Portrait and biographical record of Lehigh, Northampton and Carbon counties, Pennsylvania. : Containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the counties, together with biographies and portraits of all the presidents of the United States, Part 52

Author:
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Chicago : Chapman Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1006

USA > Pennsylvania > Carbon County > Portrait and biographical record of Lehigh, Northampton and Carbon counties, Pennsylvania. : Containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the counties, together with biographies and portraits of all the presidents of the United States > Part 52
USA > Pennsylvania > Lehigh County > Portrait and biographical record of Lehigh, Northampton and Carbon counties, Pennsylvania. : Containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the counties, together with biographies and portraits of all the presidents of the United States > Part 52
USA > Pennsylvania > Northampton County > Portrait and biographical record of Lehigh, Northampton and Carbon counties, Pennsylvania. : Containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the counties, together with biographies and portraits of all the presidents of the United States > Part 52

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June 13, 1893, was celebrated the marriage of

Dr. Kern and Miss Emma J. Sehaffer, of White- hall, Lehigh County, and they have one ehild, Marion Schaffer Kern, born Mareh 28, 1894. They are members of St. Jolin's Reformed Church of Slatington, and are well received in the best soei- ety of this place.

H ON. CHARLES BRODHEAD. During the many years in which this gentleman has been a resident of Bethlehem, he has not only witnessed its progress from a comparatively unimportant town to its proud position as one of the foremost eities of this part of Pennsylvania, but he has also aided in its development, and his history is closely interwoven with that of North- ampton County. His life has been a busy and useful one. Realizing that the aim of life is not merely to "kill time," he has rightly valued cvery moment given him, and has thus gained a reputa- tion for promptness in originating plans and dis- pateh in executing them. The ancestry and life record of one so prominent among his fellow-men will possess for our readers more than ordinary in- terest, and it is therefore with pleasure that the biographer presents the following outline of his career.

There are few families in the United States whose residence here antedates that of the Brod- head family. Its first representative in America, Daniel Brodhead, came to this country as a Cap- tain of Grenadiers in the expedition of Col. Rich- ard Nieolls (in the reign of Charles II., King of England), which captured New York from the Dutch in 1664. With New York (then New Am- sterdam) were surrendered all the Dutch Depend- eneies, as they were called, on the Hudson River, including Esopus, Schieneetady and Ft. Orange (Albany). Capt. Daniel Brodhead was assigned, with his company of grenadiers, to keep in order

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the Dutch at Esopus (then called "the Esopes"), and was obliged to oversee movements on both sides of Esopus Creek, which enters the Hudson River at that point. His title was that of Captain- General of the Esopes.

Prior to leaving England, Captain Brodhead married Ann Tye, by whom he had several chil- dren, among them three sons, Daniel, Charles and Richard. Charles was evidently named in honor of the King of England, and Richard was the namesake of the Colonel of the expedition. These names continue in the family to the present. The Captain appears to have made his headquarters at Marbletown, a village a few miles west of the Hudson, where he dispensed, with iron hand, jus- tice and equity to his Dutch neighbors, and where he died July 14, 1667. His widow survived him, and in 1697 built a residence for herself and fam- ily, which remained in possession of some member of the Brodhead family until 1890.

By reason of the long retention of this house, and the business qualities of Mrs. Ann (Tye) Brod- head and her children, a large number of papers relative to the family were kept, there intact, and were secured a few years ago by Lucas Brodhead, of Spring Station, Ky., who has had many of them copied and photographed for distribution among the family. Among others was the following pass, given by the town authorities of Marbletown, Ul- ster County, N. Y., to Daniel Brodhead, a grand- son of the Grenadier Captain, and no doubt the first Brodhead to visit the state of Pennsylvania: "Ulster, in the Province of New York.

"Mattys Jansen, Maj. Johannes Hardenbergh and Capt. John Rutsen, Esqrs., Justices of the Peace for the county of Ulster, assigned,

"To all to whom these presents shall come, or may concern, greeting: Whereas, Daniel Brodhead, son of Capt. Charles Brodhead, hath a purpose to Travell out of this Province of New York into the Provinces of New Jersey and Pensilvaina: These are to certifie that the said Daniel Brodhead hath been known unto us from the time of his na- tivity to this day, and during all the sd time hatlı behaved himselfe as a True and Faithfull subject to our Soveraigne Lord King George and his pre- decesors, and is of honest and good fame, name,

credit and Reputation, and we desire he may be greeted according.

"Given under our hands and seales in Kingston, this 12th day of September, in the fifth yeare of his Majesty's Reign, anno q Dono, 1718.

(Signed) "Mattys Jansen. "J. Hardenbergh. "Jolın Rutsen."

This Daniel Brodhead, however, did not settle in Pennsylvania, but made such a favorable report of the capabilities of the state, that his cousin, Daniel Brodhead, son of Richard Brodhead (a brother of Capt. Charles Brodhead before men- tioned), came to Pennsylvania about 1735, and settled on what has since been called Brodhead's Creek, near Stroudsburg, then Bucks, now Monroe County. Mr. Brodhead laid out a town on his mile square of land and called it Dansbury. The Stroudsburg station of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad Company is on this tract, and the town is called East Stroudsburg. From this pioneer are descended the Brodheads of Pennsyl- vania. One of his sons, Daniel Brodhead, was Colonel of the Eighth Pennsylvania Regiment on Continental Establishment during the Revolution- ary War, and at the close thereof, while Colonel commanding the Western Department, with head- quarters at Pittsburg, by special act of General Washington, and on the re-organization of the Pennsylvania troops about 1782, was made Colonel of the First Pennsylvania Regiment on Conti- nental Establishment. Hc filled several state offices, and when the new state organization was formed in 1789, became the first Surveyor-General of the state, which office he held for many years. He died at Milford, Pike County, in 1809. Another son, Garret Brodhead, was also an officer during the Revolution. He was the great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch.

Charles Brodhead was born at Conyngham, Lu- zerne County, Pa., August 4, 1824, being a son of Albert Sallatin and Ellen (Middaglı) Brodhead. His father, a merchant of Conyngham, was for several terms a member of the State Legislature from Luzerne County, but in 1839 purchased and moved to the old Brodhead homestead at Dela- ware, Pike County. The schools of the village in

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which our subject was born, and where he resided until fourteen, were very deficient in educational facilities, and hence, during the winter of 1838-39, he was sent to the academical school at Strouds- burg, kept by Ira Burrell Newman. In the spring of 1840 he followed Mr. Newman to a newly estab- lished boarding school at Dingman's High Falls, in Pike County, Pa. In November, 1840, he left the Pike County school and entered Lafayette College, at Easton, then under the administration of Rev. Dr. George Junkiman, entering the Fresh- man class. From that institution he was gradu- ated in 1844, during the presidency of Rev. Dr. John W. Yeomans. Immediately after his gradua- tion he entered the law office of his uncle, Richard Brodhead, then Member of Congress from the Tenth Legion (as the district was then called) and subsequently United States Senator from Pennsyl- vania.

During his student days Mr. Brodhead attendcd the law school established in Philadelphia by that eminent lawyer, David Hoffman, the author of "Course of Legal Study," "Legal Outlines," and other works of merit. Mr. Brodhead was admitted to the Bar at Easton in the November term of 1846. Shortly subsequent to his admission he acted as Sheriff's Attorney for three years, but shortly thereafter gave up the practice of law and went into the real-estate business at Bethlehem. About that time two railroads were in process of construction to Betlilchem: the Lchigh Valley, in connection with the Central Railroad of New Jer- sey, from New York; and the North Pennsylvania Railroad from Philadelphia. Both roads had their lines located on the south side of the Lehigh River at Bethlehem, and Mr. Brodhead in 1854 pur- chased one hundred acres of the Moravian farm lands on that side of the river, and laid out what is now to a great extent the borough of Soutlı Bethlehem. The population of this place is now about twelve thousand, and he is one of its large land-owners. Ile is also the owner of valuable realty in Bethlehem, where among his other pos- sessions he owns the famous Sun Inn, built by the Moravian Congregation in 1758.

Upon laying out South Bethlehem, the first move of Mr. Brodhead was to get a Government

foundry established in that place. He secured the recommendation of the Secretary of War, Jefferson Davis, to Congress for the erection of Govern- ment foundries, and through the efforts of Hon. Richard Brodhead, then United States Senator from Pennsylvania, also procured a report from the committee of the United States Senate in favor of erecting one at Bethlehem; but when the report came in the Senate, cvcry Senator, of course, wanted the foundry in his state, every Member of Congress wanted it in his "deestrick," and the re- sult was no Government foundry for anybody; but, nevertheless, the leaven worked, and to-day extensive works for the manufacture of war ma- terial for the Government are in very successful operation upon the very ground reserved by Mr. Brodhead for the Government foundry in 1856, and which he subsequently sold to the Bethlehem Iron Company.

Mr. Brodhead was early and earnest in his efforts to scoure manufacturing establishments at Bethle- hem, and it was mainly due to his active co-opera- tion in the projects of Augustus Wolle that the Bethlehem Iron Company's works were located in South Bethlehem. The facts are bricfly these: Mr. Wolle was, and continued to be all his life, one of the most active and progressive inen that was ever in business in the Bethlehems, and his particular talent was that of an executive officer. He had Icased what was known as the Gangewer Ore Bed, in Saucon Township, and secured a charter for an organization called the Saucona Iron Company, for the development of the Gangewer and other veins of hematite ores. He urged Mr. Brodhead to join him in this project, but the latter suggested that they unite forces and put up works in South Bethlehem, for the extra cost of ore transportation would be quite compensated for by the less cost of transportation of coal, if stopped at Bethlehem. The result was that Mr. Wolle, being himself a large land owner in Southi Bethlehem, agreed upon that place as the site for the new works. Mr. Brodbead then and there drew up a supplement to Mr. Wolle's Saucona charter, which was subse- quently passed by the Pennsylvania Legislature, authorizing the company to make and manufac- ture iron ores and iron into any shape or condi-

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tion, and changing the name of the company to "The Bethlehem Rolling Mill and Iron Company.". Mr. Wolle was the first and largest subscriber to the stock, and was followed by Messrs. Brodhead, Daniel, Rauch, the Moravian congregation, and others. Thus the Bethlchem Mills became an ac- complished fact.

Mr. Brodhead was the first to suggest the con- struction of the New Street bridge, which, starting in Bethlehem, in Northampton County, crosses the canal and railroad of the Lchigh Coal and Navi- gation Company, the Monocacy Creek, a section of Lehigh County, the Lchigh River, many tracks of the Lehigh Valley Railroad, and after a stretch of eleven hundred feet, terminates in South Bethle- hem. The Broad Street bridge, which connects Bethlehem with West Bethlehem, was also onc of Mr. Brodhead's conceptions, the idea having first come to him when he was having his engineers lo- cate what was popularly known as "Charley Brod- head's Huckleberry Railroad," now the Lehigh & Lackawanna Railroad, leading from Bethlehem to the great slate quarries in and about Chapman, Wind Gap, Pen Argyl and Bangor, with a branch leading through the famous Wind Gap of the Blue Mountains, and extending to Saylor's Lake in Monroc County. The objective point of the road is Stroudsburg, on the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad, a connection with which will make it the shortest rail line for summer tourists from Philadelphia to the resorts at Delaware Water Gap, Stroudsburg, the Pocono Mountains, Bush- kill, Dingman's High Falls and Milford, on the Upper Delaware. This road was projected by Mr. Brodhead, and pushed through by him with untir- ing perseverance and pertinacity. He was for many years its President. It is now one of the leased lines of the Central Railroad of New Jersey.

In 1873 Mr. Brodhead was elected a member of the constitutional convention of Pennsylvania, and was the originator of several valuable pro- visions in that instrument, notably the one pro- viding for free telegraph lincs, and prohibiting the consolidation of parallel or competing lines, by reason of which the people of the state were protected from the thiraldom of a monster monop- oly. He also secured the enactment of the section

which prohibits all officers and employes of rail- road companies from being interested, directly or indirectly, in the furnishing of supplies and ma- terial for the corporations with which they are connected, or being interested in transportation lines or contracts for transportation, which pro- visions have been very beneficial to stockholders, who theretofore were often plundered by unscrupu- lous officers and employes. He likewise intro- duced and secured the adoption of the section whichi extended the terms of County Treasurer to three years, and prohibited their re-election, which has had a very salutary effect upon municipal financiering. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of Lehigh University, and has ever inani- fested a warm interest in educational affairs. His marriage, June 1, 1858, united him with Miss Camilla M., daughter of Gen. Conrad Shimner, an extensive farmer, and prominent in the military and political affairs of Northampton County.

T HE SUN INN. This building is one of the most ancient in Pennsylvania, and its history contains much that will interest and instruct the thoughtful reader. Briefly, there- fore, we give in outline some of the events with which its name is connected and record for poster- ity its eventful history. For the facts contained hercin, we are indebted to the author of the "Old Moravian Sun Inn," an interesting pamphlet pub- lished in 1893. When the Moravians commenced the building of Bethlehem in the spring of 1741, and for a number of years thereafter, such was their remoteness from the routes of travel in south- eastern Pennsylvania, that an inn was an unneces- sary luxury. However, as time passed by, a strong tide of emigration set in from the more populous parts of the province, and also from other lands across the ocean. Roads were opened, clearings made, farms sprang up, and houses began to dot the hillsides. Bethlehem, situated on the through line from New York to Baltimore and the Caro- linas, became a point in the ever-increasing artery

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of travel, and it thus became necessary to erect a suitable inn.

In July of 1754, the matter was given into the hands of a committee for consideration, and they decided upon a site "situate on the road leading to the tile-kiln, and opposite the Manockasy and the quarry." The Indian War of 1755 caused the Moravians to abandon temporarily their hotel en- terprise. Finally, in 1757, preparatory steps werc taken toward the building of an inn the ensuing spring. Little by little the work progressed, and finally the structure was completed. March 24, 1760, Peter and Ann Mary Worbas occupied apart- ments in the house, and in the ensuing June filed an application with the court to secure a permit to entertain travelers and to sell beer and cider. On the 24th of September, 1760, the first travelers were entertaincd at the int.

The year 1762 is memorable in the history of the Moravians in Pennsylvania as marking an im- portant change in their social polity. It was then that the Bethlehem Economy was dissolved; where- as during its existence all the members of the so- ciety had contributed their labor toward the com- monwealth, certain branches of industry only were hereafter conducted for the support of its enter- prises by specially appointed agents, who were amenable to the chief proprietor of the Moravian estates. Among these were several trades, four farms and the Sun Inn. For the latter a new epoch in its history was opened by this change. Its name was changed from the "House of Enter- tainment" to the "Sun Inn," and, emblematic of its new cognomen, there appeared upon its sign- board, in June, 1764, a sun in the splendor of noonday.

About 1771, owing to a division of the estates and possessions of the Moravian Church, the Sun Inn passed into the hands of the Stewards of the Society of Bethlehem, and for the following sev- enty-five years it was conducted solely for the benefit of that body, at first by salaried agents, and after 1830 by tenants. Many noted men and women have at various times been entertained at this old house. In September, 1772, General Gage and his family were among its guests, and in May, 1773, Gov. Richard Penn was there entertained.

Gov. John Penn was several times a guest of the inn. November 28, 1801, Gen. Charles Lee stopped at the "Sun" for dinner. The register of the "Sun" has this entry: "Gen. Lee. six horses and four servants. Five dinners, one bottle of Madeira, five quarts of beer and five and one-quarter pints of brandy."

The quict of the little Moravian settlement was disturbed by the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, and from that time until the close of the conflict Bethlehem did its share toward the suc- cess of the Colonists. September 11, 1777, was fought the bloody battle of Brandywine, after which the military stores of the army were hurried inland from French Creek. On the 19th, a note was received by Rev. Mr. Ettwein, of Bethlehem, stating that by order of Congress the sick and wounded soldiers were to be brought to Bethle- hem for proper care. The following day the vil- lage was crowded with civilians and soldiers, and soon the sick and wounded arrived. Among the latter was General La Fayette, attended by his suite, and General Woodford and Colonel Arm- strong. The Continental Congress was represented by some of its most prominent members, including John Hancock, Samuel Adams, Henry Laurens and Charles Thomson. The inn was crowded to its utmost capacity, and private honses were also con- verted into hospitals for the wounded soldiers.

In the autumn of 1785 a boarding school for young ladies was established in Bethlehem, after which the inn gained a new and aristocratic pat- ronage, and on commencement day, year after year, its rooms were thronged with gay and happy guests. Of recent years it has been entirely re- modeled and considerably enlarged, but the old building, with its massive walls and interior ar- rangements, is substantially the same as when first opened. Steam heat, electric lights and other im- provements of modern times are to be found there, and guests are sure of the most courteous and lios- pitable entertainment. In March, 1868, the pres- ent proprietor, Charles Brodhead, purchased the inn for $50,000. It is now, as it long has been, a favorite place of sojourn for summer tourists, com- mercial and business men.

Could the walls of this old structure speak, what

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an interesting tale they would tell of the great men and women who theresojourned; of Lady Washing- ton, once a guest there; of George Washington, who in July of 1782, was welcomed there with due honor; of many noted men and women, long since dead, who once gathered beneath its roof, sat at its tables and lingered in pleasant converse over its hospitable board. Gone are those days, and those illustrious men who made the history of America during the infancy of the Colonies; but though they are gone, the old building still stands, a monument of a memorable past and the heritage of the present generation from their forefathers.

M E. HORNBECK, M. D., one of the oldest and most skillful physicians of the Le- high Valley, is at present practicing in Catasauqua, where he has a large patronage and has been very successful in a financial way. He comes of a well known family in this section, his father having been a prominent attorney and Member of Congress for many years.

Dr. Hornbeck was born in Allentown, on the 24th of January, 1842, and is the son of Hon. John W. Hornbeck, who was a native of Sussex County, N. J., where his father, Dr. Jacob Horn- beck, was also born. Hon. John W. Hornbeck was graduated from Union College in Schenec- tady, N. Y., and after completing his study of Blackstone located for practice in Allentown. He was elected on the Whig ticket as a Member of Congress from Lehigh and Bucks Counties, but dicd at his home in 1849, before the expiration of his term. He was one of the organizers of the Presbyterian Church in Allentown, in the work of which he always took a prominent part.

Mrs. Maria (Martin) Hornbeck, who was the mother of our subject, was born in Allentown and was the daughter of Dr. Jacob Martin, also a na- tive of that city. He was educated in the Univer- sity of Pennsylvania, where he also conducted his medical studics. After graduating he practiced during his entire life in Allentown. His father, Dr. Charles Frederick Martin, was born and edu-

cated in Berlin, Germany. He emigrated to the United States, locating first in Montgomery Coun- ty, this state, and later removed to Macungie, where his deccase occurred.

The household of Hon. Jolin W. and Mrs. Horn- beck included four children, only three of wliom are living, and of these the subject of this record is the eldest. His primary studies were carried on in the academy of Allentown, and when ready to commence reading medicine he entered the office of his uncle, Dr. T. H. Martin, of the above city, with whom he remained until enlisting for nine months in the Union army in 1862. He became a member of the One Hundred and Twenty-eighth Pennsylvania Infantry, and was mustered in as Hospital Steward and with his company, which formed a part of the Twelfth Army Corps, was sent to join the Army of the Potomac. They fouglit in the battles of Fredericksburg and Chan- cellorsville, and Mr. Hornbeck was honorably dis- charged in May, 1863.

In the fall of the latter year our subject entered the University of Pennsylvania, and was gradu- ated from the medical department in the year 1865. Locating at once in Catasauqua, which was then a small village, he began the work of caring for the sick, in company with his uncle, Dr. F. B. Martin. They continued togetlicr until 1868, when the latter died, and Dr. Hornbeck suc- ceeded to the entire practice. In 1884 hc com- pleted his comfortable residence at No. 225 Bridge Street, in which he also has his office.

In 1868, in Northampton County, Dr. M. E. Hornbeck was married to Miss Mary Laubach, and there have been born to them a son and a daugh- ter: James L., who is a student in the medical de- partment of the University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia and Helen, who is at home. Hon. Joseph Laubach, the father of Mrs. Horn beck, was for sixteen years Associate Judge of Northampton County. He was also President of the Northampton County Bank in Easton, and held the same posi- tion in the Coplay Iron Works for many years. He is now deceased, his last days liaving been passed in Betlilehem.

Dr. Hornbeck is a member of the Board of Health in the city, and socially belongs to Fuller

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Post, of which he is Surgeon; the Lehigh Medical Society, the Lehigh Valley Medical Association and the State Medical Society. He is also connected with the Lehigh Valley Railroad Surgeons' Associ- ation. He stands very high in his profession, and has a reputation as a skillful surgeon which ex- tends throughout this and surrounding counties.

A UGUSTUS SCHULTZE, D. D., President of the Moravian College and Theological Seminary in Bethlehem, is well known in this part of the state as a theologian and philologist of marked ability, and to his earnest efforts is due in a large incasure the success of this well known educational institution. It is nearly a quarter of a century since he became identified intimately with its welfare, and during this time the college has acquired an enviable reputation among Mora- vian brethren in all parts of the country. A writer of no mean ability, Dr. Schultze has pub- lished numerous works, and is a regular contribu- tor to the leading magazines and papers of his de- nomination.

A native of Germany, Dr. Schultze was born near Potsdam, in Brandenburg, in 1840, being a son of Lewis Schultze, who was a native of the same locality and a merchant and farmer by occu- pation. For some years subsequent to 1849 he had charge of the land of the Moravian Congregation in Silesia, where our subject attended the Moravian Academy after reaching his tenth year. Lewis Schultze retired from active work about 1871, when, with his wife, he crossed the Atlantic, mak- ing his home in Bethlehem. His death occurred in this city, when he had attained the good old age of seventy-six years. His wife, Fredericka Hacseler, who was born in Gross Beeren, Branden- burg, also dicd in Bethlehem. Of their two chil- dren only one is living. Until his fourteenth year Dr. Schultze attended the Moravian Grammar School, after which he pursued his studies in the Moravian College at Niesky, in the northwestern part of Silesia, and at the Theological Seminary of Gnadenfeld, graduating from the latter institu-

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Portrait and biographical record of Lehigh, Northampton and Carbon counties, Pennsylvania. : Containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the counties, together with biographies and portraits of all the presidents of the United States, Part 52

Author: Publication date: 1894 Publisher: Chicago : Chapman Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1006

Author:
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Chicago : Chapman Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1006