Biography

01/17/1840 - 02/01/1903

Second Lieutenant William A. Beidelman (D18) Northampton County 1878-1882

Early Life: 

Second Lieutenant William A. Beidelman, born January 17, 1840, Lower Saucon, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, son of Daniel Beidelman and Anna Margaret Christman; attended township schools, New York Conference Seminary, Troy University and Rensalaer Polytechnic Institute; Albany University, law, 1862; Second Lieutenant, Civil War, 1862-1863; Deputy Sheriff, Northampton County, 1865-1867; Attorney, Northampton County Bar, 1868; editor, Northampton Democrat; District Attorney, Northampton County, 1871-1874; elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1878-1882; Solicitor of Easton, borough, 1885-1887; elected, Democrat, Mayor, City of Easton, 1890-1894; married Miss Mary Slator, Easton; died, boarding house of Mrs. Mayberry, South Fourth Street, February 1, 1903 (aged 63) Easton, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, interment, Easton Cemetery, Easton, Northampton County, Pennsylvania.  

Early Career:

Enlisted, Second Lieutenant, Company F, 153rd Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers Infantry , October 10, 1862, nine-month service; saw action at Aldie, Mud March, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and Funkstown; mustered out with regiment, July 24, 1863. 

Professional titles; business ownership; board memberships; local government; club memberships:

Member, Dallas Lodge, No. 396, Free and Accepted Masons, Hugh de Payens Commandery, No. 19, Knights Templar,  Lafayette Post, No. 217, Grand Army of the Republic, Easton. 

Authored:

“The Story of the Pennsylvania Germans: Embracing an Account of Their Origin, Their History, and Their Dialect”

Pennsylvania Politics: 

Deputy Sheriff, Northampton County, 1865-1867.

District Attorney, Northampton County, 1871-1874. 

Elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania State Senate 18th district, Northampton County, 1878-1882. 

Continued Government Service after Senate:

Solicitor of Easton, borough, 1885-1887. 

Elected, Democrat, Mayor, City of Easton, 1890-1894.

Legacy: 

Tombstone inscription: HE FOUGHT FOR HIS COUNTRY AT GETTYSBURG

Cited: 

Cox, Harold. "Senate Members B". Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.

Smull’s Legislative Handbook, (1881). Smull, W.P., (Editor) Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, pages 673, 680-682, Biographical Sketches of Senators, page 640.

William Beidelman (1840-1903) - Find a Grave Memorial