USA > Pennsylvania > Erie County > A twentieth century history of Erie County, Pennsylvania : a narrative account of its historic progress, its people, and its principal interests, Volume II > Part 17
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Mr. Kaltenbach has for many years wielded no little influence in local politics and is a stanch supporter of the principles and policies of the Democratic party. In 1883 he was elected to represent the Fifth ward in the common council, and in 1885-86 he represented the Second ward in this body. In 1888 he was elected, from the Fifth ward, to the select council, to which he was again elected in 1890. He thereafter served continuously as a member of the select council until 1896, and the entire period of his service in the city council covered eleven years, within which he was president of the select council for one year. He
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gave his best energies and loyal co-operation to the insuring of good municipal government, and his long tenure of office is the best voucher for the high estimate placed upon his services by the people of the com- munity. Upon his retirement from the select council, in 1896, Mayor Scott appointed him a member of the city board of fire commissioners, and he thereafter continued incumbent of this position through reappoint- ment by Mayors Saltsman and Deponet, after which he was continued in the office by election in the joint session of the common and select councils. He held the office for ten consecutive years and retired from the same by resignation, after having made a record for efficient and faithful service in this important department of the municipal gov- ernment.
Mr. Kaltenbach and his wife are zealous and valued members of St. Joseph's Catholic church, and he is prominently identified with the Catholic Mutual Benefit Association, in the subordinate branch of which he has held all of the official positions, besides which he has served as vice-president of the grand council of the order in the state of Penn- sylvania. He is identified with the St. Alphonse Society of St. Joseph's parish. He holds membership in the Erie Chamber of Commerce; the Erie Lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; the Erie Maennerchor, of which he was president for a period of three years ; the South Erie Improvement Association; and the Erie Realty Company.
Mr. Kaltenbach served two years as president of Liquor Dealers' Association of Pennsylvania, and under the reorganization, as the State Liquor Dealers' Association, he holds at the present time the office of vice-president and is a member of the state executive board of the association. He has always been known as a progressive and public- spirited citizen and ha's done' his full share in connection with the up- building of his native city, to which his loyalty is of the most insistent order. His record in public office has been unspotted and his influence has always been given in support of measures and enterprises tending to promote the progress and general welfare of his home city. He is a man of independent views and in public service has followed the course of duty as defined by his judgment, showing neither fear nor favor.
In 1876 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Kaltenbach to Barbara Schloss, who was born in Bavaria, Germany, a daughter of Jacob Schloss. She was reared and education in her native land, whence she came to America in company with her brother, Philip Schloss, who is a success- ful business man in Erie. Concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Kaltenbach the following brief record is entered: Rosa and Anna remain at the parental home; Frank J., who is a member of the firm of Kalten- bach & Hershey, wholesale liquor dealers, of Erie, married Lena Setterle, daughter of Martin Setterle, of Erie, and they have one son, Frank J., Jr .; George J., who is engaged in business in Erie, married Margaret Roeder, of Pittsburg; Charles J. is engaged in the plumbing business in Erie ; and Edward C. is superintendent of the Kohler ice plant in Erie. Mr. Kaltenbach also served as fire commissioner for ten years.
JAMES E. SILLIMAN, M. D., one of the leading members of the medical profession of Erie, was born in North East, Erie county, Penn- sylvania, June 10, 1844, son of John and Minerva (Chapman) Silliman, both natives of Pennsylvania. Dr. Silliman's grandfather was a native of Ireland, from whence, in 1800, he came to this country and settled in Erie county, where he carried on farming for many years.
HE NEW YORK IPUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR, LEMOX TILDEN FOUNDATIONS
Maria & Applebee
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTAR LINGX TILOD FOUNDATIONS
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Deciding to prepare himself for a professional life, James E. entered Allegheny College, at Meadville, Pennsylvania, where he graduated with the class of 1871. At that time he received the degree of A. B., and three years later the A. M. degree was conferrd upon him by his alma mater. He took a regular course of study in Jefferson Medical College, completing the same in 1874, and immediately thereafter he settled in Erie and began the practice of his profession, which he has continued up to the present time. And during his long identity with the medical ranks of Erie, which covers a period of more than thirty-four years, Dr. Silliman has enjoyed a leading position in the profession, gaining both success and honor. In 1878, he married Hattie I., daughter of the late Hugh P. Mehaffey, a native of Erie county, of German and Scotch-Irish descent.
Previous to his college life, Dr. Silliman had a war experience. In 1865 he enlisted in the 102nd P. V. I., Company E, and was with his command until the close of the war. For a number of years he served as Brigade Surgeon of the Second Brigade, N. G. P. He was elected coro- ner of Erie county in 1875, and continued in that office until 1881. In the meantime, he also served as secretary of the Board of Examining Surgeons of Pensions, to which position he was appointed in 1877. For years he has been identified with numerous fraternal organizations. He maintains membership in the local medical societies, in the Pennsylvania State Medical Society, and in the American Medical Association, and he is prominent in the Masonic fraternity. Both he and his wife are active members of the First Methodist church of Erie.
JOHN F. APPLEBEE. The name of John F. Applebee, deceased, is enrolled among the honored pioneers of Erie county, and among the native sons of its township of Harbor Creek, where he was born on the 29th of December, 1829, a son, of one of the earliest families to seek a home in this community. Thomas and Sarah (Fuller) Applebee, from Connecticut. They established their home in Harbor Creek township during a very early epoch in its history, and they were owners of a large farm here and were prominent and well known farming people. After the death of the husband the wife went to Erie, and there she subsequently died.
John F. Applebee, the fourth born of their eleven children, remained with his parents until his marriage, and he spent the following year on a rented farm. During the two years following this period he was the proprietor of a general store in Erie, and then purchasing a farm in Harbor Creek, he was engaged in its cultivation until moving to the borough of Harbor Creek in 1879. From that time until his death, which occurred on the 20th of December, 1906, he was a veterinary surgeon in the village, and was said to be the oldest veterinary surgeon in this sec- tion. During his long and useful life he won many friends, and his name is an honored one wherever known.
Mr. Applebee married on September 19, 1854, Maria Stelle, who was born in Crawford county, Pennsylvania, January 1, 1834, a daugh- ter of James and Naomi (Davis) Stelle, the former from New York and the latter from Crawford county, Pennsylvania. She is a grand- daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth Stelle, of French descent, and of Isaac and Nancy Davis, from Wales. The following children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Applebee: Cora Lillian, who died in infancy ; Tommie J., who died at the age of three years ; and Della Pearl, who died at the
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age of five years. Mr. Applebee voted with the Republican party, and he was honored with many local offices. He and his wife were mem- bers of the Baptist church, at Harbor Creek and then at Wesleyville. When they first came to Wesleyville they were members of the First Baptist Church at Erie, and the Mission at Wesleyville, and Mr. Apple- bee was a prime factor in erecting the church building in the village and he gave the ground on which the church was erected. Since her husband's death Mrs. Applebee has resided with Miss Lulu Glas.
JOSEPH DANIEL BABO, a well-known cement and concrete contractor and an active member of the Erie Common Council, was born in the ward which he represents in that body, February 7, 1878. He is a son of John S. and Rose (Fisher) Babo, natives respectively of the United States and Germany. The mother died in 1901. Mr. Babo was reared in Erie, and after obtaining his education at St. John's parochial school entered the employ of the Lovell Manufacturing Company. After spending three years with that concern, he began work in the concrete and cement line, and in 1901 began contracting personally. Since that year he has accomplished a large amount of durable and honest work on the structures and thoroughfares of the city, and has especially added to his substantial reputation in the ward of his residence and birth.
In February, 1909, Mr. Babo was elected to represent the Fifth ward in the common council of Erie, and is a member of the committees on conduits and electric supplies and streets and sidewalks, as well as chairman of the committee on health and water. He is also identified with the Armory and Three C's clubs and is a leading member of the Erie Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Babo's wife (nee Margaret Bickford) was also born in Erie, so that their children, Beatrice and Margaret, are especially daughters of the city. The family is identified with the St. John's Roman Catholic church and the residence is at No. 507 East Twenty-fifth street.
EDWARD H. MEHL. It can not be other than a matter of satisfaction to find in the pages of this historical compilation specific records concern- ing many of the native sons of Erie county who are today numbered among its representative citizens in the multifarious lines of business and professional activity. One of this number is Mr. Mehl, who is one of the most progressive business men of his native city of Erie and whose life and labors have added to the prestige of a name honored in Erie county. He is a member of the firm of Mehl & Sapper, one of the oldest and most extensive hardware concerns in this section of the state and one whose reputation rests on the secure foundation of correct business methods and the personal integrity of the interested principals.
Edward H. Mehl was born in the Second ward of the city of Erie on the 12th of May, 1857, and is a son of Michael and Catherine (Wit- ters) Mehl, both natives of France and representatives of stanch old families of that great empire. Michael Mehl was reared and educated in his fatherland, where he learned the barber's trade. In 1848 he severed the ties which bound him to home and native land and set fortli to seek his fortunes in America, to whose composite social fabric France has contributed a most valuable element. Soon after his arrival in New York City he came to Erie, and within a short time thereafter he here opened a barber shop of his own,-one of the pioneer establish- ments of the kind in the place. But it is in connection with musical art
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that this honored citizen is best remembered in the city which was so long his home and in which he ever held a secure place in popular con- fidence and esteem. He came of a musical family, was himself a musician of marked interpretative and appreciative talent and at least four of his sons inherited his taste for the "divine art," becoming prominent in the musical circles of Erie. Michael Mehl organized the first brass band in Erie and was the director and head of the organization for many years, within which he gained, through this association, a wide acquaintanceship throughout this and other sections of the state. His sons Michael, Jr., Charles, and William O., were members of this band, and Edward H., of this review, for many years played the double-bass viol in the Erie Opera House orchestra. Michael Mehl, Sr., died in 1882, at the vener- able age of seventy-three years, and his widow was of the same age at the time of her demise, in 1887. Both were members of the Lutheran church, and in politics he gave his allegiance to the Republican party. Of the fourteen children one of the sons and four of the daughters are now living, the surviving son, Edward H., having been the fourteenth in order of birth. Louise is the widow of Joseph Fuess, who was a prominent hardware merchant of the firm of Boyer & Fuess of Erie; Lena is the wife of ex-Sheriff Ernst E. Steurznickel, of this city; Miss Harriet still maintains her home in Erie; and Fredericka is the wife of H. J. Sevin, of Erie.
Edward H. Mehl was reared to manhood in Erie, where in his boyhood and youth he duly availed himself of the advantages of the public schools, though he initiated his connection with practical busi- ness affairs when but a boy. In 1869, when twelve years of age, he engaged in the business of bottling mineral waters, and in the following year he became a clerk in the hardware establishment of Boyer & Fuess, with which firm he continued about ten years, at the expiration of which, in February, 1880, he accepted a clerkship in the establishment of the Erie Hardware Company, with which he remained employed until 1884, when he engaged in the same line of enterprise on his own responsibility, by effecting the organization of the firm of Mehl & Liebel. He brought to bear a most thorough knowledge of all details of the business as well as marked executive and initiative ability and thus, with the further influence of the personal popularity of his partner and himself, the business flourished from the start. In 1887 John N. Sapper purchased the Liebel interest in the business, which has since been continued under the title of Mehl & Sapper and which represents one of the most important enterprises of its kind in the city. The large and modern establishment of the firm affords ample accommodations for the extensive stock carried in the various departments and is eligibly located on State street, where it holds a representative patronage.
Enterprising and progressive as a business man and loyal and public- spirited as a citizen, Mr. Mehl holds as his own the unqualified esteem of the community in which he has maintained his home from the time of his birth and in which he has gained advancement and high business standing through his own well directed endeavors. He is a member of the board of managers of Hamot Hospital, is a stalwart supporter of the principles of the Republican party, though he has never manifested aught of ambition for political preferment, and he and his wife are zeal- ous members of St. John's Lutheran church. He is affiliated with Ger- man Lodge, No. 871. Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he has been treasurer for the past six years, and he is also identified
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with the encampment and canton of this fraternal organization, in whose affairs he takes a lively interest.
In 1883 Mr. Mehl was united in marriage to Anna J. Müller, daugh- ter of Frederick W. Müller, who was a well known builder and con- tractor of Erie, and they have four children,-H. Edward, Carl L., Mil- lard M., and Alene A. All of the children remain at the parental home. H. Edward married Belle Blackman, a resident of the state of Florida.
FREDERICK J. MILLER is proprietor of the leading plumbing establish- ment in Erie and has carried his sound and honorable business principles into the public service to such good purpose as to be of acknowledged benefit to the municipality. He is a native of the city in which he has prospered, and his lifelong residence in it has been mutually beneficial. Born in the Third ward of Erie, on the 8th of April, 1857, he is a son of Henry and Mary Miller, both natives of Germany, where they were reared, educated and married. In the fatherland were born their first two children, and in the forties they emigrated with their family to the United States, soon after their arrival establishing their home in Erie. There, the father entered the employ of the old-time firm of Vincent, Himrod and Pressley, foundersof the business upon which was established the Germer Stove Works. Later, he engaged in the draying business, retiring from a successful career in that line a few years before his death in 1887. His wife had passed away in 1866, and both were highly es- teemed pioneers of the community, faithful members of the Evangelical Lutheran church. The following eight children (of whom the youngest two are living) were born to Henry and Mary Miller ; Henry, Catherine, Louisa, Henry P., John, William, Frederick J. and Charles C. The last named has been, for many years, in the service of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad, with headquarters at Buffalo, New York.
Frederick J. Miller, the seventh child of the family, attended the public schools of Erie until 1872, when, at the age of fifteen, he became an apprentice in the plumbing establishment of Jarecki, Hays and Com- pany, with whom he remained until 1879. Then, a master of the trade, he purchased a half interest in the business of his brother, Henry P., and, under the firm name of Miller Brothers, a growing plumbing establish- ment was maintained until 1880 in the basement of a building that stood on State street, where the present business of the William E. Hays Com- pany is conducted. In the year named Miller Brothers moved to 1109 State street, where they continued until 1892. In the previous year Frederick J. had purchased ground at the corner of Twelfth and State streets, and upon the rear half of this property he erected a substantial two-story brick building in which the plumbing business was established in 1892. Henry P. Miller died in April, 1893, and the establishment has since been owned and rapidly promoted by the surviving partner. In the spring of 1909 Mr. Miller erected at the corner of Twelfth and State street, on the front half of the lot mentioned, a three story block of brick and stone, the first floor of which is devoted to business purposes and the upper floors to modern flats. The building is one of the most con- venient and up-to-date of any in the city, and speaks well for the taste and judgment of one of its leading business men.
While never a politician, Mr. Miller has devoted considerable of his time to municipal affairs, having served as a member of the common council in 1901-2 and of the board of revision of taxes and appeals, in 1904-6. Such honors came to him quite unsolicited, and as a conscien-
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tious citizen he therefore felt called upon to exert himself to the utmost to promote the city's interests through the prompt and businesslike per- formance of his official duties. In this aim he met the expectations of his best constituents and friends. Mr. Miller is a member of the Erie Sanitary Association, Erie Business Men's Exchange, Erie Chamber of Commerce, Erie Maennerchor and the South Erie Turnverein, besides which he is affiliated with Tyrian Lodge No. 362 F. & A. M., the Presque Isle Lodge of Perfection (Masonic) and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He and his family are members of the St. John's Evan- gelical Lutheran church and are active in its work and support.
In 1878 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Miller to Ida R. Loesch, who was born and reared in Erie and is a daughter of William Loesch, an old and honored business man of the city. Mr. and Mrs. Frederick J. Miller have become the parents of six children, as follows: Mary, who died at the age of six years; William, John E., Frederick H., Loretta E .. and Margaret E. The three sons are associated with their father and are among the popular and progressive young business men of their native city.
FRANK SCHLAUDECKER, one of the oldest and best known German citizens of Erie, is a native of Ruletzheim, Rheinish Bavaria, where he was born May 30, 1831. His parents, John Ulrich and Franceska (Druck) Schlaudecker, were both natives of the above-named province. The father was born in 1801 and died in 1865, and the mother died about 1855. To them were born the following children : Matthew, Frank, Jacob, deceased, John Peter, Catherine, Justina and Eva. The three daughters all became nuns in a Catholic order ten years after their arrival in America. Mat- thew came to the United States in 1849, and engaged in the grocery busi- ness with his brother Frank. Soon after the outbreak of the Civil war, Matthew raised three companies for three months service, known as the "Erie Regiment," and served as their major. In August of that year, he received authority from the United States War Department to re- cruit a regiment, which became the One Hundred Eleventh Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers, of which he was commissioned colonel, and which he commanded until November 6, 1862, when on account of ill- health he found it necessary to resign his commission and retire from service. Returning to Erie, he resumed business with his brother. Mat- thew Schlaudecker was a man of considerable prominence in Erie, hav- ing helped organize the German Bank, of which he became president, also the German Insurance Company, of which he also became president ; both these companies failed in the panic of 1874, the insurance company having been crippled by the great Chicago Fire a few years before. He was also interested in the manufacture of pipe organs in Erie, later re- moving his interests to Chicago, and still later to San Francisco, in which city he died in September, 1907. John Peter was captain of Company H, One Hundred Eleventh Pennsylvania Regiment of Volunteers, from its organization in 1861 until December 29, 1863, being discharged from ser- vice with a surgeon's certificate.
Frank Schlaudecker was engaged in the grocery business in his na- tive country, and upon coming to America in September, 1849, and set- tling in Erie, found employment in the store of Cassimer Seigel, where he worked until 1852, and then with his brother Matthew embarked in business under the firm name of F. & M. Schlaudecker ; this firm did a flourishing business until 1870, when Matthew Schlaudecker withdrew
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from the firm and the enterprise was carried on four years longer by the remaining brother, after which he also retired from business. In 1875 Mr. Schlaudecker was elected justice of the peace, to which office he was twice re-elected, and in 1884 was appointed Collector of Internal Revenue of Erie District, in which capacity he served two years. When the Erie and Pittsburg districts were consolidated, Mr. Schlaudecker continued three years in charge of the Erie Office as deputy collector. In 1867 Mr. Schlaudecker was elected a member of the common council of Erie although he did not know until his election that he was to be a candidate; he was re-elected in 1869 and served as president until his retirement from the same. For many years he has been interested in insurance, having first taken up the business while he was serving as justice of the peace, continuing same while he was in the customs office, and at present is at the head of the firm of F. Schlaudecker & Son. This firm, organized in 1903, does a flourishing business, its interests being actively cared for by the junior member, Leo. P. Schlaudecker.
Frank Schlaudecker is a member of St. Mary's Roman Catholic church of Erie, being one of its earliest adherents, and was a member of the building committee at the time the present magnificent edifice was erected. He was at different times president of the St. George Society, and for many years a leading member of the choir. He was a charter member of the Erie Liedertafel Society and one of the oldest members of the Maennerchor.
Mr. Schlaudecker married Catherine Schlaudecker, who was born May 30, 1830, in Bavaria, and came to United States and to Erie with her parents, in 1837, and to them have been born the fol- lowing children: Edward, (deceased) married Carrie Aumer, and they had one daughter, Leona, who is now deceased; Cornelius (deceased) ; married to Isabella Cummings, now also deceased, and they had one daughter, Bertha, who is living; Julius, also deceased, who married Estella Kleinfelter and they had a daughter, Estella; Leo. P., engaged with his father in the insurance business, and married to Winnifred Main.
CLARK OLDS, one of the most prominent citizens of Erie, a leading attorney, ex-president of the Chamber of Commerce, and member of the Board of Water Commissioners, is a native son of Erie, and a descend- ant of one of the county's most respected pioneer families. His grand- father, Asa Gilbert Olds, founder of this branch of the family, was a native of the State of New Hampshire, where he was born in Alstead, November 15, 1793; when a child he removed, with his parents, to Williamstown, Vermont, where he grew to manhood. In 1813. Asa G. Olds travelled westward, looking for a location in which to settle, and went afoot all the way from his Vermont home to Cynthiana, Kentucky, passing through northern Pennsylvania and Ohio. The next winter, 1814. he loaded his possessions into a wagon, and with an ox team started West, his objective point being the Western Reserve, of Ohio; he reached Erie in the dead of winter and stopped over nigth, intending to proceed with his journey the next morning, but during the night there was a thaw, and the snow had disappeared, leaving the roads heavy with mud and impassable. This small incident decided the temporary location of the family in Erie county, and their surroundings became so agreeable that they settled permanently in the vicinity. Mr. Olds purchased a farm in East Mill Creek, built a house, and lived there the remainder of his life; he died December 8, 1871. He was a public-spirited man and an
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