History of Northampton County [Pennsylvania] and the grand valley of the Lehigh, Volume III, Part 31

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 31


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BIOGRAPHICAL


also resumed her maiden name, and is her father's housekeeper, also the capable proprietor of a grocery at No. 841 East Fourth street, South Beth- lehem, also the family home. She is a woman of good business ability, a hard worker and a devoted daughter. 2. John, married Anna Berkett. 3. Anna, married Joseph Olcxa. 4. George, unmarried. Nine children died in infancy, and Stephen died while the family was in Brazil. All are members of the Roman Catholic church.


IRWIN P. RICHARDS-Coming from an old English family long seated in Northampton county, Pennsylvania, Irwin P. Richards, the present sheriff of that county, has reviewed an interest in the name which has been borne by men of eminence in many walks of life. Irwin P. is a grandson of Joseph and Mary (Miller) Richards, he a grandson of the English founder of the family in this country. Joseph Richards was a farmer of Williams township, Northampton county, one of the substantial agriculturists of the township, and a devoted member of the Lutheran church. He married Mary Miller, and they were the parents of eleven children: Mary, Elizabeth, Susan, William, of further mention; John, Joseph, Charles, Jacob, Aaron, Henry, and a child who died young.


William Richards, son of Joseph and Mary (Miller) Richards, was born in Williams township, and spent his life in Northampton county, dying in 1881, aged sixty-three years. For thirty-three years he was the proprietor of the Black Horse Tavern, located three miles south of Easton, on the Delaware river, a popular resort for Eastonians. He was a radical Republi- can, a member of the Lutheran church, and active in politics .. He married Mary E. Moyer, who died in 1905, aged seventy-eight years, daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth (Yellis) Moyer. They were the parents of four sons and a daughter: Franklin, Charles, Joseph, Irwin, of further mention, and Annie.


Irwin P. Richards, fourth and youngest son of William and Mary E. (Moyer) Richards, was born in Williams township, Northampton county, Pennsylvania, June 9, 1864, and there obtained his early education. He later attended Trach's pay school in Easton. Hc conducted a livery business in Easton for thirty years, continuing until March, 1917; has had the contract for carrying the United States mails in Easton since 1913, and all his mature years has been a popular auctioneer, crying sales in city and country, far and near, a business which he still retains. In November, 1915, he was elected sheriff of Northampton county, an office he yet most efficiently fills at the present time (1918).


Sheriff Richards is a Republican in politics, a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; the Fraternal Order of Eagles; the Loyal Order of Moose; the Improved Order of Red Men; United Order of Ameri- can Mechanics ; and the Order of Equinis. All his life he has been interested and active in politics, one of the strong men of the party, faithful in times of stress and storm, as well as when the skies were bright. For eighteen years he was in the hotel business in Easton, and as an auctioneer he has a wide reputation. He possesses a pleasing personality, makes friends easily and is very popular. He married, March 27, 1884, Allavesta Seifert, daugh- ter of Levi and Emma D. (Keifer) Seifert. Mr. and Mrs. Richards are members of the Lutheran church, their home No. 51 South Fifth street.


CLINTON HENRY SNYDER-At Seemsville, a post village of North- ampton county, Pennsylvania, in Allen township, Clinton Henry Snyder has conducted a general store for the past quarter of a century, being one of the well known and successful merchants of his section of the country. His entire life has been spent in Allen township, his birth occurring in that part now known as East Allen township. Prior to embarking in commercial life,


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he was a teacher in the public school, his teaching experience covering twenty-five terms. He was as successful as a teacher as he has been in business, and was one of the highly esteemed pedagogues of the district.


Clinton Henry Snyder is a son of Peter Snyder, an old settler of Allen township, in that part known as East Allen, he then owning and cultivating a farm of one hundred and forty acres. He was also a well known stock- man, and conducted business very successfully until his death, just in the prime of life, aged forty-four years. He married Susanna Spangler, of Allen township, and they were the parents of four sons and four daughters, two of these children yet living: Susanna, wife of Thomas E. Koch, of Bethle- hem, Pennsylvania ; and Clinton Henry, of further mention.


Clinton Henry Snyder was born at the East Allen township homestead, March 9, 1847, and here lived until his fourth year, when the death of his father caused his mother to remove with her children to another part of the township. Clinton H. Snyder attended public school, and early in life learned the shoemaker's trade, but he craved further educational training and through liis own efforts he accomplished a course at Schwartze Academy, Bethlehem, followed by study at Pennsylvania State Normal School at Kutztown. After being licensed to teach, he secured and taught the Allen township school for two terms, then for twenty-three terms taught in East Allen township school. He continued teaching until 1893, then bought out a mercantile business at Seemsville in the same township, and has since continuously conducted a general store until the present, a period of twenty-five years. Seemsville is but a small village, but is an important trading point, and with the various stock handled Mr. Snyder has a business of large volume, groceries, dry- goods, hardware, shoes and furnishings all being standard lines in which he deals. In 1916 he erected his present store building, planning it from his experience and ideas of what a country store should be. In addition to being the leading store of the section, it is also the post office, Mr. Snyder having been postmaster for several years. He is a good business man, upright and energetic, holding his word as a bond and mindful of every obligation of good citizenship. Mr. Snyder is a Democrat in politics, is a member of the Reformed church, and for twenty years has been leader of the choir of St. Peter's Church at Seemsville, and is a teacher of the Sunday school. For nine years he was auditor of the township, and in all things is one of the men who can always be relied upon to "lend a hand." His fraternal order is the Fraternal Order of American Mechanics.


Mr. Snyder married, in 1877, Emma C., daughter of John Koch. Mr. and Mrs. Snyder are the parents of two children: Clara Susanna, married Palmer E. Hess ; and Howard Calvin, died young.


RAYMOND WARREN RAPP -- Raymond Warren Rapp, one of the most successful and progressive business men of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where he is engaged in the business of manufacturing ice-cream, is a native of Bursonville, Bucks county, in this State. He is a son of George Jerome and Martha E. (Kohl) Rapp, being the only child born of this union. The Kohl family resided for many years in Bucks county, and came originally to this region from Germany. An uncle of Mr. Rapp, Thomas Rapp, lost his life at the battle of Gettysburg, and his maternal great-grandfather, Jacob Zigafoos, served in the Revolution. The early childhood of Mr. Rapp was spent at his native place, and later he attended the public school of Bethlehem, and graduated from the high school with the class of 1907. After the death of his father, his mother married a second time, Mr. John S. Ruth, who was engaged in the business of ice-cream manufacturing in Bethlehem for eighteen years. Thus it happened that young Mr. Rapp received an early training in the establishment of his stepfather and learned all the details of this line of business. In the year 1914, upon the death of his stepfather, he


6 Daniel Friebely


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BIOGRAPHICAL


engaged in the same business on his own account, at first on a very small scale. However, from the outset his success was assured, and his establish- ment grew rapidly in size, increasing to such an extent that it was necessary for him to build his present building to afford it adequate quarters. This building is a handsome brick structure, two stories in height, measuring 40 by 50 feet in plan, and was completed in May, 1915. It is fully equipped with all the latest and most modern machinery for the production of ice- cream and has an output at the present time of over one hundred thousand gallons per year. The demand for Mr. Rapp's cream is increasing continually to such an extent that he is practically doubling his business every year.


Mr. Rapp is a man typical of the best type of our citizenship, progressive and capable, and quick to seize every opportunity that offers itself. He feels keenly his responsibility to the community which patronizes him, and produces only the highest grade of goods for its consumption. Sanitation is a byword with him. Mr. Rapp uses four trucks ; two one-half-ton and two one-ton trucks in the handling of his large business. Mr. Rapp is very active in the general life of the community and is prominently associated with many important movements undertaken for the welfare of the community- at-large. He is an Independent in politics, but does not take a very active part in political life. In his religious belief he is a member of the Reformed church, and he is also affiliated with other important organizations, includ- ing the Bethlehem Chamber of Commerce, the local lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Order of Patriotic Americans, and the Associa- tion of Ice Cream Manufacturers of Pennsylvania.


Raymond Warren Rapp was united in marriage, March II, 1911, with Ruth M. Quier, a daughter of Allan and Sarah (Allan) Quier, old and highly respected residents of North Bethlehem, where the former is still actively engaged in business and is in charge of the Bethlehem Steel tool room. Mr. and Mrs. Rapp are the parents of one daughter, Gweneldene Natalia, born March 26, 1914.


CHARLES DANIEL FRIEBELY-Charles Daniel Friebely, one of the most energetic and successful business men of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and an influential citizen here, is a native of Douglasville, Northampton county, Pennsylvania, where his birth occurred June 30, 1878. He is a great-grandson of Jacob Friebele, who came from Baden, Germany, in 1828, and settled in Pike county, in this State. His son, Christian Friebele, was a carpenter by trade, and became a well known figure in his adopted community. His son, Daniel William Friebely, father of Charles Daniel Friebely, was born at Plainfield township, Northampton county, Pennsylvania, April 28, 1853, and established himself at South Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in the insurance busi- ness in 1893. He was possessed of great business ability and developed a large business here. He became a justice of the peace, an office which he held up to the time of his death, which occurred April 14, 1898. He married, at Douglasville, Ellen Catherine Hoch, born in Moore township, Northamp- ton county, Pennsylvania, March 29, 1856, who now lives in South Bethle- hem. They were the parents of three children, all of whom are now living, as follows : I. Harry E., the proprietor of a drug store on Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, married Marguerite Huffman, by whom he has had three chil- dren : Howard, Richard and John. 2. Charles Daniel, with whose career we are here especially concerned. 3. Mary Matilda, who became the wife of George Fox, civil engineer.


Charles Daniel Friebely spent but the first few years of his life at his native town of Douglasville, the family then removing to Bushkill Center, Northampton county, when he was about six years of age. He first attended school at Jacobsburg, two miles from Bushkill Center. In 1887, however, the family came to South Bethlehem, and here he continued his education,


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attending the public schools of this city until he had reached the age of four- teen. He then abandoned his studies and learned the trade of printer, being employed by the Moravian Publishing Company for three years. After com- pleting his apprenticeship he followed his trade of printer for two years at Allentown, and then for one year at Philadelphia. In 1897 he returned to Bethlehem, where he was employed by his father in the latter's insurance business up to the time of the elder man's death. Since then Mr. Friebely has conducted the business on his own account and, under his skillful and careful management, it has developed until it is one of the most important of its kind hereabouts. Mr. Friebely is a staunch Democrat in politics, and is keenly interested both in local and general issues, but his business calls for so much of his time and attention that he has never cared to enter politics actively. He is a prominent figure in social and fraternal circles here, and is especially active in the Masonic order, being a member of H. Stanley Goodman Lodge No. 648, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; Ezra Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Bethlehem Council No. 36, Royal and Select Masters; Bethlehem Commandery No. 90, Knights Templar; Rajah Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine; and the Caldwell Con- sistory, Sovereign Princes of the Royal Secret, in which he has taken the thirty-second degree in Free Masonry. He is also a member and a past commander of Damascus Commandery No. 50, Ancient and Illustrious Order Knights of Malta ; past grand of Wreath of Friendship Lodge No. 917, Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows ; a member of Ontario Tribe No. 280, Improved Order of Red Men; Hobah Lodge No. 267, Knights of Pythias; banker of South Bethlehem Camp No. 6940, Modern Woodmen of America ; member of University Camp G. F., and the Shrine Club. Mr. Friebely is a Lutheran in religious belief and is a member of St. Peter's Evangelical Lutheran Church of this place. He has beeen very active in church work here, and has been a teacher in the Sunday school for seventeen years. Mr. Friebely is particularly fond of music, and has sung for about five years in the famous Lehigh Uni- versity Choir conducted by Dr. Wolle, in the Packer Memorial Church at Lehigh University, taking part in the Bach festivals several times, which have been given there for so many years. He is also keenly interested in the subject of postage stamps.


Charles Daniel Friebely was united in marriage, November 12, 1901, at Coffeetown, Northampton county, Pennsylvania, with Anna May Huff, a native of New Jersey, and a daughter of Matthias S. and Mary (Nicholas) Huff, the former deceased, his death occurring August 30, 1913, and the latter now residing at Riegelsville. To Mr. and Mrs. Friebely the following children were born : Carl Daniel, July 4, 1903, now a student in the Bethlehem High School, and a member of the class of 1921 ; John Huff, August 23, 1904, died August 5, 1913.


S. MORTON ZULICK-One of Easton's successful business men, Mr. Zulick, can review the past with satisfaction and approach the future with confidence. His success has been built upon the soundest of business prin- ciples, and he is a leader among the public-spirited, progressive business men of his city. He is a son of Charles B. and Susan (Arnold) Zulick, and a grandson of Anthony Zulick, the first music dealer in Easton, a gifted musi- cian and church organist. His store was located on Northampton street, where he built up a good business and did much to advance musical culture among the people. He married Jane Cummings, who came with him from Germany to Philadelphia and hence to Easton, and they were the parents of eight children who grew to adult years, namely: Thomas C., a one-time general superintendent of the Reading Coal and Navigation Company ; Sam- uel N., a physician and veteran of the Civil War; William, connected with a bank in Philadelphia; Anna; Henry; Charles B., of further mention; C. Meyer, two terms governor of Arizona; Mary, married Thomas Rinek.


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Charles B. Zulick succeeded his father in the music and book store which he conducted until 1877. He then became general agent for the Philadelphia & Reading Coal Company. He served two terms in the Pennsylvania Legis- lature, and was prominent in city affairs. He married Susan, daughter of William and Mary Arnold, and they were the parents of twelve children: Carrie, Ida, Annie, Mamie, S. Morton, of further mention; Thomas C., a physician of Easton; Jennie; William; James, deceased; Charles, Adams, twin with Charles ; and Susan.


S. Morton Zulick was born in Easton, Pennsylvania, September 25, 1866. He was educated in the public schools. He began his business career in 1883, while yet a schoolboy, by working as a clerk in the store of his uncle, Thomas Rinek, one of the founders of the Rinek Cordage Company. After gradua- tion he continued in that employ, continuing until 1897, when under the firm name, S. M. Zulick, he succeeded to the business of the wholesale and retail selling department of J. Rinek Sons. Mr. Zulick does a large business as a wholesale and retail dealer of cordage of many kinds, and sporting goods, and as wholesale distributors of the Plymouth Cordage Company products, which covers a wide field. It is one of the largest and oldest of cordage companies in the United States, and one of the few devoted exclusively to manufacturing cordage of the highest quality. Mr. Zulick is a member of the Easton Board of Trade, Easton Rotary Club, is a Democrat, and a member of the First Reformed Church, the church of his forefathers for two genera- tions, the chimes in the church tower being the gift of the Zulicks. Mr. Zulick is a patron of all out-of-door sports, and personally is fond of fishing, hunting and motoring. He is deeply interested in civic affairs, and is one of the strong, reliable men of his city, willing at all times to aid in any forward movement.


Mr. Zulick married, April 17, 1901, May B. Godley, daughter of Edwin G. Godley.


CHARLES H. BUENNING-Under fifty thousand square feet of glass, Mr. Buenning grows the many varieties of plants which he distributes to his retail trade, and the brilliantly hued cut flowers which are freshly deliv- ered to his store in Easton at the corner of Centre square. This business, now so prosperous, was begun in 1902 by Mr. Buenning with less than one- half that area under glass, his establishment at No. 1900 Lehigh street, Easton, now being one of the interesting sights of that section of the city. He is a son of Henry and Dora (Scheer) Buenning, of the province of Schleswig-Holstein, then a part of Denmark, but later taken by Germany, his father still living, his mother deceased.


Charles H. Buenning was born in Schleswig-Holstein, February 4, 1872, there was educated, and there became a florist. In 1890 he came to the United States, and until 1894 was employed in New York city in different places, adding to his store of knowledge and becoming familiar with Ameri- can ways. In 1894 he removed to Easton, and the following year began in a small way the growing of flowers and vegetables for the Easton market. He grew with his opportunities, added little by little to the area of the gardens and greenhouses, until, in 1902, he established his present greenhouses at No. 1900 Lehigh street, twenty thousand square feet then being put under glass. He has continually expanded until his present large business, as grower and dealer, has resulted. He also operates a fifty-acre farm with peach orchards, lying between Easton and Bethlehem, which he owns, as he does two blocks of city lots in Wilson township, adjoining Easton, and his home on Lehigh street, which he built in 1902. He has prospered abundantly and may attrib- ute his success solely to his own skill as a florist, his industry and well proven business ability.


He has taken the degrees of the Masonic order in both the York and


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Scottish Rites up to and including the thirty-second, his affiliations being with Easton Lodge No. 152, Free and Accepted Masons ; Easton Chapter No. 173, Royal Arch Masons; Pomp Council No. 20, Royal and Select Masters ; Hugh de Payen Commandery No. 19, Knights Templar; Rajah Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine of Reading, Pennsylvania ; and Caldwell Consistory, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rites of Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. Other orders to which he belongs are the Tall Cedars of Lebanon, Pennsylvania; Vanderveer Lodge No. 105, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; the War Gardens Club, the Rotary Club, and Zion's Lutheran Church, of which he is a member of the governing council.


Mr. Buenning married, March 10, 1895, Augusta L., daughter of William and Augusta Schlasinger. They are the parents of four children: Minna, Henry, Herman and Carl. Henry and Herman were both with the American Army, Herman being trained at Camp Lafayette, Easton, where he was one of the team of baseball, and Henry, trained at Pittsburgh University, with rank of corporal.


ASHTON FAMILY-The first of the Ashtons, or Ashetons, was Orme Fitz Edward, who settled at Ashton-under-Lyne, in Lancashire, England, in the early days of the Plantaganets, some time about 1150. His great-great- grandson was Sir Robert de Assheton, vice-chamberlain of Edward III, and after the great English victories of Crecy and Poitiers he was made warden of the Cinques Portes, and admiral of the narrow seas. His great-great- great-grandson was Sir Ralph Assheton, knight baronet, lieutenant of the Tower of London under Edward IV, and vice-constable of England. He married Margarey Barton, of Middleton, from whom his heirs derived great estates. His sons were Richard, who inherited his father's baronetcy in Lancashire, which is now extinct, and Ralph. The family which Ralph estab- lished is now among the landed gentry of Lancashire. Its estate is Downham Hall, near Chitteroe, twenty-eight miles from Manchester.


It is quite clear that the various connections of the Ashtons in this country are offshoots of this great Lancashire family. Early in the history of Virginia the Ashtons had found their place, though the records are scanty and it is hard to tell what was the relation between the various settlers of the name. There was a Col. Peter Ashton, a burgess of Charles City county, Virginia, in 1656. Three years later he received two thousand acres in West- moreland county. His estate on the Potomac he called Chatterton. There was an estate named Chatterton in the Ashton family of Lancashire acquired by marriage in 1455. This fact practically establishes Peter's connection with the main branch. He willed his estate to his brother James, of Kirby Underwood, County Lincoln, and to his brother John he gave two thousand acres adjoining Chatterton. These two brothers probably came to this coun- try, although they were in England at that time. Peter Ashton was an asso- ciate of John Washington, the emigrant and founder of the family of George Washington.


One Charles Ashton was living in Northumberland county, Virginia, as early as 1660. He was a justice of the peace and captain of militia, and prob- ably close kin to Col. Peter Ashton. He married Isabella, and had a son named John.


John Ashton, son of Charles Ashton, married Grace Meese, and they had two sons: Henry and Charles.


Henry Ashton, son of John Ashton, was a colonel, a justice and a burgess. He married (first) Elizabeth Hardidge, and (second) Mary Watts. His son by his second wife was Henry, who married, in 1748, Jane Alexander. They had Henry Alexander, a colonel, who married Mary Dent, and Henry A. and Mary had Henry, of whom further; George; and Elizabeth, who married John H. Peyton.


Halter HAohtu


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Henry Ashton, son of Henry A. and Mary (Dent) Ashton, was an officer in the War of 1812. He married Cecelia Brown Key. At the time of his death in 1834, he was a marshal in the Supreme Court. He had eight daugh- ters and one son, Henry, who died at the age of twenty-one in the United States Army. He did not marry. The eight daughters married with the Bibbs of Kentucky, the Walkers, the Mills family, the Stuarts of Virginia. the Ramseys of North Carolina, and the Todds and Dents of Maryland. The eighth daughter, Cecelia, died in a nunnery.


Charles Ashton, son of John Ashton, of Northumberland county, Vir- ginia, and brother of Henry Ashton, the colonel, justice and burgess, married (first) a Miss Burdett and (second) a Miss Hart. He had a son Charles, who married and had Burdett, John and Laurence. Burdett lived in Chestnut Hill, King George county, Virginia. He married Ann, daughter of Augustine Washington, and had Charles, Augustine Washington, Burdett, and two daughters. Burdett's brother, John, of Lebanon, Westmoreland county, Vir- ginia, married (first) Mary Watts and (second) Hannah West. He had one daughter, Sarah, who married Henry Washington, and one son, Laurence, who married Elizabeth Scott, and settled in Farquier county. This Mrs. Laurence (Scott) Ashton was "noted for her intelligence, beauty, vivacity, wit, courtly manners and dignity."




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