History of Northampton County [Pennsylvania] and the grand valley of the Lehigh, Volume III, Part 45

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 45


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Mr. Crosland is a Republican in politics, and until 1918 was a member of the Northampton County Republican Committee. His interest did not then abate, but the duties of his position demanded that he withdraw from all outside activities so far as possible. He is a member of Bethlehem Cham- ber of Commerce; the Rotary Club; Washington Republic Association; Stanley Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; Loyal Order of Moose; Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks, charter member of Lodge No. 1209, Bethle- hem ; Court America, Order of Foresters; Knights of Pythias, Lodge No. 267, and in religious connection is affiliated with the Lutheran church.


Mr. Crosland married, in December, 19II, in Bethlehem, Mabel C. Kein, daughter of Owen Kein, of Bethlehem. Mrs. Crosland's father, a former steel worker, died in 1916, her mother surviving her husband, and residing in Bethlehem. Mr. and Mrs. Crosland reside in Bethlehem.


EDWARD IVEY-For more than twenty years Edward Ivey was a well known figure around the Easton shops of the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company, he being an expert machinist, and a man of such pleasing person- ality that he won friends easily, and so honorable and upright that he always retained them. He was a son of Edward Ivey, who was born of English parents, and when a young man came to the United States and served as a private in the Union Army during the Civil War. Later he became a miner and settled at Glendon, Northampton county, Pennsylvania, two miles from Easton. He married, in Pennsylvania, Elizabeth Griffith, who survived him and died at her home, No. 1018 Wilkes-Barre street, Easton, in January, 1893. He died at the home in Glendon. Edward and Elizabeth (Griffith) Ivey were the parents of a daughter, Jane, who married Thomas Smith, and of two sons, John, who was accidentally killed at Glendon, and Edward (2), to whose memory this review of an honorable life is dedicated.


Edward (2) Ivey, son of Edward (I) and Elizabeth (Griffith) Ivey, was born at the family home in Glendon, Northampton county, Pennsylvania, June 4, 1864, and there was educated in the public schools. His parents were willing to give him all school advantages possible, but he overruled their wishes and was allowed to follow his own preference which led away from the schoolroom to a place in the shops of the Glendon Machine Company. He was but a boy when he began with that company, doing light forms of work suitable to his years, but as he grew in stature and strength he became a machinst's apprentice, serving four years. After being free from his time as an apprentice, he left the Glendon Machine Shops and entered the employ of the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company at the Easton shops, and there continued until the end of his life, January 5, 1913, at the age of forty-seven years. He was an expert machinist and skilled worker in metal, industrious and energetic, loyal to every obligation of life, a good neighbor and friend. His political affiliation was with the Republican party, and he was always an earnest worker for party success. He represented the Eleventh Ward in Easton's City Council, and was always found upon the right side of all moral issues. He was reared in the faith of the Methodist Episcopal church, later attended the services of the Presbyterian church. He was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Improved Order of Red Men; was active in the Patriotic Order Sons of Veterans, was first lieutenant in the Reeder Battery, and very highly esteemed by his brethren and comrades of these organizations.


Mr. Ivey married, in Easton, September 18, 1889, Rev. William Hess, pastor of a Philadelphia Methodist church, officiating, Lena White, born in Germany, January 12, 1869, but brought to the United States by her parents when but three months old. She is a daughter of John and Hannah (Bur- muster) White, who located in Glendon, Pennsylvania, where John White was accidentally killed in 1872, on the Lehigh Valley railroad while in the


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discharge of his duties as an employee. Mrs. Ivey survives her husband and resides in Easton, a member of St. Paul's Lutheran Church. Children of Edward and Lena (White) Ivey: I. Elizabeth A., married Norwood T. Holden, and resides in Easton; they are the parents of a daughter, Kathleen, born in 1915. 2. Raymond Harry, of Easton, married Lillian Daub. 3. Jane G., married Edward Osborn, who was a soldier of the United States, in training at Camp Lee. 4. Beatrice White, a stenographer, employed in the offices of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western railroad, at Easton. 5. Lena May, married Harold Koshner, and resides at Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. 6. Edward William. 7. Dorothy Ruth, who resides at home. Mrs. Edward Ivey married (second), June 30, 1917, John Carey, of Easton.


JACOB THOMAS WALTER-The Walter family settled in Northamp- ton county, Pennsylvania, prior to the Revolutionary War, and there Jacob Walter was born about 1770, his thirty-acre farm located near Hecktown, and there he died about 1840. Descendants settled in Easton, and there another Jacob Walter was born, he the father of Jacob Thomas Walter, now foreman of the Pennsylvania Utilities Company, and a native son of Easton.


Jacob (2) Walter was born in Easton, and there spent his boyhod. He and his brother John were orphaned at an early age, and they found a home in the family of Paul Small, a canal boatman, who was their very good friend. Jacob went with his benefactor on the canal as tow-path boy, and from driving a canal team graduated to the deep seas and became a whaler. Some years later he shipped on a steamer plying to Nova Scotian and Ber- mudian ports. He was a part of the engine room force for several years, then renounced the sea for a brakeman's job on the Lehigh Valley railroad. This was in 1858, and for some years he held that position. He then became a fireman on the same road, finally being promoted to the right-hand side of the cab. Since his retirement as engineer, he has led a retired life in the city of his birth, his home at No. 728 Milton avenue, Easton. Jacob Walter married Hannah Garis, born in Easton, and there died, leaving children : Lizzie, married Jesse J. Miller, whom she survives, a resident of Easton ; and Jacob Thomas, of whom further.


Jacob Thomas Walter, only son of Jacob (2) and Hannah (Garis) Walter, was born in Easton, April 3, 1877, and there obtained a public school education. His first teacher was a young lady named Anna Rankin (now Mrs. Thomas), then a teacher on the South Side. His last teacher in the finishing grade of grammar school was Alfred Cyphers, the lad having then reached his fifteenth year. In 1892 he left school and entered the employ of William H. Miller, a South Side coal dealer. He was an office boy, errand boy, driver and general utility boy for some time, then having gained experi- ence and strength, he changed his line, and for two years was with the Delaware Ice Company. His next employer was Mrs. M. M. Disbrow, the keeper of a children's boarding house, with whom he remained two and a half years. He then began a short term of service with the Lehigh Valley railroad as call boy at the shops, after which he engaged in the butcher business, working for Reuben Moyer, of the South Side, for a period of three years. From Mr. Moyer's employ he passed to the Easton Ice & Cold Storage Company, first aiding in the erection of their plant along the canal on the South Side, then helping in its operation. From that company he transferred to the Easton Power Company, that corporation being the forerunner of the present Pennsylvania Utilities Company. His first position was in the repair department, but in 1900 he became connected with the operating department, and in 1905, when the company enlarged their plant and installed new equipment, Mr. Walter was promoted to the position of foreman and placed in charge of new construction. In 1912, the company having grown


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to large proportions, he was given a new department and made foreman of all yard work and in charge of all trucks and teams. This position he yet holds, one of the old and trusted employees of the company. He is a member of the Foresters of America, a communicant of the United Evangeli- cal church, and in politics a Republican.


Mr. Walter married, March 7, 1900, Susan Bright, daughter of Harrison Bright, her father a Lehigh Valley engineer. Mr. and Mrs. Walter are the parents of four children: Maud Elizabeth, Paul Irwin, Ethel Helen and Jacob Thomas (2) Walter. The family home is at No. 706 Lincoln street, Easton, South Side.


BERNARD FRANCIS CONNELL-When a boy of eleven years, Ber- nard F. Connell obtained a boy's position with the Bethlehem Iron & Steel Company, and notwithstanding all changes in name, ownership, character or volume of business transacted, he has kept his place in the company's ranks, and now, after thirty-nine years of service, is rated one of the company's reliable, capable and efficient workmen. For twenty of these years he has been connected with the armor plate department of the great plant, and has developed with that branch an intimate knowledge of armor plate casting, hardening and tempering.


Bernard Francis Connell is a son of Edward Connell, who came from Ireland to the United States when a boy, accompanying his parents, who located the family home in New York City. This was shortly after the year 1850, and until about 1860 Edward Connell, having learned the bricklayer's trade, came to Pennsylvania, later settling in Bethlehem. He married Jane Campbell, who came from Ireland when a young girl, and died in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in September, 1896. They were the parents of four sons, all deceased save Bernard F., of further mention, and of two daughters, one living, Anna, widow of John Connell. She has a son Edward living in Camden, New Jersey, and two daughters, Mary, chief bookkeeper at St. Luke's Hospital, residing with her mother in Bethlehem, and Jennie V., now Sister Constanthia, a sister of St. Charles' Convent, Philadelphia, Pennsyl- vania.


Bernard Francis Connell was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, April 15, 1867, and until eleven years of age attended the public schools of South Bethlehem. In 1880 he began work with the Bethlehem Iron Company, and from a boy's position was advanced to a better one in due course of time. He has steadily continued his association with the company, and has had many promotions in different departments of the plant, being heater in the armor plate department, a branch of the company's business with which he has been connected for twenty years. Mr. Connell is a Democrat in politics, but never sought nor desired office for himself. He is a member of the Roman Catholic church; the Loyal Order of Moose; and Bethlehem Division No. I, Ancient Order of Hibernians.


Mr. Connell married, April 15, 1891, Mary Sullivan, daughter of Timothy and Mary (Hennessy) Sullivan, of Philipsburg, Pennsylvania, her father for many years a section foreman with the Pennsylvania railroad. Timothy Sullivan died April 13, 1905. Mary (Hennessy) Sullivan, like her husband, came from Ireland when young and spent her after life in Philipsburg. Timothy and Mary (Hennessy) Sullivan were the parents of thirteen chil- dren, six daughters and two sons yet living. Bernard F. and Mary (Sullivan) Connell were the parents of eight children: Jennie, born September 18, 1892, low employed in the offices of the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company at Bethlehem ; Catherine W., born January 28, 1894, a bookkeeper at St. Luke's Hospital ; John F., born April 24, 1896, an enlisted man stationed at Camp Dix, New Jersey, employed as a stenographer in the quartermaster's depart- ment ; James L., born November 17, 1899, a soldier of the United States, was


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in the Aviation Corps with the American Expeditionary Forces in France ; Mary R., born September 19, 1901, a graduate of Bethlehem Business Col- lege, now a stenographer with the Bethlehem Steel Company; Edward B., born March 10, 1902, an employee of the Bethlehem Steel Company; Francis J., born May II, 1904; Margaret C., born September 27, 1907.


HERMAN SCHMIDT-Herman Schmidt was born in Waldeck, Ger- many, September 13, 1839. He came to this country in 1854, at the age of fifteen years. His brothers, William and Frederick, had preceded him. Wil- liam later became an engineer for the Lehigh Valley railroad, which position he held for over forty years. Frederick lost his life during the Civil War for the Union cause.


Mr. Schmidt spent a number of years after his arrival on farms in the Dryland section of Northampton county, and became well known to the farmers of the community through his devotion to duty and exact methods. After a number of years he was selected as farmer at the County Home. It was in this capacity that he met his future wife, Mary Karch, who later served him so well in managing the affairs of the County Home and keeping it up to its high standard. Mr. Schmidt was later elected superintendent, and held the place until 1912. During his term of office he was frequently com- plimented on the excellent appearance and condition of the place, Cadawal- ader Biddle, then inspector of charitable institutions, being one of his most noted supporters. During this time he also gained a lifelong friendship with the Hon. William Mutchler, of Easton, who stood staunchly by him until his death. Judge Scott, on one occasion, appointed Mr. Schmidt, with Messrs. Miller, Wood, Hackett and Wilbur, as a committee to investigate the neces- sity of a new insane asylum for this district. Mr. Schmidt's success at the almshouse was due to his exactness in details, putting off nothing for another day, and his neatness and cleanliness in all departments. He was firm in his orders, but had a very kindly disposition. His wife was a great help in his entire career, kind, devoted and energetic, and the inmates flocked to her with all their troubles and sorrows. Mr. Schmidt made many friends during his term of office, and at one time had considerable influence in the Democratic party. His old associates stood with him until the time of his death in July, 1918.


Mr. Schmidt's family consisted of nine children: Mary E., who died at the age of thirty-five; Emma C., wife of Charles P. Kleppinger; Charles W., a sergeant in the aviation service during the late war, now employed at the Bethlehem Steel Works; Frank H., cashier of the Nazareth National Bank; Alice A., who resides with her mother; Arthur G., president and manager of the Kraemer Hosiery Company ; Nellie E., wife of Thomas Kostenbader ; Florence I .; and Victor R., captain of infantry during the late war and now a structural engineer with the Goodyear Rubber & Tire Company in Con- necticut.


The Northampton County Almshouse was Mr. Schmidt's greatest con- sideration, and during his declining years he was frequently consulted regard- ing its management. He died at the age of seventy-eight years.


CHARLES WILLIAM SCHULER-The Schulers in this branch came from Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, to Northampton county, they having long been seated in the first-mentioned county. Moses Schuler, at the age of seventy, died in the same room in which he was born in 1817, and all the intervening years had there been spent engaged in farming. He was a devout member of the German Baptist church (Dunkard), and a preacher, walking every Sunday from his home in East Texas to Bethlehem to fill the pulpit of the little church he served. He was a close student of the Bible, warm- hearted and charitable, tilling his farm with industry and skill six days in


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the week and preaching on the seventh. He was well known to the older generation as a man of just and upright life, ever striving to be of service to his fellow men. He was never far from his own fireside, but everybody respected and loved him. He married, and with his son, Jacob Schuler, and grandson, Charles W. Schuler, this review further deals.


Jacob Schuler was born at the homestead in New Texas, Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, January 14, 1856, and died in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, August 22, 1914. He grew up at the home farm, but later he learned the machinist's trade and made that his life work. He formed a connection with the Beth- lehem Steel Company which was never broken until severed by death, after existing twenty-two years, 1892-1914. He was a fine workman, thoroughly skilled in his trade, and thoroughly admired and respected by all who knew him. He was a member of the German Baptist church, and in his political faith a Republican. He married Trevilla Roth, daughter of Samuel and Hannah Roth, of Cedarville, Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, her father a farmer all his active years, a veteran of the Civil War and a highly esteemed citizen. Jacob and Trevilla Schuler were the parents of four children: I. Mamie, mar- ried William Irick, of South Bethlehem, a confectioner ; they are the parents of a son, Charles. 2. Harry Mahlon, married Annie Kieper, of Bethlehem , there he conducts a plumbing business; they have two children, Hilda and Paul. 3. Leidy Samuel, a clerical worker with the Bethlehem Steel Company ; married Ellen , and has a son, Maynard. 4. Charles William, of further mention.


Charles W. Schuler was born at East Texas, Lehigh county, Pennsyl- vania, May 14, 1878, and there obtained a good public school education. After leaving school he became a worker in the raw silk department of the Beth- lehem Silk Mill, and there was employed three years. After leaving the silk mill he went with the Bethlehem Iron Company, the forerunner of the Bethlehem Steel Company, and there remained for something over a year, when the iron company shut down, and he went with the Huff music store in Bethlehem. For seven years he continued with Mr. Huff as salesman and collector, that period closing in 1906 with his return to the plant of the Bethlehem Steel Company, beginning as a helper and rising through various positions to his present responsible place in that great plant, assistant master mechanic, his present position. He has won his own way in the world, and by sheer force of character and ability has risen above the ordinary. He is a member of the Woodmen of the World, and a Republican in politics, he being the candidate of his party for recorder of deeds in 1906.


Mr. Schuler married, June 15, 1899, at Rittersville, Pennsylvania, Helen C. Fulmer, daughter of Edwin and Catherine Fulmer, of White Haven, Penn- sylvania. Edwin Fulmer was born March 30, 1841, was for thirty years an employee of the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company, then until his retirement was with the Lehigh Valley Traction, and aided in constructing the line between Allentown and Bethlehem, he being a well informed, practical rail- road man. He hauled the slate for the first building erected by the Bethlehem Steel Company, and has seen the wonderful expansion of that plant. He is a member of the Reformed church, and is a Republican in politics. He married Catherine Boyfogle, of Carbon county birth, daughter of James Boyfogle, a pioneer farmer. In addition to his long career as a railroad man, Edwin Fulmer served in the One Hundred and Twenty-ninth Regiment. Pennsylvania Volunteers, during the Civil War, escaping without injury, although he was in the battle of Gettysburg and saw hard service. Charles W. and Helen C. Schuler are the parents of six children: I. Catherine, born March II, 1900; in 1918 was a freshman at Moravian Seminary. 2. Edward M., born June 22, 1901 ; now just entering the employ of the Bethlehem Steel Company. 3. Pearl Edith, born April 26, 1903; a junior at Bethlehem High School. 4. Alfreda May, born September 9, 1905. 5. Mildred Irea, born January 17, 1912. 6. Elsie Ellen, born October 27, 1914.


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ROBERT E. JAMES-Robert E. James, former president of the Easton Trust Company, a lawyer of high capability, and one who occupied various positions of honor and trust in the State and under the Federal government, was of mingled Welsh, Scotch-Irish and German blood, and a descendant of ancestors who were pioneer settlers in Pennsylvania shortly after the coming of William Penn. In the paternal line he represented a family of Baptists, dating from the early part of the seventeenth century. In the McHenry and Wilson lines he came of that sturdy Scotch-Irish Presbyterian race which, under the policy of James II and the Cromwellian settlement and the later adjustments of William of Orange, settled in Ireland, and finally left that country and came to America, where they became the founders of Presbyte- rianism in the New World, and of families which bore conspicuous parts during the Revolutionary War and in the subsequent history of the country.


(I) John James, the immigrant ancestor of Robert E. James, was a native of Pembrokeshire, Wales, and whose ancestry in Wales is a matter of church records for many generations. He was born in April, 1660. He married, in Wales. He and his wife Elizabeth were members of Ridilin Church, in Pembrokeshire. He and his family, several of whom were then adults, came to America in 1710, and finally settled in Bucks county, Penn- sylvania, where he purchased a tract of one thousand acres of land in New Britain township, upon which he passed the remainder of his life. The line of descent from John James to Robert E. James is as follows:


(II) William James, one of the children of John and Elizabeth James, was born in Wales, in 1692, and came to America with his parents. He and his wife Mary lived and died in Bucks county, Pennsylvania.


(III) John (2) James, son of William and Mary James, was born, lived and died in Bucks county, Pennsylvania. He married Elizabeth Evans.


(IV) Josiah James, son of John (2) and Elizabeth (Evans) James, was born in 1741, at the ancestral home, and there died December 2, 1806. He married Elizabeth Evans, the same name as was his mother.


(V) Evan James, son of Josiah and Elizabeth (Evans) James, was born in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, and lived there during his entire lifetime. He was a man of liberal education, high character, ample means, and was well regarded throughout the community. He married Elizabeth McHenry, and they were the parents of two children : William McHenry, who became a physician, residing near Doylestown; and Robert Evan, of whom further. This union of Evan James and Elizabeth McHenry introduces the Scotch- Irish element into the ancestry. Elizabeth McHenry was the descendant of Francis McHenry, the immigrant ancestor of that name, who came from County Antrim, Ireland, where the family had been transplanted from Scot- land. Francis McHenry's wife was Mary Ann Wilson, a daughter of Hugh and Sarah (Craig) Wilson. Hugh Wilson was a son of Thomas Wilson, an officer in the army of William of Orange, and who for his services at the battle of the Boyne was given a large tract of land at Coote Hill, County Cavan, Ireland. Hugh Wilson, with his brothers-in-law, the Craigs, came to America about 1720, and ultimately founded what was known as the Irish settlement, near Bath, in Northampton county, Pennsylvania. This settle- ment was among the earliest in the Forks of the Delaware, and has sent its lines of descent throughout the United States, and numbers in those lines many noted personages, including President Wilson, several governors of the States, judges, etc. Hugh Wilson, Francis McHenry's father-in-law, was appointed a commissioner to establish the county seat at Easton and to erect the original court house. He was also appointed king's justice upon the organization of the county, and served in that capacity until the time of his death, just prior to the Revolutionary War. Francis McHenry was a Pres- byterian preacher, and for almost half a century was the pastor of the Deep


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Run Church in Bucks county. His brother came to America at the same time and located in Baltimore; his son was on General Washington's staff, subsequently on General Lafayette's staff, afterwards a member of General Washington's cabinet, and Fort McHenry, near the city of Baltimore, was named in honor of his services. Francis McHenry was for some time asso- ciated as pastor of the Deep Run Church, with William Tennent, the founder of the old "Log College" on Neshaminy creek. Tennent and his college were the nurses of educated Presbyterianism in America, and Princeton Col- lege may fairly be said to be the sequence of his labors. Francis McHenry was honored by his son Charles, whose heroic exploit at the massacre of Paoli is a matter of history. William McHenry, a son of Francis McHenry, was born at Deep Run parsonage, during the ministry of his father, May 6, 1744. He married Mary Stewart, and their third child, Elizabeth, born March 7, 1776, became the wife of Evan James, so uniting the Scotch-Irish ancestry upon the stock of the Welsh ancestry.




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