1

(Photo by Richard F. Hope, 2009)

Keller Town House (109 North 4th Street).

Elaborate 2-1/2 story Queen Anne style[1] brick house, with 2 large dormer windows, offsetting asymmetrical porches on first and second floors railed and roofed with graceful wooden spindle columns. Arched “baker’s alley” is shared with No.111 next door.[2] Contains 16 rooms.[3] Interior woodwork “is typically carved, turned and sawn into elaborate patterns reminiscent of ancient European cathedrals and medieval Moorish architecture.”[4]

This property appears to be substantially the south-western quarter of original Town Lot No.156, as the original Lot was surveyed by William Parsons when Easton was established in 1752.[5] This Lot was formally purchased from the Penn Family in 1789 by John Carey for £ 25.[6] Carey sold the Lot to Abraham Sellers (also spelled Seller) in 1792 for £ 125,[7] who in turn resold it to Philip Shitz (also spelled Schitz) in 1797.[8]

Schitz had previously purchased Lot No.157, at the NE corner of Hamilton (later 4th) and Spring Garden Streets.[9] In 1800, he sold both lots to prominent Easton businessmen Daniel Wagener and John Herster,[10] who in 1801 resold them for £ 468 and 13 shillings to innkeeper Jacob Opp [Sr.].[11] Opp was the successful Revolutionary War era keeper of the colonial inn at the NE corner of Northampton and Hamilton (now 4th) Street, forerunner of today’s Hotel Lafayette.[12] Jacob Opp (Sr.) died on 16 April 1805.[13] He left no will to divide his property among his widow (Anna Maria) and four surviving daughters. His extensive real estate interests were divided into four “Portions”, and each was assigned a money value in an Orphan’s Court “partition” proceeding. Each “Portion” was then accepted from the estate, at the assigned valuation, by one of the four daughters (or, in three cases, by her husband acting in her behalf). Lot No.156 was part of “Portion No.4”, which was accepted from the estate by his daughter Catharine and her husband Christian Bixler III.[14]

Christian Bixler III was a Revolutionary War veteran. He came to Easton in approximately 1785 and originally made grandfather clocks, which (when in good condition) are expensive collectors items today. He also began selling jewelry, and his store (when passed down through the generations) claims to be the oldest jewelry store in America.[15] When he died in 1840,[16] his will left property on Hamilton (now 4th) Street in trust for life to his daughter, Maria McCullough, and then to her children. That property included both the corner lot (viz. Lot No.157) containing a “two story brick house”; and the next property (viz. Lot No.156) containing “two houses”).[17] She died on 1 May 1857, leaving 6 children.[18] The original executor of her will was her brother, Daniel L. Bixler, but he was dismissed from that post later in that year,[19] probably because of his personal financial troubles.[20] In his placejeweler Eli M. Fox (a partner of Daniel’s brother, William Bixler)[21] was appointed as a trustee to sell the property for Mrs. McCullough’s children. The purchaser of the property was Easton industrialist John Green.[22]

John Green was a “gentleman”, who lived at the corner of SpringGarden and North 4th Streets on property acquired from his father’s estate.[23] In 1860, Green’s family at that addressincluded his wife, Sarah, and three daughters: Catharine (age 20), Juliette (age 13), and Jane (age 11).[24] He also had a grown-up son, Edward H. Green, no longer living with his father (see below). John Green went into the iron business, employing his nephew Edward F. Stewart in the early 1850s. He was apparently very successful, as his “buildings then covered the half block from SpringGarden to Fourth” Streets, later “occupied by the Green family.”[25]

John Green died in 1870.[26] One of the executors of his will was his brother[27]Dr. Traill Green[28] (1813-97), an Easton physician who was the first President of the AmericanAcademy of Medicine,[29] and also a Professor at LafayetteCollege, teaching chemistry, geology, zoology and botany.[30]

Another of the executors of John Green’s will was his son,[31] Edward H. Green.[32] An 1874 Easton Atlas map shows the 109 North 4th Street property as part of a larger parcel listed to E.H. Green, containing two buildings separated by a small alley. (This small alley appears to correspond to the still-visible arched “baker’s alley” between this building and the Keller Town House next door.) The 1874 Atlas also listed E.H. Green as occupying the entire Lot at the SE corner of North 4th and Spring Garden Streets running along Spring Garden Street all the way over to Bank Alley; as well as the next two contiguous lots to the South of that one.[33] Edward Green lived next door to his sisters.[34] Professionally, Mr. Green was the President of the Keystone Iron Co.,[35] and also the first Secretary and Treasurer of the earliest Easton tram companies: the Easton and South Easton Passenger Ry. Co. (incorporated in 1866), and the West Ward Passenger Ry. Co. (incorporated in 1871).[36] Mr. Green and his three sisters (Kate, Juliette, and Jane) donated the “Garden Lot” on Spring Garden Street that was used to built the Presbyterian Church (then called the American Reformed Church).[37] He died on 27 Jan. 1879, at age 42.[38]

Despite the 1874 Easton Atlas listings of all the Green Family properties in Edward Green’s name, in fact the ownership was split up among Edward and his sisters, Kate, Juliette, and Jane, after their father’s estate was settled.[39] The 1870 Census shows each of them owning $36,000 in real property, and another $15,000 in personal property.[40] John Green’s North 4th Street parcel was split between his daughters Juliette and Jane: the parcel next door to this one (that later became the Nevin Town House) was conveyed by the estate to Jane Green,[41] while this one (that later became the Keller Town House) was conveyed in 1870 to Juliette (or Julietta, also sometimes known as Julia[42]) Green. The property included a “Frame Tenement” at that time.[43] Juliette was John Green’s middle daughter,[44] born c.1847.[45] She continued to lived at the SE corner of North 4th and Spring Garden Streets with her two sisters Catharine (Kate) and Jane, remaining there until she died in 1893.[46]

The two houses on Jane’s and Juliette’s two North 4th Street properties were rented by 1873 to members of the Pittinger Family. Juliette’s house was leased to Garret Pittener, then numbered 49 North 4th Street[47] and renumbered 109 North 4th Street with the inauguration of the modern street numbering scheme in 1874.[48] Jane’s house next door was leased to Henry Pittenger.[49]

The Northampton County Historical & Genealogical Society has stated that the existing house at 109 North 4th Street was built on the property in 1879,[50] which falls during Juliette’s ownership period. The brick house presumably represents a replacement of the “Frame tenement” that Juliette had acquired from her father’s estate. In 1881, Juliette conveyed this property to Emma F. Keller for $7,500.[51]

  • On the same day, Juliette’s sister Jane sold her property next door to David W. Nevin.[52]

Emma Keller was the wife of William H. Keller,[53] the owner of the highly successful “Temple of Music” at 219-21 Northampton Street.[54] The Kellers had previously lived in the row house at 338 Spring Garden Street, which Jane Green had received from her father’s estate.[55] The Kellers took up residence in the 109 North 4th Street property.[56] They were apparently the first residents in the new brick, Queen Anne style house.[57] Keller’s “Temple of Music” business was extremely successful. “It soon grew into an institution which was the ‘MusicalCenter’ of our city. Mr. William Keller established for himself a name synonymous with all things musical throughout the lower LehighValley and West Jersey Sector. Our community has produced some noteworthy musical artists down the passing years, and they were all more, or less loyal, “Templars of Kellers”.[58] By 1919, Keller’s “Temple of Music” on Northampton and Church Streets was said to be “one of the largest and most modernly equipped music houses in the country, not excepting those of the large cities.”[59] In the following year, the entire Keller “plant” consisted of “eleven floors in four buildings.” Keller also had an interest in a piano factory in New York, and “the reputation of the firm extend[ed] all over the country.”

The Kellersremainedresidents at 109 North 4th Streetfor some 30 years,[60] until 1911 when they sold the house to Charles J. Montague[61] and moved their residence up to College Hill.[62] Montague was a bookseller, whose store at this time was located in the MontagueBuilding (Sitgreaves Folly East) at 237-39 Northampton Street.[63] In 1920, the North 4th Street house was the residence “Charlie K.” Montague.[64]

Montague sold the house in 1925, followed by two other quick sales in that year that left the property in the hands of Caroline (“Carrie”) W. Transue,[65] the widow of Howard Transue[66] who worked as a “clerk”[67] but was a member of the “Transue banking family”.[68] Howard had died in 1920.[69] Mrs. Transue became a resident after her purchase,[70] and continued to live in the house for over four decades, leaving for a nursing home in the late 1960s prior to her death in 1970 at age 85.[71] At least by 1947, she listed the house as also offering “furnished rooms” for boarders.[72] In 1969, Mrs. Transue sold the house to Olga Ragusa,[73] the Da Ponte Professor of Italian at ColumbiaUniversity[74] from New York City who used it as a weekend retreat.[75] A portion of the building was also rented to Lawrence J. Rauktis and his family.[76]

After almost 3 decades, Professor Ragusa donated the property to the Northampton County Historical & Genealogical Society in December of 1998.[77] The Society had plans to use it for their new museum, after fixing the roof and wiring, and giving it “cosmetic improvements”. It estimated the house’s value at $90,000.[78] The Society later decided not to establish its museum in the house, but instead sold off the property in 2003, for $102,650.[79] Instead, for its new museum, the Society is now (in 2009) constructing a new building with a modern glass and slate façade to replace the Sigal Building (formerly the Abel Opera House) at 344 Northampton Street. The project is being undertaken with the aid of a large “naming-gift” from the Sigal family.[80]

Meanwhile, the Keller Town House was purchased by New York hardware artist Carl Martinez, who extensively renovated it for an additional $150,000 and redecorated much of the interior in a “super-minimalist style” designed to accentuate the “intricate wood floors, multiple original fireplaces and general airy feeling” of the house. The second floor, however, is occupied by Carl’s parents (both retired librarians), who have chosen to decorate it in a “warm, richly layered way” with many Persian rugs (Mrs. Martinez is Iranian by birth).[81]

[1]Alyce Templeton, “Historians Showcase Donated Ragusa House at Reception Attended by 100”, Morning Call, 26 Dec. 1999, p.E-7; Jimmy P. Miller, “Historical society gets an unexpected gift”, Express-Times, Fri., 1 Jan. 1999, pp.A-1, A-2; Grace Jean Fried, “The Northampton County Historical & Genealogical Society Proudly Presents . . . . The History Learning Center of NorthamptonCounty” (single page flyer/letter 7 July 1999); City of Easton, Pennsylvania Historic Resource Survey Form, Attachment: Building Description Survey Area 1 Zone A (City Council Resolution approved 12 May 1982)(“Victorian/Queen Anne” style).

[2]See Northampton County Tax Records, and visual inspection.

[3]Dennis Zehner, “Historical group gets Victorian donation, Retired New York City professor who used Easton house as weekend retreat gives it to county society”, Morning Call, Friday, 1 Jan. 1999, p. B-2. However, only 15 rooms were claimed in Grace Jean Fried, “The Northampton County Historical & Genealogical Society Proudly Presents . . . . The History Learning Center of NorthamptonCounty” (single page flyer/letter 7 July 1999).

[4]Jimmy P. Miller, “Historical society gets an unexpected gift”, Express-Times, Fri., 1 Jan. 1999, pp.A-1, A-2 (quoting Paul A. Goudy, Executive Director of Northampton County Historical & Genealogical Society).

[5]Compare A.D. Chidsey, Jr., The Penn Patents in the Forks of the Delaware Plan of Easton, Map 2 (Vol. II of Publications of the Northampton County Historical and Genealogical Society 1937) with Northampton County Tax Records map, The original Lots had a 60’ frontage along North 4th (Hamilton) Street at this point. Lot No.157 was at the corner – and today’s corner lot has a frontage of 59.83’ according to the tax records. This next lot has a 30’ frontage, and thus apparently occupyies the southern half of original Lot No.156.

[6]Deed, John Penn the Younger and John Penn the Elder to John Carey, F2 486 (4 Dec. 1789).

[7]Deed, John (Christina) Carey to Abraham Sellers/Seller, F2 488 (13 Apr. 1792)(sale price £ 125 for Lot No.156 measuring 60’ X 240’); accord, Deed, Abraham (Sophia) Sellers to Philip Shitz, F2 489 (7 July 1797)(recitals).

[8]Deed, Abraham (Sophia) Seller to Philip Shitz, F2 489 (7 July 1797); accord, Deed, Daniel (Eve) Wagener and John (Margaret) Herster to Jacob Opp [Sr.], G2 2 (20 Jan. 1801)(recitals).

[9]Deed, Andrew (Elizabeth) kachline to Philip Schitz, G1 520 (25 Apr. 1791).

[10]Deed, Philip (Elizabeth) Schitz to Daniel Wagener and John Herster, (26 Mar. 1800), as recited in Deed, Daniel (Eve) Wagener and John (Margaret) Herster to Jacob Opp [Sr.], G2 2 (20 Jan. 1801).

[11]Deed, Daniel (Eve) Wagener and John (Margaret) Herster to Jacob Opp [Sr.], G2 2 (20 Jan. 1801).

[12]See separate entry for the Hotel Lafayette at 11 North 4th Street.

[13]Henry F. Marx (compiler), I Marriages and Deaths Northampton County 1799 – 1851 Newspaper Extracts 20 (Easton Area Public Library 1929)(based upon an article in the American Eagle newspaper of 20 April 1805). He had been born in Germany on 24 Dec. 1740, and immigrated to America “when young”. He left a widow and 4 daughters. His widow, Anna Maria Opp, died on 3 January 1827. Id., vol. IV, p.1329.

[14]Estate of Jacob Opp, 7 Orphan’s Court Record 319 (3 June 1805), 7 Orphan’s Court Record 330 (17 Aug. 1805); 8 Orphans Court Record 5 (18 Apr. 1806).

The four “Portions”, and the accepting heirs, were as follows:

Portion No.1: The stone hotel at the corner of Northampton and Hamilton (later, 4th) Streets on a portion of original town Lot No.165, plus original town Lot No.257 on the North side of Ferry Street, collectively valued at £ 3,555, accepted by daughter Elizabeth and her husband Abraham Horn Jr.

Portion No.2: The remainder of original town Lot No.165 lying behind and East of the stone hotel, plus the right to attach a building (by sinking joists, etc.) to the “Eastern Wall” of the hotel, together with original town Lot No.256 on the North side of Ferry Street, collectively valued at £ 1,055, accepted by daughter Eve and her husband Daniel Wagener.

Portion No.3: Original town Lot No.157 (60’ X 240’) at the NE corner of Hamilton (later 4th) and Spring Garden Streets, plus original town Lot No. 255 at the NW corner of Ferry and Juliana (later 5th) Streets, plus Out Lot No.99, collectively valued at £ 862 10 shillings, accepted by daughter Mary.

Portion No.4: Original town Lot No.156 (20’ X 240’) on the East side of Hamilton (later 4th) Street, plus an unnumbered piece of property along Ferry Street measuring 2 acres and 99 perches, collectively valued at £ 800, accepted by daughter Catharine and her husband Christian Bixler.

Each daughter also had to pay Jacob Opp’s widow interest on her 1/3 dower interest in each of their properties during her lifetime.

[15]SeeBixler’s Jewelers’ Website, Jennifer Heebner, “Preserving History, How Heirs to the 217-Year-Old Bixler’s Jewelers Keep the Past Alive”, Jewelers Circular Keystone (trade publication) 106-09 (Oct. 2002); Easton Is Home, Easton Christmas Book 2005 at 15; Barbara B. Buchholz and Margaret Crane, Corporate Bloodlines: The Future of the Family Firm 80 (Carol Publishing Group 1989); Bixler’s Jewelers’ Website, Scott Hill, A Self Guided Tour . . . Historic Forks of the Delaware 4 (Eagle Scout Project, April 29, 1992)(copies sold by Northampton County Historical & Genealogical Society)(locates original store); Ronald W. Wynkoop, The Old Home Town 118 (self published, 1977); Marie and Frank Summa & Leonard S. Buscemi Sr., Images of America: Historic Easton 48 (Arcadia Publishing 2000)(places the opening in 1797, locates original store); Scott Hill, A Self Guided Tour . . . Historic Forks of the Delaware 3 (Eagle Scout Project, April 29, 1992)(copies sold by Northampton County Historical & Genealogical Society); John W. Jordan, Edgar Moore Green & George T. Ettinger, I Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of the Lehigh Valley Pennsylvania 110-11 (The Lewis Publishing Co. 1905, reprint by Higginson Book Co.)(store established in 1788, Bixler came to Easton in 1785).

A photo display of one of Bixler’s clocks, made in 1805, is available from the Adams Brown Company of Cranbury, NJ on their website at

Accord, separate entries for 24 Centre Square and the Bixler-NightengaleBuilding at315-21 Northampton Street.

[16]See Will of Christian Bixler III, NorthamptonCountyFile No. 4943, WB6 32 (1840). See also Floyd Smith Bixler, The Vine and Background of Christian Bixler, 3rd and Some Collateral Branches 15-16, 24, 30 (typed by Edith Jane Stires, undated but text at 15 indicates written in 1930)(copy in Marx Room, Easton Area Public Library); John W. Jordan, Edgar Moore Green & George T. Ettinger, I Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of the Lehigh Valley Pennsylvania 110-11 (The Lewis Publishing Co. 1905, reprint by Higginson Book Co.).

[17]SeeEstate of Maria McCullough, 22 Orphan’s Court Record at 449 (Northampton County 27 Jan. 1865)(citing the Will of Christian Bixler proved 4 Feb. 1840, ¶ Third). This specified the “two story brick house” at the corner of Spring Garden and Hamilton Streets, and the “lot and two houses adjoining Christian Flemming on the North and the Property of Joseph Burke on the South” measuring 60’ on Hamilton Street X 240’ deep to Bank Alley. See also Deed, Eli M. Fox, Trustee to sell lands devised by Will of Christian Bixler for the benefit of his daughter Maria McCullough, to John Green, D11 311 (26 June 1866)(recitals).

John C. Flemming was the residence ultimately numbered 117 North 4th Street. See Article, “The New Numbers”, Easton Daily Free Press, Wed., 26 Nov. 1873, p.3, col.4 (John Flemming); separate entry for 117019 North 4th Street.

Christian Bixler’s estate documents are found in Northampton County Orphan’s Court File No.4943; the will was recorded in 6 Will Book 32 (1840).