My Genealogy Hound

EDWARD H. RAUCH, one of the prominent citizens of Mauch Chunk, was born in Lititz, Lancaster County, Pa., July 19, 1820, and was educated at the Beck Academy at that place. At the age of fifteen he became an apprentice to the cabinet-maker’s trade in Lancaster and in 1840 he went to Mullica Hill, N. J., and although only twenty years of age, took an important part in the memorable Presidential campaign, supporting “Tippecanoe and Tyler too.” In 1842 he returned to his native county, and followed his trade until 1844, when he was appointed Deputy Prothonotary of Lancaster County, and in 1848 was appointed Deputy Register, serving three years. In that year he was also sent as delegate to the Whig County Convention by the “Woolly Head” faction, and supported Thaddeus Stevens for his first Congressional term, when he won the nomination by a single vote.

In 1851 a stock company was formed, chiefly under the leadership of Mr. Stevens, to publish a weekly and daily paper at Lancaster, the Independent Whig and Inland Daily, representing the anti-slavery element of the Whig party, and Hon. Edward McPherson and E. H. Rauch were appointed editors and conductors of the paper. In 1854 our subject sold his interest in the establishment and started the Lehigh Valley Times at Bethlehem, which he disposed of in 1857, purchasing the Mauch Chunk Gazette. In 1859 he was elected one of the Transcribing Clerks of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, and at the session of the following year was elected Chief Clerk of the House, and was re-elected in 1861 and 1862. His last election was under peculiar circumstances. In the fall of 1861 he recruited an infantry company at Mauch Chunk, and was mustered in as Captain in November. He joined the Eleventh Regiment, commanded by Col. Richard Coulter. At that time he was yet clerk of the House, but going into the army, he deemed it sufficient notice that he would not be a candidate for re-election. On the first Monday in January, 1862, when the regiment was in winter quarters at Annapolis, he obtained leave of absence for six days to enable him to perform his last duty as the retiring Clerk. On his arrival in Harrisburg, he was surprised to learn that he had been nominated for another election by a coalition of Republicans and war Democrats. He finally consented to the re-election upon the condition that he could resign and rejoin the regiment within five days in case of failure to obtain formal leave to serve during the session. Such leave was granted and he served, but devoted all his spare time between sessions to his company at Annapolis.

Mr. Rauch was wounded at the second battle of Bull Run, which occurred in August, 1862, but rejoined his regiment in time to participate in the engagement at Fredericksburg on the 13th of December. Several days later he was attacked with rheumatism, which became more and more intense until he was totally disabled, and in March, 1863, was discharged. He has been a very severe sufferer since then, and both hands, feet and knees are crippled for life.

On his return from the army Mr. Ranch found his printing establishment all run down, but instead of reconstructing and endeavoring to win back success, he was induced to go to Reading and start a paper there; but he gave it up after two years, the venture proving a failure. In May, 1868, in partnership with Thomas Cochran, of Lancaster, he established a Republican campaign paper called Father Abraham. It became very popular owing to the Pennsylvania Dutch letters of Pitt Schweffelrenner, and reached a circulation of fifteen thousand, but soon after the campaign ended it was discontinued. Mr. Rauch then became city editor of the Morning Review, but several years later its owner failed, and in 1872 he joined the liberal Republican movement for Greeley, serving during that campaign as one of the Secretaries of the Liberal State Committee, subordinate to Col. A. K. McClure as Chairman. In 1876 he supported S. J. Tilden for President, and made forty-six speeches in Lancaster County.

In September, 1878, when Hon. Robert Klotz was first candidate for Congress, the editor of the Mauch Chunk Democrat being his personal enemy, Mr. Rauch was induced to take charge of the Carbon County Democrat, and conduct it until after the election, reserving the right then to retire or buy the establishment at first cost. He did the latter, and continued, its publication until 1882, when the two papers were merged under the proprietorship of E. H. Rauch & Son, who still own the same. In December, 1893, they established the Daily News in connection with the weekly, and the latter paper is meeting with good success. For many years Mr. Rauch has enjoyed a high reputation in this and other states as an expert in hand-writing, and as such he has during a period of nearly forty years attended to cases of disputed handwriting in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Kentucky, Virginia, and Washington, D. C.