USA > Pennsylvania > Northampton County > History of Northampton County [Pennsylvania] and the grand valley of the Lehigh, Volume III > Part 38
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Mr. Hoover is a member of Dallas Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons ;
B. E. El rover.
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Easton Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Pomp Council, Royal and Select Mas- ters; De Payen Commandery, Knights Templar; Rajah Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, and is a thirty-second degree member of Bloomsburg Consistory, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite. He is also a member of the Tall Cedars of Lebanon, Pomfret Club, Rotary Club, Automobile Club, and of Grace Reformed Church.
Mr. Hoover married, February 14, 1899, Bertha Mariner, daughter of Tobias Mariner. The Hoover home is at No. 1443 Washington street, Easton, their summer home at Lake Hopatcong.
Mr. Hoover enjoyed the close friendship and entire confidence of his chief, Frank W. Woolworth, now deceased, who made him a store manager while he lacked two years of being of legal age, being the youngest man ever made manager of a Woolworth store. He now has attained the opposite extreme, and is the oldest manager of a Woolworth store in point of years of service. He is a man of strong business ability, combined with a pleasing personality, and has a host of friends.
ROBERT ASHER SCHAEFFER-Robert Asher Schaeffer, a partner in the L. W. Strock Company, of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was born March 26, 1876, in the township of Moore, Northampton county, Pennsylvania. He is a son of Peter T. and Christiana (Biechy) Schaeffer, neither of whom are now living. Peter T. Schaeffer was a farmer in his native Moore township until his retirement several years before his death, which occurred in March, 1915. He was a member of the United Brethren. His wife, Christiana (Biechy) Schaeffer, mother of Robert Asher Schaeffer, was a daughter of Reuben and Mary (Heine) Biechy. She died in 1896, leaving three children, viz. : Ellen, wife of Harry Smith, a slater, of Pen Argyl, and they have eight children ; Martha, wife of Thomas Fehnel, a farmer in Bushkill Park, and they are the parents of three children; Lizzie, wife of Harvey Bass, a farmer of Schoenersville, and they have five children.
Robert A. Schaeffer is a self-made man; truly so, in every sense of the word. He received a thorough fundamental education in the public schools of Moore township, and at the age of fourteen years he became a clerk in a rural grocery store, continuing in that position for five years. A youth of nineteen, he then became transfer man in the freight depot of the Central railroad, and was soon transferred to car clerk, which office he occupied for five years. In 1900 he entered the employ of the L. W. Strock Company, and thirteen years later he advanced himself to a partnership in that concern, an office which he is now holding.
Mr. Schaeffer is a member of the Blue Lodge of the Free and Accepted Masons, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and belongs also to the Patriots of America. On December 7, 1918, Mr. Schaeffer became a member of the Caldwell Consistory. He is, therefore, a thirty-second degree Mason. He is a member of the Moravian church, and serves on the board of trustees of that church.
Mr. Schaeffer married, October 19, 1899, Lizzie J. Reinhard, daughter of Jeremiah D. and Elizabeth (Jacobs) Reinhard, of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Jeremiah D. Reinhard was a stone cutter, and died in 1900, followed by his wife in 1905. Robert A. and Lizzie J. Schaeffer have two children: Hilda May, born May 10, 1900, a graduate of the public high school in 1917, now a stenographer for the Weston Dodson Company; and Harry Joseph, born June 1, 1903.
HERBERT FRANKLIN JONES-Although Mr. Jones had no previous training for the business which he has conducted in Windgap since 1913, that fact has not operated against his success, and the pioneer garage which he opened in the year named has had a most prosperous career. He is a son of Joseph Amandus Jones, of Pennsylvania German descent, a quarryman still
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actively employed at his business. He married Ellen Rebecca Gum, and they were the parents of five children, three of whom are living: Emma, wife of Heber Parsons Slater, of Pen Argyl, Pennsylvania; Pearl, wife of Clarence Repsher, a machinist; and Herbert Franklin, of further mention.
Herbert Franklin Jones was born in Plainfield township, Northampton county, Pennsylvania, July 8, 1880, and there was educated in the public schools. He began his business career as clerk in a country general store, so continuing for ten years. In 1913 he opened the pioneer garage in Windgap, an enterprise which has proved such a success that Mr. Jones still continues its owner and head. The garage, 30 by 120 feet, accommodates thirty-five cars, and in connection therewith Mr. Jones has a repair shop, also a full line of automobile accessories on sale. A Republican in politics, Mr. Jones gives little attention to public affairs, but is entirely devoted to his business interests. In religious faith he is a Lutheran.
Mr. Jones married, May 12, 1906, Eva Reinhart, of Albertus, Pennsyl- vania, daughter of Lesher and Laura (Reinhart) Reinhart.
GEORGE SALTIS-In the town of Tilcik, County of Saros, Hungary, near the Galician border, George Saltis, now of South Bethlehem, Pennsyl- vania, was born September 28, 1885. He was the son of John and Anna (Thomas) Saltis. His father was a farmer of Saros county. There George Saltis lived until eighteen years of age, attending school and assisting his father in farm work. In 1903 he left home to come to the United States, where a brother had been killed in the coal mines at Hazelton, Pennsylvania, in 1896. Other members of the family besides John had come to the United States, and all are now living in Bethlehem: Mary, married John Bucks; Stephen ; Linden, married Anna Schmidt. Upon coming to the United States, George Saltis stopped for a time in New York City, but his brother Stephen and sister Mary were living in South Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and there he soon joined them. He was a very homesick boy for the first month, and had he been possessed of the means, there is little doubt but that he would have returned to his home in the Old World.
His first work was with the Bethlehem Steel Company in the building department, where he remained eighteen months. He then left the mill, and for about five years was associated with his brother Stephen, who was pro- prietor of a meat market, garage and rendering plant .. He is one of the prominent men of his nationality in Bethlehem, and has accumulated a con- siderable landed estate in addition to his business. He is a member of Beth- lehem Chamber of Commerce; president of the Slavic Political Club; presi- dent of Slavic Hall Association ; member of the Church of the Sacred Heart; St. Stephen's Society ; St. Peter's Society ; Ciryl and Methodius Union Socor, and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
Mr. Saltis married Anna Shego, born in Austria-Hungary, a daughter of John and Anna (Hudy) Shego. They were the parents of four children: John, Rosa, George and Stephen.
HENRY ZIEGENHORN-All his years, from childhood to the time of his death, were spent in Easton, Pennsylvania, and nearly all those years he was engaged in merchant tailoring, he becoming an expert cutter and artistic designer. He was a son of Julius and Charlotte (Kasten) Ziegenhorn, both born in Germany and there marrying. A little later they came to the United States, Julius then being twenty years of age and an experienced tailor. They located in Easton, where Mr. Ziegenhorn conducted a successful tailor- ing business and instructed his son in the business to which he finally suc- ceeded. He was one of the early business men of later Easton, and was highly regarded and respected. They were the parents of four daughters and a son Henry.
Henry Ziegenhorn was born in Easton, Pennsylvania, May 28, 1855, and
henry Ziegenhorn
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there died September 18, 1908, a successful merchant and esteemed citizen. He was educated in the graded and high schools of the city, finishing at Trach Academy. His father was one of the well known merchant tailors of Easton, his shop being just south of the entrance of the Easton Trust Company. He learned the cutter's trade after deciding to make tailoring his life work, and he went to New York City, there completing his instruc- tion in cutting and designing under capable instructors. He was associated with his father in business until the latter's death in 1881, then succeeded him, and until his own death in 1908 was head of a large and prosperous business. The old location was abandoned for a roomier location, Nos. 119- 12I South Third street, and later he bought the property at No. 103 South Third street, to which he removed. There he continued in business the remainder of his life, which ended in its prime, he being but fifty-three years when his final summons came. He was a good business man, high principled and upright, demanding from and giving every man his just due. He took no part in political affairs, but was devoted to his home and there found his great happiness.
He was a member of the Masonic order, holding all degrees of the York Rite, including the Knight Templar degree, was a noble of the Mystic Shrine and a member of the Heptasophs. He was a devoted member of Christ Lutheran Church, aiding liberally in church and charitable work. He con- fined himself closely to his own business, but made an exception in favor of real estate investments, and became the owner of several parcels of improved property, which he held for renting purpose, his tenants finding him a con- siderate and just landlord. Thus he went through life, meeting his obliga- tions as business man and citizen promptly and to the full. He was highly esteemed by all who knew him, and his acquaintance was very extensive.
Mr. Ziegenhorn married, in Easton, Pennsylvania, October 3, 1880, the pastor of the Zion Lutheran Church officiating, Mary Kinney, born in Easton, October 29, 1859. She was educated in the public schools of Easton and Bethlehem Moravian Seminary, and is yet a resident of the city of her birth, her home at No. 214 Ferry street. Mr. and Mrs. Ziegenhorn were the par- ents of three daughters and two sons: Bessie, a graduate of Easton High School, class of 1910, and later for one year a teacher; Esther, married W. S. Mitman, of Easton, one of the instructors at the Easton High School; Ruth, married F. R. Kemmerer, of Easton, connected with the Easton Trust Com- pany ; Karl Albert, who succeeded his father in business, and was connected with the quartermaster department of the United States Army, stationed at Camp Lee, Virginia ; William Hardy, a graduate of Easton High School. class of 1910, and of Pierce Business College, Philadelphia, now city sales manager with the Philadelphia Bag Company, married May Hoffmier, of Easton, and they have a son, Karl Henry.
Mrs. Mary (Kinney) Ziegenhorn is a daughter of Dr. William Hardy Kinney, who was born in Harmony, New Jersey, in 1837, and died in Denver. Colorado, in July, 1909. He was a son of John and Mary (Hardy) Kinney, of New Jersey. Dr. Kinney was a man of brilliant mind and scholarly attainment, broad in vision, correctly foreseeing coming events and decidedly of an inventive genius. He grew up at Harmony, and for several winters he walked the seven miles which lay between his home and the school which he attended in Phillipsburg. As he grew older his father gave him the use of a horse to bring him to school, and after completing his own studies he became a teacher. Later deciding upon the medical profession, he entered Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, and after receiving his M.D. located in Easton, where he practiced his profession and maintained a drug business on Third street. When the Civil War broke out he enlisted in the Union Army, but was assigned to duty as assistant surgeon of the Naval Hospital at New Orleans, when that city came into the hands of the Union forces. He served until the war closed, then returned to Easton, where he resumed his drug
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business. He rendered further public service in the treasury department at Washington, District of Columbia; and as assistant postmaster at Easton, under James Mingle, postmaster. He spoke seven languages fluently, was a capable short-hand writer, one of the earliest to master stenography and telegraphy in Easton. He was a popular physician, and after closing out his practice and drug business in Easton, he accepted a position as purser and surgeon with the Garrison Line, running steamers between New York to Rio Janeiro, Brazil, South America. Later he filled a similar position with the Mallory Steamship Company. Finally he gave up the sea and became interested in gold mine investments, locating in Denver, Colorado, also act- ing as claim agent for the Denver & Rio Grande railroad. He was a member of the Presbyterian church, a member of the Masonic order, aiding in organ- izing one of the Easton lodges and becoming a charter member. He was an ardent lifelong Democrat, and in all things upright and honorable.
Dr. Kinney married, in Easton, Catherine Caroline Mebus, born in Easton in 1833, daughter of Helfrich and Elizabeth (Limeburner) Mebus, her par- ents born in Germany, her father bourghmaster of Marburg. After coming to the United States, Helfrich Mebus engaged in the shoe business in Easton, and there died. He was well known and highly respected. Dr. and Mrs. Kinney were the parents of three daughters and three sons: Mary, now widow of Henry Ziegenhorn, and residing in Easton, a highly esteemed lady ; William, a resident of Buffalo, New York; Louise, married Frank Brotzman, of California; Frank, of Rochester, New York; Kate, married Kenneth An- drews, of Denver, Colorado; Russell, a resident of New Orleans, Louisiana.
ALBERT E. ANDERSON-Now chief of the fire fighting forces of his native city, Chief Anderson is daily proving the wisdom of his selection and appointment. He is a son of William and Emma (Kyle) Anderson, of South Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and a grandson of Peter Anderson, a sea- man and a veteran of the Civil War, serving in the Navy. William Anderson also served for two years in the United States Navy during the Civil War.
Albert E. Anderson was born in South Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, June 18, 1878, and there was educated in the public schools. After completing his school years he entered the clerical employ of the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company, and for twenty-two years continued in that service at the main office; and each year brought him increased responsibilities. He resigned his position in 1915, and for nineteen months was in the employ of the Beth- lehem Steel Company. Then again he resigned, having been appointed by Mayor Johnston, chief of the Bethlehem Fire Department. The appoint- ment was made January 7, 1918, he having been a member of the Fire Depart- ment of the city since 1900.
Chief Anderson is a member of the Keystone Fire Chiefs' Association ; Pennsylvania State Firemen's Association; the Four County Fire Associa- tion ; the Knights of Pythias; and the Church of the Nativity ; his political bias, Republican. He married in 1904, May Folke, of McClure, Pennsylvania.
HAROLD S. VANNATTA-As treasurer of the Ashton Casket Com- pany, Mr. Vannatta is associated officially with the corporation founded upon the business which he served in a clerical capacity while it was still under the control of Frank Ashton, as a firm. The business, however, dates much farther back, having been established by William Keller, who conducted it under his own name. He was succeeded by Frank Ashton, who continued its head until 1908, when he reorganized and incorporated as the Ashton Casket Company, of Easton. The present officials are: W. K. Spangen- berg, president; H. S. Vannatta, secretary-treasurer and general manager. The company is capitalized at $75,000 and transacts a large business in East- ern Pennsylvania and New Jersey, as manufacturers of caskets and under-
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taker's supplies. The plant of the company is located at Bank and Pine streets, Easton, where, for thirty-five years, the same business has flourished under capable management.
Harold S. Vannatta is a son of Frank and a grandson of Aaron Vannatta, blacksmiths of Lower Mt. Bethel township, Northampton county, Penn- sylvania, the father now, 1919, living a retired life at Martins Creek in the same county. Frank Vannatta learned the blacksmith's trade with his father, and for half a century followed that trade, owning his own shop. He married Belle Best, now also residing at Martins Creek, and they were the parents of two children, of whom Harold S. is the only living child. Mr. and Mrs. Vannatta are members of the Lutheran church.
Harold S. Vannatta was born in Northampton county, Pennsylvania, November 16, 1872. After completing a public school education, he entered business life as clerk in Rader's store in Easton, there remaining several years. His next position was with the Stewart wholesale dry goods store, he continuing in that employ until 1899, when he entered the employ of Frank Ashton, a manufacturer of caskets and undertakers' supplies, as book- keeper. He continued in that capacity until 1908, when he became one of the incorporators of the Ashton Casket Company, was elected secretary- treasurer, and appointed general manager of the company. Ten years have since elapsed and he has proven the wisdom of the selection, this business having prospered under his managing care.
He is a member and a past master of Dallas Lodge, No. 396, Free and Accepted Masons of Easton ; is a companion and present scribe of Easton Chapter, No. 173, Royal Arch Masons ; member and principal conductor of Pomp Council, No. 20, Royal and Select Masters; a sir knight and general- issimo of Hugh de Payen Commandery, Knights Templar; and a noble of Rajah Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine; all Easton bodies except the last named, which is located at Reading, Pennsylvania. He is also a mem- ber of the Sons of Veterans through the military service of his father, a vet- eran of the Union Army.
Mr. Vannatta married in 1890, Lizzie, daughter of Samuel Hutchinson, of Martins Creek, Pennsylvania. The family home is No. 1013 Bushkill street, Easton, Pennsylvania. Both Mr. and Mrs. Vannatta are members of St. Mark's Lutheran Church.
SAMUEL H. MOSER-A prosperous manufacturer and dealer in candies, in Easton, Pennsylvania, Mr. Moser can review his life with satis- faction, for he left home at the age of fourteen years with no capital but courage and determination to succeed. This he has done, and he can truly claim to have been the architect of his own fortunes. His father, William Moser, of Belfast, Northampton county, Pennsylvania, was a mason by trade, also a landowner and farmer. He was a member of the Lutheran church, as was his wife, Catherine (Diehl) Moser, both passing their lives in Belfast section of Northampton county. They were the parents of two daughters and five sons: Maria, Louisa, Levi, William, Josiah, Isaac, and Samuel H.
Samuel H. Moser, son of William and Catherine (Diehl) Moser, was born at Belfast, Northampton county, Pennsylvania, and attended the public schools of Belfast until fourteen years of age. He then left home without money, but quickly found employment, working first in a brick yard and later in a steel mill. Soon, however, he found more suitable employment, and for twelve years he was in the employ of Mr. Abel, the famous candy maker of Easton, who taught him candy making in all its forms, and in- structed him in business methods. About 1902, Mr. Moser entered into a partnership with John Steel, and for four years they engaged in the candy business as a firm. Mr. Moser, in 1904, bought his partner's interest, and
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has since been in business alone as a candy manufacturer and wholesale and retail dealer in candies. He has built up a large business, his salesmen covering Eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey, on their regular trips. He is a member of the Odd Fellows, Red Men, Senior Order of Mechanics, Knights of the Golden Eagle, and Junior Order of Mechanics.
Mr. Moser married Amy Margaret Unaugst, and they are the parents of three children : Milton R., born in Easton, 1892; Clyde E., born in Easton, 1895; Hilda B., born in Easton, 1897. All these children were edu- cated in the public and high schools of Easton. Mr. and Mrs. Moser are members of the Lutheran church.
WILSON E. BECK, secretary of the Farmers' Union Mutual Fire In- surance Company of Pennsylvania, and a well regarded resident of Nazareth, belongs to one of the old Northampton county families, and has had connec- tion with the town of Nazareth for at least three generations. The grand ancester of the Beck family of Nazareth first came to Northampton county in 1751, settling for a time in Bethlehem, but eventually removed to Nazareth, where the family has since remained, and each generation has been of some prominence in the affairs of the town. The children of the earlier genera- tions were many, and the branches of the family spread to parts of the States of Pennsylvania, Illinois, Michigan and Kansas. The name appears on many town records, the local histories of settlements and counties of Pennsylvania, et al., but the information is not sufficiently complete to enable the present chronicler to connect and place in proper authoritative genealogical order for this writing. (See genealogical table compiled by Miss Clara A. Beck, Norristown, Pennsylvania.)
Wilson E. Beck, of Nazareth, was born in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, Octo- ber 9, 1858, the son of Jacob H. and Lydia A. (Nolf) Beck, and grandson of Jacob F. Beck, all of Nazareth. In the early years of the family's associa- tion with Northampton county and with Nazareth, the branch to which this article directly belongs were butchers, malters and brewers, an industry cus- tomarily followed in those days by leading families in country districts, the practice arising probably out of the recognition that hospitality and cheer were expected of them by passing travelers. Jacob F. Beck was a butcher malter and brewer ; so also was his son, Jacob H., who was born in Nazareth, June 26, 1829, and died in that place December 22, 1901. Immediately pricr to the Civil War, the butchering, malting and brewing business conducted by the Beck family was discontinued. During the period of the war he served as Assistant Internal Revenue Collector for Northampton county, and subsequently was almost continuously in public office. He was respected in Nazareth, and throughout Northampton county, for thirty-five years, he was a justice of the peace, a sufficiently clear indication of his honorable standing among the people of his district. For twelve years prior to his death he was secretary of the Farmers' Union Mutual Fire Insurance Com- pany ; and for many years he served as secretary and treasurer of the board of trustees of the Moravian Church, in the affairs of which he took earnest and active interest.
His son, Wilson E., succeeded him to the secretaryship of the Fire In- surance Company at his death; for two years prior to that, Wilson E. Beck had official connection with the company, having been treasurer and assist- ant secretary since 1900. Wilson E. Beck has interested himself actively in public affairs sufficiently to consent to take public office. He was elected to the Board of County Commissioners, and as a conscientious man of sin- cere interest in the welfare of the county and town in which he was born and the history of which his family had so long a connection, he had certain definite ideas as to what projects would bring improvement to the district,
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but he discovered that the board was conducted on the principle of party politics before civic interest, so that most of his plans for public improve- ments were rendered impossible of consummation because of the opposition that met his proposals from the other members of the board. Consequently, at the end of his term as county commissioner, he felt that he would not again take public office under similar conditions, which stultified individual effort.
Mr. Beck has for many years been prominently identified with Masonic bodies; he was initiated into Masonry in Easton Lodge, No. 152, and was one of the founders of Whitefield Lodge, No. 622, at Nazareth, and for eight years was its secretary. He has passed through most of the Masonic bodies, including the Council, Chapter, Commandery, and is a life member of Cald- well Consistory at Bloomsburg, and a member of Lu Lu Shrine at Phila- delphia.
In 1897 Mr. Beck was married to Mary A. Eck, of Alburtis, Lehigh county, Pennsylvania. They, however, have no children.
GEORGE ELLIOTT TURNER-Like many other farmer boys in regions traversed by trunk line railroads, George E. Turner entered railroad service, believing that to be the surest and quickest way to break away from the farm and reach a good position in the world outside. That he has suc- ceeded in his boyhood plans and desires is proven by the responsible position he holds, chief engineer of the Pennsylvania Utilities Company, with head- quarters at Easton, Pennsylvania, a city which has been his home since 1912. He is of English descent, his grandfather, George Washington Turner, born in Virginia, coming North when a boy and settling in Chemung county, New York State. He married a Miss Clark, of Irish descent, and they were the parents of six children: George Washington (2), father of George E. Turner, of Easton; Joseph R., Martha, Susan, Catherine, and Tempy.
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