William Richard Lawfer

  General Notes:

From the 1906 Lauffer History

The central figure among the eastern descendants of Christian Lauffer, the Pioneer, is the late Wm. R Lawfer, of Allentown. The day he was buried, all the stores of that city closed their doors, a mark of respect shown to no other citizen of Allentown.
"The Lehigh Register", of Allentown, Pa., under date of Sept. 11, 1900, published a character sketch of Wm. R Lawfer, which we reproduce in full.
The death of William R. Lawfer removes a man who for upwards of thirty years was prominently identified with everything that tended toward the material and industrial progress and advancement of this city. One of its foremost merchants, he was ever keenly alive to everything that contributed to the city's welfare and prosperity. And in all this he was never a mere negative factor; a man who simply stood afar off and reaped where others sowed. He contributed amply from his resources and his advice was always eagerly sought and followed. He early saw the possibilities for shrewd financial investments in this city and with his trained foresight, shrewd commonsense and business perspicacity he forecasted the direction of the city's development and expansion and he backed his faith with his money and to him more than to anyone else the development of the northern part of Allentown in the vicinity of the old fair grounds is due. His courage and energy inaugurated a movement and set a pace which has been followed since by scores of others who reaped rich harvests where he first led the way.
The man may be forgotten, but the part he played in the expansion of this city will long be remembered, and one of its most beautiful sections, adorned with handsome and cozy residences, will ever stand a monument to his courage, faith and energy. He advanced where others faltered; he had faith where others doubted, and he had zeal, where others flagged.
As a mercantile man his fame was by no means local. Although much of the burden of the work of directing the affairs of his vast establishment, one of the largest in the Lehigh Valley, was taken off his shoulders during the later years of his life by his sons and brothers, yet he was daily in his office guiding, advising and directing its intricate affairs with a clear head and a steady hand. He started in business in a small way, but he kept pace with the spirit of the age and never lagged behind. Enterprising, but never rash, daring but never reckless, and steering clear of all those devices and treacherous shoals which point the way to sudden riches only to end in hopeless disaster, and conducting his business on sound; safe and conservative methods, he lived to see himself at the head of one of the largest establishments of its kind in Eastern Pennsylvania.
He was a many -sided man and he had deep, religious convictions. In furthering the cause of his faith he showed the same zeal, devotion and singleness of purpose which always characterized him in whatsoever he undertook. In his death the Reformed Church sustains a heavy loss and he will be keenly missed in the councils of that denomination. He was not a Christian who only gave lip service, but his purse kept pace with his counsel and his money gave the stamp of approval to what his conscience advised.
An institution dear to his heart was Bethany Orphans' Home at Womelsdorf. He was one of its trustees and was one of its Board of Managers. So highly were his labors appreciated by his colleagues that at the recent celebration of Orphans' Home Day they sent a special message of sympathy, appreciation and regard to their late co- worker. Perhaps nothing in Mr. Lawfer's long and active career gave him so much pleasure and gratification as that message of esteem and remembrance. He was one of the pillars of the institution and the originator in this section of those annual excursions to the home, which brought thousands of people in contact with this noble specimen of Christian charity and philantrophy on the part of the Reformed Church, and which brought thousands of dollars into the treasury of the institution. He was also greatly interested in our local Young Men's Christian Association. Always a man of strong and vigorous physique, which neither age nor the manifold duties and cares inseparable from his large business seemed able to impair, the sudden death of his wife, several years ago, was a blow from which he never recovered. From that time on his physical powers commenced to wane and he never afterwards was the same man.
In his domestic and social relations he fulfilled all the requirements of a loving husband and a kind and indulgent father and a neighbor and citizen who never forfeited the respect and esteem of his fellow citizens. He was liberal in his contributions to charity, although unostentatious in all his philanthropic work. He was successful because he deserved success. Honest and upright in all his dealings, a keen judge of men and motives, a merchant of unswerving integrity and upright in his walk in the community in which he labored for so many years, the city has been the better for his living and is the poorer for his death.

William married Hannah Kleppinger on 15 Nov 1857.