Seaboldt, John 

Portrait and Biographical Record – Pages -

Kindly submitted: Joanne Chubb 

John Seaboldt is a worthy representative of the business interests of Lehighton, and carries on operations as a real-estate and insurance agent.  He has the honor of being a native of the Keystone State, for his birth occurred in Chester County, on the 23d of October, 1845.  His father, John Seaboldt, was also born in Pennsylvania, and the grandfather, Henry Seaboldt, was one of the pioneers of Chester County.  The family is of Scotch and English descent.  The father was a farmer during his early life, but afterward engaged in business as a merchant tailor, his energies begin devoted to that work for many years.  His last days were spent in Lehighton, where his death occurred in 1891.  His wife, who bore the maiden name of Mary A. Sherren, died in Lehighton in the year 1889.  This worthy couple were the parents of nine children, four of whom are yet living.

  John Seaboldt was the eighth in order of birth in this family.  No event of special importance occurred during his early boyhood days, which were passed amidst play and work and in attendance at the public schools of his native county.  He afterward pursued his studies in the schools of Philadelphia, and then entered upon his business career in the mercantile establishment of D.J. Lincoln & Co., in Birdsboro, Berks County, Pa.  He served as salesman and superintendent of that store for a long period of eleven years, and his faithfulness and efficiency made him one of its most trusted employes.  He was absent from the store for only one year, during which time he was numbered among the boys in blue.  Feeling that his country needed his services, he followed the promptings of his patriotic spirit and enlisted as a member of Company I, Forty-second Pennsylvania Infantry.  He took part in the battle of Antietam and several lesser engagements, and when his term had expired, was honorably discharged.

  Mr. Seaboldt then returned to his old position with the firm of D.J. Lincoln & Co.  On severing his connection with that concern, he became bookkeeper for the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company at Packerton, where he remained for three years.  On the expiration of that period he came to Allentown, Pa., where he embarked in the manufacture of boots and shoes, being a member of the firm of John E. Lentz & Co.  On the death of his father-in-law, Thomas Kemerer, he came to Lehighton to settle up the Kemerer estate and take charge of the business at this place.  Mr. Kemerer was President of the National Bank, and was engaged in the insurance business, to which Mr. Seaboldt succeeded.  He has since carried on operations along that line, and has also dealt in real estate.  As an insurance agent he represents various companies in the east, and also foreign companies.

  Mrs. Seaboldt was married in 1872, Miss Emma Kemerer becoming his wife.  She is a most estimable lady, of cultured manner, and her friends throughout the community are many.  Both our subject and his wife are members of the Episcopal Church, and in politics Mr. Seaboldt is an active and stanch Republican, doing all in his power to promote the growth and insure the success of his party.  He has frequently served as a delegate to state conventions, and was elector of the national Convention at the time of the nomination of James G. Blaine, in 1884.

  In connection with his other business interests, Mr. Seaboldt is now a stockholder in the Lehighton National Bank, and has been President of the Lehighton Land Company since its organization in 1890.  He is also Secretary of the Lehighton Cemetery.  Prominent in business circles, he has the respect and confidence of all with whom he has been brought into contact, and is now numbered among the valued and leading citizens of Lehighton.