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History of the Counties of Lehigh
and Carbon, in the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania
HOPKIN THOMAS.
Hopkin
Thomas, for many years master-mechanic of the Crane Iron Company and
one of the oldest residents, as also one of the influential citizens of
the Lehigh Valley in connection with its industrial
interests, was born at Glamorganshire, South Wales,
in 1793. He remained with his parents on
their farm until his sixteenth year, when he was apprenticed to the
Neath Abbey Works, near Neath, South Wales,
to acquire the trade of a machinist. He
early developed a fertile brain, and on fulfilling his apprenticeship
speedily attained a high position among his fellow-workmen. In 1834 he determined to emigrate with his
family to America,
and on landing in Philadelphia in 1834
obtained employment without difficulty in the establishment of the Baldwin Locomotive-Works. He
later entered the shops of Garrett & Eastwick, from whence he
engaged with the Beaver Meadow Railroad and Coal Company as
master-mechanic of their roads and mines. During
this period his inventive genius was first developed, and made
invaluable to his employers. In his
mechanical inventions and appliances he was conceded to be the pioneer
of the Lehigh
Valley. Through one of these inventions anthracite
coal was first made available for use in locomotives, and in this
application of coal as fuel he was at least twenty years in advance of
all others. He invented and successfully
used the chilled cast-iron car-wheel, as also the most improved and
successful mine-pumps and machinery of the day. In
all mechanical matters he was far in advance of his day, and in the
railroad and coal interests of the country he may with justice be
regarded as filling the position of an eminent benefactor.
Mr. Thomas was peculiarly modest and unassuming in his
character, a fact which prevented his attained either distinction or
wealth. Content that the world should be
benefited by the productions of his genius, he cared little whether
they brought him either fame or profit. In
his business relations he was upright, in his social intercourse
true-hearted and faithful, and in his home the typical head of a
cheerful and happy domestic circle.
Mr.
Thomas was united in marriage to Miss Catherine Richards, of
Merthyr-Tydvil, South Wales. Their children are William R., Mary (Mrs.
James H. McKee), Helen (Mrs. John Thomas), Jane, Kate M. (Mrs. James W.
Fuller). The death of Mr. Thomas occurred
on the 12th of May, 1878, at his home in Catasauqua, to
which place he removed in 1853, on being appointed master-mechanic of
the Crane Iron-Works.
Page
261
History
of the Counties of Lehigh and Carbon, in the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania
Alfred
Mathews and Austin N. Hungerford
J.
B. Lippincott & Co., Pennsylvania.
1884
Transcribed
by Annette Bame Peebles
The
Lehigh
County,
Pennsylvania
Biographies Project –
http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~arkbios/Lehigh/index.html.
Date
of Transcription: 14 June 2007
Copyright
(c) 2007 All Rights Reserved
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