My Genealogy Hound

JOSIAH R. WILT is one of the foremost contractors of South Bethlehem, having won that position by the creditable class of work which he executes. Examples of his skill are to be seen on every hand, for he has erected many of the principal buildings in this place, among others the Webster School, built in 1889; the Slavic Roman Catholic Church, erected in 1890; and the residences of C. P. Hoffman, William Lauer, J. H. Heckman, R. W. Davenport, E. H. Packers and others, all handsomely designed and well finished. In addition to this he has done considerable in his line in Bethlehem and surrounding towns. As a citizen and veteran of the late war he is most highly esteemed, and shows himself devoted to the best interests of the community, where he has resided at intervals since 1867.

The birth of our subject occurred in Lehigh County, near Emaus, that event occurring January 10, 1842. The history of the family in this country is traced as far back as our subject’s great-great-grandfather, who was born in Germany, and in his young manhood came to America. Being without means, both he and the lady whom he afterward married were obliged to work hard, his time being passed in working for a miller, while his wife engaged in housekeeping. Afterward they married and became the parents of three sons, and still later removed to Maryland, where they reared their family. One of the grandchildren, Joseph, the grandfather of our subject, was a farmer by occupation, and in the War of 1812 held the rank of Major. Later he was in charge of the militia. He was an active politician and a prominent man. His father, who died at the age of ninety-six, was also a patriot, having served in the War of the Revolution under Washington.

Reuben Wilt, who became the father of our subject, was a farmer by occupation, and was noted for having a remarkable memory. His active life was passed on his farm near Emaus, Lehigh County, where he was the owner of a good farm. His wife, whose maiden name was Romig, was the daughter of a farmer of Lehigh County.

The boyhood of Josiah Wilt was passed on his father’s farm, and when seventeen years of age he left home and moved to Centre Valley, in this county, where he was apprenticed as a carpenter, serving his time. December 9, 1861, on the call for three-years volunteers, he enlisted in Company G, One Hundred and Twelfth Regiment, Second Pennsylvania Artillery, being mustered in at Philadelphia, and for eighteen months thereafter acted as a guard at Washington. He then went to the front, and was in the hottest part of the battle at Petersburg. Later he was detailed to serve in the commissary department as an assistant, and finally received his discharge, December 9, 1863, in Virginia. Returning home, he engaged in working at his trade at Whitehall and Hazleton, in the fall of 1866 locating in South Bethlehem. After remaining here for two years, he went to Philadelphia, but a year later returned to South Bethlehem, where he engaged in contracting without intermission until 1876. In that year, with his family, he went to Williams County, Ohio, where he turned his attention to cabinet-making and undertaking for the succeeding seven years.

In 1882 Mr. Wilt once more returned to South Bethlehem, for three years being Superintendent of J. S. Allam’s building operations. In 1889 he again entered the contracting and building business for himself, and now employs from twenty to twenty-five skilled workmen. Having departed from the old set styles of architecture, his work shows originality and beauty of construction. His own pleasant home, which was recently erected, is at No. 317 Packer Avenue, and his office is at No. 319 Packer Avenue, while his workshop is on Chestnut, above Broad Street.

In Allentown, in 1864, Mr. Wilt married Miss Amanda Beidleman, a native of Lehigh County, and to them have been born six children, four of whom are living: Annie, Mrs. Prof. Weikert, of Las Cruces, N. Mex.; Delia, who is bookkeeper for her father, and resides at home; Mamie, who is now in New Mexico; and Katie, at home.

Mr. Wilt has served for two terms as Councilman from the Second Ward, and during his first service was Chairman of the Building Committee. At the present time he is on five or six committees of city improvement. Socially he is Past Officer of the Knights of Malta, belongs to Oldham Post, G. A. R., and is also identified with the Knights of Pythias, Royal Arcanum and Knights of Heptasophs. Prominent in church work, he is Treasurer of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, and for years has been Superintendent of the Sunday-school — indeed, he was the originator of the Sunday-school in the Lutheran denomination. In politics he votes for Democratic nominees.