PHILIP HOFFECKER
Source:
Matthews
and Hungerford
Mr.
Philip Hoffecker, master mechanic and superintendent of the Lehigh Valley
Railroad Company's extensive foundry and machine shops at Weatherly, Pa., is a
modest, unassuming man; but his work stands head and shoulders with all other
work of the same class, which makes him a monarch among machinists. He is the
son of Philip Hoffecker, who was born near Londonderry, Chester Co., Pa., in
1777. He followed farming, tanning, and currying until the time of his death,
in 1835. Mr. Hoffecker's mother was born in 1779, and departed this life in
1834.
Philip,
as he was then called, was born in the year 1816.
He stayed at home with his parents, assisting his
father in various ways, as boys do, taking advantage
of the three months' winter school, until the death
of his father, when be started out in search of
work. He came to Beaver Meadow in the year 1836,
which place at that time was a small village. The
principal work was carried on by Joseph Barker,
in making coal cars for the Beaver Meadow Railroad
Company. Mr. Barker employed him in helping to fit
wheels and axles. At that time it was thought that
in order for a car to turn a curve it was necessary
to have one loose wheel. These wheels were cast
at New Hope, Pa.; they were brought to Mauch Chunk
via canal boats, then hauled by teams to Beaver
Meadow, where they were bored to fit the axles.
After Mr. Barker left he was succeeded by Mr. Jonathan
Moore, who built a foundry and made carwheels. In
the mean time the Beaver Meadow Railroad was finished
to Parryville. Mr. Hopkin Thomas came from Philadelphia
with two engines, built by Eastwick & Harrison.
The engines had one pair of drivers, five feet in
diameter, ten-inch cylinder, and twenty-inch stroke.
Mr. Thomas took charge of the shop that had been
built for cars and used it for repairing the engines,
employing Mr. Hoffecker at this time as an apprentice
to the machinist trade. The company then leased
their mines and works to Van Cleave & Co., which
in time passed to William Millens, Spencer &
Co. John O. Cleaver and Reitch opened a colliery,
making arrangements with the Beaver Company to run
their coal to market. Mr. Hoffecker now contracted
with this company to run and keep in repair one
of their engines for the season for a certain sum.
At the end of the season, at their request, he took
charge of all their machinery, coming to Weatherly
in 1852, which position he held until the read was
consolidated with the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company
in 1864. He was retained by the new company, and
has been filling that position acceptably alike
to the company and employees up to the present time.
In
1869 the new shops were completed, since which time Mr. Hoffecker, under his
own supervision, has built and completed forty-five locomotives, a monument
that speaks volumes in itself for the wisdom and intellect that is required to
turn out work of that kind. What a grand heirloom this to bequeath a family!
Mr. Hoffecker has also taken some interest in local affairs, being one of the prime
movers in organizing Weatherly borough, serving in the Council for a period of
at least five years. He also acted as a director of the school for a term of
ten years. He married Miss Harriet E. Longshore, in 1841. She was born in the
year 1824, on the banks of the Susquehanna, near Berwick, Pa. Her parents being
engaged in farming, she enjoyed the usual opportunities afforded farmers'
daughters for obtaining an education in those days. Her father, Josiah
Longshore, was born in Bucks County, Pa., in 1791, and died in 1836, after
which Mrs. Longshore, with her family, moved to Beaver Meadow. This was in
1836. Her mother, Mrs. Ann Longshore, was born in Montgomery County, Pa., in
1784, and died in 1875. Their married life proved a prosperous and happy one, the
fruits of which have been five children, three daughters and two sons. The
oldest, William L. Hoffecker, married Miss Mina Peters, of White Haven, Pa., in
1866. He is now occupying the position of master machinist with the Pittsburgh,
Cleveland and Toledo Railroad Company, at Youngstown, Ohio. The next, Miss
Lizzie A., was married to Mr. Charles DeWitt, of Weatherly, in 1866. Mr. DeWitt
is foreman of the machine shops at Weatherly. Next comes Ashabel B., one of
Weatherly's wide-awake and active young men. He is chief bookkeeper and
draughtsman for the machine shops and foundry, in which position he proves
himself to be a valuable assistant to his father. Mr. Hoffecker's younger
daughters, Misses Mary and Emily, are young ladies who, have enjoyed more than
the usual advantages. To know them is to recognize culture, refinement,
intelligence, and genuine worth. We now leave the subject of this sketch,
feeling satisfied that in Mr. Hoffecker we have a true type of an American
citizen, blessed with a happy home, and enjoying the success of his children.