History of the counties of Lehigh and Carbon, in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Pt. 2, Part 39

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 39
USA > Pennsylvania > Lehigh County > History of the counties of Lehigh and Carbon, in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Pt. 2 > Part 39

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

ordered the Fourth not to fire. The rioters hailed this act with shouts of approval, and gave three cheers for the Sixteenth. The repair-men not making

lision between the Fourth and the Sixteenth Regi- ments,-only separated by the width of the street,- from prudential motives they were ordered back to the depot, where the breach between the two regiments became so open that orders were issued to the Fourth to remove to Lyons, there to await orders. At about five r.M. orders were received to proceed to Allen- town. Upon reaching Emaus, the railroad officials refusing to transport the men any further, the com- mand was compelled to march to Allentown, arriving at that place at eleven o'clock p.M. They went into camp on the fair grounds, where they remained until the evening of the Bist of July, when they broke camp and left by rail for Harrisburg, to do guard duty at the State arsenal. Arriving at Harrisburg abont ten o'clock A.M., August Ist, they remained on duty until relieved by Special Order No. 40, from headquarters National Guard of Pennsylvania. They left camp early on the morning of the 11th of August, arriving at Slatington at nine o'clock in the evening. They were marched to the armory, of which the gen- erous-hearted citizens had taken possession, and were given a warm welcome home,-fond mothers, loving wives, sisters, and sweethearts being assembled to greet them. After partaking of a splendid collation, which had been prepared by the ladies, they dispersed with heartfelt feelings for the kind welcome tendered by the citizens of the town after this the first expe- rience of a warlike nature.

On Sept. 3, 1878, Capt. D. G. Rhoads tendered his resignation as captain of Company H, which was very reluctantly accepted, and the captain honorably dis-

568

HISTORY OF LEIIIGHI COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

charged. A special order from brigade headquarters ordered Capt. H. S. Hart, of Company I, Fourth Regiment, to hold an election for a captain of Com- pany H on Friday, Oct. 11, 1878, to fill the vaeancy eaused by the acceptance of the resignation. At this election Ist Lieut. George McDowell was elected cap- tain, 2d Lieut. Walter L. Williams was elected first lieutenant, and 1st Sergt. James M. Kress was elected second lieutenant. On Nov. 25, 1878, the company, with the Fourth Regiment, paraded in Allentown for inspection. At this, the first inspection under a new captain, the company, in the " Adjutant-General's Re- port of 1878," received the following : " Company H, Capt. George MeDowell commanding; fine in all re- spects, and one of the impressive commands of the regiment. Discipline, good ; appearance, good ; arms, very good and well handled."

Arrangements were effected to have a parade inei- dent to the inauguration of Governor-elect Henry M. Hoyt, of the entire guard of the State, in Harrisburg, on Jan. 21, 1879. Company H participated in this parade, and received its due share of applause for ex- cellent marehing and manœuvring. The company also participated in one of the largest parades ever held in the State, viz.,-the parade in Philadelphia, on Dec. 6, 1879, incident to a reception tendered Gen. U. S. Grant, on his return from Europe. If hand- elapping is a criterion of approval, then surely H company received its full share on this occasion. The National Guard of Pennsylvania having received an invitation from the Executive Committee on inau- gural ceremonies to participate in the parade in Wash- ington, D. C., on March 4, 1881, incident to the inauguration of President-elect James A. Garfield, and it having been accepted, this company, as usual, carried off' some of the honors for its soldierly appear- ance. Another great parade that this company par- ticipated in was the one in Philadelphia during the bi-centennial week, on Oct. 27, 1882, at which its high standard was again made manifest by the storms of applause that greeted it on the march.

Having mentioned the principal parades this com- pany participated in since its organization, the follow- ! ing are the averages allotted the company by the adjutant-general in his report to the Governor of the State, at the several fall inspections and encampments. At Camp George G. Meade, Fairmount Park, Phila- delphia, Aug. 7-12, 1880, the company received 98.6; at Camp James A. Garfield, Wilkesbarre, Aug. 28-29, 1881, 93; at Camp John Fulton Reynolds, Lewis- town, Aug. 5-12, 1882, 100, that being perfection. Not having received the adjutant-general's report for 1883, we are unable to give the average allotted at Camp Andrew A. Humphries, Williamsport; but it is confidently believed that the record of 1882 was fully maintained.

When the company was organized it occupied a room on the second floor of a three-story building known as the Town Hall, situated in Lower Slating-

ton. Not knowing how long it could be retained and being desirous of obtaining a permanent place, a lease of an old building situated in the outskirts of Lower Slatington was effected, to which the company re- moved in the spring of 1877. They went to consid- erable pains and expense in properly fitting up this place for a drill-room, and occupied it nearly four years. It was found, however, very inconvenient, being at the outer end of the borough and in a place difficult of access. The room in winter was very cold and extremely hot in summer. Being confident that the organization was likely to remain intaet for years, the men resolved on building a new armory if a suit- able site could be obtained. The matter being once brought to the attention of the public, quite a number of the citizens of the borongh encouraged the project, offering both aid and counsel in favor of the proposed new armory. A number of locations were spoken of, and finally a committee was appointed to confer with the Borough Council in regard to a borough lot sit- uated on the corner of Church Street and Middle Alley. Several propositions were made to the com- pany for said lot, and finally, on March 15, 1880, it was agreed upon between the committee for the com- pany and the Borough Council to lease the lot for ten years, with the privilege of purchasing it within that time for five hundred dollars. A plan was at once obtained from architect William A. Fink, of Reading, and ground broken for the new armory on May 1, 1880. It was completed and ready for occupaney Jan. 1, 1881, at which time the company removed all State and company property from the old into the new armory. On Feb. 22, 1881, it was dedicated with very appropriate ceremonies.

The new armory is of brick, thirty-nine feet front and one hundred feet deep, with a basement-wall of a thickness of eighteen inches. The front wall is thirty-two feet high, built in parapet style, and ter- minates at the top in a dome; this is surmounted by the "Stars and Stripes" of our Union. The front surface of the dome is ornamented with handsome cornice work, and through its centre, describing a half-moon, the word " Armory" is painted in promi- nent letters. Immediately below the dome in the centre of the wall is a small window, after the French Gothic order, designed both for beauty and ventilating the gallery of the main hall. Beneath this window is the main entrance to the building, and on exch side of this entrance is a handsomely-corniced window of fair dimensions. The entrance is six feet wide, and is gained by ascending steps from the pave- ment to a set of double doors, over which is a large and shapely transom. The steps rise from the pave- ment at two separate places, forming a half-eirele, in the centre of which is a large door leading to the basement. The basement is a room thirty-six feet wide by fifty-six feet deep, with a row of pillars through the centre. The ceiling of the basement is nine feet high. It is fitted up as a restaurant, and

ROBERT MeDOWELL.

569

BOROUGH OF SLATINGTON.

the rental of same brings in a handsome incomc. The pavement in front of armory is laid with flagging and is twenty feet wide.

On each side of the hall leading to the main por- tion is a small room sixteen by eighteen feet. The one on the right side is used as the business head- quarters of the company, and the one on the left side is used as the meeting-room of the Borough Council. A stairway also on the left side of the entrance leads up to a gallery, the dimensions of which are eighteen by thirty-six feet. At the inner end of the hallway leading from the outside doors is the entrance to the main hall. This room has a floor thirty feet wide by sixty-five feet long, and the ceiling is at a height of twenty feet, making the largest and most desirable room in town for the purpose of entertainments and for drilling exercises of the company. At the farth- est end of the hall is a stage seventeen by eighteen feet, with a dressing-room on each side of the stage, of nine by seventeen feet. The entire hall is illumi- nated by a large and handsome chandelier, and by wall-lamps placed at regular intervals on each side of the room. We have lately purchased sectional opera seats, and now having a seating capacity of about four hundred. The cost of the hall, with all the fixtures, including basement, is very near seven thousand dollars. We are now one of the few com- panies in the State which own their own armory. The idea of building so spacious a hall was indeed a good one, for not only does it give the company an attraetive and ample headquarters, but it supplies a need long felt in Slatington. The hall is an ornament to the town, and reflects eredit upon the community, gives the company pride in themselves and pride in the good cause they are serving.

Following is the roster of active members :

Capt., George McDowell; Ist lient., F. R. Hoffman ; 2d lient., H. W. Hanker ; sergis., James R. Hunt, B. F. Hunt, James Dall, Mark Jones, and William II. Keener; corps., Lafayette Hmmaly, William 11. Breisch, P. E. Schlauch, W. M. Benninger, Archibald E. Dnut, John R. Griffith, EL. E. Houssman, and Henry 11. Krauss.

Private.

Witham Bachman.

Owen Lloyd.

J. P. Breisch. John C. Maher. S. W. Marshall.

Malos Costello. John Evans. P. K. Montz.

Charles E. Frederick.

William 11. Morgan,

John Hurtline. Milton A. Netf.

F. Il. Henritzy.

William Parry.

William J. Parry.

Thomas Person.

Charles M. Ioals. I. W. Hunt. lohn R. Jones. Alfred Keener. A. G. Keiser. Jaines D. Kern. E. Peter Krause. II. W. Kranse. Aaron Leibenguth. John F. Link. David Lloyd.

El. E. Peters. .lolin Peters.

Cyrus Ramaly. Benjamin B. Roberts.

Richard J. Roberts.

A. A. Schoenbergor.

James C. Thomas. William HI. Wassman.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

ROBERT MODOWELL.

The name MeDouall is held by the family to be de- rived from Douall of Galloway, who lived two bun- dred and thirty years before the birth of our Saviour, and having killed Nathatus, the tyrant, established another as king in his stead. Douall is said to be sim- ply Dhu Alan (the Black Alan), and hence the Me- Doualls are " sons of the Black Alan." Of the great antiquity of the family there is no manner of doubt. Without attempting to trace the line of descent, it may be stated that from this distinguished ancestry sprang Robert McDowell, who was born in the sub- urbs of Wigtown, Wigtonshire, Scotland, March 14, 1811. Three brothers of the family attained distinc- tion either in business or publie life,-James, as Amer- ican eonsul at Edinburgh and, later, at Dundee, Scot- land; Hugh, of Castleford, Yorkshire, England, a prominent potter and an influential citizen ; and Robert, the subject of this sketch. The latter passed his early years at the home of his father, who was an aetive farmer, and later repaired to England, where a brief period was spent in business pursuits, after which he sailed for America, and landed in New York, after a tedious passage in a sailing-vessel, on the 21st of June, 1833. He eame at once to the Le- high Valley, in the development of whose rich stores of slate his business life was spent. An uncle and brother were then engaged in a slate enterprise at North Whitehall, and there he at first located. After a brief residence at Whitehall he removed to " The Settlement," near Bath, and in 1854 made Slatington his permanent abode. In 1846 he, with others, opened the old Douglas Quarry, and in 1848 the Washington Quarry, introducing at about the same date the manu- facture of school-slates. He, with others, in 1850, made the first purchase of slate land, upon which ground was afterwards located the now thriving bor- ongh of Slatington. In 1854 the Lehigh Slate Com- pany was chartered, Mr. McDowell becoming its superintendent and treasurer, positions held until his death. When (in 1864) Slatington was incorporated he was elected the first burgess of the borough, and frequently held the office afterwards. He ocenpied many other positions of public trust, was prominently connected with the Slatington Bridge and Water Com- panies, and was vice-president of the Dime Savings- Fund.

In religious no less than in business life was Mr. MeDowell especially active. He, in 1834, united with the Allen Township Presbyterian Church, and was for five years one of its trustees. He organized at Whitehall the first Sabbath-school in Lehigh County outside of Allentown, and this good work once begun never ended until the close of his life. lle also organized the Presbyterian Sunday-school at Slatington in 1856 with six scholars, and remained its .

570

HISTORY OF LEHIGH COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

superintendent until his death. Under his auspices the Presbyterian Church was founded in 1851, of which he was an elder and a leading supporter.

Mr. McDowell was known as a man of rare shrewd- ness and sagacity in all business relations, while his liberal nature prompted him to enconrage many laud- able commercial enterprises. He was well read, kept himself informed on current events and important questions of the day, was a close student of finance, and presented his views with clear and cogent reason- ing. Hle did much for the improvement of the morals of those who grew up about him, and was both re- spected for the consistency of his character and be- loved for his kindly and affectionate nature. He was open-hearted and philanthropic, and entirely free from dissimulation.

A Democrat in his politieal predilections, and active in the arena of politics, he was unacquainted with the devious ways of the politician.

Mr. MeDowell was married to Miss Sarah E. Mul- hallon, of Northampton County. Their children are four daughters-Augusta (wife of David McKenna). Helen (wife of William Gish), Ehnira, and Nancy (wife of Lieut. Jefferson Moser)-and one son, R. Murray McDowell, who now continues the business extensively at Slatington. This gentleman, after a course at Princeton and Lafayette and an extended tour through Enrope, settled in the old MeDowell mansion, where, surrounded by books and pictures, he leads a quiet and literary life. He makes patent school-slates a specialty in his business, and has for several years supplied the boards of education in New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and other cities with these articles. The death of Robert McDowell occurred on the 24th of August, 1878, in his sixty- eighth year.

PETER GROSS.

The great-grandfather of Peter Gross was Paul Gross, a native of Zweibrücken, Germany, who came to America in 1754. He located in North Whitehall township. Lehigh Co., and married a Miss Guth, also of Zweibrücken. Their children were a son, Peter Gross, and a danghter married to Michael Diebert. Paul Gross died in his forty-sixth year. Peter mar- ried Miss Barbara Troxell, whose children were four sons-Daniel, Joseph, Solomon, and John-and four daughters. John, of this munber, still survives in his eighty-fourth year, while the remainder of the family died at an advanced age. Peter Gross was appointed by Governor Simon Snyder justice of the peace in 1812, and held the office for forty-five consecutive 4

years. His son, Daniel, learned the trade of a hatter, and followed it until failing health compelled its aban- donment, when he became a successful farmer. HIe was twice married, his first wife being Catherine Kuntz, daughter of Jacob Kuntz, justice of the peace of Northampton County. His children were four

sons-Jonathan, Joel, Peter, and Simon K .- and seven daughters, all of whom, with the exception of Mrs. Shaffer, are deceased. Peter Gross, the subject of this biography, was born July 10, 1816, in North Whitehall township, Lehigh Co., and confirmed in the German Reformed Church by Rev. Joseph S. Dubbs. His education was received at private schools, there being no publie instruction at that early day, after which he assisted, until twenty years of age, in the labor of the farm. He then removed to Hunter- don County, N. J., and for one year followed the car- penter's trade. In 1838 he entered the employ of Stephen Balliet, Jr., as salesman in his store at Bal- fietsville, and was the same year appointed assistant postmaster of North Whitehall post-office. In 1841, in connection with Godfrey Peter, he leased a store- house at Laury's Station, and embarked in the store business, and in the following year, having sold his interest, became clerk for Durs Rudy, in Washington township. He was next employed by Nathan Ger- man, of Germansville, for whom he purchased goods and opened a store.

Mr. Gross was, on the 26th of March, 1843, married to Miss Mary Rudy, daughter of the late Durs Rudy, whose only son, Joseph P. Gross, graduated with honor at Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pa., and pursued a course of French and German in Europe. Ile read law with Professor James Pierson, of Philadelphia, attended leetures at the Law Department of the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania, and was admitted to the bar soon after. He is the author of two valuable works on topics connected with the profession. Mrs. Gross died Feb. 7, 1874, and Mr. Gross was again married to Mrs. Henrietta Price, widow of the late Simon H. Price, and daughter of the late Samuel Maxwell, of Allentown. In 1843, in company with his brother, Joel, Mr. Gross became a landlord and merchant at Schnecksville, where he was appointed postmaster, and held the office for sixteen years, resigning in favor of his brother Joel.

In 1846 he was elected one of the managers of the Farmers' Mutual Fire Insurance Company, of North- ampton County, and for many years aeted as its treasurer. He has also been, for an extended period, one of the managers of the Slatington Bridge Com- pany, and was in 1878 appointed its treasurer.

Ile was elected, in 1862, justice of the peace for North Whitehall township, and twice re-elected, serv- ing a continuous term of fifteen years. In 1873, Mr. Gross was appointed one of the committee of the board of charities of Lehigh County, of which he was chosen chairman, and held the office for ten years. After a residence of thirty-one years in Schnecksville, during which he conducted an extensive and success- ful business, he sold his interest at that point, having meanwhile been largely engaged in surveying and the settlement of estates. In 1875, on the establishment of the National Bank of Slatington, he was elected its president, and still holds the position. He is also

Veturn Trajo

A Loankee

571

BOROUGH OF SLATINGTON.

a member of Gross, Fritzinger & Co., of Slatington, dealers in hardware. In polities Mr. Gross is a con- sistent Demoerat, and has acted as chairman of many important meetings. He is a member of the German Reformed Church, and active in Sabbath-school work, having been for years superintendent of various Sabbath-schools.

HIRAM 1. HANKEE.

Mr. Hankee was born Oct. 1, 1829, in Lehigh town- ship, Northampton Co., now Walnutport, on the banks of the Lehigh. Believing at an early age that industry and self-reliance were the powerful weapons with which the battle of life might be won, he, when a youth, became a boat-boy, and thus rendered him- self independent. Later he engaged in teaching, and on attaining his majority entered the employ of the Lehigh Valley Railroad, where he was for eleven years superintendent of a portion of the line of that company. He then embarked in the business of slate-

mining, which for several years absorbed his atten- tion, and in 1867 opened a real estate ofliee, to which he has sinee devoted his energies. Mr. Hankee is still engaged in the mining of slate, and identified with other business interests of the borongh of Slating- ton. He has brought to bear during his active life application, vigor, and fidelity to the trusts imposed in him, which have contributed in no little degree to his standing as a citizen and success as a man. He was married on the 13th of May, 1855, to Miss Elizabeth, daughter of Jacob Clause, of Heidelberg township, Lehigh Co. Their children are Robert E., Lansford F., Catharine A., Hiram W., Eva C., Ella N., and Eugene (who died in youth).

Mr. Hankee is identified with the Republican party in politics, and, while keenly alive to its success, is rarely active beyond the limits of his own borough, where he has been chosen justice of the peace and school director. Both Mr. and Mrs. Hankee and their children are members of the German Reformed Church of Slatington.

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572-573

CARBON COUNTY.

CHAPTER I.

SETTLEMENT BY MORAVIANS IN CARBON COUNTY.

The Massacre at Gnadenhutten in 1755-Franklin builds Fort Allen for the Protection of The Frontier-Captivity of the Gilbert Family.

THE Moravians were the first people to plant an outpost of civilization in that part of Bucks County (afterwards Northampton) which is now Carbon, es- tablishing in the midst of the wilderness in 1746 a home for the Mohegan Indians, which was success- fully and flourishingly maintained until the massaere of the mission colonists in 1755. This settlement, which was an offshoot from Bethlehem, was on the southwest side of the Lehigh River and the north side of Mahoning Creek, near the site of Lehighton. The location had, doubtless, been selected by Lewis Count Zinzendorf,1 who, in 1742, ascended the Lehigh with two friendly Indians, who had been converted to Christianity, as interpreters, and held a conference with the dusky dwellers by the Mahoning. The land --- one hundred and twenty aeres-was bought in 1745, and a town laid out upon it, which was called Gna- denhütten, meaning Tents of Grace, or, more literally translated, Mercy Huts.

The Mohegan Indians, having been driven out of Shekomeko, in the State of Connecticut, and Patch- gatgoch, in New York, near the border of the former State, found for a time a refuge, under Moravian care, at Friedenshütten, near Bethlehem. But the " Monks of Protestantism," as Madame de Stael has called the Moravians, found it inconvenient to maintain a large congregation of Indian converts so near their chief town, and henee the establishment of Gnadenhütten. The congregation, we are told, numbered five hun- dred souls. Each Indian family was allotted a por-

tion of the land, and each had its own house. A log church was built in the valley, and the houses half surrounded it, extending over the higher ground in the form of a crescent. The town was a very pleas- ant one. With their usual enterprise, the Moravians took steps to procure a road between their new sta- tion and Bethlehem almost immediately after the mission was located. Such a road was petitioned for in 1747, and it was constructed in 1748.2

On the 18th of August, 1746, the missionaries and the Indians partook of the first-fruits of the land and of their toil at a love-feast, and gave thanks to God for the blessings that he had bestowed upon them. Morning and evening the sound of song arose from the little forest hamlet, and the work of the day was invariably begun and concluded with devout prayer. Diseourses were delivered every Sunday by the mis- sionaries, and several portions of the Seripture, trans- lated into the Mohegan language, were read whenever the congregation was assembled. The Holy Com- munion was administered to the communicants every month. This day was called by the Indians "the great day." Christian Rauch and Martin Mack were the first missionaries who resided here, and were suc- ceeded by others after a comparatively short period, it being the policy of the Brethren to make frequent 'ehanges, that the Indians might not form too strong an attachment for men, but learn to fix their hope and dependence on God alone. The church built during the first year of the mission was too small for the congregation of five hundred, and the mission- aries usually preached in the open air, that all might hear. The affairs of the station being promising, Bishop Johannes von Watteville went to Gnaden- hitten in September, 1749, and laid the foundation of a new church. All went well until 1754, when a part of the Indians were led to desert the mission and go to the Wyoming Valley. Efforts to alienate

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History of the counties of Lehigh and Carbon, in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Pt. 2, Part 39

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