HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY. 



655 



Ann, residing in Newtown. Early in life 

 Cornelius Slack purchased a farm in Uppei 

 Maketield to which he removed, and after 

 several changes of location in that town- 

 ship purchased the faTm known as the 

 John Eastburn farm, where he resided for 

 forty-two years, dying there in June, 1868. 

 He married (second) Sarah Hull, daughter 

 of Joseph and Cynthia Hull, of Upper 

 Makefield, by whom he had eight children, 

 viz.: John H., of New Hope; Cornelius, 

 deceased ; Mary A., deceased ; Samuel, re- 

 siding in Solebury; Edward M., the sub- 

 ject of this sketch; Eliza, wife of Samuel 

 C. Case, of Newtown; Elmira, single, re- 

 siding in Newtown; and Charles, deceased. 



Edward M. Slack was reared on the 

 Upper Makefield farm and acquired his 

 education at the public schools. At the age 

 of twenty-two years he went to Taylors- 

 ville, where he was employed in a lumber 

 yard for three years, and then returned to 

 the home farm. In 1873 he married Addie 

 Hellinger, of Edgewood, Lower Makefield, 

 and took charge of the farm, which he con- 

 ducted for seventeen years. In the winter 

 of 1889 he purchased the old Beaumont 

 farm, where he has since resided. His 

 wife died in 1878, leaving one child, Elliot 

 H., now station agent at Langhorne. Mr. 

 Slack married (second) Sarah E. Hall, 

 daughter of EUicot Hall, of Upper Make- 

 field. 



Mr. Slack was reared to the life of a 

 farmer, and takes pride in keeping- his two 

 hundred acres up to the standard of one 

 of the best farms in the county. He is a 

 lover of fine horses, and breeds and owns 

 some very fine and valuable animals. In 

 politics he is a Democrat, and has always 

 taken an active interest in the success of 

 his party. He was the party nominee for 

 register of wills in 1904, but was defeated. 

 He has served three years as a member 

 of the school board of his native township, 

 being the only Democrat ever elected to that 

 position. Mrs. Slack is a member of the 

 Presbyterian church. 



FREDERICK RUMPF, whose well 

 directed activity has made him one of the 

 foremost factors in manufacturing circles 

 of eastern Pennsylvania, stands as a notable 

 example Qf the adaptability and enterprise 

 of the German-American citizen, who leav- 

 ing his native land, seeks the opportunities 

 of the new world with its livelier competi- 

 tion and advancement more quickly secured, 

 and through consecutive business progress 

 advances from humble financial conditions 

 to affluence. His business interests, too, 

 have been of a character that has promoted 

 general prosperity as well as individual 

 success through the stimulus which he has 

 given manufacturing enterprises. 



Mr. Rumpf, now living in Attleboro 

 borough (Eden Post Office), Pennsylvania, 

 was born in Hornberg, Germany, March 30, 

 1844, his parents being Joseph Frederick 



and Barbara (Zimmer) Rumpf, while his 

 grandparents were John and Katharine 

 Rumpf. Joseph F. Rumpf came to Amer- 

 ica in 1866 accompanied by his son Fred- 

 erick, and settled in Philadelphia. He was 

 a textile manufacturer in his native coun- 

 try, where his son Frederick learned that 

 business, serving a three years' apprentice- 

 ship in his father's establishment. He had 

 attended the public schools of Hornberg, 

 had graduated from the high school there, 

 and after spending one year as a special 

 student in a textile school he entered the 

 wool and worsted manufactory owned by 

 his father, there remaining until 1866, when 

 they came to Philadelphia. Soon afterward 

 Frederick Rumpf entered a carpet mill, 

 where he was engaged at weaving for a 

 time, but in July, 1868, he began business 

 on his own account in a small establish- 

 ment supplied with two hand looms. He 

 continued the business with constantly in- 

 creasing success, adding more looms from 

 time to time as the trade demanded. Each 

 advance step which he made in his busi- 

 ness gave him a broader outlook in manu- 

 facturing circles and increased his oppor- 

 tunity of winning prosperity and making a 

 creditable place for himself In connection 

 with the great productive industries of the 

 city. In 1882 he built a mill in Philadel- 

 phia, equipped with power looms, and thus 

 carried on the weaving. Here, too, he also 

 did the dyeing, bleaching and finishing of 

 his own goods, his trade constantly grow- 

 ing in scope and importance. An idea of 

 the rapidity with which he progressed in 

 his business may be gained from the fact 

 that in 1882 the number of his power looms 

 was twelve, and in 1892 his mill was 

 equipped with one hundred and eight3^-six 

 broad looms of the latest and most ap- 

 proved patterns. In 1890 Mr. Rumpf ex- 

 tended the field of his activity by entering 

 into partnership with his brother Gustavus 

 and four other gentlemen in forming a com- 

 pany under the name of the Bown-Eberle 

 Company, Limited, for the manufacture of 

 full fashioned hosiery. While the weaving 

 business has continued to yield satisfactory 

 profits, the new undertaking, the manu- 

 facture of hosiery, has very largely exceeded 

 it, and has become by far the largest and 

 most profitable of all. The hosiery mill 

 was enlarged to meet the requirements of 

 the increasing business, and in 1903 an addi- 

 tion to the old mill was made so that the 

 building covers sixty-eight thousand square 

 feet. It is four stories in height, and is 

 now fully utilized in the manufacture of 

 hosiery which is favorable known through- 

 out the United States. The quality of the 

 product and the reliability of the house 

 created for its product an excellent market, 

 and the output is now very extensive, so 

 that a gratifying dividend is annually paid 

 upon the stock, while the enterprise has be- 

 come one of the leading- productive indus- 

 tries of the city. 



In 189s Mr. Rumpf retired from the 

 active management of the business which 



