Alfred Joel Kern (1847-1933) was the great-great grandson of Nicholas Kern (1693-1749), the first settler in the Slatington area. I have written about the Kern family in connection with Kern’s saw mill.
Alfred was born on 26 February 1847, the son of Johan Carl (Charles) Kern (1805-1860) and Anna Maria Peter (1807-1851) who lived on a farm on the road from Slatington to Lehigh Gap.
He learned the milling trade as a young man, and in the 1870s he rented the Kern grist mill from Henry Kuntz, who had inherited the mill via his wife, Violette née Kern (1832-1863). Alfred Kern was successful with his operation of the grist mill, and circa 1881 he purchased it.
Alfred Kern; Photo credit: Slatington and Surrounding Communities, 1989 (page 270)
In 1872 Alfred married Fyetta Snyder (1851-1931), and they had nine children.
In 1903, Alfred built his house at 404 Main Street (the northwest corner of Main and Diamond Streets). This was across the street from the Henry Kuntz house and across the street from the grist mill and on the site where the original mill had stood. At this time, the mill race (the water channel to the mill) was covered over.
After Alfred’s death in 1933, his son Howard continued to operate the grist mill, and his daughter Beulah (1890-1991) continued to live in the homestead until her death at the age of 101.
Like the Kuntz house, these two houses at the foot of the Main Street bridge stand as apt symbols of Slatington's past. They are both great examples of the turn-of-the-century Queen Anne architectural style.
It goes without saying that I was never in the house, although I've admired it for a long time. I've also felt bad for the house having to suffer from all that traffic on Main Street which tended to cover the house in exhaust soot from cars and trucks.
A current view of the Alfred Kern House, 2023