Dr. Michler S Practice (134 North 3Rd Street)

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(Photo by Richard F. Hope)

Dr. Michler’s Practice (134 North 3rd Street)

2-1/2 story, white brick house with basement, elevated entrance door, bay window topped by a dormer surrounded by an elaborate rounded bell-shaped trim and façade. A Mansard roof lies behind the bell-shaped roof façade.

One modern inventory of Easton buildings described this collection of style features as a “Victorian” style.[1] On the southern side of the building, the simple frieze at the roofline and the simple windows topped with straight entablature, as well as the recessed entryway, all suggest a “Greek Revival” style for the basic building, with construction in the first half of the 19th Century. The Mansard roof suggests a remodeling shortly after the Civil War, when that style was popular. The bay window suggests a further addition in decorative styles of the late 19th or early 20th century. As shown below, deeds and other historical records fit very well with the building history suggested by these three particular architectural styles.

The underlying property appears to be the SE corner of original town Lot No. 152, as surveyed for William Parsons’s founding of Easton in 1752.[2] A map notation probably made in the late 1780s indicates that the property was “In Tenure of Jno Stedinger” in a “House built on since 1779”.[3] The property was sold to John Steidinger (note the German spelling) on 9 November 1789, in an unrecorded deed.[4] Steideinger took out a loan from the Penn Family, and gave back a mortgage (dated the next day) – which was recorded.[5] He held the property until 1812, when he sold it to Jacob Butz Jr. and David Butz, in another unrecorded deed.[6] Jacob Butz was a brother and business partner of noted Easton businessman Michael Butz: they operated a store on their family’s extensive mill complex along the Bushkill,[7] and also the old hotel that was the predecessor of the Hotel Lafayette.[8] An 1827 deed identifies David Butz as a miller – presumably in the Butz Family’s milling complex.

In 1827, brother Michael Butz assumed control of the Butz Family’s property from his father’s estate,[9] while Jacob and David Butz sold their half of Lot No.152 at the corner of Bushkill and Pomfret (now North 3rd) Streets to cabinet maker John Keiter for $550.[10] Keiter promptly subdivided the Lot and sold off a section of it, including a house fronting on Bushkill Street, to Sarah Platt for $300. He did, however, retain a 33’ strip of the property at the corner, running for 60’ down Pomfret Street.[11] In 1829, Keiter sold this strip to carpenter David Stem for $185.[12]

Just a few months later, David Stem resold his strip of land to carpenter Christian Kisselbach Jr. for $195.[13] Kisselbach subdivided the strip into two yet smaller parcels, each equal in size, and sold them off separately. In 1830, Kisselbach sold the corner parcel to George Bush for $107.[14] Nine years later (in 1839), he sold the other parcel “near” the corner (which comprises the modern property underlying the Dr. Michler’s Practice building) to millwright John Hagerty for $675.[15] The disparity in sale price for these two equal-sized parcels – and the large profit that Kisselbach made over his original purchase price – both suggest that he may have constructed a building on the land he sold to Hagerty. Such a construction in about the 1830s would be consistent with the “Greek Revival” style of the more basic windows and doorway of the modern building on the property.[16]

Ten years later (in 1849), Hagerty got $900 for his property in a sale to Samuel Grotz.[17] Although not listed in Easton’s first City Directory of 1855,[18] Grotz, a shoemaker, put both his residence and his business into the building.[19] In 1869, he sold the property to Sabina Bachman and Mary Snyder for $2,500.[20] The large profit that Grotz made on this sale suggests that he had improved the building to enhance the property’s value. This is consistent with the Mansard roof that remains on the building today, which is a hallmark of the “Second Empire” architectural style that became popular just after the Civil War, often called the “General Grant” style because Ulysses S. Grant adopted it for federal buildings during his Presidency.[21]

Despite co-ownership by Bachman and Snyder, it was Sabina Bachman who kept her home and “Fancy Goods” store (at No.136) on the property in the 1870s and ‘80s, joined by her son, Horace (an Attorney-at-Law).[22] Mrs. Bachman was the widow of John F. Bachman, a veteran of the Mexican War and one of the “49s”[23] (apparently, what we today refer to as “49ers” who rushed to California for gold in 1849).

·  Prior to 1874, Mrs. Bachman’s address was 60 North 3rd Street.[24]

·  With the inauguration of the modern street numbering scheme in 1874, Mrs. Bachman was assigned the address of 136 North 3rd Street.[25]

On 21 February 1874, Mary Snyder “Drowned herself” at age 48.[26] She left no will, children or surviving parents. Four people – including Sabina Bachman – each inherited a quarter of Ms. Snyder’s interest in the property, suggesting that Mrs. Bachman and the other heirs were Mary Snyder’s siblings. The heirs of three-quarters of Miss Snyder’s interest sold out their shares to Sabina Bachman in October 1874, leaving Mrs. Bachman as the sole owner of the property.[27]

In 1886, Sabina Bachman sold the property to Stephen L. Keim for $2,800.[28] Later that year, Stephen Keim arranged (through two back-to-back transactions) to make himself a trustee administering the property for Anna E. Keim,[29] his mother.[30] Whe was the wife of Samuel Keim (evidently, Stephen’s father). The trust was constructed to ensure that Mrs. Keim’s “husband shall in nowise intermeddle” with the property – which may simply have been a device to protect it from his creditors. After her death, the property was to pass to her “heirs of the body”. (i.e., her biological heirs).[31] The Keim family took up residence in the house.[32] Before Mrs. Keim’s death, she arranged to pass ownership of the property outright to her daughter, Emma Cecile Keim, in 1895.[33] Emma Keim, a teacher, lived on the property with her sister in 1900.[34]

In 1902, Emma Keim sold the property for $3,000 to Harry Haines,[35] who resold it two days later for $3,500 to Emily Heath Michler, the wife of Dr. Henry D. Michler.[36] The Michelers (including their son, Henry L. Michler) took up residence,[37] moving up from the Judge Kirkpatrick Row Houses at 120 North 3rd Street.[38] Dr. Henry D. Michler (born 1856[39]) was the surgeon-in-chief at Easton Hospital for 33 years,[40] having been “instrumental in securing the location of a hospital” in Easton, and having taken a position on its first medical staff.[41]

·  Dr. Michler was the older brother of William Marsh Michler, [42] the famous Easton architect.[43] It seems quite likely that the later more ornate additions to the house, including the bay window and decorative trim around the dormer above it, were added by Dr. Michler and his architect brother.

Mrs. Michler died in 1916,[44] and left the property in trust, to be given to her son (Henry L. Michler) when he reached age 50.[45] Dr. Michler and his son were still in residence in 1920.[46] Dr. Michler died in 1926 in the North 3rd Street home, at age 70.[47] The son, Henry L. Michler, reached age 50 on 24 September 1946, and his trustee formally conveyed title to the property to him in 1947.[48]

Henry L. Michler had no children. After serving in the Ambulance Corps. In France in World War II, he eventually became the chief clerk at the Department of Highways garage in Palmer, and then spent three years working for Lehigh Inc. before retiring. His wife, Bessie Drehe Michler, operated a beauty shop out of their house on North 3rd Street. Henry Michler died in 1960.[49] His will passed the property to his wife, Bessie, who sold the property in 1971.[50] After another two years, the property was sold again for $24,000 to Joseph and Jean Curzi.[51] Ownership remained with the Curzi Family[52] until 2002, when it was sold for $165,000 to Jeffrey Potter.[53] Potter got $295,000 for the property four years later (in 2006),[54] but another sale less than two years later to Kristopher Ungvarsky realized only $237,000.[55]

[1] City of Easton, Pennsylvania Historic Resource Survey Form, Attachment: Building Description Survey Area 1 Zone A (City Council Resolution approved 12 May 1982)(built c.1875-1915, apparently based upon the architectural style).

[2] Compare A.D. Chidsey, Jr., The Penn Patents in the Forks of the Delaware Plan of Easton, Map 2 (Vol. II of Publications of the Northampton County Historical and Genealogical Society 1937) with Northampton County Tax Records map, www.ncpub.org.

[3] Charles de Krafft, Map of Easton Original Town Lots (from the collection of Luigi “Lou” Ferone (“Mr. Easton”) auctioned 27 Feb. 2010, said to have been used by the Penn clerks for notations to keep track of the town lots c.1779-1801).

A further notation below, in lighter ink, reads: “Sold by A.B. to [illegible]”. Because the sale is recited to have occurred on 9 November 1789 (see below), the earlier notation was presumably made before that time. ).

C.G. Beitel’s Original Plan of Easton (1859)(hanging in Marx Room, Easton Area Public Library) contains the notation “Steadinger” for Lot No.152.

[4] Deed, John Penn the Younger and John Penn the Elder, (9 Nov. 1789), recited in Mortgage, John (Christina) Steidinger to John Penn the Younger and John Penn the Elder, G1 144 (10 Nov. 1789) and Deed, Jacob Butz and David (Mary) Butz to John Keiter, C5 452 (20 Jan. 1827).

[5] The mortgage was recorded. Mortgage, John (Christina) Steidinger to John Penn the Younger and John Penn the Elder, G1 144 (10 Nov. 1789). This called for a payment, in case of default, of £66 6 shillings “inReal Specie of Gold or Silver” for Lot No.152, measuring 60’ X 120’.

[6] Deed, John (Christina Steidinger to Jacob Butz and David Butz, (31 Jan. 1812), recited in Deed, Jacob Butz and David (Mary) Butz to John Keiter, C5 452 (20 Jan. 1827). This deed was also not found referenced in the Northampton County Deeds Office index.

At the end of that same year, Jacob and David Butz sold back to John Steidinger a different Easton property located between Bushkill Street and the Bushkill creek itself. Deed, Jacob Butz Jr. and David (Mary) Butz to john Steidinger, F5 496 (31 Dec. 1812)(sale price $1200 for a “Tenement” and property between the North side of Bushkill Street and the Bushkill creek, with a frontage of 50’ on Bushkill Street, lying between the properties of Abraham Osterstock on the West and Andrew Worman no the East).

[7] John W. Jordan, Edgar Moore Green & George T. Ettinger, I Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of the Lehigh Valley Pennsylvania 120-22 (The Lewis Publishing Co. 1905, reprint by Higginson Book Co.); accord, Joan Steiner, The Bushkill Creek 19-20 (Bushkill Stream Conservancy typewritten MS 1996)(copy available in the Marx Room, Easton Area Public Library). See generally separate www.WalkingEaston.com entry for the Michael Butz Mansion at 60 North 4th Street.

[8] See Floyd S. Bixler, The History with Reminiscences of the Early Taverns and Inns of Easton, Paper read before the Northampton County Historical Society on Oct. 25, 1930, 25 (printed by the Society 1931). See generally separate www.WalkingEaston.com entry for the Hotel Lafayette at 11 North Fourth Street, and the Michael Butz Mansion at 60 North 4th Street.

[9] See John W. Jordan, Edgar Moore Green & George T. Ettinger, I Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of the Lehigh Valley Pennsylvania 120-22 (The Lewis Publishing Co. 1905, reprint by Higginson Book Co.); accord, Joan Steiner, The Bushkill Creek 19-20 (Bushkill Stream Conservancy typewritten MS 1996)(copy available in the Marx Room, Easton Area Public Library).

[10] Deed, Jacob Butz and David (Mary) Butz to John Keiter, C5 452 (20 Jan. 1827)(sale price $550 for “Eastern Moiety” of Lot No.152, measuring 60’ X 110’).

[11] Deed, John Keiter to Sarah Platt, D5 312 (10 Apr. 1828)(sale price $300 for “Messuage or Tenement” on property with 22’ of frontage on Bushkill Street, 60’ deep; recital that to the West lay a house and lot sold by John Keiter to Isaac Carey, to the East property still retained by John Keiter).

[12] Deed, John Keiter to David Stem, E5 189 (7 Feb. 1829)(sale price $185 for property measuring 60’ (along Pomfret Street) X 33’ (along Bushkill Street)).

[13] Deed, David (Mary) Stem to Christian Kisselbach Jr., G5 191 (10 Nov. 1830)(sale price $195 for “Lot or piece of Ground” at the SW corner, measuring 60’ on Pomfret Street X 33’ on Bushkill Street).

[14] Deed, Christian (Elizabeth) Kisselbach Jr. to George Bush, G5 191 (10 Dec. 1830)(sale price $107 for “Lot or piece of Ground” on the SW corner measuring 30’ on Pomfret Street X 33’ on Bushkill Street).

[15] Deed, Christian (Elizabeth) Kisselbach Jr. to John E. Hagerty, E6 215 (2 Apr. 1839)(sale price $675 for property near the corner measuring 30’ on Pomfret Street X 33’ deep, reciting that the property to the North was in the tenure of George Bush).

[16] See John Milnes Baker, American House Styles A Concise Guide 64 (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 17 Apr. 1994)(Greek Revival style 1820 – 1850); Nancy J. Sanquist, Easton Architectural and Historical Survey Manual (Office of Preservation, City Hall August 1978)(Greek Revival style with entablature 1820 – 1860).

[17] Deed, John D. (Jane) Hagerty to Samuel Grotz, A8 207 (31 Mar. 1849)(sale price $900 for “Lot or Piece of Ground” measuring 30’ X 33’).