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1770 1918 
 
 HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 TROUT HALL 
 
 HOME OF THE LEHIGH COUNTY 
 HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 « 
 
 issued by 
 The Lehigh County Historical Society 
 

 sirr 
 
 SOCIETY 
 
A HISTORY OF TROUT HALL 
 
 By Charles R. Roberts 
 President of the Lehigh County Historical Society 
 
 As an introduction to this historical sketch of the building 
 known as Trout Hall, it seems altogether proper to give a short 
 account of the early history and founding of the city of Allen- 
 town. 
 
 The first mention of tlie Lehigh region is found in a letter 
 written April 12, 1701, by William Penn, to a trader referring to 
 his dealings with the Indians. Between 1720 and 1730 there 
 were few settlers in this region, but after 1730 they became more 
 numerous. In 1735, William Allen, then Mayor of Philadelphia, 
 became the owner of a tract of 5,000 acres of land on the west 
 bank of the Lehigh River, or the west In-aneh of the Delaware, as 
 it was frequently called. About 1740, Mr. Allen built a log 
 house on this tract, near the bank of the Jordan Creek, which v/as 
 used by himself and friends as a hunting and fishing lodge. 
 
 This was the first hoitse built on this tract and on the draft of 
 the road from Easton to Reading, laid out in 1753, in which 
 Union Street was a link, its location is marked, "Mr. Allen's 
 house." In 1750, Mr. Allen became Chief Justice of the Su- 
 preme Court of the Province and in 1762, by his direction, a 
 town was laid out on his land covering forty-two- blockc5 and 
 called Northampton. The new^ town was commonly called Mr. 
 Allen's town, and then Allenstown and finally, in 1838, the name 
 was officially changed to Allentown. The limits of the town 
 were, Fourth, Tenth, Union and Liberty Streets. In 1763, six- 
 teen men were taxed as residents of the nev/ town : Leonard Abel^ 
 Simon Brenner, Martin Derr, David Deshler, Martin Froelich, 
 Simon Lyendecker, George Lauer, Jacob Moor, Peter Miller, 
 Daniel Nunemaker, Abraham Rinker, Peter Rhoads, Pete.' 
 Schwab, George Schnepf, Nicholas Schneck and George Wolf. 
 
 Colonel James Burd purchased several lots on the north side 
 of Hamilton Street, between Hall and Eighth, and had a house 
 built on the property. In a letter written by him from Lancas- 
 ter, dated June 28, 1762, to Mr. Allen, he said : 
 
 ' ' I had a letter the other day from Mr. Klotz, and he inf oi-ms 
 me that my house goes very well and that there is ten houses 
 more building in Northampton." 
 
Mr. Allen wished to scciii't' ('oloiicl l>iii-(l to inana^r the town 
 and liis otlicr land. In a Icttt-r to Colonel Hiird, his fathe)- in- 
 law. Edward Shippen, wrote: "("onsin Allen is to hold a court of 
 Oyer and Terniinor here next week and hopes to see you to talk 
 with you about his new town. lie says several peo])le have a,")- 
 ])lied to liini to take his plantation at Northainjjton, hut thai lie 
 would not let anyhody have it till he gave you the refusal of it. 
 The man who li\ed last ui)on it, he says, gained a good estate l)y 
 it. He wants \'ou, he tells me, for a manager of his Town, eve., 
 but these things 1 leave to your own Judgement."" 
 
 In 1763, Mr. Allen and his two daughters went to England, 
 where they arrived at Portsmouth on June 12th, after "an agree- 
 able passage of six weeks." In tlie fall of this year, events oc- 
 curred which changed the plans of Colonel Rurd and greatly 
 affected the little village. On the Sth of (>cto])er a band of In- 
 dians descended upon Allen and AVhitehall Townshi]is, only six 
 miles distant from Allentown, and killed fifteen jiei-sons. In a 
 few hours the town was crowded with refugees, and although it 
 was Saturday, Rev. Jacob Joseph Roth, a Lutheran minister, was 
 conducting a service in the log church at Hamilton and Church 
 Streets, and was compelled to stop the service and assist Colonel 
 Burd, who had arrived in the town, to form a company to pro- 
 tect the tow-n. George Wolf was chosen Captain, and Abraham 
 Rinker, Lieutenant, of a company of twenty-five men organ- 
 ized. 
 
 Colonel Burd wrote from Fort Augusta to Mr. Allen, on Jan- 
 uary 10, 1764, as follows: "On the Saturday morning the town 
 of N()rtham]~)ton was crowded with men, women and children 
 flying from the Indians, wdiom they said was within a few^ miles 
 of the town, killing all before them and burning the houses." 
 Again : " I expected ere now to have been pleasantly situated at 
 Northampton with my family, but the alteration of our aft'airs in 
 America by the new Indian war, has obliged me to think of 
 settling in the interior parts of the Province." To a Mr. Stewart, 
 he wrote: "This new Indian war has altered the situation of my 
 affairs greatly. 1 thought to have been verj' i)leasantly situated 
 at Northampton with my family and have rendered some sjuall 
 marks of my gratitude to one of my best friends. I think it 
 would be best if agreeable to Mr. Allen and you that Mr. Gordon 
 should give dii-ections about the management of the town to the 
 best man he can find upon the s]:)()t. 1 mean, to prevent abuses 
 on the Plantation, in cutting down the Timber, as it is out of my 
 power in my i)resent circumstances to do my woi'thy friend that 
 S('rvic(>. The Plantation miijlit be I'entetl for a \ear until Mr. 
 
Allen should return from England if you thought proper, but 
 the house should have a new Koof immediately, otherwise it will 
 all rot." 
 
 To Mr. Allen he wrote: "The town was increasing but I sup- 
 pose now it is quite at a stand. They had not got water \\\ the 
 Well, but I gave orders to go on with it." 
 
 On January 5, 1767, Chief Justice William Allen deeded to his 
 son, James Allen, the town and all his land adjoining, amounting 
 
to 3,338 acres. James Allm was l)()i-ii in lMiila(lcl|)liia in 1742. 
 He entered the Collejiv of Pliila(lcli)liia in 1755, gratluated in 
 1759, studied law witii Sliipix'ii, tlic rrovineial Councilor, and in 
 July, 1761, went to London, p]n<:laii(l, to complete his law studies 
 at the Temple, where he remained until 1765. He was admitted 
 to practice in the Supreme Court, September 26, 1765; was 
 elected a common councilman of Philadcl])hia on October 6, 1767, 
 and on ]\Iay 15. 1776, was elected to the Assembly, receiving 853 
 votes, with only 14 against him. 
 
 Jaspar Yeates, of Lancaster, wrote to James Burd. February 
 28, 1768: "Our friend, Jimmy Allen, is to be married to Miss 
 Betsy Lawrence in a day or two, as we are credibly informed." 
 
 Edward Burd wrote to his father, James Burd, March 5, 
 1768: "Old ]\lrs. Lawrence, the mother of Mr. John Lawrence, 
 died last Sunday, which accident I suppose will retard the mar- 
 riage of her granddaughter for some time." 
 
 James Allen married, March 10, 1768, in Christ Church, 
 Philadelphia, Elizabeth, only child of John Lawrence, Esq., and 
 his wife, Elizabeth Francis, daughter of Tench Francis, Esq. 
 They had four children : Anne Penn Allen, who married James 
 Greenleaf; ^Margaret Elizabeth Allen, who married William 
 Tilghman, afterward Chief Justice ; Mary Masters Allen, who 
 married Henry W. Livingston, and James, who died in 1788, 
 in his tenth year. 
 
 In 1770, James Allen built Trout Hall. He wrote in his diary, 
 on November 6, 1770: "Two days ago I returned from Trout 
 Hall (a name I have just given my house) where I had been 
 with Mr. Lawrence, my brother Billy and Jenny Tilghman. We 
 were at Heller's near the Gap of ye mountain, but to our sur- 
 prise did not kill one Grouse. This refers to the Wind Gap. 
 On September 13, 1771, he wrote: "This day I set oflE for Trout 
 Hall with my wife and child and Mrs. Lawrence. They have not 
 been there since I finished my house. ' ' 
 
 The name, Trout Hall, Avas given for the reason that all the 
 streams in the vicinity, the Jordan, Little Lehigh and Cedar 
 Creeks and the Lehigh River, abounded in the gamy trout. Au- 
 gusta Moore, the poetess, must have known of the beauty of the 
 Lehigh when she wrote : 
 
 ''For Lehigh was our joy anil pride, 
 
 Our glad, l)elovt'il river; 
 And all around was charmed ground, 
 
 Our Home! delightful ever." 
 
 On October 14, 1775, ]\Ir. Allen wrote in his diai-y: "Last 
 Thursday and the preceding Tuesday I appeared in Battalion in 
 my uniform, as a private man in Captn. Shees company." On 
 
June 16, 1776: "This day I set off with my family for North- 
 ampton, with the Chariot", Phaeton and Sulky." In September, 
 1776. Mr. Allen visited New York and was received by General 
 Washington at his headquarters, "with the utmost politeness," 
 where he found many friends. June 6, 1777, he writes: "I am 
 now fixed here, and am very busy in g-ardening, planting, etc. I 
 
 visit Phila. once in 2 months." October 1, 1777, he wrote: "Mr. 
 Hamilton is now at my house; he arrived here the 17th of last 
 
 month and is very happy that he is so well situated Since 
 
 the battle of Brandywine many thousand Waggons passed my 
 door and are continually passing in great numbers. All the bag- 
 gage of our Army is at Bethlehem and here ; and what with Hos- 
 
l)itals and iirtificcrs these little towns are tilled. Every day some 
 of the iidiabitants of Philadelphia are eoniiiig up to settle liere. 
 The road from Easton to Heading, by my house, is now the most 
 travelled in America. Many of the Congress passed by this 
 place." 
 
 November 21. 1777: "".Mr. John Adams, wiio passed thru 
 here a week ago, said the struggle was past and that Independ- 
 ence was now unalterably settled; the Crisis was over The 
 
 great magazines of military stores here, at Bethlehem and Eas- 
 ton are removed to Carlisle The General Hospital is still 
 
 here and the Director General, l)i'. Shippen, and his assistant, Dr. 
 Bond, my old aecjuaintance, with my wife's cousin, T. Lawrence, 
 make out a good Society, and we endeavor to banish Politics.'' 
 
 On December 26, 1777, Mr. Allen rode to Valley Forge, and 
 dined at headquarters with General Washington. Here he se- 
 cured a pass permitting his wife and three daughters, her mother, 
 Mrs. Lawrence, and their housekeeper, Mrs. Du Berry, and her 
 daughter, to enter Philadelphia. Mr. Allen accompanied them 
 on January 7th and returned to Trout Hall. He remained here 
 until February, when he visited his sister, Mrs. John Penn, at 
 Union, N. J., and on the 13th went with her to Philadelphia, 
 where his son, James, was born on February 24th. 
 
 He never returned to Trout Hall, although he wrote in his 
 diary that he should prefer his old situation at Trout Hall, with 
 security' for his person and property. Ill health came upon him 
 and on May 11, 1778, he wrote: "My health is much injured by 
 a shortness of breath and pain in the breast. I am in hopes I 
 shall get rid of it, but as the difficult breathing has continued for 
 a year and a half, it alarms me. I have decreased in weight 44 
 lbs., my spirits hurt and a general relaxation." The last entry in 
 his diary was July 15, 1778. His health became worse and he 
 proposed going to France in the autumn. H,is death occurred (m 
 September 19, 1778. In his will he becpieathed to his wife all his 
 furniture, plate, horses, carriages, books and stocks, and the house 
 and lot on Chestnut Street, Philadelphia. The estate at North- 
 ampton was given to his children. His sword he left to his 
 brother, Andrew, and his watch to his brother, William. He also 
 freed his three negro slaves. His Avidow subsecpienth" married 
 Hon. John Lawrence, a United States Senator from New York, 
 and had three children : Emily, married Joseph Fowler ; Frances, 
 married Alexander McWhoi'ter; and Margaret, married George 
 H. McWhorter. 
 
 After the Revolution, ^Ii'S. Allen, after her second marriage, 
 Mrs. Lawrence, and her daughters, s])ent considerable time here, 
 
especially in the summer. I have been told that the three sons 
 of my great-great-grandfather, Judge Peter Rhoads, who were 
 of the same ages as the Allen girls, frecjuently took them fishing. 
 James, the young son of James Allen, died in his tenth 3'ear, in 
 1788, and his sisters then becoming the sole owners, made par- 
 tition of the town of Northampton on May 17, 1798. On January 
 31, 1825, William Tilghman and Anne Penn Greenleaf, conveyed 
 to Mary, wife of Walter Livingston, several blocks of ground, 
 among which was the block in which Trout Ilall was situated. 
 Mrs. Livingston was Mrs. Greenleaf 's daughter and married her 
 cousin, Walter C. Livingston, on July 12, 1824. Mr. Livingston 
 was a merchant and his Philadelphia residence was at Eleventh 
 Street and Girard Avenue. On August 3, 1828, he was commis- 
 sioned by Governor Schulze, Colonel of the 68th Regiment of 
 Militia, in the Second Brigade, Seventh Division, composed of 
 Northampton, Pike and Lehigh Counties. On June 22, 1830, he 
 
 Trout Hall in 1850 
 
 was commissioned by Governor Wolf, as Aide-de-Camp, with the 
 rank of Lieutenant Colonel. These commissions were presented 
 to this society by Mrs. C. W. MacFarlane, of Philadelphia. In 
 October, 1831, Mr. Livingston was elected to the State Senate 
 from Lehigh County. 
 
 He later became United States Consul at Marseilles, France, 
 and there repeated the brilliant entertainments with which he 
 
10 
 
 liad dazzled Pliiladclphia society. After the family returned to- 
 this counti-y he beeaiiie lieavily iiiterestetl in some iron furnaces 
 near IMedia, which proved unsuccessful and the <ireater jnirt of 
 his property was swej)t away. In 1847, Trout Hall, described as 
 a two-story stone messuage and sixteen acres of land, was sold to 
 romeoys Paul, of Philadeli)hia, who, a week later, sold it to 
 ("hi-istian Pretz and Henry AVeinsheimer. The house was oc- 
 eu])ied for a time by Erskinc Hazzard aiul by IMatthew Selfridge. 
 
 On May 1, 1848, the Allento^^^l Seminary was opened in the 
 Livingston mansion, as it had become to be called during the Liv- 
 ingston ownership, by Rev. Christian Rudolph Kessler, who 
 taught tlie Classics and German. J. B. Evans was teacher of 
 English and ^Mathematics and C. L. Lochman of Drawing. 
 
 At the end of the third term, on September 29, 1849, a cata- 
 logue was printed, a copj^ of which is owned by this society, pre- 
 sented by the late Philip S. Pretz. 
 
 There were 32 pupils, who were as follows: C. A. Boas, son of 
 Caj^tain J. D. Boas, of Allentown; W. S. Briggs, Lehighton; 
 B. K. Brobst, Lynn Township ; B. F, Derr, son of William Uerr, 
 of Allentown : J. H. E. Dubs, who became a minister and histor- 
 ian of the Reformed Cliurch, son of Rev. Joseph S. Dubs, of North 
 Whitehall; T. C. Freytag, son of Daniel C. Frej^tag, who 
 then owned what was later the Elliger home on Chew Street ; 
 Jacob B. Geib, of Philadel]ihia ; Phaon P. Haas, of Lynn; H. C. 
 Hardtner, of Baltimore; T. J. Heberling, of AVeissport; B. F. 
 Held, son of John Held, of South AVhitehall ; Thomas Keck, son 
 of Solomon L. Keck, of Hanover ; Simon P. Kern, son of Edward 
 Kern, of North Whitehall; J. Reed and C. Eugene Meyer, sons 
 of Conrad Meyer, the organ builder, of Philadelphia ; F. J. Mohr, 
 son of Jacob Mohr ; P. S. Pretz, son of Christian Pretz ; and 
 Lewis Ritter, son of Jacob Ritter, all of Allentown ; J. M. Rom- 
 mel, Philadelphia ; Q. A. Roth, son of Daniel Rotli, and Henry W. 
 Rupp, son of Tilghman Ruj)p, of Allentown; Alfi-ed G. Saeger, 
 son of William Saeger, of Hanovei-; S. S. Schultz, of Berks 
 County; R. H. Seller, of Harrisburg; II. D. Spinner, of Allen- 
 town ; C. H. and F. A. Yon Tagen, of Germantown ; William 
 Weigel, son of David Weigel, and Henry A. Wilson, son of John 
 Wilson, of Allentown; Fraid^Iin Veager, of Lower Alaeungie; 
 Theodore C. Yeager (Alayor of Allentown in 1873), son of Rev. 
 Joshua A'eager, and Edward B. Young (elected Alayor of Allen- 
 town in 1876), son of Joseph Young, both of Allentown. 
 
 There were two sessions of five months each, beginning No- 
 vember 1st and May 1st. The vacation months were April and 
 Odotx-r. Tuition was $1-") pci' session. Tuition, board and wash- 
 
11 
 
 ing, $65. Fuel for winter was fifty cents. In 1850, new scliolars 
 were: Oscar Behne, Reading; I. H. Zuilch, Lynn; John I. Det- 
 weiler, Hellertown; Hiram H. Schwartz, North Whitehall, who 
 subsequently became a Judge of the Berks County courts ; John 
 F. Kuemerle, of Philadelphia ; Edwin Solliday, Lynn ; Jacob F. 
 Brown, Pottsville; Thomas Weber, Upper Saucou; Thomas J. 
 Gross, Salisbury ; Owen A. and Aaron Miller, Saegersville ; Theo- 
 dore H. Seyf ert, Philadelphia ; Edward H. M. Sell, Upper Sau- 
 cou ; and Franklin J. F. and L. R. A. Schantz, Henry A. Blumer, 
 Edwin German, T. A. Mohr, Lewis H. Wolf, Edward F. Powell, 
 Henry H. Lightcap and A. C. Pretz, of Allentown. 
 
 In the summer of 1851, a west wing was erected and oc- 
 cupied by three departments. In the summer of 1851 the central 
 building of four stories was erected and the Livingston mansion 
 raised to three stories. This gave the seminary a front of 130 
 feet. There were then 202 pupils and accommodations for 100 
 boarders. Rev. William N. Reynolds, D. D., was Principal from 
 1855 to September, 1857, when he became President of the Illinois 
 State University, at Springfield, 111. Rev. William Phillips, 
 A. M., was Principal from November 1, 1857, to November 1, 
 1859, when Rev. W. R. Hofford became Principal. In March, 
 1864' the Seminary was chartered by the Legislature as the Al- 
 lentown Collegiate Institute and Military Academy. 
 
 Rev. M. L. Hofford was the only president of the institution 
 under this charter, and resigned in the spring of 1867. The in- 
 stitution was closed June 16, 1867. The Evangelical Lutheran 
 Ministerium of Pennsylvania then assumed partial control and it 
 became Muhlenberg College. 
 
 On August 31. 1868, the title passed from Messrs. Pretz and 
 Weinsheimer to Muhlenberg College. 
 
 A stone wall extended in front of this property, along Walnut 
 Street, from Fifth to Jordan Streets. The first Lehigh County 
 fair was held in 1852 in the field east of Fourth Street. A white 
 frame building, used as a laundry, stood to the east of Trout Hall 
 and south of this was a small brick building, in the former of 
 which some classes were held for a time. The young boys who at- 
 tended the school wore long aprons, as was the custom of that day. 
 Among the early pupils who are living in Allentown today are 
 Joseph B. Lewis and Jacob A. Blumer. 
 
 Such is the history of Trout Hall and we hope that it may 
 stand as a perpetual monument to the early inhabitants of Allen- 
 town, teaching history and patriotism to the coming generations. 
 
 A facsimile of the first copy of the Trout Hall Argus, issued 
 Saturday. February 9, 1856, by A. C. Pretz, editor, is here given. 
 It is a four-page leaflet, all pen work. 
 
12 
 
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13 
 
 THE RESTORATION OF TROUT HALL 
 
 By Eev. Jeremiah J. Schindel 
 
 The chief object of an historical society is the cultivation of 
 an historical sense not only among its members, but in the com- 
 munity where it exists. Perhaps the most tangible evidence of 
 the influence of the Lehigh County Historical Society is the ac- 
 com])lished restoration of Trout Hall. The society was organ- 
 
 Trout H.vll, South View 
 
 ized on January 9, 1904, with the following officers : Prof. George 
 T. Ettinger, Ph. D., President; Mr. Philip W. Flores, Vice Presi- 
 dent; Mr. Charles R. Roberts, Secretary; Leo Wise, Esq., Treas- 
 urer. Among tlie objects of the society as given in Article II of 
 its constitution is the following: "The marking of such places of 
 historical interest as may be located in the county." The year 
 this society was organized Muhlenberg College, which had in- 
 corporated Trout Hall as the east wing of its plant at Fourth and 
 Walnut Streets, moved to its modern plant beautifully located on 
 Chew Street beyond Twenty-third Street, Allentown.' Its former 
 
14 
 
 jilaiit Ix'canu' the (|iiai"tt'i'.s of the Allciilown. Prcpai'atoi'N' School, 
 i)iit the Board of Tnistces at once ottered tlie old coUejre site for 
 sale. At once, members of tlie society, especially Mr. Charles R. 
 Roberts and Rev. J. D. Sehiiidel, D. D., tried to create sentiment 
 in the city for the purchase of the property as a city park, with 
 the ultimate object of the restoration of the east wino' of the old 
 colle<i't' buildino- whose aiiti<|uity had been very successfully dis- 
 o'uist'd by a thick coat of jiUistci- and the adtlition of a third-story 
 built of bi'ick. So successfully had the old stone Trout Hall been 
 camoutlaKt'd that the casual observer was skeptical al)Out its his- 
 toricity. Piil)lic-s])iritt'd men like Mr. John F. Kramer, then 
 chainnan of Seh'ct Council; Mr. C. M. W. Keck, a neighboring 
 resident : Hon. Robert E. Wright, Pi'esident of the Allentown 
 National l^ank, and Edward II. Reninger, Esq., now a member of 
 tlu' executive connnittee of the society, exerted their influence 
 until on ]March 25, 1908, Acting Mayor Charles D. Schaeffer, 
 ^I. D., signed the ordinance passed by city councils for the pur- 
 chase of old Muhlenberg. The eonsicleration was forty thousand 
 dollars, twenty-five thousand dollars of which was paid in cash to 
 Muhlenberg College, the balance being provided for by a mort- 
 gage against the city held by the college corporation. 
 
 With the vacating of the premises by the Allentown Prepara- 
 tory School, early in 1915, officers and members of the Lehigh 
 County Histoi'ical Society, with the co-operation of Liberty Bell 
 Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, tried to interest 
 the city authoi-ities in the proposition to raze the other parts of 
 the old college buildings and restore Trout Hall. A portion of 
 the campus had already been sold by the city to the State of 
 Pennsylvania for an armory to be used by the National Guard ; 
 part of the grounds was also used as a city playground. On Jan- 
 uary 7, 1916, City Council made the first appropriation of near- 
 ly four thousand dollars for the restoration of Trout Hall. Addi- 
 tional api)ropriations were made later until the city had devoted 
 about nine thousand dollars for the purpose. With its comple- 
 tion the city generously contracted with the society for the rental 
 of the building at the nominal rate of one dollar a year. 'By ar- 
 rangement with the city and the society the building is also used 
 by Liberty Bell Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution. 
 The care of the building has been euti'usted to ]\Ir. John E. 
 McCloskey, who resides there with his family. 
 
 With the formal opening of Trout Hall we hope there will 
 begin a new era of activity in the collection and preservation of 
 valuable source nuiterial daily being desti'oyed, tliough invaluable 
 for future histoi'ies of Lehigh County. 
 
15 
 
 WHEN DREAMS COME TRUE 
 
 By Irene B. Martin 
 
 For many years we dreamed of ''Trout Hall Restored" — of 
 its use as an art museum — as a building where rare, old pieces of 
 furniture and relics of the olden time could be kept in safe- 
 keeping — and now, while sitting in Allen Park under the grand 
 old trees so wonderfully preserved by Allentown City Councils, 
 we see it in all its beauty. The park, a most restful place, with 
 the voices of children heard in a distance — for the playgrounds, 
 
 Tkult Hall, North \'ie\v 
 
 back of a high privet hedge, is almost hidden from view — that 
 playgrounds, the most eagerly sought out, for it has everything 
 to make a child's happiness complete — games, swings, and, best 
 of all, its drill grounds, used by both girls and boys ; and then, 
 in the midst of all, you see Trout Hall in all its grandeur and the 
 Art Museum, connected by its pergola, covered with roses, what 
 was once the stately, old court house, moved there, and again 
 showing its marvelous colonial architecture, spoken of and ad- 
 mired bv all visitors to Allentown. 
 
16 
 
 AVf filter 'I'foiil Hall, to tiiiil ()iii'st'lv(\s in tlio ri'aliiis of days 
 gone l)y — the first floor, ciitirt'ly occupit'd hy the llisfoi'ieal So- 
 ciety, fiiriiislied tlir()U<iliout with colonial furniture — rare old 
 pieces — walls lined with old inaiiuscri|)1s — and when one feels it 
 almost iiu]K)Ssible to find anything of more beaut}', we pass up 
 the old stairway, to enter the rooms furnished by the Liberty 
 Hell Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution. This floor 
 is a most complete colonial ajiartment, and is the home of the 
 ('lia])ter. Again we mount the stairway, and find the janitor's 
 (|uai'ters, also a rennnder of colonial days. 
 
 After wandering about all these beauties, we are invited to 
 view the kitchens — these rooms, in the basement, restored by 
 Allentown City Councils, to its perfect condition, and furnished 
 by the Historical Society and the Liberty Bell Chapter, have all 
 the good housewife could desire — and again one wonders! 
 
 Then returning to the parlor, we find a large gathering of 
 men and women — hundreds of them — all members of the societies 
 that use Trout Hall as their home — and all talking at once — so — 
 when we were told this w^as not all there was to be seen, w'e gladly, 
 passing through the bower of roses, enter the Art Museum and 
 gaze with wonder at its beauty — its rare old paintings, and its 
 quaint rooms — the one-time county ofifices — its grand stairway, 
 leading into the Assembly Hall — the eld court room, which could, 
 wei-e it possible, unfold many tales of sorrow^ and disappoint- 
 ment — and then, the old bell calls to meeting — and we know — 
 6ur dreams have come true. 
 
17 
 
 OFFICERS 
 
 President 
 Charles R. Roberts 
 
 Vice Presidents 
 Rev. C. J. Cooper, D. D. 
 Miss Irene B. Martin 
 
 Secretorij 
 Rev. Jeremiah J. Schindel 
 
 Fiitaiicial Sccrcfartj 
 Joe H. Hart 
 
 Treasurer 
 Edwin G. Trexler 
 
 Executive Committee 
 Hon. Frank M. Trexler 
 Edward H. Reninger, Esq. 
 Miss A. Violet Kline 
 David A. Miller 
 0. P. Knauss 
 
18 
 
 FORMAL OPENING OF TKOUT HALL 
 May 16, 1918, 2.00 P. M. 
 
 PROGRAM 
 
 Music 
 Prayer by Rev. C. J. Coopkh. 1). D. 
 America 
 Remarks by Cii aki.i.s R. Ixobehts, President of the Leliip-h 
 
 Comity Historical Society 
 6reetin<»'s from ^Iks. F. 0. Ritter, Regent of Liberty Bell (Miaj)- 
 
 ter, Daughters of the American Revolution 
 Address by Councilman J. Herbert Koiiler, reju-esenting the 
 
 Mayor and City Council 
 
 Music 
 Address by John W. Jordan, LL. D., of the Historical Society of 
 Pennsylvania 
 
 Music 
 Inspection of Building 
 
 DEDICATION DINNER 
 
 Elk's Club, 6 P. M. 
 
 Menu 
 
 cream op tomato soup, au croutons 
 
 olives radishes gherkins 
 
 roast veal, with filling 
 
 mashed potatoes string beans 
 
 bisque ice cream cakes 
 
 COFFEE 
 
 Greetings from the Bucks, Nortliamiiton, jicrks, ^Montgomery, 
 Lancaster, Lebanon and Carbon County Historical Socie- 
 ties, Moravian Historical Society and ^luhlenherg College 
 
 Greetings from the Pennsylvania Federation of Historical Socie- 
 ties, by Captain II. ^l. ^L RicirARDS, Pi-esident 
 
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 014 313 373 4