USA > Pennsylvania > Northampton County > History of Northampton County [Pennsylvania] and the grand valley of the Lehigh, Volume II > Part 58
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Mr. Koehler married, in Easton, June 6, 1894, Mary Alice Bossard, of Easton, adopted daughter of J. S. Sasserman. Mr. and Mrs. Kochler are the parents of five children : George Jason, died aged four and a half years ; Kenneth Brown, about entering the United States Army (1918) ; Catherine. died in infancy ; Ronald Edmund, a student; and a child who died at birth.
ALVIN H. KERN-After a preliminary experience as a drug clerk in Allentown, following his graduation from Philadelphia College of Pharmacy. Mr. Kern came to Easton, where as the owner and proprietor of the drug business located at the corner of Seventh and Northampton streets, he has won honorable station among the progressive and successful merchants of his city. He is a son of Henry O. Kern, now a retired farmer of Slatington. N. H. BIOG .- 18
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Henry O. Kern married Mary, daughter of Aaron Kern, of Slatington. They were the parents of three children, namely: Minnie, married Sidney R. Peters; Alvin H., of further mention; Raymond T., of Slatington, married Sadie Bitner.
Alvin H. Kern was born at Slatington, Pennsylvania, August 27, 1891, and there completed public school study, finishing with graduation from high school, class of 1909. He then entered Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, whence he was graduated with the class of 1913. From college he passed to a position as clerk in the drug store of H. E. Peters & Company, of Allentown, Pennsylvania, there remaining one year. In 1914 he came to Easton, here purchasing the drug store located at the corner of Seventh and Northampton streets, where he has developed a large and profitable business along modern drug store lines. His success has come through close application to his busi- ness and a thorough understanding of its needs. He has made his own way from youth, paying his own way through college, repaying the debt incurred after finishing his course in pharmacy. He stands high as a business and professional man, and has won the confidence of the public to a remarkable degrec. Mr. Kern is a member of St. John's Church, Slatington, and formerly was an active worker in the Sunday school. He is a Republican in politics, but broad-minded and liberal in his views.
Mr. Kern married, in Easton, June 2, 1914, Beulah A. Brown, of Allen- town, Pennsylvania, daughter of Alfred and Matilda Brown. They are the parents of a son, Donald Henry, born March, 1915.
WILLIS R. JORDAN-During the year 1912, Mr. Jordan assumed the management of the Sterling Silk Glove Company, of Bangor, Pennsylvania, coming to Bangor from Coopersburg, Lehigh county, where his grandfather accumulated a fortune as a carriage builder, and where both Willis R. and his father, Wilson F. Jordan, were born. The family came to Pennsylvania from New Jersey, this review beginning with the Revolutionary ancestor, Sgt. Frederick Jordan.
(I) The founder of this branch of the Jordan family in Pennsylvania was Frederick Jordan, born in 1744, died at Jordan's Mill, Mount Pleasant township, Hunterdon county, New Jersey, August 20, 1784. He is buried by the side of his wife in the churchyard of St. Thomas' Protestant Episcopal Church, in Alexandria township, in the same county. He was a soldier of the Revolution, promoted from private to sergeant of the Second Regiment, New Jersey Line. His regiment was at the siege of Yorktown, and was highly praised in general order for their gallant conduct. Sgt. Frederick Jor- dan owned two grist-mills, one at the Hickory Tavern, the other near French- town, New Jersey. The mill where he lived and ground grain for the army during the Revolution was burned about 1849, only the old dam and race being used by the present miller. After the seat of war shifted to the South, he joined the army and rose to a sergeant's rank. Sgt. Frederick Jordan married Catherine Eckel, born December 28, 1750, in Bucks county, Penn- sylvania, daughter of Henry Eckel, of Germany, who came to Pennsylvania in 1746. Children: John, born September 1, 1770; Frederick (2), of further mention ; Mary M., born August 20, 1776; Henry, born August 14, 1781 ; and Catherine, who died young.
(II) Frederick (2) Jordan, son of Sgt. Frederick and Catherine Eckel Jordan, was born in Hunterdon county, New Jersey, August 27, 1772, died in Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, February 1, 1861, and is buried in the cemetery of Zionsville Reformed Church. He was a farmer of Upper Milford town- ship, Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, and a justice of the peace for many years. He married (first), April 5, 1797, Catherine Hartzel, of Bucks county, Penn- sylvania, he at that time living in Philadelphia, his marriage notice thus ap- pearing in Minerva, a Philadelphia newspaper : "On Tuesday morning 4th inst., by the Rev. Mr. Pomp, Mr. Frederick Jordan of this city to the amiable Miss
THE NYI A PUBLIC LIG LALY
AMOR, LI'NIN AND TILLTY FONDAT B
Tilson F. Jordan
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Catherine Hoertsel of Bucks county." He married (second) Catherine Stiller, born December 12, 1777, died February 18, 1847, and was buried in Zionsville Reformed Churchyard, where later her husband was laid by her side. Chil- dren, by second marriage: John, born October 10, 1799, married Mary Stahr ; Henry, of further mention ; Hannah, born January 15, 1802, married Charles Knauss; Elizabeth, born October 5, 1805, married Samuel Gross; Sarah, born September 1, 1807, married Thomas Snyder; Catherine, born February 26, 1810, married Joseph Knout ; James, born October 26, 1814.
(III) Henry Jordan, second son of Frederick (2) and Catherine (Stiller) Jordan, was born October 20, 1800, died January 29, 1877. He was a tanner by trade, but later farmed a fifty-acre tract in Upper Milford township, Lehigh county, where his life was spent. He married Ellen Stahr, born August 10, 1810, died December 12, 1887. Both are buried in Zionsville Reformed Churchyard. Children: William, of Coopersburg, Lehigh county, Pennsyl- vania; James, of Upper Milford township; Franklin, married Sarah Kline; Milton, of further mention; Mary Ann, married Amandus Sieger, of Siegers- ville; Kate, married Louis Sieger ; Amanda, married Charles Derr ; Dr. Alex- ander, of Riegelsville, Pennsylvania; Frederick, of Vera Cruz, Pennsylvania.
(IV) Milton Jordan, fourth son of Henry and Ellen (Stahr) Jordan, was born in Upper Milford township, Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, near Vera Cruz, October 3, 1831, and there lived to a good old age, a retired and pros- perous resident of Coopersburg. He worked at the home farm until eighteen years of age, then learned the carriagemaker's trade with George Hinckle, of Macungie, serving three years, his wages $12.75 yearly with board. In 1853 he entered the employ of George W. Watson, a leading carriage builder, of Philadelphia, there remaining one year. In 1854 he formed a partnership with his brother, Franklin Jordan, located in Coopersburg, and as Jordan Brothers, carried on a large and profitable carriage-making business for more thạn half a century, 1854-1909, when both brothers retired from business. For ten years they were also extensively engaged in the lumber business, cutting the lumber used in their carriage-building plant and drying it in their own sheds and drying rooms. Their shop employed eighteen mechanics, and was the leading industry of the village. For over thirty years Milton Jordan was a director of the Allentown National Band. He was also for over fifty years a member of the Reformed church of Coopersburg. He married Debo- rah Kline, daughter of Jesse Kline. They were the parents of five children : Wilson F., of further mention ; Dr. Oscar J., a practicing physician of Phila- delphia, married Margaret Wright, of Camden, New Jersey, they have one son, Milton ; Victor K., a brother, of Hanover, Pennsylvania, married Linnie C. Weaver, and has two sons, Wilson and Herbert; Minnie, died young ; and a fifth child, who died unmarried.
(V) Wilson F. Jordan, eldest son of Milton and Deborah (Kline) Jordan, was born in Coopersburg, Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, August 1, 1863, died in Bangor, Pennsylvania, September 16, 1918. He was educated in the public schools. Milton Jordan had his three sons all learn the carriage builder's trade, intending each to become proficient in a different branch of the work. Wilson F. learned the trimmer's trade, and later moved to Hellertown, Penn- sylvania, where for five years he was in business for himself. In 1891 he removed to Bangor, Pennsylvania, purchased the Slate Valley Hotel, and operated it until 1896, when he sold the property and engaged in the bottling business, purchasing the Horlacher plant in Bangor. He conducted that busi- ness very successfully until his death in September, 1918. In 1908 he organ- ized the Sterling Silk Glove Company ; aided in the founding of the Pennsyl- vania Silk Company ; was president of the Bangor Gas Company ; director of the First National Bank; and was a heavy owner of Bangor real estate, his holdings including the Broadway Hotel. He was also financially interested in the Gabriel Hosiery . Company of Coopersburg ; Allentown National Bank ; and the Lehigh Valley Cold Storage Company, of which he was a director.
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He was a member of lodge, chapter, council, commandery and shrine of the Masonic order ; was a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; and in politics was a Democrat. Wilson F. Jordan married, in 1882, Jennie L. Stephens, daughter of John L. and Eliza (Walters) Stephens. Children : Oscar Wallace, died in 1912, aged twenty-three years ; John Miller, died in 1888; Willis R., of further mention.
(VI) Willis R. Jordan, only living son of Wilson F. and Jennie L. (Ste- phens) Jordan, was born in Coopersburg, Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, September 24, 1882. He prepared in the graded and high schools for admis- sion to college, and later pursued the civil engineering course at Lehighi University, whence he was graduated, class of 1903. For two years he was in the employ of the Baltimore & Ohio railroad, and the year following was with the Pennsylvania railroad engineering corps, then retired from that branch of activity to accept the position of treasurer of the Gabriel Hosiery Company of Coopersburg. He remained in Coopersburg with that company for six years, then, in 1912, located in Bangor, Pennsylvania, as superintendent of the Sterling Silk Glove Company, a business established by his father. He has continued in charge of that prosperous concern until the present, 1919, and has succeeded to all of the business interests formerly held by Wilson F. Jordan, his father. He is a good business man, self-reliant and progressive, interested in all that interests his community as a whole.
Mr. Jordan is a member of Saucon Lodge No. 469, Free and Accepted Masons ; Allen Chapter No. 117, Royal Arch Masons; Pomp Council, Royal and Select Masters; Hugh De Paven Commandery, Knights Templar; and Rajah Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is also a member of Bangor Lodge No. 1106, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; and of Coopersburg Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In religious faith he is affiliated with St. John's Reformed Church of Bangor.
Mr. Jordan married, September 28, 1904, Louise G. Speer daughter of Emery and Sarah (Reimer) Speer, of Bangor, Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Jordan are the parents of two children : Robert S., born November 25, 1905; and Gertrude Louise, born March 6, 1910.
JAMES WHITFIELD WOOD-The Wood association with the city of Easton began when James Washington Wood matriculated at Lafayette College, December 11, 1833. The bond was strengthened when, on October 9, 1839, the same James W. Wood married Elizabeth Caroline Able, of Easton. James W. Wood became an ordained minister of the Presbyterian church, and duty led him away from Easton until October, 1862, when he returned, but in broken health. After a trip abroad he again came to Easton, and on April 23, 1865, accepted a call from the Presbyterian church at Allentown. and continued pastor of that church until his sudden death, May 5, 1884. Then he was again brought to Easton, and laid at rest in the Able plot in Easton's beautiful cemetery, where his wife rests by his side.
The second generation children of Rev. James W. and Elizabeth C. (Able) Wood bore a much more intimate relation to the city of Easton, and to one of these. James Whitfield Wood, now too gathered to his reward, this review is dedicated. He, too, was a graduate of Lafayette College, and he also followed duty's call away from Easton, but in 1869 he returned and became a dominant factor in business life, as president of the Free Press Publishing Company, and as partner and vice-president of Tippett & Wood. a firm which became nationally and internationally known as manufacturers of boilers, water towers, stand pipes, tanks, stacks and kindred products of iron and steel. This intimate relation with Easton's business life continued until he, too, was gathered to his fathers, and a third generation, F. Raymond Wood, secretary of Tippett & Wood, reigns in his stead as head of this branch of the Wood family in Easton.
(1) The ancestry of James Whitfield Wood is traced in the United States
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to Timothy Wood, who came from Yorkshire, England, and joined his brother, Jonas Wood, at Huntington, Long Island. In 1727 he was found dead, his body pierced by seven poisoned Indian arrows. He left sons : Tim- othy, Daniel and Andrew.
(II) This branch descends through Daniel Wood, who in 1728 settled near Florida, in Orange county, New York. In 1733 he bought the Wood farm there, which for twelve years remained in the family. By his second wife he had sons, Daniel and Andrew Wood. Daniel (2) Wood was a sur- geon in the Revolutionary army, and his son, John Wood, founded the city of Quincy, Illinois, and later was governor of that State.
(III) Andrew Wood, son of Daniel (I) Wood, resided upon the home- stead at Florida, and there married his cousin, Elizabeth, daughter of John Wood, of Longford, Ireland.
(IV) James Wood, son of Andrew and Elizabeth (Wood) Wood, was born at the homestead, April 18, 1778, there grew to manhood, and resided many years, becoming its owner by purchase. He married, March 9, 1799, Mary Armstrong, daughter of William Armstrong, son of William Arm- strong, son of Francis Armstrong, who came from the County of Ulster, Ireland, and settled at Florida, New York, where he was an elder of the Presbyterian church. With this marriage of James and Mary (Armstrong) Wood, Presbyterianism came into the Wood family. Their first son, Daniel T., was for thirty years pastor of the Presbyterian church in Middletown, New York ; their second son, William, was an elder of the Presbyterian church at Galesburg, Illinois ; their daughter, Jane, was for many years engaged in missionary and pastoral work in Elmira, New York, as assistant to Rev. Thomas T. Beecher ; James Washington, the third son, was an eminent divine of the church, and will have further mention.
(V) James Washington Wood, son of James and Mary (Armstrong) Wood, was born at the homestead, near Florida, New York, October 15, 1813, died in Allentown, Pennsylvania, May 5, 1884. He spent the first nine- teen years of his life at the home farm, later studied under his brother, Rev. Daniel T. Wood, of Middletown, and at Goshen Academy. He was gradu- ated from Lafayette College, September 20, 1837, and was both Latin and English salutatorian. He studied theology at Union Theological Seminary, New York City, on December 29, 1839, was ordained pastor of the Presbyte- rian church in Deckertown, New Jersey, there remaining until September, I845. For a short time he was in the service of the American Board of Chris- tian Foreign Missions, but on November 1, 1845, he was installed pastor of the Presbyterian church in Chester, New York, where he remained seventeen years. He then retired for a rest, came to Easton, and later, in the month of October, sailed for Europe. He returned to Easton, and on April 23. 1805. accepted a call as pastor of the Allentown Presbyterian Church, the installa- tion services being held October 25, following. He continued in Allentown until his death, nineteen years later, in 1884. Lafayette College conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity, and he was everywhere known as a man of high scholarly attainments. Dr. James W. Wood married, in Easton, October 9, 1839, Elizabeth Caroline Able, daughter of Jacob (2) Able, son of Jacob (1) Able, who was brought from Germany to Pennsylvania, in 1750. She was a lady of superior education and culture, and was her hus- band's able and loving assistant in his pastoral duties. They were the parents of four children : James Winslow, of Allentown, Pennsylvania, married Jennie Albright ; James Whitfield, of further mention ; Elizabeth Able, married II. G. Harrison, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, their daughter Helen, wife of Russell Bennett, of Minneapolis; Daniel Burton, of Forsyth, Missouri.
(VI) Such were the forebears of James Whitfield Wood, born in Decker- town, New Jersey, January 17, 1845, his father, Rev. James Washington Wood, being then pastor of the Presbyterian church there. He died in the city of Easton, Pennsylvania, June 24, 1917, having been a resident of that
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city since 1879. After due preparation he entered Lafayette College, whence he was graduated A.B., class of 1863. His college course was interrupted in 1863 by his enlistment in the Thirty-eighth Regiment, Pennsylvania Reserve Infantry, to repel General Lee's invasion of Pennsylvania, but after the lat- ter's disastrous defeat at Gettysburg he was mustered out with that regiment. He returned to college, completed the course, and was graduated with his class.
He chose journalism as his profession, and after leaving college went to Chicago, where he was a member of the Tribune reportorial staff. He returned to Easton in September, 1867, and in partnership with Henry L. Burnstein purchased the Easton Free Press, which they conducted until 1870 under the firm name, Wood & Burnstein. On April 1, 1868, they moved the office of the paper to the south side of Northampton street, and on February 28, 1870, Mr. Burnstein retired from the firm. On August 1, 1871, Mr. Wood, who had continued the publication of both the weekly and daily Free Press, sold his interests to James K. Dawes, one of the founders of the paper, and retired from all connection therewith.
Mr. Wood then formed a connection with the Delaware Rolling Mills, of Phillipsburg, New Jersey, but in 1873 he entered into a partnership with Jacob A. Tippett, and as Tippett & Wood founded the Easton Boiler Works. They conducted the boiler works as a partnership until the death of Mr. Tippett, October 26, 1886, when the business was incorporated as the Tippett & Wood Company, James Whitfield Wood, president. He continued execu . tive head of the company until 1903, when he practically retired from active business cares, accepting the office of vice-president, but turning over the management to others, his son being secretary of the company. These years, 1873-1903, had been years of wonderful expansion for the company, the repu- tation gained for its product being very high. With the increase in business, Mr. Wood kept pace, and there was no time in his history when he was not in full control of the situation in his business and able to make it follow his will. He grew very strong as a business man, and gave to the company management a high tone of efficiency which equalled the mechanical perfec- tion of the iron and steel products manufactured at the plant. He was an untiring worker, and in addition to the control exercised over the affairs of Tippett & Wood, was president of the Henderson Water Company, and Hen- derson Light & Power Company of Henderson, North Carolina ; was the first treasurer of the Stewart Silk Company of Easton; director of the Easton Trust Company ; and had other business interests, among which was the Easton Free Press, which Mr. Wood bought again in 1878, and of which for seven years his brother was editor. He again sold his interests in the paper, but in 1903 again became its chief owner as stockholder in the newly organ- ized Free Press Publishing Company, of which he was treasurer, then presi- dent until his death, the Free Press being his first independent business venture, and it may be said that it was also his last. Had he not gone into business, Mr. Wood would have been a great journalist, for he loved it, and there were few periods of his life when he did not have a property interest in the Free Press.
Mr. Wood was not slavish in his devotion to business, but gave freely of his time and talents to civic advancement. He was a Republican in politics, an ardent advocate of temperance, and one of the most helpful of charitable workers. He was one of the founders of Easton Charity Society, a founder of Easton's first Board of Trade, and its president for many years. From 1887 until 1895 he was a member of Easton Common Council, serving during the period of sewer construction and early brick paving of streets. In Council he supported all public improvement of the better sort, and contributed a great deal along lines of material improvement and moral progress. In later years, when the European War brought new problems to the front, he was a firm friend of the government, was especially interested in the loans and the American Red Cross. He died before his own country was fairly at war, but
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he earnestly desired the success of the Allied cause. He was a Republican in politics, and a devoted member of Brainerd-Union Presbyterian Church, with which he was long connected, serving as chairman of the board of trustees, and at one time as superintendent of the Williamsport Mission Sun- day school. As a man of wealth, Mr. Wood realized the responsibility it involved, and made the widest possible use of his opportunities. He was most unostentatious in his charities, but responded readily and generously to every genuine call. Truth and honor characterized his life, and the success he won was all his own and not gained at the expense of another nor by the sacrifice 'of honor nor principle. His career in Common Council demonstrated his firmness in defence of a principle he believed to be right, and despite the bitter opposition, both with that body and among business men, lie forced the fight for sewers and paved streets, and won a great victory for progress and the public health.
Mr. Wood married, in Easton, September 18, 1873, Emily Drake, born December 1, 1844, at the old homestead on Fourth street, Easton, daughter of John and Margaret (Stewart) Drake. John Drake, whose career is traced at length elsewhere in this work, was born in Warren county, New Jersey, December 19, 1803, and died at Easton, Pennsylvania, April 28, 1873. His wife. Margaret (Stewart) Drake, was born September 21, 1809, died June 6, 1877, and both are at rest in the Drake family plot in Easton Cemetery. Margaret (Stewart) Drake was a daughter of Samuel and Catherine (Car- penter) Stewart, and granddaughter of Thomas and Rachel (Dewees) Stew- art. The Drakes are of English-Scotch-Irish blood, the Stewarts of Scotch ancestry. John and Margaret (Stewart) Drake were the parents of four daughters and six sons: Catherine Stewart, died unmarried ; Samuel, mar- ried Sarah B. Arndt, and died June 29, 1893; Thomas Stewart, married Mary Ann Pyle, died July 16. 1899; Ellen, married William B. Semple, who died June 29, 1868; Sarah Stewart, died July 2, 1884, unmarried; Lewis Clewell, died November 10, 1883, unmarried ; Emily, of further mention ; Howard, married Annie L. Shouse, and died July 7, 1899; Frank, died May 3, 1894, unmarried ; John (2), died January 6, 1880. These sons were all connected with the Drake wholesale grocery founded by their father and yet conducted by their descendants.
Emily Drake, the seventh child, was educated at San Souci Seminary, Ballston Spa, Saratoga county, New York. She married, as stated, James Whitfield Wood, whom she survives, a resident of Easton. They are the parents of three children : I. Margaret Drake, born May 5, 1877, died Feb- ruary 19, 1879. 2. Frederick Raymond, born January 19, 1880; educated in Easton preparatory schools, Lafayette College, A.B., 1901, and in Berlin and Paris in violin, music and languages ; he became associated with his father in business, and is now secretary of the Tippett & Wood Company. 3. Einily, born August 19, 1884, died January 13, 1890.
So the busy, useful life of James W. Wood was spent, every talent con- fided to him having been used and made to return an increase. Ile gave freely of himself to every just demand, and leaves with his son the wealth he accumulated and the business he founded, a record of an honorable life much given to good works. His death was a distinct loss to the community in which the greater part of his life was passed, and there, where best known and best appreciated, he is the most deeply mourned.
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