Mahlon C. Detweiler,

Name & Page Number (as posted on index page)

Detweiler, Henry       631

Detweiler, Jacob        631

Detweiler, Mahlon C. 631

Mahlon C. Detweiler

Mahlon C. Detweiler, of Quakertown, is one of the most enterprising and progressive business men of the community, and has contributed his share toward the building up and maintenance of its reputation, and to him it is indebted for the position it holds among the wealthy and prosperous towns of the county.  He was born in Milford township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, March 24, 1846, and is a son of Henry and Annie (Clymer) Detweiler.

    The Detweiler family is one of the oldest German-American families in America, and is descended from several different German emigrants who came to Pennsylvania and settled in Montgomery county at different periods from 1715 to 1750.  Hans Detweiler, the ancestor of the subject of this sketch was one of the earliest settlers on the Skippack, and was also an early landowner in Bucks county.  His son Jacob lived and died in Upper Hanover township, and had two sons, Jacob and John, and two daughters.  Jacob, the son, owned and occupied at the time of his death in 1791 a tract of land extending across the county line into Milford township, where his widow Catharine and five children took up their residence, after his decease.

    Jacob Detweiler, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, on arriving at manhood located in Upper Saucon, Lehigh county, where he followed the life of a farmer for many years, removing later to Milford township, Bucks county.  He married Magdalena Heist, of an old family of upper Bucks, and they were the parents of seven children—Samuel, Henry, Charles, Jacob, Daniel, Catharine and Elizabeth.  Henry Detweiler, son of Jacob and Magdalena, was born in Upper Saucon, Lehigh county, April 24, 1817.  Early in life he learned the  shoemaker trade, which he followed for a few years, but the most of his life was devoted to agricultural pursuits.  He married November 10, 1839, Anna Clymer, daughter of Henry and Mary (Shaffer) Clymer, of Milford township, Bucks county, and soon after his marriage took up his residence in Milford.  On April 4, 1846, he purchased seventy acres of the old Clymer homestead, between Milford Square and Quakertown, which he owned until January, 1863.  Shortly before his death he removed to Quakertown, where he died December 21, 1893.  Henry and Anna (Clymer) Detweiler were the parents of nine children, viz.:  Mary, wife of Jacob Clymer; Aaron, of Quakertown; Mahlon C., the subject of this sketch; William, deceased; Henry, of Hagersville, Bucks county; Susan, deceased; Annie, wife of A. Steiner, deceased; Catharine, wife of Samuel Sleiffer; and Frances, who died at the age of two years.

    Mahlon C. Detweiler spent his boyhood days working on the farm, and attended the district school of the neighborhood, where he acquired a liberal education.  He then worked with John Barnes, of Milford, serving an apprenticeship to the carpenter’s trade, and following that vocation as journeyman in Richland and Quakertown for many years.  Upon discontinuing that line of work he engaged in the meat and provision business, and successfully followed that occupation twelve years at Richland Center and Quakertown.  He purchased the Simon and Sacks estate, but shortly after taking possession of the property its buildings were destroyed by fire and our subject immediately replaced them with new ones.  Later he brought the Jacob Cressman property which he remodeled and enlarged into a commodious market and ship.  He employed many men, had several delivery wagons, and it is said that he was the largest meat dealer ever in the place.  His honesty was never doubted, and he is held in high esteem by his fellow citizens for his many sterling qualities.  In September, 1895, he was appointed postmaster of Richland Center, a fourth-class office, but in October of the same year it was advanced to the third class.  As postmaster he filled the position with ability and credit to himself for four years, and was considered the last and most efficient postmaster Richland Center has ever had.

    He built a large tenement house in 1898; he also purchased the Dr. Lott estate of fifty acres, located on the west side of Strawn street, and later sold a half interest to Henry H. Souder.  They cleared part of the land, which was covered with a dense forest, and built a half mile race track, fifty feet wide, a ball ground, grand stand, pavilion 50x100 feet, and placed through the grove many seats along the drive ways.  The park is known as Lu Lu Park, and is a popular pleasure resort in the vicinity.  In 1897, Mr. Detweiler sold his interest to T. C. Leeland, president of the Quakertown Electric Railway.  He subsequently built and equipped a new bakery with all the modern appliances, and engaged in the bakery business.  Beginning without any trade, through his energy and business tact he in a comparatively short time built up a large and lucrative business which he conducted for three  years, and then sold out to William B. Kachler, of Lansdale, but in June, 1905, he repurchased the plant and is now doing an extensive business, consuming thirty barrels of flour per week, and furnishing steady employment to several hands.  He was one of the few men engaged in the bakery business who received a certificate from the inspector of the district complimentary to the cleanliness and sanitary condition of his plant.  In July, 1904, he also engaged in the coal business, and in this, like all his business ventures, he has made a success.  Mr. Detweiler is in every sense a self-made man.  By his industry, careful attention to business and strict integrity in all his dealings, he as acquired a competence and won the esteem and confidence of the people with whom he associates.  He has always taken an active interest in the town in which he lived, and has filled in several positions of trust and honor.  In 1880, prior to engaging in the meat business, he served for six years as supervisor in Richland township.  In February, 1903, he was elected to the office of chief burgess of Quakertown borough for a term of three years, and has made a popular and efficient official.  He and his family are members of Trinity Lutheran church, in which he has held the office of deacon since 1901.  Mr. Detweiler was one of the active promoters of the organization and erection of Trinity church, being prior to that time a member of Christ church, at Trumbauersville.  He was acting chairman and treasurer of the building committee.  He is a member of Pennsburg Lodge, No. 449, I. O. O. F.; Secona Tribe, No. 863, I. O. R. M., and has been for over thirty-seven years a member of Lodge No. 149, O. U. A. M., the only lodge in Quakertown that did not forfeit its charter during the civil war.  Mr. Detweiler married May 1, 1869, Elizabeth Trumbower, daughter of Samuel and Catharine (Deily) Trumbower, of Richland township.

Text taken from pages 631-632 of:

Davis, William W.H., A.M. History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania [New York-Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1905] Volume III

Transcribed August 2008 by Thera; tsh@harborside.com; as part of the Bucks Co., Pa., Early Family Project, http://pagenweb.org/~bucks/biographies/bucksindex.html 

Published Sept 2008 on the Bucks County, Pa., USGenWeb pages at http://pagenweb.org/~bucks