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 9
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 9
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 9
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store for the long period of eleven years, and his faithfulness and efficiency made him one of its most trusted employcs. He was absent from the store for only one year, during which time he was numbercd among the boys in blue. Feeling that his country needed his services, he followed the promptings of his patriotic spirit and enlisted as a member of Company I, Forty-second Pennsylvania Infantry. He took part in the battle of Antietam and several lesser engagements, and when his term had expired, was honorably discharged.
Mr. Seaboldt then returned to his old position with the firm of D. J. Lincoln & Co. On sever- ing his connection with that concern, he became bookkeeper for the Lehigh Valley Railroad Com- pany at Packcrton, where he remained for three years. On the expiration of that period he came to Allentown, Pa., where he embarked in the manu- facture of boots and shoes, being a member of the firm of John E. Lentz & Co. On the death of his father-in-law, Thomas Kemerer, he came to Lehigh- ton to settle up the Kemerer estate and take charge of the business at this place. Mr. Kemerer was President of the National Bank, and was engaged in the insurance business, to which Mr. Seaboldt succeeded. He has since carried on operations along that line, and has also dealt in real estate. As an insurance agent he represents various com- panies in the east, and also foreign companies.
Mr. Seaboldt was married in 1872, Miss Emma Kemerer becoming his wife. She is a most esti- mable lady, of cultured manner, and her friends throughout the community are many. Both our subject and his wife are members of the Episcopal Church, and in politics Mr. Seaboldt is an active and stanch Republican, doing all in his power to promote the growth and insure the success of his party. Hc has frequently served as a delegate to state conventions, and was elector of the National Convention at the time of the nomination of James G. Blaine, in 1884.
In connection with his other business interests, Mr. Seaboldt is now a stockholder in the Lchigh- ton National Bank, and has been President of the Lehighton Land Company since its organization in 1890. He is also Secretary of the Lehigliton Cemetery. Prominent in business circles, he has
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the respect and confidence of all with whom he has been brought into contact, and is now numbered among the valued and leading citizens of Le- highton.
P A. SEMMEL, who is a manufacturer of coaches and carriages in Slatington, is (as was also his father, John Semmel) a na- tive of Lehigh County, and was born April 11, 1835. His grandfather's name was Tobias, and great-grandfather Schneck came from Frankfort- on-the-Main and settled in Lehigh County in an early day in its history. Our subject's mother was in her girlhood Marie Reinsmith, and was the daughter of Rev. Henry Reinsmith. She was also a native of Pennsylvania, having been born in Weisenburg Township, Lehigh County. Her de- ccase occurred at the advanced age of eighty-four years.
Mr. Semmel spent the days of his boyhood in Lehigh County, there receiving such an education as was to be obtained in the common schools of those days, but at the early age of eleven years hc started out in life for himself, and on reaching his seventeenth ycar was apprenticed to learn carriage making under Peter Seipp, of Seipstown, in which place he continued for two and a-half years.
Later Mr. Semmel went to Deibertsville, Hei- delberg Township, and opened a shop, remaining in that place two years. Afterward he went to Saegersville, where he conducted a shop until 1873. January 1 of that year, he came to Slatington and opened a shop, which he has since conducted very successfully with a constantly increasing pat- ronage. His coaches and carriages are of a very superior quality and by their worth recommend themselves to the public.
In 1857 Miss Maria Muthara, of Lehigh County, became the wife of our subject. She passed to the home beyond, leaving six sons and two daughters, as follows: Isadorc J., John A., Howard S., Charles B., Agnes M., Robert J., Oliver J. and Cora. Mr. Semmel's second marriage united him with Miss
L. J. Hankee, of Northampton County, and they became the parents of seven children, six of whom are still living. Lily is deceased, and the others are Mamie, Lottie, Mattie, Palmer, Ioa and Walter.
Mr. Semmel is a member of the Lutheran Church and his wife is affiliated with the Reformed Church. In politics he is a prominent Republican and an influential citizen. He has served in the Town Council two terms and always uses the weight of his influence on the side of progress and public improvement. They have in their parlor an old spinning wheel, used for spinning flax, which was brouglit from Germany by his ancestors over one hundred years ago.
ONAS GERMAN. The publishers of the RECORD would fail in their object of present- ing to their readers a review of the lives of the most prominent citizens of the county, were they to omit that of Jonas German, a success- ful merchant, hotelman and miller of New Tripoli, Lelugli County. He was born in this county in 1823, and is the son of Jacob and Catherine (Stemmler) German, also natives of the Keystone State. Grandfather German, who is said to have been born in the Fatherland, emigrated to Amer- ica and located in Lehigh County, occupying an honored place among its old pioneers.
Our subject was reared to man's estate on his father's farm in this county, and not having the advantages offered the youth of the present day for obtaining an education, is mainly self edu- cated. Following in the footsteps of his father, in his earlier years he carried on agricultural pur- suits in Heidelberg Township, until 1868, when he removed to New Tripoli and drifted into the hotel and mercantile business. After carrying on these combined occupations for about two years, he re- turned to his farm, where he resided for five years. We next find him living in New Tripoli, where he again associated himself with mercantile interests, and where he has continued to make his home to
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the present time. He has been extremely success- ful in all his undertakings, and in 1893 purchased the grist mill at this place. Although the plant does both custom and merehant work, Mr. German makes a specialty of the latter, and is carrying on a flourishing business in that line. In addition to the enterprises already mentioned, our subject is the proprietor of a seventy-acre traet of land in Heidelberg Township, which bears all the improve- ments which one would expect to find on the estate of an enterprising and wide-awake man. Mr. German is also a Director in the Allentown National Bank, with which he has been connected for about fifteen years.
The lady to whom our subject was married in 1851 was Miss Maria Harter, a native of Heidel- berg Township, and the daughter of Jacob Harter, formerly a resident of that loeality, but now de- ceased. Their union has been blessed by the birth of four children, three of whom survive, viz .: Sophia, the wife of Frank P. Beek, Postmaster of Lowhill; Henry W., a resident of New Tripoli; and Louisa, the wife of James A. Miller. The latter has been Justice of the Peaee for many years, and~ is engaged in the mercantile business with our subject.
Mrs. German departed this life in 1888, firm in the faith of the Lutheran Church. Our subject also belongs to that denomination, and has served in several official capacities. He is publie spirited and deeply interested in all movements which promise to advance the material or moral prosper- ity of the citizens.
James A. Miller, a son-in-law of our subject, was born May 3, 1863, in Lynn Township, to Reu- ben and Sarah (Mantz) Miller, both natives of this county. They make their home in this township. Here Mr. Miller was reared to manhood, and at- tended the distriet school, which was taught on the subseription plan. He began teaching school when only seventeen years of age, and after fol- lowing this for two years, engaged in clerking in the store of our subjeet, with whom he has been continuously up to the present time, and is man- ager of the establishment.
Mr. Miller is now serving his second term as Justice of the Peace; he was elected to that posi-
tion when only twenty-two years of age, and was probably the youngest Justice of the Peace in the state. He is a stanchi Democrat in polities, and has represented his party many times in the state conventions. He weighs carefully all matters brought before him for consideration, and when once he has arrived at a decision, is firm in adher- ing to the same. His fellow-men hold him in good repute as a man of intelligence, uprightness and eordial spirit. He was married in 1881 to Miss Louisa German, who was born September 25, 1858. They have one ehild, a son, Ralph E.
Mr. Miller is a working member of the Reformed Church, in which he officiates as Deacon. He is also connected with the Junior Order of United American Mechanics, holding membership with Couneil No. 204, at New Tripoli. Mr. Miller is a Mason of high standing, belonging to Slatington Lodge No. 440; Blue Mountain Lodge No. 249, at Steinsville, and Washington Camp No. 380, P. O. S. of A., at the above place.
OL. JOHN CRAIG. With the history of the Lehigh Valley no family has been more intimately associated than that which is worthily represented by the subject of this sketeh. The first of the name in this country emigrated hither from Ireland about the close of the seven- teenth century and settled in Philadelphia. Thence in 1728 Col. Thomas Craig removed to Northamp- ton County and settled in what was afterward known as Craig's or the Irish Settlement. This traet of land was owned by William Penn, after whose death it came into the possession of his son, Thomas.
The name of Col. Thomas Craig appears upon the roll of the Synod of Philadelphia for the first time in 1731, and by it we learn that he occupied the office of Elder. As it was in the year 1731 that the Presbyterian Church was organized in the settlement, it may therefore be supposed that he was the original Elder. His son, Thomas, was but a lad when his father came to this place. Dur-
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ing his boyhood years he assisted in clearing the land and tilling the soil, and after attaining man- hood he engaged in farming for himself.
The next in line of descent was Thomas, Craig, who was born in 1740. At the breaking out of the Pennamite War, in 1771, he was made a Lieu- tenant in the Pennsylvania militia, and his record was that of a gallant and faithful officer. At the opening of the Revolutionary War he was an act- ive champion of the Colonies, and on the 5th of January, 1776, was commissioned Captain, being assigned to Colonel St. Clair's Pennsylvania Bat- talion. After several engagements in the Cana- dian campaign he was promoted to the rank of Major in September, 1776, and in the summer of the following year became Colonel of the Third Pennsylvania Regiment. Under command of Gen- eral Washington he did good service in New Jer- sey, and subsequently took part in the battles of Brandywine and Germantown.
Mrs. Lydia Darrach, of Philadelphia, at whose house General Howe made his headquarters, se- cretly learning of the General's intended attack on Washington's army, then in camp at White Marsh, fourteen miles from the city, conveyed the information through Colonel Craig, so that the Colonial army was saved from a surprise and deadly attack. Coloncl Craig remained with the army at Valley Forge, and from that place, April 12, 1778, addressed a letter strongly appcaling for clothing for the soldiers and showing their destitute con- dition in that respect. In the battle of Monmouth his regiment was conspicuous for gallantry and was in the thickest of the fight.
At the close of the war Colonel Craig returned to Northampton County, of which lie was ap- pointed Lieutenant in July, 1783. In 1784 Mont- gomery County was formed from Philadelphia, and hc was appointed Associate Judge, Clerk of the Courts, and Recorder, all of which positions he held until 1789. He then settled in the vicin- ity of Stembersville, in Towamensing Township (at that time in Northampton, now in Carbon County). For several years he was Major-General of the Seventhi Division Pennsylvania Militia. His death occurred in 1832, at the age of ninety- two years. It is said of him that he possessed
superior qualities of head and heart, being kecn in discrimination, sagacious, brave in danger, quick to conceive and prompt to execute-a man fitted to Icad'an army against a powerful foc.
In the family of the above-named gentleman the second child was Thomas, father of our sub- ject. He was born in Stembersville in 1796, and in youth received such educational advantages as the neighborhood afforded. For many years he engaged as a hotel keeper, and also conducted a general farming and lumbering business at Lehigh Gap. In 1828 he was Captain of the home militia light horse or cavalry. Thomas Craig was first married to Miss Kuntz, by whom he had one son, Thomas. His second wife was Catherine, daugh- ter of John Hagenbach, then proprietor of a hotel at Lehighton. They became the parents of six children, to whom they gave the benefit of wise home training and good educational advantages. Thomas, now deceased, represented his district four years in the House of Representatives and three years in the Senate. Eliza is the wife of Gen. Charles Heckman, an officer in the Mexican and Civil Wars, now residing in Germantown, Pa. Hon. Allen Craig, for many years a leading attor- ney of Mauch Chunk, is now . serving as District Judge. William resides in Nebraska. Robert is a graduate of West Point Military Academy, and is now a Captain in the regular army stationed at Washington, D. C.
The subject of this sketch is the next to the eldest in the family circle, and was born in Carbon County, Pa., October 23, 1831. In boyhood he attended the schools of the district, and in 1850 went to Easton, Pa., where his education was com- pletcd at the private school conducted by Rev. John Vanderveer. After the death of his father, in 1858, he gave some time to the settlement of the estate, and also continued the management of the business conducted by his father. When the Civil War broke out, he was one of the first volunteers in the defense of the Government. In April of 1861 he was enrolled for three months' service in the Sixth Pennsylvania Infantry, and with his regiment he took part in the military operations in Virginia and Maryland.
August 30, 1861, our subject enlisted in Com-
1
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pany N, Twenty-eighth Pennsylvania Infantry, which was afterward merged into Company C, One Hundred and Forty-seventh Pennsylvania In- fantry. Among the engagements in which he par- ticipated were those of Chancellorsville, Gettys- burg, Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge, Ring- gold, Chattanooga, and the various skirmishes from Atlanta to the sea under General Sherman, includ- ing the battle of Peach Tree Creek. Enlisting as a Captain, he was promoted successively to the rank of Major, Lieutenant-Colonel and Colonel. He participated in the Grand Review in Washing- ton, and was honorably discharged in July, 1865.
Resuming the life of a civilian, Colonel Craig formed a partnership with his brother in the gen- eral mercantile business, the firm title being J. & W. Craig. As such they conducted business at . Lehigh Gap until the year 1882, since which time the Coloncl has been sole proprietor. In addition to this establishment, he also deals in coal and handles lumber and fertilizers. In 1866-67 he contracted for and built four and a-half miles of the Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad, which was in course of construction at that time. Since the organization of the National Bank of Slatington, in 1875, he has been one of its Directors. He has been President of the Carbon Metallic Paint Com- pany since 1880. For five years or more he served as School Director, for many years has been Post- master of Lchigh Gap, and for two years, from 1884 to 1886, represented his distriet in the Lower House of the State Legislature. Politically hc is a Democrat. Socially he belongs to the Loyal Legion of Pennsylvania, at Philadelphia, and Chap- man Post No. 61, G. A. R., at Mauch Chunk.
In the fall of 1866 Colonel Craig married Miss Emma, daughter of Philip and Henrietta Insley, who lived upon a farm at thic Irish settlement near Bath, Northampton County. They are the parents of eight children, as follows: Thomas, Charles, P. Insley, H. Tindale; Henrietta, wife of T. Griffin; Mary, Allen D. and John D. (deceased). In social circles the family is highly respected. Every measure which has in view the promoting of the welfare of the citizens and the interests of the county finds in Colonel Craig a hearty sup- porter. He has a well balanced mind, is sensible
and shrewd, and fairness and justice characterize all his business transactions. A man of probity and honor, his life has been characterized by a desire to promote the welfare of his fellow-men, as well as his own personal advancement.
DWARD H. RAUCH, one of the prominent citizens of Mauch Chunk, was born in
Lititz, Lancaster County, Pa., July 19, 1820, and was educated at the Beck Academy at that place. At the age of fifteen he became an ap- prentice to the cabinet-maker's trade in Lancaster, and in 1840 he went to Mullica Hill, N. J., and although only twenty years of age, took an im- portant part in the memorable Presidential cam- paign, supporting "Tippecanoe and Tyler too." In 1842 he returned to his native county, and fol- lowed his trade until 1844, when lie was appointed Deputy Prothonotary of Lancaster County, and in 1848 was appointed Deputy Register, serving three years. In that year he was also sent as delegatc to the Whig County Convention by the "Woolly Head" faction, and supported Thaddeus Stevens for his first Congressional term, when he won the nomination by a single vote.
In 1851 a stock company was formed, chiefly under the leadership of Mr. Stevens, to publish a weckly and daily paper at Lancaster, the Inde- pendent Whig and Inland Daily, representing the anti-slavery element of the Whig party, and Hon. Edward McPherson and E. H. Rauch were ap- pointed editors and conductors of the paper. In 1854 our subject sold his interest in the establish- ment and started the Lchigh Valley Times at Beth- lehiem, which he disposed of in 1857, purchasing tlie Mauch Chunk Gazette. In 1859 he was elected one of the Transcribing Clerks of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, and at the session of the following ycar was elected Chicf Clerk of the House, and was re-elected in 1861 and 1862. His last clec- tion was under peculiar circumstances. In the fall of 1861 he recruited an infantry company at Mauch
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Chunk, and was mustered in as Captain in No- vember. He joined the Eleventh Regiment, com- manded by Col. Richard Coulter. At that time he was yet clerk of the House, but going into the army, he deemed it sufficient notice that he would not be a candidate for re-election. On the first Monday in January, 1862, when the regiment was in winter quarters at Annapolis, he obtained leave of absence for six days to enable him to perform his last duty as the retiring Clerk. On his arrival in Harrisburg, he was surprised to learn that he had been nominated for another election by a coalition of Republicans and war Democrats. He finally consented to the re-election upon the con- dition that he could resign and rejoin the regi- ment within five days in case of failure to obtain formal leave to serve during the session. Suchi leave was granted and he served, but devoted all his spare time between sessions to his company at Annapolis.
Mr. Rauch was wounded at the second battle of Bull Run, which occurred in August, 1862, but rejoined his regiment in time to participate in the engagement at Fredericksburg on the 13th of December. Several days later he was attacked with rheumatism, which became more and more in- tense until he was totally disabled, and in March, 1863, was discharged. He has been a very severe sufferer since then, and both hands, feet and knees are crippled for life.
On his return from the army Mr. Rauch found his printing establishment all run down, but in- stead of reconstructing and endeavoring to win back success, he was induced to go to Reading and start a paper there; but he gave it up after two years, the venture proving a failure. In May, 1868, in partnership with Thomas Cochran, of Lancaster, lie established a Republican campaign paper called Father Abraham. It became very popular owing to the Pennsylvania Dutch letters of Pitt Schweffelrenner, and reached a circulation of fifteen thousand, but soon after the campaign ended it was discontinued. Mr. Rauch then be- came city editor of the Morning Review, but sev- eral years later its owner failed, and in 1872 lie joined the liberal Republican movement for Gree- ley, serving during that campaign as one of the
Secretaries of the Liberal State Committee, subor- dinate to Col. A. K. McClure as Chairman. In 1876 he supported S. J. Tilden for President, and made forty-six speeches in Lancaster County ..
In September, 1878, when Hon. Robert Klotz was first candidate for Congress, the editor of the Mauch Chunk Democrat being his personal enemy, Mr. Rauch was induced to take charge of the Car- bon County Democrat, and conduct it until after the election, reserving the right then to retire or buy the establishment at first cost. He did the latter, and continued its publication until 1882, when the two papers were merged under the pro- prietorship of E. H. Rauch & Son, who still own the same. In December, 1893, they established the Daily News in connection with the weekly, and the latter paper is meeting with good success. For many years Mr. Rauch has enjoyed a high reputa-' tion in this and other states as an expert in hand- writing, and as such he has during a period of nearly forty years attended to cases of disputed handwriting in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Kentucky, Virginia, and Washington, D. C.
FRANK SCHLOSSER. In a record com- prising the history of the substantial business men of Lehigh County, the name of Mr. Schlosser cannot properly be omitted. He is the owner of the marble and granite works located at Neffsville, which under his judicious management are found to be very profitable. They were establislicd in 1870 by our subject, who man- ufactures all kinds of tombstones, marble and granite monuments and everything included in his line of work. He is a very skilful workman, and his sales amount to about $3,000 per annum.
Our subject was born in this county May 29, 1851, which is also the native place of his parents, Stephen and Eliza (Jacobs) Schlosser. The family is well known throughout this section, and the first church which was crected in Unionville was named in honor of the family, Schlosser's Church.
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Stephen's surviving children are: Fiana, who is the wife of E. Remely; William, Benjamin, Henry, Abraham, J. Frank and Oswell.
J. Frank Schlosser prosecuted his studies in the public schools of his native township, and in 1867 began learning the trade of a marble-cutter, serv- ing an apprenticeship at Slatington. After being thus employed for two years, he set out as a journey- man and was so successful in accumulating money that he was very soon enabled to establish in busi- ness on his own account. While he has devoted his attention mainly to his trade, he has not been un- mindful of his duties as a citizen, and has main- tained a deep interest in all matters of local and national importance. In politics he advocates the principles of the Republican party.
Mr. Schlosser was married May 15, 1871, to Miss Ellen Andrews, and on her decease chose as his second companion Miss Josephine Kistler. By his first marriage he became the father of a daughter, Martha J. Our subject is a valued member of the Reformed Church, in which he has been Deacon and Treasurer. Besides his marble works he owns fifteen acres of well cultivated land and good res- idence property.
F. LUCKENBACH is a dealer in books, stationery, wall paper and paints in Mauch Chunk, and has a well appointed store, supplied with everything found in a first-class es- tablishment of the kind. He is always straightfor- ward and honorable in his dealings, and his well directed efforts and courteous treatment of his cus- tomers have brought him a liberal patronage.
Mr. Luckenbach is a native of Northampton County, born in the vicinity of Bethlehem in 1842. His father was also a native of the same locality, and was a blacksmith by occupation. He also en- gaged in other lines of business, and made his home in Northampton County throughout nearly his entire life. In 1893 he was called to the home beyond. His wife, who is still living, bore the
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