My Genealogy Hound

OLIVER H. JACOBY, a highly respected citizen of South Bethlehem, has the honor of being the first Burgess elected in the borough of Fountain Hill, which position he at present holds. Since 1886 he has been engaged in business as a contractor in the construction of houses, bricklaying and plastering. He was born here in 1854, and is the son of Levi and Elizabeth (Frey) Jacoby. His paternal grandfather, Jacob, was formerly engaged in farming on the present site of South Bethlehem, and also had a boatyard in the western part of the city. He was one of the founders of the Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church, and also of the Union Church.

The Jacoby family is of German descent, their ancestors having settled at a very early day in the Keystone State. Levi Jacoby was born on Brodhead Avenue, in South Bethlehem, and, like his father, followed agricultural pursuits, but later worked at boat-building and also ran a distillery. His death occurred at the old homestead at Lechauwicker Springs, at the age of fifty years. His wife, who was born at Lower Saucon, was a daughter of Abram Frey, of Salisbury Township. Mrs. Jacoby died in 1889, at the age of seventy years.

In his father’s family of six children our subject is next to the eldest. He was reared and educated in this city, where he attended the public schools. At the age of seventeen he was apprenticed as a bricklayer to Reuben Broman, in which business he continued for about six years with his old employer. In 1886 he engaged in contract work for himself, and has made a success of the enterprise. He owns some property in the city and has built for himself a row of eight residences on Delaware Avenue, and others on Playwell Street.

In South Bethlehem, in 1893, the marriage of O. H. Jacoby and Miss Annie Moritze was celebrated. The lady is a daughter of Edwin Moritze, a carpenter, and her birth occurred in Salisbury Township. Mr. and Mrs. Jacoby have one child, Gertrude Elizabeth, who was born July 13, 1894. They have also an adopted daughter, Annie, thirteen years of age, who is the daughter of our subject’s brother.

In 1893, at a special election on the independent ticket for a short term, Mr. Jacoby was elected Burgess without opposition. In the spring of 1894 he was re-elected on the same ticket for a term of three years. In politics he supports the Democracy, and is active in the ranks of his party.

Socially he belongs to Keystone Lodge, I. O. O. F., at Bethlehem; to Amethyst Council No. 846, R. A., of South Bethlehem; and to the Heptasophs, Union Conclave No. 222, at South Bethlehem. In the Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church he has served as a Deacon. He is highly respected by all who have any dealings with him, either in a business or social way.