History of Northampton County [Pennsylvania] and the grand valley of the Lehigh, Volume III, Part 36

Author: Heller, William Jacob; American Historical Society, Inc
Publication date: 1920
Publisher: Boston ; New York [etc.] : The American Historical Society
Number of Pages: 574


USA > Pennsylvania > Northampton County > History of Northampton County [Pennsylvania] and the grand valley of the Lehigh, Volume III > Part 36


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He holds the thirty-second degree in the Masonic order, is a member of Bethlehem Commandery, Bloomsburg Consistory; Rajah Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of Reading, Pennsylvania; and Allentown Lodge No. 30, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. His social organizations are the Northampton Club, the County Country Club of Northampton County, the Lehigh Country Club, the Engineers' Club of New York, the Manufacturers' Club of Philadelphia, and the Livingston Club of Allentown. During his col- lege years he was elected to the Sigma Phi fraternity. Mr. Wilbur is a trustee and secretary of the executive committee of St. Luke's Hospital, in whose welfare he has long taken deep interest, and is a liberal patron of all local charities. He is a vestryman of the Protestant Episcoal pro-Cathedral Church of the Nativity. His recreation are those of the out-of-doors, gun- ning, fishing, automobiling and motor boating. His residence is in the Foun- tain Hill District, and his summer home is "Sylvan Island" of the Thousand Islands of the St. Lawrence.


Mr. Wilbur married, February II, 1905, Nina Vyse, daughter of Mrs. Nina Morgan Vyse, of New York City. Mrs. Wilbur is interested in St. Luke's Hospital through the work of the Ladies' Aid Society, and is a gener- ous friend of the Children's Home. Mr. and Mrs. Wilbur are the parents of Nina Katherine, Sallie Lindermann, Warren Abbott 2nd and Gladys Edith.


JOHN GOSZTONYI-The career of John Gosztonyi is one of unusual interest. His was a life that well illustrated the success that can be wrought from great handicaps by the exercise of natural talents and a strong deter- mination to achieve. He came from his Hungarian home to seek his fortune in a new land, and after employment as a laborer entered mercantile lines,


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then journalism, and subsequently became interpreter in the local courts. In this last capacity he realized the opportunity for service to his fellow coun- trymen and other foreigners to whom American banking systems were a mystic maze, and while a resident of Phoenixville he laid the foundations of the banking business that has since been incorporated as a trust company and that is controlled by his family. He was a talented linguist, speaking six languages fluently and being able to understand and make himself under- stood in as many other dialects. Among the foreign population of Bethlehem he was regarded with esteem and respect, for he proved himself a true friend on many occasions, and all of his relations to the life of the city were marked by adherence to the highest aims of good citizenship. .


John Gosztonyi was born in Hungary, and in 1884 came to the United States. His first employment was in Plymouth, where he was employed in the mines, and because of his unfamiliarity with the language and customs his earnest labor brought him little profit. Subsequently he moved to Philadelphia, later going to Phoenixville, borrowing sufficient capital to open a general store. This enterprise was a prosperous one and when it was well under way he founded a Slav newspaper, Slovak V Amerika, conducting this journal in addition to his mercantile business for several years. The management of the Slovak V Amerika became a larger proposition than he felt able to maintain and he disposed of the paper, afterward, in 1892, selling his store in Phoenixville and moving to Bethlehem, where he opened another general store and continued the foreign exchange banking business that he had begun in Phoenixville. The confidence reposed in him by the foreign born population led to his choice as interpreter for the Northampton County Court, for he was a linguist of extraordinary ability, his work as interpreter fre- quently carrying him to New York City, Easton, Norristown and West Chester. His banking business developed into the largest foreign exchange bank in the city, and after his death the institution that he had so strongly founded was continued under the able direction of his widow, Rozi Gosztonyi, as president, his sons, John J. and Rudolph E., vice-presidents, and W. W. Peters, formerly an official of the Maunch Chunk Trust Company and the Weatherley National Bank, as secretary and treasurer. In July, 1918, it was incorporated as a trust company, with large and substantial resources, and continues in responsible position as a leading financial center for Bethlehem's foreign population.


Mr. Gosztonyi, three years after coming to Bethlehem, became the proprietor of the well known Lapierre House, and during the ten years he operated this hostelry acquired for it excellent reputation as well as deriving therefrom a comfortable income. In all of his operations he applied himself diligently to his task, was quick to see and seize opportunities, and having done all that ambition and industry could accomplish was content with the rewards of a life of probity and uprightness. His death came suddenly in 1905, and he received the tribute of sorrow from the many who knew him as a business man beyond reproach, a loyal friend and a loving husband and father. He married Rozi Tachovsky, who, since his death, has been the head of the banking business, the only woman bank president in Pennsylvania, up to this time. Mrs. Gosztonyi is a capable business woman and financier, and is almost as talented in languages as was her honored husband, being accomplished in five languages. She is a loyal friend of the churches and charitable institutions of the city, contributing generously to their funds, and is particularly active in the Catholic Slavish church of Bethlehem. The five children of Mr. and Mrs. Gosztonyi were placed under the guardianship of their maternal uncle, Otto Tachovsky, upon Mr. Gosztonyi's death, a charge that continued until they attained legal age. Children of John and Rozi (Tachovsky) Gosztonyi: I. Charles Aloysius, of whom further. 2. John J., born in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, December 2, 1889; attended the public schools, later the Niagara University Preparatory School and the Buffalo


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Medical School, now an official of the family banking house; married Dorothy Bickel, of Sunbury, Pennsylvania. 3. Rudolph, born September 20, 1891, an official of the bank; married Olga Payer, of McAdoo, Pennsyl- vania. 4. Rose E., born in September, 1897, educated in the parochial schools, St. Joseph's Academy, Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and shortly before the outbreak of the European War, in 1914, returned from studies in Bohemia, her mother's birthplace; she married Harry E. Chapman, of Catasauqua, Pennsylvania. 5. Julius, born May 22, 1901, a graduate of Fordham Preparatory School, of New York; also connected with the bank.


Charles Aloysius Gosztonyi was born in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, in 1888, and was educated in the public and parochial schools of Bethlehem, graduating from Central High School in the class of 1906. He was graduated M.E. from Lehigh University in 1910, taking second scholastic honors in his class. Soon afterward he entered the physical laboratory of the Bethlehem Steel Company, eighteen months afterward being transferred to the armor plate machine shop, then becoming assistant foreman of the armor heat treat- ment department. In October, 1917, he became general foreman of the armor forging department, sixteen-inch guns then the specialty of that department. He is a musician, instrumental and vocal, of note, and for eighteen years was organist of the Slavish Catholic church of Bethlehem, serving without charge for eleven years. He is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Knights of Columbus, also of the Hungarian Sick and Beneficial Society. While a student at Lehigh University he married, June 28, 1910, Mary Burton Dolan, of Bethlehem. They are the parents of two children : John (2) and Marie. John (2) is the first son born to a member of the Lehigh University, class of 1910, and was presented at birth with a loving cup by the members of the class, the cup bearing this inscription : "Presented to John Gosztonyi, born April 15, 1911, First Son of the Class of 1910, Lehigh University."


JOHN CHARLES MILLETT-At Eagle Bridge, a village ot Rensselaer county, New York, about twenty-three miles from Troy, John and Bridget (Keyes) Millett were living at the time of the birth of their son, Henry Millett, father of John Charles Millett, manager of the S. S. Kresges Five & Ten Cent Store in Easton. John Millett died in Eagle Bridge, his widow then moving to Troy, where she died several years later. Henry Millett also became a resident of Troy, and there yet resides, a roadmaster with the United Traction Company of that city. He married Margaret Ward, also born at Eagle Bridge, New York, daughter of Patrick Ward. They were the parents of three children: Mary, residing with her parents in Troy; John Charles, of further mention; Viola, residing at the family home in Troy.


John Charles Millett, only son of Henry and Margaret (Ward) Millett, was born in Troy, New York, July 29, 1892, and there attended the public school, finishing in high school. He began his business life with the S. S. Kresges Company in their Troy store and has never severed that connection. He began as a clerk, and until 1915 has been associated with the company in that capacity in stores in New York, Rhode Island, Missouri and Washington, District of Columbia. He had proved his ability in the different positions in which he had been placed, and in 1915 was appointed general manager of the company's store at Easton, Pennsylvania. In that position, as in all others, Mr. Millett has "made good," and the Easton store stands high on the com- pany's roll of honor. Mr. Millett is a member of St. Brainerd's Roman Catholic Church, Union Council No. 345, Knights of Columbus, and in politics an Independent.


Mr. Millett married, in St. Louis, Missouri, June 27, 1914, Corinne Zim- merman, daughter of Theodore Zimmerman, of that city. Mr. and Mrs. Millett are the parents of two sons: John Charles (2), born February, 1916; and Donald H., born January, 1918.


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THOMAS FRANCIS McGOVERN-From youth, Thomas F. McGovern, formerly of South Bethlehem, was identified with the undertaking business, and thoroughly fitting himself, became one of the leaders in his business. He was a son of John McGovern, a hotel proprietor of South Bethlehem, who died March 17, 1912, in the hotel he had conducted for many years. He mar- ried Mary Dinan, also of South Bethlehem, and they were the parents of the following children : Thomas F., of further mention; Frank, a hotel proprietor, married Mary Brady, who died August 8, 1897; Agnes, residing at the South Bethlehem home; and Della, also at home.


Thomas F. McGovern was born in South Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, October 31, 1871, died March 31, 1914. He was educated in the public schools, and after leaving school he became his father's assistant in the management of the Eagle Hotel, the first house of public entertainment opened in South Bethlehem. He later left the hotel business and began a connection with the undertaking business, which was only severed by his own death. He prepared for the business he had decided to follow by a course at the United States School of Embalming in New York City, graduating therefrom in June, 1897. He opened an undertaking establishment in South Bethlehem, begin- ning in a modest way, but constantly growing in public confidence, he eventually owning the largest mortuary business in South Bethlehem. He was well liked by all who knew him, and as a funeral director was a model of consideration and courtesy, and at funerals his imposing figure seemed to impart confidence and strength. In his political faith Mr. McGovern was a Democrat, and for several years held the office of director of the poor. He was a member of Holy Infancy Roman Catholic Church, and in all the relations of civil, church and social life he was most careful and exact. His friends were legion and he was one of the most hospitable and charitable of men. He was public-spirited and progressive, large physically, and equally broad-minded. He was a member of the Knights of Columbus, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and the Foresters of America.


Mr. McGovern married, February 17, 1887, at Holy Infancy Church, Marcella L. Rodgers, daughter of Patrick and Mary (Brady) Rodgers, resi- dents of Bethlehem for half a century, her father a paving contractor and landscape gardener, one of his most noted landscapes being the grounds of Lehigh University, and he was one of the heroes of the Civil War. He died June 17, 1903, his wife dying July 21, 1914. Mr. and Mrs. Rodgers were the parents of Marcella L., widow of Thomas F. McGovern; Sister Mercedes, directress of Mount St. Mary's College, Plainfield, New Jersey, who cele- brated her silver jubilee as a sister September 24, 1918; Edward J., an under- taker of Allentown, Pennsylvania, married Elizabeth Doyle, of South Bethle- hem; William M., a hotel proprietor, formerly coroner, and for eight years undertaker at Phillipsburg, New Jersey, married Genevieve Malarkey, of Easton, died October 30, 1918, a victim of the influenza epidemic; Elizabeth R., married Louis P. Vooz, who died October 2, 1907; Mary A., a graduate nurse, trained in St. Joseph's Hospital, Philadelphia, died June 18, 19II.


Since the death of her husband, Mrs. McGovern has succeeded to the management of the business he left, and in her work has been greatly aided by her brother, Edward J. Rodgers, an undertaker of Allentown. She is a woman of strong business ability and agreeable personality, and is proving a capable, efficient manager of a difficult business. She has no children.


WILLIAM JOHNSTON KRATZ-The forty-five years of Mr. Kratz's association with the city of Bethlehem were marked by useful and beneficial service in numerous fields of endeavor. He came to the city as a teacher in the public schools, and in his after career won position of honorable standing in business and in the civic and religious life of Bethlehem. When called into the public service as an official of the South Bethlehem borough, he gave the best of the sterling qualities that had brought him business success, and


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throughout a long and active life he was known as a man of high principle, broad public spirit and sound, conservative business judgment.


William Johnston Kratz was a son of Jesse and Catharine (Heistand) Kratz, and a descendant of a Switzerland family that has long been resident in Eastern Pennsylvania. He was born at New Britain, near Doylestown, Pennsylvania, December 5, 1846, and died in Behlehem, September 27, 1917. After attendance at the public schools and the Rev. Dr. Horns' Classical School at Quakertown, he completed his studies at the Millersville State Normal School, where he- prepared for the teaching profession. In 1872 he was appointed to a position in the Bethlehem public schools and after a number of years spent in teaching, resigned to accept a position in the offices of the Lehigh Valley railroad. He was identified in building and loan operations with the late Andrew L. Cope, and for many years was treasurer of the Industrial Building & Loan Association, aiding in important measure in the promotion of home building in his adopted city. In 1900 Mr. Kratz formed a connection with the Lehigh Valley Cold Storage Company, and until his death, in 1917, served as general manager and superintendent of this organization.


Mr. Kratz was a Republican in political belief, and filled the office of treasurer of South Bethlehem borough prior to the consolidation. All public works held his interest, and he was an enthusiastic promoter of public mar- kets, taking an active part in the development of the present excellent marketing facilities of Bethlehem. His support of a measure or a move- ment meant his earnest, loyal backing, and many worthy causes benefited through the enlistment of his aid. His fraternal affiliations were with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias. He was a communicant of the Lutheran church. He was one of the organizers of St. Mark's Church of that denomination, a charter member, for many years deacon and member of the Church Council, and a generous contributor to the various departments of the church work.


William J. Kratz married (first), September 23, 1873, Josephine Ritter, (second) January 4, 1898, Carrie Cope, daughter of Mahlon and Christiana Cope. There were two children of his first marriage: Cora Edith, born October 19, 1876, married John Laury, of Allentown, Pennsylvania; and Ruth Emma, born January 10, 1882, married William Laury, of Allentown. Of his second marriage there was one daughter, Lucie Elizabeth, born Novem- ber 10, 1903, a student in the Moravian Preparatory School.


HENRY HALLER MITCHELL-Paternally of Scotch-Irish family and early American ancestry, Mr. Mitchell, secretary and treasurer of the Gen- eral Crushed Stone Company of Easton, Pennsylvania, possesses those quali- ties of self-reliance, loyalty and uprightness which marked that race to whom this country owes so much, the Scotch-Irish pioneer. He is a grandson of Rev. John Mitchell, an early Methodist minister of the State of Ohio, sta- tioned at Mount Vernon, in that State, at the time of the birth of William Mitchell, son of Rev. John and Ann (Ogden) Mitchell, a man of versatile talents, one of the well known educators of his day, and a veteran of the Civil War, holding a captain's commission.


William Mitchell was born in Mount Vernon, Ohio, in 1829, and died in Bismarck, North Dakota, in 1890. He was educated in the public schools, academy and college, and prior to the war between the States of the Union, was a teacher. He enlisted in the war, served as captain of the Ninety-sixth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and at its close was honorably dis- charged. After the war he returned to Ohio, where he held several positions as an instructor of youth and was for a time superintendent of Columbus, Ohio, public schools. In 1880 he removed to the State of North Dakota, where he continued his professional career until his death. He located in Fargo, and there for a time practiced law, but during nearly his entire life


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he taught in public school and academy. He ranked very high among the educators of his State, and at the time of his death was superintendent of public instruction for the State of North Dakota.


William Mitchell married Catherine Haller, daughter of Henry and Cath- erine (Spangler) Haller. Her father was born in Northampton county, Pennsylvania, in 1802. Mrs. Catherine Mitchell was born in Union county, Pennsylvania, in 1829, but later her parents moved to Mount Vernon, Ohio, where she also resided for a time after her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell were the parents of two sons and a daughter: Charles A., a graduate of Harvard University, class of '81, now principal of the Asheville School, at Asheville, North Carolina ; Henry Haller, of further mention; Anna, married C. F. Scheinfurth, an architect of Cleveland, Ohio.


Henry Haller Mitchell, second son of William and Catherine (Haller) Mitchell, was born at Mount Vernon, Ohio, August 10, 1859. He prepared for college in high school in Cleveland, Ohio, intending to enter Harvard, but his plans were overthrown by circumstances, and instead he entered the employ of the Merchants' Dispatch & Transportation Company, later enter- ing railroad service. In turn he was in the employ of the Big Four and the Nickel Plate railway systems in their constructing departments; with the Michigan & Ohio, in the operating department; with the Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic, in charge of purchases, leaving the last-named company in order to engage in mercantile business on his own account in Marquette, Michigan. He continued in Marquette until July, 1890, when he removed to New York City. From 1890 until 1898 he was engaged in the iron busi- ness as manufacturers' agent, was an official of two producing companies, and for a time was located in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1898 he entered in the stone business with office in New York City, there remaining until 1901, when he located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, with the General Crushed Stone Company, then of that city. Bethlehem continued the headquarters of the company until 1911, when their general offices were removed to Easton, the present home of the company. Mr. Mitchell was elected secretary and treas- urer in 1902, and still continues in that office, also serving as a director of the company and as secretary, treasurer and director of the Amies Road Company.


While he is an active and energetic business man fully meeting all the requirements of the positions he holds, Mr. Mitchell has not neglected the finer side of life, but in club, fraternity and philanthropy manifests his interest in the things that are worth while. He has long been interested in boy welfare work, and individually in boys themselves. He has aided many boys to reach positions in which to develop, expand and prove their worth, boys who apparently were without hope, ambition or ability when he offered them a helping hand. It was largely through his interest and energy that the Boys' Club of Bethlehem was formed, an organization which has done much for the boys of that city. For several years, while a resident of Beth. lehem, Mr. Mitchell was president of that club, but all his life he has had a special interest in friendless boys. He is a trustee of St. Luke's Hospital, at Bethlehem, chairman of the finance committee of the Trinity Episcopal Church of Easton, member of the Rotary, Pomfret and Northampton Coun- try clubs, and a charter member of the Bethlehem Club. He is an enthusi- astic supporter of the Visiting Nurses' Association, of which he is treasurer, and president of Easton Council, Boy Scouts. In his political preference he is a Republican.


Mr. Mitchell married, June 17, 1884, Stella Josephine Redington, daugh- ter of Joseph A. and Chloe (Lewis) Redington, of Cleveland, Ohio. Her father, a pioneer in the iron ore business, owned a line of steamers engaged in transporting ore from the Lake Superior mine district to Lake Erie ports. Mrs. Mitchell is a talented musician, active in philanthropic work, member of the Women's Club, chairman of the membership committee of Easton


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Red Cross Chapter and of the Young Women's Christian Association, and for several years was president of the South Bethlehem Children's Home.


CLARENCE N. ANDREWS-Clarence N. Andrews, general manager and managing editor of the Free Press Publishing Company of Easton, was born in Ashboro, North Carolina, July 29, 1856, son of Clinton M. and Ellen M. (Butz) Andrews, his mother a daughter of Daniel W. and Elvira (Barnett) Butz, of Easton. Clinton M. Andrews, a student at Lafayette College, class of 1856, was a colonel in the Confederate Army, and in 1864 received a wound in action, from which his death occurred. After the death of her honored husband, Mrs. Andrew returned to her Easton home as soon as possible, bringing her son, their residence in Easton dating from 1866.


Clarence N. Andrews, at the age of ten years, began his public school attendance, which was continued until 1872, when he was graduated from high school and entered Lafayette College. He was graduated from Lafay .. ette, Ph.B. 1876, and a month later his mother passed away. After leaving college, he was for a time in the clerical employ of the Easton National Bank, and then began the study of law. That study was abandoned when a position as reporter opened to him, and in 1878 he became a member of the reportorial staff of the Easton Free Press, and during the more than forty years which have since elapsed he has been continuously in the service of that publication.


In 1885, Mr. Andrews and Eugene W. Clifton became partners in the ownership of the Free Press, and as Andrews & Clifton continued its publication until the death of Mr. Clifton, in 1901. Mr. Andrews conducted the paper alone until 1893, when the Free Press Publishing Company was organized, that company being the owners and publishers from that date until the present, 1919. In 1904 Mr. Andrews was made general manager and manag- ing editor, and during the years which have followed, the Free Press has risen to and maintains the leadership among the afternoon papers of the Lehigh Valley. In 1898 Mr. Andrews was appointed postmaster of Easton, and for four and a half years he held that office. For a number of years he has been elder of College Hill Presbyterian Church.


Mr. Andrews married Jennie O. Neiman, daughter of Daniel H. Neiman, of Easton, and they are the parents of five children: Edith, married Rev. Edward I. Campbell, of New Hartford, New York; Marion, married Audley L. Mabon, of Indiana, Pennsylvania; Clarence D., sergeant of Company G, Three Hundred and Nineteenth Infantry, American Expeditionary Forces ; Jeannette N., at home ; a daughter, Elizabeth, died in her third year.




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