Area History: History of Schuylkill County, Pa: W. W. Munsell, 1881
Township and Borough Histories pp. 305a - 312a
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____________________________________________________________
HISTORY OF SCHUYLKILL COUNTY, PA
with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches
of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers.
New York: W. W. Munsell & Co., 36 Vesey Street, 1881
Press of George Macnamara, 36 Vesey Street, N.Y.
_____________________________________________________________
page 305a
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
WILLIAM AUDENRIED.
William Audenried, eldest son of Lewis Audenried, emigrant
from Switzerland in 1789, was born at Kutztown, Berks county,
Pa., March 14th, 1793, and when a mere boy removed with his
father's family to what is now known as East Schuylkill county.
The spot where Pottsville now stands was then known as the "Pine
Swamp," so that the subject of this notice may, with much propri-
ety, be termed one of the pioneers in the great work which has in
comparatively so short a period elevated Schuylkill county from a
condition at once rude, uncultivated and humble to its present
proud and high position. Endowed by nature with a strong mind
and extraordinary energy of character he was, in 1816 (about the
time of the death of his father) appointed by Governor Simon
Snyder a justice of the peace in the district numbered one,
composed of the township of Brunswick, including the borough of
Orwigsburg, Schuylkill county, which commission he held until
1821, when he was commissioned by Governor Heisler as
lieutenant-colonel of the 30th regiment infantry of the Pennsyl-
vania militia, 2nd brigade, 6th division. In 1822 he was elected
to the State Legislature from Schuylkill county, and re-elected
in 1823. In 1824 he was elected to the Senate of the State of
Pennsylvania for a term of four years. While a member of the
lower house he introduced "a resolution for the calling of a
convention to amend the constitution
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page 306
HISTORY OF SCHUYLKILL COUNTY.
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of the State," in order that the people might elect their own
justices and other officers, which resolution passed the House by
a very large majority, and many years afterward resulted in an
amendment to the constitution, changing the custom of appointing
to that of electing justices and certain other officers. While a
member of the State Senate, in 1827, he offered a bill entitled
"An Act to provide a fund in support of a general system of
education in Pennsylvania." For this he received the encomium of
the press throughout the State, and also the thanks of many
private individuals; though his bill, subjected to a severe trail
before the Legislature while he persistently pressed it against
an opposing majority of the members, was not enacted until 1834.
This earnest and able advocacy, while a member of the Legisla-
ture, of a system of general education by common schools, which
should be accessible alike to the poor and the rich, won for him
an enduring reputation as a liberal minded philanthropist and a
sound Republican statesman. He was also the projector or advo-
cate of many among the most important public improvements in
Schuylkill county, while his warning voice was uniformly raised
against the incorporation of coal and other companies for pur-
poses within the range of individual enterprise. In 1832 he was
a candidate for Congress, but was defeated by the strength of
party discipline. He was extensively engaged from 1817 to 1842,
in the business of buying and selling real estate, and in farming
and lumbering, having mills on both the Schuylkill and Little
Schuylkill rivers, furnishing employment to many people, but, as
a result of the panic of 1837, he succumbed to the times in 1842.
In that year he removed to Cumberland county, Pa., where he
continued to reside on a farm till the time of his death, Decem-
ber 2nd, 1850, which, in the language of the Public Ledger,
closed a life the principal portion of which had been devoted to
objects of public usefulness and advantage. The press of the
State very generally noticed the decease of Mr. Audenried as that
of a man who had been a valuable citizen. The following editori-
al from the Philadelphia Ledger of December 9th, 1850, indicates
the high appreciation in which he was held:
"Death of one of the pioneers of Schuylkill county.
The death of William Audenried, Esq., on the 2nd inst., at
Hampden farm, Cumberland county, closed the earthly career of one
who was distinguished formerly as one of our most active, enter-
prising and public spirited citizens. Mr. Audenried was born in
Berks county, having removed from that county in 1800. He was
elected to the State Legislature in 1822, and continued to repre-
sent the district of Berks and Schuylkill till 1828. He early
took a deep interest in popular education, and fostered and
promoted the common school system, which was so much opposed
especially in the first named county. He was an advocate for all
those political reforms which have recently been adopted, such as
the election by the people of justices of the peace, prothono-
taries and judges of the courts. He was also the projector of
nearly all the improvements in Schuylkill county which have
resulted so largely in developing the mineral resources of the
interior of the State and contributed so much to the public
benefit. In 1842 he removed to Cumberland county, where he
continued to reside until his death, a few days ago, in his
fifth-seventh year, which closed a life the principal portion of
which has been devoted to objects of public usefulness and advan-
tages."
LEWIS AUDENRIED.
Lewis Audenried, third son of Lewis Audenried, emigrant from
Switzerland in 1799, at Maiden Creek, Berks county, Pa. His
education was commenced in the German and subsequently in the
English language, under private tutors, on the completion of
which he entered into mercantile business at McKeansburg, Schuyl-
kill county, Pa. In 1829 he erected an iron forge, but being so
much in advance of the iron age of this continent failed. At a
later time, through his success as miner and shipper of coal, he
fully recovered, and paid his old indebtedness in full, with
interest. From 1834 to 1839 he was prothonotary of Schuylkill
county, and aided in editing a German paper at Orwigsburg, the
county seat. In 1842 he removed to Philadelphia, and embarked
regularly in the coal trade. His father had sent coal in a wagon
to Philadelphia as early as 1814, whilst he at a later date
handled, for many years, over half a million of tons per annum.
He was among the very first, if not the first, to ship coal from
Port Richmond, having had a ripe experience of the trade whilst
engaged in it in Schuylkill county. He was a most valuable ally
to the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad in their early struggles
to build up a coal tonnage. He was the occupant of the first
pier finished at Port Richmond, and during his continuance in the
trade occupied various piers at different times, doing at one
time the largest business form that point. In 1874 he formed a
copartnership for shipping coal under the style and name of
Newell, Sturtevant & Co. In 1850 he visited Europe, as also in
1852, after the dissolution of above copartnership. In 1853,
after one of these trips, he established the house of Lewis
Audenried & Co., coal and iron merchants, the senior partner of
which he remained until his deceased. In 1855 he became largely
interested in the Honey Brook lands, on which now stands the town
of Audenried. In 1856 he established, and placed in successful
operation, the house of Audenried, Remington & Langdon, coal
merchants at Elmira, N.Y., for supplying the northwestern and
lake trade, but from this firm he soon afterward retired. In
1857 he successfully financiered his extensive business through
the memorable panic of that year, and in 1858 for a fifth time
visited Europe for recreation and recuperation. He manifested
great zeal and interest in behalf of the Republican party, and
upon the breaking out of the war of the late Rebellion contribut-
ed largely and freely of his private means for its suppression.
In 1866 he made a sixth and final visit to Europe for the benefit
of his health, and upon his return till his death devoted his
attention more particularly to his private business. For many
years he was a director in the Bank of North America, besides
being a prominent member of many of the institutions of Philadel-
phia. He was far-seeing, of an indomitable will, but kindly
hearted. He has done much for his relatives, as well as contrib-
uting to public and private charities, the last of which was his
donation of one hundred thousand dollars for hospital purposes.
Ever active and zealous, careful of time, and to the last follow-
ing closely the generalities of his business affairs, he forgot
not to put his house in order before resignedly passing away to
the better land, on the early morning of September 17th, 1873.
___________end page 306.___________
page 306a
HISTORY OF SCHUYLKILL COUNTY.
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A line drawing of
HON. SOLOMON FOSTER:
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Hon. Solomon Foster was born at Ipswich, Essex county, Mass.,
July 22nd, 1790. His parents were Daniel and Mehitabel Foster,
with whom, at an early age, he removed to Rowley, in his native
county. When in his seventeenth year he went to Newburyport,
Mass., and apprenticed himself to learn the shoemakers' trade.
In 1815 he located in Haverhill, and engaged in business for
himself, remaining there three years and removing, in 1818, to
Reading, Pa., where he opened a shoe-shop. Taking up his resi-
dence in Philadelphia in 1836, he was there engaged in the manu-
facture of whips about eight years. In 1830 he became a land-
owner in Pottsville, and in company with his brother established
a boot and shoe business there, which the latter managed. In
1846, he removed to Pottsville, and was successfully engaged in
this business until his retirement, a few years ago. While a
resident of Reading, Mr. Foster held several important offices in
the militia, of which he was for some time major. In 1848 he was
appointed one of the associated judges of Schuylkill county, to
fill a vacancy then existing, and when his term of service ex-
pired he was elected for a subsequent term. He was prominent in
the movement which resulted in the removal of the seat of justice
of Schuylkill county from Orwigsburg to Pottsville, and acted as
treasurer of the fund for building the court-house at Pottsville.
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page 307
HISTORY OF SCHUYLKILL COUNTY.
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A line drawing of
EDWARD OWEN PARRY:
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Original text follows the divider line.
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Edward Owen Parry, attorney at law, was born in Portsmouth,
N.H., on the 3d of April, 1807. He is the eldest son of Edward
Parry, who emigrated to this country from his birthplace, Angle-
sea, North Wales, in the latter part of the last century.
Through his mother, a daughter of the Hon. Benaiah Collins, of
Danvers, Mass., he claims descent from the early Pilgrim fathers
of New England. Edward Parry the elder was a well known and
highly respected merchant of New England for a number of years,
but failing in business during the financial crash of 1817 he
moved to Baltimore. From Baltimore, in 1821, he moved to New
York, and from there, in 1822, to Philadelphia.
Edward Owen Parry was educated at the best schools of Ports-
mouth, N.H., at St. Mary's Seminary, Baltimore, and in the gram-
mar school attached to the University of Pennsylvania. His
father desired him to study law; but, wishing to earn his own
living, he went to sea for one year, before the mast, in the hope
and expectation of receiving the appointment of midshipman in the
navy. Failing in this he yielded to his father's continued wish
and studied law in the office of Henry Chester, in Philadelphia.
He was admitted to the bar in February, 1829, and in August,
1829, moved to Pottsville, where he has lived ever since, in the
practice of his profession, highly respected and universally
esteemed. In 1830 he was appointed solicitor for the borough,
which position he has filled, except for short intervals, until
within a short time, when he declined a re-election. He drew up
the borough charter in 1831, most of the ordinances for the
government of the borough were passed at his instance, and he has
been identified in a marked degree with all borough improvements.
In July, 1831, he married a daughter of the late Judge Witman, of
Reading. Since 1833 he has been a vestryman of Trinity church
(Episcopal), and since 1838 he has represented that church in the
diocesan convention, in which body he has always occupied a very
prominent position. He is now and has been for years a leading
member of the Schuylkill county bar. After the death of Judge
Hegins, in 1862, he received the appointment of president judge
of this district. He has been mentioned prominently in connec-
tion with the nomination for judge of the Supreme Court. Without
solicitation on his part most of the leading members of the coal
trade in Schuylkill county and in Philadelphia united in recom-
mending him as judge of the Circuit Court of the United States.
Governor Curtin, without Judge Parry's knowledge, was on the
point of recommending him for the appointment of brigadier-gener-
al, but refrained by reason, as he expressed it, of the great
service he was rendering at home. He was an earnest supporter of
the war policy of the administration during the Rebellion, and
has been a member of the Republican party since its organization.
Both his sons, as well as his son-in-law, were in the regular
army. He is at present in full practice of his profession, and
has earned reputation in the argument of a large number of impor-
tant cases before the Supreme Court; he also acts as counsel for
the Schuylkill and Columbia county portion of the Girard estate,
a position of importance and dignity. He is a Christian gentle-
man, of ripe and extensive legal learning and of high literary
attainments. He came to the county without means or friends and
at once took a high position, a position which he has sustained
and improved.
_____________________
Major J.M. WETHERILL.
The following sketch of the live of Major Wetherill is copied
form the "Biographical Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania," with slight
necessary alterations:
"Lieutenant-Colonel John Macomb Wetherill, soldier, was born
in Philadelphia, February 11th, 1828. He is the son of Dr.
William and Isabella (Macomb) Wetherill. His great-grandfather,
Samuel Wetherill, was a member of the Society of Friends; but
when the Revolutionary war opened discarded the peculiar tenets
of that society in regard to non-resistance and took up arms on
behalf of the patriotic cause, deeming it proper in certain cases
to act in defense of the right. He was the founder of the sect
of the Free Quakers (sometimes called "fighting Quakers:); and,
aided by others, erected the meeting-house at the southwest
corner of Fifth and Arch street, Philadelphia, now occupied by
the Apprentices' Library and to the building fund of which both
Washintgon and LaFayette contributed. John Macomb received a
liberal education at the University of Pennsylvania. At the age
of eighteen he removed to Pottsville, Pal., where he engaged in
the business of managing coal lands and mines in Schuylkill
county; the family being the owners of a large number of tracts
in this section, he was selected to look after their interests;
it was probably the most important property in the county. When
he first arrived there it was entirely undeveloped; the theories
of mining coal were crude and the principles of practical mining
had not been applied or even discovered. The undulating charac-
ter of the veins and the basins which they formed was not known.
While these lands were under his management the theories which
had been broached respecting them were practically proved and
applied. In their investigation he was prominent and indefatiga-
ble. Much credit is, therefore, due to him for the successful
and grand results since obtained. He was always enterprising and
courageous in making experiments, costing much time, labor and
free expenditure of means.
He has always taken an active part in politics, and holds
Democratic principles. In 1857 he was the can-
_________end page 307.__________
page 308
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
Major J.M. WETHERILL
BENJAMIN HAYWOOD.
_______________________________________________________________
didate of his party for State senator in his district, but, owing
to a division in its ranks, he was defeated by Robert M. Palmer.
Since he attained his majority he has always been connected with
the militia; entering a volunteer company as private, and being
elected successively as major, lieutenant-colonel, and colonel.
He now holds the office of major in the National Guard of Penn-
sylvania. At the outbreak of the Rebellion he immediately joined
the army upon the first call made by the President for volun-
teers. On the 19th of April, 1861, he was mustered into the
service as aid-de-camp and acting assistant adjutant-general,
with the rank of captain, and was attached to Keim's division of
Patterson's command. This was a three months' service, at the
expiration of which he entered the 82nd regiment Pennsylvania
infantry as major, serving three years and one month; seeing much
active service during its entire connection with the Army of the
Potomac, his regiment forming a part of the sixth army corps. A
short time previous to the battle of Gettysburg (June 14th, 1863)
he received promotion to the rank of lieutenant-colonel for his
very gallant and meritorious services. He served in the battles
of Yorktown, Williamsburg, Fair Oak, the seven days fight before
Richmond, Malvern, Chantilly, Antietam, Williamsport, Fredericks-
burg, Gettysburg, Rapahannock Station, Mine Run, cold Harbor,
Petersburg and Fort Stevens, and was in the campaign on the
Shenandoah under Sheridan. His courage and general course during
the war obtained for him the high opinion of his superior offi-
cers, especially at the battle of Cold Harbor, where Colonel
Basset was wounded and the command of the regiment devolved upon
him. He was mustered out of the service September 16th, 1864, at
the expiration of his term, having done his duty bravely and
nobly, and shown himself a fearless soldier and a gallant offi-
cer. On his return home he resumed the management of his es-
tates, which were sold to the Reading Railroad Company in 1871,
though he continued to superintend them until July 1st, 1873. He
was chosen a delegate to the constitutional convention held in
Philadelphia in 1872 and 1873, and gave a good account of his
stewardship. In that body he served as a member of the committee
on manufactures, mining and commerce. He proved himself to be a
very useful member in shaping legislation for the benefit of the
coal interest. He has ever been a useful, honorable and consist-
ent member of his party; seeking no remuneration, but laboring in
its ranks from conscientious and patriotic motives, never having
held any public office save in the instance already referred to.
His distinguished patriotism in the cause of his country and his
efforts for the advancement of his party stamp him as a man of
generous and unselfish impulses.
_________________________
BENJAMIN HAYWOOD.
Benjamin Haywood, manufacturer, was born in Southwell, near
Nottingham, England, November 9th, 1804, and died July 9th, 1878.
His father and grandfather had both been manufacturers of
hardware, and at the age of twelve he was apprenticed to a black-
smith, with whom he served his time. When twenty-four he emi-
grated to the United States, landing at New York in 1829. Not
succeeding in finding work, he went to Philadelphia, and thence,
on foot, to Reading, where he was advised to try his fortune in
Pottsville. After working there for a short time as a journey-
man, he contrived to commence business in a small way on his own
account. The system of mining coal below the water level being
introduced about this time, his keen foresight showed him the
future mechanical needs of Pottsville, and he went to Philadel-
phia in 1833, where he purchased a steam engine and some other
machinery for his shop. This engine was put up by George W.
Snyder, and was the first employed in Schuylkill county. In 1835
his sound judgment led to his formation of the well known firm of
Haywood & Snyder, Pottsville (his small machine shop being re-
moved from Port Carbon for that purpose), established for build-
ing steam engines and mining and other machinery. In 1845 the
firm erected an extensive machine shop and foundry at Danville,
Pa. At that place and in Pottsville they constructed the machin-
ery for the Montour Iron Company, the Phoenix Iron Company, for
Peter Cooper, at Trenton, N.J., and for Bevan, Humphries & Co.,
of Allentown, Pa. They made the first set of rolls for the
manufacture of T rails in the United States, and constructed, in
1845, the first apparatus for sawing hot iron. Aside from this
business they were heavily engaged in coal mining operations, as
Milnes, Haywood & Co. The main burden of this business fell on
the subject of this sketch, who in 1850 disposed of all his
different interests and went to California, but was at first
unsuccessful. He had shipped a large number of frame houses to
San Francisco, but they proved unsaleable and did not realize the
cost of freight. With customary energy he engaged in the lumber
business, erecting for that purpose a steam engine and saw-mill
near Sonora-the first put up in California outside of San Fran-
cisco. He was again unfortunate and returned to San Francisco
without means. Borrowing a little money from one of his appren-
tice boys he started as a blacksmith; subsequently adding the
making of iron shutters, fire-proof doors and bank vaults. In
this he was highly successful, and while there had many offers of
positions of trust and responsibility, but declined them all. He
became intimate with General William T. Sherman and Governor
Geary, of Pennsylvania, remaining a firm friend of the latter
until his death. He organized the Mechanics' Institute of San
Francisco-now the most flourishing one on the Pacific coast-and
was its president till his departure.
After an absence of five years he decided to settle in Potts-
ville, and disposed of his business in the West at a handsome
profit. His return to his old field of action was greeted by a
perfect ovation; the old workmen of Haywood and Snyder met him at
the depot, and escorted him into the town in triumphal proces-
sion. He then purchased an interest in the Palo Alto rolling-
mill, at that time a small concern. It was first carried on by
the firm of Haywood, Lee & Co.; then by Benjamin Haywood & Co.,
and still later by Benjamin Haywood alone, who was its sole
proprietor until his death, and the establishment grew into vast
proportions. The capacity of the works was 20,000 tons annually,
the number of hands employed 500, with a monthly par-roll of
$20,000; and the yearly amount of business was from $1,000,000 to
$1,500,000. After the beginning of the late depression in the
iron industries of our country these works were for some time
continued in operation with the benevolent intention of giving
employment to the men, as the proprietor was independently
wealthy from other sources. In
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page 309
HISTORY OF SCHUYLKILL COUNTY.
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1862, he superintended the erection of the works of the Allentown
Rolling-Mill Company, and was its president for some years. He
also built, in 1865, the Lochiel Iron Works at Harrisburg, by
express desire of Simon Cameron. He was a man of almost univer-
sal powers and attainments; possessed of a large brain, a firm,
determined will, unusual activity and energy, an extensive knowl-
edge of men and things, he seemed to perform his work of all
kinds by a species of intuition and was certainly one of the most
extraordinary men in the State. He was active in politics
(though uniformly declining office) and was early a member of the
old Whig or Home Industry party, but later joined the Republi-
cans. He was one of the commissioners for organizing the Union
Pacific Railroad, with Colonel Thomas A. Scott and J. Edgar
Thompson. His sound judgment and clear insight of the merits of
a case having long pointed him out as a leader in his party, and
one whose opinion it was well to obtain before deciding upon any
important measure, he was frequently summoned to Washington to
aid with his counsel on critical occasions, when serious matters
concerning the politico-industrial interests and welfare of the
country were at stake; and was intimate with most of the eminent
statesmen of the day, including some of our Presidents. He
belonged to the Methodist church and was long an accredited
minister of that body. In 1829 there was no church in Potts-
ville; but with others he labored whenever he had opportunity and
sowed some of the first religious seeds in the town. An ardent
advocate of temperance, he was ever ready, by word or purse, to
advance the cause. His mind being stored with correct informa-
tion on most subjects, he was competent at a moment's notice to
preach an impressive sermon, deliver a powerful temperance lec-
ture, or make a telling stump speech. He was a kind friend to
the colored people; a generous benefactor to the working man and
the poor. During the war he was selected by Governor Curtin to
visit the Pennsylvania troops and look to their comforts. and by
authority reclothed many regiments, one of them being the Fourth
Pennsylvania volunteers, of which Governor Hartranft was colonel.
He was also chairman of the investigating committee in the Girard
clothing troubles, resulting in the complete vindication of A.G.
Curtin. He was an entirely self-made man-the architect of his
own fortune-and, though his early education was much neglected,
had a wide knowledge of books and was well read on most subjects.
His most congenial studies were the Bible and the poets, of whom
Shakspeare was his favorite.
In 1830 he was married to a daughter of Daniel Rhein-the
first friend he found in this country, and a fine specimen of an
honorable, godly man-who died at the age of ninety. His domestic
relations were peculiarly happy, and his marriage was somewhat
tinged by romance-it being by his wife's father's direction that
he settled in Pottsville. He had five children by this union-two
sons and three daughters-of whom two daughters only are living.
One of them is married to Hugh W. Adams, a patriotic and active
Union officer, who served under General Grant at Vicksburg,
gaining an honorable military record. He is now engaged in the
wholesale dry goods business at Lexington, Kentucky, and in high
commercial standing. The other is the wife of Thomas F. Wright,
a successful iron and blast furnace proprietor in New York State,
and a worthy and excellent gentleman.
Much of the above sketch was drawn from the pages of the
"Biographical Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania."
_______________________
A line drawing of
CHARLES F. KOPITZSCH
is in this position on this page
in the original book.
It is listed in the
Table of Contents
as being on this page.
Original text follows the divider line.
_____________________
Charles F. Kopitzsch was born in Neustadt-on-the-Osla, Saxony
Weimar, Germany, April 5th, 1820. His parents were John Michael
and Johanna Kopitzsch. In 1842 he came to America for the first
time, and he has since twice visited his native country, having
crossed the ocean five times. April 5th, 1845, he was married,
and he has been the father of twelve children, six of whom are
living. In 1843 Mr. Kopitzsch came to Pottsville, and bought of
William F. Redlick a small soap and candle factory on Callowhill
street, near Railroad, and engaged somewhat extensively in the
manufacture of candles. In 1848 this establishment was burned
and Mr. Kopitzsch bought of Jacob Kohler a livery stable on race
street, between Second and Third streets, which soon gave way to
a soap factory, where he greatly increased his business. In 1873
his factory was destroyed by fire, but he immediately bought all
of the surrounding lots and built the large three-story brick
building which he has since occupied. It has a frontage of 75
feet on Third street, and extends 150 feet back to an alley, and
contains all of the latest improvements in soap-making, including
three large soap kettles, two of which have a capacity of 35,000
pounds and the third a capacity of 20,000 pounds, together with
several smaller kettles for manufacturing toilet and cold-made
soaps; Hersey Brothers' steam-power and Dapp's soap presses, with
steam-power soap pump, crutching machines, etc., and a steam-
power printing press for printing labels and wrappers. The old
factory was repaired and fitted up as a store-room and warehouse,
and on other lots Mr. Kopitzsch erected three large brick dwell-
ing houses. The capacity of the works
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page 309a
HISTORY OF SCHUYLKILL COUNTY.
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BIOLGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
C.F. KOPITZCSCH
THOMAS WREN
JACOB ULMER.
________________________________________________________________
is about 2,500,000 pounds annually, and they give employment to
fifteen hands. The factory is arranged with great convenience,
and is heated by steam, rendering all parts of it comfortable in
the coldest weather.
Among the several kinds of soap manufactured may be mentioned
the following brands" "Ocean," "Miners' Favorite," "New Wrinkle,"
"White Extra Family," "Monarch," "Economical," "Powdered Borax,"
"Castile," and "Variegated." These and other less prominent
brands embrace all kinds of laundry, family, scrubbing and toilet
soaps. Always an energetic and active business man, Mr. Ko-
pitzcsch has spared neither pains nor expense in producing the
best and most stylish of soaps. He has studied closely the wants
of the miners and iron workers in perfecting soaps which answer
their purposes and yet be so cheap as to be saleable at a price
that will not seem exorbitant to them, in which he has succeeded
better than any other manufacturer. As a citizen he is prominent
and respected. In all local improvements he has aided with his
means and influence, and his business is creditable alike to
himself and the place where it is located.
__________________
A photo of
THOMAS WREN
is here in the original book.
In the
Table of Contents
the page number is the same.
His surname is spelled WRENN
in the Table of Contents.
In the text of the book it is spelled WREN
Original text follows below the divider line.
___________________
THOMAS WREN.
The name of Wren has long been prominently identified with
the coal, iron and manufacturing history of the anthracite re-
gions of Pennsylvania. The subject of this sketch was born in
Glasgow, Scotland, June 10th, 1823. His parents were William and
Jane (Macbreth) Wren. When Thomas was a mere boy the family
removed to Nova Scotia, where his father died. Soon afterward
his mother and her children emigrated to Pennsylvania and located
at Pottsville, where Thomas entered the machine shops of Messrs.
Haywood & Snyder and served an apprenticeship of four years and
eight months to the moulder's trade. When he had mastered his
trade, in partnership with his brothers John Y. and James Wren he
carried on business about two years in the Eagle foundry, then on
the site of the freight depot of the Philadelphia and Reading
Railroad Company. In 1850 Thomas Wren & Brothers built and
opened the Washington Iron Works in Pottsville, where in 1851
they constructed the machinery for the first rolling mill in the
county that manufactured T rail and bar iron, the property of
Messrs. Harris, Beemish & Co., at Fishback; and in 1855 the
machinery for the Palo Alto rolling-mill of Lee, Bright & Co., in
the meantime having turned out various kinds of mining machinery
which found a market among the proprietors of collieries in all
directions. After a time John Y. Wren withdrew from the firm and
the business was conducted by Thomas and James Wren until the
firm was dissolved in 1864, by mutual consent, and Thomas removed
to Mahanoy City and built the Grant iron Works, with the proprie-
torship and management of which he has since been identified. In
1854 Mr. Wren engaged with others in coal operations, in which ha
has since been most of the time extensively interested. He is
now operating on Sharp mountain. Always enterprising, he has
during life been an active business man; as a citizen he has
every used his means and influence for the promotion of the
public good. He has been officially connected with several
banking institutions in the coal regions. Except during two
years passed in Mahanoy City and two in Wilkes-Barre, where he
was the leading member of the firm of Thomas Wren & Co., coal
operators, he has since coming to Pennsylvania lived in Potts-
ville. His residence is at No. 600 East Norwegian street.
______________
JACOB ULMER.
Jacob Ulmer, one of the best known and enterprising business
men of Pottsville, was born in Wurtemburg, Germany, November
24th, 1826. His parents were John and Agnes (Rebmann)Ulmer. At
the age of thirteen years and four months he was apprenticed for
two years to learn the butchers' trade, after completing which he
worked for several years at his trade in a number of cities in
Europe. When he had attained to the age of twenty-four he came
to the United States and began business for himself as a butcher
in Bridgeport, Conn., where he remained until, in 1852, he re-
moved to Philadelphia. In the early part of 1854 he was engaged
in helping to finish the first railroad into Atlantic City. In
the summer he took up his residence in Pottsville, where he
arrived July 2nd. He worked for a few months in the shops of
John Reiger and George Gwinner, and in March, 1855, opened a
market on North Center street. In the following September he
located on Second street, and April 1st, 1857, removed to Center
street, two doors from his present market. A year later he
bought the property where his market is located. Almost from the
first Mr. Ulmer has been very successful. In less than two
months after he began business, in 1855, he had so increased his
sales that it was necessary for him to employ two butchers to
assist him. By the exertion of energy and business sagacity he
was steadily extended his operations until his enterprise is
probably the largest of its class in Pennsylvania outside of
Philadelphia. In 1873 he began building his packing-house at the
corner of Front and Railroad streets. During portions of the
years 1874 and 1875 Mr. Ulmer had as a partner Mr. Louis Stoffre-
gen, who, not fancying the business, withdrew from it. The
annual business done by Mr. Ulmer amounts to from $250,000 to
$300,000, and in his works about twenty men find constant employ-
ment. Mr. Ulmer has five children. Three of his sons are en-
gaged in assisting him in the management of his immense and
constantly increasing business. As a citizen Mr. Ulmer has
always been active in promoting the best interests of the commu-
nity in which he has so long lived.
_____________end page 309a.______________
page 310
HISTORY OF SCHUYLKILL COUNTY.
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A line drawing of
JOHN H. WILLIAMS
is in this position on
this page in the original book.
It is also listed on this page in the
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Original text follows the divider line.
__________________
A self-made man, one of the youngest business men in the
county, and the leading dealer in his line in the coal regions,
is John H. Williams, better known as "Williams the Hatter," at
the corner of North Center and Market streets, Pottsville. Born
in Salem, Ohio, April 15th, 1848, he is, at the age of thirty-
three, as the result of his own energy, industry and enterprise,
at the head of such a business as men have toiled for until old
age came upon them, and toiled in vain. His father was Dr.
Benjamin Williams, a physician of large practice, who died in
Rock Island City, Illinois, in 1856, at the age of thirty-seven.
His mother, formerly Miss Esther Smith, is living in Sharpsburgh,
Pa. The untimely death of Dr. Williams broke up the family, and
John H., then only eight years old, went to live with his grand-
mother, where he busied himself about four years doing farm work
and attending a country school. Early in his boyhood his adven-
turous spirit asserted itself. His mind was ever reaching out to
the great unknown world in which he believed he had a useful
career. At the age of thirteen he ran away from home and found
himself in Pittsburgh, Pa., without means or friends and entirely
upon his own meager resources. He sought employment, for he had
never been an idle boy, and secured a place as cash boy in the
store of H.J. Lynch, where in about three months his manifest
capacity for business won him a promotion to the position of
salesman. In 1863 he entered the wholesale notion house of
McCrum & Glyde, in the capacity of salesman, and remained there
until, in 1864, his youthful daring and love of adventure prompt-
ed him to offer his services as drummer boy to Company A of the
45th Pennsylvania volunteers. He was accepted, and served until
mustered out with such of his comrades as were living at the
close of the war. Returning to Pittsburgh he found employment in
the fall of 1865 in the dry goods house of White, Orr & Co., with
whom he remained until the following spring, when he found a
better position with the firm of Hughes & Hackey. Here he was
employed about a year, leaving to engage for a time in other than
mercantile pursuits. But his destiny was to become a merchant,
and he could not long absent himself from behind the counter.
The great city of New York offered inducements to one of his
progressive enterprise, and thither he turned his steps in 1867,
and obtained a situation as salesman with Foster Brothers, dry
good merchants on Eighth avenue. A better position being offered
him in the dry goods house of Leder & Brother, 340 Bowery, he
entered the service of that firm six months later. In 1869, when
the coal region offered rare opportunities for enterprising men
of all professions and occupations, Mr. Williams removed to
Pottsville, where he was employed in the well remembered dry good
store of J. Galland & Co., until April, 1870. At the latter date
he established his present business on a small scale, but with
reference to those financial principles which, governing its
management since, have placed it foremost among the mercantile
houses of the Schuylkill coal region. The credit which attaches
to any man who makes his own way in the world, from childhood to
a position of responsibility and business prominence, belongs
justly to Mr. Williams, whose portrait appears in these pages.
Honesty, industry, economy, extension and advancement have been
his watchwords. As a business man he enjoys unbounded confi-
dence, as a citizen he identifies himself with projects for the
public benefit. As an example to the youth of the county of what
a boy with the right stuff in him may accomplish he stands preem-
inent. He was married February 28th, 1872, to Miss Susie L.
Wardle, daughter of William G. Wardle, of Pottsville.
____________________
L.W. WEISSINGER.
L.W. Weissinger, a prominent cattle and stock dealer of cen-
tral Pennsylvania, residing at Pottsville, was born in Wurten-
burg, Germany, April 29th, 1837. His parents were Casper and
Catherine (Seigel) Weissinger. He came to America in the fall of
1853, and located in Reading, Pa., where he labored two weeks on
the canal at eighty-one cents a day. He soon directed his steps
to Schuylkill county, arriving on Thanksgiving day the same years
in Minersville, where he was employed four months, at $5 per
month, in the butchering establishment of Conrad Seltzer. His
next field of labor was in the meat market of John Moser, of
Pottsville, where he was employed about two years; later he
working in Lewis Stoffregen's market for three months. Up to
this time he had never received more than $10 to $14 per month
for his services. Leaving Stoffregen's employ, he hired out to
Jacob Roth, a well remembered Schuylkill Haven butcher, for whom
he worked fifteen months, ending in March, 1857. April 1st,
following, in partnership with Mr. Keifer, Mr. Weissinger opened
a market in Schuylkill Haven. The firm of Keifer & Weissinger
was dissolved a year and seven months later. November 1st, 1859,
Mr. Weissinger established a market, of which he was the sole
proprietor and which he managed successfully until 1865, when he
ceased to butcher and began to deal heavily in cattle. This
business he had engaged in on a small scale a few years before,
and it has since assumed such proportions as to place it foremost
among similar enterprises
__________end page 310.___________
page 311
HISTORY OF SCHUYLKILL COUNTY.
______________________________________________________________
in the State. At times Mr. Weissinger has handled as much as
$10,000 to $15,000 worth of cattle per week. His stockyards in
Pottsville are large and conveniently arranged and have been
fitted up at considerable expense. During the period from 1859
to 1865, while engaged in butchering in Schuylkill Haven, Mr.
Weissinger invested heavily in the stock of the Schuylkill Haven
Direct Iron Company. In 1873, in partnership with the late
Gideon Bast, he rented the works, improved them and carried on
the business till 1874, when he purchased the entire property,
enlarged the mill and conducted the establishment with J.A.
Medlar as a partner in the business only for one year, at the end
of which Medlar retired and Mr. Weissinger was sole owner and
manager until January, 1880, when he sold a two-thirds interest
to Messrs. George R. Kaercher and C.F. Rahn. In 1869 Mr. Weiss-
inger purchased his farms, upon one of which he resides, just at
the outskirts of Pottsville borough, and which are the finest in
the vicinity. He was married August 26th, 1858, to Rebecca
Moyer, of Schuylkill Haven, who has borne him twelve children,
eight sons and four daughters, all of whom are living. He takes
no active interest in politics, but is a believer in the princi-
ples of the Democratic party. In the central and southern por-
tions of the State there have been few more notable examples of
what a man may accomplish unaided except by his own industry,
integrity and perseverance.
_______________
A line drawing of
FRANCIS WADE HUGHES
is in this position in the original book.
In the
TABLE OF CONTENTS
it is also listed on this page.
Original text follows below the divider line.
________________________
Francis Wade Hughes, attorney at law, was born August 20th,
1817, in Upper Merion township, Montgomery county, Pa. His
father, John Hughes, was one of the principal men of his neigh-
borhood, regarded in his day as a man of wealth; was a gentleman
farmer, leasing the greater portion of his estate to tenants.
The family had settled upon the same estate before the time of
William Penn, and in colonial and revolutionary days had held
prominent positions of honor and trust. His mother, Hannah
Hughes, was the eldest child of Benjamin Bartholomew, who was of
French Huguenot stock, and had served through the entire revolu-
tionary was as captain of a cavalry company.
Mr. Hughes in his early childhood gave evidence of the re-
markable ability which has rendered him so successful at the bar.
He combined great industry with great mental activity and physi-
cal strength. With the natural fondness of a boy for outdoor
sports and exercise he manifested an aptitude for study which an
intelligent father observed and encouraged. Rev. David Kirkpat-
rick, of Milton Academy, at that time deservedly enjoyed the
reputation of being one of the best teachers in the State. To
his instruction young Hughes was confided. Among his school-
fellows were many who have since risen to eminence. At this
Academy he acquired a good classical as well as mathematical
education.
As a law student he laid broadly and substantially the foun-
dation for future success. In the fall of 1834 he commenced the
study of the law with the late George W. Farquhar, in Pottsville.
The following winter he entered the office of John B. Wallace of
Philadelphia, and had there as fellow law students John W. and
Horace B. Wallace, sons of his preceptor, together with the late
William Parker Foulke, Esq. It is very seldom that four as able
young men are found in on office, and it is still more seldom
that as able, earnest and untiring a teacher could be enlisted.
All being possessed of ambition, industry and ability, under able
guidance a broad practical knowledge of the law was acquired. A
knowledge of pleading gained at that time Mr. Hughes has often in
the trial of causes since displayed to the wonder and astonish-
ment of Court and bar.
After the death of Mr. Wallace, which occurred in the latter
part of 1836, he entered the law school at Carlisle, then under
the direction of Hon. John Reed, the president judge of that
judicial district. Here he met a number of his old schoolmates
at the Milton Academy, among them Andrew G. Curtin, since famous
as the war governor of Pennsylvania. The same avidity for learn-
ing displayed by Mr. Hughes in the offices of George W. Farquhar
and John B. Wallace, Esqs., he manifested at the law school, and
by his fellow students, who are still living, the recollection is
still fresh of the extent of his learning, the facility with
which it was acquired, and the brilliancy and clearness of its
expression. He was admitted as an attorney in August, 1837, and
immediately commenced, in Pottsville, the practice of his chosen
profession. His practice, which from its commencement has been
lucrative, has been extremely varied, his business important as a
class, and his suits in all of the Courts, and he has tried,
probably, more causes than any other man in the State of Pennsyl-
vania. He seems familiar with and at home in all branches of the
profession. He was, in 1839, appointed deputy attorney-general
by Hon. Ovid F. Johnson, then attorney-general. He resigned this
office three several (-) times; was subsequently re-appointed and
held it altogether for eleven years. His knowledge of criminal
law is consequently thorough, but his practice, mainly, has been
in the civil courts. He ranks among the first of the few great
land lawyers of the country; is a fine equity practitioner;
understands, in all it branches, patent as well as commercial
law. He has few equals as a nisi prius lawyer in the country.
He prepares a case rapidly but with great skill and accuracy;
examines and cross-examines a witness with rare ability; argues
with force, law and fact, to Court and jury, and in the general
management of his cause is unequaled. Although naturally impul-
sive he holds himself under complete control during the trial of
a cause, rarely loses his temper-never his balance. His extended
reputation has perhaps been gained in the argument of cases in
the Superior Courts on appeal. As a lawyer and a gentleman he is
universally respected by bench and bar. But whilst Mr. Hughes
has had and is still having a wonderfully busy
__________end page 311.____________
page 311a
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
FRANCIS WADE HUGHES
B. REILLY.
_____________________________________________________________
life as an active practitioner at the bar, he has always taken an
active interest in politics as well as in subjects pertaining to
the general public welfare. In 1843, when but twenty-six years
of age, he was elected to the State Senate by the Democratic
party, by the largest majority ever given in the county of
Schuylkill, there being in that county only one hundred and
forty-nine votes cast against him. He resigned his office as
Senator in 1844 and returned to the practice of the law. While
in the Senate he formed close friendly relations with the Hon.
William Bigler, who, when elected governor of Pennsylvania in the
fall of 1851 appointed him Secretary of the commonwealth. In
March, 1853, he was appointed attorney-general of the State,
which office he filled until the early part of the year 1855.
Whilst holding that office he took great interest in the organi-
zation of an enlightened common school system, which with slight
and comparatively immaterial modifications is still maintained,
and he was the author of the act of 1854. Whilst attorney-gener-
al he co-operated efficiently with Governor Bigler in the more
effective collection of the revenues of the State, and in the
refunding of the State debt at a lower rate of interest.
Although deeply interested in politics, his tastes and busi-
ness cares have prevented him from holding many political of-
fices. He was one of the Presidential electors in 1856, and has
been a delegate to many county, State and national conventions,
over many of which he has presided. In politics as in law he has
been recognized as a power, brilliant, frequently irresistible.
He is, however, a politician of the old school: believes in the
power of organization and regards parties as representatives of
principle, not as mere machines for personal advancement.
In February, 1861, he was a member of the State convention at
Harrisburg, known as the Peace Convention, and was a prominent
member of the committee on resolutions. When the war broke out
his support of the Union was prompt, energetic and valuable. He
aided in fitting out one of the first five companies that reached
Washington. He maintained, with voice and pen, the legal right
of the government to put down rebellion with force of arms. He
aided in the raising of regiments, and one regiment was familiar-
ly known as his regiment. But he was a Democrat; was chairman of
the Democratic State Committee in 1862, and in the unreasoning
political zeal of the times was denounced by his political oppo-
nents. Efforts were made by them to have him arrested, which
would probably have been successful had it not been that Hon.
Edwin. M. Stanton, then Secretary of War, was his personal
friend. Secretary Stanton telegraphed him that there should be
no order for his arrest without first granting him a hearing. As
there were no charges affecting his loyalty to the government,
except such as were manifestly founded in malice, no order was
ever issued.
Eminent as Mr. Hughes has been as lawyer and politician his
operations as a business man have been extensive. He has origi-
nated and aided in many enterprises; in the purchase and improve-
ment of lands; in the opening and working of coal and iron mines;
in the establishment of iron works and other factories. He is
essentially a man of enterprise, and his county and his State
have been enriched through his efforts. He embarked in a scheme
for the reclamation of marsh lands about Long Island and Staten
Island. In this he lost many thousands of dollars. Whether he
will re-embark in that enterprise is only known to himself.
What Mr. Hughes has been in the past he still is. As an
elderly man he is still handsome in face and form, with a fine
presence. Eminent as a lawyer, disinterested and earnest as a
politician, and he has all the energy and earnestness of youth in
matters of business. He has been blessed with a good constitu-
tion, and it is to be hoped that years of usefulness are still
before him.
________________
A line drawing of
B. REILLY
is in this position in the original book.
It is listed on this page in the
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Original text follows the divider line.
_______________________
B. Reilly, a prominent contractor and at one time an associ-
ate judge of the Court of common Pleas of Schuylkill county, was
born in Cavan, Ireland, February 14th, 1814. His father, with
his family, emigrated to Canada in 1822, and in 1823 removed to
Lebanon county, Pa. In 1841 Mr. Reilly came to Schuylkill coun-
ty, as a contractor in building the main line of the Philadelphia
and Reading Railroad, and since that time has been a resident of
the county. Taking an interest in the old militia he was an
officer of a military company in Pottsville, in 1844, and, in
1846, was appointed an aid to Governor Shunk, with the rank of
lieutenant-colonel. In 1851 he was elected a representative in
the State Legislature, and in 1856 associate judge of the Court
of Common Pleas, a position which he filled until 1861, when he
was elected to represent his district in the State Senate, serv-
ing during that eventful period, 1861-64. The governor appointed
him a mustering officer in 1863, and in 1864 he was commissioned
to receive the soldiers' votes. In 1872 he was the Democratic
candidate for Congress in the district composed of Schuylkill and
Lebanon counties, but was defeated by the coalition of Republican
and "U.B.A." tickets. Judge Reilly is one of the oldest railroad
contractors in the country and the only living one of those who
built the main line of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad. He
contracted for portions of the old Lehigh railroad to Wilkes-
Barre, the Catawissa railroad, the Pennsylvania railroad, the
Sunbury and Erie Railway, the Schuylkill Valley railroad, the
Northern Central railroad, and the Lebanon Valley railroad, and
has been identified with most prominent public improvements
during the past forty years. Though now retired from the active
management of such enterprises, which has long been confided to
the more youthful energy of his son, Thomas A. Reilly, Judge
Reilly is still financially interested in and aids them by the
advice which only one of his long and varied experience could
give. When he shall have passed away he will be remembered as
one prominent in the advancement of the leading busi-
____________end page 311a._____________
page 312
HISTORY OF SCHUYLKILL COUNTY.
______________________________________________________________
ness interests of the country at large, and the most important
railways of the State will always be monuments commemorating his
enterprise and executive ability. Politically he has been a
life-long democrat, always active, always honest. In private
life he is greatly respected. His career has been a successful
one, and such rewards as he has won are but the legitimate fruits
of well directed effort.
___________________
A line drawing of
J. FRANK WERNER
is in this position in the original book.
It is listed on this same page in the
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Original text continues below the divider line.
_______________________
J. Frank Werner, a man perhaps as well known in all portions
of Schuylkill county as any other resident, is a son of John T.
Werner, and was born in Pottsville, June 7th, 1844, and received
his education in the public schools of his native borough.
In April 1861, when he was not yet seventeen years old, Mr.
Werner enlisted in Captain Tower's company of volunteers, then
formed in Pottsville, but was rejected at Harrisburg on account
of his not having yet attained to the military age. On the 16th
of the following September, still considerable younger than the
prescribed age, he joined Company D of the 48th Pennsylvania
volunteers, which at the organization of the ninth army corps was
made a portion of it, and served until mustered out of service
with the company July 17th, 1865; participating in the campaigns
in North Carolina, Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee with such
credit as to be promoted to the second lieutenancy of his compa-
ny, September 5th, 1864, and to the captaincy on the 16th of the
following November.
After his return from the south he taught school one term and
then was for some time employed as a salesman in a store in
Pottsville. December 14th, 1867, he was appointed one of the
deputies of Sheriff George C. Wynkoop, and also served in the
same capacity during the succeeding terms of sheriffs Charles W.
and James I. Pitman. In November, 1874, he was elected sheriff
of Schuylkill county, and served until January, 1878. It is
probably that no sheriff in the United States ever had a more
typing term than Mr. Werner did during that time, when the
Schuylkill coal region was agitated by the long strike of 1875,
the Mollie Maguire difficulties of 1875 and 1876, the great riots
of 1877 and the far-reaching ill effects of the failure of the
Huntzinger Bank, by which Mr. Werner, as the custodian of certain
funds belonging to the county, was a loser to the amount of about
$30,000, which he is devoting the best years of his life to
repaying. Since the expiration of his incumbency of the office
of sheriff, except during three years, Mr. Werner has held the
position of deputy to his to his successors; and from his long
experience in the duties devolving upon the sheriff, and his
familiarity with the numerous perplexing details of the office
routine (extending through a period of more than ten years) he is
undoubtedly better fitted for the work in which he is engaged
than any other man in the county, and has come to be regarded as
ready authority upon any question which to another might involve
a laborious search through many books and papers long laid away.
April 8th, 1868, he married Mary L. Larer, of Pottsville.
They have two children, a son and a daughter. Politically Mr.
Werner has always been a steadfast Republican and a hard worker
for the principles of that party. Socially he is a pleasant and
entertaining companion, with a wide acquaintance and many
friends; his honor is unimpeached and his integrity undoubted.
As an official he has always served satisfactorily to people of
all parties.
__________end page 312.____________
page 312a
CONRAD SELTZER.
_______________________________________________________________
A line drawing of CONRAD SELTZER
is in this position on this page.
The original text on the page is on both sides
of this line drawing.
Below this is another line drawing of Mr. Seltzer's
hotel and residence on North Center St., Pottsville, Pa.
_______________________
Conrad Seltzer, long and widely known as an extensive dealer
in cattle, was born in Marbury, Kurrhessen, Germany, September
17th, 1818, and with a portion of his father's family came to
America in 1835. Locating at Pottsville they built and occupied
a small log house at Fishbach. In 1844 Mr. Seltzer engaged in
butchering, his market being located opposite the Exchange Hotel.
In 1848 he removed to Minersville, where he followed the same
business till 1858. During the latter year he removed to the
"Bull's Head" farm, where he engaged in cattle dealing and re-
mained until 1870, when he retired from business and was succeed-
ed by his sons, William H. and A.W. Seltzer, the former engaging
largely in trade in cattle, the latter in sheep and swine. Mr.
Seltzer was married December 19th, 1839, to Dorotha E Roehrig.
__________end page 312a.___________