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 57

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 57
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 57
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 57

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John Long was a miller by trade, and when a youth our subject worked in the mill, assisting his father, but when old enough to choose a vo- cation he learned the trade of a tailor, which he followed for seven years. This he abandoned when reaching his twenty-fourth year, and began farm pursuits, which he carried on in North White- hall Township for many seasons. In the spring of 1874 he came to Egypt and established in the ho- tel business, at the same time engaging as a gen- eral merchant of this place. These combined oc- eupations he carried on for sixteen years, and at the expiration of that time had been so success- ful in business that he was enabled to retire from active work of any kind.

When ready to establish a home of his own Mr. Long was married, in 1846, to Miss Hannah Kline, also a native of this county, and the daughter of Jacob and Susan (Gross) Kline. To them was born a family of eleven children, of whom we make the following mention: Achilles J. makes his home in Berks County, this state; Elmira is de- eeased; Calvin J. resides in Cleveland, Ohio; Al- fred is engaged in business in Bucks County, this statc; Alice is the wife of Rev. Henry L. Fegley, a minister of the Lutheran Church at New Tripoli; Eugene makes his home in Egypt, as does also Walter and Harvey; Daniel W. is deceased; Agnes is the wife of Samuel Black, of Luzerne County, this state; and Josephinc, now Mrs. Benjamin Brown, makes her home in Egypt.

'The beloved wife of our subject, who had been huis devoted companion and counselor for nearly half a century, departed this life October 30, 1891. She was a consistent member of the German Luth-

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eran Church. Mr. Long has been School Director for many years, and is in favor of every measure which he believes to be for the best interest of his locality and the country at large. He has been very successful in business, which is due entirely to his own effort, and he thus receives and deserves the commendation of the community for his indus- try. He is a strong Democrat in politics, and for sixteen years held the office of Postmaster of Egypt.

R EV. ABRAHAM B. KOPLIN, D. D., is pastor of the Reformed Church at Heller- town, Northampton County, of which he has had charge since the spring of 1877. He was born in Summit County, Ohio. In tracing his ancestral history we find that one Mathias Koplin, with his wife and son, left Rotterdam on the 22d of June, 1728, on the good ship "Albany," which arrived in Philadelphia on the 4th of the fol- lowing September. They were among the many natives of the Palatinate, Germany, who tled from the persecution which prevailed there in the early part of the eighteenth century. On arriving in this country, they settled in what is now a part of Mifflin County, Pa., and on the father's death he was buried in the old graveyard adjacent to the Re- formed Church, of which he was a member. He was the great-grandfather of Mathias Koplin, who died in 1850, at the age of eighty-four years, near Doylestown, Ohio. The latter was the father of Abraham Koplin, our subject's father.

Abraham Koplin was born in Huntingdon Coun- ty in 1804, and emigrated to Ohio in 1833. There he became acquainted with Rachel Bachman, daugh- ter of Lorans Bachman, whose father came from Alsace, Germany, in 1753. Since the days of the Reformation the Koplin family has always been connected with the Reformed Church, and has been characterized by sober, industrious and thrifty habits.

Rev. Mr. Koplin received his academic education in Star Academy of Summit County, and entered Heidelberg Academy at Tiffin, Ohio, in 1851, grad-

uating from the classical course four years later. In 1856 he graduated from the theological sem- inary, and was soon given charge of the Glade Re- formed Church of Stoyestown, Somerset County, Pa., where he remained for two years. Then go- ing to Elk Lick, in the same county, he became pastor of Paradise Church. In 1864 he removed to Defiance, where for three years and a-half he continued working in the interests of the Reformed Church, and succeeded in establishing a branch in the county seat, from which as a nucleus three pas- toral charges have sprung up. In 1867 he re- turned to Elk Lick, his former charge, and there remained until 1874. In January of that year he went as a missionary to Catasauqua, Pa., where he succeeded in founding the Reformed Church of that place, and was pastor of the same for about three and a-half years. At the end of that time he resigned in order to come to Hellertown, and this place has since been the scene of his labors. A mission was first established, and finally a church, the Shiloh Reformed, was located in South Bethile- bem. The church at Hellertown has also flour- ished, and its numerical as well as its spiritual growth has advanced rapidly. In 1876 Franklin and Marshall College, of Lancaster. conferred upon Mr. Koplin the honorary degree of Master of Arts, and in 1885 Heidelberg University bestowed upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity. He lias written a number of review articles, and a work en- titled "A Live Church," with a sub-title, "Charac- teristics of a True Church." For the period cov- ered by his ministry he has been identified with the conservative wing of the Reformed Church, and has taken part in the various synods and meetings of his denomination, serving as a dele- gate and sometimes as Presiding Officer.

June 9, 1857, Rev. Mr. Koplin married Harriett A., daughter of Philip Custer, of Stoyestown, Pa. They have five children, a son and four daughters, namely: S. Oma, wife of Rev. S. F. Laury, pastor of the Reformed Church at Brodheadsville, Monroe County, Pa .; Emma B., wife of C. J. Gitt, Post- master in Hanover, York County, Pa .; Martha V., wife of Aaron Hostetter, a merchant of Hanover; Russell N., a graduate of Franklin and Marshall College and Seminary; and Ida May, who was

H. S. CLEMENS, M. D.

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edueated in the Allentown College for women, as were also her elder sisters. Russell N. is an attor- ney-at-law, practicing before the Northampton County Bar, and holds high rank among the legal profession of Hellertown. The Custer family is of Huguenot descent, and Mrs. Koplin's great-great- grandfather was one of the refugees who left France during the persecution, and settled in Franklin County, this state. The father of Mrs. Koplin was married in Somerset County to Miss Sarah Ray- mond. His brother was located in Pomeroy, Ohio, and was the father of General Custer, the famous military chief, who was massacred by the Indians in 1876.

Dr. Koplin uses his right of franchise in favor of the Democratic party and takes great interest in educational and civic affairs. He is one of the leading ministers in his denomination and has hosts of sincere friends in all parts of the state.

H ENRY S. CLEMENS, M. D. The eity of Allentown is not without her share of members of the learned professions who are a credit to the vocation they have chosen, and to the city itself. Among those who have taken up the calling of a medical practitioner is Dr. Clemens, who devotes himself assiduously to his practice and the scientific investigations which will enhance his professional knowledge and skill. He is well established in reputation as a physician, and is recognized as one of the able practitioners of this seetion.

Before outlining the life history of our subject it may be well to make a brief record of his par- ents. His father, Jacob Clemens, was a tanner by trade, but devoted the greater part of his life to farming pursuits, carrying on his agricultural la- bors in South Bethlehem. He was prominent in his neighborhood, and when he departed this life, in 1872, his loss was widely felt. The grandfather of our subject was Christian Clemens, a native of Doylestown, Bucks County, Pa. Our subjeet's mother, Catherine, was the daughter of Jacob and

Mary Ott, natives of Pleasant Valley, Bucks Coun- ty, Pa. She was born in that place November 21, 1811, and died in South Bethlehem, March 11, 1890, when in her seventy-eighth year.

The subject of this sketeh was the third in order of birth of a family of eight children, and dates his advent into the world from November 15, 1838. In his boyhood he was a student in the public schools of his native place, and later at- tended Tremont Seminary and Norristown and Union Seminary, in Union County, Pa. After a short time spent in teaching school in Northamp- ton County, this state, he pursued his studies in the seminary at New Berlin, this state, and in 1857 carried out his long-cherished desire of study- ing medicine. His first studies were conducted in the office of Dr. Abram Stout, of Bethlehem, later he was with Dr. Kitehen, and then he entered the medieal department of the University of Pennsyl- vania, from which institution he was graduated in 1861. After receiving his diploma he began the practice of his profession in Hosensack, Lehigh County. Later, however, he was numbered among the physicians of Friedensville, where he remained for seven years. He then came to Allentown, where he has since made his home, and where he has built up a lucrative practice.

February 2, 1862, Dr. Clemens was united in marriage with Miss Emelie, daughter of David Hartman. This lady died in Allentown, in Oeto- ber, 1870, after having become the mother of four children. The lady whom our subject ehose as his second wife was Miss Elizabeth S. Jones, of Sinking Spring, Berks County, this state.

In politics the Doctor is at heart a Prohibition- ist, but has occasionally lent his vote to the Re- publiean party when great issues were at stake. He is of a very religious bent of mind, and at the age of fourteen professed justifieation in the true Scriptural sense, also sanetification in the true Bib- lical sense on the 9th of June, 1890. He took the four-years course of theology laid down in the Methodist Episcopal discipline, after which he served for many years as a local preacher in the Methodist Episcopal Church. Later he filled a similar position in the Evangelical Church. He is also a graduate of the Chautauqua School of The-

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ology and the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle. The Deacon's Orders conferred upon him by Bishop Bowman endowed him with all the functions of the ministry.

One of the chief ambitions of Dr. Clemens is to give advantages to those who have none. In his labors of love he was called upon to preach the Gospel and establish Sabbath-schools in various obscure and neglected places throughout the coun- ty of Lehigh, and, as a result of his work, many Sunday-schools were established and chapels built. He served many congregations without fee or earthly reward, and induced the prejudiced to come to Sabbath-school, for in most of the locali- ties the public generally were prejudiced against Methodism. For years, at great personal expense and sacrifice, he gave the children expensive re- wards in order to induce them to come to church and Sabbath-school, and thus cultivate a taste for a moral and religious life. In this way he was perhaps one of the greatest philanthropists who ever lived in this community, for he ministered both to the temporal and spiritual wants of the people. Time and eternity alone will reveal the extent of his good deeds. Not only did he preach regularly to his parishioners the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but also, without remuneration, he buried the dead, and baptized and married his people.

When the great split took place in the Evangel- ical Association, of which he was a member, the Doctor, instead of pandering to the clique of the contestants, or bowing to the whimsical imagina- tions of the prejudiced, went about far and wide preaching holiness to both sides of the division wherever admitted, claiming that the rod of con- tention suspended over them by Providence was a chastisement to drive them back to the true foun- dation. God having sent Luther into the world to revive the Bible doctrine of justification by faith, and John Wesley to revive the Bible doctrine of sanctification by faith, these doctrines the Doctor maintained (he was cradled in them from child- hood) were the true foundation upon which the Evangelical Association was based; and for wander- ing from this old and true foundation the people were being punished, and they must get back to it again, or they will gradually degenerate and be-

come contemporary with the other spiritually dead churches.

Nor was the Doctor less active in temperance than in religious work. He traveled through this county and elsewhere establishing divisions, cir- culating temperance literature, and lecturing with- out any remuneration whatever. In the Sabbath- school, also, he inculcated in the minds of the chil- dren his own strict temperance principles, thus aiding them to start aright in the world. As a physician he was prominent, and had a large and profitable practice in the county, until he made chronic diseases a specialty, when his fame spread throughout the United States. He has treated pa- tients also from Canada and Europe. Early in life he made a special study of the lungs, and pneu- monia was the subject of his thesis when he was graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, at Philadelphia, in 1861.

Probably no other physician has done as much as has Dr. Clemens to demonstrate the value of oxygen as a therapeutic agent. He manufactured it of the sesqui-oxide of iron in combinations with various other chemicals, all the particulars of which he specifies in his will to his wife and children, so as to make it perpetual. He discovered that by combining various chemical gases and medicated vapors a system of therapeutics could be estab- lished effectual in nearly all diseases, and which could be administered by inhalation alone, this be- ing more potent in effect than by stomach medica- tion. By throwing remedies into the circulation by the medium of the lungs he discovered that they acted more effectively than by sending them into the circulation (where all curative agents must go) through the stomach. He was the first to dis- cover that from twenty to thirty pounds of beef could be forced into the circulation in the form of essence, by compelling or increasing the powers of assimilation, which is a great boon in all wast- ing diseases. He was also the first to discover that the vital calibre of the lungs could be enlarged from seventy to one hundred, two hundred, three hundred, or even four hundred, cubic inches in consumptives, who are not too far gone in the work of decay in all tuberculous affections, by in- haling oxygen in various combinations.

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These two facts, the Doctor says, arc part of the secrets of his great success in restoring consump- tives or all persons suffering from wasting diseases. It is a discovery of the Doctor's that the heart can be shrunk by inhaling oxygen in various combina- tions in cases of hypertrophy; that all tumors can be scattered by increasing the power of both secre- tion and excretion, and restoring every function to normal action by the oxygen treatment. He also discovered that all brain workers, who keep up a good physique by taxing the muscles as well as the brain, can greatly increase the powers of brain function or capabilities by an occasional in- halation of oxygen, whether they are sick or well. When the brain is not too much compressed, occa- sional inhalations of oxygen will so elevate and refine the higher and finer functions of the brain as to make a Christian (especially a minister) ca- pable of expounding any subject wherewith he may be familiar almost with the eloquence of an angel, so that his influence will be increased two- fold. Man's brain, when treated physically by oxygen in a proper manner, can be subjected to enormous strain and lifted to heights of ecstatic rapture in men of intellect, addicted to no had liabits. This is a discovery that Dr. Clemens has made after many experiments and extended ex- perience. Oxygen, he thinks, is yet in its infancy as a therapeutic agent.

H ARRY A. R. DIETRICH, a leading young business man of South Bethlehem, is a lieating and ventilating engineer, and is contractor for steam and hot-water heating, and has built up a large and successful trade. He was the first one to embark in this line of busi- ness in this place, and is still the principal one in this occupation. A self-made man, he lias reason to be proud of his justly merited good fortune, for he has acquired his standing through his own worthy qualifications.

The birth of our subject occurred at Eden, Lancas-

ter County, May 14, 1861, he being a son of Henry Dietrich. In a family of four children, Harry is the third .in order of birth, and his boyhood was passed at Eden. He attended the district schools until sixteen years of age, when he learned the butcher's business. In the spring of 1877 he re- moved to Fairville, Terry Hill Postoffice, Lancas- ter County, where he remained for a year, thencc going to Reading, Pa. There he obtained employ- ment in the tube works, and acquired a practical knowledge of the business, at which he worked more or less for two years at that point. His next place was with the Reading Scott Works, in the steam-forge department, where he was located for a year. In 1882 he became a resident of South Bethlelicin, removing to this place with his parents. That summer he worked in the old rolling-mill, and later was with McKee & Milson for a year in their steam-boiler works. His next employment was with Baker, Smith & Co., of New York, obtain- ing contracts for steam heat. It was in 1885 that he started in business for himself, beginning at the bottom round of the ladder, and though necessarily it took some time to make headway, he has been successful in building up a good trade in this lo- cality. In 1888 he located at his present place of business, comprising three floors, 25x50 feet, all of which spacc he occupies witli his large stock. The boilers which he uses in his trade arc the H. A. R. D., which he patented in 1893, making improved patents on them in 1894. They are constructed for his own use and sold to the trade in general, and in addition to this he has patented four other boilers, making his own designs. His place of business is on West Second Street and Penn Alley, and in the busy season from ten to fifteen men are employcd.

Mr. Dietrich has fitted out many of the promin- ent public and private buildings in this community, among these the Moravian Theological Seminary for Young Men, the Lehigh Valley Company's rail- road offices, the Sun Hotel, the Lerch & Ricc Com- pany's store, the Globe store, the Church of the Holy Infancy, and Bishop Thorp's School. Many more miglit be mentioned, but these will serve to show that his work is endorsed by many of the leading men of the place. Mr. Dietrich is a member

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of the Master Steam and Hot-water Fitters' Associa- tion of the United States, and takes an active part in the work of the organization.

May 14, 1894, Mr. Dietrich was married in Port- land, this state, to Mrs. Priscilla ( Webb) Davis, who was born in Wales. For nearly two terms our subject was a member of the School Board from the old First Ward, and later from the Second Ward, when he resigned. In politics he supports the Democratic party, in the success of which he is much interested.

ETER A. FRITCHMAN is general agent for the Girard Fire Insurance Company of Philadelphia, and Secretary of and solici- tor for the Freemansburg Building and Loan Asso- ciation. He is a Justice of the Peace and Conveyan- cer, and deals extensively in real estate. In civic society he holds high rank, and in political circles as well is favorably known in Freemansburg, which is liis home.

Mr. Fritchman is a native of this borough, where his birth occurred November 3, 1838. His father, William Fritchman, was also a native of North- ampton County, while his grandfather was born in this county. His great-grandfather was born in the Fatherland, having emigrated to America pre- vious to the Revolutionary War, becoming one of the early settlers in the northern portion of North- ampton County. The father of our subject assisted in building the Lehigh Canal, and was afterward made a Supervisor of the same. The wife of Will- iam Fritchman was in her maidenhood Christanna Ehrhart, and her birth also occurred in this county.

Peter A. Fritchman was educated in the Free- mansburg public schools and in the high school at Bethlehem. On the completion of his studies lic taught school for one year. and was only about sixteen years of age when he engaged in the mer- cantile business on a small scale in this borough. Year by year his trade increased and he succeeded in building up a good business. This in time be- came so large that he was obliged to secure more

extensive quarters, and in 1869 he retired from that business. Later he superintended the build- ing of the Northampton County Prison, and also the erection of two bridges (one at Broad Street, Bethlehem, and one at Coplay) for the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company. For a time he was en- gaged in cutting rock, etc., to make way for the the double track of the Central Railroad of New Jersey.

In 1875 Mr. Fritchman was elected Justice of the Peace, and has served as such up to the pres- ent time, nearly twenty years. For a period ex- tending over four years lie was Auditor of North- ampton County, the duties of which responsible position he discharged to the satisfaction of all. For six years he faithfully served as a Councilman, and for nine years has been one of the School Di- rectors. In April, 1894, he resigned from his ar- duous position as Secretary of the Town Council, in which capacity he had acted for a period of twenty-one years. Foremost in all public enter- prises, he has been a prominent and important fac- tor in the welfare and activity of Freemansburg, having aided greatly in its upbuilding.

Fraternally Mr. Fritchman has long been inter- ested in secret societies and holds membership with a number. He belongs to Huldah Lodge No. 364, K. of P., of Freemansburg, and was one of the principal organizers of the lodge in 1872, and since that was effected has been its representative to the Grand Lodge of the state. Since 1859 he has been a member of Cradle of Liberty Council No. 124, O. U. A. M., of this place. He is also a charter member of Washington Camp No. 429, P. O. S. of A., and a charter member of Star Castle No. 108, Knights of the Golden Eagle. In politics he votes with the Democratic party, and religiously is a member of the Lutheran Church.

In May, 1857, was celebrated the marriage of our subject and Miss Hannah A. Apple, daughter of ex-Judge Apple, of Bucks County, Pa., who is now deceased. By their union were born two children, one of whom is deceased; the other is W. Bion, who resides with his parents, and is Post- master of this town. Mr. Fritchman is a self-made man, having had to make his own way in the world from early years. He always esteems it a privilege

HERMAN SCHMIDT.

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to assist by his influence, and in all other possible ways, to promote the general welfare, and has the good of his fellow-townsinen and borough greatly at heart. When serving in public capacities he was always faithful and true to all trusts reposed in him, and is greatly esteemed by those who have had the pleasure of his acquaintance.

ERMAN SCHMIDT, the efficient and well known Steward of the Northampton Coun- ty Almshouse, which is located in Up- per Nazareth Township, is a native of Prussia, Germany, where his birth occurred September 13, 1839. He is a son of William and Chris- tiana (Roehle) Schmidt, both likewise natives of Germany. Until reaching the age of fifteen lie continued to live in his native land, the years passing without marked event. In conformity to the laws of the land, he received a good education in his mother tongue. By reading of the benefits and advantages afforded in America, he early de- cided that he would try his fortunes in this fair land. In the mean time, to further this object, he acquired a fair knowledge of English, at least sufficient for general conversation. In 1854 he took passage at Bremen on a sailing-vessel, which, after a voyage of six weeks, cast anchor at Balti- more.

On his arrival in the New World, young Schmidt came directly to Northampton County, and se- cured work on a farm in Lower Nazareth Town- ship. In this capacity he continued to remain for a number of years, meriting the respect of his em- ployers for his industry and fidelity to duty. In 1868 his worthy qualities received reward in his being appointed as farmer for the Northampton County Almshouse, to take charge of the farın work connected with the fields appertaining there- to. The land now owned by this institution com- prises three hundred and sixty-five acres, and the profits derived therefrom make the Almshouse self-sustaining.

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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 57

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