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 > Part 31
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Mr. Gangwer was successively a lumberman and a boatman on the Lehigh Canal. In 1856 he entered the employ of the Beaver Meadow Railroad Company as a brakeman, soon becoming an engineer, serving in that capacity for twelve years, during which time the Bea- ver Meadow Railroad Company was absorbed by the Lehigh Valley.
For a number of years he conducted the White Swan Hotel and the farm connected therewith, at Hudson- dale. This was one of the way-houses on the Lehigh and Susquehanna turnpike, leading from Berwick to Easton. The old hotel is now in ruins. The remaining years of his activity Mr. Gangwer spent in the employ
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of the Lehigh Valley Company at Weatherly and in the conduct of a farm which he purchased on the outskirts of the town. He is now living retired at Weatherly.
Samuel W. Gangwer, Jr., was born at Weatherly Sept. 28, 1862. He received his education in the schools of Packer township and of Weatherly. At the age of eighteen he entered the shops of the Lehigh Valley Company at Weatherly and learned the boilermaker's trade. Previous to this time he worked on his father's farm. Having followed his trade for six years, Mr. Gangwer, in association with his brother, R. B. Gang- wer, opened a meatmarket in Weatherly under the firm name of Gangwer Brothers, continuing in this business for sixteen years.
He was elected to the office of director of the Mid- dle Coal Field Poor District in 1898, and was re-elected in 1901. In 1902 he was chosen to fill his present posi- tion as steward of the almshouse and to conduct the immense farm which the district owns and operates at Laurytown. This is a position requiring patience, tech- nical knowledge and executive ability, but Mr. Gang- wer has easily met these requirements and has given the people of the district a faithful, business-like ad- ministration. The farm which he oversees is composed of 781 acres, 350 acres of which is under cultivation. During the year ending December 31, 1909, the pro- ducts of the farm were valued at $10,485.66, while the profits accruing therefrom aggregated $4,354.98. Fifty head of cattle and ten horses are maintained on the farm.
The average number of inmates at the almshouse is 195, many of whom are feeble-minded and insane.
Mr. Gangwer is the owner of a farm near Weatherly upon which the model orchard of the State Department of Agriculture for the upper end of Carbon county is situated.
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On November 12, 1889 he was married to Miss Annie M. Roth, of Weatherly. She is the matron of the insti- tution over which her husband presides, and, as may be imagined, her life is one filled with many duties and problems.
Mr. and Mrs. Gangwer are the parents of these chil- dren: Russel, Jesse, Myrtle, Grace, Helen and Samuel. Russel and Jesse are products of the West Chester State Normal School; the former is assistant cashier of the First National Bank of Weatherly, while the latter is a school teacher at Rockport.
Geiser, Joseph F., secretary and manager of the Car- bon Transit Company, residing at Flagstaff Heights, Mauch Chunk, is the son of Peter and Mary (Hoover) Geiser.
The father was born near Smithsburg, Md., in 1826. Reared on a farm, he early experienced the hardships and drudgery which were the inseparable concomitants of rural life at that time. Being of an inventive turn of mind, he experimented with labor-saving devices, and in 1854 perfected the first threshing machine which effectually separated the grain from the straw. So thoroughly did this machine work that its early sales- men offered a dollar a piece for every kernel that was found in the straw after it had gone through.
The young inventor was one of the leading spirits in the organization of the Geiser Manufacturing Com- pany, the output of which has reached several million dollars annually, constituting the largest industry of Waynesboro, Franklin county, Pa. He was one of the small group of men who made this little city an indus- trial Utopia, where prosperity and well-being are per- haps as thoroughly diffused as in any similar commu- nity in the United States.
Joseph F. Geiser was born at Greencastle, Pa., Feb- ruary 8, 1867. He received his elementary training in
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the common schools and finished his general education under a private tutor, being also a graduate of the Dallas (Texas) Business College. In 1888 he com- pleted a special course in chemistry and electrical en- gineering at Johns Hopkins University, later studying electrical machinery in a practical way in a number of large manufacturing establishments in Baltimore. He also mastered the trade of a machinist in the works founded by his father.
In 1889, having assisted in the building of an electric light plant and street railway at Bay Ridge, Md., he managed the property for a short time, after which he went to Richmond, Va., for the purpose of making a study of its electric railway system, then the largest of its kind in the country. Subsequently he had charge of the electrical department of the street railway sys- tem of Dallas, Texas. In 1891 Mr. Geiser returned to Pennsylvania and organized by popular subscription the Waynesboro Electric Light and Power Company, building the plant and becoming the manager of this company. Twelve years later this property was ac- quired by the Chambersburg, Greencastle and Waynes- boro Street Railway Company, of which Mr. Geiser was one of the promoters, becoming the electrical en- gineer and superintendent of both utilities, still re- garded as models of their kind.
Resigning this position in 1908, he was influential in the organization of the Carbon Transit Company, which took over the property of the Carbon Street Railway Company, coming to Mauch Chunk and as- suming the place which he now holds.
His policy has been to give the public good, safe and reliable service, thus strengthening the property at its weakest point. This has resulted in making the com- pany's securities desirable to investors. He has la-
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bored intelligently and enthusiastically for the up- building of Mauch Chunk as a summer resort.
Mr. Geiser was the first to build a permanent and modern residence at the Flag Staff, on the mountain above Mauch Chunk. He was married in 1895 to Mar- garet J. Bender, of Harwood, N. D. Their children are: Lois, Ruth, Frank and Virginia.
Mr. Geiser has been a close student of the advances made in the application of electrical energy to the vari- ous utilities, and has become an authority in this field. His connection with electric railways dates back to their beginning. He is a member of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers.
Always active in literary and educational work, he is also a vocalist and musical director of acknowledged ability, belonging to that class of men, who, while striv- ing for efficiency in their calling, do not lose sight of the higher and better things which life has to offer.
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.
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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 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.
Gerhard, Jonas, a retired farmer of Quakake Valley, and the oldest resident of that portion of the county, was born in Lausanne township, Northampton county, now Packer township, Carbon county, on February 3, 1823. He is a grandson of Stephen Gerhard, who with his son, Daniel, came to Quakake Valley from beyond the Blue mountains, about the year 1790. The elder Gerhard, who was one of the first settlers of this val-
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ley, cleared a farm which has since been divided, and which is now owned by William Reed and Joseph Horn.
Jonas, the son of Daniel and Mary (Heil) Gerhard, began life as the owner of the farm on which his grand- father had located. His mother was a daughter of Daniel Heil, one of the two first settlers of Quakake Valley. In those days, practically every farmer of the locality was a lumberman, as well, and Mr. Gerhard was no exception to the rule, selling sawed lumber and mine timber in large quantities.
He married Elizabeth, the daughter of Jacob Bac- hart, and, when about forty years of age, he removed to Mahanoy City, Schuylkill county. At the expiration of a few months, however, he returned to Packer town- ship, purchasing the farm on which he has now lived for nearly half a century. He also became possessed of various other tracts in the township, and was for years a large land owner. Exceptionally well pre- served for one of his advanced age, he has been quite ablebodied until recent years. Even to-day, at ninety, he is a splendid marksman, handling a rifle with sur- prising accuracy and precision.
The following children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Gerhard: John H. and Annie, the wife of David Ger- hard, of Packer township; Caroline, the widow of David Kerschner, of Tamaqua; William, also living at Tamaqua; Simon P., of Packer township; Catharine, who married George Hinkle, deceased; Asa, who died when a youth; Joel G., living in the west; Amanda, wife of Oliver Koch, of Freeland; Austin, of Weather- ly, and Allen, of Packer township. Two others died in infancy. Mrs. Gerhard died early in 1913.
Mr. Gerhard cast his first ballot for President Polk, in 1844, journeying to Weatherly, which was then the
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only polling place in Lausanne township, for that pur- pose. The voters of Rockport came to Weatherly in a large wagon, drawn by four sturdy oxen, on this oc- casion. For more than a generation he served as a school director of Packer township, and at various times he held other township offices. During nearly the whole of his life he has been connected with St. Matthew's Lutheran and Reformed church, located near his home. Formerly he led the singing of this congregation. The Sunday school of this church also received his encouragement and support.
Mr. Gerhard is one of the few who can recall seeing Halley's comet on its visit seventy-seven years ago.
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.
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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 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 Dau- 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.
PHILIP GINDER.
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Mr. Ginder subsequently became a boat builder, and ranked as the best on the Lehigh Canal. He became 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
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happy homes, as well as adding so largely to the ma- terial well-being and comfort of millions of his fellow- 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-
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tive years. This school is one of the strongest and best conducted in the entire county. He is a member of the 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.
Graul, P. M., lawyer, publisher and manufacturer, of Lehighton, is descended from German ancestors, who settled in Philadelphia and Lehigh counties during the early years of the nineteenth century. Later the family was established in Montgomery county.
Levi Graul, the grandfather of P. M. Graul, was a native of Lehigh county, where he followed the voca- tion of a farmer, subsequently removing to Montgom- ery county. His son, Henry Graul, was a school teacher, farmer and civil engineer. He was married to Esther A. Dotts, and their children were Esther J., the wife of Jacob R. Allebach, of Montgomery county, and Philip M.
P. M. Graul was born January 16, 1870, at Hoppen- ville, Montgomery county. Having received a public school education, he graduated from East Stroudsburg State Normal School in 1895. He also spent several years at Ursinus and Muhlenberg Colleges. He then taught school for a number of years, after which he entered Dickinson Law School, from which he was graduated with the class of 1901. On June 11 of the same year he was admitted to the bar of Carbon county, and began the practice of his profession in Le- highton.
In 1902 he acquired through purchase the owner- ship of the Advocate, one of Carbon county's valued weekly newspapers, published at Lehighton, which he still conducts.
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Mr. Graul was one of the organizers of the Lehigh- ton Lace Company, which was incorporated in 1905 with a capital stock of $150,000. He is secretary-treas- urer and general manager of this concern, one of the best industries in the borough, paying out $2,500 to $3,000 in weekly wages.
He was borough solicitor of Lehighton for seven years, while in 1904 he was the Democratic candidate for the legislature from Carbon county, but was de- feated. He is a member of the Masonic order, and of various other fraternal organizations, besides belong- ing to the fire department of the borough, being con- nected with Engine Company No. 1.
P. M. Graul was married to Mary, daughter of Reu- ben Fenstermacher, for many years a prominent busi- ness man of Lehighton, on June 14, 1897. Three sons, Henry, Carl, and Donald, have been born to them.
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
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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. 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.
Gruber, William H., now living in retirement at Pal- merton, is a son of Joseph Gruber, who was for many years one of the prominent citizens of Polk township, Monroe county. His mother, before her marriage, was Mary Heiney.
William H. Gruber is one of a family of eleven chil- dren, and was born in Polk township, Monroe county, August 9, 1849. He was educated in the public schools and at Broadheadsville Academy. He learned the trade of a shoemaker, but began life as a school teach- er, following that vocation for several years.
In 1874 he came to Lehigh Gap, Carbon county, en-
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tering the employ of J. &. W. Craig, conducting a large mercantile establishment at that place. He remained with this firm for twelve years, and then engaged in business on his own account, opening a general store at Lehigh Gap, which he conducted for a number of years. Later he bought a farm, situated where the town of Palmerton now stands. In addition to his in- terest in this farm Mr. Gruber for a time conducted a meat market at Bethlehem, where he then lived. Re- turning to Lower Towamensing township in 1901, he took up his residence on the farm, and opened Green- wood Grove, which has grown to be one of the beauty spots of Palmerton.
In 1909 he disposed of his farm to the Palmer Land Company, and he is now living in an elegant home in that part of Palmerton known as the Reservation.
Mr. Gruber has been a member of the board of edu- cation of Lower Towamensing township, and has been its secretary for several years. In his capacity as a school director he was largely instrumental in the es- tablishment of the township high school at Palmerton, a move that was not universally popular from the start, but which is now more generally appreciated. He is a member of the Knights of Malta, and attends the United Evangelical church.
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