USA > Pennsylvania > Carbon County > History of Carbon County, Pennsylvania; also containing a separate account of the several boroughs and townships in the county, with biographical sketches, 2nd ed > Part 31
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Gangwer, Harry L., proprietor of the Verzi House at Weatherly, was born in that town on May 18, 186S. He is the son of Samuel Gangwer, Sr., one of the oldest residents of Weatherly, and the family of which he is a representative has been established in Pennsylvania for many generations.
After leaving school Mr. Gangwer learned the trade of a moulder, which he followed for about nine years in the shops of the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company
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at Weatherly. Later he pursued his calling at Plain- field and at High Bridge, N. J., and at Lewistown and South Bethlehem, Pa. In 1904 he returned to Weath- erly to take charge of the Verzi House, becoming the owner of the property through purchase in 1910.
Mr. Gangwer was united in marriage to Gertrude, a daughter of William Buck, of Weatherly, on February 1, 1894. The pair have three children: Harry L., Ed- ward B., and Fern G. Gangwer.
Mr. Gangwer is an enthusiastic hunter and fisher- man, and has been a loyal supporter of the Republican party.
Garrett, John, a retired miner and leading citizen of Summit Hill, is one of the fourteen children of Wil- liam and Elizabeth (White) Garrett. Both parents were born in England, where the elder Garrett followed the occupation of a farmer. Later he went to Wales to become a miner.
John Garrett was born in England, June 23, 1852. He was about four years of age when the family settled in Wales. John went to work in the mines when he was nine years of age. After twenty years of service. he emigrated to America, locating in Summit Hill. where for thirty-two years he was a contract miner for the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company. Thus at the age of sixty he had seen half a century of active service as a miner, a record which we may well believe has few parallels.
Mr. Garrett was one of the organizers of the Home- stead Building and Loan Association, of Summit Hill, a model institution of its kind, of which he has been a director from the start. He was also a prime mover in the establishment of the Dime Bank, of Lansford, of which he is a director.
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On May 2, 1874, Mr. Garrett was united in marriage to Elizabeth P. Chapel, born in Wales of English par- entage. They had thirteen children, of whom the fol- lowing survive: William, John, James, Benjamin, and Mary J., wife of Richard Waters.
Mrs. Garrett died in 1894, and in December, 1905, Mr. Garrett was married to Miss Elizabeth Edmunds, of Tamaqua. It is but stating the truth to say that no name in Summit Hill is more highly and deservedly honored than that of John Garrett.
Garrett, Joseph, formerly a miner, and now a justice of the peace, of Summit Hill, was born at Rhymney, South Wales, July 19, 1862. His father, William Gar- rett, was a native of Willshire, England. His mother bore the maiden name of Elizabeth White, being also a native of England. The family emigrated to Wales, where the father was a coal miner.
Joseph was a door tender in the mines at the age of eight. When he was twelve his father sustained an in- jury which incapacitated him, and the son was per- mitted to work as a full-fledged miner to assist in the support of the family. On May 11, 1884, he was united in marriage to Ann, a daughter of Isaac Williams and his wife, Sarah, of Welsh parentage.
In 1886 they came to America, settling at Summit Hill, where Mr. Garrett was employed as a miner until 1910. He was then appointed as a justice of the peace by Governor Stuart. In 1911 he was elected to the same office for the full term of six years, in which ca- pacity he is still serving.
Mr. and Mrs. Garrett are the parents of the follow- ing children: Mary, wife of Thomas Thomas; Eliza- beth, wife of Daniel Davis, a member of the Carbon county bar; Sarah, who married Harry Bertsch;
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Thomas, and Nelson. They all reside at Summit Hill, and the family is well and favorably known.
Gerhard, Jefferson J., proprietor of the Gerhard Homestead Farm, and tax collector of Packer town- ship, is a grandson of Daniel Gerhard, one of the orig- inal settlers of Quakake Valley. Solomon Gerhard, one of the six sons of this pioneer, was born in what is now Packer township on May 1, 1828. He followed farming and lumbering all his life. His wife bore the maiden name of Matilda Romig, being also a native of Quakake Valley. The following children were born to them: Lydia A., the wife of David Wetzel, of Allen- town; Franklin B., deceased; Ellen M., wife of Stephen Gerhard, of Packer township; Jefferson, Wallace T., of Tamaqua ; Hannah M., the wife of T. L. Jenkins, of East Mauch Chunk, and Maggie C., who married Oli- ver Walbert, of Delano, Schuylkill county. The fa- ther died July 26, 1910.
Jefferson J. Gerhard was born on the old homestead in Quakake Valley on March 17, 1864. At the age of seventeen he entered the general store of his brother Franklin, at Weatherly, as a clerk, continuing so for a period of three years. Returning to his old home. he purchased the farm in the spring of 1893, and has con- ducted it in harmony with the most approved modern methods since that time.
Mr. Gerhard has for years been the leading potato grower in the upper portion of Carbon county, his an- nual crop averaging several thousand bushels. He is also a dealer in agricultural implements, fertilizers and farm machinery.
He has filled the office of tax collector of the town- ship continuously since 1888, with the exception of two terms. He participated in the organization of the
EMERY GETZ.
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Packer Township Telephone Company, of which he is now the secretary.
On December 29, 1883, he was married to Sophia, daughter of John Romig, of Packer township. Their children are: Eugene C., of Weatherly; Elmer P., de- ceased; Leon W., Edna R., the wife of Roland Hinkle; Russel G. and Alvin M.
Mr. Gerhard, in 1910, built a fine home, containing all modern conveniences. He is a believer in the prin- ciples of Democracy, and is a member of the Reformed church.
Getz, Emery, conducting a general store in Penn Forest township, postmaster of Albrightsville, and in- terested in a number of industrial enterprises in that portion of the county, was born in Kidder township, Carbon county, October 13, 1853. He is the son of William and Elizabeth (Serfass) Getz, the former of whom was a native of Chestnut Hill township, Monroe county, where his birth occurred on March 31, 1824. When about twenty-five years of age the elder Getz came to Kidder township to engage in the lumbering business, also keeping the hotel at Albrightsville for a period of fifteen years or more. He died on Novem- ber 5, 1910.
Emery Getz is one of a family of fifteen children, eight of whom survive. He spent his early life in his father's employ, and in 1888 established a store at Albrightsville. Seven years later he removed across the line into Penn Forest township, continuing the business in his present location. In addition to this he has dealt in lumber and mine timber, and has oper- ated a plant for the manufacture of barrel staves.
He has held various offices in the gift of the people of Kidder and Penn Forest townships, and was elected as a member of the board of county auditors on the
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Democratic ticket in 1899. Since then he has twice been an unsuccessful candidate for the nomination for county treasurer, while receiving the loyal support of a large circle of friends and acquaintances. He has been the postmaster of Albrightsville for many years, also being the owner of a fine farm at Meckesville.
Mr. Getz was married on April 21, 1876, to Malinda S., daughter of Paul Smith and his wife Elizabeth, of Trochsville, Towamensing township. Their only child is Elizabeth, the wife of Albert Henning, of Penn For- est township.
Ginder, Philip, who was one of Carbon county's grand old men and one of the most interesting person- alities in eastern Pennsylvania, was a grandson of Philip Ginder who came to America from Holland about the year 1745, and who achieved lasting fame by his accidental discovery of anthracite coal on Sharp mountain, near Summit Hill, in 1791.
Mr. Ginder's maternal grandfather was Philip Dan- benspeck, who served as a soldier under Washington during the Revolutionary War.
Philip Ginder, the pioneer, had two sons, Philip and Jacob. Philip Ginder, the subject of this sketch, was born August 16, 1820, and was one of the eleven chil- dren of Jacob Ginder, who, in the year 1825, came to Mahoning Valley from West Penn township, Schuylkill county, where he followed the business of making mill stones and also conducted a farm.
At the age of sixteen Mr. Ginder was apprenticed to learn the carpenter trade, which vocation he follow- ed for many years. Among the more important build- ings he helped to construct was Carbon county's first court house.
Mr. Ginder subsequently became a boat builder, and ranked as the best on the Lehigh Canal. He became
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PHILIP GINDER.
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
well-to-do, but met with a severe reversal through the flood of 1862, which wrought great havoc along the Lehigh, sweeping away his lumber and boat yards at Penn Haven, and the boats in course of construction, as well as his home at Weissport, causing a loss amounting to thousands of dollars. Undaunted by his misfortune, and still being in the prime of life, he im- mediately began to recoup his losses by helping to build the Lehigh Valley and the Lehigh and Susque- hanna Railroads into the heart of the coal regions, and later served successively as roadmaster for both cor- porations, retiring from active service about the year 1890.
On December 5, 1847, Mr. Ginder was united in marriage to Rebecca, daughter of Peter Steckel, of Egypt, Lehigh county. The following children were born to them: Carlotta, widow of Thomas Brodhead, of Philadelphia; Sarah E., deceased, who was married to G. W. Miller, Sr., of Weatherly; John, deceased; Washington, of Philadelphia; Rosa R., wife of Frank Snyder, of East Mauch Chunk; Eliza J., wife of John Maltman, of Vineland, N. J .; Emma M., wife of J. W. Slocum, of Philadelphia; David P., of Rockport; Thomas, deceased; Grant De W., of New York, and Helen M. Schlauch, of Allentown.
The family lived for many years at Rockport, Car- bon county. Mr. Ginder spent his declining years at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Frank Snyder, retain- ing his mental and physical vigor in a remarkable de- gree to the end. He took pardonable pride in the fact that one of his grandfathers was the discoverer of the mineral which transformed Carbon county from a wil- derness to a community teeming with industry and happy homes, as well as adding so largely to the ma- terial well-being and comfort of millions of his fellow-
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men, while the other helped to free the country from foreign tyranny and oppression.
Mr. Ginder departed this life on January 24, 1912, in the ninety-second year of his age. His wife died on May 8, 1907, aged 79 years.
Gray, George E., a leading member of the bar of Carbon county, and a former district attorney. is a native of Franklin county, Pa. He is the son of George W. and Margaret E. (Albert) Gray, the former born in Maryland and the latter in Virginia.
George E. Gray received his early training in the public schools of Fairview, Maryland, subsequently graduating from the state normal school at Shippens- burg, Pa. Later he taught school and pursued a spe- cial course at the University of Pennsylvania, with a view to preparing himself for admission to the bar. He studied law in the offices of Craig & Loose, at Mauch Chunk, and was admitted to practise in 1899.
In 1900 Mr. Gray purchased the Mauch Chunk Daily Times, and the Mauch Chunk Coal Gazette, being both editor and proprietor of these journals for nearly ten years. In 1908 the ownership of both papers was, through purchase, transferred to James Boyle.
Mr. Gray was elected to the office of district attorney of the county in 1904, being re-elected three years later. He is well-known in political circles, and has been chairman of the Republican county committee for a number of years. His home is at Lehighton, where he is active in various fields of endeavor.
He is a director of the First National Bank of that place, and is prominent in the affairs of Zion's Re- formed church, having been the superintendent of the Sunday school of that organization for fifteen consecu- tive years. This school is one of the strongest and best conducted in the entire county. He is a member of the
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Masonic fraternity and of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
Mr. Gray was united in marriage to Anzionetta A., daughter of William H. and Susan Montz, of Lehigh- ton, in 1895. Their children are: Margaret S., Char- lotte A., and William G. Gray.
Grenfell, J. Francis, paymaster of Coleraine colliery, owned by the A. S. Van Wickle estate, and one of the oldest operations in the Lehigh region, was born in Cornwall, England, on January 22, 1871.
Thomas Grenfell, his father, was a copper miner in Cornwall, dying while still in the prime of life. In 1881 his widow, who bore the maiden name of Mary Jane Uren, with her five children, emigrated to the United States, establishing her home at Beaver Mea- dow, Pa., where she reared her family.
At the age of eleven years, Francis began life as a slate picker in the breaker at Coleraine, continuing about the mines until his nineteenth year.
While his educational advantages were necessarily very limited, he nevertheless made the most of his op- portunities ; by applying himself to study at nights and during his spare moments, he acquired the essentials of a good English education. Leaving home he went to Redington, Northampton county, Pa., where he per- formed clerical work in the general store of W. T. Car- ter & Company for a period of four years.
Returning to Beaver Meadow at the expiration of that time, he entered the main office of Coleraine col- liery, which was then owned and operated by the same firm with whom he had been at Redington, as a book- keeper. He was promoted to the position which he now holds in 1898.
Two years earlier than this he wedded Aurelia, daughter of John and Mary Harvey, of Hazleton. Mr.
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Harvey is the superintendent of the colliery at Cole- raine; he is noted for his large-heartedness and other fine personal traits.
Mr. and Mrs. Grenfell are the parents of two chil- dren-Richard, who was born August 15, 1902, and Mary, whose birth occurred on August 21, 1908. They are active members of the Methodist church.
While Mr. Grenfell is of a home-loving disposition. he is also a man of public spirit. He has served as a councilman and as a school director of Beaver Meadow. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity and of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
Gruneberg, Leo C., a Lehighton business man, was born in Klomea, Austria, of Jewish parentage in 1885. His grandfather, Saul Gruneberg, was a noted ortho- dox rabbi. One of his achievements was to translate the Talmud into German. Sigmund Gruneberg, his fa- ther, was also a rabbi.
When Leo was four years of age the family removed to Germany, locating in Hanover, where the father was stationed. When the boy was thirteen years old he ran away and went to sea. A year later his father found him employed as a waiter in one of the large hotels of the province of Hanover and put him in a dry goods store as a clerk. There he met Claire Monat, his future wife, a member of a family of successful bankers.
While still a boy, Mr. Gruneberg was waiter in some of the principal hotels of New York and Philadelphia; he also served as a steward on a trans-Atlantic liner. and for a year he was the secretary of the German Count Waldersee, traveling with him around the world.
For a time he was a clerk in a clothing store in New York; later he was employed as a traveling salesman. He was married in 1907, and the following year he came
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
to Lehighton to engage in the dry goods business. With the help of his wife, who is endowed with good business acumen, the Gruneberg store has prospered from the beginning. A clothing and tailoring department which is housed in an adjoining building has been added, con- manding a patronage that is constantly expending.
Mr. Gruneberg takes an active part in community and church affairs. He was one of the prime movers in the organization of the Lehighton Board of Trade. In 1911 he organized the Congregation Israel of Car- bon County, a Hebrew religious society co-extensive with the county. He also organized Hebrew Sunday schools in Lansford and Lehighton, the former being the precursor of the Young Men's Hebrew Association of Lansford. One of the societies he started in Lehigh- ton is known as the Buds of Israel, the primary aim of which is to Americanize the young Hebrews of that sec- tion.
In 1917 he represented Carbon, Monroe, and Schuyl- kill counties at the American Jewish Congress, held in Washington, to devise ways and means of reestablish- ing Palestine as a Jewish state.
Mr. Gruneberg has taken an active part in politics on the side of better government, regardless of party.
Haberman, Dr. Charles P., a Palmerton physician, is the son of Alfred and Rosa A. (Donat) Haberman. The father was of German descent and followed the oc- cupation of a farmer in East Penn township, Carbon county, as his father, who was named Peter, had done before him. The mother was of French descent.
Charles P. Haberman was born in Lynn township. Lehigh county, October 9, 1877. He spent his boyhood on his father's farm, and prepared himself as a teacher at the Kutztown and Millersville State Normal Schools, graduating from the latter institution in 1901.
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
After teaching school for nine years, he went to Philadelphia in the fall of 1906 and accepted a position as a drug clerk. A year later he entered the Medico Chirurgical College at Philadelphia, from which he was graduated with honors in 1911. For some months sub- sequent to his graduation he served as an interne at the Medico Chirurgical Hospital.
He then established himself in the practice of his profession at Weissport, soon building up a lucrative practice. Doctor Haberman is a member of the Car- bon County Medical Society, the Pennsylvania Medical Society, the Lehigh Valley Medical Society, and the American Medical Association. He is also a member of the Knights of Malta, the Patriotic Order of Sons of America, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and of the Lehighton Masonic lodge. He is also a member of the Order of the Mystic Shrine. He was one of the founders of the Carbon County Historical Society. Doctor Haberman was married in the spring of 1915 to Bessie, the daughter of William A. Burns, of James- town, a suburb of Lehighton.
Harlan, George G., a prominent Mauch Chunk busi- ness man, was born there, July 24, 1856. He is the son of Josiah W. and Mary A. (Long) Harlan, the latter being a native of New Jersey.
His grandfather, Ezekiel W. Harlan, was of Quaker origin, coming to Mauch Chunk from Chester county in 1826, when the town was but a few years old. For a time he was associated with Asa Packer in the opera- tion of the mines at Nesquehoning. Later he engaged in the mercantile business. He also served as a county commissioner. Josiah, the son of Ezekiel, was a boat builder on the Lehigh Canal, becoming a merchant as well.
Geo, Os Harlan
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HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY.
George G. Harlan in early life learned the carpenter trade, which he followed for a time, after which he en- gaged in business as a dealer in general merchandise, meats and provisions. He has conducted a store in Upper Mauch Chunk for over thirty years, some years ago opening another in East Mauch Chunk, both being well patronized.
About sixteen years ago Mr. Harlan erected an arti- ficial ice plant near Hacklebernie, supplying Mauch Chunk and the surrounding towns with his product. This plant has since been enlarged and improved and now has a capacity of forty tons a day. The output is far superior to natural ice in clearness and purity, be- ing principally used for domestic purposes.
Mr. Harlan was married on January 24, 1884, to Mary C., daughter of James S. Line, of Luzerne county. Their surviving children are: James E., William E., and Charles D. Harlan.
Hartneady, Michael, sheriff of Carbon county, and a prominent leader of the United Mine Workers of America, is one of the twelve children of Cornelius and Catherine (Gallagher) Hartneady, of Nesquehoning. The father was born in Ireland, while Scotland was the place of nativity of the mother.
The elder Hartneady emigrated to America in 1876, being then eighteen years of age. He located at Manch Chunk and became a section foreman for the Central Railroad of New Jersey. Later he was employed in the same capacity by the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company. Michael Hartneady was born at Mauch Chunk, August 31, 1879. Leaving school at the age of eleven, he started in as a slate picker at the Nesque- honing breaker. He was successively a mule driver in the mines, a laborer, and finally a miner, before he was twenty-one.
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His connection with the miners union began in 1900. In 1908 he was elected president of the Nesquehoning local of the union and chairman of the mine committee, having previously served as vice-president. Four years later his abilities as a leader were recognized in his election as president of Sub-District No. 1, extend- ing from Mauch Chunk to Tamaqua, and comprising what is commonly known as the Panther Creek Val- ley, one of the most important mining sections in the anthracite region. In this capacity he has had an ac- tive part in many negotiations between the miners and the operators, both locally and throughout the entire anthracite region.
He has been a loyal, forceful champion of the cause of his fellow workers, contributing much toward the betterment of their conditions. He organized the first "button strike" in the coal fields, paving the way for the thorough solidarity and permanence of unionism which has resulted.
Mr. Hartneady was elected to the office of sheriff on the Democratic ticket in the fall of 1913, Carbon being the only county in the coal region having a union officer in this position.
Haydon, James C., who for many years was one of the best known coal operators of the anthracite region. and the founder of the Jeanesville Iron Works, one of the leading industrial enterprises in this portion of the state, is now leading a life of retirement at Jeanesville, Pennsylvania.
He is a native of Philadelphia, where his birth oc- curred on December 5, 1833, and he was educated at Burlington College, Burlington, New Jersey, where he pursued a scientific course. Subsequently to his graduation, he assisted in the building of the North Penn Railroad in the capacity of a civil engineer. The
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road, extending from Philadelphia to Bethlehem, and now a part of the system of the Philadelphia and Read- ing Railway, was completed in 1855.
After a year's service as an executive officer for the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company at Mauch Chunk, he assumed the superintendency of the Buck Mountain Coal Company, at Rockport, Carbon county, where he remained for a period of ten years. Here, amid the wild grandeur of the mountains, he spent the happiest days of his life, and he has never ceased to look back to his residence in this lovely spot with the fondest recollection.
The company's mines were situated on the summit of the Buck mountain, a few miles distant from Rockport, from which point the coal was then shipped to mar- ket on the Lehigh Canal. The breaker stood on the banks of Laurel run, and was driven by an ordinary twenty-five foot water-wheel, being, as nearly as can be ascertained, with one exception, the only breaker in the anthracite region employing water for its motive power.
A breaker owned by the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company at Nesquehoning, is said to have been sim- ilarly built and operated, this being the single excep- tion.
Mr. Haydon was one of the organizers of the Spring Mountain Coal Company, which was chartered in 1864. His associate in this enterprise was Theodore Ran- dolph, formerly a United States Senator from New Jersey, and the Governor of that state. This company operated the mines at Jeanesville until 1874, when the property was acquired by the Lehigh Valley Coal Com- pany. Under the firm name of J. C. Haydon and Com- pany, Mr. Haydon, in partnership with Francis Robin- son, of New York, continued to operate these mines
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under lease until 1894. They also operated the Glen- don Colliery at Mahanoy City, and another colliery at Mt. Carmel.
Aside from the coal mines, the principal interest of Jeanesville for many years centered in the shops of the Jeansville Iron Works, established there by the Spring Mountain Coal Company. These shops were conducted by J. C. Haydon and Company until 1902, in which year the Jeanesville Iron Works Company was formed, Mr. Haydon being the principal stockholder and president of the corporation. In 1903 the plant was removed to Hazleton, where large and modern shops were erected.
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