USA > Pennsylvania > Book of biographies; This volume contains biographical sketches of leading citizens of the Seventeenth congressional district, Pennsylvania > Part 7
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Francis Miller, father of our subject, was born in Germany and after learning the trade of a blacksmith, he came to America, locating in Towanda, Pa., where he worked at his trade for several years. Removing to Forksville he purchased a blacksmith shop and remained in that business about thirty years. He then bought a farm now known as the Burgess farm, upon which he built a new house, barns, and made other improvements, and became one of the leading agriculturists of that sec- tion. He was without means when he started out on his own account, but through his industry he accumulated a comfortable prop- erty. He died in 1889, aged sixty-one years, but his wife survives him, residing at Overton. Pa. They became the parents of seven child- ren, namely: Orvilla Jane, the wife of W. H. Denorl of Waverly, N. Y .; William E., the subject of this record; Charles, a resident of Hoytville, who married Ella Brewer; Moses
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SEVENTEENTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT.
C., who married Kate Cadden and resides in Ringdale; Mary, the wife of G. W. Collins of Waverly, N. Y .; John of Elkland township, who married Marion White; and Henry of Forksville, who married Nellie Warren. Mr. Miller was a Democrat and after moving to Forksville served in the town council and held minor township offices.
William E. Miller attended the public schools after which he learned the trade of a blacksmith with his father and has followed it ever since, with the exception of a period of four years, when he took the farm and con- ducted it until it was sold. He was for sev- eral years located at the Laporte tannery, hav- ing charge of the blacksmithing department, and later moved to Forksville, where he built his present shop and has since been engaged in business. He is a skilled mechanic and be- sides the various branches of his business in which he is engaged he is the only dealer in agricultural implements, wagons, etc., in the borough, and has a large trade. In 1897 he purchased of O. W. Mather the old grist-mill and carries on a large business. He is a thor- ough business man, of shrewd and unerring judgment, and has been very successful. He resides in the old Brown residence which he bought and he is one of the hustling men of the borough.
Our subject was united in marriage with Alma Bird, a daughter of George C. Bird, and they are the parents of three children: Jennie May; George Francis; and Clarence Lamont. Politically he is a Republican and has served as member of the town council, and school director, and is treasurer of the borough. In religious belief he and his family are adherents of the Methodist Church. He is a member and past master of Sullivan Lodge, No. 522, I. O. O. F .; and a member of the Patriotic Order Sons of America.
HARLES C. LEADER, proprietor of the finest dry goods business in Sha- mokin, Pa., conducted in one of the largest and handsomest stores in the state of Pennsylvania, is a son of Edward and Kathar- ine (Snyder) Leader, and was born in Alsace township, Berks County, Pa., July 13, 1843. Our subject's grandfather was a native of Montgomery County, Pa., as was his father, Edward, but both died in Berks County. The father of our subject was a farmer by occupa- tion.
Our subject was reared on his father's farm and received such education as the neighbor- ing schools offered. When fifteen years of age he went to Schuylkill County, where he attended a school for a year, and then took a position as a clerk in the general store of A. J. Medlar, in Schuylkill Haven, Pa., where he was employed three years. He then removed to Pottsville, Pa., with the same employer, where he was clerk in a store for three years. His six years' experience as a clerk gave him an excellent insight into the general-store bus- iness, and in 1865 he returned to Schuylkill Haven, where he opened a store, doing a gen- eral business, which he conducted with marked success for ten years. Never content to remain in a small town, however success- ful he might be, and seeking greater and more promising opportunities for his abilities, Mr. Leader migrated to Shamokin in 1875 and for three years conducted a general store. being the head of the firm of Leader, Muir & Company, which did business at Liberty and Independence streets. The firm was dissolved by mutual consent in 1878 and Mr. Leader again went into business on his own account. opening a dry goods store at Shamokin and Sunbury streets, which he conducted for two years. In 1880 the business was removed to Independence street and in the following year
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BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES.
Mr. Leader formed a union with R. G. Eisen- hart, the firm name being Leader & Eisen- hart, and a clothing department was added to the store. This partnership successfully continued for three years, when Mr. Leader bought Mr. Eisenhart's interest and associ- ated his brother, Edward M. Leader, with him, under the firm name, Leader & Brother. The store now occupied by our subject was built in 1889, when the business was divided by the brothers, our subject retaining the dry goods branch in the new building, and Edward continuing the clothing business at the old stand in Independence street. One of the largest, handsomest and most commodi- ous to be found in this state, the store now owned by our subject is regarded as one of the most attractive as well as important mer- cantile features of Shamokin. The store has a frontage of 48 feet and a depth of 125 feet and is fitted with every modern appliance which is calculated to make trading pleasant for the customer and to expedite business. In addition to the store on the ground floor a basement and the two upper floors are util- ized to accommodate the large stock of the newest and most desirable dry goods, etc .. which is constantly kept on hand. The store- is equipped with several electric elevators, by which the patrons of Mr. Leader are quick- ly and comfortably conveyed to the various departments on the upper floors; also with the cable cash-carrier system.
In addition to his store and to his numer- ous other commercial and manufacturing in- trests in Shamokin, Mr. Leader, in conjunc- tion with his son, Edward R., conducts a dry goods store in Mount Carmel, Pa., which, practically, is a counterpart of the Shamokin store in size and in the quality of goods and the extensive business which is done.
The large and successful business which Mr.
Leader has built up forms the most substan- tial monument to his energy, his remarkable talent for correctly judging the needs of peo- ple, and to his equally remarkable executive ability and tact in organizing his forces and in catering to his fellow-citizens. Industry, hard work, constant labor, added to great natural ability and energy, account for the success of our subject, who to-day is recog- nized among those who know him best as a man of great personal enterprise and ability and of commendable and most helpful public spirit. Mr. Leader has connected himself in various capacities with several of the more important corporations of Shamokin and to his wise counsel and energetic management is due much of the success they have attained. He is president of the Guarantee Trust & Safe Deposit Company, which was organized and began business in March, 1896, and oí which he has been president since its organiza- tion; a stockholder and president of the Sha- mokin Banking Company; a director in the Shamokin Illuminating Company; a director in the Shamokin Arc Light Company; a direc- tor in the Anthracite Mutual Insurance Com- pany, of Shamokin; and a director in the Sha- mokin Manufacturing Company.
Our subject was one of the loyal Pennsyl- vanians who quickly responded when the in- vasion of this state was threatened by the rebels, and he served in an emergency regi- ment of volunteers at Chambersburg and also at Gettysburg. Mr. Leader is an elder in St. John's Reformed Church. In politics Mr. Leader formerly was a Democrat, but he is now an independent voter, with strong Pro- hibition tendencies.
In May, 1867, Mr. Leader was united in marriage to Amanda R., daughter of Benja- min Ketner, of Schuylkill Haven, Pa., and to them have been born five children: Emma
EMANUEL G. SEILER.
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SEVENTEENTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT.
May, Charles F., William C., Harry K., and Edward R.
The brother of our subject, Edward M. Leader, was born in Berks County, Pa., in June, 1859. He now conducts the clothing business which he acquired when he and our subject separated their business ventures in 1889. Mr. Leader is treasurer of the board of trustees of the local Presbyterian Church. He is a Democrat, but not active as a politician. Mr. Leader married Carrie, daughter of George Hamilton, of Pottsville, Pa., October 10, 1888.
William C. Leader, who was formerly em- ployed at Mount Carmel, was killed in the ter- rible wreck at Dunellen, on the Lehigh Valley Railroad, in January, 1898. He was succeed- ed in the management of the Mount Carmel store by his brother, Edward R. Leader.
MANUEL G. SEILER, a thoroughly representative citizen and the head of one of the largest wholesale houses in the state, was born in Mahanoy township, Northumberland County, June 21, 1847. He is a son of Daniel and Sarah (Geist) Seiler.
The Seiler family has been prominently identified with the growth, progress and his- tory of Northumberland County for several decades. The founder of the family in the county was John Jacob Seiler, the grand- father of the older members of the family now residing in Shamokin, who was a native of Eastern Pennsylvania and of German extrac- tion. He was reared in the Mahanoy Valley, this county, and settled in what is now known as Lower Mahanoy township. He was born May 22, 1780, and died March 12, 1866, aged eighty-five years, nine months and twen- ty days. He was a farmer, a man of unusually
sturdy physique, and had the reputation of being one of the hardiest and strongest men in the valley. John Jacob was twice married. His first wife was a Miss Kuntzman, and to them was born Daniel Seiler, father of our subject, on May 15, 1820, on the homestead where he was reared.
Daniel Seiler was a wheelwright by trade and actively engaged in his chosen occupa- tion until 1845 when he bought a farm in the Mahantango Valley on which he resided until his death on August 27, 1877. Our subject's father was one of the five men who first es- poused the cause of the new Republican party in the township in which he resided. He al- ways was active in politics but never sought office. He was a member of the Reformed Church in which he was prominent and served as a deacon and an elder. His wife was Sarah Geist and to them were born eight children, six sons and two daughters, as follows: Jacob, born on the old homestead where he has al- ways resided and pursued farming; Emanuel G., our subject; Mary Magdalene, widow of the late John K. Haas of Shamokin; Daniel G., a sketch of whom appears herein; Sarah Ann, the wife of Aaron H. Haupt of Shamo- kin; Aaron of Shamokin, Pa .; Felix G., a sketch of whom is also included in this re- view; and Isaac G., who resides at Selins- grove, Snyder County, Pa., and is the repre- sentative there of Seiler, Zimmerman, Otto & Company of Shamokin.
Our subject, Emanuel G. Seiler, was reared on his father's farm where he worked until he was eighteen years old and where he attended the schools in the township. He learned the trade of carpenter which he followed for sev- eral years both at his home and in Shamo- kin. In 1869 Mr. Seiler, being ambitious and determined to engage in something more profitable than carpentry, removed to Shamo-
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BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES.
kin. He opened a small store in which he did a meager business for some time, yet, remark- able and almost incredible as it may seem, with a capital of but $50.00 he laid the founda- tions on which in after years he built the ex- tensive and prosperous business of which he is now and for some years has been the ac- tive, energetic, successful head. He con- tinued his little store, persevering, and by frugality and strict attention to every detail of a general store prepared to branch out. It may be said that Mr. Seiler laid the corner- stone of his mercantile success in 1871 when he formed a copartnership with J. K. Haas and the firm opened a small store at Pine and Second streets, Shamokin, doing a dry goods, grocery and confectionery business. Five years later Mr. Haas retired from the firm, taking the dry goods department, and Mr. Seiler continuing the grocery and con- fectionery trade. Our subject prospered and gradually enlarged the business until it was on a good footing and success was assured. In 1879 Henry S. Zimmerman joined our sub- ject, the firm becoming E. G. Seiler & Com- pany. The wholesale jobbing trade had by this time so grown that the new firm soon found it advantageous to drop the retail trade and to devote their energies entirely to the wholesale business, and the retail branch of the business was sold to Zimmerman, Haas & Company, Messrs. Seiler and Zimmerman tak- ing in as junior partner, Felix G. Seiler, broth- er of our subject, and continuing the whole- sale fancy grocery and candy business under the firm name of Seiler, Zimmerman & Co. Careful management and the untiring indus- try of our subject increased the trade of the firm to such proportions that enlarged quar- ters were an absolute necessity. Consequently in 1886 the three-story brick building was erected at Independence and Cleaver streets
and was occupied by the new firm of which Felix G. Seiler had just become the junior member. The business was pushed with characteristic energy and the firm, which now occupies the handsome store erected in 1886, enjoys an inland trade as large as that of any wholesale house in Central Pennsylvania. The firm's agents traverse all parts of Northum- berland, Schuylkill, Montour, Juniata, Dau- phin, Union, Snyder and Columbia counties every week, and, as the house enjoys an ex- cellent reputation for enterprise, fair dealing, and the excellent quality of its goods, which reputation has been well earned and is de- served, the sales are large and constantly in- crease in quantities. In addition to the large building occupied as the store the firm also utilizes two large warehouses situated on the line of the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad. between Market and Sixth streets, the storage capacity being an important feature of the business and enabling the firm to compete with the similar wholesale houses in the larger cities. The firm employs thirteen men, in- cluding three traveling salesmen whose routes cover territory within a radius of 300 miles of Shamokin. The business is constantly being extended into new territory and promises to become within a few years one of the largest and most successful commercial enterprises in this state. In 1896 the firm was enlarged, Mr. W. H. H. Otto taking an interest and the firm name being changed to Seiler, Zimmer- man, Otto & Company. The senior member of the firm, our subject, has partly laid aside his active work as a member of the company and now acts as the consulting partner, giving the benefit of his experience and his knowl- edge of the trade to the business. This gives Mr Seiler opportunity to more fully look after many individual interests which he has acquired because he is and always has been.
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SEVENTEENTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT.
since becoming a resident of Shamokin, an ac- tive participant in every commercial and pub- lic movement which is calculated to advance the interests of the town.
Long respected as one of the most enter- prising and public spirited men of Shamokin, Emanuel G. Seiler has in every way fully jus- tified the good opinion in which he is held by his fellow citizens. He is at present vice-pres- ident of the Guarantee Trust & Safe Deposit Company, of which he was one of the or- ganizers and was its first treasurer; he is pres- ident of the Shamokin Street Railway Com- pany, of which he was one of the organizers and original stockholders; he is president of the Board of Trade; was one of the organizers of the Anthracite Fire Insurance Company and has been one of its vice-presidents since its organization; is treasurer of the West Ward Building & Loan Association, one of the most successful and largest in the state; he is also treasurer of the Black Diamond Building & Loan Association of which he was an organizer; and is also a leading member of the Anthracite Association, which was or- ganized in 1898 to promote the sale of anthra- cite coal and to secure reasonable and popular prices.
Our subject is a member of St. John's Re- formed Church of which he has been an elder for many years. In politics Mr. Seiler is an earnest and active Republican and has served as a member of the council.
In 1869 Mr. Seiler was united in marriage with Caroline Bower, daughter of Michael Bower of Lower Mahanoy township, and to them have been born three children, one dy- ing in infancy; and two surviving, as follows : Cora, who is the wife of Dr. R. H. Sim- mons of Shamokin, and Lula, who resides with her parents.
Felix G. Seiler, brother of our subject, was
born June 9, 1859, on the old homestead in Mahantango township, Schuylkill County, Pa., was reared on the farm and attended the common school there until, at the age of six- teen years, he removed to Shamokin where he worked in the store of his brother and also attended the Shamokin High School. Re- turning to his home subsequently he attended a subscription school and also taught a school in the township for six terms. He then at- tended Gratz Academy for two summers, teaching in the winters, and finally entered the State Normal School at Kutztown, Pa., from which he graduated in 1881. He then taught schools in Quakeke, Schuylkill County, and in Barry township in the same county, return- ing to the Keystone State Normal School at Kutztown in the spring of 1883 where for one term he was professor of mathematics. Mr. Seiler then removed to Shamokin and took a position in his brother's store and in 1886 he became the junior partner of the firm and he is now very active in the management of the large business. Mr. Seiler is also a member of the firm of D. G. Seiler & Co., commission merchants of Shamokin. In poli- tics he is a Republican and has served on the Shamokin school board, representing the Third Ward. He is a member of St. John's Reformed Church and for ten years has been secretary of its consistory. Mr. Seiler mar- ried Fietta Herb on July 6, 1886, and to them have been born three children: Grace Viola, born April 4, 1888; Lottie Pearl, born Sep- tember II, 1889; and Lloyd Russell, born May 17, 1895.
Daniel G. Seiler, also a brother of our sub- ject, was born on the Seiler homestead in Ma- hantango township, Schuylkill County, Pa., September 30, 1851. He was educated in the common schools of the township and at the State Normal School in Kutztown, entering
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BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES.
the latter institution when eighteen years of age. Subsequently he taught school in winter, working during summer at his trade as a plasterer, having learned the trade while striving to educate himself. In 1879 Mr. Seiler purchased the interest of W. K. Erd- man, the junior member of the firm of Haas & Erdman, general merchants in Shamokin, and joined J. K. Haas in the business under the firm name of Haas & Seiler, which co- partnership successfully continued for several years. Mr. Seiler in 1889 embarked in the produce and commission business in which he is now engaged, being at the head of one of the largest commission houses in Central Pennsylvania, conducted under the firm name, D. G. Seiler & Company. The commission house is admirably situated along the Penn- sylvania and Lehigh Valley railroads at Cleaver street. This produce and fruit busi- ness has increased wonderfully since it was established. The firm has consigned to it fruits and general produce from all of the Southern and Northwestern States, and also from California, Mexico, Cuba and the repub- lics of South America. A specialty is made of tropical fruits, but local produce is handled the entire year. Five assistants are kept busy at the big, four-story produce-house and two salesmen are on the road constantly visiting dealers throughout this section of the state. The firm receives shipments of melons as early as June from Georgia, in July from South Carolina and Virginia, and in August from Maryland and New Jersey. Delicious Dela- ware and Maryland peaches are received in carloads in the season. Mr. Seiler devotes much attention to the buying and attends the fruit and produce auctions in New York City, Baltimore and Philadelphia, which places him on equal footing with commission men in the larger cities and enables him to give his cus-
tomers the best fruits and vegetables the mar- kets in the big cities afford. He makes a specialty of bananas, receiving the fruit direct from the steamers, thus saving much expense which would otherwise be incurred, and, con- sequently, the people with whom he deals reap corresponding benefit. The bananas are shipped direct to Shamokin in carlots and placed in the produce-house which is fitted with an elevator and well equipped ripening rooms, allowing the firm to provide ripe, half- ripe or green fruit, as the customer may de- sire. The firm always carries a complete line of butter, eggs, fruits, and country produce. making a specialty of potatoes, of which over 25,000 bushels were sold in a recent season.
In politics Mr. Daniel G. Seiler is a Repub- lican. Religiously he is a member of the Lutheran Church. On October 19, 1876, Mr. Seiler married Jemima, daughter of Rev. H. Weicksel, who organized and for some time was pastor of Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church in Shamokin. To them have been born six children, as follows: Victor, who is a clerk for his father; Walter; Herbert; S.an- ley; Alma; and Mabel.
A portrait of Emanuel G. Seiler is shown on another page, in proximity to this.
ILLIAM W. RYON, a promi- nent and successful attorney of Shamokin, who is interested in sev- eral of that town's most important commer- cial and manufacturing enterprises, was born in Lawrence township. Tioga County, this state, April 29, 1857. He is a son of George L. and Hannah (Hammond) Ryon, and a brother of George W. Ryon, also a prominent attorney of Shamokin, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this volume.
JOHN LLOYD DILLON.
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SEVENTEENTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT.
Our subject was reared in the township in which he was born and was educated in the common schools of Tioga County and at the Mansfield (Pa.) State Normal School, from which he graduated in June, 1874. Soon after his graduation Mr. Ryon entered the office of his brother George W., in Shamokin, and read law, being admitted to the bar of Northum- berland County in March, 1878. For a short time he practiced his profession, which he practically abandoned to accept an appoint- ment as a deputy sheriff by Sheriff William M. Weaver, under whom he served three years, continuing in the position for three months longer under Mr. Weaver's successor in office, John C. Morgan. Retiring from the sheriff's office Mr. Ryon resumed the practice of his profession and subsequently was admitted to practice in the Supreme and the Superior courts of this state.
Mr. Ryon is a director in the Shamokin Street Railway Company, of which he was one of the original holders of stock. He is president of the Shamokin Valley Telephone Company, of which he was one of the organ- izers. He also is a director in the Shamokin Silk Throwing Company, which was incorpor- ated in December, 1898. Our subject is at- torney for the First National Bank of Shamo- kin and also attorney for the Union and Home Building & Loan Associations, of which he was one of the original promoters. He is a leading member of the Shamokin Board of Trade, having been connected with the or- ganization since its inception.
In 1892 Mr. Ryon was united in matrimony to Sue May, daughter of Isaac May, of Sha- mokin, and to them have been born two chil- dren, Charles A., born November 10, 1884, and now attending the Georgetown College, at Georgetown, D. C., and Mary M., born June 29, 1892.
Politically Mr. Ryon is an active and influ- ential Democrat. He is a leading member of St. Edward's Roman Catholic Church, of Shamokin.
OHN LLOYD DILLON, whose repu- tation as a florist extends not only throughout the vicinity of Blooms- burg, where he has the largest greenhouses in Central Pennsylvania, but throughout the United States, is a son of Patrick and Mary (Emmerson) Dillon, and was born in Blooms- burg July 7, 185 1.
Patrick Dillon was born near Dublin, Ire- land, and when eighteen years of age came to America. Later he located in Bloomsburg and became a clerk in the Irondale Company store, where he remained for eighteen years. He was united in marriage with Mary Em- merson, a daughter of John Emmerson and a native of England. After leaving the store he bought the Dimm farm of twenty acres on the hill north of the Normal School, where he successfully engaged in farming and trucking, having quite an extensive market in Blooms- burg and surrounding towns. The last two years of his life were spent in retirement and he died at the age of seventy-three years. He was the progenitor of two sons: John Lloyd, the subject of this biographical sketch, and Thomas Emmerson, a photographer, of Scranton, Pa.
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