USA > Pennsylvania > Lebanon County > Biographical annals of Lebanon County, Pennsylvania : containing biographical sketches of prominent men and representative citizens and of the early settled families > Part 29
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Judge Ehrgood was married to Anna Mary Schantz, a native of Lebanon county, daughter of Joseph Schantz. To this union children were born as follows: Dora Mabel and Allen Henry. Judge Ehrgood has served as chairman of the Republican County Committee, and has always taken an active and prominent part in politics and all public inatters. Fraternally, since 1871, he has been a member of the P. O. S. of A., and also belongs to the Junior O. U. A. M., the Royal Arcanum and the Masons.
DANIEL A. FRANTZ, who has for the past quarter of a century con- ducted the furniture business in the city of Lebanon, is a man whose keen commercial instinct has carried him from a very modest beginning to a posi- tion in the business world enjoyed by few. He is a man of the strictest integrity, and is esteemed for his solid and substantial qualities of citizenship.
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Mr. Frantz was born February 13, 1856, in Lebanon, where he has passed his entire life, and is a son of Theodore P. Frantz, who receives extensive mention elsewhere. He was given a good common school educa- tion and passed his vacations and leisure hours with his father in the furni- ture store, where he early learned the rudiments of the business in which he has been so successful. In 1878, a year prior to attaining his majority, he practically succeeded his father in the business, although that gentleman re- mained in the store until 1887. At that time the business was quite primitive in extent, carried on in one room, 20 x 16 feet in dimensions, on Cumberland street, the site he now occupies. As year succeeded year his trade increased and he gradually enlarged his establishment to its present proportions, the successive steps being taken as follows: In 1877 he increased his floor space to 16 x 50; in 1882 added one story of 87 feet; in 1884 added another story of 45 feet ; in 1885 added the remaining story of 43 feet : in 1893 built the addition on the extreme end of his lot, thereby adding 68 feet ; in 1894 put in a basement of 204 feet under the entire building, pinning up the brick walls while the work was being accomplished. Mr. Frantz next purchased the adjoining store, which he subsequently sold to the Miller Organ Company, and from whom he now rents the third floor and basement. This gives him a total floor space of 30,000 square feet, which is said to be the most extensive of any furniture business between Philadelphia and Chicago. In connection with the furniture business he conducts an extensive undertaking establish- ment, which is furnished with all the appliances now known to that trade for embalming and caring for the dead.
In social life Mr. Frantz takes a helpful interest. being a member of Camp No. 65, P. O. S. of A., and of which organization he is a trustee. He is also affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the I. O. O. F. He was married in January, 1887, to Miss Grace Eliza Strassner, who was born in Orrville, Ohio, daughter of Rev. Frederick and Mary Strassner. Rev. Mr. Strassner is a prominent and leading divine of the Reformed Church in the Buckeye State, where his close acquaintance with the family of the late lamented President Mckinley made him an official at the funerals of both mother and son. Children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Frantz as follows : Edith, December, 1888; Frederick, April, 1893: Susan, March 13, 1895.
Mr. and Mrs. Frantz are leading members of St. John's Reformed Church, in which organization Mr. Frantz is particularly active and helpful. She takes great interest in the children of the church. being at the present time president of the Junior Christian Endeavor Society and a teacher in
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the Sunday School. She also is a member of the choir, in which her superior musical talent is greatly appreciated. In the social life of the city Mr. and Mrs. Frantz are most popular, and are greatly esteemed for the graciousness of their bearing and their kindly hospitality.
JONAS L. KNOLL. Of the many names written on the scroll of the industrial world of Lebanon county, some few stand prominently in view, and of these, there is none higher than that of the late Jonas L. Knoll, patentee and manufacturer of the Knoll Washing Machine and Spring Frame Bicycle. Mr. Knoll was born March 22, 1847, in North Annville township, Lebanon county, a son of Christian and Fannie ( Landis ) Knoll; and him, their young- est son, unlike all the others, nature richly endowed with wonderful mechani- cal skill, for during his long and useful career, his ingenuity proved of great benefit and profit, not only to himself but to countless others.
Christian Knoll, his father, was a worthy representative of an old and highly esteemed family of Lebanon county. His entire life was passed in agricultural pursuits, and was blessed with the abundant prosperity that is the reward of persistent industry and unquestioned integrity. He was a Dunkard in religion, while his political faith was that of the Republican party, and his fidelity to its principles was the outcome of earnest and patient study of the great questions of the day. By his marriage with Fannie Landis, he became the father of the following children: Isaac, of Annville; John, of Annville; Catherine, deceased; Fannie, widow of Samuel Shanaman, of Ann- ville ; Christian, deceased; Anna, wife of Joseph Bender, of Lebanon county ; Elizabeth, deceased ; and Jonas L.
The early days of Jonas L. Knoll were passed upon his father's farm, and in the neighboring schools he obtained his preliminary education, supple- menting the knowledge there acquired by attendance at Annville College. After leaving school he learned the carpenter's trade, which he followed until his marriage; after which, until 1880, he lived on a small farm near Annville. In the latter year, he located in Lebanon, where he was first employed in the Miller Organ Factory, and later in the Lebanon Machine shops. His next venture was a family grocery, but this not proving congenial, he disposed of it, and became a tree agent. As a salesman he proved a distinct success, his genial disposition winning him many friends all over his territory. For about five years he was agent for a washing machine, and from a study of this ma- chine, committed to him for sale, was evolved the Knoll Washing Machine, that has met with so great favor. His first patent was taken out July 16, 1889, and a second patent obtained December 4, 1894. From a small be-
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ginning, the business increased so rapidly that Mr. Knoll was obliged to in- crease his facilities for their manufacture. Accordingly he erected a large factory in Lebanon, and in an incredibly short time this machine was being sold all over the United States and Canada. In 1893, at the World's Fair in Chicago, was awarded the first premium to Mr. Knoll for this machine; this proving it to be the best and most widely known throughout the continent. On January 3, 1899, he took out letters patent on a Spring Frame Bicycle, and subsequently established for its manufacture, also a large bicycle factory at Lebanon. His inventive genius did not stop here, but continued and found expression in a number of other ingenious devices, for which he secured patents. Unlike many inventors, he did not prove a failure in the business world, but, on the other hand, so conducted his affairs that he became pos- sessed of considerable property through wise purchases of real estate, and at the time of his death, besides his comfortable home, owned a number of other houses. Truthfully has it been said of him that he never made a failure of anything he undertook.
Outside of his manufacturing business, Mr. Knoll was interested in other affairs, especially those of his church. As a local minister of the Salem United Brethren Church of Lebanon, he was one of the pillars of that de- nomination, having faithfully served for many years as a member of its official board, and a teacher in the German department of the Sunday School. Above and beyond this it may be said, he was ever active in word and deed in the support of all religious work.
On June 20, 1869, Mr. Knoll was united in marriage with Mary Boltz, who was born October 18, 1849, a daughter of Simon and Rebecca (Poor- man) Boltz, of North Annville township. Five children came to brighten their home, but of these, only two, a son and a daughter, have lived to ma- turity : Raymond, though quite young, is a member of the American Eagle Fife and Drum Corps, and is fast winning his way into the hearts of the young people everywhere. Gertrude, an accomplished young lady, is a gradu- ate of the Lebanon High School, and had the honor of being valedictorian of the class of 1902 of that institution : almost immediately upon the death of her father she entered Lebanon Business College. for the purpose of acquiring there a more thorough business education, which she felt she mostly needed. and after completing the commercial course of the college, she assumed a share of the responsibility of the work left by her father, and has since then been bookkeeper and typewriter for her mother who now conducts the busi- ness. Miss Gertrude is also possessed of rare musical talent and has been
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organist of Salem United Brethren Church, of Lebanon, for, six successive years.
On January II. 1902, Mr. Knoll, a kind husband and loving father, en- tered into rest eternal, sincerely mourned, not only by his own family, but by his friends and fellow townsmen, who had learned to love and esteem him for his kindly ways and his honest upright life. He himself was a strictly self- made man, and the struggles of his own youth and early manhood were not forgotten in the prosperity of his later years, and many a poor struggler on fortune's ladder found in him a steadfast friend and wise counselor. His habits were temperate, and foreseeing the injurious effects of the liquor traffic on the coming generations, he threw the might of his political influence with the Prohibition party, and steadfastly labored for its success. His charity was broad and his impulses generous, and in his death the community lost a citizen loyal and true in every relation of life.
A. F. KLETT is a member of the firm of Fox & Klett, which was established at Rexmont, Lebanon county in 1889, and is a leading mercantile house in South Lebanon township, its proprietors, S. E. Fox and A. F. Klett, being recognized men of ability and progressive spirit. The senior partner resides in Lebanon, and the business is under the direct management of Mr. Klett.
Mr. Klett was born April 12, 1864, in Fredericksburg, Lebanon county, a son of Charles and Caroline (Feiddler) Klett, the former of whom was born in Hessen-Darmstadt and the latter in Wurtemberg, Germany. These parents came to America prior to marriage, living until then and some time after, in Berks county, whence they moved to Fredericksburg, where the mother died in 1882, at the age of fifty-two years. The father, at the age of seventy-seven years, makes his home with one of his daughters, at Rex- mont. Until he retired from activity, he followed the trade of wheelwright. Politically he has always been in sympathy with the Democratic party. Re- ligiously both he and wife belonged from youth to the Lutheran Church. The four children born to these worthy parents were: Amelia, deceased, wife of Samuel Lemberger; Aaron F., of South Lebanon township: Irvin H., a clerk in his brother's establishment, who married Kate Souliard, and has one child, Guy; and Satilla, who married Pierce Kennedy, of Rexmont, and has one child, Myrtle.
Aaron F. Klett was reared in Fredericksburg and attended the public schools and then learned the trade of cigar-making, following the same for three years. He then accepted a position with S. E. Fox, at Cornwall, as
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general assistant in his store and as a reliable deliverer of goods. His ex- cellent record in this line, gained the attention and confidence of Mr. Fox to such an extent that he was gradually promoted until he was made head clerk and then it was but a step to a partnership. At this time the present business was established at Rexmont, and since then Mr. Klett has had its manage- ment, a position which the results have proven him to be eminently qualified for. In every department he exercises the same care and with the assistance of three employees, offers to the residents of Rexmont a choice selection of first-class goods at the latest market figures. Mr. Fox was the first post- master of this place, and was succeeded by Mr. Klett who held the office until 1901. His interest in all that concerns the community is sincere, and he has served very acceptably on the school board and has favored improve- ments and reforms wherever need became apparent. He has other business interests, having, in the fall of '1902, with his brother, purchased the mer- cantile establishment of Martin Gephardt. of Campbelltown, which is under the supervision of Irvin Klett and conducted under the firm name of Klett Bros. At present they are closing out this business for the purpose of locat- ing and opening a general store and hardware store in the new Greiner Building at Palmyra.
Mr. Klett is a member of the Knights of the Mystic Chain, K. of M., Cornwall Beneficial, and A. F. & A. M., No. 226. On March 4, 1889, he was married to Miss Minnie Hartman, daughter of Samuel Hartman, of Corn- wall, a lady of most estimable characteristics and a consistent member of the Methodist Church. One child has been born to this union, Charles Roy. Mr. Klett belongs to the Lutheran Church. He has, by his ability and strict integrity, gained the respect and esteem of all who know him.
MONROE J. STRICKLER, senior member of the firm of E. Strick- ler's Sons, millers, resides in Lebanon, Lebanon county, Pennsylvania.
ABRAHAM H. MILLER was born February 6, 1845, in North Ann- ville township, Lebanon county, Pa. His father, Abraham Miller, was a son of John Miller, and was born and lived all his life on a farm at Heilmandale, North Annville township.
John Muller, the founder of the family in America, emigrated from Hamburg, Germany, in 1752, and settled in Lebanon (then Lancaster) county.
Abrahanı H. Miller was but an infant when his father died, and he was left entirely to the care of his mother Magdalene (Heisey) Miller, who was born in South Annville township, near the Horseshoe pike, in 1810, a daugh-
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ter of Henry Heisey, one of the prominent old families of that part of the country. The mother died in 1886. Mr. Miller was reared on a small farm adjoining the old homestead, where he and his mother lived alone until his two older brothers became old enough to farm the old place. At this time the whole family moved on the farm, and lived there for several years, but upon the marriage of the older brothers he and his mother again moved back to the small farm, where he remained until he became of age. On February 10, 1866, Mr. Miller was united in marriage to Annie S. Kreider, a daughter of Edward Kreider, then steward of the Lebanon County Almshouse. The four children of this union now living (1903) are: Grant L., who has charge of the Miller Organ Company's music store in Lebanon; Henry Ray- mond, who is a member of the firm of Powers & Miller, shoe dealers of Leb- anon; lda N., wife of John C. Borgner ; and Renie A., a young lady, at home with her parents. Two other children, Abner A. and William, died, both aged about three years. After marriage Mr. Miller and his wife set up house- keeping in an old one-story spring house on the homestead farm, where they resided several years, in 1869, removing to Lebanon, where they have since resided.
During nine years Mr. Miller was employed as teacher in various public schools in the winters, and in the summers he worked on the farm. In 1872 he resigned as teacher of one of the schools of Lebanon, and entered the hard- ware store of Philip Greenwalt, where he served one and one-half years, at the end of that time associating himself with Adam B. Miller, and forming the Miller Organ Company. During the first years of this partnership he worked in the factory wherever he was needed, and doing whatever he was able to perform-often turning the scroll-saw by hand, treading the turning-lathe, varnishing and furnishing organ cases, selling organs and doing office work. In a short time he became quite proficient in tuning, and for many years he personally tuned every organ manufactured, only relinquishing this part of work when the office demanded his entire attention.
Mr. Miller has taken an active interest in church and other religious work. He has been superintendent of St. Mark's Reformed Sunday School since its organization in 1885. He has also served as a director in the local Y. M. C. A., since its organization in Lebanon. For several years he has been a director of the People's National Bank of Lebanon, Pa., and in Janu- ary, 1903. was elected president of that institution. The rest of Mr. Miller's history is bound up in the Miller Organ Company, to which he has thus far given thirty of the best years of his life. In politics he is a Republican.
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ADAM B. MILLER was born January 10, 1848, in North Lebanon township, Lebanon county, Pa., a son of Rudolph Miller, and a grandson of Daniel Miller, both of Lebanon county. The origin of the family was in Germany. Mr. Miller was raised on a farm a short distance north of the city of Lebanon, and acquired his education in the common schools in the vicinity. In connection with farming his father engaged in carpenter work, and this gave young Adam early access to, and familiarity with tools, thus fostering a natural talent and mechanical bent which afterward brought about great results. On Nov. 14, 1868, he was united in marriage with Sarah Yeakley, a daughter of Joseph Yeakley, who lived near Jonestown, this county. Four children were born to this union, namely: Ella, who died aged three years : Harry, who died aged one and one-half years; Mary E., who is the wife of Howard Strickler, of Lebanon ; and Miss Emma L. The religious connection of the family is with St. Mark's Reformed Church.
After his marriage Mr. Miller commenced life by farming the old home- stead place, but his career as a farmer, was of short duration, as his me- chanical turn of mind found no congeniality in following the plow. Before he commenced farming he had constructed many of his implements himself. He made harrows, plows, sleighs and even the harness for the horses himself, and it was during his first year's farming that he commenced and finished his first organ, building it at odd moments, mornings and evenings, as well as on days too inclement for working on the farm. His agricultural career was terminated in January, 1872, when he moved to town. There he worked for a short time at carpentering, but receiving several orders for organs he soon concluded to devote all his time to that work. Realizing, however, that he was handicapped by not having a thorough knowledge of the various processes necessary to the successful manufacture of such instruments, he made a visit to New York, with the intention of entering a factory and serving an appren- ticeship. He made application at a large factory, stating that he wished to learn how to build organs. The foreman, upon looking him over, seemed inclined, probably from his rustic appearance, to take it as a good joke. He told him it would take him twenty years to learn to make an organ in all its parts, and refused to give him employment. With a heavy heart Mr. Miller retreated, but next day succeeded in purchasing from the concern the neces- sary material for several organs, and he returned home determined to go ahead and succeed anyhow. The balance of that year and the next were years of intense application and experiment, with many discouragements and difficulties all the way. However, during these eighteen months. the second shop was erected, and a few crude machines, such as a turning lathe, a small
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saw and a mortising machine, all worked by foot and hand power, were introduced and a number of instruments were finished and sold. Some of the difficulties refused, however, to be solved. One of the chief of these was the necessity of steam power and machinery adapted to the work. During the summer and fall he induced his future partner to join hands with him, and thenceforth there were two heads to plan and study, and two pairs of hands to work. The rest of Mr. Miller's history is bound up in the history of the Miller Organ Co., for it has been his life work, and all his energies were bent toward the success of the enterprise which he had the honor to originate. In politics he is a Democrat.
THE MILLER ORGAN COMPANY, well-known in this and many foreign countries, was founded and is owned by Adam B. and Abraham H. Miller, both natives of Lebanon county, where they have lived all their lives.
The story of the growth and development of the enterprise is both inter- esting and instructive. Its founders were men of no early technical training. no business prestige and hardly any financial backing. Their friends looked upon the venture as foolish, and some were outspoken in predicting its early failure; none of them would give the founders much encouragement. In 1870 Adam B. Miller, who was then farming the old homestead, conceived the idea of building an organ for his own use. He was led to this resolve for several reasons. First, he had somehow set his heart on being the possessor of such an instrument ; and second, his father was firmly opposed and abso- Intely refused to give his consent to the purchase of one. His first step was to draw a rough sketch of the organ that was to be, on a box lid. This was comparatively an easy matter, but the inside construction of an organ he had never seen, and none of his friends or acquaintances had as yet possessed such instruments. Here was a dilemma. After some time he made the acquaint- ance of his future partner, who owned one that had become deranged. That was his opportunity. He offered to repair the instrument free of charge, and the offer was gladly accepted, thus giving Mr. Miller the opportunity he longed for. He forthwith made the plans for his organ, and when his day's work on the farm was accomplished, and on rainy days, he applied him- self to the completion of his cherished task, and after three or four months had the satisfaction of seeing his work completed. This organ, though crude and simple, when compared with the elegant product emanating from the factory in after years, was nevertheless an object of satisfaction and pride to its owner. It is still in Mr. Miller's home, where it is destined to remain an heirloom of the family. When this instrument was seen by a relative of Mr. Miller, he was induced to build a similar one, for use in the relative's family,
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and when this second instrument was finished he received another order. It was while this third instrument was building that he first thought of the pos- sibility of his making the building of organs a business. Next spring there was a farmstock for sale, and Mr. Miller moved to town. He built a small shop on his lot, 10X12 feet, one story high, and in this made a number of organs. Orders now came in too fast for one man alone to build, and he hired a man to help him. The little shop soon was too small and a larger one was erected. This shop was built and laid out as a dwelling house, for the venture was as yet by no means sure, and should it fail the building could be used as a residence. At this juncture, October, 1873, the present partnership was formed. In 1874 the two-story dwelling-house was enlarged to three stories, and an addition of 40 feet, also three stories high, was built, and steam and modern machinery were introduced for the first time. With most encourag- ing success the business grew, and in 1878 an extension of 50 feet westward was made. In 1880 it was found necessary to add 50 feet eastward, and in 1883 the fourth-story part of the factory was built. In 1886, still expanding, an annex, or pipe organ shop, was erected, on the west side of Eighth street, three stories in height, which is now used for storage purposes, as the build- ing of pipe organs was abandoned on account of the fact that the reed organ trade demanded all the resources of the firm.
This business is not of mushroom growth, its progress being regular from year to year, as the excellence of the product became known. In 1901 the factory employed sixty skilled laborers and manufactured over 1,600 organs. The trade extends all over the United States, and at least one-third of the output goes to foreign ports, the company having large sales in Eng- land, Scotland, Ireland, Germany, Holland, Russia, Australia, New Zealand. South Africa, etc. The firm has also a fine retail store at No. 738 Cumberland street. Lebanon, where a large line of the most prominent makes of pianos is housed, and a large wholesale and retail piano business is transacted. This building is 200 feet deep, and was especially built by the firm and arranged for this purpose.
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