URIAH S. LITZENBERG

Portrait and Biographical Record ~ Pages 853

Kindly submitted by: Barbara Gallagher

URIAH S. LITZENBERG, Notary Public of Allentown, was born in Lehigh County April 22, 1847, and has passed his entire life in the place of his birth. He is a son of Rev. Reuben and Hannah (Ruder) Litzenberg. His father is a minister in the Evangelical Church, and is now living at No. 23 South Ninth Street. The wife and mother died in this city in 1884.

            The subject of this sketch is the seventh in order of birth in the family of eight children, six sons and two daughters, four of whom are yet living. As his father was a minister and was called to various places as pastor, the family lived in many different places, and the education of our subject was therefore acquired in various schools. At the age of fifteen he began clerking in a general store, and was thus employed for a short time, after which he learned the trade of a tinsmith in Catasauqua. When he had mastered the business he went to Lancaster, Pa., where he followed that pursuit until 1864, when, at the age of eighteen, he entered his country’s service.

            For some time it had been the earnest desire of Mr. Litzenberg to join the Union army, and in 1864 he became a member of Company G, One Hundred and Ninety-fifth Pennsylvania Infantry, the regiment being commanded by Colonel Fisher. He was then assigned to West Virginia, and remained in the South until honorably discharged, in the early part of 1866. From the army he came to Allentown, where he earned his livelihood at the trade of a painter until 1872. In 1868 he married Miss Catherine S., daughter of David and Hannah Trumbauer, of Allentown. Four children were born of their union, but only two are now living, Kate J. and Ella E.

            In 1872 Mr. Litzenberg was appointed Deputy Revenue Collector for the Sixth District of Pennsylvania, under Edward Ruhe, and filled that position until 1876. In 1877 and 1878 he was Sealer of Weights and Measures for Lehigh County. The following year he was elected Alderman of Allentown from the Fourth Ward for a term of five years, but resigned in August, 1882, and was then appointed Special Examiner on the United States Pension Bureau, serving in that capacity until April, 1887, when he resigned. He was re-appointed to this position under President Harrison, but declined the appointment.

            In addition to his business as Notary Public, Mr. Litzenberg also does business as a pension attorney. He has taken a very active part in politics, especially in the Grant campaign, at which time he was Secretary of the County Committee. He also took a prominent part in the Garfield campaign of 1880. Through the active part he takes in politics he has become widely known, and is recognized as one of the leading citizens of Allentown. He is now a member of E. B. Young Post No. 87, G. A. R., of which he served two terms as Commander, and has been Aid-de-Camp a number of times.

Typed By: Barbara Gallagher