MELCHIOR HELLER, whose memory is still fresh in the minds of his fellow citizens and business associates in Smithfield, Monroe county, was for many years prior to his death, on April 10. 1889, one of the leading men in this part of Monroe county. He was a native of the county, born in June. 1828 in Poplar Valley, Stroud township son of Anthony and Sallie (Fetherman ) Heller, and he was a self-made man in every sense of the word, successful through his own efforts, but nevertheless modest and unassuming in everything with a generous disposition and kindliness of heart which won friends for him wherever he went.
Mr. Heller commenced life a poor boy, but from early life he displayed those qualities which played so important a part in his successful career, and he rose by untiring industry and watchful economy to an enviable position among the prosperous farmers and lumbermen of the county. He followed farming from his youth, after his marriage buying the Huffman farm, which he cultivated, but he did not devote all his time to agricultural pursuits, following milling and lumbering and dealing largely in stock in addition to conducting his farm. In his youth he learned the trade of cooper, he and his father manufacturing flour barrels and at one time he was engaged quite extensively in the manufacture of brick and lime (he burnt the brick used in the house on the old homestead). In company with his sister's husband. John Smoyer, he bought the mill property now owned by his son-in-law. F.W. Eilenberger, which then consisted of a grist and saw mill run by water power, and they made many improvements, repaired the sawmill anil put in an engine; Mr. Heller finally purchased Mr. Smoyer's interests. In these connections he became widely known throughout Monroe county, and it is safe to say that no man gained and retained a better reputation for honesty and integrity in all his dealings than Mr. Heller. The indomitable perseverance and good judgment which characterized all his business transactions won for him the admiration of all who knew him in commercial life, and he was gifted with personal qualities which invariably inspired respect and friendship in all with whom he came in contact.
At the time of his death he owned a large amount of real estate, and was a director in the First National Bank of Stroudsburg. Prosperous beyond his early hopes, he never lost an opportunity to let others benefit by his good fortune, and no one ever called on him for help in vain, his generosity relieving many people, especially the worthy poor.
Cheerful and considerate in his treatment of all, he was highly esteemed and beloved by all classes during his life all deeply mourned at his death, which was regarded throughout the community as an irreparable loss. He was thoroughly sincere in his personal attachments, numbering his friends by the score in and around Smithfield, where by his prominence in business, political and religious circles he was widely acquainted and correspondingly popular. Politically he was identified with the Democratic party all his life, and although not a politician in the sense of office-seeker he received many honors at the hands of his friends in this locality, being elected to various offices of importance in the township, all of which he filled with his customary ability and faithfulness. For three years he served as treasurer of Monroe county.
In January, 1850, Mr. Heller was united in marriage with Miss Sarah Smith, who was born in November 1826, daughter of John and Katie (Huffman) Smith, and comes from one of the prominent old families of Smithfield township. Her grandfather, Adam Smith, was born in Lehigh county, Pa. coming from good old German stock, and, removing to Monroe county, settled in Smithfield township during the pioneer days. He purchased a large amount land here, which he divided among his sons, and John, the father of Mrs. Heller, settled on a tract near East Stroudsburg where he followed farming all his days. John Smith married Katie Huffman, (the daughter of Philip and Catherine Huffman), and they became the parents of three Children. Elizabeth, Philip, and Sarah, our Mrs. Heller. Elizabeth became the wife of Daniel Bush, of Smithfield. and died there leaving three children — Catherine, Sarah (Mrs. Detrick), and Ettie (Mrs. Samuel Meckley). Philip lived and died on the old Smith homestead, where he followed farming; he married Katie Lee, and they had two children — Ida, who is the wife of Jacob Brutzman, and Sarah J., Mrs. Alfred LaBar, both of Smithfield. Mrs. Heller now has a Bible, published in 1765, which belonged to her grandfather, Adam Smith; it is sixteen inches long, ten inches wide, and six inches thick, bound in board, covered in leather, and has brass corners.
Mr. and Mrs. Heller had a family of ten children, of whom we have the following record: John, born in 1852 in Smithfield, married Miss Ella Trible, and resided on his farm at Shawnee, where he died in February, 1898, leaving his wife and three children — Robert D., Melchior and Sarah. Elizabeth, born in 1854, is the wife of Hiram LaBar, of Shawnee, one of the leading men of Smithfield township. Catherine, born in 1856, married M. C. Kautz, of Smithfield, where she died; she left no family. Sallie, born in 1856, is the widow of Jonas Nye, of Smithfield; she has one daughter, Mattie. Isabel, born in 1860, is the wife of Albert Knapp, of East Stroudsburg ; they have no children. Frank, born in 1861, grew to manhood on the Heller homestead and received a good education, attending the local public schools and the Brodheadsville high school: in 1893 he married Miss Mary Edinger, daughter of Peter R. and Eliza Edinger, who are prominent residents of Poplar Valley, Monroe county, belonging to one of the old-settled families of that section, and the young couple have made their home with Mrs. Heller, in her pleasant home at Branchville. Bertha, born July 1865, is the wife of Philip Peters, of East Stroudsburg and has three children — Bessie, Amy and Bernard. William, born in 1866, married Miss Viola Eilenberger. and they reside on his farm at Shawnee on Delaware; they have no family. Amy, born in 1871, married Frederick W. Eilenberger of Minsi and has five children. Mary L., born 1872, is the wife of Harry Cyphers, of Bethlehem, Northampton County, Pennsylvania; they have one son. Earl.
The father of this family was from early life a faithful member of the Reformed Church, in which he was an active worker, and he gave liberally of his ample means toward its support throughout his life. In 1887 Mr. Heller's health began to fail, and he passed away in April, 1889. sincerely regretted by a wide circle of sorrowing friends and acquaintances, all of whom realized that in his death the community lost a citizen whose place could not easily be filled — a man who had always proved himself a true friend, a good neighbor and a public-spirited worker for the general welfare and progress whenever occasion demanded. He was a member of Barger Lodge # 325, F. & A. M.. of Stroudsburg, and was buried with Masonic honors. Mrs. Heller shared with her husband all the hardships and privations which he experienced in his early struggles, aiding him faithfully as counsellor in his business affairs as well as in the precincts of home, and she also shared with him the esteem and regard which came to him in his later years. She is now living retired in the comfortable home to which they removed in 1882, when Mr. Heller gave up the farm, and she is one of the most highly respected residents of Smithfield township, where her friends are legion.