Portrait and Biographical Record – pgs. 211,
212, 213
Kindly submitted: Bev
Settlemire
COL. THEODORE L. MUMFORD,
formerly of Mauch Chunk, was the lessee and manager of the noted
Switch Back Railroad of that city, with which he became identified
in the year 1879. His connection with that company covered a
period of fifteen years, and he operated the road successfully
from the first. He carried it on during the summer and fall
months, the season terminating on the 1st of November
of each year. The number of people who patronize the road during
one season often amounts to eighty thousand. The starting place
is on the extreme point of Mt. Pisgah, the passengers from that
place being drawn up on an inclined plane by a stationary engine
and carts made for that purpose. During the trip they visit many
places of interest in the mountains and coal regions. Mt. Pisgah
is sixteen hundred and sixty feet above tide water. The decline
in the grade of the road is ninety-six feet to the mile, and the
cars used are the regular tourist coaches, so there is no
obstacle to obstruct the view of the delightful scenery through
which they pass.
Mr. Mumford is a Native of New York,
born near Cooperstown, Otsego, in 1831. The Mumford family was
founded in America by ancestors who emigrated from Wales in 1630.
As early as 1700 their descendants located in Otsego, N.Y. The
grandfather of our subject, Joseph Mumford, was a farmer and a
merchant. He also took quite a prominent part in politics and
served as state senator. His wife was, in her maidenhood, Polly
Adams, and her father was one of the heroes of the Revolution.
The father of our subject, Orville Mumford, was also a native of
the Empire State. Having attained to mature years, he was united
in marriage to Jerusha Edson, whose ancestors were numbered among
the Puritan forefathers, and landed in Salem, Mass. in 1629. The
family was founded in New York in 1800.
In taking up the personal history of
Colonel Mumford we present to our reader the life record of one
who is both widely and favorably known in Carbon County. He spent
the days of his boyhood and youth in the county of his nativity
and acquired his education in the common schools. At the early
age of fourteen he commenced to earn his own livelihood and began
his career as a railroad man, being employed in assisting an
engineering corps in locating the Blossburg and Corning Railroad.
He was afterward employed on the Erie Road, now the New York, Lake
Erie, & Western Railroad, with which he was connected for a number
of years.
On leaving the employ of that company
Colonel Mumford went to Lancaster, PA., and was employed at the
Norris Locomotive Works as Assistant Superintendent of the same,
and remained there until the works were closed down. He then left
his native land and went to Central America. He secured
employment in Costa Rica with Henry Meigs, receiving a salary of
$5,000 per year, payable in American gold. He there remained for
some time, and on his return to the United States he formed a
connection with the New York & Oswego Midland Railroad, now the
New York, Ontario & Western Railroad. He was the principle
director of the business of this road in all departments for
several years, or until their financial depression caused him to
abandon the position.
The lady who bears the name of Mrs.
Mumford was in her maidenhood Maria Timm. She was born in the
Empire State, and is a daughter of John Timm, also of New York.
To the Colonel and his wife were born two children. Henry E., an
intelligent and gifted young man, died in 1884, in his
twenty-first year. The other child died in infancy.
The Colonel was a staunch Republican,
taking a prominent part in political affairs, and served as a
member of the Republican State Central Committee. He frequently
served as a delegate to the county, congressional, and state
conventions, where his opinions were received with favor, for his
worth is known throughout the state.
Source: Portrait and Biographical Record of Lehigh,
Northampton and Carbon Counties, Pennsylvania. Containing
Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens of
the Counties, Together with Biographies and Portraits of all the
Presidents of the United States. Chicago, Chapman Publishing Co.,
1894