USA > Pennsylvania > Schuylkill County > Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania; genealogy-family history-biography; containing historical sketches of old families and of representative and prominent citizens, past and present, Volume I > Part 13
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89
-
74
SCHUYLKILL COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
compel him to the performance of what conscience taught him ought not to be done. He was a man of most kind and generous impulses, firmly and warmly attached to his family, friends, and acquaintances; he was not vindictive, and these qualities combined to render him a most faithful Representative.
It is true, as was said by a gentleman on the floor of this House a few days ago, that "experience teaches us that the most effective work is done, not upon the floor of the House by the perpetual talkers, but by the quiet, active, and earnest members who attend strictly to their committee work and give their thought and time to such legislation as properly comes before the committees to which they are assigned." Such a member was the deceased. He was not a perpetual talker in the House, but did his most effective work in the committee room and in attending faithfully and promptly to the demands and requests of his constituents. In this manner he gained his popularity among the membership of the House.
Now, Mr. Speaker, it has frequently, through the later series of years, occurred to my mind that the man who is acknowledged by the community in which he lives to be an upright, conscientious, liberal and honest man, enjoys the best reputation that a man can have. A man who has qualifications and ability may connect himself with public life; he may come into your legislative halls and establish a reputation as an orator or a statesman; he may pursue some literary calling; he may win a reputation that is coextensive with the world; but after all, when you come to form your estimate of the man, you must rely upon the character that he has established about his own threshold, at his own hearth, in his own family, and among his own neighbors. There is the standard by which we must measure a man after all is said and done. That is the cornerstone of 'his building; that is the groundwork of his fame, let it be what it may, and no fame is worth having that is not based upon a reputation for social and moral virtues in the community where it is the man's destiny to live and perhaps his destiny to die. In his home, in his own community, among his neighbors and friends, George R. Patterson acquired and enjoyed his first fame and great popularity. There the foundations were laid for his entrance into public life, where he equally acquired and enjoyed the confidence and good will of all who knew him. He was strong and robust, active, busy, and energetic in life, but, like all who have preceded him, he, too, was mortal.
We who survive the deceased and who for a brief hour continue to strut upon this our public stage find it hard to stop and think, to realize that we, too, are mortal, and that our hearts
"Like muffled drums, are beating Funeral marches to the grave."
It is but a bubble we are blowing. No matter how largely we swell in our conceit, how magnificent we expand our proportions, the bubble will finally burst for us, as it has done in the case of our illustrious predecessors, and we shall return to the obscurity from which we came, unhonored and unsung. And even if we succeed in securing public attention for more than one or two or three or more terms of our Congressional life, by a most persistent effort or efforts in blowing our bubble, others will soon crowd us off the scene of action and strut their brief hour of fancied greatness and renown.
"This is the state of man : to-day he puts forth The tender leaves of hope; to-morrow blossoms, And hears his blushing honors thick upon him; The third day comes a frost, a killing frost, And when he thinks, good easy man, full surely His greatness is a-ripening, nips its root."
My object has been accomplished if I have succeeded in arresting the attention of my fellow-members by this brief contemplation of the life and death of our late friend and colleague. Let us emulate his good qualities and realize that it is not all of life to reach public station, nor all of duty to distinguish oneself in the fitful notoriety of the passing hour.
Following Mr. Kline's address were the tributes from Mr. Hogg, of Colorado; Mr. Dale, Mr. Lafean and Mr. Schneebeli, all of Pennsylvania; Mr. Aiken, of South Carolina ; and Mr. Goulden, of New York. It is remark, able that his personality, viewed from so many different angles, made at least one impression common to all-the kindliness of nature of which his courtesy, his helpfulness to new members, and his willingness to do a favor at whatever
i
75
SCHUYLKILL COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
sacrifice of his own time and interests, were but the everyday expressions. We have not space for all, but some remarks typical of the animating spirit of all deserve a place here.
Mr. Hogg: "He came from the field at noontime, and did not return to his task. The plow was left in the furrow when the darkness came and he left his work unfinished, as we would measure it. I had not known him long, but I knew him well, all that was worth knowing-the soul of him-and admired him much. Our view of him was not obscured, for it was a pleasing landscape, with the sunshine resting on it. His nature was so open, generous, and manly that we instinctively gave him our tribute of sincerest friendship.
Honest, just, and generous, with a great heart overflowing with warm human sympathy, George Patterson left the only fortune worth while, the memory of his kindliness."
Mr. Dale, after speaking of his love for his native State, referred particu- larly to his unselfishness: "For his friends, no task was too heavy for him to attempt, no work too onerous for him to perform, no favor too great for his generous heart to grant. Surely his unselfish devotion to others, his ready willingness to sacrifice his own time and his own pleasure in the interest of others, entitled him to wear the princely motto, 'Ich dien'-I serve."
Mr. Lafean : "He carried sunshine with him wherever he went and always had a good word for everybody. His genial disposition made him popular at home and in Washington, particularly among the Members of the House. At the time of his death he was one of the dominant forces of the Pennsylvania delegation. To know him intimately as I knew him was a privilege which I shall always treasure. Association with him was a pleasure, not only because of the brilliancy of his wit and statesmanship, but for the mellowing and gladdening influence of his kindly geniality.
"During the latter part of last fall I invited Mr. Patterson to meet me at Gettysburg for the purpose of going over several tracts of land owned by the Gettysburg Springs and Hotel Company, which the Gettysburg Battlefield Commission was desirous of purchasing. Notwithstanding the fact that he was exceedingly busy shaping up his private business affairs in order that he might assume the more active of his Congressional duties, and that his time was more than occupied in his endeavor to retain a friend in office whose removal was urged by others, he kindly came and spent two days in going over that famous field, in order that he might assist in bringing the matter of that purchase of this property before the House Committee on Military Affairs, of which he was a member. Self-sacrifice such as this is what has endeared Mr. Patterson not only to his constituents, but to his many friends and colleagues.
"While a Republican, and a stanch one, Mr. Patterson was by no means a bitter partisan. His first thought was for his constituency and the welfare of the country. On all public questions he took lofty grounds and was liberal in his views. I could go on extolling his good qualities, but in my opinion they can be summed up in a few words : He was a man and a friend."
Mr. Schneebeli: "His dear family has reason to be proud of his achieve- ments in Congress, and his name will be handed down to his posterity enshrined in honor. Yet, aside from all the glamour of temporary greatness, we revere the memory of George Patterson as a man whom we admired, respected, and loved."
Mr. Aiken: "The deceased came not from the ranks of the professional
76
SCHUYLKILL COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
class, so overwhelmingly represented in Congress, but he came from the people, elevated from amongst them, with the glow of popular demands fresh upon his mind and with a sympathy of interest that the formalism of professional life would almost make impossible. In this day of action rather than words, even in the American Congress, his usefulness may not be discounted by the most profound constitutional lawyer of this body. Legislation is as much the result of the hand touch of the committee as the hair splitting of the forum. We recognize the general proposition that education gives its possessor an advantage over illiteracy, and professional education tends to emphasize that advantage. But he who, with a simple English education, in a body largely dominated by professional men, can set at naught legal quibblings and fully maintain the rights of his constituents, must possess those qualities of mind less lustrous, but no less valuable in the attainment of results, than polished oratory. Such were the qualities of mind and heart with which our friend was endowed. Genial always, he was aggressive, yet unobtrusive; quiet, yet ever alert and untiring in the discharge of his duty to his constituents ; a strict party man in so far as that obligation bound in reason, yet tolerant and reasonable in his dealings with the opposition."
Mr. Goulden : "A Pennsylvanian by birth, he was thoroughly American in education and training, a product of the school system which is so distinctive a mark of our civilization. If in these days it be a reproach to be rich, then he was free from taint, for the worldly goods he possessed were obtained by hard work, by a strict attention to duty, and by honesty and fair dealing. He was a typical American business man, and was a valiant soldier in the ranks of that army which has won such creditable victories for American prosperity. That he was respected by his friends and neighbors is attested by their selection of him to represent them in party councils and the nation's legislative halls ; and as it is safe to say that the most reliable testimony to any man's worth is that of the people who live closest to him, then he needs no greater eulogy than the record of his three successive elections to Congress, the last by the greatest majority ever given to a candidate for any office in the district. . He had been long enough in Congress to have thoroughly mastered its traditions, its intricate machinery, and its possibilities, and was therefore in a fair way to become one of its leaders and a credit to his State and the nation. He was constantly growing in power and influence, but used it in the simple, old- fashioned American way which endeared so many of our elder statesmen to the hearts of their followers."
Resolutions were also passed by the Senate, which adjourned for the day, March 2Ist.
Besides the duties referred to Mr. Patterson served as member of the House committee on Pensions.
Mr. Patterson was a member of the Presbyterian Church at Ashland and especially interested in its Sunday school, which he served as librarian. He was prominent in the local fraternal organizations, belonging to Ashland Lodge, No. 384, B. P. O. Elks; Shenandoah Aerie, No. 129, F. O. E .; Sheridan Council, No. 128, R. A. ; and Washington Camp No. 84, P. O. S. of A.
On Oct. 27, 1892, Mr. Patterson was married in Philadelphia to Mary A. Cleaver, a native of Ashland, daughter of James R. and Adeline (Clayton) Cleaver, of Ashland, and they had two children, Granville P. and Esther M. The son is now taking a course at Bucknell University, Lewistown, Pa .; the daughter is at home with her mother. The family home was at No. 119 Centre
77
SCHUYLKILL COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
street, Ashland. After the death of her husband Mrs. Patterson was appointed postmistress at Ashland, and she continued to hold the position until the early part of 1914, discharging its important duties with intelligent appreciation of the requirements.
Jesse B. Cleaver, Mrs. Patterson's grandfather, was an early settler in Columbia county, Pa., where he ended his days .. By occupation he was a farmer. His son, James R. Cleaver, born in Columbia county in 1820, came to Ashland when quite young, and learning the trade of carpenter followed it for some time. Later, however, he became interested as a coal operator and developed the business until he ranked among the most extensive operators of his day in the State, becoming quite wealthy. This was during the period that the Molly Maguires were active. He was prominent in public affairs in the city and county and active in politics, being the first treasurer of Schuylkill county. In 1877 he removed with his family to Kansas, but returned to Aslı- land in 1880. Then he engaged in the lumber business, on an extensive scale, carrying it on until his removal to Philadelphia in 1892. In that city he passed away May 20, 1898. His wife, Adeline (Clayton), survived until Jan. 20, 1909. Her parents, William and Elizabeth (Metz) Clayton, were natives of Columbia county, Pa., and farming people. Six children as follows were born to Mr. and Mrs. James R. Cleaver: Emma C. is deceased; Harriet is the wife of I. R. Reifsnyder, of Philadelphia ; Henry is deceased; Clara, deceased, was the wife of George M. Krause, of Milton, Pa .; Mary A. is the widow of George Robert Patterson; Edith is engaged in teaching in Philadelphia.
DANIEL FRACK, the first settler at what is now the borough of Frack- ville, Schuylkill county, was deservedly honored in having the place named for him, and though a quarter of a century has elapsed since his death his memory is still cherished by many of its residents. A man of enterprise, energy and progressive nature, he had a long and successful business career in Schuylkill county, and in the pursuit of his private interests also gave valuable assistance to the advancement of the community wherever he was situated. His activities during almost forty years were centered at Frackville, in whose present prosperity may still be found traces of his influence.
Mr. Frack was born Sept. 23, 1803, in Northampton county, Pa., of which county his father, Michael Frack, was also a native. Michael Frack was a farmer and passed his life in Northampton and Lehigh counties, Pa., dying in the latter county. By his marriage to Hannah Ruch he had eight children, four sons and four daughters. Daniel, the eldest son, was a boy when the family settled in Lehigh county in 1810, and he worked on his father's farm there throughout his boyhood, in fact until he was almost twenty-five years old. The only schooling he had was obtained in three months' attendance at the small county school near home, and he did not have this privilege until just after he was twenty-one. He continued to reside in Lehigh county until 1832. In 1825 he married, and three years thereafter lived on the home farm, which was near Ironton. In 1828 he became interested in the hotel business at Ruchville, being engaged there for three years, and in the spring of 1832 he brought his family to St. Clair, Schuylkill county, where he kept hotel for the next twenty years. Meantime, in 1836, he and Michael Seltzer, under the firm name of Seltzer & Frack, had started a powder mill at St. Clair, the first one above Pottsville, for the manufacture of blasting powder. In 1838 he was .a member of the firm of Frack, Schaeffer & Co., of St. Clair, who
.
78
SCHUYLKILL COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
embarked in the coal business that year, his partners being Daniel Schaeffer and Frederick Frey, and they operated a colliery at Wadesville, this county. Mr. Frack also kept a general store at St. Clair. In 1849 he bought a tract of 166 acres from James C. Stephens, part of which is now included in the borough of Frackville, and moved his family thereon from St. Clair in the year 1852. The only building on the place was a sawmill, which Mr. Frack converted in 1852 into a dwelling and hotel, conducting the same himself until 1861. In the latter year he laid off part of his land into town lots, including all that part of the present borough lying east of the north and south alley between Balliet and Nice streets, and at once opened up all the streets now in that portion of the borough. It was known from the beginning as Frackville. For a few years after his removal to this locality he engaged in farming, but he retired from arduous labor in 1861, and spent the rest of his life at Frackville in comparative leisure. He died there Nov. 7, 1890. From carly boyhood Mr. Frack was a member of the Lutheran Church, and he was a leader in religious activities as in everything else which interested him, being a prominent worker in Zion's German Lutheran congregation at Frack- ville, serving as elder and trustee.
On Aug. 21, 1825, Mr. Frack married Mary M. Balliet, who was born Aug. 2, 1803, daughter of Joseph and Margaretta (Burger) Balliet, and died Jan. 23, 1886. They had three children: Leonora, born Oct. 26, 1828, who married John S. Meredith; Samuel, born July 22, 1832; and Daniel B., born March 13, 1842. Samuel was born in North Whitehall township, Lehigh county, and married Mary Harriet Welker, of Oil City, Pa. Daniel B. Frack, born at St. Clair, Schuylkill county, began his education there, and came to Frackville with his parents in 1852. He was twice married, his first wife being Elisabeth Seitzinger, after whose death he married her sister, Sarah A. Seit- zinger.
JOHN S. MEREDITH was born April 7, 1826, at Thompsontown, Juniata Co., Pa., eldest of the family of John and Elisabeth (Stauffer) Mere- dith. He spent his mature life in Schuylkill county, worked at Derr's foundry at Pottsville, and was recruiting officer at Pottsville and St. Clair during the Mexican war. In 1852 he moved with the Fracks to Frackville. In 1862 he joined the 137th Pennsylvania Volunteer Regiment, belonging to Company K, of Ashland, Schuylkill county. He died of typhoid fever in the Emery hospital, at Washington, D. C., on March II, 1863.
On April 8, 1848, Mr. Meredith was married, at Pottsville, Pa., to Leonora Frack, and they had a family of seven children, born as follows: Mary Elizabeth, Sept. 13, 1849; Samuel Frack, Dec. 3, 1850; James C. S., Aug. 2, 1852; Joseph Balliet, June 28, 1854; John Gilbert, May 14, 1856; Asa Balliet, Sept. 28, 1860; Margueretta Caroline, Jan. 11, 1863. Mary E. is unmarried and lives with her mother at Frackville. Samuel Frack Meredith married Mrs. Emma Flynn, at South Easton, Pa., Dec. 22, 1878; he died Nov. 15, 1896, in Colorado. James C. S. Meredith was married Aug. 25, 1871, to Lena Miller, who died Feb. 13, 1890; he lives in Jersey City, N. J. Joseph Balliet Meredith married Mary Ann Curtis on May 6, 1882, and they live in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. John Gilbert married Margaret Augusta Merkert on Oct. 30, 1890; he died Dec. 19, 1901. Asa Balliet Meredith married Maymc Riley, and they live in Jersey City, N. J. Margueretta Caroline Meredith married Aaron W.
1
79
SCHUYLKILL COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
Houtz on Jan. 23, 1887; they live in Orwigsburg, Schuylkill county, Penn- sylvania.
RICHARD K. LEVAN, though one of the older citizens of Minersville, is still taking a leading part in the administration of municipal affairs there, being at present the chief burgess. He is a native of Minersville, born Nov. 26, 1838, son of Joseph Levan, through whom he traces his descent from one of the very oldest families of this Commonwealth.
The Levans are of French Huguenot ancestry. Daniel Levan, the first ancestor of whom we have record, fled from Picardy, France, to Amsterdam during the Huguenot persecution. He was married in France to Marie Beau. The family in America of which we write was founded by three of his sons, Jacob, Isaac and Abraham. A fourth brother accompanied them when they started for this country, one, however, dying before their arrival. The other three settled in Berks county, Pa., one in Oley township, one in Maxatawny, and one in Exeter.
Records show that Isaac Levan, the brother who settled in Exeter, came to that section about 1730, this fact being established by the dates on the land grants made to him-1731, 1734 and 1737-38- there, as well as grants made him along the Schuylkill river, aggregating in all over one thousand acres, most of which was in Exeter township. Some of the property has remained in the family ever since. He built a tannery on the second land grant, on the site of Brumbach Brothers woolen mill in St. Lawrence, and in 1758 sold it with nine acres to John Fisher, and afterwards conveyed the first grant and the remaining 123 acres of the second grant to his son Jacob. He was engaged in farming until the latter part of his life, in 1770 moving to Reading, Pa., where he died in August, 1786. He was born in Holland in 1700. To him and his wife, Mary Margaret, were born the following children: Abraham, Isaac, Daniel, Jacob, Mary (wife of Peter Feathers), and Judith (wife of Samuel Weiser).
Jacob Levan, another of the three brothers, is said to have come to America in 1717 with his two brothers. He became the owner of large tracts of land in and around Kutztown, his residence being at the old Levan mill, near Eagle Point. He was a man of great prominence, was a judge of Berks county for ten years, and during the French and Indian war was directed by the English to provision Fort Allen. In 1742 he was visited by Count Zinzendorf, the distinguished Lutheran missionary, who preached from the balcony of the old mill to a large concourse of people. Sebastian Levan, elder son of this immigrant, was the most distinguished man in all northeastern Berks, serving as a colonel in the Revolutionary war, and as a member of the Committee of Safety, and of the Executive Council. He lived on the old mill homestead. It is known he had a son Jacob.
Joseph Levan, father of Richard K. Levan, was born in Kutztown, Berks Co., Pa. He followed farming in his native county. Coming to Minersville in 1828 he was one of the pioneers of that town, which then consisted of only a few houses, and wolves were still plentiful in the region. Here he engaged in the butcher business, being the first in that line at the place, and he continued it for several years. For some time he was employed at the foundry located on the site where the residence of his son, Capt. James H. Levan, afterwards stood, and he also followed various other occupations. He had the misfortune to injure one of his knee caps in an accident, having had a fall at the corner
1
80
SCHUYLKILL COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
of Second and Sunbury streets, Minersville, and he was always lame after- wards. He lived to the advanced age of ninety-three years, dying at Miners- ville, and he is buried in the Minersville cemetery. His wife, Martha (Russell), a native of England, died two years later, at the age of eighty-four years. Of the seven children born to them, four grew to maturity, namely: Richard K .; James H., born Feb. I, 1841, a well known resident of Minersville, now deceased ; Addie, widow of Theodore Roerigh, residing at Minersville; and George, living at Altoona, Pennsylvania.
Richard K. Levan was reared at Minersville, and in his boyhood had the advantages of the local schools, later attending the military school at Reading for two terms, 1850-51. Returning to Minersville, he taught school one term in Mahanoy Valley, and then began an apprenticeship to the machinist's trade, which he followed in all for the long period of thirty-eight years, for twenty- two years in the employ of the Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Company, at Pottsville, this county.
Mr. Levan has been a trusted worker among the borough officials. He served one term as a member of the borough council, and a few years ago was appointed chief burgess by the courts of Schuylkill county. He was then elected to succeed himself, receiving a large majority, and his conscientious service in the furtherance of the best interests of the community has made him deserving of the confidence which his fellow citizens have shown in him. When a young man Mr. Levan served three months as drum major of the 5th Pennsylvania Infantry, and during the Civil war he served as drum major of the 129th Pennsylvania Volunteers. He was one of the organizers of George J. Lawrence Post, No. 17, G. A. R., of which he has been adjutant for the last twenty-eight years; he has also been post commander. Mr. Levan was one of the organizers of the Sons of Veterans Camp at Minersville, and he is an honored member of same. For a number of years he was active in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is a past officer. Mr. Levan has led a life of unquestioned probity, and he holds the unqualified esteem of his fellow citizens in and around Minersville.
Mr. Levan married Hannah Reed, daughter of Alexander Reed, and she is deceased. Of the six children born to this union three survive: Willard, now located at Shamokin, Pa., as assistant master mechanic for the Philadel- phia & Reading Coal & Iron Company ; Richard L., at home; and Sadie, the wife of Harry Atkinson, living at Minersville.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.