USA > Pennsylvania > Northampton County > History of Northampton County [Pennsylvania] and the grand valley of the Lehigh, Volume II > Part 59
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JACOB FATZINGER-A native son of Northampton county, Jacob Fatzinger was not only a civil engineer and surveyor of high reputation, but a citizen of merit and work, well read and fully informed on all questions of public importance. He was particularly well informed on matters of county history, his knowledge of the Indians of the county, their lives, customs and habits, being unusual in a business man. The family is found in Allen town- ship, Northampton county, Pennsylvania, as early as 1772, George Fatzinger, his wife, and three children living there in that year.
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Jacob Fatzinger, to whose memory this review of a worthy life is dedi- cated, was a son of Capt. Jacob Fatzinger, who was born in Waterloo, New York, and there spent his youth and early manhood. He learned the cabinet- maker's trade, and was skilled in his craft when he came to Northampton county, locating in Allen township, where many of his family name resided. There he bought a farm and grist-mill, the latter built in 1790, and yet stand- ing, but not in operation. At the farm, Capt. Jacob Fatzinger worked at his trade, made furniture, built coffins, also operated the grist-mill and cultivated his farm. He was one of the successful, substantial men of the township, a Whig in politics, and active in the militia for many years, attaining the rank of captain. After the birth of the Republican party he connected himself
with that organization, and supported its candidates until his death in 1880. He_retired from business several years prior to his death, and spent those ycars in Allentown. He was reared in the faith of the Protestant Episcopal church, but on coming to Northampton county, there being no church of his own creed nearby, he united with the Lutheran church, and ever afterward was faithful to that faith. He is buried in Howertown Union Church Ceme- tery. Capt. Jacob Fatzinger married in Weaversville, Pennsylvania, Drucilla Weaver, daughter of Michael Weaver, a soldier of the War of 1812, an old and respected citizen of Allen township. They were the parents of two chil- dren: Jacob (2), of further mention; Caroline, who died in mature life in Weaversville, Pennsylvania, and is buried at Howertown.
Jacob (2) Fatzinger, only son of Capt. Jacob (I) and Drucilla (Weaver) Fatzinger, was born at Weaversville, then Allen township, Northampton county, Pennsylvania, August 9, 1841, and died November 27, 1883. He spent his youth at the homestead, there attended the district school, and grew up familiar with farm work and mill duties. From the public school he passed to Weaversville Academy, and there he advanced in mathematics and became interested in civil engineering and surveying. He continued study along those lines until he became proficient, then engaged professionally, and nearly all his life was employed in engineering and surveying activities, principally in the western part of the county. As a civil engineer and sur- veyor he was most proficient and exact, and was consulted on important matters as a professional expert. He inherited the homestead farm and grist- mill, made improvements on both, and operated them until his own death at the early age of forty-two years, at his home.
Mr. Fatzinger became one of the best known men in the county, and was held in high esteem by his many friends and acquaintances. He was deeply interested in all that pertained to his fellowmen, and to Northampton count . in particular he gave much time and study concerning its past history. Indian history held an unusual attraction for him, and he gathered a great deal of data, beginning with the Delaware Indians when they roamed the county as its owners down to their extinction as a factor in county history. This data, neatly written and arranged, is now in the possession of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and can be seen at their building at the corner of Thirteenth and Locust streets, Philadelphia. He was an interested member of that society during his lifetime, and also of the Waterloo (New York) Historical Society. He was a member of Porter Lodge No. 282, Free and Accepted Masons, of Catasauqua ; was a Lutheran in his religious faith, and a teacher in the Sunday school. Broad-minded and intellectual, his books, studies and home furnished him his greatest enjoyments, and his life was a valuable one, even though cut short while hardly in its prime.
Jacob Fatzinger married, October 24, 1878, Ellen Jane Eckert, born at Siegfried, now Northampton, Pennsylvania, who survives him, daughter of Edward and Diana (Arner) Eckert. Mrs. Fatzinger was educated in the public schools at Siegfried and Kutztown, finishing at Kutztown State Nor- mal, there qualifying as a teacher. She taught the Siegfried public schools for four years prior to her marriage, and was rated one of the best of teachers.
THE NASTYO K PUBLIC LIETANY
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Since being left a widow she has remained at the homestead with her only son, whose early education she made her particular case. She is an active member of Howertown Lutheran Church, and a teacher in the Sunday school A lady of education and culture, she was a most congenial helpmeet, and as wife and mother, devoted to her home. The only child of Jacob and Ellen J. (Eckert) Fatzinger is a son, Thomas Edwin, born at the homestead, Febru- ary 24, 1883. He was educated in the public schools, Nazareth Hall and Lafayette College, and now manages the homestead, thereon residing with his widowed mother.
Mrs. Ellen Jane (Eckert) Fatzinger is of an ancient Northampton county family, a great-granddaughter of Balzer Eckert, a farmer and landowner, who married Margaret Gilmore, of Easton, a lady of Scotch-Irish ancestry. John and Margaret Eckert were the parents of Edward Eckert, born at the Mount Bethel township homestead, March 18, 1815. He there grew to manhood, later moving to Allen township, where he continued a farmer near Keiderson- ville, until his removal to Siegfried, now the borough of Northampton. There he was in mercantile business for a time, then became proprietor of the Rising Sun Hotel, continuing the management of that hotel for eighteen years. Later he was proprietor of a hotel at Newport, Pennsylvania, then rented the Camel store at Newport from the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Com- pany, and was its managing owner for some years. He also became interested in cement manufacturing, being one of the first to engage in the manufacture cf that commodity in the Newport section. For thirteen years he continued in successful business, but the great freshet of 1862, when the Lehigh river rose to a destructive height, swept away his plant and business, they repre- senting the savings of a lifetime. After viewing the ruin of his fortunes, he at once began to rebuild them, accepting as his first position the superin- tendency of the washery at Jeanesville. After a short time there he took a position as traveling salesman for an Allentown (Pennsylvania) hat manu- facturer, and for several years he traveled by horse and buggy all over Eastern Pennsylvania. He built up a large trade in that industry, and was one of the best salesmen in his line. He was also a well known auctioneer, greatly in demand for auction sales so common in farming communities. Honorable and upright, he was held in high esteem by a very wide circle of friends. Ile ended his days with his devoted daughter, Mrs. Ellen Jane (Eckert) Fatz- inger, at her farm at Weaversville, she lovingly ministering to the needs of his declining years until his death, October 18, 1906, at the great age of ninety- one years. He continued active and in the full use of his mental powers until the very last, and gave little evidence of the weight of years that he was carrying. He was captain of the local cavalry militia company, and was very fond of military drill and parades. He was a member of the Stone Lutheran Church in Allen township, and always was faithful to his church obligations. He was interested in local politics, and always supported the Republican ticket. He was a member of the Masonic order and of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, taking an active part in lodge affairs for many years.
Edward Eckert married Diana Arner, daughter of Nicholas Arner, she dying at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Jacob Fatzinger, March 13, 1893. a devoted member of the Reformed church. They were the parents of eight children: Owen, who resides at the Fatzinger homestead: Reuben 11., of Brooklyn, New York; Sybilla, residing with her sister, Mrs. Fatzinger; George Alfred, deceased; Amanda, now deceased; John Franklin, deceased ; Ellen Jane, widow of Jacob Fatzinger, of previous mention.
PAUL CORRELL, M.D .- Under Dr. Correll's skillful guidance, Dr Correll's Hospital, Easton, an institution devoted exclusively to surgical cases. has developed into one of the largest and most helpful hospitals of its kind in Eastern Pennsylvania. Dr. Correll is a leader among the younger genera- tion of surgeons in the city, and is rapidly attaining distinction as a surgeon
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far beyond city lines. He is the youngest of the three children of James W. and Ida (Otto) Correll, of Easton.
Dr. Paul Correll was born in Easton, January 7, 1884, and began his education in the public schools. He completed preparatory study at Lerch's Academy, going thence to Lafayette College, where he completed the fresh- man and sophomore years. He then withdrew to enter medical college, matric- ulating at Medico-Chirurgical Medical College, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, class of 1906. After completing his course and receiving his M.D., Dr. Cor- rell became resident physician at Elizabeth General Hospital, Elizabeth, New Jersey, there serving two years and gaining valuable experience. He then returned to his alma mater as a member of the personal staff of Dr. W. L. Rod- man, professor of surgery at the college, and at the time of his death president of the American Medical Association. He remained at Medico-Chirurgical College as Dr. Rodman's clinical and private assistant until 1914, and during the period 1911-14 was lecturer on surgery. This was wonderful equipment and experience for the young physician, and when in 1914 he located in Easton, it was with the utmost confidence that he at once organized and opened Dr. Correll's Hospital in that city. He has surrounded himself with an able staff of assistants, and has met with a most gratifying success in his ambition to establish a high class private institution for the treatment of surgical cases. His assistants in surgery are: Dr. S. A. Krebs and Dr. A. H. Coleman ; pathologist and bacteriologist, Dr. Clayton P. Struthers ; chief of the Roentgen Ray department, Dr. Frederick Sherrer ; anesthetist, Dr. E. L. Hoffman ; internist, Dr. John H. West ; superintendent, Miss Jessie Crowe ; and a highly capable staff of nurses. Dr. Correll has in contemplation the erection of a fifty-bed, entirely modern, fireproof building as a new hospital.
Dr. Correll is a member of the Northampton County Medical Society, the Pennsylvania State Medical Society, the American Medical Association, As- sociation of Military Surgeons of the United States, Theta Delta Chi fratern- ity, Easton Board of Trade, Pomfret Club, Kiwanis Club, Covenant Lodge No. 456, Free and Accepted Masons, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a Republi- can in politics, and a member of the First Reformed Church. During the recent war with Germany he enlisted in the Medical Officers' Corps, United States Army, was commissioned captain, and served four and a half months at Base Hospital, Joseph E. Johnston Camp, Jacksonville, Florida. Out-of- door recreation appeals to him, tennis, motoring, hunting and fishing all being favored as time and opportunity permits.
Dr. Correll married, February 2, 1911, Bertha M., daughter of J. Walter and Almira (Wagner) Ingham, of Phillipsburg, New Jersey. They are the parents of a daughter, Shirley Ingham Correll.
PROF. JAMES MADISON PORTER-Third of the James Madison Porters whose lives have been spent in the city of Easton, Pennsylvania, all professional men, grandfather a lawyer and jurist, the father a lawyer of high standing, both members of the Northampton bar, the grandson and twentieth century representative a civil engineer of high degree, and a member of the faculty of Lafayette College until the close of the June term, 1917.
(I) He is a descendant of Robert Porter, who came from the Isle of Bert, Ireland, to Londonderry, New Hampshire, in 1720. His Irish home was about nine miles from Derry, the famous city of the North of Ireland, and there he owned land and tilled his own acres. Descendants yet are to be found who are living on a part of the land Robert Porter owned.
The American ancestor did not long remain in New Hampshire, but soon journeyed westward, finally locating in now Worcester township, Montgom- ery county, Pennsylvania, where he engaged in general farming until his death at his farm about four miles from Norristown, in July, 1770, his years then having reached seventy-two. Nine sons and five daughters perpetuated his name, some settling in the South, some in the West, some remaining in
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Pennsylvania. Among the latter was a son Andrew, the most successful and prominent of all the founder's sons, and the great-grandfather of James Madison (3) Porter.
(II) Andrew Porter, son of Robert Porter, was born at the farm near Norristown, Pennsylvania, September 4, 1743, and died in Harrisburg, Penn- sylvania, November 16, 1813. He was forward in his studies, and while still very young displayed unusual mathematical talent. In 1767 he became a teacher in an English and mathematical school in Philadelphia, continuing there until 1776, winning high reputation as an educator, was at the head of his own school of one hundred pupils, and ranked as an expert astronomer. In 1776 he was commissioned a captain of marines by the American Con- gress, and ordered to duty on the frigate Effingham. Not liking the service, he was transferred to land duty with the same rank, but rapidly rose to the rank of major, lieutenant-colonel and colonel of the Fourth Pennsylvania Regi- ment of Artillery. He was engaged with his regiment at Princeton, Trenton, Brandywine and Germantown, and was personally commended by General Washington for his bravery. Later he was engaged in special work in con- nection with arranging for munitions to be used in the siege of Yorktown, and in 1779 was with General Sullivan's expedition against the Six Nations, his last active military service.
In 1783, having settled upon his farm in Montgomery county, he was offered a professorship in the University of Pennsylvania, but declined it. In 1784-87 he was one of the commissioners chosen to run the boundary lines of Pennsylvania, and also aided in fixing the western termination of the Mason and Dixon line. In 1801 he was made a brigadier-general of Pennsyl- vania Militia, later a major-general, and in 1809 was appointed surveyor gen- eral of Pennsylvania. He declined appointment to President Monroe's cabi- net, as he did a commission as brigadier-general in the United States Army, both being tendered him during the year 1812-13. General Porter married (first), March 10, 1767. Elizabeth McDowell, who bore him five children. He married (second), May 20. 1777, Elizabeth Parker, the mother of eight children.
(III) James Madison Porter, son of Gen. Andrew Porter and his second wife, Elizabeth (Parker) Porter, was born January 6, 1793, and died at his home in Easton, November 11, 1862. Like his brother, David Rittenhouse Porter, who was governor of Pennsylvania, 1839, he was educated for the profession of law and became an eminent member of the Pennsylvania bar. During the War of 1812 he volunteered as a private, but was afterwards a commissioned officer. In 1818 he located in Easton, Pennsylvania, and for over forty years practiced his profession with great success. He was a mem- ber of the State Constitutional Convention of 1838, and was defeated for the presidency of the convention by John Sargent, who led him by one vote. He was president judge of the judicial district, comprising the counties of Dau- phin, Lebanon and Schuylkill, in 1843, when appointed secretary of war by President Tyler, and then until his death in 1862, practiced law privately and sat upon the district bench. He was one of the founders of Lafayette Col- lege, first president of board of trustees, and for a quarter of a century a member of its board of trustees, also a lecturer in the law department of the college. He was an official of the Lehigh Valley railroad, prominent in the Masonic order, and a member of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania. IIe married Eliza, daughter of Peter Michler, of Easton, and they were the parents of seven children.
(IV) James Madison (2) Porter, son of Judge James Madison (I) and Eliza (Michler) Porter, was born in Easton, Pennsylvania, in 1834, and died August 1, 1879. After study and preparation in public and private schools, he entered Lafayette College, whence he was graduated A.B., class of 1857. He prepared for the legal profession under his distinguished father, and in turn became an eminent member of the Northampton bar. His life was cut off just in its prime, but he proved well his worth, and as district attorney
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and private practitioner ranked with his leading contemporaries, and while he held some local offices, he never sought nor desired political preferment, preferring to serve his city as a private citizen. Outside his profession, Free Masonry was his greatest interest, and in that body he attained the highest degree, the thirty-third, of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, a degree which he crossed the ocean to have conferred upon him. He was a past offi- cial of many Masonic bodies, and an authority on Masonic laws and practice. He was, like his father, a Democrat in politics, and in religious faith was a Presbyterian. He married Ruth Pearson Cook, a daughter of Dr. Silas Cook, of Easton. They were the parents of a son, James Madison, of further men- tion, and of a daughter, Eliza Michler, who married Ross H. Skillem, M.D., a leading physician of Philadelphia.
(V) James Madison (3) Porter, only son of James Madison (2) and Ruth Pearson (Cook) Porter, was born in Easton, Pennsylvania, May 10, 1864. After public school courses in Easton, he prepared at Blairstown (New Jer- sey) Seminary, and Centenary Collegiate Institute at Hackettstown, entering Lafayette College in 1882. He was graduated C.E., class of 1886, and at once entered the employ of Tippett & Wood, structural iron manufacturers of Phillipsburg, New Jersey, having also during his student term been employed on Lehigh railroad work. He continued with that firm until 1888. then spent a year abroad, and upon returning in July, 1890, accepted an assistant professorship at Lafayette. In 1890 he was elected a member of the faculty of Lafayette, and filled the chair of civil engineering at his alma mater until the close of the college year in 1917. Since that time he has given his services as consulting engineer, specializing in structural work. He is president of the Easton Bridge Company, vice-president of the General Crushed Stone Company, and has been connected professionally with many large engineering prospects. He is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Engineers' clubs of Philadelphia and New York, the International Association for Testing Materials, the Society for the Promotion of Engineering Educa- tion, past secretary and charter member of the American Society for Testing Materials, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and formerly was secretary of Section D of that association. His clubs are the Pomfret, of which he is a manager, University of Philadelphia, University Club of New York, Engineers' Club of New York, and the Northampton County Country Club, which he serves as a member of the board of managers. His college fraternities are Zeta Psi and Phi Beta Kappa. In politics he is independent, and in religious faith a Presbyterian.
Professor Porter married, November 15, 1888, Mary Virginia Drake, of Easton, and they are the parents of a son, James Madison (4) Porter, born March 7, 1896, now, 1918, an ensign in the United States Naval Air Forces, Foreign Service, France. The family home is the old Porter residence in Easton, in which was held the first meeting of the board of directors of the Lehigh Valley railroad, over which Judge James Madison Porter presided. Professor Porter is the author of various text books on engineering and metal testing, and the inventor of instruments and machines for testing metals of all kinds. He is a man of friendly, genial disposition, most hospitable, and enjoys both the pleasures of motoring and the less speedy but also less hazardous game of golf.
CHARLES LEWIS APPLETON-During many years of his useful life, Charles L. Appleton was an engineer on the Lehigh Valley railroad, although his earlier life had been spent on the farm. By his marriage to George Emma Trego he became connected with one of the old Bucks county fami- lies, she a granddaughter of Louis and Susan (Willard) Trego, and a daughi- ter of George W. and Eliza Ann (Neald) Trego, of Bucks county, Pennsyl- vania. Mrs. Appleton is a descendant of John Trego, the ancestor of this Bucks county branch, he a grandson of Peter and Judith Trego, who came
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from France to Delaware county, Pennsylvania, about 1685, Peter Trego purchasing land in Middletown township, now Delaware, then Chester, county.
Charles Lewis Appleton was a son of Alfred Appleton, who was born near New Hope, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, and there spent nearly his entire life. After his marriage to Anna Mary Dilts he became a farmer, and so continued until his death at the home of his daughter in Bristol, Penn- sylvania. His wife was born in Lambertville, New Jersey, and died at Buckmanville, Pennsylvania. Their children were: Charles L., of whom further ; Mary E .; Davis; William and Esther. When Alfred Appleton, the father of these children, was ten years of age, his father left home to visit his parents in Dayton, Ohio, and was never again heard from.
Charles L. Appleton was born in Buckmanville, Bucks county, Penn- sylvania, twelve miles east of Doylestown, December 3, 1851, and died at Easton, Pennsylvania, March 19, 1918. He attended the public schools until fourteen years of age, then' left home to make his own way in the world. He began work with Edwin Smith, a farmer and tanner, with whom he remained nine years, then at the age of twenty-three again sought new fields, spending two years in different places. He then returned home and spent six years on the farm of a Mr. Heston. During that period of his life he married a Miss Trego, and soon afterward rented a farm at Mechanics- ville, Bucks county, and there remained two years. One year was then spent at Newtown, in the same county, and another at Doylestown, Mr. Appleton being superintendent of the farm owned by Harry Liesaleer. His next employment was with the railroad, he becoming a fireman upon the Reading railroad running between Doylestown and Philadelphia, and later as an extra between Norristown and Philadelphia. He then moved to Philadelphia, and having been promoted engineer, ran a shifting engine in the Philadelphia yards until 1893, when he moved to Easton, becoming an engineer of the Lehigh Valley. For twenty-two years he ran the com- muters' train between Easton and New York City, and during sixteen years of that time he had the same foreman, Frank Case. The last three years of his life he was engineer of what was known as the "Florence Helper." and met death accidentally at the round house by falling from his engine, February 12, 1918, and never recovering, death resulting March 9, following. He was of a Presbyterian family, but in Easton he and Mrs. Appleton were members of the Memorial Methodist Church, Mr. Appleton serving as trus- tee of that congregation. He was a Republican in politics, but a very quiet man of domestic tastes, very fond of his home and family. He was well liked and highly esteemed by all who knew him, regret at his sudden death being widespread and genuine.
Mr. Appleton married, March 16, 1878, George Emma Trego, born February 8, 1862, who was named after her father, George W. Trego, who was then at the front with the Union Army. She was born at Mechanics- ville, Bucks county, but when two years of age was taken to the old Trego farm of two hundred acres, four miles north of Newtown, Bucks county. and there she was educated in the public school, her first teacher, Miss Kate Olcott, who taught the Highlands school for twenty-eight years. . Since being left a widow Mrs. Appleton continues her residence at the family home, No. 904 Lehigh street. She is the mother of three children: Anna Belle, who died aged fifteen years; Lulu May, married Ira James Miller, they the parents of Clara F. and Belle Augusta, the family home at Dunellen, New Jersey ; Charles Raymond, died aged six years.
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