USA > Pennsylvania > Northampton County > History of Northampton County [Pennsylvania] and the grand valley of the Lehigh, Volume III > Part 25
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55
WILLIAM CLAY MIDDAUGH D.D.S .- The record of the family of which Dr. Middaugh is a member was founded by Aert Anthonez Middagh, who came from Holland in 1661, and with his wife, Breekje Hansen (Bergen) Middagh, joined the Dutch church in Breuklin (now Brooklyn, New York), September 27, 1664. Breekje Hansen Bergen was the daughter of the first white child born in New Netherland, and granddaughter of John Jansen de Rapalje, a native of Rochelle, France, one of the Walloon founders of Brook- lyn in 1623.
(II) Jan Aertson Middagh, son of Aert Anthonez and Breekje Hansen (Bergen) Middagh, was baptized December 24, 1662, and his will was probated June 6, 1709. He married, June 4, 1690, Elizabeth De Potter Smit.
(III) Pieter Middagh, son of Jan Aertson and Elizabeth De Potter (Smit) Middagh, was a member of the Provincial Council in 1758 (New Jersey Ar- chives, first series, vol. 17; Journal of Provincial Council, 1758, p. 161 and p. 295.) He married Marritje De Mott, daughter of Matthias and Maria (Brinkerhoff) De Mott.
(IV) Peter Middagh, son of Pieter and Marritje (De Mott) Middagh, was born in 1748 in Amwell, Hunterdon county, New Jersey, and died in 1829. (Baptismal records of the Dutch Reformed Church of Readington, New Jersey.) He was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, enlisting in 1776, Fly- ing Camp, and becoming a sergeant, then first lieutenant, and finally captain, Company Eight, Fifth Battalion. His name appears in the Pennsylvania Archives as Peter Meadouch (Pennsylvania Archives, fifth series, vol. viii, P. 389, p. 540; also vol. vii, p. 608-623.) He was executor of his father's will, which was made August 20, 1778, probated October 28, 1790, and recorded at Easton. (Will Book No. 2, p. 100.) He married Mary Moody. He is buried in Lower Mount Bethel Cemetery.
THE OLD JOSEPH HORNER HOMESTEAD. "Irish Settlement." Built 1790.
451
BIOGRAPHICAL
(V) Thomas Middagh, son of Peter and Mary (Moody) Middagh, was born in Lower Mount Bethel. He married Rebecca Bitters, and both are buried in the old Lower Mount Bethel Cemetery.
(VI) William Bitters Middaugh, son of Thomas and Rebecca (Bitters) Middagh, was born in Lower Mount Bethel, in 1816, and died at Easton, November 7, 1897. He was a farmer in his native county during the greater part of his life, retiring in his later years and living with his son, Robert A., in Easton. He married Mary Ayers, and with her is buried in the old Easton Cemetery.
(VII) Robert Ayers Middaugh, son of William Bitters and Mary (Ayers) Middaugh, was born in Lower Mount Bethel, September 12, 1845, died at Easton, April 7, 1914, and is buried in the old Easton Cemetery. After attend- ing schools in Easton and New York City, he began his business career as clerk in the book store of William Maxwell in Centre square, Easton. He then became employed in the office of the superintendent of the Warren Foundry & Machine Company. Later he represented Drake & Company of Easton, and Austin, Nichols & Company of New York, wholesale grocers, remaining with the last-named firm many years. Returning to Easton, he became agent for the Climax, Du Pont, and Hazard Powder Company, and at the time of his death was senior member of the firm of Middaugh & Beisel, insurance agents. Mr. Middaugh was a member of the Masonic order, Dallas Lodge, a past commander of Hugh de Payen Commandery, Knights Templar. He was a Democrat in politics, and a Presbyterian in religious faith. He married, in 1870, Ellen, daughter of George and Christina (Heil) Mutchler. Children of Robert Ayers and Ellen (Mutchler) Middaugh: William Clay, of whom further ; Sallie R., married Charles S. Howell, and has two children, Robert M. and Charles S., Jr.
(VIII) Dr. William Clay Middaugh, son of Robert Ayers and Ellen (Mutchler) Middaugh, was born in Easton, Pennsylvania, September 11, 1871. He was graduated from the Easton High School in 1890, and entered Lafay- ette College, class of 1894. Early in his course he left Lafayette and entered the dental department of the University of Pennsylvania, whence he was graduated with the degree D.D.S. in 1892. He at once opened offices in the Clemens building, No. 433 Northampton street, and there practiced for eleven years, moving in May, 1903, to the First National Bank building, where he has since remained. Dr. Middaugh is a charter member, was first vice-presi- dent, and is an ex-president of the Lehigh Valley Dental Society; is ex- president (1914) of the Susquehanna Dental Society; member of the Penn- sylvania State Dental Society; the National Dental Association; the First District Dental Society of New York; and the Stomatological Club of Phila- delphia. He is a member of the Supreme Chapter of the Delta Sigma Delta fraternity, and his social clubs are the Pomfret and the Northampton Coun- try. He is also a member of the Easton Anglers' Association and the Vic- tory Drummers. He is a member of the College Hill Presbyterian Church.
Dr. Middaugh married, November 2, 1892, at Easton, Carrie Louise, daughter of William and Sarah (Raus) Sigman, and they are the parents of two children: Carl Sigman, born March 23, 1895; and Carolyn Louise, born December 1, 1909.
THE HORNER FAMILY-Known to the present day as the Irish settlement of Northampton county, this locality was settled in 1728 by a band of homeseekers of Scotch-Irish descent who, under the leadership of Col. Thomas Craig, came to the New World in search of the religious and social advantages that had been denied them in their old home. The original settlement on the west branch of the Forks of the Delaware was situated in Allen township, Northampton county, and extended from the Monocacy on the East to the Hockandauqua on the West. It included the Manor of
452
NORTHAMPTON COUNTY
Charlton, a holding of fifteen hundred acres, in what is now East Allen, pat- ented in 1735 by Sir James Page, of London, also the Manor of Fermor, or Drylands, which at that time constituted the unsurve ed lands not definitely described in Northampton county, granted to the Proprietaries in 1736. This settlement antedated the settling of Easton eleven years, of Bethlehem thir- teen years, and of Nazareth fifteen years. ' There is no list of the names of the original band of Scotch-Irish, but from authentic authorities there were living at the Irish settlement the following: Thomas Craig and his son, William ; James Craig, his sons Robert and James, and in his family was Thomas Reed and wife; John Boyd; Hugh Wilson and his sons Thomas, Samuel and Charles ; Thomas Armstrong; Robert Gregg; James King; John McNair; John Walker; Robert Walker; James Ralston; John Hayes; Arthur Latti- more; James Lattimore; James Horner; James Kerr; and Samuel Brown.
Of this James Horner, ancestor of the Horner family in America, there is record in the Pennsylvania Archives of fifty acres and thirty perches sold by Thomas Penn to James Horner. This property was located near the Hockandauqua creek, and the transfer of the property was made prior to 1732, for in that year the lands in Allen township became vested in William Allen.
James Horner, the immigrant, was born in Ireland in 1711, and died in Northampton county, Pennsylvania, 1793. He was one of the grand jurors in Northampton county, and took an active part in the early affairs of the county. In the list of taxables for 1780"he is assessed at thirteen hundred and eighty pounds. His wife, Jane Horner, was born in 1713, and was killed by the Indians while on her way to a neighbor's home for some coals to light her morning fire. Her body lies at rest in the graveyard of the Allen Town- ship Presbyterian Church. The inscription on her tomb is as follows: "In memory of Jane, wife of James Horner, who suffered death by the hands of the savage Indians, October eighth, seventeen hundred and sixty-three, aged fifty years." The children of James and Jane Horner were: Hugh, John, Thomas, Sarah, Mary, James and Jane. The eldest of this family, Hugh, was born in Allen township, September 20, 1743. He married Elizabeth Wilson, a member of a family resident in Bucks county, Pennsylvania. Hugh Horner died in 1806, but was survived by his widow until 1835, when her death occurred, aged eighty-seven years. The children of Hugh and Elizabeth (Wilson) Horner were: James H., Robert, William, Hugh, Jane, Elizabeth and Judith.
Joseph Horner, a nephew of James Horner, the immigrant, was born in Ireland in 1740. He married Sarah Allison, his first cousin, whose father came to this country from Ireland at an earlier date than the Irish settlement. He came to America as a young man, and joined the Irish settlement in Northampton county. His wife died in 1820, his death occurring March 2, 1835, near Bath, Pennsylvania. The children of Joseph and Sarah (Allison) Horner were: James J., Jane J., Hannah, John, Margaret, Sarah, Samuel and Joseph, of whom further.
Joseph (2) Horner, son of Joseph (1) and Sarah (Allison) Horner, was born on the Horner homestead in the Irish settlement, in 1790, and died at his home on an adjoining farm, January 27, 1866. He attended the local schools, and added to his education by diligent reading of the best literature obtainable. He absorbed and retained his home teaching, was a keen ob- server of the current events of his time, and was interested in the Franklin Institute of Philadelphia, whose journals he read regularly. One of the habits of his youth was the study of all kinds of farm machinery, a subject on which he was extremely well informed. He became a successful farmer, operating a large acreage of land until middle life, when he devoted himself to the care of his landed and other interests in the vicinity of Bath. He was a strong Whig, and throughout the Civil War, which came in the closing years of his
Joseph Forner
الاهـ
بـ
453
BIOGRAPHICAL
life, he contributed generously of his time and means to the support of the Union cause, also leading in the relief work of that time. He was a man of gentle, kindly manner, who greatly preferred a quiet walk in life to public notice, and was loved by his many friends. His business judgment was excellent, and his advice was often sought by his associates. He was a devoted niember of the congregation of the Presbyterian church, which had held some of its first services in the home of James Horner, ancestor of the Horner family, and served the Allen Township Presbyterian Church as treasurer. Throughout a long life he won the regard and respect of his community by a quiet performance of his duty, and the years of his active life were productive of good to his fellows.
Joseph Horner married, in 1839, Margaret, daughter of John and Ann (Hays) Wilson, and they were the parents of two children: I. Sallie Ann, born in the Irish settlement in 1840; was educated in the schools of the settle- ment and Dr. Jacob Belleville's Roseland Seminary, of Hartsville, Bucks county, Penns lvania ; married Baxter B. McClure, of Brandywine Manor, Chester county, Pennsylvania; she died in 1917. 2. Jane, born in the Irish settlement in 1845; was educated in the private schools at home, the Acad- emy at Weaversville, Pennsylvania, and Dr. Mccluskey's Young Ladies' Seminary of Philadelphia ; she is a lady of refined tastes and culture, widely and affectionately known throughout the locality.
(The Wilson Line)
Hugh Wilson, great-grandfather of Mrs. Horner, was born in Ireland, in 1689, and married Sarah Craig in his native land. He later came to America and settled in Northampton county, Pennsylvania, with the Irish settlement. In 1740 he operated a grist-mill on the Hockandauqua creek, and was one of the first justices in this county. A large tract of land, seven hundred and thirty-five acres, was granted him in Hanovertown under patents of March 7, 1737, and March 29, 1738. The children of the marriage of Hugh and Sarah (Craig) Wilson were: Samuel, Charles, of whom further; Francis, James, Thomas, Marv, Margaret and Elizabeth.
Charles Wilson was born in Ireland, in 1726, and died in the prime of life, in 1766, in Northampton county, Pennsylvania. He married Margaret McNair, a descendant of John McNair. They had the following family : Sarah, Hugh, Christiana, John, of whom further ; and Margaret.
John Wilson married Ann Hays, of the Irish settlement, and they had children : Charles, Jane, William, Margaret, married Joseph (2) Horner, John and Mary.
THE SHIMER FAMILY-The first American ancestor of the American family, whose representatives are found in Northampton and Lehigh counties, Pennsylvania, and in Warren county, New Jersey, was Jacob Scheimer. The name also appears on old records as Scheumer, Sheymer, Shymer, and in other forms.
Though he settled among the Hollanders and married a woman of that nativity, Jacob Scheimer was, according to his family belief and record, of German extraction. The exact date of his arrival in America, however, is unknown, but it was prior to 1722, and he settled in Germantown. He was naturalized in 1730. The early Germantown settlers are noted in history for their high standard of character, education, refinement, and general thrift. They left their fatherland not only to better their worldly condition, but to secure freedom of worship in Penn's liberal province. Jacob Scheimer was born in 1679, as appears in a record in the old Williams township church book, which is as follows : "Anno 1757, der 17th September ist Jacob Scheimer an der reformirten kirchen begraben worden, 78 yahr alt." The exact location of his grave is unknown, for the slate tombstones placed over the graves of
454
NORTHAMPTON COUNTY
the early settlers of Lower Saucon have long since crumbled to dust. The date of Jacob Scheimer's removal from Germantown is not known, but we have record of his residence in Van Bebber's township in the county of Philadelphia about 1729, and in Skippack about 1734. About 1736 he re- moved to the uplands above Redington, and his property extended down to the Lehigh river (referred to in the old deeds as the West branch of the Delaware) and included the present site of Redington. Jacob Scheimer was a Lutheran, as are the majority of his descendants. He died in 1757, and his interesting will was probated October 15 of that year, and is now on file in the register's office in Philadelphia, where, though the will is clearly signed "Jacob Scheimer," written in German, it is indexed under the name of Jacob Shinor. Jacob Scheimer was married twice. His first wife was Margaret Papen, fourth daughter of Heivert Papen, one of the incorporators of Germantown. Her mother was Elizabeth (Rittenhouse) Papen, only daughter of William Rittenhouse, the first paper manufacturer of America. The marriage probably took place between 1720 and 1722. The children of this marriage were: Abraham, Anthony, Mrs. Elizabeth Vickerson, Mary, who married Michael Shoemaker, Mrs. Catherine Young and Sarah. The eldest, Capt. Abraham Scheimer, settled in the Minisink country, near the headwaters of the Delaware, where he wedded Lena Westbroeck, in 1749. He became a noted leader and expert rifleman in the Indian wars of that region. One of the histories of New Jersey states that he kept account of the Indians he killed by cutting notches in his rifle stock, and there are many traditions of his exploits with wild beasts and savages. He is the head of that branch of the family of which the region about Port Jervis, New York, is the ancestral home. Jacob Scheimer's first wife died some time between 1728 and 1732. His second wife, Elizabeth, survived him. The children of this marriage were: Jacob, born 1734, died 1764; Conrad; Samuel; Edward, born 174I, died 1815; Peter ; Isaac, born 1749, died 1838; and John.
Isaac Shimer, son of Jacob Scheimer, was a sergeant in Captain Kich- lein's company in the War of the Revolution, and took part in the desperate conflict known as the battle of Long Island. He survived this engagement, but was taken prisoner and incarcerated for a time on an island, from which he made his escape by swimming. He was, however, discovered when not far distant from shore, and was fired upon while in the water, but managed to make his escape.
The sons, Jacob (2) and Edward Shimer, are the ancestors of nearly all of the representatives of the name in the Lehigh Valley. Jacob (2) Shimer, born in 1734, married Rosina Seip, who was born in Odenwald, Hesse- Darmstadt, September 7, 1739, and died in 1822. In the spring of 1751, her eldest brother, Melchoir Seip, emigrated to America, landing at Philadelphia on September 14. He settled in Lehigh county. Soon after Melchoir Seip's emigration, his father died, and the widow, with her adult son Peter, her thirteen-year-old daughter Rosina, and her eleven-year-old son Jacob, fol- lowed Melchoir Seip to America. The ship on which they sailed reached Philadelphia on September 22, 1752. The mother, however, died and was buried at sea. Jacob and Rosina Shimer had three sons: Peter, John and Samuel. Peter, through his son John, is the ancestor of the Shimers of War- ren county, New Jersey. John Shimer founded Shimersville, Lehigh county, and is the ancestor of the families of that county, including the Allentown branch. It is to this branch that the late Dr. Jacob S. Shimer, of Philadelphia, the genealogist of the family, belonged. Samuel Shimer, the third son, is the ancestor of the Shimers who settled near Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, among whom was Gen. Conrad Shimer and other well known men.
Jacob (2) Shimer died at the age of thirty years, and his tombstone is the oldest and most interesting in the old Saucon graveyard. In due time his widow Rosina married Edward Shimer, the brother of her first husband.
455
BIOGRAPHICAL
In 1775 Edward Shimer built the large stone house which is still standing in an excellent state of preservation on the old plantation above Redington, and now belongs to the heirs of the late B. Frank Shimer. Little is known of Edward Shimer save that he was a prosperous farmer, a good Lutheran, serving as elder in his church, and a patriotic member of the committee of safety, representing Lower Saucon in the Revolution. For nearly one hun- dred years Edward and Rosina (Seip) Shimer have been resting side by side in the old orchard on the home place, under large marble slabs covered with German inscriptions, in a wall-enclosed burial ground. The children of this marriage were three sons and a daughter: Jacob, born 1767, died 1845; Isaac, born 1769, died 1838; a son that died in infancy, and Susanna, born 1776, died 1863. The daughter, Susanna, married James Bingham, of Phila- delphia. After his death she became the wife of Dr. Peter Von Steuben, a skillful physician and a most interesting character. Tradition has it that he was a court physician to George III, but fell from favor because of his sympathy with the colonists in America, then struggling for independence. He was a relative of Baron Von Steuben, who came to this country to assist in winning independence for the nation, and commanded a portion of the army with the rank of general. The children of Isaac Shimer were: Charles, Jesse, Thomas, Lydda and Sarah Shimer.
Jacob (3) Shimer, a son of Edward Shimer, in 1801 built the large stone homestead near the Lehigh river about a mile below Freemansburg. He was a very successful agriculturist, and devised a method of farming by proper rotation of crops so exactly suited to the conditions of the soil that he was most successful in his work; his land yielded as much as fifty bushels of wheat per acre, and this won him a first prize in a State competition of methods of farming. He married Elizabeth Beil, or Beyl, who was born in 1772, and died in 1857. She was the daughter of John Beil, a prominent citizen of Lower Saucon and a member of the committee of safety in the Revolution. The children of this marriage were: John, born 1792, died 1878; Joseph, born 1795, died 1878; Edward; Isaac, born 1799, died 1863; Jacob; Elizabeth, born 1805, died 1899; Samuel, born 1807, died 1897; and Abraham, born 1809, died 1881. Of this family, John married Mary Schweitzer, and settled in the village of Shimersville, Northampton county. Joseph married Catherine Hubler, and made his home in Mount Bethel township, Northamp- ton county. Edward married Hannah Lerch, and made his home in Forks township of the same county. Jacob married Fayette Keck, and removed to Bath, Pennsylvania. Isaac married Kate Apple, and established himself in Shimersville. Elizabeth married Michael Butz, and lived in Easton. Samuel married Anna Kuhns, and removed to Illinois. Abraham married Margaretta Johnston, and remained on the old homestead.
The first five generations of the Shimers were almost without exception prosperous farmers, cultivating their own broad acres by the help of their stalwart sons and hired men, and living in comfort and plenty, in large stone houses so characteristic of the German settlements of Pennsylvania. In 1812 Jacob (3) Shimer built an oil and grist-mill at the mouth of the Saucon creek, and around this as a nucleus grew the village of Shimersville. His son John, in 1824, built a plant for fulling, dyeing and finishing cloth. In 1837 George Shimer, son of John Shimer, took charge of the mill and continued in the manufacturing business there until 1872. In 1875 the firm of Shimer & Com- pany began the operation of a foundry and machine shop at Shimersville. The business has grown to be a large and important one, and is now con- ducted by the firm of William Shimer's Son & Company. Among other members of the family prominent as manufacturers was the late Samuel J. Shimer, and associated with him earlier in his career was his brother, George J. Shimer, now deceased, sons of Abraham Shimer. The firm of S. J. Shimer & Sons now owns and operates an extensive plant situated at Milton, Penn-
4,56
NORTHAMPTON COUNTY
sylvania, employing many hundreds of men in the manufacture of cutter heads and woodworking machinery --- the inventions of members of the firm. A large part of the plant is that of the Milton Manufacturing Company, manufacturers of nuts, bolts, washers and refined iron. The members of the Shimer family in the sixth and seventh generations are now very numerous and widely scattered, and among them are many who have won success in various lines of business, manufacturing, and in the professions.
JAMES REED RAY-James Reed Ray, responsible business man and well regarded resident of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in which city he has been active since 1912, was born May 10, 1889, at Big Cove Tannery, Penn- sylvania. He is the son of a patriot who served the country well during the trying years of the Civil War. Elliott Ray, father of James R. Ray, though only eighteen years at the termination of the Civil War, had experi- enced more than three years of dangerous war campaigning, serving two enlistments, the first as a member of the One Hundred and Twenty-eighth Pennsylvania Volunteers, and the second with the Twenty-first Pennsyl- vania Cavalry. Some time after that eventful period of national service, Elliott Ray settled in McConnellsburg, Pennsylvania, where he acquired land and took to agricultural pursuits, and later in life became interested in a flour milling company. He was a member of the Lutheran church, and lived a life of noteworthy Christian integrity. His death occurred on May 14, 1904, and caused universal regret in the community in which he had lived so exemplary a life, and particularly to his large family. His wife was Agnes Charlotte, daughter of and Rebecca Commerer, and twelve children were born to them. Mr. Ray's mother is still alive, and still resides in McConnellsburg, surviving five of her children. £ The seven children now living are: Charles Merrit, who followed his father in agricultural pursuits in McConnellsburg, is married, and has three children; Sabber Eugene, a retired baker of same place, and father of five children, all living; Elliot Lloyd, a McConnellsburg farmer, married, but without issue; Henry, who is a land owner and agriculturist at Waynesboro, Penn- sylvania, married, and has three children; Nellie, who married (first) Henry Trible, of McConnellsburg, to whom she bore three children, and (second) Denton Everts, of Sharpe, Pennsylvania, a farmer of that place, no children having been born to the latter marriage; Emma Nora, who married Walter Rotz, formerly of McConnellsburg, but now of Chambersburg, where he is an employee of the Cumberland Railroad, and by whom she became the mother of three children; and James Reed, of further mention. Of the deceased children of Elliott and Agnes Charlotte (Commerer) Ray, Rebecca was married to Weston Lake. of Big Cove Tannery, Pennsylvania. She died in 1903, leaving three children.
James Reed Ray was educated in elementary grades in the public school of his native place. later proceeding to the Soldiers' Orphan Industrial School, at Scotland, Pennsylvania. He received about the equivalent of high school education, with particular attention to some branch of the trade. The death of his father occurred some time after he had been apprenticed to the tailoring trade at Scotland. Pennsylvania, and it then became more necessary that he apply himself even more earnestly to the trade, so as to become self- supporting as early as possible. In 1908 he entered the John J. Mitchell Cutting School at New York. where, in one of the best schools of the East, he developed into a skilled cutter and eventually became a merchant tailor, in independent business. It was in 1012 when he opened a tailoring estab- lishment in the city of Bethlehem. beginning in a humble and unostentatious way. His skill as a tailor combined with good business aptitude, however, steadily advanced him among an increasing circle of customers, and devel- oped his business in six vers to such an extent that he had to transfer his business. in 1918, to the building he row occupies. He opened at his present
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.