My Genealogy Hound

FRANCIS H. ERWIN, M. D. Prominent among the successful physicians and surgeons of South Bethlehem is our subject, who was born here in 1859. He is the son of A. J. Erwin, also a native of this city, who in turn was the son of J. F. Erwin, a native of Erwinna, Bucks County. The last-named gentleman was reared to manhood in Easton, where he followed the tanner’s trade, and later in life came to this city. His next removal was to Monroe County, where he opened up a tannery and was engaged is its operation until his decease, at the age of eighty-three years.

The grandmother of our subject, Mrs. Louisa (Schneider) Erwin, was the daughter of John Schneider, a Moravian, and a miller by occupation. Great-grandfather Erwin came from Ireland prior to the Revolutionary War, in which conflict he served as Colonel. He obtained a grant of land in New York for his services during that period, which was named Erwin Centre.

The father of our subject was engaged in the mercantile business in Bethlehem until retiring from active life in 1871. He is now deceased, having passed away at Staten Island iu 1885, at the age of fifty-five years. His wife prior to her marriage was Mary Clauder; she was a native of Ohio, and the daughter of H. G. Clauder, a Moravian missionary to the Cherokee Indians. He later located in this city, where his decease occurred when in his seventy-eighth year.

The parental family included six children, of whom Francis H. was the eldest. He was first sent to the Moravian parochial school, after which he took a course in Nazareth Hall, at Nazareth. Young Erwin upon completing his education began clerking in the store of J. H. Traeger in this city, after which he became bookkeeper in the Lehigh Valley National Bank.

In 1886 Mr. Erwin had an opportunity to carry out his long cherished desire of studying medicine, and entering the College of Physicians & Surgeons at Baltimore, was graduated therefrom in 1889 with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. For the year following he was physician at St. Luke’s Hospital, South Bethlehem, located on Cherokee Street. He was appointed Health Officer for Fountain Hill in 1893. Dr. Erwin is agreeable in manner, which makes him a favorite among all classes, and this pleasant quality, coupled with his skill and knowledge of his profession, renders him one of the most popular and successful physicians in the county.

Dr. Erwin was married in York, this state, in 1892, to Miss Mary E. Spabr. He is a Democrat in politics, and a devoted member of the Moravian Church. Socially he belongs to the Northampton County Medical Association, of which he is the present Vice-President, and is also connected with the Lehigh Valley Medical Association. He has been surgeon for the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company, and belongs to the National Association of Railroad Surgeons and the State Medical Association.