Scanned from: “History of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania” by Charles Rhoads Roberts, et. al., Vol. III, Lehigh Valley Publishing Co., Allentown, PA., 1914. (Allentown Public Library, R974.827)


GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL.
943

NEFF FAMILY.
One of early settled families of the section now embraced in Heidelberg township, Lehigh county, were the Neffs, who name is perpetuated in the town Neffs, located in North Whitehall township. The Penna. Archives record the following immigrants:
NAME AGE. SHIP. DATE OF ARRIVAL.
Jacob Neff........................39, Mercury,........................................May 29, 1735
Conrad Naffe,..................22, Mercury,.........................................May 29, 1735
Jacob Conrad Naffe, ---, Mercury,.........................................May 29, 1735
Anna Naf, .......................19, Mercury, ........................................May 29,1735
Conrad Naf,....................52, Mercury,.........................................May 29, 1735
Jacob Naf,.......................24, Mercury,........................................ May 29, 1735
Anna Naf,.......................19, Mercury,.........................................May 29, 1735
Elizabeth Naf,...................4, Mercury,.........................................May 29, 1735
Hans Jacob Naf,...............9, Mercury, ........................................May 29, 1735
Jacob Naf,........................7, Mercury, .........................................May 29, 1735
Hans Ulrich Naff,........ .29, Jamaica Galley,...............................Feb 7, 1739
Hans Heinrich Naff,......47, Francis & Ellzabeth,.......................Aug. 30, 1743
Hans Jacob Naff,...........46, Francis & Elizabeth,.......................Aug. 30, 1743
Uhlerich Naff ................40, Francis & Elizabeth,.......................Aug. 30, 1743
Hans Henry Naff,..............., Francis & Elizabeth , .....................Aug. 30, 1743

The following land warrants were taken out by members of the family, all of them were located in Heidelberg township:
Name Date Acres
Nafe Ulrich,..........May 26, 1746 147
Nafe Ulrich,..........Nov. 6, 1751 103
Nafe Ulrich,...........Aug. 5, 1765 19
Nafe Ulrich,..........Nov. 29,1766 75
Nafe Ulrich Henry,..........Nov. 29, 1766 30
In 1744, Ulrich Neff was one of the organizers of the Heidelberg church. One Ulrich Neff made a will, written in German, which is of
record at Easton, Pa., and was probated in 1795. Conrad Neff was the executor of it.
Bernhard Neff, of Heidelberg township, made his will, May 7, 1778, and died in the same year. He had a son, Bernhard, Jr., who was not 21 in 1781. Henry Neff was the executor of the will. Bernhard Neff,. Jr., was married on Jan. 18, 1791; and Catharine Neff was married on Nov. 30, 1800, to Jacob Miller, of Heidelberg township.

Taxables Heidelberg Township
1762 .........................................................Ł
Ulrich Neaf,.......................................... 14
Bernet Neaf,.......................................... 5
1781
Henry Neff
Ulrich Neff

Widow Neff
1790
Ulrich Neaf
Conrad Nafe

Ulrich Nafe
Bernhard Nafe

1812
Bernhard Neff
Widow Neff

Henry Neff
Michael Neff


Bernhard Neff, Jr., was a farmer near Germansville, Heidelberg township. He is buried on the old graveyard of the Heidelberg church, of which he was a Reformed member. He had three sons: Abraham, John and George.

Abraham Neff. son of Bernhard, Jr., was born in Heidelberg about 1811 and died at Neff's in 1881. He was a cabinetmaker, wheelwright, and watch-maker. He began housekeeping in Heidelberg and from there he moved to what is now Neff's, where he built the first house in the woods. There he carried on cabinet-making and undertaking for years; established the postoffice and became its first postmaster, serving the office until his death. About 1840 he laid out the village, and in 1850 he was granted the first hotel license, being succeeded in the hotel by his sons, Edward and Peter Neff.
He was a leading and successful businessman of the community; was active as a member of the Unionville Reformed church, in which he served all the offices. He was married to Anna Eliza Kichline, of Allentown. Their children were: 1. Edward B. 2. Tilghman K. 3. Susan


944
HISTORY OF LEHIGH COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
M., died in childhood. Abraham P. 5. William H. 6. Mary Ellen, married to Paul Balliet. 7. Milton. 8. Newton. 9. Osville. 10.
Agatha, maried to Clinton Metzger.
John Neff, son of Bernhard, Jr., in 1829, received a part of his father's land; about 1845, he conveyed his portion to Abraham Lobach, and he moved to East Penn township, Carbon county, close to Andrew Church, where he died. He one son and several daughters, who were married respectively to a Frantz and a Ruch. The son, Reuben, succeeded him to the homestead in Carbon county.
George Neff, son of Bernhard, Jr., received a portion of his father's homestead in Heidelberg. He died intestate on Nov. 26, 1881, and on April 3, 1882, Joel Neff, his son, accepted the property at appraisement. Joel Neff lived at Slatington for many years and there was an extensive slate operator.
George Neff was married to Susan Handwerk and their issue follows: Joel; Edward B.; Catharine; Flora; and another daughter, whose name is not recalled.
Edward B. Neff conducted the Arlington Hotel, Slatington, for six years, and the Neff House, the oldest licensed hotel in the borough, for forty years. He also carried on a livery in connection with the hotel for the same long period of time. He was associated with John Unger in the business for a number of years. He had sons: Oscar A., an extensive contractor, residing in Slatington; and Oliver H., who succeeded his father to the livery business and has conducted it up to the present time.
William H. Neff, son of Abraham, was born in 1840 in Heidelberg township. He attended the public schools and assisted his father in his business, thereby acquiring (at an early age) a thorough knowledge of the wheelwright trade, which he has followed all his life.
He removed to Allentown about 1898, from Neffs, which place was named in honor of his father. He is a Republican, and a member of St. Andrew's Reformed church. He married, in 1868, Priscilla Ecke. She died at Slatington, Pa.. Issue: 1. Susan M. 2. Ellen M. 3. Florence M. 4. Ida L. 5. Daisy M. 6. Emma J. 7. Eva May. 8. William H., of Slatington 9. Katie. 10. James A., of Easton, Pa.
WILLIAM H. NEFF, ice cream manufacturer and dealer in ice cream, confectionery, and the proprietor of the "Neff's Restaurant," on Upper Main street, Slatington, was born Dec. 16, 1870, at Neffs. When seventeen years old he learned the baking trade at Allentown and continued to follow it in Allentown until in 1893, when he located at Slatington and worked in the slate
industry until in 1901. He then engaged in the present business at 627 Main street. He enjoys a large trade in the wholesale ice business and supplies the upper end of the county with a superior product, and he conducts an up-to-date eating restaurant and ice cream parlor.
Mr. Neff is active in church and Sunday school work; is an official member of the Baptist Church and has served the Sunday school as its superintendent and the B. Y. P. U. as its president.
Socially he is a member of the P. O. S. of A., the Knights of Friendship; the Royal Arcanum, and the Modern Woodmen of America.
On March 25, 1899, he married Molly E. Jones, a daughter of John and Mary ( Williams) Jones. They have two children, viz: Ruth L., and Ethel M.
----------------
John Neff was a farmer near Mossersville, in Lynn township. His farm was about 75 acres. He is buried at the Ebenezer church at New Tripoli. His wife was Miss Oswald and they had children as follows:
1. John, who had his father's homestead and late in life married the widow of his brother Henry, but they had no children.. His brother died in middle life. 2. Jonas B. 3. Elias, who was a farmer and lived in Lynn township. 4. Henry.
Jonas B. Neff, was born Oct. 4, 1803, died on Nov. 3, 1867, aged 64 years, and is buried at Frieden's church, near Slatington. He was a tanner and lived at New Tripoli. For fourteen years he was captain of the old state militia from Lynn township, of which Amos Ettinger was the brigadier-general and David Laury, the major. Mr. Neff was six feet tall and during battalion days was in his best and attracted considerable attention from the interested people who had gathered to witness the battalion drills. He was a great disciplinarian and gave the commands loudly and in a clear voice, thus gaining the admiration and plaudits of the populace. Mr. Neff and his family were members of the German Reformed church, which he served as elder and trustee.
His wife was Mary Magdalene (Molly) Mosser, daughter of Michael Mosser, who was born in 1800 and died in 1883, aged 83 years. They had children: Nathan, Edward, Jonas, Matilda, who married David Weaver, of Germansville, and Duan.
Duan Neff, son of Jonas B., was born in Lehigh county, Pa., July 19, 1839. He learned the carpenter trade, following it until 1879, and afterwards he followed the carpenter and corntracting business, employing about fifty people. He built the Presbyterian church, several schools, and about 75 houses in and about Slatington;

GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL.
also a large hotel and houses at Weatherly. After 1879 he was engaged in the slate business and did roof contracting. From 1880 to 1885 he roofed several hundred buildings at Milton, Pa., which was after the disastrous fire at that place. In 1863, Mr. Neff enlisted in Company I, 38th Penn'a. Regiment, and served 43 days during the emergency. He was a member of the Slatington town council, and the Reformed congregation of the Frienden's church at Hoffman, near Slatington.
In 1903 he came to Allentown and resides with his daughter at 430 1/2 North Tenth street. He had lived in Slatington for 35 years. In 1859 he was married to Amelia Hunsicker, daughter of Dennis Hunsicker. Mrs. Neff died May 4, 1907, aged 66 years, and is buried on the family plot at Slatington. Their children were: I. Ida, who died in infancy. 2. James, who died in infancy; 3. Allen, of Allentown, who married Mrs. Meda Kutz, and has one daughter, Emily. 4. Calvin, of Allentown. 5. Walter, who died at the age of eleven years. 6. Melvin B., before mentioned. 7. Ella E., single, of Allentown. 8. Emma, who married E. L. Krauss of Slatington, Pa, 9. William, of Allentown, who married Cora Krause, of Slatington, and they have children: Florence, Russell, Mabel, Hilda, Esther, Dorothy and an infant son.
MELVIN B. NEFF, a member of the firm of Neff, Chattoe & Co., Inc., was born in Slatington, Sept. 15, 1873. On March 4, 1886, he began to learn the trade of making art stained glass in Philadelphia, serving three years as an apprentice, and continued his services in the largest establishments in Philadelphia until 1900, when he accepted a position at his trade at Harrisburg and continued there until 1903. In November, 1903, the above-mentioned firm was organized at Allentown, and located at 34 North Seventh street. In the Spring of 1904 they located at 911 Linden street and in 1909 the firm erected their present building at 429-431 North. Howard street, which is a two-story brick building and has dimensions 20x80 feet. This firm employs eight and nine men and is the only concern of its kind in the city and county: Among their many contracts are the following: Koch Bros, Merchants National Bank, the Thomas J. Koch residence, the Max Hess residence, the St. Paul's Sunday school, Dubbs Memorial church, all of Allentown; one of the leading churches at Seaford, Del.; the Catholic church at Easton; Down Works, Phillipsburg, N. J.; the Alphrato church, Mifflin county, Pa., and since 1903 the firm enjoyed most of the trade in this section.
Mr. Neff is a member of the Modern Wood-


945
men of America. He and his family are members of St. Andrew's Reformed church.
On Sept. 18, 1901, he was married to Katharine Moorehead, daughter of Terrance Moorehead, of Ireland, and they have children: Helen M., who died in infancy; and Eugene M., who was born Feb. 25, 1907.