USA > Pennsylvania > Luzerne County > Wilkes-Barre > A history of Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania : from its first beginnings to the present time, including chapters of newly-discovered early Wyoming Valley history, together with many biographical sketches and much genealogical material. Volume VI > Part 36
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Mr. Strauss married, In September, 1906, Nellie Strauss, of Wilkes-Barre. They have one child, Bessie.
ATTWOOD KERR HOWES-An important figure in the business life of Hazleton and that vicinity, Attwood Kerr Howes is presi- dent of the Farmer Milk Company, Inc., at No. 20 West Walnut Street, Hazleton, which was established by his father, Arthur Fred- erick Howes, and is now the largest whole- sale and retail milk organization in the vicinity. The Hazleton plant, which was originally located on Laurel Street, was first established in 1914, as the Ideal Farm Dairy, producing at that time all its own milk on near-by farm land. With its tremendous growth in business, the firm was incorporated
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In 1919, and the following year moved to its present quarters in Walnut Street, where a plant of the most modern kind was erected. Additional increases in the volume of its business have made necessary several addi- tions to this structure, wherein 8,000 quarts of milk are now handled daily, pasteurized and trans-shipped. Here also cheese, butter, and other dairy products are manufactured, by the large staff of sixty-five people who are here employed. Now the corporation is capitalized at $40,000, while subsidiary to this company, the Light Street Milk Com- pany was established in 1924 at Light Street, Pennsylvania, near Bloomsburg, a wholesale concern, handling daily about 5,000 quarts. A third receiving plant was founded, in 1925, at Creasy, Pennsylvania. The officers of the Farmer Milk Company, Inc., are: A. K. Howes, president; George Romig, secretary and treasurer.
Attwood Keer Howes was born February 12, 1903, at Hazleton, a son of Arthur Fred- erick and Rasella Helen (Young) Howes. His father was born at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, April 28, 1867, a son of James Howes, a man of deep culture who served in the Union Army during the American Civil War, and of Ellen (Atwood) Howes. When his father was taken prisoner in the war, his health became so undermined that Arthur Frederick Howes was obliged to begin work as a newsboy at the age of eight, in order to help support the family. At the age of eighteen, however, he owned his own newspaper, which he published weekly in Portsmouth. He was employed for a time by the Boston "Transcript," during which period he was in communication with Mr. Mergenthaler, then working on his new in- vention, the linotype machine. When Mr. Howes was invited to assist in this work, he accepted, and for several years was asso- ciated with Mr. Mergenthaler, in the course of which time, he not only suggested several improvements on the machine, but also acted as instructor in its operation and use, and as traveling salesman for its disposal. For two years thereafter he served as secretary to Bishop Newman, and after that was in charge of the first Harrison newspaper in Montana. Returning east, he became en- gaged in advertising work in the employ of the Sperry-Hutchinson Company, dealers in trading stamps. At the end of this time, he went into the business for himself, originat- ing the Gold Stamp, transferring his activ- ities shortly afterwards, to Wilkes-Barre, where he remained until the time of his death. Finally he sold his trading stamp business to Clafflin interests, but he pur- chased the Red Stamp, which he continued until the year 1923. In all these various activities, Mr. Howes displayed the same fine energy and ability which were to contribute se largely to his success in the milk busi- ness. In 1914 he established his first plant at Hazleton, and from this time the record of his company was one of constant progress and growth. In 1924 Mr. Howes also pur- chased the Hazleton Ice Company, whose name he changed to the Transparent Ice Company, of No. 235, South Cedar Street, which he controlled until his death, and of which his son is new manager.
Mr. Howes was always active in civic affairs, and he was affiliated fraternally with the Free and Accepted Masons, in which order he was a member of all bodies of the local York Rite, including Irem Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He was a member of the Irem Temple and Wyoming Valley Country clubs, while he and his family worshipped in the
faith of the Protestant Episcopal Church. He married Rasella Helen Young, of Marion, Ohio, and of this marrlage, Attwood Kerr Howes was a son. Mr. Ilowes dled on Feb- ruary 22, 1927, to the great sorrow of his many friends and acquaintances in all parts of the country. By his many successes he contributed largely to the growth and prog- ress of Luzerne County, in the grateful memory of whose people he will always hold ' a prominent place.
Attwood Kerr Howes was educated in Wyoming Seminary, after which he took up the printing business in Wilkes-Barre. He became proprietor of the Sincerity Printing Company, which began as a joh shop en- gaged in ordinary printing work, but which gradually came to produce only the finest of printing. Books and pamphlets appearing under its imprint came to be regarded as examples of the highest type of perfection. Although very successful in this work, Mr. Howes sold his business in 1926, to become associated with his father in the manage- ment of the latter's enterprise, succeeding, upon his death, to the presidency of the Farmer Milk Company, Inc., and its sub- sidiaries. He is also an administrator of his father's estate, and the manager of the Transparent Ice Company, the only ice manu- facturing company in the county. Its plant has an eighty-ton capacity and is modern in every respect, employing the Frick air filtration method, and possessing large stor- age space. In his operations Mr. Howes uses thirty-two trucks and six horse-drawn ve- hicles and there are one hundred employees in the ice department.
Attwood Kerr Howes has also been active in the life and civic affairs of Hazleton. He is especially interested in the work of the Young Men's Christian Association of which he is a member, while he is also a member of the local Motor Club, and of the Indepen- dent Society of Wyoming Seminary. Mr. Howes is affiliated fraternally with King Hiram Lodge, No. 721, of the Free and Ac- cepted Masons, and is a member of the Pret- estant Episcopal Church.
The Howes family residence, Ideal Farm, is situated in the Conyngham Valley, at Conyngham, Pennsylvania, which has been their home since 1912. This splendid prop- erty has been developed into one of the finest and most modern farms in all East- ern Pennsylvania.
ROY A. STAUFFER-In the few years he has been in business for himself as a dealer and also as a repairer of automobiles, Roy A. Stauffer, of Wyoming, has built up a remarkable business, employing a large force of assistants and occupying much floor space at No. 285 Wyoming Avenue.
Mr. Stauffer was born in Nuremberg, Schuylkill County, June 7, 1896, the son of Wilson and Lonise (Mumey) Stauffer, beth natives of Nuremberg, where the former was born in 1850 and the latter in 1855. The mother of Mr. Stauffer died in the month of November, 1927. Following his early educa- tien in the public and high schools of Nurem- berg, Mr. Stauffer obtained a position as blacksmith and assistant foreman with the Lehigh Valley Railroad, at Sayre, Bradford County. This was in 1912, and he remained with the railroad corporation until 1922, in which year he started in the automobile business as a mechanic. For a year he worked with various firms in Sayre and in Wilkes-Barre, acquiring a thorough knowl- edge of the business, at the end of which time he started in business for himself in Pittston, Luzerne County, giving service to
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the Chevrolet cars. In 1925 he located in Wyoming, where he has since continued, operating as the local dealer for the Chev- rolet car, and having an extensive business in repairs, employing over a dozen mechanics. Mr. Stauffer is affiliated with Athens Lodge, No. 70, Free and Accepted Masons; with Keystone Consistory, Ancient Accepted Scot- tish Rite Masons, of Scranton, and Irem Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. His religious affiliations are with the Lutheran Church.
On September 5, 1917, Roy A. Stauffer mar- ried Hilda Schmaltz, of Hughestown, Luzerne County, daughter of ] Henry and Mary Schmaltz. Mr. and Mrs. Stauffer had by this union four children, all boys as follows: Henry Wilson, who died in infancy; Glenn Floyd, Carlton Hugh, and Gail Francis.
HARRY CIMMET-From newsboy on the streets to one of the leading merchants of Nanticoke in less than thirty years is the proud record of Harry Cimmet, whose depart- ment store is one of the finest examples of its class in Eastern Pennsylvania. From the inception of the business he had gradually enlarged his establishment, in order to take care of the constantly growing trade that has come to him through honest endeavor to please and to give full value to all. His activities in civle affairs, in philanthropic work, in business, financial and fraternal organizations have brought him into intimate contact with his fellow-citizens, to mutual advantage and profit. Of pleasing personal- ity and gifted with a keen intellect, he has gathered to himself a host of friends in the business and social circles of Nanticoke and vicinity, who regard him as a citizen of unusual worth to their community.
Mr. Cimmet is of Austrian parentage, born in Chicago, Illinois, April 15, 1884. His par- ents were Joseph and Molly Cimmet, both born in Austria, who emigrated to America and first settled in Chicago, later removing to Plymouth, Pennsylvania, thence to Wilkes- Barre.
Harry Cimmet was educated in the public schools of Wilkes-Barre and went to work, when ten years of age, as a newsboy after school. At sixteen years of age he began in earnest, entering the clothing establish- ment of Charles Finberg and Company, in Wilkes-Barre, where he remained for three years, then going to his father, who was con- ducting a men's furnishing goods store in Plymouth. He gravitated from this into the wholesale liquor business, establishing him- self in Avoca, where he conducted this enter- prise for two years. It displeased him and, in 1909 he came to Nanticoke, where he established himself in the business of gen- eral merchandise at No. 7 East Main Street. In a short time that place became too cramped for his growing trade and he enlarged the premises to meet the demand. His store later became a complete depart- ment enterprise and is now one of the leaders of Nanticoke, with floor space twenty-two by two hundred feet. He is one of the most progressive business men of the city, a charter member and immediate Past Presi- dent Kiwanis International, a director and vice-president of the Miners' Trust Company of Nanticoke, and actively associated with the Visiting Nurses' organization and the Asso- ciation for the Relief of Crippled Children. He attends the Nanticoke Synagogue, and is a member of Temple Israel at Wilkes-Barre.
He married, in June, 1906, Dora Morris, daughter of Jacob and Bessie Morris, of King- ston. Their children are: 1. Sylvia, a grad-
uate of Bloomsburg Norman College and now a student at the University of Pennsylvania, where she is preparing for an educational career. 2. Isadore, a graduate of Nanticoke High School, who has entered the University of Pennsylvania, taking the Wharton busi- ness course. 3. Harold, student at Nanti- coke High School. Mrs. Cimmet is very active in charitable organizations.
DR. JAMES F. HALL-The World War changed the lives and the occupations of thousands of the young men who served at home and overseas. For most the change was in the directions of progress, even though, in some cases, it was radical and more or less abrupt, and for many of the fine, upstanding young men of the country the years immediately following the close of the war were the years during which they prepared for and entered professional life. Dr. James F. Hall was serving as a conductor on the Erie Railroad when the United States entered the World War. Within four years after receiving his discharge from service he had completed his course and graduated from the Eastern College of Chiropractics and was engaged in practice in Pittston, Pennsylvania. For six years now (1928) he has been building up his present practice, and during that time he has established a reputation which is well worth while, both professionally and as a citizen. He has his offices at No. 42 North Main Street, here in Pittston.
Dr. James F. Hall was born in Duryea, Pennsylvania, December 31, 1892, son of Varo and Anna (Tighe) Hall, both of whom are now residents of Carbondale, Pennsylvania. He received his education in the public schools of Duryea, and then, at the age of sixteen, entered the employ of the Erie Rail- road Company, serving as brakeman. When he was twenty-one he was promoted to the more responsible position of conductor on the Jefferson branch of the Erie Road, and he was serving in that capacity at the time of the entrance of the United States into the World War. Three months after the United States declared war Dr. Hall enlisted, in July, 1917, as a member of Company C, 311th Machine Gun Battalion, 79th Division, and was stationed at Camp Meade, in Maryland, where he remained until February, 1918, when he was mustered out of service on account of disability. There was a period of time during which he was obliged to give careful attention to the building up of his health, and after his recovery he decided to devote his life to the work of aiding others in their search for health and strength. Accordingly, he entered the Eastern College of Chiropractics, at Newark, New Jersey, where he completed his full course, graduat- ing with the class of 1922, a little more than four years after his dismissal from the service of the United States Army. Since that time he has been practicing in Pittston, Pennsylvania, where he has built up a very satisfactory practice. He has encountered the usual difficulties which osteopaths and chiropractors share in common, but his skill and his success in the treatment of numerous cases have won for him the respectful rec- ognition of both the medical profession and of the public in general and the number of his patients is steadily growing. Along with his professional activities, Dr. Hall finds time for active interest in civic affairs, and is a member of the Planning Commis- sion of the city of Pittston. No well thought out plan for the advancement of the progress of the city of Pittston fails to receive his earnest and generous support, and he has for some time been recognized as one of the
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most progressive of the citizens of this com- munity. Dr. Hall is a member of E. E. Ken- drick Lodge, No. 94, Brotherhood of Rail- way Trainmen. His religious membership is with St. John's Roman Catholic Church, of Pittston.
Dr. James F. Hall was married, November 15, 1922, to Anna June Dickenson, a native of England, and they have two children: Mary June and Mildred.
JOIIN M. DANKO-One of the most pro- gressive garage men in Freeland is found in the person of John M. Danko, who is established at the corner of Ridge and South streets, Freeland, under the name of Danko's Garage. This concern, although originally started as a taxi-cab service, since has ex- panded into a general garage business and Mr. Danko has taken over the local agency for Ford automobiles. Mr. Danko was born February 11, 1896, in Luzerne County, the son of George and Helen Danko, both par- ents residents of Freeland, the father having died in July, 1928.
John M. Danko was educated in the schools of Foster Township, graduated from high school there in 1915, and at once became interested in taxicab business. This led to his becoming thoroughly familiar with repair work and other details of automobiles, and he has a reputation for being one of the most skilled mechanics on automobiles in this section. Danko's Garage was established in 1913 and, as heretofore stated, its activ- ities were confined to taxicab service. In 1919, however, Mr. Danko took over the Ford agency, and moved his garage to No. 1221 South Street. His business expanded so rap- idly that in 1924 he was forced to seek larger quarters, whereupon he erected the present two-story brick and steel building at the corner of Ridge and South streets, Freeland. Here he has a modern and up-to-date plant, occupying a ground space of fifty-six by one hundred and fifty feet with eighteen thou- sand square feet of floor space. Mr. Danko keeps himself thoroughly informed upon all inventions and new methods peculiar to his trade, and is exclusive dealer for Ford prod- ucts. He operates a public garage with day and night service, and also sells tractors.
Testifying to Mr. Danko's progressive ideas and up-to-date methods, might be cited his membership in Pennsylvania Automotive As- sociation, and his public spirit is evinced through membership in the Rotary Club and the Business Men's Association. Neither has he neglected his civic duties, for he served four years as a member of the Freeland Borough Council. Mr. Danko's commercial career was interrupted during the World War, he having enlisted in March, 1918, be- ing attached to the 155th Regiment, Field Artillery, 80th Division, organized at Camp Lee, Virginia. He went overseas in May, 1918, and saw action at St. Mihiel, in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, and in a British sector. After fighting valorously for his country, Mr. Danko was honorably dis- charged on August 6, 1919, at Camp Dix, New Jersey, but he recalls his soldier days through his membership in the Freeland Post, American Legion. He is also a mem- ber of the lodge, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and his religious worship is given through St. Mary's Greek Catholic Church, at Freeland. Mr. Danko resides at No. 827 South Street, Freeland.
GEZA JOHN BRUGER-Son of a foreign country, who came to this land, assimilated American ideas and adopted American cus- toms, studied law and was admitted to all
the courts of the Keystone State, Geza John Bruger is one of the best-known attorneys and counselors of Luzerne County, having offices in Freeland, where he resides, and in Lansford.
Géza John Bruger was born in Kurima, Hungary, (now Czecho-Slovakla), May 6, 1882, the son of John and Mary Bruger. His mother died in her native land. His father came to America in 1892 and settled in Bridgeport, Connecticut, where he pur- sued his trade of carpenter. lle died May 19, 1305. The son, Géza, attended the primary and preparatory schools of Eperjes, Hungary, finishing his legal training at the Law Acad- emy, from which he was graduated in 1905. His final examinations were taken at Klau- senburg (Transylvania) University. Having served one year in the Austro-Hungary army, during which he received several pro- motions, he was dismissed with the rank of second lieutenant. In September, 1908, he followed his father to America, and located at once in Freeland, where he became an associate of John Shigo in the latter's private bank, maintaining this connection until De- cember 31, 1925. He had taken his prelim- inary examinations in Pennsylvania and United States law in July, 1917, and then began intensive reading under the preceptor- ship of Charles O. Stroh, an eminent attor- ney in Freeland. He passed his final exam- inations in December, 1922, was admitted to practice before the State Supreme Court, April 9, 1923, and before the various courts of Luzerne County on the following day.
Mr. Bruger began practice in Freeland in 1923, and in January, 1926, he purchased the office of his former preceptor, Mr. Stroh, and thereafter conducted a general practice. Mr. Bruger is building up a large and desirable practice. He is a linguist of ability, speak- ing fluently a number of languages. As a member of the American Bar Association and the Luzerne County Bar Association, he enjoys high professional standing among his fraternity brethren.
Mr. Bruger is actively interested in many of the larger and worth-while endeavors of the Freeland community. He is president of the Freeland Rotary Club, president of the Mid- dle Coal Field Poor District of Pennsylvania, president of the Drifton Tennis Club, presi- dent of the Anthracite Athletic Association. His enthusiasm for athletics has been sus- tained from the time of his school days. He at times held the quarter-mile and half-mile championships of Hungary and also the mile intercollegiate championship of his native country. Since coming to America, he has won a number of medals for athletic prowess. He is a member of the Anthracite Council of Boy Scouts, is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, is actively participating in the affairs of the Freeland Business Men's Association, is a cordial sup- porting member of the Freeland Young Men's Christian Association, and is vice-president of the Freeland Branch of the Hazleton Chapter of the American Red Cross. He and his family are communicants of St. Anthony's Roman Catholic Church at Freeland.
Géza John Bruger married, September 16, 1911, Anna Majercsak, of Hazleton, and they are the parents of two daughters: Adrienne Helen, and Martha. The family residence is at No. 527 Walnut Street, Freeland.
PETER B. FEDDISII, D. C .- It is a recog- nized fact that those who come into a new country as immigrants are usually persons possessed of initiative, courage and imagi- nation. Otherwise they would remain in the native land and resign themselves to what-
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takes courage and hardihood to leave all that has become familiar and go to a new land, where even the language is strange, and thus a process of sifting and selection is auto- matically going on through the centuries. Hardship waits in the new land, but also opportunity is there, and to those who are able to make the most of the latter, come the rewards. Sometimes the difficulties of the second generation are exceedingly great, but for them opportunity is correspondingly larger, and there are many scattered over this broad land whose lives have been notable examples of the courage which conquers handicaps and makes of them a highway to success. Among the sons of immigrants who have fairly earned a place among the last- mentioned class is Dr. Peter B. Feddish, of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, who is a successful chiropractor, with offices in the American Bank Building in this city. Before taking up the study of chiropractic, Dr. Feddish had been ill for seven years, having had thirty- three different operations performed by medi- cal doctors. Receiving no relief from any of these operations, he finally went to a chiro- practor who permanently cured him. Natur- ally his remarkable recovery aroused his interest in chiropractic and he immediately decided to adopt the profession as his life work, in the hope of bringing relief to others who were suffering as he had. Dr. Feddish is a graduate of the Palmer School of Chiro- practic, at Davenport, lowa, and he is one of the many in professional life who have worked at many and various callings in order to earn the wherewithal to secure their professional training. Never content with less than the best possible preparation for his work, Dr. Feddish spared no effort to make himself one of the able and thoroughly pre- pared chiropractors of the country, and he was quite willing to work hard at any work he could get until his training was made complete and thorough. Then he was ready to begin practice, and his success with his many patients has fully justified his course of action.
George Feddish, father of Dr. Feddish, was born in Austria, ahout 1865, but came to this country at the age of fourteen years. He was ambitious and willing to work, and lo- cated in Pennsylvania, where he soon found employment in the mines and eventually be- came a miner and a carpenter, but as the years passed and he married and became the father of a family, fortune ceased to favor him. He became ill and unable to work, and the support of the family came largely upon the young shoulders of Peter. George Feddish lived until 1919, when he died, at the com- paratively early age of fifty-four years.
Dr. Peter B. Feddish, son of George and Anna Feddish, was born in Sheppton, Schuyl- kill County, Pennsylvania, August 22, 1900, and received his education in the several cities in which the family were at varions times located, including Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Chicago, Illinois; and Davenport, Iowa. As time passed, the sickness of the father made it necessary that the boy should be the main support of the family, and he worked hard and long in the effort to supply the needs of those dependent upon him and also to secure the means for his own education. The double burden placed upon him called into play all his energy and resourcefulness, and when he determined to become a chiropractor, he bent his will to the task of securing his training. Eventually, he entered the Palmer School of Chiropractic, at Davenport, Iowa, and in March, 1923, was graduated as a Doctor of Chiropractics, For a short time he was en-
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