USA > Pennsylvania > Lycoming County > Genealogical and personal history of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. Volume I > Part 34
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great men of America had found in the printing office when the advan- tages of the school room had been denied them. His first apprentice- ship was with the "West Branch Beobachter," a German weekly. Thoroughness was his characteristic, and he mastered every branch of the printer's art. He served in various printing establishments, includ- ing the "Sunday Times," the " Williamsport Banner," the "Daily Times," and the job printing office of G. E. Otto Siess. He became foreman of the " Sun and Banner " press room, and in 1883 was printer for the United States signal station in Williamsport. When the sta- tion was discontinued he took a position as foreman of the " Weekly Williamsport Times," where he remained until the business failure of the proprietor.
This marked the turning point in Mr. Lamade's career. His varied experience had served him well. He knew every detail of the printing business, and he determined that henceforth his knowledge should be turned to his own profit. With almost prophetic vision, he saw in a little local publication called " Williamsport Grit " (at that time the Saturday edition of the "Sun and Banner "), the nucleus of one of the greatest enterprises in the American publishing business. Persuading some associates that the opportunity was a good one, he formed a part- nership which bought the plant of the " Weekly Times," where he had been recently employed, and the good will of " Williamsport Grit." The character of "Grit " was changed, and an independent weekly newspa- per on entirely new lines was offered to the public. This marked the beginning of "Pennsylvania Grit." The history of the early days of the new enterprise is one of struggle. The capital of the concern was small, and the public was not quick to appreciate the character of the new paper. One by one the original promoters dropped out, with the exception of Mr. Lamade. He had faith. He also had energy that
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seemed tireless. Night and day he worked. Adversity seemed to make him only the more determined. New partners came in, and in turn grew tired of the fight, but he stuck to the task he had set for him- self. In this way Dietrick Lamade was the creator of " Pennsylvania Grit," as the people know it today, and the preserver of his own crea- tion. His was the head that planned; his the hand that executed. At last, success crowned his efforts. The fame of the paper had spread. The circulation went up by leaps and bounds. Faith and untiring effort had won. Mr. Lamade saw the paper make its way beyond the con- fines of the state, and spread until its field embraced the entire English speaking portion of the continent and the islands of the sea. When the business was incorporated Mr. Lamade was made president of Grit Publishing Company, as well as general manager, which position he had occupied actually if not nominally from the first. He has, however, never relaxed his vigilance for the advancement and improvement of " Grit." Every department is still under his personal supervision, and the ever-increasing prosperity of the paper is due today to his genius as much as it was in the early days of struggle.
Mr. Lamade's interest in " Grit " does not preclude his activity in other directions. He is a member of the Board of Trade, chairman of its printing committee, and a member of its executive committee. He is a member of the Royal Arcanum, and the Protected Home Circle, a member and former president of the Pennsylvania State Editorial As- sociation; a director of the Young Men's Christian Association; and a member of the Ross Club. It is, however, in connection with the various Masonic bodies that he has been most active and enthusiastic along social and fraternal lines. At the present date (1905) he is past mas- ter of Ivy Lodge, No. 397, F. and A. M. ; a member of Lycoming Chap- ter, No. 222, R. A. M .; and of Adoniram Council, No. 27, R. S. M .;
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and past commander of Baldwin II Commandery, No. 22, K. T. In the Scottish Rite bodies he is T. P. grand master of Williamsport Lodge of Perfection, deputy grand master of the Council, past M. W. and P. master of the Chapter Rose Croix, and grand chancellor of Williamsport Consistory. He is also a member of Howard Club of Knights Templar, of Williamsport, and Irem Temple, A. O. M. S., of Wilkes Barre.
In 1881 Mr. Lamade was married to Miss Clara Anna Rhen, of Williamsport. The children surviving to this union are: D. Wilson, Charles D., Elsie M., Howard J., George R., and Ralph M. Mr. La- made is a member and trustee of St. Mark's (Lutheran) church, and he and his family are regular attendants at the services of that communion.
FRED M. LAMADE.
Fred M. Lamade, proprietor of the Lycoming Opera House, and otherwise prominently identified with the business interests of Williams- port, was born August 26, 1861, in Goelshausen, Baden, Germany, a son of Johannes Dietrich and Carolina Lamade. He was six years of age when his parents came to the United States, and during almost the entire intervening period his residence has been in Williamsport.
He has been a wage earner from the age of seven years, when he began to carry newspapers upon a city route, afterward carrying twice a day. The morning delivery made it necessary for him to rise at three o'clock every morning, and work until school time, and to make his afternoon delivery he was obliged to leave school in the middle of the session in the afternoon, and it was under such disadvantages that he obtained the foundations of his education. At the age of twelve he became errand boy in a grocery store, and was subsequently advanced.
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to a clerkship. When about fourteen he became office boy for Peter Herdic, who was at that time accounted among the leading, wealthiest and most progressive citizens of Williamsport. He was in the em- ploy of this gentleman for about four years, during a portion of the time attending school a part of each day, but not rising higher than the grammar grade. He was, however, ambitious of securing a more thor- ough education, and with this purpose in view, month after month, he saved what little money he could and deposited it in a savings bank. This ended in bitter disappointment, for the bank failed, and the first fifty dollars which he had laid away, at the cost of arduous labor and self-denying economy, was swept away. After the failure of Mr. Her- dic, young Lamade, then eighteen years old, took such varied employ- ment as he could secure, and by the time he had attained his majority was possessor of a few hundred dollars, with which he went to Phila- delphia, where he took a six months' course in the National School of Elocution, from which institution he received the graduate's diploma. It was at this time he became ambitious to become an actor, and for some months he busied himself in giving elocutionary entertainments, subsequently adopting the theatrical profession, and appearing for sev- eral years with various companies touring the country. Although it is not generally known, Mr. Lamade is probably one of the most deeply versed Shakespearean students and scholars in the country. At this period in his career he was so familiar with the text of the great match- less dramatist that he held in his memory eight of his plays, and was ca- pable of reciting them from seven o'clock in the morning until evening, without a single reference to a printed page. During his theatrical ex- perience, he portrayed very successfully some of the most exacting Shakespearean characters, among them Richmond, in "Richard the Third," Antonio and Bassanio in " Merchant of Venice," and for several
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weeks he appeared most successfully in the very difficult role of Iago in " Othello." He was diverted from a line for which he had a genuine talent, owing to the universal disaster which the theatrical profession experienced during the time of the great skating rink craze, when in one season about nine-tenths of dramatic companies failed and dis- banded.
Returning to Williamsport in 1885, Mr. Lamade took employment with the publishers of " Pennsylvania Grit," and in the following year he purchased a one-third interest in that property. Since that time he has been connected with it without interruption, first as circulation man- ager, then as advertising manager, and afterward as general secretary of the corporation, in which he still continues. In 1903 he purchased the Lycoming Opera House, and its acquisition, and the manner in which he has managed the property since that time, affords an excellent illustration of Mr. Lamade's business capability. The property had cost about $132,000 in 1892, and from that day until Mr. Lamade came into possession of it, it had returned to its owners little or nothing; in other words, for almost twelve years it had been a financial failure, and represented only dead and unproductive capital. From the time of its purchase by Mr. Lamade, however, it has been steadily appreciat- ing in value, and is now recognized as representing one the most sub- stantial and desirable investments in the city; this, too, notwithstand- ing the fact that within one year after purchasing it, Mr. Lamade ex- pended upon it something like $30,000 in the way of improvements.
Besides his ownership of this, the only theatre building in the city, and his connection with Grit Publishing Company, Mr. Lamade is prominent in various other business enterprises and social and fraternal bodies. He is a director in the Susquehanna Trust and Safe Deposit Company, and in the West Branch Building and Loan Association. He
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is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Royal Arcanum, the Protected Home Circle, the Actors' Church Alliance, and the Keystone League, one of the most select and popular clubs in the city, of which he is president.
Mr. Lamade married March 23, 1887, Miss Lillie M. Graham, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Graham, the first named now de- ceased. Their children are Walter G., born December 31, 1887, and Margaret, born July 22, 1889. The family reside in a beautiful resi- dence which Mr. Lamade erected some years ago at 125 Ross street.
WILLIAM MAX LAMADE.
William Max Lamade, connected with the Grit Publishing Com- pany of Williamsport, was born in that city, January 4, 1869, the young- est child of Johannes and Carolina (Suepfle) Lamade.
In his early boyhood he enjoyed the advantages of the public schools of his native city, but as soon as he was large enough to work he set out in a self-supporting career. For nine years he labored in and about planing mills, and afterward spent a year in the composing room of a German newspaper, the " Altoona Volksfuehrer." In 1891, the year after his coming of age, he took a position in the press and stereotyping rooms of the Grit Publishing Company, with which firm he has continuously remained to the present time. Becoming an expert pressman and stereotyper, he had charge of the stereotyping depart- ment of the company until 1896, when linotype machines were installed in the establishment, when he became the master machinist in charge, having qualified himself for the position by taking a thorough course of instruction in the Mergenthaler factory and school in Brooklyn, New York. Mr. Lamade has taken high rank in the Masonic fraternity, be-
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ing affiliated with Ivy Lodge, No. 397, F. and A. M., and with the superior bodies to and including Williamsport Consistory, thirty-second degree, Scottish Rite. He is also a member of Utility Council, No. 1364, Royal Arcanum, and West Branch Lodge, No. 98, Knights of Pythias.
Mr. Lamade married, July 6, 1893, Miss Fannie Louise Stein- hilper, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Steinhilper, both now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Lamade are the parents of two interesting children, Dietrick Willard and Verna Fay. Mr. Lamade purchased the home- stead on Park avenue which was occupied by the Lamade family soon after its arrival in the United States, and which has remained in the family from that day to the present time. The family is connected by membership with St. Mark's (Lutheran) church.
JAMES N. KLINE.
James N. Kline, the hardware merchant of long standing in the city of Williamsport, was born in Mifflin county, Pennsylvania, Aug- ust 29, 1846, son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Dodge) Kline, who were natives of Berks and Lancaster counties, Pennsylvania, and by occupa- tion, farmers of the thoroughgoing type. They were members of the Presbyterian church and died upon their old homestead in Mifflin county, both having a good common school education.
The lineage of James N. Kline is of the good, sturdy German stock, who had so much to do with the upbuilding of the state of Penn- sylvania.
(I.) Elder George Kline, came from South Germany in 1750. He was one of the strong rugged characters who left the Fatherland after the ruin wrought in that part of Germany known as the " Palati-
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nate," during the thirty years of war. These Germans were prompted by the same feelings that actuated the Puritans, viz .: " The right to wor- ship God according to the dictates of their own consciences." A few years after George Kline arrived in this country he was ordained as a full minister of the church, taking charge of a small congregation of the German Baptist denomination at Bernesville, Berks county, Penn- sylvania, where he filled a long and useful life as a minister of the gospel.
Another ancestor served in the Revolutionary war, and was wounded at the battle of Kingston.
James N. Kline, was reared on the old homestead in Mifflin county, Pennsylvania, and had the advantage of a good common school educa- tion. Subsequently he entered the employ of F. J. Hoffman of Lewis- town, Pennsylvania, in whose store he worked for some time. In 1863 he came to Williamsport and began clerking in the hardware store of Lewis McDowell, with whom he remained for seven years, and then clerked for S. M. Beck & Company, two years. In 1873 he formed a partnership with F. H. Keller and Charles E. Gibson, as Kline, Keller & Company, which was changed in three years by the withdrawal of Mr. Gibson, when the firm was Kline & Keller, until 1885, when Mr. Kline purchased his partner's interest. He is recognized as one of the largest hardware dealers in this section of Pennsylvania. He knows every branch and detail of the hardware trade, having commenced at the bot- tom and gradually grew to be master. This extensive business with others makes him one of the leaders in business circles today. He is a well-known figure and leader in numerous spheres of activity, both in business and social life.
June 6, 1863, when the Civil war cloud hung with its darkened pall over the Union, and when he was but seventeen years of age, he
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gave his services to his country, serving with the emergency troops of the Thirty-sixth Pennsylvania Regiment, when the state was being in- vaded by Lee in the famous Gettysburg campaign. He was a member of Company "K " and did provost duty at Gettysburg, after that great struggle, the turning point in the rebellion.
Politically, Mr. Kline is an ardent supporter of the Republican party. His services have more than once been in demand for civic positions, but he has never been a public office seeker. He was, how- ever, for a number of years a member of the school board for the city in which he resides. In 1896 he was a delegate from his congressional district to the National Republican convention at Philadelphia, which nominated Mckinley and Roosevelt for president and vice-president. He has presided over the county convention and held many such places, be- cause the people demanded it. His name has at various times been put forth as mayor and state representative, but only to be declined by him, save in the matter of mayorality in 1902.
He is a born leader of men, and possesses executive ability to a marked degree. From its first organization, he has since been associated with the Grand Army of the Republic and is a past commander of the Reno Post, No. 64, and also president of the board of managers. He has represented the post in state encampments and served as an aide on the staff of the National Commander. His service as a member and as the secretary of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monumental Association of Lycoming county for the full term of its existence, eleven years, the time required for the erection of the monument, was both active and earnest. And finally the completed monument stands to his credit and those of his associates. It is a magnificent monument in front of the city hall. The military fire kindled way back in the " sixties," still
O a Brenning
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burns within him, though his years are multiplying, since those days that tried the very souls of men.
In fraternal circles he has ever been a bright star. He is a past Eminent Commander of Baldwin II Commandery, No. 22, K. T. Also past W. M. of Lodge No. 106, F. and A. M. and H. P. of Chapter, R. A. M., No. 222. He served as trustee of the Masonic Temple and was a member of the board of trustees of the Consistory of the A. & A. S. R. He is identified with the Masonic Lodge, chapter and com- mandery, and is also a member of the Odd Fellows fraternity.
In business associations he is also a potent factor. For many years he was president of the Williamsport Merchants Association and aided materially in bringing about the re-organization of the Board of Trade, of which he was vice-president and on the executive committee. No citizen of the place has accomplished more of real lasting value for the place than he of whom this memoir is written. His loyalty to country has made him a popular figure on more than a few occasions, including his talks to the high school classes on Washington's birthday, etc., when he fired the young hearts, and it is said had much to do at the breaking out of the Spanish-American war with furnishing soldiers who caught the spirit of patriotism from him.
Mr. Kline was married October 18, 1877, to Mary L., daughter of Wesley Moore and wife, of Newberry, Pennsylvania. They are both members of the Presbyterian church.
THE BREINING FAMILY.
The founder of the family of which J. A. Breining and William Henry Breining, of Williamsport, are representatives, was John Brein- ing, a native of Germany, who left his country in a sailing vessel, ac-
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companied by his wife and children, and after a wearisome voyage of twelve weeks landed in New York City, October 1, 1833. After re- maining one year in that city they moved to Williamsport, making the journey by boat as far as Harrisburg, and the remainder of the way on a flat, the canal being at that time in course of construction. They settled on the Glosser farm, situated north of Williamsport, in the rear ยท of the poorhouse, remaining there eight months. They then lived one year on the Brown farm, above Newberry, and afterward purchased the Jacob Reighard farm in Lycoming township, on which they passed the residue of their lives.
Mr. Breining was a weaver by trade, and in his native land manu- factured all kinds of cloth. He adhered to the Democratic party, cast- ing his first vote in the town of Newberry. He and his wife were mem- bers of the Evangelical Lutheran church. They died at the ages of sixty-seven and seventy-seven, respectively.
Christian Breining, son of John Breining and his wife, was born December 21, 1827, in Guttenburg, Germany, and was five years old when brought to the United States by his parents, with whom he re- mained as long as they lived. He acquired a practical education and for forty years or more engaged in the lumber business, in connection with which he operated a mill in Cogan township for twenty-four years, the mill being situated below the Buck Horn and having been formerly owned by Warren Heilman.
In 1850 he moved on Bobst Mountain and cleared a farm of one hundred and four acres, which he made his home until 1867, when he moved to Cogan House, where he operated the mill above mentioned. He then purchased the John Thompson farm of one hundred and sixty acres, subsequently becoming the owner of the James Thompson farm
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of one hundred and thirty acres. In 1905 he disposed of the latter estate to his son-in-law, Reuben Rader, with whom he now resides.
Mr. Breining married, May 21, 1850, Mary Ann, born July 28, 1829, in Williamsport, daughter of Adam and Elizabeth Fisher, who emigrated from Germany in 1818, settling on Bobst Mountain, Lewis township, where they cleared a farm and passed the remainder of their lives. Mr. Fisher was one of those engaged in building the old Iron Forge.
Mr. and Mrs. Breining were the parents of the following children : Louisa, deceased, was the wife of George Rader and mother of three children : J. A., mentioned at length hereinafter; Mary Elizabeth, wife of Reuben Rader ; William Henry, also mentioned at length hereinafter ; Jacob, lives in Indianapolis, Indiana; and Edward, a resident of Wil- liamsport. The death of Mrs. Breining, which occurred August II, 1891, was the result of a stroke of paralysis by which she was rendered speechless during the last two years of her life.
J. A. Breining, son of Christian and Mary Ann (Fisher) Breining, was born October 9, 1855, in Lewis township, and attended the common schools there and also in Cogan House township. He remained at home until twenty-one years of age, and until reaching the age of thirty-eight was employed by his father as superintendent of various branches of the latter's lumber business. He then purchased an interest in the busi- ness and the firm is now Breining & Rader.
In 1895 he formed a partnership with George Williamson, in lum- bering, and continued the connection until 1902, when he bought out his partner and closed the business (which lay in Hepburn township, Nippono valley and Indiana county) the following year. In 1902 he he entered into partnership with H. M. Foresman, of Williamsport, where the firm is now carrying on an extensive lumber trade. Mr.
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Breining has been engaged in the lumber business in Lycoming, Centre, Union and Indiana counties, all of Pennsylvania. He came to Williams. port in 1876, and in 1877 moved back to Lewis township, where he re- mained twelve years, after which he removed to Cogan Station, settling on the John Thompson farm. He lived fifteen years on this estate, and in 1904 bought the property of Mrs. Belford, 1039 Rural avenue, Will- iamsport, whither he removed and on which he now resides. He is a Democrat and a member of the Evangelical church. His wife is a mem- ber of the Disciples church.
Mr. Breining married, August 17, 1876, Alice C., born March 15, 1851, daughter of J. Milton and Elizabeth (Artley) Phelps, and their children are: I, Elsie R., born May 16, 1877, married C. H. Davis, carpenter for the Northern Central Railroad at Elmira, New York, and has one child, Mildred D. 2, Clayton P., born July 26, 1879, was educated at Williamsport Commercial College and is interested in his father's business. He married Mamie J., daughter of Hugh Niel, of North Point, Indiana county, and they have one child, Joyce. 3, Edith B., born December 29, 1880, wife of Wellman Lyman Pennington, men- tioned hereinafter. 4, Ada L., born May 6, 1882. 5, Howard L., born August 19, 1884, died at the age of twenty-eight days. Ada L. Breining was educated in Williamsport Commercial College and is stenographer for Hains & Peaslee, attorneys at law, 104 West Fourth street, Williamsport.
The father of Wellman Lyman Pennington, mentioned above, was Alonzo Pennington, who was born at Havre de Grace, Maryland, is employed on the Pennsylvania Railroad and lives at Altoona, in that state. He married Emma, daughter of Elias and Mary (Shiley) Gar- verich, who were the parents of one other child, Anna, deceased. Mr. Garverich was a millwright and for about twenty-five years was in the
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service of Brown, Clark & Howe. He was an uncle of W. L. Garverich, of Jersey Shore.
Mr. and Mrs. Pennington were the parents of one son, Wellman Lyman, born November 12, 1879, in Williamsport, where he was edu- cated in the public schools and the Commercial College, afterwards tak- ing a course of civil engineering in the International Correspondence School of Scranton, Pennsylvania. September 1I, 1901, he accepted a position as daughtsman with the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, under the supervision of W. G. Coughlin, and was promoted August I, 1905, to the post of chief draughtsman. He belongs to the Democratic party and is a member of St. John's Reformed church at Williamsport.
Mr. Pennington married, August 6, 1904, Edith B., daughter of John Adam Breining, mentioned above.
William Henry Breining, son of Christian and Mary Ann (Fisher) Breining, was born in Lewis township, and attended the common schools of Cogan House township and the Muncy Normal School for three terms. At the age of eighteen he taught in Lycoming county, and in 1886 graduated from the Williamsport Commercial College.
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