Biographical Sketch of William J. KAUFFMAN (1893); Chester County, PA Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by John Morris . Copyright. All Rights Reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/pafiles.htm ********************************************************* Source: "Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Chester County, Pennsylvania, comprising a historical sketch of the county", by Samuel T. Wiley and edited by Winfield Scott Garner, Gresham Publishing Company, Philadelphia, PA, 1893, pp. 807-8. "WILLIAM J. KAUFFMAN, editor and proprietor of the Chester Valley Union at Coatesville, is a representative of one of the oldest settled families of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. The Kauffmans are of remote German origin, and are noted for the thrift and other characteristic virtues of that sturdy race. Christian Kauffman, paternal grandfather of William J., was born in Lancaster county, this State, but while yet a young man removed to York, Pennsylvania, and later to Baltimore, Maryland. He was a carpenter by trade, and followed cabinet making in Baltimore, where he lived until his death, at an advanced age. His grandson, the subject of this sketch, now owns a clock, the elaborate and handsome case of which is a specimen of his handiwork. He was a strict member of the Evangelical Lutheran church, married and reared a large family, his youngest son being Joseph C. Kauffman (father), who was born in the city of Baltimore in 1806. After attaining manhood Joseph C. Kauffman became a merchant tailor, and carried on a large business in Balti- more for a number of years. He died there in October, 1843, in the house in which he was born, at the early age of thirty-seven years. In politics he was an old-line whig and in religion a strict adherent of the Presbyterian church. His brothers all served in the war of 1812, but he was then too young to enter the army. He married Margaret J. Rettew, a native of Harford county, Maryland, who was reared in the city of Baltimore. She was born in 1808, and died at Coatesville, this county, in 1891. For many years previous to her death she was a devoted member of the Presbyterian church, and was a woman of decided character, greatly respected and revered. "William J. Kauffman, son of Joseph C. and Margaret J. (Rettew) Kauffman, was born in the city of Baltimore, Maryland, April 11, 1836. There he lived until twelve years of age, when he removed with his mother to Lancaster city, Pennsylvania. His education was obtained in the public schools of Baltimore and Lancaster, and by the practical training inseparable from earnest work in a newspaper office. At the age of fourteen, young Kauffman entered a printing office in Lancaster, and began his acquaintance with the 'art pre- servative of arts.' Here he remained until 1857, when failing health caused him to go to Strasburg, where he afterward worked at the printing business up to 1861. In the following year he came to Coatesville, and on June 6, 1863, issued the first number of the Chester Valley Union. It was a small sheet at first, and for a number of years was published as a weekly paper. It was republican in politics, ably edited, and soon acquired popularity and influ- ence. Its circulation and jobbing business grew rapidly, and in time the paper was enlarged and changed to a semi-weekly. The Union is now printed on a sheet 26 x 40 inches, and consists of four pages with eight columns to the page. It is the oldest paper in Coatesville, has a large circulation through- out the county, and its plant consists of four modern presses, with abundance of body type and job faces of every desirable size and design. The work turned out here is first-class in every particular, and many jobs are fine specimens of artistic typography. "In 1857 Mr. Kauffman married Mary A. Brooke, a daughter of Samuel Brooke, of Lancaster city. To this union was born a family of seven children, four sons and three daughters: Samuel B., Joseph C., jr., Mary A., Annie J., Margaret L., Harry B. and J. Alexander. "In 1862, when the emergency men were called out, Mr. Kauffman enlisted in one of the Chester county companies, but was not sworn into the United States service. In the same year he was drafted, but upon examination was exempted on account of consumption, the doctors having given up all hope of his re- covery. But, to use his own words, he 'beat the consumption,' and is now a stout, hearty, robust man. In politics he is a stanch republican, and in his paper ably advocates the doctrines of his party. He is a member of Star of Hope Lodge, No. 1999, and of Chosen Friends Encampment, No. 88, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of Coatesville, and has served as notary public here for a period of eighteen years. He is also a member of the Presbyterian church and a prominent and successful Sunday school worker, having been called to serve as superintendent of Rock Run Presbyterian Sunday school ever since its organization in 1865. Mr. Kauffman is an affable gentleman of pleasing manners, wields a trenchant pen, and has been quite successful in business."