Percival Coover Kauffman Family

Percival Coover Kauffman

Percy Kauffman

Percival Coover Kauffman was the son of Levi and Ann Elizabeth Coover Kauffman, born August 13, 1857 in Mechanicsburg, PA.  He was the oldest of three children.  His brother, Walter Lee Kauffman was born in 1860.   His sister Edith Belle Kauffman was born in 1863.  

They lived in Mechanicsburg, PA on 70 West Main Street.  They were right next door to the Coover parents of Ann Elizabeth, on the left side at 74 West Main Street.  There was a door between the two homes.

Levi Kauffman Home

Ann Elizabeth's father was John Coover, a prominent member of the community who owned substantial land around the town.  Coover had five daughters.  Ann was in the middle.   Levi owned a drug store and hardware store and later started a local bank.  His father, Andrew Kauffman also lived in town, having grown up as a Mennonite on a farm outside of Lancaster.

John Coover Home

Percy was educated at Lauderbach Academy in Philadelphia and Cumberland Valley Institute in Mechanicsburg.  He graduated from University of Pennsylvania, School of Law in 1879 with a  L.L.B. He read law with Hon. Wayne McVeagh and George Tucker, Bispham, a leader of the Philadelphia Bar. In his early 20's, Percy suffers an illness which caused him to return to Mechanicsburg and recover.  He subsequently goes to Hazelton where he practiced law in Hazelton, PA from 1879 to 1885 and was local counsel of the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company and a number of large coal companies. His father died of Typhoid Fever in 1882.  

Katharine Barton was born on February 12, 1865 in Hazelton, PA, daughter of John Albert Barton and Elsie Tubbs. Her mother dies some four years after she is born.  John marries again, this time to Alice Tubbs a distant cousin.  Katharine has siblings from both mother's, including younger sisters, Mable and Ruth Barton.  

During the years that he works in Hazelton, Percy meets Katharine Barton.  

In 1885, Percy and his cousin, Ralph Kauffman decide to go west.   Ralph is the same age as Percy, a cousin.  His father is a brother of Levi, grew up in Mechanicsburg, sharing the same grandfather, Andrew Isaac Kauffman who also lives in Mechanicsburg.  Ralph's father died in 1862 of a disease he contracted during his service in the Civil War.  He has been working in the banking industry in Mechanicsburg.  They decide to  use their collective experience to enter the banking business in the Northwest.  In 1886, Percy organizes a bank in Vancouver.  In 1887, Percy decides to return to Hazelton to marry Katharine and bring her west.

Percival Coover Kauffman

He marries Katharine Barton in a ceremony in his home in Hazelton attended by friends and her older sister, Helen Mandeville and little sister, Ruth Barton.

Their first son, Percival Barton Kauffman was born on May 23, 1891 in Vancouver.  

Percy is offered a job in Tacoma with the Fidelity Bank.  They move to Tacoma in 1891.  They bought a home at 402 North I Street.  

Kauffman Home

Their second son, Walter Lee Kauffman 2nd was born on June 21, 1895.  For the next 20 years, Percy is very busy in the banking industry.

His accomplishments included:

• Vice President of The Fidelity Trust Company
• Secretary of the Board of Commissioners for Washington at the World's Fair at Chicago 1893
• An organizer and longtime Secretary of the Washington Bankers Association 1889-1910
• Treasurer of Home Building and Loan Association
• Member of Advisory Board of the Public Securities Company of Chicago
• A member of the Executive Committee of and ultimately Treasurer of the American Banker's Association, and active in the Trust Company Section and the Standing Law Committee
• Member of The Committee of Fifteen that drafted the charter for the City of Tacoma

In 1910, Percy settles his debt with his mother.

He retires from banking in June of 1913 because of his health.

P Barton Kauffman attends University of Pennsylvania where he gains a degree in Finance.  He returns to Tacoma.   Walter finishes high school and begins college at the University of Washington in Mechanical Engineering.    

Percy dies of Angina Pectoris on April 8, 1914 at age 56.  

Walter struggles in college.  Bart enters the finance industry in Tacoma.  World War I begins.   Walter enlists in the Army.  Bart is commissioned in the Quartermaster Corp and is stationed in Minneapolis.  Walter eventually gains a commission in the Coast Artillery.   Katharine moves to Minneapolis to live with Bart.  Walter is sent to France and sees some limited action.

When the war is over, Walter Lee Kauffman 2nd moves to Youngstown, where Walter Lee Kauffman and his sister, Edith Belle Kauffman have lived.  Walter moved to Middletown PA in 1881 and then to Youngstown in 1886 while working for Youngstown Sheet and Tube.  They are joined by their mother, Ann Elizabeth Kauffman whose husband Levi had died a few years previous.  Walter Lee Kauffman's brother, Bart and his mother, Kate soon join him.   

Walter, Bart and Kate live in Youngstown where Walter has created several inventions for the clothes washing and drying industry. He is offered a job in Erie.   They relocate there.  Kate dies in 1938.