881. Delegate to Republican National Convention of 1872, 1876, 1880. Judge of Court of Common Pleas, Third Judicial District of Penn- sylvania, 1881-1882 and 1884-1894. Judge of Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1895 to date of death, December 28, 1898. 5. General Frank Reeder, of whom further extended mention is made. 6. Andrew Jackson Reeder, born at Easton, Pennsylvania, March 15, 1847, died February 17, 1849.
Frank Reeder, born in Easton, May 22, 1845, died at his home in the city of his birth, December 7, 1912. He attended the Easton public schools, Edge Hill School, Princeton, and Lawrenceville Preparatory School, Law- renceville, New Jersey, entering Lafayette College in 1859, but transferring in April, 1861, to the Princeton College, sophomore class. He continued at Princeton until 1862, then enlisted as a private in the Fifth Pennsylvania Regiment of Infantry, and later transferred to the 174th Regiment Pennsyl- vania Infantry, serving as adjutant. He served also on the staffs of Generals Peck and Vogdes, and was with the Tenth and Eighteenth Army Corps in their operations against Charleston, South Carolina, under General Foster. He then aided in recruiting the Nineteenth Regiment, Pennsylvania Cavalry,
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in October, 1863, and went to the front as captain, and with that regiment he saw the most active service on Southern battlefields in raiding and in provost duty at New Orleans, the regiment being the last volunteer organiza- tion to be mustered out. Captain Reeder had risen to the rank of lieutenant- colonel, and was in command of the Nineteenth Regiment, Pennsylvania Cavalry, until mustered out, May 14, 1866. Colonel Reeder brought his com- mand to Philadelphia by steamer, the final muster-out being accomplished June 13, less than a month after his twenty-first birthday. They had marched, ridden and traveled 25,000 miles as comrades in arms, had fought in twenty- five battles and innumerable skirmishes, and at the battle of Nashville, De- cember 17, 1864, he was wounded. In 1864, when but nineteen years of age, he commanded a brigade in action.
The veteran colonel, promoted for "conspicuous gallantry" in action, on his return from the war in 1866 was barely a voter, and at once entered Albany Law School to prepare for the battle of life. He was admitted to the bar in March, 1868, and at once began practice in New York City, his partner being Chester A. Arthur, later President of the United States. In the fall of 1869, Colonel Reeder returned to Easton, and as Reeder & Reeder engaged in practice with his brother, Howard J. Reeder, later a judge. His career at the bar was an honorable one, and had he not taken so prominent a part in Pennsylvania political life he would have been more widely known as an able and learned lawyer. After Howard J. Reeder became judge, the law firm of Recder & Reeder was dissolved, George F. Coffin succeeding the judge, the firm name becoming Reeder & Coffin. Reeder & Reeder, however, had a reincarnation when in 1912 the firm of Reeder & Coffin was dissolved and Frank (2) Reeder was admitted to a partnership with his father, their offices being in the Reeder building on South Third street, the son yet an honored member of the Northampton bar, the third Reeder to practice law in the county.
In February, 1873, Colonel Reeder was appointed collector of internal revenue for the Eleventh Pennsylvania district, an office he held until 1876. In 1874 he was commissioned by Governor Hartranft a brigadier-general, and placed in command of the Fifth Brigade, Second Division, Pennsylvania National Guard, and after the divisions were consolidated, became commander of the Second Brigade. During the railroad strikes of 1877 and consequent rioting he was in command of the brigade at Reading, and after a short but bloody fight with the rioters restored order and saved the city from heavy loss. In 1881, General Reeder resigned from the National Guard.
A stalwart Republican, General Reeder was in the thick of many political contests, and won the respect of even his enemies by his honorable methods, although he was a most formidable antagonist. It remained for Matthew S. Quay, whose staunch friend and supporter he always had been, to be the only man who ever dared to impute unworthy action to General Reeder. The accusation of treachery publicly made by Quay at a meeting in Harrisburg was promptly denied in a manner more vigorous and emphatic than the general's friends had ever heard him speak. The friendship between the two men was permanently broken, although it is known that Senator Quay deeply regretted his action and admitted later that his accusation was untrue. Efforts were made on the part of Quay to heal the breach, but they were never really successful. He was a power in the party, and Senator Quay's ingratitude greatly depressed the general, for he had made personal sacrifices in Quay's behalf and stood by him when only party loyalty could have held him, for the Senator's ways were not the general's ways. General Reeder was chairman of the Republican State Committee in the early nineties, and in 1895 was appointed secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania by Governor Hastings, serving until 1898. He was a delegate to the Republican National Conventions of 1888, 1892, 1896, 1900 and 1904.
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General Reeder had many offers of prominent positions in business life, and was offered the choice of three important diplomatic posts by Secretary of State, James G. Blainc, but he firmly declined "any office which would compel him to bury himself in a foreign land." To his everlasting regret he did accept a business offer and engaged in an unfortunate banking connection in Philadelphia. Through no fault of General Reeder's this was a financial failure, but this did not exempt him from the severe criticism of a Philadel- phia newspaper. A libel suit brought vindication for the general from the courts. but the whole affair brought him down with nervous prostration which eventually shortened his days.
General Reeder received the degrees A.B. and A.M. from Princeton University after the war, and the degree LL.B. from Albany Law School. At the time of his death he was president of the Pomfret Club of Easton, member of the Northampton County Country Club, Lafayette Post, Grand Army of the Republic, and was one of the most generous and charitable of men. He had a most pleasing personality, and to know him was to love him. He married, October 21, 1868, Grace E. Thompson, born June 17, 1848, daughter of Charles Thompson of Boston, Massachusetts, and at the old Reeder home a charming hospitality was dispensed, and there General Reed- er's happiest hours were spent. General and Mrs. Reeder were the parents of three sons, all born in Easton: I. Andrew Horatio (2), born September 9, 1869, a graduate of Lafayette, class of 1890, later superintendent of the Vir- ginia Iron, Coke & Coal Company, and still later chief of the department of fuel and mines of the Canadian Pacific Railway, with headquarters and home at Nelson, British Columbia. He married at Easton, November 19. 1895, Esther Longstreet Eckard, born at Chefoo, China, August 27, 1872. Children : Andrew Horatio (3), born at Uniontown, Pennsylvania, August 21, 1896; Elizabeth Bayard, born at Georgel, Virginia, April 18, 1903. 2. Frank (2) of further mention. 3. Douglas Weyman, born August 25, 1883, a graduate of Lafayette, class of 1905. He married at Crestline, Ohio, Ruth Lashcls on November 16, 1914. Issue : Ruth Lashels, born August, 1918.
Upon formal announcement of General Reeder's death, court was ad- journed in respect to his memory, and the bar associations at a special meeting drafted suitable resolutions. Eulogies were delivered by friends of a life- time, particular stress being paid to his ability as a lawyer. The State press paid glowing tribute to his public service, and a city mourned the loss of an eminent citizen. The directors of the Easton Trust Company, of which he was a director and one of the founders, adopted resolutions of respect, as did many other organizations. Men of prominence in the State, county and city joined personal friends in the funcral services. He is buried in Easton Cemetery.
Frank (2) Reeder was born in Easton, Pennsylvania, May 4, 1880. After preparation in Easton Academy he entered Lafayette College in 1897, and was graduated Ph.B., class of 1901. He prepared for the legal profession under the preceptorship of his honored father, and on February 13, 1905, was admitted to the Northampton county bar. During the years 1906-08 he served as assistant district attorney, but has, with that exception, been engaged in general private practice. On November 1, 1912, he became associated with his father, General Frank Reeder, in the practice of law under the firm name of Reeder & Reeder, which on December 7, 1912, was dissolved by the death of the former. Frank (2) Reeder is a member of the county and State bar associations, and is rated with the capable men of the present day. He has taken an active part in the war activities of the present. and has rendered valucd service as a member of the Pennsylvania Council of National Defence and Committee of Public Safety, as executive secretary for Northampton county, as county chairman of Four Minute Men, chairman of the Bureau of Speakers, and as assistant chief of the local branch of the
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American Protective League, a branch of the Secret Service of the United States. He is a member of the Sons of Veterans, and of Pomfret and North- ampton County Country Clubs, a director of and solicitor for the Easton Trust Company, but has few business interests outside of his profession.
Mr. Reeder married, April 12, 1909, Sara Seitz, daughter of William and Frances (Hemmingway) Seitz. They are the parents of two daughters: Gwendolyn Frances and Marie Louise Reeder. .
DALLETT HEMPHILL WILSON-As city solicitor for the city of Bethlehem, Mr. Wilson has come prominently into the public eye, although his private practice is large, and ever since coming to Bethlehem in 1913 he has enjoyed the confidence of many of the prominent men of the city, his clientele including Charles M. Schwab and several of the other leading officials of the Bethlehem Steel Company. He has specialized in corporation law, and prior to coming to Bethlehem had conducted the law business of large corporations. In Bethlehem his championship of the project known as the "hill to hill bridge" was the deciding factor in securing that improve- ment for the city, and below is the quoted opinion of Mayor Archibald Jolin- son, first vice-president of the Bethlehem Steel Company, and chairman of the Bethlehem Bridge Committee :
No matter what any one may say, no matter what any one may think, the "hill to hill" project would not be the assured fact that it is were it not for Dallett H. Wilson. In the last three years he has spent many days of his time and a great deal of money to accomplish this most needed civic improvement. He has met every obstacle that has confronted him, has brushed them all aside, disposed of them to the satisfaction of the best thinking people, and through his energy and displomacy has this great improvement been made possible, and the people of these communities cannot give him too much credit.
In the foregoing, the speaker has described the characteristics which have made Mr. Wilson the successful lawyer that he is-energy, ability, tact and tenacity of purpose. He would have delighted the heart of Com- modore John Paul Jones, who when sorely pressed and called upon to surrender replied: "I have just begun to fight." Notwithstanding the fact that he only became a citizen of the city in 1913, he is recognized as a leader by the people, and he has won a secure place in their regard.
Mr. Wilson is a son of John S. and Kate D. (Hemphill) Wilson, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, his father having been for many years general traffic manager and vice-president of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, president of the Baltimore, Chesapeake & Atlantic Railroad Company, and a director of the Colonial Trust Company of Baltimore.
Dallett Hemphill Wilson was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, De- cember 3, 1879. He was a student in the Forsyth and Delancy schools of Philadelphia, and following his courses in those schools came three years of study abroad, those years being devoted principally to the study of lan- guages. After his return from Europe he prepared for the profession of law, was graduated from the law department of the University of Maryland, and was admitted to the Maryland bar January 2, 1901. Later he was ad- mitted to practice in Pennsylvania and in New York, and to all the State and Federal courts. He began practice in Baltimore, and was connected with the legal department of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company; was a member of the law firm, Willis, Homer, France & Smith ; was connected with the law business of the Standard Oil Company, and while with that corporation was associated with the trial of a number of important cases. From the Standard Oil he transferred to the law department of the Lehigh & Hudson River Railroad Company, as assistant to the general counsel of that road, and of the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company. He remained with the last named corporation until 1913, when he resigned and located in 'private practice in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where he has secured a large and influential clientele.
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TH. YORK PUBLI LIOPARY
ASTOR, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS K L
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BIOGRAPHICAL
As solicitor and assistant corporation counsel for many years, he gained excellent experience and intimate knowledge of public service, commission law and practice, this being particularly valuable in his long conflict to secure the "hill to hill bridge" for Bethlehem. He argued the case success- fully before the Pennsylvania State Public Service Commission, securing their consent, then led in the movement among the citizens, which resulted in the raising of nearly one and a quarter millions of dollars to build the bridge. His untiring labor, extending over a period of three years, won him the commendation of Bethlehem citizens, Mayor Archibald Johnston and Charles M. Schwab among others expressing themselves in very appreciative letters. Mr. Wilson also gave hearty support to the movement which resulted in the consolidation of South Bethlehem and Bethlehem, then boroughs in the city of Bethlehem. The various war drives and war chest strongly appealed to him, and he joined in these patriotic movements with even more than his usual energy.
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