USA > Pennsylvania > Northampton County > History of Northampton County [Pennsylvania] and the grand valley of the Lehigh, Volume II > Part 27
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William Laubach was prominent as a Mason, his fraternal connection being with Easton Lodge No. 152, Free and Accepted Masons; Easton Chapter No. 173, Royal Arch Masons; Hugh De Payens Commandery No. 19, Knights Templar of Easton; and Rajah Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine of Reading. For sixty years Mr. Laubach was a member of the First Reformed Church and took an active interest in all the affairs of the congregation. He served for many years as an officer and member of the consistory. In the old borough days he was elected a member of the school board from the Seventh Ward and served one term. He was a director of the Northampton National Bank for twenty-eight years, member of the Pennsylvania German Society, and of the Easton Board of Trade. He was always interested in everything which promised to uplift the business, industrial, educational, moral and spiritual welfare of the community. Ilis counsel was often sought, and his opinions were freely accepted, although he was deferential, and he never advanced his personal ideas except in a modest and courteous manner. He was of inestimable service to the com- munity, and held the respect, and in his later days the veneration, of the people of the entire section. He was a liberal donor to the church, and his charity in this community was limited only by his good judgment. Histo- rians will ever refer to William Laubach as a shining light in the mercantile life of Easton.
Mr. Laubach married, August 19, 1860, Mary Frances Horn, born in Easton, Pennsylvania, February 5, 1839, daughter of George and Annie Horn. Children : Edward Horn, born June 9, 1861, died December 15, 1861; George A., of further mention ; Annie B., born April 29, 1864, married John Wesley Nute, who died October 5, 1908, children : George H., born October 7, 1889;
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William Laubach, born December 29, 1890; Harold, born June 2, 1894; Jen- nie, born February 1, 1866, married Brigadier-General Edgar Jadwin, U. S. Army, and has children: Charlotte Frances, born August 23, 1894, and Cornelius C., born March 22, 1896. Sarah, born August 20, 1867, married Harry A. McFadden, of Hollidaysburg, who died September 15, 1910; chil- dren : Harriet Elizabeth, born April 8, 1895; Harry A., Jr., born September 19, 1896; and Mary Frances, born November 1, 1902. Mary, born January 10, 1870, died November 20, 1909, married Samuel K. Green, who died Janu- ary 6, 1910. William H., born May 8, 1871, married Lydie Gano; children : John Wesley, who died September 12, 1901, and Richard G., born January 10, 1903. Ella, born February 14, 1874, married February 7, 1905, A. Gold- smith ; children : John Francis, born March 5, 1906, and Robert, born Janu- ary 21, 1914. Frank Edward, born February 27, 1876, died April 20, 1884. Charles Madison, born March 27, 1878, married Sallie Leyrer, of Easton ; children : Mary Louisa, born May 18, 1907, and Eleanor, born April 5, 19II. Frederick H., born June 29, 1880, married June 15, 1904, Zelda Wilhelm ; children : Frederick H., Jr., born August 11, 1905 ; Dorothy W., born Novem- ber 8, 1908, died August 25, 1910; and Mary Elizabeth, born June 7, 1911. Henry B., born November 29, 1881, married April 30, 1907, Edith Bixler; children : Elwood Bixler, born December 23, 1915, and Marion Edith, born August 10, 1918.
A man of decided business genius, strong character and pleasing per- sonality and keenly alive to the responsibilities his position entails, George A. Laubach in business worthily fills the post left vacant by the death of his honored father, and in civic affairs is the loyal, patriotic, progressive citizen, anxious for the welfare of the city with which the Laubach name has so long been connected. He is the eldest son of William and Mary Frances (Horn) Laubach.
George A. Laubach was born in Easton, Pennsylvania, October 10, 1862, his birthplace the present site of Northampton National Bank. He was educated in the public schools of Easton, completing the course with gradua- tion from high school, class of 1879. He then finished a two years' course at Lafayette College, class of 1883. On July 1, 1881, he began his business career in his father's store, starting from the bottom of the ladder and advanc- ing to better positions as he qualified. He grew with the business, and in both buying and selling gained the experience which was to be his capital in the future. On February 1. 1889, he was admitted as a partner, the firm name then becoming William Laubach & Son. The business grew with each succeeding year, the firm also being increased by the admission of the four younger sons of William Laubach. In 1908 the business was incor- porated under the name William Laubach & Sons, with William Laubach, president and general manager ; George A. Laubach, secretary and treasurer. After the death of his father, the president, on July 30, 1914, he succeeded to that office, and now as executive head of the company, manages the largest department store in Easton.
In his citizenship, Mr. Laubach stands for that which is in the line of progress, realizing that like a business a community cannot stand still, but must either advance or retrograde. Every civil, industrial and moral move- ment tending to Easton's benefit has his support, and he can always be relied upon to champion any good cause. He served twice on the guaranty fund of the board of trade, $750,000 being raised during his service for the establishment of new industries in Easton. During the 1915 campaign for the raising of a building fund for the Easton Hospital, he was chairman of the business men's teams, and in all the Liberty Bond campaigns he took an active part. He is a director of the Northampton National Bank and a trustee of the board of trade.
Quite recently Mr. Laubach celebrated fifty years of attendance and
S. a. Laubach
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service in the Sunday school of the First Reformed Church. He has long been a member, and is now an elder of that church, and in 1913 was vice- president of the Eastern Synod of the Reformed church. He is a member of Easton Lodge No. 152, Free and Accepted Masons; Easton Chapter No. 173, Royal Arch Masons; Pomp Council, No. 20, Royal and Select Masters; Hugh De Payens Commandery, No. 19, Knights Templar; Rajah Temple (Reading), Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine; Northamp- ton Historical Society; Pennsylvania German Society; Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity ; and the Young Men's Christian Association, which he serves as director and treasurer. His clubs are the Pomfret, Northampton County Country, and Rotary.
Mr. Laubach married, February 26, 1891, Laura Louise Grim, of Read- ing, Pennsylvania, daughter of Jonathan R. and Susan (Kemp) Grim. Mr. and Mrs. Laubach are the parents of two sons and a daughter: George A., Jr., born May 9, 1892, died February 22, 1918; Frances Louise, born June 18, 1894; Donald Grim, born September 1, 1898, was commissioned second lieutenant, U. S. Army, at Plattsburg, September, 1918, and served in the army until mustered out after the signing of the armistice, at Camp Grant, Illinois. The family home is at No. 133 North Second street, Easton, Pennsylvania.
CLIFFORD SETON JOSHUA-Clifford Seton Joshua, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, comes of a family long associated with church activities and internationally known in evangelical and ecclesiastical history. The family for two generations has been particu- larly prominent in the Baptist church in Wales; the Rev. Seth Joshua is an uncle of the Bethlehem divine, and has for a generation been famed as an evangelist, his standing being sufficiently indicated by his official connection, that of evangelist, with the Free Church Council of Great Britain. Another uncle is the Rev. Frank Joshua, who for thirty-five years has held the pastor- ate of the same church at Neath. South Wales; while the father of the sub- ject of this article, the Rev. Caleb Joshua, has been one of the leaders of the Baptist ministry in the capital of Wales for more than forty years. He undertook many important missions in the national service during the serious and strenuous period, 1914-18. The Rev. Caleb Joshua, who is still in active ministerial work at Cardiff, South Wales, graduated at a noted Welsh semi nary, Pontypool College, and soon thereafter rose to a place among the leaders of the Baptist church in Wales. It cannot always be so indicated, but it may generally be inferred that a pastor who has held office in only a few churches during a long period of service in the ministry is a man of high calibre ; the Rev. Caleb Joshua, in his four decades of service in the ministry. has held only three charges, and in the capital of Wales he is a factor of consequence in many phases of public work. Ile was a recognized leader of the Liberal party of Wales, and was a valued colleague of the Right IIon. David Lloyd George during his long struggle to disestablish the Church of England in Wales, a measure which sought to distribute the centuries-old state endowments equally, without discrimination as to sect or denomination, among the churches in which the people of the present day worshipped. In 1909 the Rev. Caleb Joshua was honored by appointment to the office of preacher for the Baptist Association of Wales; and during the four years of war he worked indefatigably for the national cause, one of his official govern- mental connections being that of chaplain of the home forces, embracing Cardiff and vicinity, an office to which he was appointed by Lord Kitchener in 1915.
Clifford Seton Joshua, son of Caleb and Louiza (Vaughan) Joshua, was born in the ancient town of Desborough, Northamptonshire, England, July 31, 1883, soon thereafter being taken by his parents to Landoce, a Welsh
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town which is situated near the port of Swansea and to some extent parallels, in its throbbing and unceasing industry, the city of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. where the subject of this writing now is. Maybe his carly environment had some bearing on his subsequent active life, for he developed manly attributes while still in his early teens; he was only fourteen years of age when he preached his first sermon, and it then became clearly evident that he would eventually worthily follow his talented father into the ministry. His ele- mentary education was obtained at Brynhyfryd, Wales, and the higher aca- demic education he received at Swansea gave him a more comprehensive base of general knowledge with which to enter upon his life work with good prospects. To further his academic knowledge he became a teacher in the Swansea schools after he had graduated, and continued in that occupation for two years, concurrently applying himself to theological research and ministerial practice. He was still quite a young man, only twenty-three years old, when he took notable part in the historic Welsh Revival of 1006, when Evan Roberts swept through Wales and parts of England, gaining converts to the church in numbers such as had never been equalled in British church history. Evan Roberts was aided in his work by the association with him of members of the Joshua family, particularly the Rev. C. S. Joshua, and his uncle, the Rev. Seth Joshua; in fact, it was the latter, at that time an evangelist of great power, who was responsible for the conversion of the great revivalist, whom they both supported, encouraged and guided through the early months of his religious effort. Evan Roberts was of frail constitu- tion, highly strong and not physically able to bear the brunt of the exhaustive and widespread revival planned by his associates; but he was fortunate in having such talented, enthusiastic and self-effacing associates at his right hand, and the cause of Christ, and particularly the Nonconformist churches of Wales, benefitted enormously by the brief but wonderful campaign, which may be said to have originated in the activities of members of the Joshua family. Clifford Seton Joshua, though not at that time regularly in the ministry, participated with whole heart and able enthusiasm. The part he took in the great revival brought much gratification to his father, the Rev. Caleb Joshua, and would undoubtedly have been the source of justifiable pride to his mother had she been alive; but her demise had occurred many years prior to that time; indeed, Clifford S. was still in early infancy when he lost forever the loving care of his fond mother. After the revival, young Joshua pursued Bible study even more closely, and in 1908 entered the Bible Training College of Glasgow, which is affiliated with Glasgow University. Two years later, in 1910, he graduated with honors, and his collegiate place brought him promptly three calls to the ministry in Wales. He had, how- ever, determined to come to America, and did so in December of that year, sailing on the liner Adriatic. Possessed of such good credentials, there was little chance of his failing to reach notable success in an American charge. For a time after landing he was the guest of Dr. W. W. White, of New York City, president of the Bible Teachers' Training School of New York City ; but soon he was called to active duty in an American pastorate. His first charge was at Charleroi, Pennsylvania, First Baptist Church; there he re- mained for one year, resigning to accept the more responsible charge at the Nesquehoning, Pennsylvania, First Baptist Church, where he gave note- worthy service for three years, at the end of which period he removed to Newcastle, Pennsylvania, where he remained for three years and eight months as pastor of the First Baptist Church of that place. He is held in high esteem by the Baptist Association, and his record in each charge has been good, and has increased the membership and prosperity in each case coming to the church as the result of his labors. The membership of the Newcastle church was increased ninety per cent. during his association with it, and its indebtedness much reduced. When it became known that he
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would be leaving Newcastle, several of its prominent citizens moved to recognize his labors while among them, and the movement eventuated in the presentation of a splendid testimonial to Mr. Joshua, a fitting tribute to his unselfish and successful work among the people of Newcastle. He has ever been an indefatigable church worker, and a strong Temperance advo- cate. He was elected moderator of the Beaver Baptist Association in 1916-17, and while at Newcastle was secretary of the Ministerial Association, so that he had reached a creditable place in the American ministry since his ordina- tion, which was on May 26, 1910, at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In November, 1917, he assumed charge of the First Baptist Church of Bethlehem. Penn- sylvania, and has since that time, by his work, become popular, highly regarded and well supported in that city. A new church has been built, and there is every prospect that under his guidance the affairs of the church will continue to prosper. Mr. Joshua has taken keen interest in fraternal move- ments : he is chaplain of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows of Bethle- hem, and is identified with the Knights of Pythias of that place. He preached a memorable sermon on April 28, 1918, at the occasion of the ninety-ninth anniversary of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the audience was the largest ever assembled on such an occasion. And another memo- rable occasion at which he delivered the sermon was at the gathering at Bethlehem of the Grand Army of the Republic, on May 26, 1918.
As a man of British origin and of personal acquaintance with the great- est Briton of the present day, David Lloyd George, it might have been expected that his thoughts, expressions and efforts in behalf of the cause of the Allies would take a definite and emphatic form. During the four years of war, and especially since this country entered into it, he championed the cause of the Allies ; his voice has been fearless in denunciation of the mili- tarists of Germany since and before the sinking of the Lusitania in 1915: he came into great prominence by his war speeches, and was very effective as a member of the Four-Minute Men of Bethlehem. And his interest in the war also, from the outset, centred in the Allied cause by reason of the active part taken therein by so many of his British relatives. His father, in a minis- terial way as chaplain, was connected with the British military forces, but his own brothers were actively and directly in the British army : one brother. Charles, was in the Royal Engineers, and another brother. Gethin, in the Royal Army Medical Corps, the latter being decorated in 1918 for bravery in France. Then his sister, May, for a long time during the stay of Belgian refugees in Britain, gave her time to teaching them, and to giving aid to them in other ways. The Rev. C. S. Joshua risked the submarine danger by crossing the ocean in 1915; his wife crossed on the last safe trip of the liner Lusitania, and he would have followed her on the fateful next voyage of that ship had not ministerial duties and special church meetings arisen, compelling him to cancel the passage for which he had been booked. He crossed a little while later without eventful happening, but on the return trip with his wife and baby on the liner Orduna, had the harrowing yet satisfy- ing experience of being aboard a ship that was almost torpedoed ; the trap set by the submarines for the S. S. Orduna failed by only about ten feet. While in Europe, Mr. Joshua saw much of the effect of war; he visited several of the British camps in which German prisoners were held. One pleasant expe- rience of the trip was a church service held at Neath. Wales, at which five ministers of the name of Joshua participated.
On April 6, 1911, while in the ministry at Charleroi, Pennsylvania, Mr. Joshua was married to Margaret May, daughter of Thomas and Ruth James, of Wales, both of whom died there. Mrs. Joshua is an intellectual woman of strong character and much talent. She is an elocutionist of some note, and attained much distinction in that art even before she reached this country; she won many prizes for excellence in elocution at contests hell at various
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eisteddfods in Wales, and she is often on the public platform and in the pul- pit. Her addresses upon a wide range of subjects are well received. Like her husband, she also had many relatives actively engaged in war work during the recent struggle. Her sister, Catherine, graduate of Swansea College, and school principal there until her marriage to William John, was often in her thoughts, for the husband was in France, a commissioned offi- cer of the Royal Engineers. Another sister, Gwendoline, was married to William Bellin, mining instructor for the county of Carmarthenshire.
To the Rev. and Mrs. C. S. Joshua have been born two children: Ruth Frances, who was born on March 25, 1913; and Elizabeth May, who was born on October 25, 1915.
HERBERT THRELKELD EDWARDS, M.D .- The medical profes- sion of Pennsylvania has no more representative member than Dr. Herbert T. Edwards, of Bethlehem, who came to his practice in this city after study in universities of the East and West, and after membership in the faculty of the medical school of the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. H. T. Edwards has devoted special study to roentgenology, in which he is a pioneer in this section, and is the inventor of the first American screen for intensifying the X-rays. Under his direction the modern laboratory of St. Luke's Hospital was founded, and he was the first director there. During the period of war activity he devoted his entire time to work for the government along this line and rendered valuable service to the medical department.
Dr. Edwards is a son of George Clayton Edwards, born in England, now living retired in Los Angeles, California, after an active career in real estate dealing. George C. Edwards married Jane Butt, who died in England when Dr. Edwards was very young.
Herbert Threlkeld Edwards was born at Esher, Surrey, England, March 30, 1870. He studied under tutors in his native land, also attending Surrey Academy, and at the age of sixteen years he accompanied his father to the United States. He first studied three years in the University of Southern California, then enrolled in the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania and was graduated in the class of 1892. He was later demon- strator of pathology at the University of Pennsylvania for several years. Serving his interneship at St. Luke's Hospital, Bethlehem, Dr. Edwards was connected with this institution for a period of two years, after which he became demonstrator in pathology in the University of Pennsylvania. For two years he remained a member of the faculty of the university, then engaging in general practice in Bethlehem, where he has since continued in extensive professional endeavor. Dr. Edwards is a member of the national, State and county medical associations ; also the Philadelphia Roentgen Ray Association, the American Roentgen Ray Association, the Philadelphia Medi- cal Club, and social clubs of Philadelphia and Bethlehem. He is active in all of the movements creating stronger intercourse and relationships among the members of the profession. Even under heavy professional demands he has retained his habits of study and scientific research, and, as previously stated, he is the inventor of a method of intensifying the strength of Roent- gen Rays that has come into general and extensive use. The screen he invented was used by the American Expeditionary Forces in France. The advance of medicine and surgery under the pressure of war conditions is a subject that he has followed carefully, at the same time giving prodigally of his time and labor in the devoted effort that has achieved this advance in the hospitals and laboratories at home and abroad. Dr. Edwards is a com- municant of the Episcopal church.
Dr. Herbert T. Edwards married (first) Louise Hopewell Nichols, de- scendant of a Revolutionary family, who bore him a daughter, Rhoda T., wife of Lieut. Gerald Thorpe, born January 9, 1896, of Bethlehem. Lieutenant
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Thorpe, of East Orange, N. J., is a graduate in cheimstry of Lehigh Univer- sity, class of 1916, a lieutenant in the chemical service of the United States Army. His second wife is Laura Elizabeth Stem, whom he married January 2, 1899, daughter of William and Eliza (Kemmerer) Stem, of Northampton county, where William Stem is a car builder. Mrs. Edwards, descendant of a Revolutionary ancestor, was educated in the Allentown College for Women, and subsequently attended the St. Luke's Hospital College for Nurses, follow- ing her calling for a few years after graduation. She has numerous interests in civic and philanthropic enterprises, is secretary of the Day Nursery, a director and ex-president of the Children's Home, and has been prominent in the work of the American Red Cross throughout the war, serving as supervisor of surgical dressings, work for which her professional training gave her special qualifications. She is president of the Needle Work Guild and a loyal supporter of civic improvement and reform movements in Beth- lehem. Dr. and Mrs. Edwards are the parents of one son, Herbert Threlkeld, Jr., born August 19, 1900, a graduate of Bethlehem Preparatory School.
ALBERT G. CONNOLLY-Albert G. Connolly, one of the most promi- nent citizens of Nazareth, Pennsylvania, and the president and general man- ager of the State Belt Telegraph and Telephone Company, with which con- cern he has been associated for many years, is a native of Lakemont, New York, where his birth occurred August 29, 1871. Mr. Connolly passed his childhood and early life on his father's farm in that neighborhood, and it was there that he gained his formal education, attending for that purpose the local public schools and Starkey Seminary. In the year 1889, being at that time eighteen years of age, the young man found his first employment off the farm as an axeman on the original survey party working on the right of way for the Lehigh Valley railroad between the towns of Sayre and Buffalo, New York. He held various positions in connection with the engineering department of the Valley until the work was completed in 1903, when he was transferred to the maintenance department, where he remained until November, 1904. He was then transferred to the office of Charles E. Webster, the chief engineer of the company, located at Bethlehem, where he was employed until August, 1907, when he left the Valley to accept a position with the Carbon Iron and Steel Company at Parryville, Pennsyl- vania, to supervise the rebuilding of their blast furnace, the laying of a new track and building of a concrete bridge across the canal for a new cinder dump. This work being completed, he returned to Bethlehem on December I, 1907, where he was again employed by the Valley as clerk in the office of Thomas O. Cole, car accountant. In the month of February, 1898, he joined the Fourth Regiment, National Guard of Pennsylvania, for service in the Spanish-American War. He went out with his regiment on April 28, and eventually to Porto Rico. He was assigned to the quartermaster's department, serving in a clerical capacity, later being advanced to the rank of regimental quartermaster sergeant. He was honorably discharged when his regiment was mustered out of service in November, 1898, and upon returning to civil life returned to his position with the Lehigh Valley Rail- road Company. In February, 1899, he was transferred to a more responsible position as accountant in the office of M. B. Cutter, superintendent of trans- portation, and went with him when promoted to general manager. In March, 1900, however, he was obliged to give up office work on account of eye trouble, and entered the employ of the Bethlehem Steel Compan , being employed thereby in construction work of various kinds, as assistant to M. A. Halliday, then superintendent of construction, until this department was abolished, when he was employed at the forge department under John
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