My Genealogy Hound

CHARLES ADAM DORNEY, President of the C. A. Dorney Furniture Company, is one of the most prominent business men in Allentown. He was born in this county, just three miles from the city, March 20, 1844, and is the son of Solomon Dorney, a native of Whitehall Township, where his decease occurred in 1856. He in turn was the son of Adam Dorney, a well-to-do resident of the county. The mother of our subject was Mrs. Susan (Scholl) Dorney, born in Lehigh County, and the daughter of David Scholl. Charles A. of this sketch spent his boyhood days in working on his father’s farm, and up to his fifteenth year attended the district school. In 1862 he came to Allentown, and for three years clerked in the dry-goods store of M. J. Kramer. In March, 1866, he opened up an establishment of his own, having a large stock of fine millinery and fancy goods, and was successfully engaged in that business for a period of nine years.

In 1869, while still conducting his millinery interests, Mr. Dorney, in partnership with Henry Berkemeyer, embarked in the furniture trade, under the firm name of Berkemeyer & Dorney. This connection existed until 1873, when our subject sold his interest in the enterprise to T. B. Fouth & Co. Five years later he again became a stockholder in the company, and is to-day the President. They manufacture all kinds of handsome furniture in their plant, which is located near the tracks of the Lehigh Valley Railroad, and is equipped with the latest approved machinery for the manufacture of chamber suits and sideboards. The company was incorporated recently under the name of the C. A. Dorney Furniture Company, with Charles Siegenfuss Treasurer, and B. M. Krause Secretary. They give employment to two hundred men and do a large and extensive business, having a paid-up capital of $200,000.

December 10, 1865, our subject was united in marriage with Miss Caroline Mertz, a native of this county, and the daughter of Charles Mertz. They have a beautiful residence located at No. 920 Hamilton Street, and; number their friends among the best people in the county. Politically he is a Republican.