USA > Pennsylvania > Schuylkill County > History of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, Vol. II > Part 33
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N IL SLKILL LOUATI
1852 He was educated in the public schools of the locality in which he lived, and prepared for his enrollment as a student at the state normal school at kutztown, Pa He was graduated from that institution in 1821, with the first honors in his class. He engaged in teaching in Lehigh and Schuylkill counties for two years, and then returned to his alma mater, where he held the chair of instructor in mathematics for six years.
While this employed, he also turned his attention to institute work and was engaged as instructor and lecturer in teachers' institutes in a number of the adjacent counties. He resigned his chair in the normal school to take up the study of law, becoming a student under the tutorship of the late Hon. Francis W. Hughes, in Potts- ville. He was admitted to practice before the bar nf Schuylkill county in May, 1881, has since been admitted to practice in the supreme court of the state, and in 1800, to the supreme court of the United States, Judge Koch is a thorough lawyer, devoted to his profession, and maintains a high standing in social and business circles. He is an active and earnest Republican, a tal- ented and vigorous campaign orator and a systematic political or- ganizer. He was chairman of the Republican county committee in 1883 and 1884. Mr. Koch served three years as deputy district attorney from 188; to 1800, and in the year 1889 he was elected to that office. This election was a high compliment to Mr. Koch's popularity, in that the county was considered almost hopelessly Democratic. He was nominee of his party for the ofice of judge of the common pleas court in 1802, but was defeated, Grover Cleveland, candidate for president, carrying the county by a plu- rality of 2.251. He was appointed judge by Governor Hastings. on the death of Judge Weidman, in 1807. and was his party's candidate for election in 1898; but, owing to the great anti-Quay fight that year, the election resulted in favor of every Democratic candidate in the county. Judge Koch was married Sept. 30. 184. in Miss Annie S. Philips, whose father, Captain William Philips, was fatally wounded at the battle of Cold Harbor, during the Civil war. Judge and Mrs. Koch have an interesting family of four children, whose names are Rosene, Helen, Marshall and Marjorie. The judge is associated with a number of fraternal organizations and has attained to high rank in the Masonic frater- nity. He is a member of the l'atriotic Order of the Sons of .\mer- ica and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He has been for the past twenty years a director of the Centennial Me- morial association of Valley Forge, which was established for the purpose of preserving this historically sacred spot from that oh- livion which has already obliterated too many relics of past gen- erations. Judge Koch is a trustee of the Pottsville hospital and for many years he has been a member of the board of trustees of the Keystone state normal school, located at Kutztown.
Kohler. Gerald A., station agent of the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad on the Shamokin division, at Tamaqua, was born in Schuylkill county. June 10, 1876, a son of Henry J. and Sarah A.
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Kohler, now residents of Philadelphia. The father is a carpenter and a skilled workman in his line. During the Civil war he en- listed in the Union army, but he was disqualified because of his youth. Notwithstanding, he was a member of the state militia and saw some service doing guard and garrison duty. Both parents are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Six children were born to them. George H., the eldest, is an insur- ance broker in Philadelphia; Edward died at the age of a year and a half; Mary Laura is the wife of Charles McGovvin, of Philadelphia ; Frank S. died Dec. 14, 1894, at the age of fourteen ; and Arthur R. passed away in Apr., 1890, at the age of ten months. The subject of this memoir is the third of the family in order of birth. He received his scholastic training in the public schools of Girardville, completing a course in telegraphy at the same time he finished his other schooling. The first three years after gradu- ation he was operator at Girardville for the Philadelphia & Read- ing road, and then served two years in the same capacity at Alaska. From Jan. 8, 1900, until Dec. 22, 1902, he was station agent at Gilberton, and then was promoted to the position of traveling station agent with headquarters at the division superin- tendent's office in Tamaqua; promoted to station agent, Tama- qua, Apr. 18, 1907. Dec. 31, 1900, Mr. Kohler married Miss Maude K. Anderson, who was born in Boonsboro, Ia., a daughter of John and Elizabeth 'Anderson, now residents of Girardville. Three children have blessed this union-Elwood Melvin, Marion Avery !! and Wayne Anderson. Both Mr. and Mrs. Kohler attend the Primitive Methodist church, and Mrs. Kohler is a member of the same. The husband is identified with the Patriotic Order of the Sons of America, of which he is now a trustee and of which he has been president. He is well known and popular, an efficient official and a substantial citizen.
Krapp, George F., one of the prominent younger members of the Schuylkill county bar, and a resident of Ashland, was born in that borough, Jan. 4, 1874. He is a son of Frederick Krapp, Sr., and Elizabeth (Schaefer) Krapp, both natives of Germany. His father was born in Sans Kow-Pommern, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and his mother in Barka on the Werra, Saxe-Weimar. His two grandfathers were both prominent in the commercial life of Ger- many in their early days. His grandfather on his father's side was born in Mecklenburg-Schwerin and was engaged in the iron business, and his grandfather on his mother's side was born in Gotha on the Werra, Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and was the owner of large tanneries. His father in his early days was engaged in the shoe business, but for the last thirty-five years has been a wholesale liquor dealer in said borough. The subject of this sketch attended the public schools of his native borough up to his seventeenth year and subsequently entered service on the state and government ship Saratoga, on her first cruise under Captain Greene, of the United States navy. On his return to Ashland he entered the law offices of the Hon. William A. Marr, and after he
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has successfully passed the examination for admission to the bar he was granted heense to practice at the Schuylkill county bar Sept 1. 1807. April 18. Han, the supreme court of the state ad- mitted him to practice at the bar of that tribunal, upon motion of the Hon. Dallas M. Sanders, of the city of Philadelphia, and since that time he has been professionally engaged in many un portant causes before the courts of the state Pohtically Mr. Krapp is a Democrat and for several years has been honored with the appointment as one of the county court commissioners. in 1808 he was elected as a delegate to the state convention, held at Altoona, which nominated the Hon, George A Jenks for gover nor, and in 1002 as a delegate to the state convention, held at Frie, which nominated the Hon. Robert E. Pattison for governor. In soo he was nominated by his party for the legislature, on the Democratic ticket, from the Second legislative district of Schuyl kill county, but was defeated at the general election by the Re- publican nominee. Hon. Alfred B Gamer In tyos he was elected tax collector of the borough of Ashland for the years 19 of 08. Besides his legal work, he has done considerable work as a notary public, having held a commission as such for the past twelve years. und or several years has been solimiter for the New Ashland Na- tional bank and for the school district of said bar nigh. His re- licious athliations are with Zion's German Frangehen! but can church, o Ashland, and he is prominent in all its activities lle is . identifi das a member with American House and Bet-v Ross Memorial association, the German Washington Verein, Camp 84. Patriotic Order of the Sons of America and AsHland Lofte. No. 384, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Hi many friends predict for him a brilliant future in the legal profession. and he is recognized as one of the most fra ising members of the community.
Krebs. Frank P., attorney and counsellor of law, was born in Tamaqua, Schuylkill county. Pa .. Det 1. 104. He is a son of Philip A and Elizabeth ( Portz) Krets, both natives of Münster- Appel, in the province of Rhenish Bavaria, Germany. They ac- companied their parents to America in early Ble, the mother be- ing a resident of Tamaqua, Pa., since 1817, and the father having locale! there in 1851. He was a skilled more anio, and followed the business of a fresco painter and decorator un'il 1864. when he engaged in the liquor business, as a retifier and wholesaler. He died in Tamaqua in 1883. His widow S'il live- in the bor- ough of her adoption. They were the parents of six children, four of whom are living. Frank P. Krebs, the subiect of this sketch, was educated in the public schools of Tamaqua, and at Lafayette college and the University of Pennsylvania He graduated from Lafayette college in the year 1885, receiving tio degree of Bache- lor of Science, and two years later received the degree of Master of Science. In 1885 he entered the law department of the liniver- sity of Pennsylvania, from which institution he graduated in the year 1887 with the degree of LL. B. His preceptor was United
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States Attorney General Benjamin Harris Brewster, upon whose motion he was admitted to. practice in the various courts of Phila- delphia county in 1887, and to the supreme court of Pennsylvania in 1890. He was admitted to the bar of Schuylkill county March 17, 1890. He has established a large and lucrative practice, and is classed among the successful lawyers of Schuylkill county. Po- litically Mr. Krebs is an independent Democrat. Ile has served four years as a member of the borough council, and three years as president of the school board. He is a prominent member of Tamaqua Lodge, No. 592, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
Krecker, Harry, son of Charles and Arabella (Riland) Krecker, was born in Friedensburg, Sept. 13, 1859. Of his immediate family, two brothers, William F. and John W., beside himself, are living. His education was obtained in the public schools, his attendance continuing until he was eighteen years of age. After that time he taught school for five terms in the Fricdensburg district, and then went to Wyoming county, Pa., where he worked for the Lehigh Valley Railroad, remaining for two years. The next three and one-half years he spent as clerk in a general store, and then tried working in a furniture factory at Allentown, Pa., for a time. In 1895 he came to Fricdensburg, where he has since resided. In March, 1899, he received the appointment as postmaster of the office at Friedensburg, and has filled that position since that time, having retired from active work in other lines. June 13, 1881, Mr. Krecker was married to Miss Ellen C. Wommer. Five children were born to them, two girls and three boys, Ada, Alice, Arthur, Walter and Joseph, all of whom are living. Mr. Krecker is a mem- ber of the local organization of the Patriotic Order of the Sons of America. In politics he is a Republican. With the exception of the office which he is now holding, Mr. Krecker has never held office. The family are members of the United Evangelical church of Friedensburg.
Kurtz, Frederick D., proprietor of the Cambrian hotel at Shen- andoah, was born at Camden, N. J., Aug. 23, 1873. and is the only child of Frederick and Lena E. (Schwickert) Kurtz, the former a native of Berlin, Germany, and the latter of Philadelphia, Pa. The mother died in giving birth to her son, being at the time twenty-two years of age, and the father soon afterward went to California. Nothing was ever heard from him afterward and he is supposed to be dead. Frederick D. Kurtz was reared to man- hood by his paternal grandmother. Mrs. Sanis Kurtz, of William Penn, where he lived for thirty-two years. He attended school for a few terms in his early boyhood, and when about nine years old began work on the breaker. At the age of sixteen years he was employed by a huckster, where he continued for about three years, when he engaged in that line of business on his own ac- count and followed that occupation for eleven years, conducting for a part of that time a small livery business in connection with his huckstering. Upon going out of this business he worked
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about one year for the Oxford Coal Company, and was then for a time employed as a carpenter by that company and the firm of Glenn & Ollearn Ich, 4, 1007. he was granted a hotel license and opened the Cambrian hotel at the corner of Jardin and Lentes streets. The hotel has fourteen rooms, well tuinished, and the genial proprietor caters to both transient and permanent trade first class bar is operated in connection with the hotel, and this is supplied with the best the market affords in that line. It hurts is a member of Serie No. 103. Fraternal Order of Eagles, and Lodge No. 151, Improved Order of Red Men, both of Shenandoah In politics he is independent, young for the man he regards best htted for the office, without regard to party affiliations Although his attendance at school was very limited he has by self-culture and observation acquired a wide range of information on general Inpics and votes on national questions according to his judgment Sept. 4. 1895. Mr. Kurtz and Mrs Martha Jordan were united in marriage. She is a daughter of Thomas and Sarah Jordan, of Lost Creek, Schuylkill county, where the father died in the early part of 1907, and where the mother is now living. Mr. and Mrs. Kurtz have had four children. Sarah died at the age of four months. and Thomas at the age of twenty-two months. Lena and Freder ick are now attending the schools of Shenandoah and living at home with their parents. Mr. Kurtz is a member of the German Lutheran church and his wife is a Methodist.
Lamb, Archie B., mine inspector of the Thirteenth district of Pennsylvania and a popular citizen of Shenandoah, was born at St. Clair on Apr. 10, 1853. a son of John and Sarah ( Lamb) Lamb. Although the parents had the same name they were not related. though both were born in Durham county, England. The mother died in Ashland in 1867, leaving four children. Thomas, the eld- est. is a miner living in Centralia : Mary is the wife of Mr. Hares. a miner of Shenandoah ; and Lawson is on a ranch in the state of Washington, where for several years he was engaged in gold and silver mining. After the mother's death the father married again and lived to a ripe old age in Shenandoah. When Lee with his Confederate army was invading the state the father enlisted in a volunteer regiment under Colonel Connor and served three months. although at the time he had reached an age which (x- empted him from military duty. The subject of this memoir is the third child of his parents in order of birth. The concation he acquired was in the common schools of St. Clair and Ashland and while he was still a youth he went to work in the mines. An in- jury received there incapacitated him for work for several years. but when he was able he returned to it. In 187; he went to Colo- rado and spent five years in mining and prospecting, meeting with fair success. Upon his return at the end of that period he re- sumed his mining interests as a contractor, and from that time was continuously and most successfully engaged until 1905. In Feb- ruary of that year he took the examinations a- to qualification for mine inspecting and passing them to the entire satisfaction of the
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commission, he became the candidate of the Republican party for the office. In November he was elected, although he had served from the previous February by appointment to fill a vacancy. The duties of a mine inspector are many and varied. including a power in some instances of filling positions about the mines, and in all cases being held responsible for the safety of the miners. Mr. Lamb has fulfilled the duties of his position with promptness and decision, and has yet to be found wanting in any matter con- cerning his office. He is a stalwart Republican in his political beliefs and has done much to aid in the success of his party in the elections of the past few years. From 1889 to 1895 he served as a member of the borough council, during which years the water- works system was installed and the street railway built. He has also served as treasurer of the board of school directors and for more than fifteen years has been a member of the board of trus- tees of the public library, which is one of the largest in the county. On Jan. 25, 1882, Mr. Lamb married Miss Mary Lewis, a daugh- ter of the late Humphrey Lewis, of St. Clair. Mrs. Lamb is the youngest of four daughters in the family, the others being Mrs. Charles S. Davis, of Girardville ; Mrs. Henry Leam, a widow, of Ashland, whose son is cashier of the Guarantee Trust Company at Shamokin ; and Mrs. Mark Minto, who lives near Washington, D. C. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Lamb are five in number- Jessie, Hazel, Archie, Mary and Esther, all at home and all but the two eldest students in the public schools. Mrs. Lamb is a mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which faith the family is being reared. Fraternally, Mr. Lamb is identified with the Patriotic Order of the Sons of America, and is a prominent mem- ber of Lodge No. 103, Free and Accepted Masons, and the Fra- ternal Order of Eagles. He is a public-spirited, straightforward citizen, who is immensely popular with his fellows and is a trusted public servant.
Landback, Jesse E., who conducts a general store at Helfen- stein, was born near Mifflinsburg, Union county, Feb. 17, 1861. He is one of the five children born to Samuel and Susan (Evans) Landback, the others being Mrs. Joseph Rowe, Mrs. John Pursel, Charles and Oscar. After a due preliminary discipline in the com- mon schools of Northumberland county, the subject of this sketch left scholastic work at the age of seventeen years to come to Hel- fenstein and accept a position as clerk in the general store of the company. By hard work, strict attention to duty and a desire to overcome all difficulties, he soon became recognized as a man of capacity and ability, was promoted to the general managership and remained in that position for a period of eight years. Then, in 1891, he purchased the controlling interest in the concern and since that time has managed it as successfully for himself as he did for the company. The business includes all lines of merchan- dise generally found in a store of the kind and the stock is full and of the best. Mr. Landback has been thrice married. His first wife was Miss Kate Warfield. a daughter of Henry Warfield, who was
MIUYLKILL COUNTY
the first man to discover the coal producing regions in the Hellen firm tract Une son, Jesse, now living in California, blessed this 111110011 His second marriage was to Miss Mary Pursel, daughter of Thomas Pussel of Union county, and to this umon were born three daughters and a son Olive, John, Martha and Eina Mr. Lamalback's third marriage was to Miss Kate Kehras, a daughter of Damel kehras, of Klingerstown The fannh are all attend ants of the Union church of Helfenstem. Mr. Landback is iden- the with Ashland Lodge, Free and Accepted Order of Mons. and was one of the organizers of Camp No 41, Patriotic Order of the Sons of America. In politics he is a Republican, but aside from the office of school director, he has never held nor aspired to political honors.
Laudenslager, Charles I., justice of the peace of Valley View. was born at Gratz. Dauphin county, on March 1. 1849, a son of Daniel and Lydia (Sausser) Landenslager. He received his pre- luminary educational training in the public schools of his native borough, completing it by a course in the Kutztown state normal school. For the first few years after graduation he taught school in Branch and Frailey townships and at Begins. His first bu- ness venture was in the general merchandise industry in Sacra- mento. In the spring of 1874 he was elected to represent the Sacramento district in the state legislature and served a full term of two years, About 1876 or 1877 he removed to Valley View and opened an agency for the sale of farm implements, In 1888 he again embarked in the general merchandise business, but five years later disposed of his interests and confined himself again to the sale of agricultural implements. In Dec., 1870. Mr. Lu- denslager married Miss Katherine A. Romberger. daughter of John Romberger, of Pillow. Dauphin county. The children of this union were eight in number, five of whom survive. They are : Rufus HI., Irvin A .. Minnie (Mrs. George Young, of Good Spring). John IL. and Eva L. The family are all members of the Church of God at Valley View, in which the father is one of the elders. In his political belief Mr. Laudenslager is a stanch Republican. and his elevation to offices of public trust has always been as the candidate of that party. Fraternally he is associated with the Val- ley View Camp of the Patriotic Order of the Sons of America, In 1881 he was elected justice of the peace and his continued re-elec- tions to the incumbency of the office are but a slight evidence of the esteem and respect in which he is held by the people of the community.
Laurisin, Rev. Cornelius, Former rector of St. Michael's Greek Catholic church of Shenandoah, was born in Hungary on Sept 20. 1858, a son of Rev. John and Emelia (Inicky) Laurisin, both na- tive Hungarians. The father was a soldier in the Hungarian river- lution of 1848. being a non-commissioned officer, and was ordained to the ministry of the Greek Catholic church in 1857. His service in that capacity continued until to01, when he resigned from ac- tive work and has since been a pastor emeritus The family con-
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sisted of three sons, the eldest of whom, Augustine, is now a priest in the Greek church in Hungary. For seven years, five at Ma- hanoy City and two at Braddock, he served his church in the United States and then returned to take up his labors in his native land. He is married and has a family. Nicholas is also married and is now a presiding judge in one of the courts of Hun- gary. The subject of this sketch was reared and educated in the land of his birth and received his ordination to the ministry of the Greek church while still a citizen there. He came to America in 1891 and was assigned first to a church at Osceola Mills, Pa. After less than a year there, however, he was transferred and be- came the third pastor of St. Michael's church in Shenandoah. This congregation was organized in 1884 by Rev. John Wolansky and was the first Greek church to be established in America. Father Wolansky was recalled after three years of service, owing to the fact that he was married, a condition unknown among the Catholic clergy in this country at the time, which caused much discussion detrimental to the best interests of the church. He was succeeded in 1889 by Rev. Father Constantine Andruchovic, who remained at the head of affairs until the coming of Father Laurisin. The church today is comprised of a membership of 400 families and between 700 and Soo single members, the latter num- ber including those unmarried and those who have left their fam- ilies in their native countries. The services of the church are con- ducted in the old Slavish language, into which the Holy Scrip- tures and the liturgical works were translated by Sts. Cyril and Methodius about 980 A. D. What is known as the Greek Catho- lic church is really two different branches of the same faith. The one, which is better known as the United Greek Catholic church, is in union with the Church of Rome, having the same dogmas ac- knowledging the supremacy of the pope, but retaining and abiding by its own disciplinary laws and the Oriental Greek rite. To this belongs the law governing the marriage of the clergy, which allows the members of the faith to marry once before ordination. Divorce is unknown, and there is no second marriage allowed in case of death of the wife. The union between the Greek church and the church of Rome was effected in 1648, and the conditions agreed upon bind the latter to recognize certain rights, laws and privileges of the Greek church. The other branch of the Greek church does not recognize the infallibility of the pope nor the dogma of the immaculate conception of the Holy Virgin. It is controlled by the sovereign of the country or countries in which it has been established, an instance being Russia, where the czar is the nominal head, as he appoints the members of the synod. In other European countries there is a patriarchal government under the approval of the reigning sovereign. This latter branch of the church is the stronger numerically, having a membership of about I20,000,000. The United Greek church has a membership of about 10,000,000, and embraces within its scope peoples of Rus- sia, Roumania, Bulgaria, Greece, Croatia, Arabia. Syria, Hungary
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