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MAHLON KELLER

MAHLON KELLER, merchant and justice of the peace, Perkasie, Bucks county, was born in Plumstead township, Bucks county, November 4, 1864, and is a son of Abraham and Judith (MYERS) KELLER, and a lineal descendant of Heinrich and Juliann (KLEINDINST) KELLER, both natives of Weierbach, Baden, Germany, who came to America in 1738 and settled in Bedminster, near Kellers’ Church, of which Heinrich was one of the organizers and for whom it was named.

            Christopher (or Stophell) KELLER, tenth child of Heinrich and Juliann, born in Bucks county, December, 1751, was ensign of a company in the Flying camp in 1776, and served his country through the disastrous campaign in New York and on Long Island.  Returning to Bucks county he settled in Haycock township, where he was a considerable landowner and a man of prominence in the community.  He died July 8, 1820.  On February 17, 1778, he married Margaret TRAUCH, of Bedminster, who was born in 1759 and died February 11, 1811, and they reared a family of nine children, who have left numerous descendants.

            Joseph KELLER, the seventh child of Christopher and Margaret, born in Haycock, November 10, 1794, died there February 14, 1877, was the grandfather of the subject of this sketch.  He was a blacksmith and farmer, and lived all his life in Haycock township, and was an elder of Kellers’ Lutheran church.  His wife was Mary AFFLERBACH, daughter of George and Dorothy (STEINBACH) AFFERBACH, and a granddaughter of Heinrich and Dorothy (KELLER) STEINBACH, the latter being a daughter of Heinrich and Juliann KELLER, above mentioned.  Mrs. Mary (AFFLERBACH) KELLER’S paternal grandfather, Daniel AFFLERBACH, came from Germany about the time of the American Revolution, and settled in Haycock.

            Abraham KELLER, second child of Joseph and Mary (AFFLERBACH) KELLER, was the father of the subject of this sketch.  He was born in Haycock township, September 16, 1823, and died in Bedminster township.  He was a farmer in Plumstead for a number of years after his marriage, and later in Bedminster.  In 1870 he entered into partnership with his cousin, Captain John H. AFFLERBACH, in the general merchandise business at Bedminsterville, under the firm name of J. H. Afflerbach & Co., and three years later purchased Mr. AFFLERBACH’S interest in the firm, and took into partnership his son Lewis, the present proprietor of the store, and later another son Joseph was admitted to the firm, and Mr. KELLER retired from the firm, purchasing the hotel at Bedminsterville, which he conducted for ten years, after which he conducted a feed store and looked after his farm and other property until his death in 1880.  He was twice married; first October 10, 1847, to Judith MYERS, who was the mother of his ten children; and second, December 26, 1881, to Susanna, widow of Franklin STAUFFER.  Judith (MYERS) KELLER was born February 3, 1829, and died December 23, 1880; Abraham and Judith (MYERS) KELLER were the parents of ten children, six of whom survive, viz.: Mary, wife of H. S. DEATERLY, of Bedminster; Lewis, the Bedminsterville merchant; Joseph, of Philadelphia; Abraham M., of Doylestown; Catharine, wife of Clinton LERCH, of Tinicum, and Mahlon.

            Mahlon KELLER was the youngest son of Abraham and Judith, and was born in Plumstead township, but was reared and educated in Bedminster.  He remained on the farm with his parents until the age of sixteen, when he became a clerk in the Bedminsterville store, where he remained for nine years.  In 1892 he purchased the large mercantile establishment of Grier SCHEETZ, at Perkasie, which he conducted for seven years, and then sold out to KULP Brothers, the present proprietors, and opened an establishment for the manufacture of clothing at Perkasie.  In 1902 he sold out this business and purchased the clothing and gent’s furnishing store which he now conducts, of MOYER & GEORGE, and is doing a fine business.  He was elected justice of the peace in 1895, and was re-elected in 1900, and again in 1905.  He has also served as a school director.  He is a member of the Lutheran church, and politically is a Democrat.  He is a past master of McCalla Lodge, No. 596, F. and A. M.; a past grand of Plumstead Lodge, I. O. O. F.; and a member of Mont Alto Lodge No. 246, K. of P., at Perkasie.  He is also a member of Aquilla Castle, No. 330, Knights of the Golden Eagle.  He married November 15, 1889, Mary Ella ALBRIGHT, daughter of John and Mary (BRYAN) ALBRIGHT, and they are the parents of two children; Paul, born May, 1894, and died August, 1894; and Ralph, born May 27, 1897.

Text taken from page 543 to 544 of: 

Davis, William W. H., A.M., History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania [New York-Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1905] Volume III

Transcribed August 2006 by Joan Lollis as part of the Bucks Co., Pa., Early Family Project, www.rootsweb.com/~pabucks/bucksindex.html

Published August 2006 on the Bucks County, Pa., USGenWeb pages at www.rootsweb.com/~pabucks/

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