History of Northampton County [Pennsylvania] and the grand valley of the Lehigh, Volume III, Part 19

Author: Heller, William Jacob; American Historical Society, Inc
Publication date: 1920
Publisher: Boston ; New York [etc.] : The American Historical Society
Number of Pages: 574


USA > Pennsylvania > Northampton County > History of Northampton County [Pennsylvania] and the grand valley of the Lehigh, Volume III > Part 19


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Mr. Crowder married, May 24, 1917, Jeannette Stryker, daughter of Wil- liam A. and Anna (Shields) Stryker, of Washington, New Jersey. "Irs. Crowder is a graduate of Chevy Chase Seminary, Washington, District of Columbia. They are the parents of a daughter, Anna Elizabeth.


JAMES BARNARD NEAL-While Mr. Neal is a successful business man and a high official of important corporations, he is a scientist, an author- ity on ornithology, and a student of that equally fascinating study, oology. From boyhood the study of mythology and oology held especial interest for him, and during the course of his life he made a fine collection of North American birds numbering about twenty-five hundred specimens, which he has since presented to Lafayette College. He is a son of Edward and Mary (Linscott) Neal, of Jarrettown, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania.


James Barnard Neal was born in Jarrettown, Pennsylvania, January 18, 1870. He was educated in Friends Central School, Philadelphia, Knight's Sunnyside Academy, Ambler, Pennsylvania, and Pierce's Business College, Philadelphia, finishing with graduation from the last named institution in April, 1887. On April 9, 1888, he entered the employ of C. K. Williams & Company, of Easton, as bookkeeper, the Neal and Williams families having been friendly neighbors in Jarrettown before the removal of Joseph Thomp- son Williams and his sons to Easton. The business of C. K. Williams & Company is one of magnitude and many ramifications, but may be described


/ Karry M. Comander


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as a corporation manufacturing special products and engaged in the mining, importing and producing of raw materials used in the manufacture of crock- ery, glass and fine china. Mr. Neal continued as bookkeeper until advanced to the position of correspondent and office manager. He held that position until October 28, 1906, when the business was incorporated as C. K. Williams & Company, with Mr. Neal as secretary of the company. The company has various subsidiaries in different parts of the country, and in the organization of these corporations Mr. Neal took an active part in addition to his duties with the parent company. He is vice-president of the Florida China Clay Company, secretary of the Easton Explosion Company, both subsidiary to C. K. Williams & Company.


Mr. Neal is a member of the Easton Board of Trade, the Young Men's Christian Association, Easton Lodge and Easton Chapter, Masonic Order, the Methodist Episcopal church, and in politics a Republican. His clubs are the Pomfret and Northampton County Country, his recreations those of the open, particularly golf, motoring and fishing. His love of bird life and his deep knowledge thereof has been intense, and although his enthusiasm as a col- lector has waned, his love for those twin studies, ornithology and oology, is as great as ever and he delights in out-of-doors life. An entirely unrelated interest or fad, if you please, is a love for the antique in furniture and blue china, his collection of both showing his rare skill as a collector of the his- torically valuable in these art crafts. The antique in Oriental rugs has also attracted him, and in all he ranks as a connoisseur.


Mr. Neal married, December 25, 1914, Helen, daughter of H. G. Shull, of Martins Creek, Northampton county, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Neal is an active worker in the church, and rendered especially valuable service in the filling of Easton's war chest and in the various Liberty Loan drives, the team she led in the Fourth Liberty Loan being the most successful of all the teams com- posed entirely of women. Mr. and Mrs. Neal are the parents of two daugh- ters, Margaret Mary and Helen Jane.


JACOB BRODT ILLICK-This name, sometimes spelled Illig, was brought to Northampton county by Rudolph Illick in 1730. The Illicks have chosen various channels of occupation-agriculture, educators, ministers and lawyers. They have held the name sacred for its honor and integrity. Ru- dolph Illick was the father of John Christopher Illick, a farmer of Northamp- ton county, who died in 1818, and was the father of three sons: Christopher (2) ; John Frederick, who settled in Williams township, Northampton county ; and John, who settled in New York State, where some of his descendants now reside, including his daughter Elizabeth, the wife of John Florey. Chris- topher Illick settled on a farm in Upper Mount Bethel township, Northampton county. He was a cabinetmaker by trade, but a large part of his life was spent at his farm. He married a Susannah Brodt, and both died at the farm in Upper Mount Bethel township. Both were members of the Lutheran church, and he was an official of the then Centerville Church. Both lived to an advanced age.


Jacob Brodt Illick, son of Christopher and Susannah (Brodt) Illick, was born at the home farm in Upper Mount Bethel township, Northampton county, Pennsylvania, October 20, 1814, and died in California about 1880. He was educated in the district school, his attendance, like that of the aver- age farmer boy, being during the winter months only. He remained at the home farm until legal age, then left home and went to Belvidere, New Jersey, where he clerked in a store. Later he opened a store in Stockertown, North- ampton county. In 1849 he was caught in the mad rush for gold that began with the discovery of that precious metal in California. He sailed around the Horn, but at Valparaiso the vessel he was on had to put in for repairs, and it was a full year from the date of his departure from Pennsylvania before he


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arrived in San Francisco. He was with a company of young men from Phila- delphia who had formed a company, of which he was vice-president. The company was founded for mining operations, and he remained one of the officials for several years. Later he consolidated his interests with another Pennsylvanian, and together they owned valuable mining property. He re- mained in the gold fields several years, meeting with a fair degree of success, then, his health breaking down under the hard labor and exposure, he retired to a more congenial occupation in a more suitable climate. He conducted a ranch for several years before his death for the Caliveras Company in Cali- fornia. He died about 1880, and was buried in California.


Mr. Illick married, in Easton, Cecelia Eva Probst, born in Forks town- ship, Northampton county, in 1815, her parents moving to Easton in 1825. She died in Easton in 1887, and is buried in the Easton Cemetery. They were the parents of three children, of whom Mary Catherine Illick, of Easton, is the only survivor. Mrs. Illick was a daughter of Rev. John Augustus Probst, born in Saxony, Germany, who came to the United States at the age of nine- teen years, his parents both having died in Germany. He had been a student at the University of leipzig, specializing in medicine. In Pennsylvania he began theological study under Rev. Charles Muhlenberg, of Lancaster, and later was ordained a minister of the Lutheran church. He was an able, devout man, and all his ministerial life was an untiring worker for the church he loved. He continued in the active ministry of the church until his death in Easton in 1844, having pastoral charge of the Forks, Centerville and Wil- liams township churches, serving but three churches during his thirty years in the ministry. Rev. John A. Probst, whilst a minister of a high order, was also deeply interested in civic and public affairs. By appointment of the governor, he filled the office of recorder of deeds of Northampton county, Pennsylvania. He was a friend and co-worker of Thaddeus Stevens in his political activities. Rev. John A. Probst married, in York, Pennsylvania, Catherine Maria Weiser, daughter of Samuel Weiser, who came to York from Wormelsdorf, Berks county, Pennsylvania. A son of Samuel, one Jacob Weiser, was a soldier in the War of 1812. John Conrad Weiser was the founder of this family in Pennsylvania, he coming from the Rhine Palatinate in 1710 with several of his then motherless children. He settled in Schoharie county, New York, and engaged in farming, his son, Conrad Weiser, later settling in Berks county, Pennsylvania, and living for a time in Reading. Conrad became an Indian interpreter, serving the government in that and other important positions. He visited Easton at an early date, acting as inter- preter in treaty-making discussions between the white and red men. A daugh- ter of Conrad Weiser married the Rev. Henry Melchoir Muhlenberg, a pio- neer Lutheran minister in Pennsylvania. Rev. John A. Probst had a family of two sons and one daughter, the latter the wife of Jacob B. Illick, and mother of Mary Catherine Illick. His sons were: Emilius F., who was one of Easton's best known citizens, intellectual, pleasing in manner and compan- ionable, who died in 1905, at the age of eighty-seven years; Dr. Franklin A., died in Easton at the age of twenty-five years, soon after engaging in practice.


Mary Catherine Illick, only living child of Jacob Brodt and Cecelia Eva (Probst) Illick, continues her residence in Easton. She is a member of St. John's Lutheran Church, active in religious and charitable work. She is a member of the Northampton County Historical Society, a charter member of Easton Hospital, and at present, president of the board of trustees. She is interested also in the work of the Social Service League, of which she is a charter member, and most of the time since its organization has been an officer of the Missionary Society of St. John's Lutheran Church. From her eighteenth year she has been a teacher in the Sunday school. She is a mem- ber of the Women's Club, and is always ready to assist any and all things of a charitable nature.


The American Historical Society


Eng. by E G Williams & Bro NY


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HOWARD F. KOCH-The ancestor of this branch of the Koch family was Adam Koch, who arrived in Philadelphia from Germany, May 30, 1741, and settled in Whitehall township, Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, where his name is found on a tax list of 1762. His wife, Anna Maria, was born in 1701, and died in 1776. This branch of the family settled in Northampton county, Pennsylvania, where Daniel Koch, a son of John and Susanna (Schnable) Koch, is now living a retired life at his farm near Easton. He is one of the successful farmers of the county, and all his life has been spent in that locality. Daniel Koch married Margaret Arner. They are the parents of a son, How- ard F., and a daughter, Lauranda S., wife of Andrew Wimmer, they the parents of a son, Howard L., and a daughter Alice. Mr. and Mrs. Wimmer reside at the home farm, Mr. Wimmer being employed in an Easton silk mill.


Howard F. Koch, son of Daniel and Margaret (Arner) Koch, was born at the paternal farm in Northampton county, Pennsylvania, February 15, 1868. He attended the district public schools during his boyhood, later fin- ishing his studies at Easton Academy in Easton. On June 4, 1888, he entered the employ of Luckenbach & Krause, a firm which later became the J. S. Krause Hardware Company, Inc., this firm incorporating as such in 1909. That business, originally conducted by J. Samuel Krause and Owen A. Luckenbach, became the sole property of J. Samuel Krause in 1889, and was conducted by him personally as the Krause Hardware Company until its in- corporation. The company's store is located in Bethlehem, and is one of the solid, substantial business houses of the city. For twenty-one years prior to the incorporation, Mr. Koch was connected with the business, attaining re- sponsible position. When the business was incorporated in 1909, he was chosen vice-president and manager of the company, and is the practical man- aging head of the business. He is a business man of fine ability, energetic, honorable and upright. By nature a genial, attractive personality, he makes friends readily and has that happy faculty of making friends of mere acquaint- ances. He is a member of the Reformed church, is independent in his politi- cal belief, a member of the Bethlehem Rotary Club, and of the Bethlehem Club. He is first vice-president and member of the board of directors and organizer of the Citizens' Building & Loan Association of Bethlehem. He is president of the Anti-Tuberculosis branch of the Associated Charities and a director of that organization. He was one of the original committee that organized and directed the Bethlehem War Chest, and was active in the war loan campaigns, and is also a director of the credit bureau of the Chamber of Commerce.


Mr. Koch married, April 26, 1894, Julia A. Bond, daughter of Joseph H. and Sarah (Sterner) Bond, of Brodheadsville, a village of Monroe county, twenty-two miles from Easton. The Koch family home is in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.


SAMUEL LE ROY CAUM-His name, now best known in relation to real estate operations, Samuel Le Roy Caum, is a graduate engineer, a per- sonal friend and for some years a business associate of the great inventor, Mr. Edison. Mr. Caum was born at Altoona, Pennsylvania, the son of Ezra A. and Annie Elizabeth (Treese) Caum, May 22, 1882. Ezra A. Caum died in 1914, being then sixty-three years of age. He had developed a successful and substantial wholesale ice cream business in Altoona, and his death came suddenly through becoming entangled in the machinery of his plant. His tragic death was a shock to his wide circle of friends in Altoona, where the Caum family has been held in high esteem. After the death of her husband, Mrs. Caum took over the direction of the business, still keeping the factory in satisfactory operation, aided by two of her sons. The children of Ezra A. and Annie Elizabeth (Treese) Caum were: I. Samuel Le Roy, of whom fur- ther. 2. Mary, who married Robert P. Graham, supervisor on the Pennsyl-


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vania railroad at Barnesboro, Pennsylvania, to whom she bore two children : Janet and Robert. 3. Ezra Arthur, who assists his mother in the direction of the business in Altoona; married Margaret Hughes, and has a son John. 4. Wallace B., a successful restaurant proprietor in Altoona, married Char- lotte May, of Philadelphia. 5. Harry L., also employed in the ice cream factory ; married Mary Stahle, of Altoona, and has one son, Edwin Le Roy. 6. Thomas L., a draftsman in the Altoona shops of the Pennsylvania railroad. 7. Frank L., died in infancy. 8. Elizabeth, attending college. 9. Martha, attending school.


Samuel Le Roy Caum first attended the public schools of Altoona, Penn- sylvania, graduating from high school in the class of 1900. It was his father's desire that he have professional training, and the following fall he matriculated at Lehigh University in the engineering course, being graduated in 1904 with the degree of M.E. He took up professional work at once, and for five years was chief draftsman for the Edison Portland Cement Company of New Jer- sey, during his employment at that plant becoming a personal friend of the eminent inventor, Thomas A. Edison. In 1910, Mr. Caum came to Bethlehem and opened an office in that city, specializing in real estate and insurance. He has since developed a prosperous business covering all lines of insurance, also building and loan operations. He is secretary of the Equitable Building & Loan Association, of the Industrial Building & Loan Association, and the South Bethlehem Building & Loan Association, and a member of the board of directors of each. He is secretary of the Citizens' Realty Company and a member of the board of directors, a director and executive committeeman of the South Bethlehem National Bank and vice-president of the Bethlehem Real Estate Board.


Mr. Caum is an aggressive, active man of optimistic outlook, and has been successful in his line in Bethlehem. He has not been able to devote his entire time to real estate, as on several occasions he has been recalled in his professional capacity to undertake designing for the Thomas A. Edison Company, but he is popular among the business fraternity of the city and with them will undoubtedly share in Bethlehem's future development. He was active in all of the war work in which Bethlehem made such a splendid record, and in addition to supporting the numerous drives of the government and relief organizations assisted the Draft Board of District No. 3 through- out the war. He is a member of Bethlehem Chamber of Commerce, member and one of the board of directors of the South Side Business Association. Inde- pendent in political opinions, Mr. Caum follows national affairs with keen in- terest. He has never participated in political work, but is enthusiastic in all that bears on the progress of the city, and is an interested member of the Rotary Club, one of Bethlehem's strongest and most effective organizations of business men. Mr. Caum also belongs to the Bethlehem Club, and to all the Masonic bodies with the exception of the consistory. He is also a mem- ber of the Lulu Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of Philadelphia, and also of Hobah Lodge No. 364, Knights of Pythias, of Bethlehem. Mr. Caum is a devotee of out-of-door recreation, especially motoring. He is a patron of all college sports, is a lover of music, and for eight years has been director of St. Mark's Lutheran Church choir, and in college was active in college glee club work, and was leader and violinist in the Lehigh College Orchestra.


On December 7, 1904, Mr. Caum married Elizabeth Beatrice, daughter of Andrew L. and Lucy C. (Rhoad) Cope, of Bethlehem, a sketch of whom follows. Mrs. Cope died July 20, 1919. Mr. and Mrs. Caum have an attrac- tive home on Prospect avenue. Both are members of the Lutheran church. contributors to its support with their time and means. The parents of Mrs. Caum were Lutherans of firm conviction.


ANDREW LITZENBERGER COPE-First coming to Bethlehem as a teacher in the public schools, Andrew L. Cope soon found his real field of


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endeavor in real estate operations, and during the greater part of five decades filled a conspicuous position in the business life of the city. His work was constructive in its physical aspect, and constructiveness was the keynote of his activity in every department of Bethlehem's life, business, civic, religious and philanthropic. He was identified with the founding of many institutions that have stood the tests of time and changing conditions, and in every good work he was a dependable factor. In a life of great activity, abounding in helpful usefulness, two things stand out most clearly as monuments to his strong business judgment and to a generous, loving spirit of charity. These are, respectively, a leading part in the organization of three noted building and loan associations that have contributed heavily to the development of the city, and a lifelong and sincere friendship for orphaned and crippled chil- dren that found perpetuation in his will.


Andrew L. Cope, representative of a pioneer Bucks county family, was a son of Henry and Elizabeth (Litzenberger) Cope, the youngest of ten chil- dren, as follows: Susanna, Amanda, Sarah, Amelia, Ephraim, Amos, Robert, Mahlon, Jeremiah and Andrew L. He was born in Bucks county, Pennsyl- vania, March 19, 1847, and died in Bethlehem, January 8, 1919. He attended the public schools and completed his education in the Millersville State Nor- mal College, then came to Bethlehem as a teacher in the pubilc schools. Impressed with the opportunities for real estate investments in Bethlehem, he soon engaged in dealings in that line and insurance, and throughout a long period of years ranked among the most prominent operators of the dis- trict. His work included building operations, and large numbers of houses were erected on plats opened by him as residence sections. In addition to his private activities, he was the leading spirit in the organization of the South Bethlehem Building & Loan Association, the Industrial Building & Loan Association, and the Equitable Building & Loan Association, and during forty years as secretary of these important organizations he was in great measure responsible for their financial soundness and wide usefulness. Throughout this long period his grasp on the affairs of these associations was constant and thorough, and he was instrumental in aiding literally hundreds of fami- lies to ownership of their homes in financial security. In almost unprece- dented measure he held the confidence and esteem of the officials and stock- holders of these companies, and the administration of his office was efficient and enthusiastically approved. Another business interest was the old Moun- tain Water Company, which supplied the South Side for many years, and of which he was the organizer. He was one of the charter members of the Bethlehem Chamber of Commerce and a firm believer in organizations that brought the business and industrial leaders of the city together in effort for the welfare and prosperity of Bethlehem.


Mr. Cope was a staunch Democrat and was sought in council by his party leaders, but with the exception of his incumbency of the office of tax collector and a member of Council from 1877 to 1880 he never entered public life. Few men, however, worked more zealously in private capacity for the success of progressive measures and for the creation of a strong spirit of civic pride than Andrew L. Cope. He was one of the organizers and a charter member of St. Mark's Lutheran Church, and for many years was a member of its official board. His support of local charities was liberal and constant, and while his gifts and sympathies covered a large field he was particularly con- cerned with the welfare of unfortunate children, and he made provisions for them in his will, the Germantown Home for Orphaned and Crippled Children, the Topton Home for Crippled Children, and the Good Shepherd's Home of Allentown, Pennsylvania, were all named as beneficiaries. He was a member and past chancellor of Hobah Lodge, Knights of Pythias. His life was one of devotion to high personal standards and of strict observance of duty. In business success and prosperity he exercised a careful stewardship that N. H. BIOG .- 27


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brought relief and comfort to many, and his good works made him beloved of a large circle.


Andrew L. Cope married Lucy Catherine, daughter of Charles and Eliza- beth (Bowers) Rhoad. They were the parents of one daughter, Elizabeth Beatrice, who married Samuel Le Roy Caum, whose sketch precedes this. Mrs. Cope died July 20, 1919.


HENRY LERCH-Although a resident of the city of Easton since the year 1888, a period of thirty-one years, Recorder Lerch is a native of Forks township, Northampton county, Pennsylvania, son of John M. Lerch, and grandson of John Lerch. The family dates back to the earliest period of the countv. There is recorded in the first deed book, page 22, April 30, 1754, by Anthony Lerch, property in Lower Saucon township, price £18. John M. Lerch, a farmer of Forks township, married Anna C. Uhler, and they are the parents of Henry Lerch, of Easton, present recorder of deeds for Northamp- ton county.


Henry Lerch was born at the homestead in Forks township, April 3, 1872, and there passed the first sixteen years of his life. He was educated in the public schools of the district, and in the intervals of school life was employed on the home farm. He had little taste for agriculture, and when sixteen years of age left home and came to Easton, which has ever since been his home. He apprenticed himself to a carriage and sign painter, and after thor- oughly learning that trade followed it for many years, abandoning it only when elected to his present office. He was an expert in his business, and his services were always in demand. A Democrat in politics, Mr. Lerch from youthful manhood took a deep interest in political affairs, and was one of the young men of his ward who could always be relied upon for party service. This brought him to the notice of party leaders, and he became influential in his ward, the eighth. In 1906 he was chosen to represent that ward in the Common Council, and in 1915 was the choice of his party for the county office, recorder of deeds, an important position he is most capably filling. He is a member of Dallas Lodge No. 396, Free and Accepted Masons, and Cald- well Consistory, Bloomsburg, Columbia county. Pennsylvania, Ancient Ac- cepted Scottish Rite, in which he holds the thirty-second degree. He is a member also of Rajah Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, Reading, Penn- sylvania ; the Tall Cedars of Lebanon; the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Lodge No. 121, Easton ; the Loyal Order of Moose, Lodge No. 45, Easton ; Jacksonian Democratic Club of Easton ; Palmer Fire Company No. I ; Easton Motor Association ; Noble Order of Equines; the Jacksonian Demo- cratic Club of Nazareth; the Northampton Democratic Association of Beth- lehem, Concordia Maennerchor of Easton, and the Reformed church at Forks, Pennsylvania.




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