USA > Pennsylvania > Northampton County > History of Northampton County [Pennsylvania] and the grand valley of the Lehigh, Volume II > Part 39
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At the outbreak of the Civil War, Dr. Green took a stand that was at once a credit to his patriotic ancestry and in keeping with the lofty plane of his life. With purse and pen, with inspiring enthusiasm, he bent his every
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energy to the support of the Union, and in professional fields he found his greatest opportunity. In the carly part of the war surgeons were accepted indiscriminately for service with the State troops, and soon the costly error of this course being discovered an examining board of which Dr. Green was a member met in Washington, Harrisburg and Philadelphia, to examine all surgeons who were attached to Pennsylvania troops, whether they were already in the service or simply applicants for admission. The records of this weeding out process show that the danger to the troops was not by any means entirely from the enemy. As a member of the State Medical Board, he did all in his power to keep medical and surgical standards in the army on a high planc.
Dr. Green was an early and strong advocate of higher education for women, and although the regulations of Lafayette prevented his receiving them as students it was no unusual thing for women to be his guests during his lecture courses. His private classes of girls, which were always free, arc remembered with pleasure by those who sat under his teaching, and were one of his contributions to a cause he believed right. In natural sequence hie became the champion of women in medicine, and he stood by the colors until their equality in the colleges, in the medical societies, and in the profession was an established fact.
In 1876 Dr. Green was one of the founders of the American Academy of Medicine, of which he was the first president, and whose object was the cleva- tion of general educational standards in the profession and the adaptation of college curricula to better prepare for medical work. He was a member and Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science from the time of its formation until his death, and many scientific societies vied to honor him. Scientific organizations among students found him, despite his heavy duties, always ready to aid and guide them and he was an honorary member of many such.
One of the strongest traits of Dr. Traill Green's character was his abounding generosity. From the first days of his practice his free list was a large one and no collector ever handled his bills. In addition to his profes- sional gifts he had many benefactions, but so unostentatiously were his chari- ties made, with such strict injunction to secrecy, that little is actually known of his benefactions, except where life membership was conferred for contribu- tions. The American Bible Society, the American Scaman's Friend Society, the American Tract Society are among those which knew him as a loyal friend. His answer to those asking him to head a subscription list often was this: "If you allow me to write 'cash,' the subscription will be much larger than if you persist in requiring me to write my name."
His writings and his services won him recognition and honor from many sources, which was pleasing to him only as it reflected credit upon his pro- fession and his associates. Rutgers College conferred the degree of Master of Arts upon him in 1841, and in 1866 Washington and Jefferson College made him a Doctor of Laws, while learned and scientific societies paid him their highest tributes. His death marked the passing of a man of wonderful parts, beloved for all that is best and truest in mankind. The Rev. Haines in speak- ing on Dr. Green's life took as his text a most significant verse from the Acts of the Apostles that epitomizes admirably the strong, virtuous simplicity of the man : "For he was a good man and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith."
Dr. Traill Green married, in 1844, Harriet Moore, of Morristown, New Jersey, who had been a student in one of his classes in botany, and who, like him, was an ardent lover of nature.
RUSSELL NEVIN KOPLIN -- Since 1893 a member of the bar of North- ampton county, Mr. Koplin, as a member of the Hellertown community, has been active in professional labor and public service, the second of his line to
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occupy prominent place in the public view of Northampton. A part of his service has been contemporary with the long and richly useful pastorate of his father in the Reformed church, the memory of the Rev. Abraham Baughman Koplin. D.D., enduring as a tender memory in the hearts of the many to whom he ministered and to whom his devoted, godly life was a source of joy and inspiration. For three-score years the eller Mr. Koplin occupied pulpits and served congregations in Ohio and Pennsylvania, the spiritual head of the Hellertown church for forty years, and at the time of his death, in 1917, he was the fifth oldest pastor of the Reformed church in the United States and the oldest in point of continuous active service. The review of his life which follows can contain only the physical events of his remarkable carcer-its full beauty and value have enduring monuments in the lives and deeds of those men and women who under his teaching learned the lessons of sacri- fice and the joy of service.
Russell N. Koplin is a son of the Rev. Abraham Baughman and Harriet A. (Custer) Koplin, and grandson of Abraham and Rachel ( Baughman ) Kop- lin. Rev. Abraham Baughman Koplin was born in Summit county, Ohio, July 7, 1835, and died March 4, 1917, aged eighty-one years, seven months, and twenty-seven days. After preliminary studies he entered Heidelberg Academy, at Tiffin, Ohio, whence he was graduated in the class of 1855. Early in life he had elected the ministry of the Reformed church as his field of life labor and he was licensed to preach on May 20, 1856, although dur- ing his seminary training he had supplied numerous pulpits. His ordination followed on June 9, 1857, and from the time of his installation as pastor of the Stoyestown church until his death there was never a time when he did not bear the responsibilities of a pulpit in addition to his other activities in behalf of his denomination. He was subsequently pastor at Elk Lick, Somer- set county, Pennsylvania, Defiance, Ohio, then returning to Elk Lick, then to Catasauqua, Pennsylvania, in 1874, and in 1877 he accepted a call to the Lower Saucon charge, where he continued in active and well rewarded service for forty years.
Dr. Koplin was the organizer of the Shiloh congregation of the Heights, and not only was he the executive head of this movement, the man with the vision that brought it to accomplishment, but for many days he assisted the workers in the excavation for the foundation and the erection of the building. He was also the founder of the "Phoebe Deaconess and Old Folks' Home" at Allentown, Pennsylvania, and was the first and only president of the board of trustecs.
The fire of Dr. Koplin's enthusiasm and his love of his work were infec- tious, and a most important part of his connection with the denomination was his influencing many men of fortune to support the activities of the church and to finance its policies of extension. He was a devoted friend of Franklin and Marshall College and he secured for this institution, by will of the Wil- helms. several hundreds of acres of coal land, now valued at millions. The various charitable organizations of the church benefited largely by the bene- factions of men of means whom he interested in their work. men whose lite- long friendship Dr. Koplin held because of his own tireless labors and because of the opportunities for service he had opened to them. Giving of his own comparatively small possessions with such prodigality and of his labors without stint, he came before them with a conscience clear in the perform- ance of duty, and there were few men who could resist an appeal from him for the support of the many worthy causes he championed.
Heidelberg University, in 1885, honored him with the degree of D.D., and he was repeatedly called into the highest councils of the church for infor- mation and counsel. He was a man of profound thought, a pastor who lived close to his people and close to his Master, and in the pulpit he spoke with an inspired eloquence that went straight to the hearts of his listeners.
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Although his ministry extended over such a long period, his views and methods were ever in accordance with modern demands, and he made use of the past not alone for precedent but to profit by its mistakes. Dr. Koplin was a frequent contributor to the periodicals of the church, and was the author of many more essays, sermons, and verses which he never published. He was the editor of a work entitled "A Live Church," which he dedicated to the holy canse of missions.
During his ministry it was frequently necessary for him to travel con- siderable distances to reach his congregations, and no matter what the condi- tions he never failed, with one exception, to meet his congregation, however large or small it may have been. This one time was when he was serving the Paradise charge of Somerset county, and it was necessary for him to cross the Alleghanies and the Pennsylvania line into Maryland, a distance of sixteen miles. The time was the dead of winter, and the previous day a heavy rain had fallen on a deep snow and during the night had frozen. Travel on horseback was the only means of making the journey, but Dr. Koplin started the trip, only turning back when, after several miles of break- ing through the knife-edged crust, he saw that his horse's legs had been cruelly cut. This was the only time he failed to be present at a service he had scheduled and the indomitable perseverance that this characterized led him to success many times when the obtacles seemed almost insurmountable and the opposition impregnable. Such was the life he lived, guided by the bright star of duty and strengthened by the constant conviction that "God's in his Heaven, all's right with the world." It is written that "he fell peace- fully asleep" at the great age of more than four-score years, bringing to a close "a ministry that was rich in comfort, inspiration, love and service."
Dr. Abraham Baughman Koplin married, June 9, 1857, Harriet Ann Cus- ter, born October 22, 1833, of Stoyestown, Somerset county, Pennsylvania, and they were the parents of : Naomi, married Rev. Silas F. Laury, deceased ; Emma B., married C. J. Gitt, deceased ; Wortha V., married Aaron Hostetter. deceased ; Irene May, married William H. Clark; and Russell N., of whom further. Mrs. Koplin still survives her husband. She is a first cousin of General Custer of Civil War and "Custer Massacre" fame.
Russell N. Koplin was born in Defiance, Ohio, October 27, 1865. He attended a private school in Hellertown, where his father filled the pulpit of the Reformed church, and he was afterward a student in Ulrich's Prepara- tory School at Bethlehem. Entering Franklin and Marshall College, he was graduated in the class of 1886 with the degree A.M., and, taking up the study of law, he was, in 1892, admitted to the bar of Monroe county. His admis- sion to the Northampton bar came in the following year and he began gen- eral practice in Hellertown, where he has since continued in his profession. His private practice became a busy one and Mr. Koplin has been called as well to positions in the county for which his professional standing and abili- ties have qualified him. For eighteen years he has been solicitor for the borough of Hellertown, serving for a like length of time as supervisor of the township. He is a member of the various bar associations and is a supporter of Democratic political principles. He is an active member of the County Committee of that party, but has never accepted public office apart from the service of his own town. He affiliates with the Reformed church, in whose annals the name of Koplin has so secure a place, and in his own profession honorably represents that name.
Mr. Koplin married, July 12, 1899, Alice Knauss, daughter of Calvin and Maria (Texter) Knauss, her father assistant superintendent of the Thomas Iron Works at Coplay, Pennsylvania, until his death in ISS8. Calvin Knauss is survived (1919) by his widow.
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS R
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WILLIAM HENRY ERWIN-One of the prominent figures in the business and industrial life of the Lehigh Valley region of the State of Penn- sylvania is William Henry Erwin of Bethlehem, in which city he has been engaged in the manufacture of paint for a number of years. Mr. Erwin comes of a family which for a long period has held a conspicuous place in this local- ity and has always possessed the esteem of the community at large. The family was founded here by John Erwin, the grandfather of the Mr. Erwin of this sketch, who was a native of County Derry, Ireland, but of Scottish descent. He came to the United States in 1843 and settled at Summit Ilill, Carbon county, where he found employment in the coal mines and eventually purchased a farm near Lehighton. He married Nancy Dougherty, a daughter of William and Margaret (Davis) Dougherty, also natives of Ireland, and they were the parents of seven children, one of whom was Henry Erwin, who is mentioned below.
Henry Erwin, the father of William Henry Erwin, was born in County Derry, Ireland, in 1842, but was brought by his parents to the United States when yet an infant in arms. He grew to manhood in the Lehigh Valley and when eighteen years of age learned the trade of blacksmith at Mauch Chimk. He then came to Janesville and was employed as a machinist and boiler maker in the Janesville Locomotive Shops. In 1864 he secured a position with a concern engaged in coal mining at Yorktown and was placed in charge of the mining machinery there. Ambitious and full of enterprise, he then re- moved to Lehighton and opened a blacksmith shop of his own and conducted it for about one year. His attention had been called in the meantime to the great opportunities offered to the enterprising by the mining industry in this section of the country and, accordingly, in 1867, he came to Bethlehem, leased a tract of land near Bath and there began the mining of iron ore. at first on a small scale. He changed his location from time to time and eventually became the owner of the metallic paint and iron ore mine at Lchigh Gap, Carbon county. He began at Bethlehem the manufacture of some thirty shades of paint, using for this purpose about fifteen different minerals, some of which had to be imported by him. His business rapidly grew in size and he steadily increased his property holdings, until he owned and operated mines in various parts of the State as well as in New Jersey and Virginia. When the Bermuda Ochre Company was organized, with a capital of thirty- two thousand dollars and holdings amounting to nine hundred acres, Mr Erwin was chosen its president and served in that capacity until about 1903, when he retired from business life. His death occurred about nine years later, on February 12, 1912. Mr. Erwin married Jennie Gormley, of Nesque- honing Valley, Pennsylvania, a daughter of Joseph and Margaret (Mont gomery) Gormley, and they became the parents of the following children : Jennie, who became the wife of George H. Waltman ; Harry : John, who set- tled in Brooklyn and there practiced dentistry ; Joseph, who is practicing den- tistry at Bethlehem: Margaret, who became the wife of Judson Small of Brooklyn ; William H., with whose career we are especially concerned.
William Henry Erwin, son of Henry and Jennie (Gormley) Erwin, was born November 30, 1866, at Lehighton, Pennsylvania. At the age of one year he was brought by his parents to Bethlehem, and it was there that his child. hood and early life were passed. He attended the schools of his home town and, after completing his studies at these institutions, entered his father's establishment, where he learned the craft of paint manufacture. At the end of his apprenticeship he was admitted into partnership with the elder man. as was also his brother Harry, and the firm became known as Henry Erwin & Sons. In 1903. upon the withdrawal from active life of the founder of the concern. the two young men took over the ownership and management thereof and since that time have conducted it with an ever increasing degree of success. The original quarters soon became inadequate to honse it and
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it was necessary to make many large and extensive modifications and addi- tions. Many thousands of barrels are produced there every year, the majority of which are marketed in New York and Chicago, although some portion of them find their way into nearly every section of the country. Harry Erwin withdrew from the business in 1912, leaving it entirely in the hands of Wil- liam H. Erwin, who has continued to conduct it under the old firm name up to the present time. In July, 1918, the business was incorporated, retaining the firm name, with a capital of $300,000. Although interested in public ques- tions and matters of community interest, Mr. Erwin has never taken an active part in local affairs, and is quite without political ambition. In his religious belief he is a Methodist.
William Henry Erwin was united in marriage, in 1897, with Olivia S. Stem, born March 10, 1871, a daughter of William and Eliza (Kemmerer) Stem, her father having served as treasurer of Northampton county at one time. To Mr. and Mrs. Erwin five children have been born, as follows: George Henry, who is a student at Lehigh University, class of 1920, where he is taking a course in chemical engineering ; Eliza Jane, who attended the Mary Baldwin School at Staunton, Virginia, where she took courses in music, French, domestic science, dancing, sewing, military drill, etc., then, entering Finch School, New York City, in 1919, taking language courses ; Henry, who died in infancy ; Margaret Montgomery, a student in the Bethlehem High School and Beechwood School, Jenkintown, Pennsylvania; William Stem, now attending the Bethlehem Preparatory School. Mrs. Erwin's death oc- curred January 10, 1919.
ROBERT C. KING-Robert C. King, M.D., graduate in medicine of the historic New York institution, Bellevue Hospital Medical College, which was at the time Dr. King attended it, probably the leading medical school of the United States, is a native of Hellertown, Northampton county, where he still is in practice.
Dr. Robert C. King was born on October 25, 1856, the son of Aaron D. and Susanna (Ruch) King, of Hellertown, and nephew of Thomas King, who had an honorable record of national service during the Civil War. Aaron D. King was born January 3, 1830, and followed agricultural occupations all his life, specializing in livestock. In his younger days he often took the road as a drover, and the healthy outdoor life he lived is manifest in his condition and activities now. Although for many years he has lived in retirement, he is still active, notwithstanding that he is almost a nonogenarian. His wife, Susanna, was the daughter of Christian Ruch, and belonged to one of the old families of Hellertown, which is referred to elsewhere in this volume. Of the eight children born to Aaron D. and Susanna (Ruch) King, six still live.
Robert C. King was educated in the local schools and the Kutztown Normal School, and for his professional studies went to New York City, there becom- ing an undergraduate in the Bellevue Hospital Medical College. He was one of the first students of Dr. Heller, of Hellertown, and at the New York Medical College was able to obtain valuable clinical advantages, so that when he graduated. in 1878, and was in a position to enter into general practice, he probably had a more comprehensive knowledge of medicine and surgery than most young doctors just out of college.
Dr. King practiced for twenty-six years in Limeport, Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, and for fourteen years in Hellertown. He has been success- ful in his practice; has given his services unsparingly to those needing his professional attention, whether able to recompense him for such service or not ; and he has lived a good, honorable, gentlemanly life, in keeping with the ethics of his profession. He has been signally honored by his profes- sional confreres, having been elected to the presidency of the Lehigh County Medical Society ; and he is also a member of the Pennsylvania State Medical Association, and the American Medical Association.
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Dr. King is a Democrat, and has given some time from his busy practice to political affairs, but he has never been able to accept long-term office in national or State affairs, although in local administration he was a council- man for twelve years. He, however, was a delegate for his district to the State conventions at Harrisburg, and he has been able to follow actively the functions of local fraternal organizations ; for thirty-five years he has been a member of Milford Lodge, Knights of Pythias, and he is identified with the Golden Eagle and Red Men orders. The doctor is a member of the Reformed church.
Dr. King married, in 1878, Adelaide Reihman, daughter of Francis Reih- man, of Hellertown. His wife, through her mother, Susan (Moll) Reihman, comes of one of the pioneer families of Hellertown. Mrs. King died in March, 1915, having borne to her husband four children, only one of whom, how- ever, survives. Their four children were: Austin Flint, who was named after the distinguished New York City physician of that name, who at the time Dr. King was a student was one of the principal professors, if not the dean of the Bellevue Hospital Medical College, and was, apparently, thus early in life, intended eventually to follow his father into the practice of medicine, but he was not destined to become a physician, however, for he died in 1899, while a student in the Baltimore Medical College. Robert and Russel, the other sons of Dr. and Mrs. King, both died as children, the former when six years old, and the latter when only three years, so that the descent centers in Marion S., the only daughter of Dr. and Mrs. King. She was born in Limeport, Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, where Dr. King then practiced, and eventually married John Baker, son of Squire Baker, of East Bangor. Their children are: Eleanor King, born July 23, 1914; Adelaide Prout, born June 28, 1915; Robert James, born July 5, 1916; and Marion Bessie, born May 21, 1918. Mr. Baker during the war was connected with the Ordnance Depart- ment, and had important duties at the Bethlehem Steel Works.
SUSAN HARTZELL-Beyond doubt one of the best known and most popular figures in the religious and social life of Nazareth, Pennsylvania, where she had made her home for many years, is Mrs. Susan Hartzell, long identified with many aspects of the life of the community and the possessor of a host of friends. Mrs. Hartzell, who before her marriage was Susan Scheffler, was born September 6, 1835, on her father's farm about two miles west of Newburgh, and it was there that her childhood and early youth were spent. She is a daughter of Joseph and Christian (Heberling) Scheffler, the former a prominent farmer and butcher in this region, whose death occurred at the age of seventy-four years. His wife, who was a member of an old and highly respected family of this district, died at the age of eighty-two years. Mrs. Hartzell, as a child, obtained her education at the schools of her native place, and at the age of nineteen she married Daniel Lechtenwalder, a young man three years her senior, who resided at Hanover, where he was engaged in farming. Her married life with Mr. Lechtenwalder continued eighteen years and was passed on a farm which he owned situated about one mile away from Nazareth. At the end of that period Mr. Lechtenwalder died and is buried in the Lutheran Cemetery at Nazareth. One daughter was born of this union, namely, Elmira, who is further mentioned later in this sketch. After her widowhood, lasting six years, Mrs. Lechtenwalder became the wife of John Hartzell, a native of Newburgh, who died at the age of seventy-eight, after eighteen years of married life with his wife. No children were born of this second union. Mrs. Hartzell's daughter by her first marriage, Elmira Lechtenwalder, was married at the age of nineteen years to William Shorts, a prominent farmer, whose place was situated about two miles from Nazareth, where he conducted successful agricultural operations. Mr. Shorts was fifteen years the senior of his wife, and after twenty years of married life
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with her, died and was buried at Nazareth. After the death of her husband, Mrs. Shorts sold his valuable farm, and coming to Nazareth built here the handsome three-story double brick business block situated on Main street, at the cost of sixteen thousand dollars. This she named in honor of her hus- band, calling it the Shorts block, and made her home in one of its well equipped apartments. Here she resided with her mother, Mrs. Hartzell, but was unfortunately unable to enjoy her new home for more than one year, for she also was called to answer the universal summons, her death occurring December 21, 1912. Mrs. Shorts held a warm place in the heart of a wide circle of friends in Nazareth and the surrounding neighborhood, and her un- timel . death, which was greatly lamented, has changed things in the social life of this place. She was a woman of strong religious belief, very ardent in church work, and a liberal supporter of many philanthropic and benevolent undertakings. Mrs. Shorts was richly endowed with the womanly graces which made her a general favorite with all who knew her and won for her universal respect and affection throughout the community. With thoughts of the welfare of others ever in her mind, Mrs. Shorts adopted and made a home for an orphan girl nine years of age, whom she reared and educated with a tender solicitude. This adopted daughter, Mamie Scheffler, by name, secured as a young girl a position as saleswoman in Easton's store at Nazareth, but failing health compelled her to give up this position, where she had a legion of friends. Her health did not improve, however, but still grew worse until she died, at the age of twenty-two years. Mrs. Shorts insisted upon her mother. Mrs. Hartzell, making her home with her and provided handsomely for her remaining years, by assigning to her use the Shorts block mentioned above, where at the present time she lives in comfort and freedom from finan- cial worries of all kinds. Mrs. Shorts further provided that when the property can be of no further service to Mrs. Hartzell it is to be used for caring for the later years of her former pastor, the Rev. Mr. John Henry Miller. Mrs. Hartzell surviving, as she does, two husbands and a daughter, as well as her daughter's adopted child, Mamie Scheffler, whom she looked upon in the light almost of a daughter, at times experiences a deep feeling of loneliness. She is, however, very fortunate and happy in the possession of a genial dis- position and a host of sincere and warm friends, and she finds further con- solation in her simple faith as a Christian and awaits the call to return to her loved companions without fear but with the full assurance of future solicitude.
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