USA > Pennsylvania > Northampton County > History of Northampton County [Pennsylvania] and the grand valley of the Lehigh, Volume II > Part 33
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II6
NORTHAMPTON COUNTY
Jessie MacDougall Campbell, and in 1849, leaving his wife in Scotland, he came to the United States. This was the year of the California gold dis- covery, but he was not carried away by the excitement, going instead to Pottsville, Pennsylvania, at the solicitation of coal operators whom he met in New York. At Pottsville he was coal mine foreman, there remaining one year. In 1850 he sent for Mrs. Pascoe who joined him in Pottsville. His life from that time forward was one of honorable achievement as a mining expert, and during its course he developed a copper mine in the Lake Superior region, opened a zinc mine at Friedensville, in Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, for the Wharton and Wetherell interests of Philadelphia, and superintended its operation for several years ; attempted the development of an alleged gold mine in South Carolina; again connected with the Freidensville zinc mine, and finally was connected with the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company until his death in 1887. His gold mining venture in the South, undertaken in 1863, resulted in his being conscripted for service in the Confederate Army, and it was not until the close of the war in 1865 that he was freed from military duty. He then returned to Freidensville and his old position as superinten- dent. During his Lehigh connection he resided in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and there died and is buried.
Jessie MacDougall (Campbell) Pascoe was a Presbyterian in religious faith and reared her sons in that belief. Her father, Colonel Malcolm Camp- bell, was an officer of the British Army in active service in India and else- where. Mrs. Pascoe died in Easton, the mother of nine children : Archibald Campbell MacDougall, died at the age of fifty-six, married Pauline Rhine- hart ; John Henry, born August 25, 1851, died in 1909, married Annie L. Reinsmeth ; Mary, died young; Sarah, died young; Joseph W., to whom this review is inscribed ; Richard F., now (1918) warden of Northampton county prison and of mention elsewhere in this work; William, died in 1917, in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, aged fifty-nine, married Alice Cooper ; Thomas, died in boyhood; Benjamin, died in youth.
Joseph W. Pascoe was born in Freidensville, Lehigh county, Pennsyl- vania. He there attended public schools then taught by the well remembered Adam Markle, a teacher who firmly believed with Solomon, that to spare the rod was to spoil the child, and no children were spoiled under his instruc- tion. After the Freidensville school, he entered Kutztown State Normal School where he completed his studies in 1875. He did not attend continu- ously, however, but worked at times in the zinc mine where his father was superintendent. After the State Normal School, he returned to the zinc mine and was there employed until 1878. This zinc mine was a very valuable property, said to be the richest in the world in its deposits free of arsenic. It was opened and developed by Richard W. Pascoe, and both before and after his Civil War experience was operated by him as superintendent.
In 1878 Mr. Pascoe left Freidensville to go to Iowa City, Iowa, and there installed the machinery at the plant of the Iowa City Packing Com- pany. After completing that assignment, he returned to Chicago where until 1882 he was in charge of the core department of the Chicago Malleable Iron Company. In 1882 he returned to Pennsylvania, located at Bethlehem, where for fifteen years he was superintendent in charge of the construction of bridges and buildings for the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company. He efficiently and capably fulfilled his obligations to the Lehigh until 1897, then located in Easton and became a private contractor, a business he has most successfully conducted until the present (October, 1918), with the exception of four years during which he served Easton as postmaster.
Since attaining his majority, Mr. Pascoe has been an active worker in the Republican party and deeply interested in public affairs. He was chosen to represent his district upon the County Republican Central Committee and for two years was its capable chairman. That position was resigned when
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BIOGRAPHICAL
he was appointed, February 16, 1911, postmaster of Easton, he holding that posit on under appointment of President Taft until 1915. He is a member of the Republican clubs of the city and county, and since casting his first president al vote in 1876 for Rutherford B. Hayes, has been a consistent and low. ! supporter of the Republican candidates. In September, 1918, he was again chosen leader of the Republican forces of Northampton county and as chairman of the county committee is a potent force in the campaigns waged in the county.
In 1911 Mr. Pascoe was made a Mason and is now affiliated with Easton Lodge. No. 152, Free and Accepted Masons; Easton Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Pomn Council, Royal and Select Masters; Hugh de Payens Com- mande v. Knights Templar; and with all bodies of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite in which he holds the thirty-second degree. He is a charter member of Easton Lodge, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks: is past president of Fastern Eyrie, Fraternal Order of Eagles; member of Easton Lodige. Loval Order of Moose. He was one of the first ten charter members of the Kiwanis Club and is one of the men who can always be counted upon to su port any worthy movement for civic improvement. Mr. Pascoe has never married.
VAN SELAN WALTER-In Forks township, Northampton county, within a quarter of a mile of his present residence on Cattell street, Easton, Van Selan Walter was born. The Walter family carly settled in Northamp- ton county where their residence outdates the Revolutionary War. Van Selan is a son of William H. Walter, and a grandson of Frederic Walter, both born in the county. William H. Walter, born in Forks township, near the birthplace of his son, Van Selan, was a land owner, farmer, and distiller. He met his death by accident, drowning at the age of thirty-two years; he was born in 1810, died in 1842. He married Elizabeth Berger and they were the parents of five children, two now living: Edward Walter, of Easton, and Van Selan Walter, to whom this review is inscribed.
Van Selan Walter was born in Forks township, Northampton county, Pennsylvania, January 3, 1839, and is now living a retired life at his home in the city of Easton, close by the home of his childhood. He attended public school and Lesher's Academy, in Easton, but from the time he was ten years of age, he was employed on the canal as a driver during the summer months and until the canal was closed for the winter. He was but a boy of three years when h's father died, and as soon as possible he began aiding his mother in her task of providing for five young children. He drove a team on the canal until he was fifteen years of age, then was his mother's assistant in other ways, and for a time taught a country school. He next spent three years learning the carpenter's trade, and after becoming an expert workman and well informed on all building problems he engaged in business for him- self as a contractor. When he was twenty-three years of age, his work was interrupted by his patriotic service in defence of the flag. He enlisted in December. 1862, in Company E, 153rd Regiment, Pennsylvania Infantry. John P. Ricker was captain of Company E, and Charles Glanz. colonel of the regiment. They were engaged at Chancellorsville, April 30, 1863, and the regiment suffered severely, and Colonel Glanz was taken prisoner. They were again engaged at Gettysburg, where Captain Ricker was wounded and many of Company E captured by the Confederates, Corporal Walter being among the number. He soon escaped and was mustered out of the service with his regiment July 23, 1863.
After returning from the army, Mr. Walter again engaged in contracting and building in Easton, and so continued until 1913, when he retired. He had begun as a wage carner on the canal in 1849, a lad of ten years, and sixty- four years later, he retired, the veteran contractor, aged seventy-four years.
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Those sixty-four years had been years of trial, and from his early struggle he emerged the strong, self-reliant young man, able to direct his course through life, and in old age retired with an established reputation and with a sufficient competence. To this, add ten months of valiant service to his country in her hour of need, and you have the condensed life story of one of the men who have literally built a city and whose work shall endure. Monuments to his skill and integrity as a contractor and builder exist everywhere in Easton, for a full half century has been devoted to his work in that city.
Mr. Walter is a Democrat on State and national issues, but in local affairs has always been extremely independent. He was a member of the board of trustees of St. Peter's Lutheran Church and is yet an active member of the congregation. He has always kept in touch with his army comrades through the medium of the local post of the Grand Army of the Republic to which he belongs, and has long been a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He married, July 20, 1866, Sallie A. La Ras, born in Forks township, Northampton county, Pennsylvania, near the Mount Bethel town- ship line, February 15, 1848, daughter of Martin and Mary Susan (Levers) La Ras. Mrs. Walter is a granddaughter of John George La Ras, a pioneer undertaker. Her father, Martin La Ras, also, was engaged in the undertaking business, until his death at the age of sixty. Mrs. Martin La Ras died at the age of fifty-eight years.
Mr. and Mrs. Van Selan Walter are the parents of five children: I. Reverend Clinton Elmer Walter, a minister of the Lutheran church, of York, Pennsylvania, married Elizabeth Cox and has three children: Clinton Elmer (2), now with the American Expeditionary Forces in France, 'Rainbow Division, Company E; Corilla Lawrence; and Martha Tyson. 2. Flora Eliza- beth Walter, deceased. 3. Stewart Edward Walter, deceased, married Mary Kutz and left two children: Fayette Elizabeth, and Marie, of Easton. 4. Mary Susan Walter, married Reverend Philip H. Pearson, of the Lutheran ministry, a native of Mount Bethel, Pennsylvania, stationed at Collingswood, New Jersey. 5. Anna May Walter, deceased.
FLOYD HAY REESER-When chosen president of the Roehlen, Pit- tenger Silk Company of Easton, Mr. Reeser withdrew from the management of the grocery business with which he had been associated from school days, and to which he succeeded upon the retirement of his honored father, William Reeser, who founded the business in 1881, and gave it the name it yet bears, William Reeser, groceries. The founder conducted the business thirty-four years, 1881-1915, then retired in favor of his son, Floyd H., who, when assuming other responsibilities, was succeeded by his brother-in-law, Joseph Brown. As a silk manufacturer the son is meeting with the same success as when a grocer, and the name Reeser bids fair to shine as brightly in the business firmament of Easton during the coming century as it has during the past half-century. Floyd H. Reeser is a great-grandson of Philip Reeser, a farmer of Northampton county. The farm, known as the Reeser homestead, lying just outside the city limits of Easton, and first owned by Charles Reeser, son of Philip, was the birthplace of his son, William, and his grand- son, Floyd Hay Reeser.
Charles Reeser cultivated the homestead farm until his death at the age of seventy-two years, his entire life from bovhood having been spent in farming. He married Eliza Bauer, who died aged seventy. Both were mem- bers of Arndt Lutheran Church. They were the parents of nine children : William, Edwin, Charles, Jacob, Emmeline, Christian, Jane, Susan, and Mary, all living except the last named.
William Reeser, the oldest son of Charles and Eliza (Bauer) Recser, was born at the homestead near Easton, Pennsylvania, March 12, 1844, and is now a retired merchant of Easton, residing at No. 138 South Fourth street.
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He attended public school, and remained at the homestead until 1866, then forsook the farm for mercantile life, becoming a grocer's clerk in Easton and so continuing for fifteen years. He established the retail grocery house of William Reeser, in 1881, and for thirty-four years was its capable and pros- perous owner and manager. In 1915 he retired, turning his management over to his former energetic and efficient assistant, Floyd H. Reeser. Mr. Reeser is a member of St. John's Lutheran Church, and is a man of upright life and kindly disposition. He married, in December, 1875, Annie E., daughter of Peter and Julianna Hay. They are the parents of a son, Floyd 11., and a daughter, Helen, wife of Joseph Brown, the mother of a son, William P. Brown.
Floyd Hay Reeser was born at the homestead near Easton, Pennsylvania, July 10, 1881. He was educated in the grade and high schools and Wood's Business College, all of Easton, completing a two years' course at the last named institution. From the school he went into his father's grocery store as clerk, and in time became his trusted assistant, and able to carry a good share of the burdens of the business, thereby relieving the older shoulders which had borne them so long. In 1915 William Reeser retired from busi- ness, leaving his son at its head. He continued under the same firm name until 1918, when he established in the silk manufacturing business, organiz- ing and becoming president of the Rochlen, Pittenger Silk Company of Easton, an enterprise which is fast taking rank among the important indus- tries of Easton. He is a member of Easton Lodge, No. 121, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; Easton Lodge, No. 45. Loyal Order of Moose, and St. John's Lutheran Church. In his political bias he is a Republican.
Mr. Recser married, in Easton, January 1, 1915, Margaret Anner, of Phillipsburg, New Jersey, daughter of Henry and Margaret Anner. Mr. and Mrs. Reeser are the parents of two children : Anna Elizabeth and William H. Reeser.
WILLIAM OSCAR WOLFRAM-Winning success in one business is considered a fair test of a man's ability, but Mr. Wolfram, after winning high reputation as a machinist, abandoned his trade and established the busi- ness of mechanical dentistry, attaining in that line even a greater success and higher reputation. He is one of Easton's native sons, and when a young man passed through an experience that he will never forget, and one that will be told so long as the story shall be told of the great blizzard of 1889, which damaged the suspension bridge spanning the Lehigh between North and South side, Easton. Mr. Wolfram was on the bridge when the crash came and was thrown into the icy river. Luckily he escaped bodily injury, and was able to swim to the shore, but he has never fully recovered from the effects of his winter swim and its attendant shock. He is a grandson of Gunther Wolfram, who came from his native Bierenberg. Hanover. Germany, in 1834, with his wife Mary Catharine (Vosbrink) Wolfram, and their chil- dren. They settled in New York City on Houston street, where he followed his trade of tailor until their removal to Easton, Pennsylvania. In Easton hc established a tailoring business of his own. At one time he with his son operated a boat on the canal between Mauch Chunk and Philadelphia. He died in New York City while on one of his regular trips to that city. His wife died in South Easton, aged about seventy-six years.
Richard Wolfram, son of Gunther and Mary Catharine ( Vosbrink ) Wolf- ram, was born in New York City, April 11, 1836, and that city was the fam- ily residence until 1842, their home being on Houston street. They came to Easton in that year, and for a time he attended the public school. He then went with his father and brothers on the canal, and from a boat bov became a blacksmith's apprentice, under Amos Rodgers, with whom he worked about five years. He then became an employee of the Lehigh Valley Railroad, and
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for fifty years was employed in their Easton shops as a machinist, retiring in January, 1911. He married Ellen Lynch, born in Frenchtown, New Jer- sey, in 1838, her parents moving to Easton when their daughter was cleven years of age. Her father, William Lynch, a shoemaker, died in South Easton at the age of seventy-five. His wife, Elizabeth (Fisher) Lynch, born in Bloomsbury, New Jersey, died in South Easton, Pennsylvania, aged seventy- six. Mrs. Ellen (Lynch) Wolfram died in Easton, in January, 1911, her husband then going to the home of his son, William Oscar, where he yet resides. Richard and Ellen Wolfram were the parents of five children: William Oscar, of further mention ; Charles Elmer, who died in South Easton, aged twenty-four years, leaving a widow, Rebecca (Lantz) Wolfram; Mary Martha, died in childhood ; George Henry, now of Newark, New Jersey, mar- ried Lilly Yarrington, of South Easton ; and Wilbur Burrell, of Philadelphia, who married Lillis Jones, of Carversville, Pennsylvania.
William Oscar Wolfram, eldest son of Richard and Ellen (Lynch) Wolf- ram, was born in Easton, Pennsylvania, July 14, 1862, the family home then being on the site of the present Lehigh Valley Railroad roundhouse. He began school attendance in the old building used as a town hall in South Easton, he then being five years of age. His first teacher was John Eckert, an olden time teacher who believed that to spare the rod was to spoil the child. The boy improved his time, and as he was able to attend regularly nine months out of cach year until fifteen years of age he consequently obtained a good education, two years being devoted to high school study under J. J. Cressman, a Lutheran minister. The lad spent his vacation months working on the farms which then comprised most of the arca now known as Easton's South Side, and for this work he sometimes received a quarter of a dollar weekly, in addition to his board, and sometimes a bushel of apples to take home. From his fifteenth year to his eighteenth he was variously employed, driving teams or clerking, but at the age of eighteen he became a machinist's apprentice in the Lehigh Valley Railroad shops under John I. Kinsey, then master mechanic of the shops. He served four years as an apprentice, and then continued as a journeyman machinist for ten years, becoming a skilled and reliable worker in metal. He then abandoned the machinist's trade and established in an entirely new line, mechanical dentistry. He thoroughly mastered the details of that business, and has long been rated as one of the best in his line. For eight years he had his plant on South Third street, but in 1902 he erected a two and a half-story double dwelling and there conducts his business. He is a Republican in politics, a member of St. Peter's Reformed Church, and of the Junior Order of United American Mechanics.
Mr. Wolfram married, in Easton, in 1882, Sallie Hay, born at the Hay homestead on Fourth street, Easton, in 1861, daughter of Adam Louis and Elizabeth Eve (Smith) Hay. They are the parents of three children : I. Richard Louis, born in Easton, July 27, 1883 ; educated in the public school ; at the age of fifteen he left school and became associated with his father in mechanical dentistry and so continues ; he is a member of St. Peter's Re- formed Church, and a Republican in his political faith; he married Lelah Hopper, of Easton, October 8, 1910, she a daughter of John and Rose Hopper. 2. Elizabeth Ellen, married J. Floyd Eichlin, and resides in Williams township, Northampton county, Pennsylvania, her husband a farmer; they are the parents of two sons, Joseph Oscar and Richard Floyd Eichlin. 3. Isabel Grace, married Edward A. Mewhinney, and resides at Attleboro, Massachusetts ; they are the parents of a son, William Edward Mewhinney.
JOHN BROWN-The two men who in their day and generation con- tributed most largely to the wonderful development of the slate industry of Northampton county were John Brown and his son, Robert S. Brown, both
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residents of Easton, and both long since passed to their reward. John Brown came to Pennsylvania from New York State, but Robert S. was a native son, and at the time of his death in 1909 was president of the American Slate Company, a corporation which controlled sixty per cent. of the Bangor slate output. John Brown passed through a wide business experience, and was the possessor of an ample fortune when he entered the slate business, but Robert S. entered the business in youth and was his father's assistant before he succeeded him at his death in 1889. They were two strong men and made honorable names for themselves in the business world.
Arms-Sable three lions passant between two bendlets argent and as many trefoils slipped ermine.
Crest-A buck's head sable attired or, isstting from a crown, paly, gold. Motto-Si sit prudentia.
John Brown was born at Newburgh, New York, June 9, 1808, died at Easton. Pennsylvania, November 4, 1889, and is buried in Easton Cemetery. He was reared upon the home farm, and attended public school until four- teen years of age, then obtained permission to leave home and work upon the Delaware & Hudson Canal, which was then being built. After the completion of the canal he did not return to the farm, but continued in public employ- ment, finding a minor position with the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company. There he developed strong qualities and began a rise in position which led him to one of the best and most profitable places within the company's gift. For forty years he continued with the company and ranked among the leading men of the corporation. During his connection with the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company he resided in White Haven, Pennsylvania, but after resigning his position moved to Easton, where he built a handsome residence which was his home until the end of life came.
In Easton Mr. Brown found that he had been such an active worker for so many years that time hung heavy on his hands. Gradually he be- came interested in the slate quarries at Bangor, and began investing in the stock of various companies until his stock and actual quarry holdings were larger perhaps than any other resident of Easton. The active management of most of the properties which he controlled he turned over to his son, Robert S. Brown, but kept in personal touch with the business all his life. He had other business interests as well, and several well known Easton industrial and manufacturing corporations claimed his interest as an in- vestor. He was also interested in the Lehigh Valley, the Lehigh & Sus- quehanna and the Bangor & Portland railroads, and when the time came to pay the last honors to his mortal remains, officials of these corporations and many other business men with whom Mr. Brown had been associated came to render homage to their fallen comrade.
Mr. Brown married Maria Stoddart, born at Stoddartsville, Pennsylvania. named in the family honor, July 23, 1819, died in Easton, March 11, 1883. daughter of Leonard and Sarah (Ellis) Stoddart, of ancient Pennsylvania family, the Ellis an English family, the Browns of Scotch-Irish blood. Mr. and Mrs. Brown were members of Brainerd-Union Presbyterian Church and its liberal supporters. They were the parents of four children : 1. Sarah, born September 20, 1840, died in the Yosemite Valley, in June, 1911 ; wife of Dr. E. L. Diefenderfer. 2. Elizabeth, the only survivor of the family, a resident of Easton, her home at No. 123 North Third street ; she is a lady of quiet life and gentle manner, a devoted member of Brainerd-Union Pres- byterian Church, and deeply interested in the work of the Red Cross and the Navy League, to both of which she belongs. 3. Maria Louisa, died unmarried, April 1, 1914. 4. Robert S., of further mention. The family home was on Wolf street, Easton, and there both John Brown and his wife passed away. The old home is now the site of Easton Hospital.
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Robert S. Brown, only son of John and Maria (Stoddart) Brown, was born at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, August 27, 1857. While quite young his parents moved to White Haven, Pennsylvania, and there he attended public school and business college, his education also including military school training. He began business life under the preceptorship of his able and honored father, taking charge of his slate quarrying interests while still a very young man. After the death of John Brown in 1889, Robert S. succeeded him, rose to the very front rank among slate operators, and was one of the best known men in the slate business. He was president and owner of the American Slate Company, and through his holdings in that company owned or controlled the Bangor Excelsior. Slate Company, of which he was president ; president of the Bangor Union Slate Company, Pennsyl- vania Structural Slate Company, and was lessee of the Albion quarry at Pen Argyl, the North Bangor quarry, and the Keenan Structural Slate Com- pany. He was also president and general manager of the Genuine Bangor Slate Company. He managed his various slate properties with judgment and skill, causing them to return liberally in dividends. In addition he was largely interested in Easton financial institutions, serving as director of the Easton National Bank, the Northampton Trust Company, and the North- ampton National Bank. He maintained a suite of offices in the Drake build- ing in Easton, and there a large force of clerks were kept busy in the various departments of his business. He gave his close personal attention to his large interests and was essentially the business man, self-reliant and strong in his ability to plan and to execute. He gave liberally to all worthy causes, but quietly and unostentatiously, few knowing the extent of his benefactions. He was a member of Easton Lodge, No. 121, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and of the Pomfret Club.
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