History of the counties of Lehigh and Carbon, in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Pt. 2, Part 25

Author: Mathews, Alfred, 1852-1904; Hungerford, Austin N., joint author
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : Everts & Richards
Number of Pages: 948

USA > Pennsylvania > Carbon County > History of the counties of Lehigh and Carbon, in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Pt. 2 > Part 25
USA > Pennsylvania > Lehigh County > History of the counties of Lehigh and Carbon, in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Pt. 2 > Part 25

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The company erected an additional kiln in 1873, two more in 1874; a pug-mill and drying-floors, ne- cessary to manufacture, in 1875; three more kilns in 1877, six iron grinding mills, and a new steam-power, . on the jetty works of the Mississippi, at New Orleans, exerting the strength of one hundred and fifty horses, having used upwards of thirteen thousand barrels up to this time, and recommends it highly. It is used in the river and harbor improvements and fortifications on the South Atlantic coast, fortifications on Staten Island and New York Harbor, under the superinten- dency and management of Gen. Gillmore, who prefers it to all others. In the Centennial Exhibition there wore fourteen Portland cements, all of which were tested under Gen. Gillmore's direction, and Saylor's cement stood among the best. It is used in the de- partment of public works in New York and Brooklyn, and the architect of the United States Capitol at Washington, Mr. Edward Clark, says it is as good as a new crusher, and four additional kilns. In 1882 the capacity of the Coplay Cement-Works was increased still further by the erection of three kilns and two more mills. Thus seventeen kilns were brought into use, thirteen of which are employed in the work of making Portland cement, and four in making cement of the An- chor brand. The latter are of the kind known as draw kilis. About six hundred barrels of cement are made per day ; the quantities of Say lor's Portland cement and of the Anehor brand being almost exactly equal. The number of employés, including coopers, quarrymen, and mill-hands, is upwards of one hundred and fifty. A cooper-shop was built about 1870, and twelve or ' the best English article. Recommendations from more coopers employed. The stock of heading and i other equally distinguished engineers and architects

stave lumber is brought from Maine and the hoops from New York. The milling capacity consists of four run of four-feet and eight run of three-feet buhr- stones ; also three iron erushers to prepare the mate- rial for the mills, and four tempering machines to temper the raw material for Portland cement. They have thirteen kilns to burn Portland and four to burn natural cement. The factory contains over nineteen thousand square feet of floor-room for spreading and drying the tempered material for Portland cement. The rooms are all heated by steam, four thousand five hundred feet of one-and-a-half-inch wrought-iron pipe and one hundred and sixty feet of six-inch cast- iron pipe being used for the purpose. There are also over twenty thousand square feet of floor-room for storing the manufactured cement, and about three | hundred and seventy-five feet of iron conveyors are in use to convey the eement from the mills to the huge bins. In connection with the storage capacity at the works they have a large storehouse on the dock of the Central Railroad Company of New Jersey, at Com- munipaw, two hundred and fifty feet long, with a cooperage on tire second floor. The cement for the New York market is sent in bulk to this establish- ment, where it is packed in barrels. This house is in charge of the general selling agents, Messrs. Johnson & Wilson, 91 Liberty Street, New York. Order> to them will receive prompt attention, as well as at the office in Peter's building, Centre Square, Allentown.

To the Coplay Cement Company is due the credit facturing of Portland cement on a large scale. Their peculiar advantageous position, in having inexhaust- ible stores of the raw material in its cheapest and simplest conditions, coupled with the advantages of shipment by rail and water, enables them to supply the article in abundance to all parts of the country at a comparatively low price. The Portland cement is recommended by the most prominent architects and engineers, and the trade generally, to be fully equal to the best foreign brands. It is of uniform quality and always reliable. Capt. J. B. Eads, the distinguished engineer, used Saylor's Portland Cement exclusively

WHITEHALL TOWNSHIP.

507

could be quoted, but the above will suffice to show the | springs and hands, flat keys for Yale and similar superiority of the cement.

The present oflieers of the Coplay Cement Company are D). O. Saylor, president ; Esaias Rehrig, secretary and treasurer; and John Eckert, chemist and assist- ant superintendent.

The Lehigh Valley Portland Cement Company. -In 1880 a number of New York business men asso- ciated themselves in a partnership for the manufacture of Portland cement on the Lehigh. They purchased a small tract of land-a portion of the Troxell farm --- between Coplay and Whitehall, upon which they erected two kilns and a small mill. The work was abandoned after the expiration of abont a year, but in the winter of 1883-84 the company was reorgan- ized, and new buildings are now in process of eon- struetion, in which it is purposed to carry on a large manufacture.

Lehigh Car-, Wheel-, and Axle-Works .- McKee, Fuller & Co., the owners of this plant, manufacture broad- and narrow-gauge-, freight-, eoal-, and ore-cars of every description, and wheels for freight, locomo- tive-truck, tender, and passenger service, also best wrought, serap, and other hammered axles.

These works were established in 1866, as a car-wheel works, with a capacity of fifteen wheels per day. The business was largely increased every year until 1879, when a forge and car-works were added, and the busi- ness increased to such an extent that, in the first six months of 1882, they built, complete, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-nine eight-wheel cars, the business amounting to two million eight hundred thousand dollars for the year. The capacity of the works at present is sufficient to do a business of four million dollars per annum.

The works, in 1869, consisted of one building (foundry and machine-shop), fifty by sixty feet, while the plant now consists of the following buildings: Car-wheel department, foundry, fifty by two hundred and cight feet, with wing, thirty by cighty feet; ma- chine-shop, fifty by two hundred feet. Forge de- partment, main building, fifty by one hundred and ten feet, with wing, fifty by thirty six feet. Car de- partment, erecting and wood-working building, fifty by four hundred and twenty feet; blacksmith-shop, fifty by two hundred feet, with wing, thirty by sixty feet ; machine shop, fifty by eighty feet, three stories; boiler-house, fifty by eighty feet; paint-shop, an iron building, one hundred and twelve by five hundred feet ; and a building containing the furnaces and bending machinery, forty by ninety feet. The works, when in full operation, employ fifteen hundred men. The buildings are lighted with the Edison incandes- cent electric light.

Steel-Works .- At Biery's Bridge, opposite Cata- sanqua, is carried on an industry which has but one rival in kind in the United States. This is a man- factory of bright cokl-rolled steel, which is used by sewing-machine manufacturers, for clock and watch

locks, and for a great many other articles, which it is desirable to have with smoothly-finished steel sur- faces, also for others which are to receive niekel- plating. The works were established in 1880 by Henry Johnson, a native of England, who had previ- ously carried on a similar manufacture in New York. He established the industry in an old building which had been used as a tool manufactory, and his business was so successful that he was compelled to enlarge it. Mr. Johnson dying in December, 1882, the establish- ment came into the possession of his son, George Johnson, who has since managed it with good results. The steel handled here is received in the form of bil- lets from Bethlehem and other places, and is rolled into bars varying from one to five inches in width, and from ten to one hundred and fifty one-thousandths of an inch in thickness. These bars are incaled, and then polished by the acid-pickling process, and then shipped to manufacturers in the East. Abont twenty tons per month is the output of the works.

The Allentown Manufacturing Company .- One of the leading industrles in Whitehall township is the Agricultural Chemical Works of the Allentown Manu- facturing Company, successors to Messrs. Breinig & Helfrich, and now under the management of T. G. Helffrieh, president, and A. J. Breinig, secretary and treasurer, with the main office at Allentown, Pa. These works were established in 1867. The main products of the establishment are bone phosphate and oil paints, the former being the outgrowth of the fertilizing business started in Allentown in 1860, and the latter of the paint business established in Phila- delphia in 1855, both of which were originally con- ducted by Jacob Breinig & A. J. Breinig, in connec- tion with different associated firms. The brands of Allentown Complete Bone Phosphate and Breinig's Ready-Mixed Oil Paints have become well known throughout this and adjoining States.

The factory is located several miles out of the city. The slope of a hill against which the buildings are erected gives most favorable opportunities for hand- ling the material, from its reception in the raw state to its conveyance to the warehouse or depots. The situation is such as to afford a separate wagon road to each one of the stores which are included in the main building. The main building contains the boiling department, drying-floors, grinding, packing, and storing-rooms. Besides the main building there are sheds for storing raw material, weighing-house, foreman's residence, and commodious warehouses on the track of the Lehigh Valley Railroad, and in close proximity to the Lehigh Canal. The factory is sup- plied with improved machinery, suggested from time to time by the experience of the proprietors.

The paint department in its manufacture is entirely independent of the phosphate business, as the ma- terials required for the former have no dependence whatever upon the materials used in the latter. The

508

HISTORY OF LEHIGH COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

paints manufactured are pure linseed-oil paints pro- duced in all the varied shades required for house- painting, with a line of metallic paints in general use for cars, bridges, barns, fences, etc.

With a small beginning as to manufacturing facili- ties, this establishment has grown steadily to meet the wants of a growing business until now it ranks as the largest of the kind in the State outside of Phila- delphia and Pittsburgh, and promises fair to keep pace with the growing industries of the famous Lehigh Valley.

101

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

THOMAS F. BUT%.

Thomas F. Butz is the son of Thomas and Maria Butz, and was born on the 25th of July, 1826, in Whitehall township, and spent his youth at the home of his parents. The earliest advantages of education were received at the school of the neighborhood, after which he became a pupil at Still Valley, Warren Co., N. J. He had already become familiar with the labor of the farm, and on returning resumed this occupa- tion. During the year 18-49 be cultivated the farm on shares until his purchase in 1855 of his present residence. Since that date Mr. Butz has been an en- terprising, intelligent, and successful farmer, availing himself of the improved methods which have light- ened the labor of the agriculturist, increased the an- nual yield of his land, and made his occupation both congenial and profitable. In 1876 he retired from the active management of the farm, having placed it in charge of his son, though still retaining his resi- dence. Mr. Butz was married in 1849 to Miss Dianna, danghter of Jonathan Ott, of Hanover township.

Their children are Thomas J. and Anna (Mrs. James I'. Geidner), deceased. He was married again in 1852 to Miss Mary Ann, daughter of Solomon Heinley, of Northampton County, and has children, -- Savannah E. (Mes. Edwin C. Kramlich), Ida L. (deceased), Siu- Gorilla F. (deceased), Benjamin F. (deceased), and Reuben A. Since his retirement from active labor Mr. Butz has been occupied in the superintendence of his landed interests, and in the duties which have devolved upon him as executor and guardian. He is not in any sense a politician, though strongly partisan in his adherence to the Republican party. He has for successive years heen a school director of his township, and an earnest friend to the cause of edu- 1 cation. He is also actively interested in all projects . for the advancement of religion and morality, and an elder of the Whitehall German Reformed Church. Ile is also a supporter of the Lutheran Church, of : which Mrs. Butz is a member.

JACOB MICKLEY.

Joli Jacob Mickley, the great-grandfather of Jacob Mickley, was a native of Alsace, and, with a company of Huguenots, emigrated to America to escape relig- ions persecution. Among his children were four sons,-John Jacob, John Martin, John Peter, and Ilenry. John Jacob, the grandfather of the subject of this biography, was born in Lehigh County, and married Miss Susane Miller, whose eldest son, Jacob, also a native of Lehigh County, married Miss Eva Catherine Schreiber, of Whitehall township, Lehigh Co., then a portion of Northampton County. Their children were Jacob, Joseph J., Polly (Mrs. Daniel Moyer), Sarah (Mrs. John Swartz), Anna ( Mrs. An- drew Sheldon). Mr. Mickley, who was a volunteer during the famous whiskey insurrection in Pennsyl- vania, spent his life in farming occupations in White- hall township, and died at the home of his son, Jacob, during the year 1857, in his ninety-first year. This son, a soldier of the war of 1812, was born on the 27th of March, 1794, on the homestead farm, and de- voted his life to the congenial pursuits of an agricul- turist. After limited advantages of education at home, and a brief period at school in Warren County, N. J., he began active labor, having at the age of twelve years become familiar with the plow. In 1826 he purchased the homestead farm, which he continued to cultivate until 1851, when he built and removed to his present residence, the farm meanwhile be- coming the property of his son. Mr. Mickley was married, in 1817, to Miss Anna Kern, daughter of Nicholas Kern, of the same township, whose children are Mary (Mrs. Valentine W. Weaver), Rebecca (Mrs. Samuel Thomas), Catherine, Eliza (Mrs. David Kuntz), Jane (Mrs. Enoch Phillips), Francisca (de- ceased), Lavinia (deceased), Ephraim, James, Edwin, and William.

The death of Mrs. Mickley occurred in April, 1880. Mr. Mickley was during the existence of the Whig party one of its devoted adherents. On the organiza- tion of the Republican party he at once indorsed the articles of the platform, and, as its representative, has held various local offices, though not an active worker in the political field. Mr. Mickley was largely instru- mental in the erection of the Whitehall German Re- formed Church, familiarly known as "Mickley's Church," in which he formerly officiated as an elder. Ile has ever been a willing and liberal contributor to religious enterprises, though debarred by the infirmi- fies of years from regular attendance upon the ser- vices of the church.

JOSEPH KEEFER.

Mr. Keefer, who is of German descent, is the son of Elias Keefer, a native of Northampton County, and a soldier of the war of 1812. The latter married Miss Lydia Solt, to whom were born five children,-Eliza- beth (Mrs. Louis Guttendake), George, John, Joseph,

I. T. Buts

Jacob Mickly

Joseph Tiefen

Thomas Strauss

509

NORTH WHITEHALL TOWNSHIP.

and Samuel, the last named being deceased. Joseph was born on the 9th of April, 1844, in the township of Allen, Northampton Co., and when a lad of nine years rendered himself independent by employ- ment on the Lehigh Canal. This was continued for four successive seasons, when his services were called into requisition among the farmers of the neighbor- hood. At the age of fifteen he removed with his parents to Lehigh County, and located in North Whitehall township, where, after a brief period of labor, he determined to acquire the trade of his father, that of a blacksmith. Before completing his appren- ticeship he enlisted in the Sixteenth Pennsylvania Cavalry, and continued in the service until his dis- charge in August, 1865, participating meanwhile in the battles of Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, the Wil- derness, Petersburg, and several skirmishes and minor encounters. He resumed his trade in 1865, and con- tinued thus employed for seven years. Mr. Keefer was, in 1866, married to Miss Mary, daughter of Wil- liam Kleckner, of Lehigh County, whose children are George William, Sarah Ann, and Mary Alice, living, and John Henry, Joseph Elias, and Samuel Lewis, deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Keefer have also an adopted son, Alfred Lewis. During the year 1871, Mr. Keefer became a workman at the Hokendanqua Furnace, and remained thus employed for three years, when he en- gaged in the mining of iron ore, and still continues the business. To this he has added the cultivation of a farm, which he purchased in 1880, and which is his present home. Mr. Keefer is in politics a Repub- liean, but not a politician, and does not encourage the use of his name as a candidate for official place. Ile is both a member and trustee of the Egypt Reformed Church, and was formerly a deacon of the Reformed Church of Coplay.

THOMAS STRAUSS.

Peter Strauss, the grandfather of Thomas, resided in North Whitehall. He married Clara Wint, a Ger- man by birth, as was also her husband, and had chil- dren, seven in umtuber, among whom was John, the eldest, a resident of Lehigh township, Northampton Co., Pa., where he devoted his life to agricultural employments. He married Lydia Lanbach, daughter of Adam Laubach, of Allen township, Northampton Co., to whom were born two sons,-Thomas, the sub- jeet of this biographical sketch, and William, who died in childhood. The death of Mr. Strauss oc- curred in 1852. The widow survives and resides with her eldest son, who was born April 29, 1828, in Lehigh township, upon the homestead farm. Here his early years were spent, and such advantages of education enjoyed as the common schools afforded, supplemented by a brief period at Easton, l'a. He subsequently engaged in farming with his father, by whose death he became owner of the property, which was success- fully managed for a period of abont seventeen years,

when Whitehall township beeame his home. Here he purchased a valuable milling property, to the im- provement and conduct of which he has sinee devoted his energies. He was the first miller in the Lehigh Valley to introduce spring wheat in milling, and also the first to sell Minnesota flour, for which he has since gained a large trade. He has confined himself entirely to milling interests, and, having remodeled the mill twice, has recently introduced the roller process, which he nses alternately in connection with the former mill-stone method. Mr. Strauss was mar- ried in 1851 to Eliza, daughter of Conrad Keck. Their children are Emma (deceased), Henrietta (de- eeased), Ann (Mrs. A. J. Kleppinger), John A., and Martin HI. Mrs. Strauss' death occurred in 1866, and he was a second time married, in 1868, to Isabella Weiler, of Allentown, whose children are Mary Jane and Isabella Lydia. Mr. Strauss is in politics a Re- publican, but in no sense a politician. Mrs. Strauss and he are both members of the Zion Reformed Church, of Allentown, in which the latter is an elder.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

NORTH WHITEHALL, TOWNSHIP .!

THE limits of the present township of North White- hall formerly composed, together with what are now Whitehall and Sonth Whitehall, a township called simply Whitehall, which was created on the 20th of March, 1753, the year following the separation of Northampton County from Bucks. The original township of Whitehall was a part of Northampton County, and received its name from the hunting lodge of Lynford Lardner, Esq., of Philadelphia, which was erected between Cedar and Jordan Creeks, and is supposed to have stood in the vicinity of the present Iron Bridge, in South Whitehall township. Mr. Lardner owned a large area of land in the neighbor- hood of these streams, and he and his friends were accustomed to come every year to hunt and tish. For their accommodation in these wilds he built, in 1740, a house, which is named on Senll's map of 1770 "Grouse Hall." This house was painted white, and from this was derived the name of the new township, Whitehall, formed in 1753.

At the Jannary term, 1810, of the Court of Quarter Sessions of Northampton County, a petition was pre- sented asking for the division of the township of Whitehall. Upon this, George Palmer, C.S., John Lerch, and Michael Snyder were appointed to in- quire into the propriety of making the division prayed for, and were empowered to divide the township, if they should think it advisable to do so. At the November

1 By James 1. Schaadt, Esq.

510

HISTORY OF LEHIGH COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

term following, they reported that they had divided the township, which report was read, aeeepted, and confirmed absolutely, no one making an objection to it. The township was accordingly divided according to their report, and the part lying northward of the division line, which was a straight line passing as nearly as possible from cast to west through the centre of the township, was named North Whitehall and the other South Whitehall. The former was also vul- garly known as Ober Wheithall, or Upper Whitehall.

From the eastern portion of these two townships, along the Lehigh River, a new township was cut on the 31st of October, 1867, which received the original name, Whitehall.

As at present limited, the township of North Whitehall lies north and cast of the central portion of Lehigh County, and is bounded on the north by Washington township and the Lehigh River, on the west by Washington and Lowhill townships, on the south by Whitehall and South Whitehall townships, and on the east by Whitehall township and the Le- high River. North Whitehall is about seven by eight miles in width, has an area of twenty-seven and three-fifth miles, and is the second township in the county in point of size. The surface is undulating, and the soil is fertile, and in portions impregnated with valuable deposits of iron ore, limestone, and slate. The main portion of the township is devoted to the pursuit of agriculture, for which it is well adapted. Forests of oak, chestnut, and pine are still standing intact in parts. The surface is drained in the western part by the Jordan Creek, which flows into the Lehigh River at Allentown, and in the northern and eastern portions by Rock, Fell's, and the picturesque Mill Creeks, all of which discharge into the Lehigh. Rock Creek was so named by John George Helffrich. It was also known as Helffrich's and as Sand Creek. Formerly a very deep hole ex- isted at its junetion with the Lehigh River, so deep that bottom could not be sounded with a line one hundred feet in lengthi. Fell's Creek was named after a surveyor of that name, sent to this region about 1830 by the Baltimore Slating Company. It supplies the water-power for Knouse's mill, now owned and operated by H. F. Beidler, Esq. Lanry's Station is situated at its mouth. Mill Creek winds through the most picturesque valley in the township. On its banks were committed the Indian murders in 1763. The greater portion of its course lies immedi- ately south of the boundary line between North White- hall and Whitehall townships. Upon Mill and Fell's Creeks are found beds of the finest roofing slate.

Running south through the centre of the township, and turning east when near the southern boundary line, is the famous Coplay Creek. This name is vari- ously traced. Some derive it from Kolapechka, the name of a Shawanese chief, whose hut stood near Bal- lietsville; others from Copeeehan, a word signify- ing, in the Lenni Lenape tongue, "that which runs

evenly," or "a fine running stream." In a deed from Samuel Morris and wife to Adam Romich, executed in 1790, the stream is called "Ingecoppelons." The ereek flows through one of the most fertile and rieh- est regions to be found anywhere. Woodring's and Romich's grist- and, saw-mills and Knecht's saw- mill are driven by it.

Along the course of Coplay Creek, near Romieh's mill, a portion of the stream formerly disappeared into the ground, and reappeared near Balliet's mine, distant overland about a mile, as pure spring water. Chaff thrown into the opening did not come out at the exit till after twenty-four hours. It was formerly so full of trout that they could be caught by simply dipping a basket into the water. After the mine was opened it was choked up with the dirt from the washings, and they disappeared.

The Early Settlers, Title to their Lands, their Modes of Living and Characteristics .- The early settlers were Swiss or Germans, with here and there a sprinkling of wanderers from Alsace or Lorraine. Their travels in search of suitable lands made them aseend the Leliigh River, and then its tributaries, which they 'instinctively knew must flow through fer- tile and easily-tilled valleys. Thus the course of set- tlement and colonization spread from the western bank of the river, up the Jordan and Coplay Creeks especially, and later along the smaller streams, such as Mill, Rock, and Sand Creeks, along all of which the new-comers found water and pasturage in abun- dance. Coplay Creek proved particularly attractive to the tired wanderers, and many dropped their bur- dens along its green banks. A number settled as early as 1730, at a spot which they called by the old bibli- cal name of Egypta, because of its fertility. From this, as from a centre, the settlements spread, but still principally along Coplay Creek, along the course of which all the most desirable sites were located be- tween 1735 and 1750. Among the pioneers were the families of Steckel, Saeger, Schaadt, Burkhalter, Ruch, Bear, Scheurer, Woodring, Kennel, Balliet, Schlosser, Gross, and Schneck, some of the latter touching upon the settlements already made from the northern parts of the county, along the Blue Moun- tains. At about the same time the families of Lich- tenwallner, Sieger, Seip, Semmel, Kern, and others located along the Jordan, in the western part of what is now North Whitehall, while along Mill Creek George Ringer, Ulrich Flickinger, John Jacob Miek- ley, Nicholas Marks, John Schneider, and Nicholas Troxell settled upon land, most of which is now in- cluded in Whitehall township. The settlements along Rock and Sand Creeks, which were farther north, were made later, principal among the colon- ists along the former being the Miller, Newhard, and Laury families, and along the latter the Ychls and Kuntzes.

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History of the counties of Lehigh and Carbon, in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Pt. 2, Part 25

Author: Mathews, Alfred, 1852-1904; Hungerford, Austin N., joint author Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : Everts & Richards Number of Pages: 948

Author: Mathews, Alfred, 1852-1904; Hungerford, Austin N., joint author
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : Everts & Richards
Number of Pages: 948