USA > Pennsylvania > Northampton County > History of Northampton County [Pennsylvania] and the grand valley of the Lehigh, Volume III > Part 35
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His brother, Garrett Brodhead, great-grandfather of Hon. Charles Brod- head, was also an officer in the Revolutionary War. He was born January 21, 1733, and became a lieutenant, doing frontier service during the struggle for Independence. He married, March 15, 1759, Jane Davis, and their children were: John, born March 3, 1766; Daniel; Richard, of further mention; George; Elizabeth, born in 1775; Rachel; and Samuel, born in 1779.
Richard Brodhead, son of Garrett Brodhead, was born in 1771, and mar- ried Jane Drake. They were the parents of: Sarah, born in 1791; Garrett, born in December, 1793; William, born in 1795; Jane, born in 1797; Albert Gallatin, of further mention; Anna Maria, born February 14, 1801; Charles, born August 4, 1805; Rachael; Eliza; Elizabeth; and Richard.
Albert Gallatin Brodhead, son of Richard Brodhead, was born in 1799, becoming a merchant of Conyngham, Pennsylvania, and in 1839 moving to Delaware, Pike county, where he purchased the old Brodhead homestead. He attained prominent and influential position in public affairs, and several times served in the State Legislature. He married Ellen Middaugh, and their only child was Charles, of whom further.
Charles' Brodhead, son of Albert Gallatin and Ellen (Middaugh) Brod- head, was born at Conyngham, Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, August 4, 1824, and died in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, December 31, 1904. Until he was four- teen years of age he attended the schools of Delaware, Pike county, then for two years was a student in an academic school at Stroudsburg, conducted by Ira Burrell Newman. In the spring of 1840 he went with Mr. Newman to a newly established school at Dingman's High Falls, Pike county, where he finished his preparation for college. He matriculated at Lafayette College, of which the Rev. Dr. George Junkin was then the head, in November, 1840, being graduated as a member of the class of 1844. He at once began to read law in the office of his uncle, Richard Brodhead, then a member of Congress and afterward United States Senator from Pennsylvania, and while studying in this office attended the law school established at Philadelphia by David Hoffman.
Admitted to the bar at Easton, in 1846, Mr. Brodhead soon afterward began his public service as sheriff's attorney, filling that office for three years, abandoning professional work to devote his time to real estate operations in Bethlehem. His purchase of one hundred acres of Moravian farm land on the south side of the Lehigh in 1854, at the time the Lehigh Valley, the Cen- tral of New Jersey, and the North Pennsylvania railroads were running their lines in that direction, was characteristic of his wise, far-sighted business policy. He laid out a large part of the present South Bethlehem and was one of the largest land owners of that locality, also owning considerable property in Bethlehem proper, among his possessions the well known Sun Inn, built in 1758. The future of Bethlehem as an industrial center was plain to him and he made an unsuccessful effort, with the co-operation of Jefferson Davis, then Secretary of War, and United States Senator Richard Brodhead, to secure the establishment of a government foundry in that place. Although it failed at that time, the project was not abandoned, and future years wit- nessed the manufacture of large stores of government material in Bethle- hem's mills, and, during the World War, Bethlehem plants turned the tide of
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victory toward the Allies. Charles Brodhead was the determining influence in the location of the works of the Bethlehem Iron Company at South Beth- lehem, inducing Augustus Wolle to establish a projected enterprise in that place. Mr. Wolle had obtained a charter for an organization known as the Saucona Iron Company. Mr. Brodhead, becoming largely interested finan- cially in this proposition, as he had been in other activities of Mr. Wolle, successfully advocated the choice of South Bethlehem as its location and was the author of a supplement to the original charter, changing the name to the Bethlehem Rolling Mill & Iron Company, the parent of the present vast Bethlehem interests.
Charles Brodhead was the dominating factor in many plans of progress and improvement in Bethlehem. The plan of the eleven hundred feet long bridge connecting Bethlehem and South Bethlehem was conceived by him, and he also led in the agitation for the Broad street bridge between Bethlehem and West Bethlehem. As a member of the Constitutional Convention of Pennsylvania in 1873, he wrote into that document several valuable clauses, whose worth has been proven by the tests of time and circumstances. One of these was the provision for free telegraph lines, prohibiting the consolida- tion of parallel or competing lines, a strong safeguard against the monopolies that soon came into vogue. He also secured the enactment of the section which prohibits all officers and employees of railroad companies from being interested, directly or indirectly, in the furnishing of supplies and material for the corporations with which they are connected, or being interested in transportation lines or contracts for transportation. A third subject on which he introduced and secured the adoption of regulations was the term of office of county treasurers, which was extended to three years, with re-election prohibited, a provision which had salutary effect. His legal training was valuable to him in this work, and to the deliberations of the convention he gave of the best of a keenly analytical mind, strong business acumen and devoted affection for his native State.
Mr. Brodhead was the builder of the railroad that became the Lehigh & Lackawanna railroad, now the Lehigh & New England railroad, and served for many years as its president. The line, constructed through his energetic perseverance and determination, was built with the double purpose of serving the great slate region and of connecting points in the popular vacation coun- try nearby. The road was known among his associates during its construc- tion as "Charley Brodhead's Huckleberry Railroad," a sobriquet rising from the general interest always attending an enterprise of local importance. He served on the board of trustees of Lehigh University, and lent generous sup- port to those institutions whose object was the care of the unfortunate. His long life was productive of benefits that will endure, and during its course he held the high regard of men who, like himself, strove worthily in many fields. The rich talents that crowned his efforts with success were ever at the disposal of his fellows, though he would never enter public life, and his influence was always effectively used to further the forward and upward progress of his city and State.
Charles Brodhead married, June 1, 1858, Camilla M. Shimer, daughter of Gen. Conrad Shimer, an extensive farmer, prominent in military and political affairs in Northampton county, member of a family old in the locality, the name appearing on early records as Scheumer, Sheymer, Shymer and in other forms. Children of Hon. Charles and Camilla M. (Shimer) Brodhead : Charles, born July 26, 1859, died May 18, 1860; Kate Ellen, born May 15, 1861, married Warren A. Wilbur (q.v.) ; and Albert, born September 26, 1867.
JAMES RUSSELL DONNELLY-In the long ago, when three trains daily constituted the Lehigh Valley service to Easton, James Russell Don- nelly was conductor of one of those trains, having come to the operating
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department from the engineering corps. Later he became superintendent of the Lehigh and one of the best known men in the service of that road. He became a resident of Easton in 1866, and in 1869 located at No. 153 Ferry street, that being his home until his death, thirty-four years afterward. He was a son of George (2) Donnelly, who came from Ireland with his parents. George and Mary (Maloney) Donnelly, political refugees from Ireland, they having taken part in the uprisings in 1790. George Donnelly found a pleasing location in Chester county, Pennsylvania, making permanent home in West Chester.
George (2) Donnelly was but a young boy when brought to Chester county, Pennsylvania, from Ireland, but he readily adopted American ways, obtained an education in West Chester schools, learned a trade, and became a noted builder of the olden time wooden bridges. One of the bridges he con- structed was that spanning the Schuylkill at Douglasville, Pennsylvania. He married Sarah Russell, of Douglasville, daughter of George Whittaker and Sarah (Reifsnyder) Russell, and they were the parents of an only child, James Russell Donnelly, to whom this review is dedicated. George (2) Don- nelly died in West Chester, Pennsylvania, in 1835, six months after the birth of his son, James Russell. Mrs. Donnelly married (second), Peter Turner, and had children: Amos, Newton, and Annie, the last-named the wife of Frank Hallman, of Pottstown, Pennsylvania.
James Russell Donnelly was born in West Chester, Chester county, Pennsylvania, October 29, 1834, and died in Easton, Pennsylvania, July 5, 1903. After the death of his father, six months later, his mother returned to her father's home in Douglasville, and there the lad, James, lived until the age of sixteen years. He was educated under private teachers, and in 1850 was sent to his uncle, Peter Russell, rector of St. Mark's Protestant Episcopal Church at Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania, who placed him in a private school, and there his school years were finished. During these closing years of school life he went out with the Lehigh Valley railroad engineering parties during his summer vacation periods and when school was finished he became a per- manent member of the engineering department of that road. Robert H. Sayre was then chief engineer of the Lehigh, and when the road was under construction between Mauch Chunk and Easton, he made Mr. Donnelly his assistant chief engineer, a post he ably filled as long as he remained in that department of the Lehigh. He was finally transferred from the engineering corps to the operating department, and was appointed conductor of one of the three trains the Lehigh was then operating. He has advanced in rank several times, finally becoming general superintendent, a position he held until the year 1900, when he resigned, having been in the continuous employ of the Lehigh Valley railroad from his youth. He gained a high reputation among railway officials and was one of the men responsible for the placing of the Lehigh among the list of well operated railways of the United States. After resigning from the superintendent's office he retired to a well earned rest, and three years later was called to eternal rest.
Constancy and fidelity were two marked characteristics of his nature, and were displayed in every position he filled, either in business or civil life. He became a resident of Easton in 1866, and about 1870 was elected a member of the school board. He never lost the deep interest he then evinced in all matters pertaining to the operation of the public schools, and he held the office until his death more than a quarter of a century later. He was a devout churchman and for thirty-five years served Trinity Episcopal Church as ves- tryman, being in office when his final summons came. He was a Republican of the old school, but whenever his term on the school board expired, he was re-elected without opposition, the opposite party supporting Mr. Donnelly as enthusiastically as his own party. He was a charter member of Dallas Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of Easton, and was held in high regard
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by his brethren of the order. All these affiliations were continued faithfully as long as he lived, and he yielded to no man in loyalty or devotion to school, fraternity or church.
Another characteristic prominently developed in Mr. Donnelly was his love of country and his readiness to offer even that last and highest sacrifice, his life. When President Lincoln called upon the manhood of the North, West and East to rally to the colors in their defence, he enlisted with a company from Mauch Chunk, and went to the front as its first lieutenant, Commissioned by Governor Curtain, Company A, Thirty-fourth Regiment Infantry, on June 30, 1863. He saw active service and played well his part, returning from the war with a captain's commission. There he met every obligation of life, and of him it could be written: "Well done, good and faithful servant."
Mr. Donnelly married at Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania, October 9, 1860, Sophia Johnson, of that town, who died December 26, 1905, daughter of Henry and Mary (Kintner) Johnson. In 1866 they moved to Easton, making their home at No. 153 Ferry street, and there they resided in closest harmony until the bond was dissolved by the death of the husband, the wife following two years later. They rest side by side in Easton Cemetery. Mr. and Mrs. Donnelly were the parents of two sons, Joseph Henry and James Russell (2) ; and two daughters, Elizabeth and Sarah. Joseph Henry Donnelly is now a resident of Brooklyn, New York, with the Bush Terminal Company, now operated by the United States Government. He married Winifred Willis. James Russell (2) Donnelly, of Paterson, New Jersey, married Eloise Butz, and they have four children, sons: I. James Russell (3), married Catherine McInnerney. 2. Charles Douglas, was official photographer in the Signal Corps, American Expeditionary Forces, "Somewhere in France." He went over with the Rainbow Division, one of the two first official photographers sent over with Pershing's forces; he was prostrated by shell shock and is now (September, 1918) recuperating in London. 3. Arthur B., is physical instruc- tor in the public schools of Rochester, New York; he married Marian Kubetka. 4. Richard Joseph, at home. Elizabeth and Sarah Donnelly, the only daughters of James Russell (I) and Sophia (Johnson) Donnelly, reside at the old home, No. 153 Ferry street, Easton, they never having known any other home.
LOUIS HELLER-For many years an expert tinsmith and foreman of the Daniel Beach Shop in Easton, Louis Heller, through his mechanical skill and friendly, genial manner, made many warm friends both in a business and social way. He was of the Reading branch of the family founded in Penn- sylvania by Christopher Heller, who was born in Germany, in 1688, and came to Pennsylvania in 1738, arriving in Philadelphia with his six sons, September 5, of that year. Joseph, the oldest son, never married, but the other five did, and reared large families. Johan Simon Heller, the second son, had sixteen children, four of whom, Jacob, John, Abraham and Simon, served in the Revolutionary. War. Johan Michael Heller, the third son, became a very extensive land owner, was the founder of Hellertown, and there, in 1746, built a stone house, which is yet standing. He gave each of his children a farm containing several hundred acres, and lost very heavily through the deprecia- tion of currency during the Revolutionary War. But, nevertheless, his team was the first to leave the Saucon Valley loaded with provisions for Wash- ington's needy soldiers at Valley Forge. He was also a lieutenant in the army, and two of his sons were also in the service.
From Christopher Heller, the founder, sprang Frederick Peter Heller, born in Reading, Pennsylvania, where he passed his entire life, dying when in good old age. He was a justice of the peace for many years, that being a very important office in his day. He served in the last few years of the
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Revolution, although very young. He married and was the father of eight children, the eldest being a son, George, a leading jeweler of Reading. They also had sons: John, Frederick, and Louis, the last-named being the principal character of this review.
Louis Heller was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, in March, 1814, and died in Easton, Pennsylvania, in 1890. He was baptized, as were his brothers and sisters, by Rev. Henry M. Muhlenburg, the patriarch of the Lutheran church in Pennsylvania. He was the youngest child of his parents, and was reared upon the farm lands now within Reading limits, but the Central Rail- road of New Jersey, when it entered Reading, needed to cross the Heller lands, and offered a reasonable price therefor. Frederick P. Heller, the father, was deeply opposed to having his lands crossed by the railroads, and fought it bitterly, but nevertheless had to succumb to the march of public improvement. It was then decided by the father that farming was no longer a suitable occupation for his youngest son, and it was thought wise that Louis be taught a trade. He was at once apprenticed to a tinsmith in Read- ing, became an expert workman, then when a young man he located in Easton, Pennsylvania, later returning to take unto himself a wife. Easton was ever afterward his home, and there he won an excellent reputation as business man and citizen. His residence was on Centre square, the lot being now the site of the National Meat Market. He was very proud of his home and his family, and was devoted in his care and solicitude for them. He was a lifelong member of the Lutheran church, and died in the faith. He became a Republican at the founding of the party, and was always an ardent sup- porter of its principles.
Mr. Heller married, in Reading, Barbara Ann Stahle, born in 1815, daugh- ter of Capt. Joseph and Gertrude Stahle. He returned to Easton with his bride, and there they lived until the death of Mrs. Heller at their home on Ferry street, in 1879. In youth she was a member of the Episcopal church, but after her marriage she united with the Lutheran, and worshipped with her husband. He survived her eleven years. They were the parents of ten children: 1. Maria Frederica, who for many years was engaged in the milli- nery business, at No. 155 Northampton street, where she died, December 12, 1918. 2. Augustus Frederick, who died in the United States Soldiers' Home at Hampton Roads, Virginia, in 1917; he was first lieutenant of the One Hundred and Twenty-ninth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, en- tering the service on President Lincoln's first call in 1861, and going to the front with his regiment, under command of Colonel Yohe. Later he was captain of Company C, of another regiment, serving until the close of the war in 1865, being engaged in many of the most important battles of the war. He married Annie Crawford, of Easton, Pennsylvania. 3. George, now resid- ing in the old Heller homestead in Easton; he engaged in the roofing busi- ness. 4. Alice, died young. 5. Isabelle, died young. 6. Daniel, died young. 7. Matilda, married William H. Ryan, of Boston, they now residing in Allen- town, Pennsylvania, where Mr Ryan is engaged in business as a box manu- facturer. 8. Leonora, married William H. Seip, a merchant of Easton, he now deceased. Mrs. Seip survives her husband, a resident of Easton, the mother of eight children. 9. Anna Barbara, married Robert E. James, who for many years was president of the Easton Trust Company, and who died in Easton, November 10, 1913. 10. Louis (2), now and for the last nine years assistant treasurer of Easton; he married Elizabeth Stillgenbauer, and resides at the corner of Sixth and Northampton streets, Easton.
HERBERT GROVER CLEVELAND HOFFERT-Lawrence Hoffert, a son of Daniel Hoffert, was a blacksmith of Hellertown, Pennsylvania, died in 1894, aged sixty. He married Ellen Elizabeth Boehm, a daughter of James M. and Maria (Dech) Boehm, born August 1, 1842, who died January 6, 1913.
Eng by E.G. Williams & Dro.MY.
The American Historical Society
ton Erus.
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They were the parents of five children who came to years of maturity, another child, a daughter Emma, dying in infancy. The living children (1919) are : George A., an engineer with the Bethlehem Steel Company, married Ellen Ruth, and has seven living children ; William T., employed as a steam crane operator at the Bethlehem Steel Company, married Ida Adams, and has five children ; Harry J., a merchant of shop No. 2 of the Bethlehem Steel Com- pany, married Gertrude Hess, daughter of Colonel Edward Hess, and has a daughter Margaret; Maria, married William H. Frye, yard master of the Bethlehem Steel Transportation Yards, and he has five sons; Herbert Grover Cleveland, of further mention.
Herbert Grover Cleveland Hoffert was born in Hellertown, Northampton county, Pennsylvania, September 3, 1884. He there attended public school, and finished his education in Hellertown High School. In 1902 he began learning the machinist's trade with the Bethlehem Steel Company. He re- mained with that company as machinist until 1910, then began operating in coal production, and is now conducting a large and successful business as coal operator and contractor in association with S. D. Ritter, of Freemans- burg, Pennsylvania, and is also engaged in general contracting. Mr. Hoffert is a resident of North Hellertown, is a Democrat in politics, active in public affairs. He is a member and past master of Hellertown Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; Saucona Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; Hellertown Castle, Knights of the Golden Eagle; Killatin Tribe, Improved Order of Red Men; and in religious affiliation is a Lutheran.
Mr. Hoffert married, November 25, 1913, at Hellertown, Laura Mabel Raub, daughter of Jeremiah and Elizabeth (Moser) Raub. Mr. and Mrs. Hoffert were the parents of two children: Flora May, born September 6, 1914; Catherine Ellen, born June 5, 1915. Mrs. Hoffert died November 26, 1919, aged thirty-five years, six months and four days. She was born May 22, 1883.
TILGHMAN REISS-Jesse Reiss, a substantial farmer of Lower Saucon township, Northampton county, Pennsylvania, died at the age of eighty-five, honored and respected. He married Susanna Koch, who died at the age of forty-five. They were the parents of: Tilghman, of further mention; Matilda, married Joseph Morey, deceased; Mary Ann, married N. Bowler, deceased; Fayetta, died, unmarried, in 1914; James, died in 1918, married ; jeremiah, died in 1918, married.
Tilghman Reiss was born in Lower Saucon township, Northampton county, Pennsylvania, September 16, 1845, and like his father before him, has there spent his life engaged in farming and teaming. He is active in business, and since 1913 has been township collector of taxes, elected by a very large vote. He is a Republican in politics, and a member of the Reformed church, serving six years as deacon.
Mr. Reiss married (first) Lucinda B. Billheimer, who died, leaving five children : I. Clayton, an engineer at the Bethelhem Steel Works; married Anna Wimmer, who died leaving a daughter. 2. Ida, married William Eckert, a bloomer and roller at the Bethlehem Steel Works, and has eight children. 3. Edward, a Bethlehem steel worker, married Laura Schick. 4. Susan, mar- ried Charles Steinman. 5. Lillian, married Benjamin Lambert, a forge worker in the Bethlehem Steel Works, and has three children. Mr. Reiss married (second) Mrs. Lawrence Hoffert.
ROBERT ELDREDGE WILBUR-The connections of Mr. Wilbur in the industrial, business and financial circles of Bethlehem are with those insti- tutions whose part in the growth and upbuilding of the city has been import- ant and constant. With many of these the Wilbur name has been long identi- fied, and in a busy career embracing activity in manufacturing, banking,
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publishing and other fields of business he has ably upheld splendid family records and traditions.
Son of Warren A. and Sallie P. (Lindermann) Wilbur, Robert Eldredge Wilbur was born in Bethlehem, July 17, 1881. He prepared for college at the Lawrenceville School, Lawrenceville, New Jersey, and Hill School, Potts- town, Pennsylvania, then entered Lehigh University, class of 1904. After taking two years in architectural courses in Harvard University, he returned to Bethlehem and at once engaged in business. The Bethlehem Foundry & Machine Company has occupied much of his time, and he is now (1919) assistant to the general manager of the plant. A strong, vigorous enterprise, this concern during the World War rendered valuable service in the supply of war materials for the United States and her allies. Vast quantities of powder-making machinery were produced by the company, and in its plant was made the first successfully operating apparatus for the extraction of nitric acid from the air, in the United States, as well as some of the earliest machinery for the manufacture of mustard and other gases used in warfare.
From 1907 to 1919 Mr. Wilbur was vice-president of the Lehigh Valley National Bank, and was elected president to succeed Gen. William E. Doster in the latter year. His long and close association with the important affairs of the institution made his succession to the executive office but a slight change, and his election was received with wide favor within the sphere of the bank's influence and among the banking fraternity. Mr. Wilbur is a director and executive officer in the following: President of the Globe Pub- lishing Company, publishers of the Bethlehem Globe; president of the Citizens' Realty Company ; treasurer of the Packer Coal Company; the same office in the Jefferson Coal Company ; and is a director of the Sayre National Bank, of Sayre, Pennsylvania. In the organizations of business men of the city, formed for the promotion of the mutual interests of the members and the advancement of the commercial and industrial prosperity of the locality, he has always taken prominent part, and is now president of the South Side Business Men's Association ; president of the Bethlehem Rotary Club, 1919- 20; and vice-president of the Bethlehem Chamber of Commerce.
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