History of Northampton County [Pennsylvania] and the grand valley of the Lehigh, Volume III, Part 52

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 52


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Mr. Sofferman married Annie Cohn, daughter of Jacob and Dora Cohn. They are the parents of three children: Blanche, born August 15, 1904; Florence, March 30, 1907; and Edith, January 30, 1909.


GEORGE MERDINGER-Not long after Alsace-Lorraine had been taken from France by the victorious Germans and made a province of Ger- many, George Merdinger, now a contractor and builder of Bethlehem, Penn- sylvania, was born in that territory, now about to be restored to its rightful owners. But thirteen years after his birth he came to the United States and found a home in Orange, New Jersey. In 1913 he located in Bethlehem, and there he has become a well known and successful contractor and builder.


George Merdinger was born in Alsace-Lorraine (then) Germany, Sep- tember 27, 1875, and there educated. He came to the United States in 1888, settled in Orange, New Jersey, and there learned the carpenter's trade, becoming a fine cabinet-maker. He continued in Orange until 1913, then located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where he established in business as a contractor and builder. Among the important buildings which he has con- tracted for and built, several school houses of Bethlehem township, Wilson township and Lower Saucon township may be named; several buildings of St. Luke's Hospital, including the Bethlehem Steel Company Ward, the Charles Schwab Ward, the Isolation Ward; Bethlehem Foundry & Machine Company building ; many residences, great and small, including the fine home of Professor Emery of Lehigh University, and the improvements on the mansion owned by B. H. Jones, secretary of the Bethlehem Steel Company. Mr. Merdinger has won high reputation in the city as a builder and merits the good name he bears. He is now interested in State highway work, having already secured one contract and the promise of many more.


GEORGE M. ODENWELDER-On January 28, 1826, George M. Oden- welder, of Easton, Pennsylvania, first saw the light in the city of Easton. He has entered and retired from the ranks of octogenarian residents of the city, and three years ago he took his place with the few nonagenarians which the city. can boast of. Ere this work is published he will have completed his ninety-fourth year, in all probability. The Odenwelders date from German forbears, who early came to Northampton county, Pennsylvania. One of these pioneers had a son, John, born in Northampton county, who also had a son, John. The family settled in that section of the county known as the village of Odenweldertown, in honor of the family. Many good and loyal


Geo M. Odenwalder


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citizens have descended from these early German settlers who bore the name Odenwelder, and in all walks of life they have been found bearing their full share of civic responsibilities and burdens. George M. is a son of Michael, and a grandson of John Odenwelder, both of whom were born in Northamp- ton county, Pennsylvania. Michael Odenwelder was born in Odenwelder- town, but later became a merchant of Easton, where he died at the age of seventy-six. He married Sarah Barnett, who bore him nine children, and died in Easton, aged seventy-six.


George M. Odenwelder, son of Michael and Sarah (Barnett) Odenwelder, was born in Easton, Pennsylvania, January 28, 1826, and at this date (January,. 1919) is still a resident of his native city. His birthplace and boy- hood home was a dwelling which stood on the present site of the Laubach store, and he attended the old Vandeveer School, and for a time was a pupil in the public school. His father was a dry-goods merchant of Easton, and when the lad's school days were over a place was made for him in the store which stood on the site of the present Laubach store, the family also making their home in the building. He did not long remain with his father, but before reaching his sixteenth year he went to Philadelphia, entered the employ of one of the city's dry-goods mrchants and there remained six years. His father then requested that he return home to aid him in his business, a request the young man complied with. In course of time Michael - Odenwelder admitted his son to an equal partnership, and when, at the age of seventy-six, the veteran merchant passed away, George M., the son, succeeded to the full ownership and control of the business. He continued its successful manag- ing head until 1872, when he sold out to William Laubach, and the Oden- welder store passed out of existence as a separate trade organization. From that year Mr. Odenwelder has had no settled business connection; in fact, he has lived practically retired from all cares of a business nature. From boy- hood until his withdrawal, he was continuously connected with the dry-goods merchandise, and no man more thoroughly understood his business than he. He was possessed of sound judgment, and with a clear brain conducted his affairs along the best lines, placing great stress upon quality of goods handled and absolute fairness in every transaction. He built up a good understanding between his store and its patrons, and made Odenwelders a desirable trading point.


Mr. Odenwelder was an adherent of the Whig party until it was succeeded by the Republican organization. He then became affiliated with the new party, and has been its loyal supporter. He is an attendant of Christ Lutheran Church, and is yet a regular attendant upon its stated services. He married, in Easton, Anna S. Lane, daughter of John Lane, of Easton. The young couple established their home on Ferry street, but later moved to a residence in Lanes court, where Mrs. Odenwelder died on April 5, 1870. They were the parents of a daughter, Sarah L., who married William Shipman, and died in Easton, April 26, 19II.


GEORGE ZBOYOVSKY-Until a young man of nineteen years, George Zboyovsky, now a prosperous banker of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, remained in his native Austria-Hungary, his birthplace, Töke Terebes, where he was born December 19, 1860. He had acquired his education in the public schools, but did not remain to accomplish his years of military service, but taking ship from Hamburg, arrived in New York eighteen days later, on March 4, 1879. He found a home in Gowen, Pennsylvania, where he was employed in the anthracite coal mines until the age of twenty-three years, then for several months was engaged in a silk mill at Passaic, New Jersey, as a weaver. In May, 1883, he first came to Northampton county, locating in Bethlehem and there becoming an employee of the Bethlehem Steel Works. In 1885 he bought the American Hotel in South Bethlehem, and in 1886 opened a bank


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for dealing in foreign exchange and steamship tickets. He has prospered and has invested largely in South Bethlehem real estate. He originated the three- room flats for industrial workers, and owns thirty-six such dwellings, accom- modating two families each. He still owns the American Hotel, also the building in which his bank is located, and is one of the solid, substantial men of the foreign colony. He is an American citizen, naturalized September 5, 1885, a Democrat in politics, and a member of the Roman Catholic church. He is also a member of the Slavonic Society, Cyril and Methodius, the Society of Sts. Peter and Paul, and Society of the Holy Name.


George Zboyovsky married, May 14, 1882, in New York City, Barbara Smada, daughter of John and Elizabeth Smada. She was born in the same Hungarian village as her husband and crossed the ocean to become his wife. They were the parents of the following children : 1. John Francis, born May 6, 1883. He was educated in Bethlehem grade and high schools; Mount St. Mary's College, Emmettsburg, Maryland; and at the Theological Seminary of St. Charles Borromeo, Overbrook, Pennsylvania. He was ordained, at Overbrock, May 27, 19II, a priest of the Roman Catholic church, and assigned as assistant to the pastor of St. Michael's, at Lansford, Pennsylvania. He was transferred a year later to the church at Tresckow, a mining village of Carbon county, Pennsylvania, where he remained as pastor three years, accomplishing the improvement of the church edifice and the erection of a rectory. He was next transferred to the church at McAdoo, a borough of Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, and there he labored two years. He was then returned to Tresckow, and is now located in Mahanoy City, Pennsyl- vania, where he is serving as pastor of St. Mary's Catholic Church. During his college years he was private secretary to the president and also taught in the college. his standing as a student being very high. 2. George J., born January 21, 1886; attended public school until 1899, then entered Bethlehem Preparatory School, whence he was graduated, class of 1903. He then entered Lehigh University, taking special courses in chemistry, after which he became associated with his father in his banking and hotel business. He is also owner of the Palace Theatre, Bethlehem, which he bought and improved in 1913. He married, July 7, 1910, at Freeland, Pennsylvania, Margaret Shigo. They are the parents of a son William, born March 23, 1912. 3. Michael C., born October 6, 1889, now a dealer in real estate. He attended the Bethlehem Business College. He married Theresa Stein, of Bethlehem, and has a son Edward, born September 5, 1915. 4. William A. J., born February 12, 1891. He began his education in the public schools, going thence to Bethlehem Preparatory School; was a student for one year at Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, then entered the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, specializing in chemistry. After graduation in 1913, he was chemist in Boston for a time, then with the Bethlehem Steel Company until 1915, when he became his father's associate in his real estate business, and is also interested in the bank. 5. Mary Magdalene, born July 2, 1893. After parochial school study she entered Mount St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute, Chestnut Hill, Philadel- phia, whence she was graduated with the class of 1913. After her return to Bethlehem she taught in St. John's Parochial School for some time, then, in 1916, became her father's assistant in the bank. She is an accomplished violinist, active in Red Cross and war work, and the work of the Associated Charities of Northampton county. At college she took especially high rank in domestic science, and after deciding upon a business career pursued study at Bethlehem College to fit her for her clerical position in the bank. 6. James Francis, born July 27, 1894, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, was educated in the parochial schools and business college, also taking a course in the Inter- national Correspondence School of Scranton, Pennsylvania. In October, 1917, he enlisted as a moving picture operator, but was transferred to the Aviation Corps of the United States Army as a mechanic, attached to the Two Hundred


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and Sixty-fourth Aerial Squadron, trained at Camp Dix, N. J., and Mineola, L. I., and on February 24, 1918, went overseas to England; has now returned and is in good health. 7. Rose Elizabeth, born December 9, 1900, prepared in the parochial school, then became a student at Mount St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute, Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, there taking a commercial course and finishing with graduation, class of 1916. She also attended the Bethlehem Business College. She is now a stenographer in the employ of the Bethlehem Steel Company, in the order department, a position she accepted in 1917. She is also a cultivated musician and well known in musical circles.


The mother of these children is a member of a number of societies of the Catholic church and very active in their work, especially the Blessed Mother Sodality and the Society of St. Anna. Mr. and Mrs. Zboyovsky have now been married thirty-seven years, and their domestic life has been one of complete happiness and in accord each with the other's wishes.


ROBERT JACOB SNYDER-More than thirty years ago the Stahr Coal Company was founded in Bethlehem, and its business today is not only the oldest of its kind in Bethlehem, but also is the largest. To that company came Robert J. Snyder, his present position being general manager. He is a son of Enoch and Mary Snyder, of Shanesville, Pennsylvania, born March 8, 1865. He received his education in that town. He began business life as clerk in the A. C. Huff piano and music store, then for twelve years worked as apprentice and journeyman at the blacksmith's trade. In 19II he entered the employ of the Stahr Coal Company of Bethlehem, and his since been continuously in that company's employ. As manager of the business he has demonstrated his strong, high reputation among contemporary business men. In politics Mr. Snyder is a Democrat, and for eight years he served in the Borough Council. He is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Fraternal Order of Eagles, and of the Moravian church. Mr. Snyder married, January 1, 1892, Annie C. Whitezel, daughter of Andrew B. and Mary (Lance) Whitezel.


ANTONIO PACCHIOLI-When a lad of eleven years, Antonio Pacchioli, now proprietor of a photo studio in Easton, Pennsylvania, decided to join relatives in the United States, a decision which he acted upon, arriving in this country, November 21, 1910. The years which have since intervened have been well improved, and the well patronized studio at the corner of Northampton and Sixth streets, Easton, is the result of his energy and tal- ented ability in the photographic art. He is a son of Diego Pacchioli, a well-to- do farmer and stock dealer, whose home was near the city of Rome, Italy, who at the age of sixty-three retired and is yet living in Italy. He married Adelini , and they are the parents of three sons: Louis, a resident of Easton, to which city he came when quite young; Leonard, also a resi- dent of Easton ; and Antonio, of further mention.


Antonio Pacchioli was born near the city of Rome, Italy, November 13, 1899, youngest of the three sons of Diego and Adelini Pacchioli. Until eleven years of age he remained at home, attending the public schools of his district. He then decided to join his brothers in Easton, and sailing from the port of Naples he arrived fourteen days later at New York City, the exact date being November 21, 1910. He at once continued his journey to Easton, was for a time was in poor health, but attended school, and thus spent the first ten months. His first employment was in the Simon Silk Mill, where he remained for two years, becoming an expert spinner, but having an oppor- tunity to become associated with Gerad Geralico, an Italian photographer of Easton, he accepted it, having already some knowledge of the photographic art acquired when a boy in Italy. He rapidly improved in his art, having a strong, natural talent, and upon the death of his employer in 1917, Mr. N. H. BIOG .- 40


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Pacchioli purchased the studio, which he has since conducted very success- fully. His work is highly commended for its high artistic quality, and his studio is well patronized. Mr. Pacchioli is devoted to his art, and has made many friends in the city.


OWEN H. HESS-Owen H. Hess was born in Allen township, North- ampton county, Pennsylvania, May 28, 1855, son of Samuel Hess, and grand- son of David Hess, a noted gunsmith of Rockville, Lehigh county, Pennsyl- vania. David Hess married (second) Sally Laubach, the mother of Samuel Hess, who was a farmer and miller, operating mills nearly all his mature life in Lehigh county. His home for many years was at Cherryville, Lehigh county, and he was a member of the Kreidersville Reformed Church.


Owen H. Hess remained on the home farm until the death of his father, when he began learning the millwright's trade with Henry Treichler, who after two years made the young man foreman of his construction gang. In that capacity Mr. Hess built mills in various parts of Maryland, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. He became an expert mill builder, and also developed an unusual ability to handle men with the best results. He was thus employed until 1886, when he was placed in charge of the construction of the plant of the Nazareth Cement Company, under Dr. Bachman. This was his first introduction to the Portland cement business, and in the construction of the plant he gave every detail careful study and attention. He installed all the machinery in the plant, and when it was ready for operation he was in charge of the mill when the first cement was produced in Nazareth. When W. B. Shaffer began the erection of the Phoenix Mill he sought the services of Mr. Hess, who was in charge of the erection of the plant. So well was his work done that not a hitch of any kind occurred when the plant began its produc- tion. During this period, Mr. Hess had about one hundred and fifty men under his direction, and so perfect was his organization and so fairly were his men treated that it is a matter of fact that not an hour was lost in trouble between the men and their employer. After the completion of a cement plant at Whitehall, Mr. Hess, on March 18, 1901, was appointed superintendent of the Dexter Portland Cement Company of Nazareth, whose plant, recently completed, was not running smoothly in its mechanical department, neither were the labor conditions satisfactory. All this was quickly remedied, and from that day forward the operation of the plant has been without friction in either department. During the superintendency of the plant by Mr. Hess, business has greatly increased, and many important additions have been made tending to materially increase output. This has been accomplished without closing the plant, and it is a matter of record that its operation from the first has been continuous, there having been no shutdowns on account of improvements, labor troubles, lack of material or market for the finished product. The daily output has been increased from five hundred barrels a day to two thousand five hundred barrels, while constant employment is afforded two hundred men. During these eighteen years no serious accident has occurred in the plant, except a small engine room fire once. Mr. Hess may be justly charged with the absence of friction at the plant, his watchful eye and active brain being ever on the alert for possible sources of future trouble and finding a remedy in advance. He is a director in the Dexter Concrete Manufacturing Company, stockholder in the Dexter Portland Cement Company, member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Masonic Order, Knights Templar, and Shriners, and the Reformed Church of Nazareth. Keenly alive to community interests, Mr. Hess served for six years on the Allen Township School Board, and with the Nazareth School Board, and has rendered similar service, also serving on the Borough Council. He is a Democrat in his political faith.


Mr. Hess married, in 1883, Mary R. Boyer, of Allen township, North-


Owen Itsdess.


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ampton county, Pennsylvania, and they are the parents of two children: Mabel, married Robert Heffner; and Floyd, employed in the machine shops of the Dexter Portland Cement Company. The family home is at No. 33 East Prospect avenue, Nazareth.


WILLIAM OTTO-As yardmaster of the Lehigh Valley railroad at Easton for more than twenty years, Mr. Otto has occupied an important posi- tion in railroad operation and established himself firmly in the confidence and esteem of the officials of the road, having charge of his department. But this twenty years does not express the full period of his railroad service, for that began much earlier, thirty years having been spent by him in the service of the Lehigh Valley. He is now (1919) a man of sixty-five years, and will no doubt round out the full number of years allotted, and be placed upon the company's roll of honor, the retired list.


He is a son of Capt. William Otto, born in Easton, October 7, 1817. The father obtained a public school education, and learned the cabinet-maker's trade, which he followed until 1862, when he enlisted in Company G, Thirty- eighth Regiment, Pennsylvania Militia, composed of Easton troops. The Thirty-eighth, known as the "Iron Regiment,". was mustered in at Reading in July, 1863, mustered out August 7, 1863. William Otto went into the service as captain of Company G, contracted a fatal disease, and died in 1864. He married Mary Jane Ricker, daughter of Samuel Ricker and his wife, who was a Miss Worman. Mrs. Otto died in Easton in 1881, aged fifty-four years. Captain and Mrs. Otto were the parents of seven children : Edward, deceased ; Mary S. Sigengall, deceased; William, of further mention; Lizzie, married Bronson Kelley, deceased ; John, a member of Easton fire department; Susan, married Peter Bloom, of Phillipsburg; Charles, of Easton.


Samuel Ricker, maternal grandfather of William Otto, Jr., was a "Forty Niner," one of the first to go from Eastern Pennsylvania to seek their fortune in the gold fields of California. He made several journeys to the Golden State, going around Cape Horn, and finally settled in Eldorado county, locat- ing at the newly settled town of Colfax. There he engaged in the hotel business, dying there in 1880, aged over eighty years.


William Otto, Jr., was born in Easton, Pennsylvania, November 21, 1854, and there was educated in the public schools, his first teachers, Anna Davis and Mrs. Griffith. In 1864 his father died, and William soon afterward left school to work and aid in the family support. He first was employed in a barber shop, and later learned that trade, following it for several years, and owning his own shop located on Northampton street. In 1886 he sold his business, entered the railway mail service, and continued in that service for three years, then resigned and entered the employ of the Lehigh Valley Company, and from that year, 1889, his service has been continuous. He began as yard clerk and won his way upward through various promotions until he reached the position of yardmaster, succeeding James Reynolds. His record is one of highest efficiency and his standing is high, both with those in authority 'over him and with those over whom he exercises authority. He is a member of St. John's Lutheran Church, his wife a member of St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church. He is a Democrat in politics, and affiliated with the Yard Masters' Association of America.


Mr. Otto married, March 15, 1879, Louisa Hetzler, who was born in Easton, October 10, 1858, and educated in the city schools. Mrs. Otto is a daughter of Adrian and Elizabeth (Shull) Hetzler, her father a well known Easton tailor of long ago. Mr. and Mrs. Otto are the parents of an only son, William Edward, born in Dayton, Ohio, October 24, 1879, educated in Easton public schools, and now with the Adams Express Company, in Easton. He married Mary Theresa Reily, of Easton, and they are the parents of two sons: William James and Kenneth Frederick Otto.


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ISIDORE MINEO-In the town of Santo Stefano di Camerstra, a town of Sicily, the largest island in the Mediterranean sea, forming with some neighboring isles a compartimento of the Kingdom of Italy, Isidore Mineo was born. His father, Sebastian Mineo, a merchant of Santo Stefano, was born there in 1858, and in 1897 came to the United States, where he is yet living, engaged in huckstering. He married Bridget Nigroni, about 1883, and they are the parents of four children: Seraphine, Isidore, Carmella and Theresa. The father preceded his family to the United States and founded the home in Easton, his wife and children following three years later.


Isidore Mineo was born July 27, 1888, remained in his native Sicily until twelve years of age, there attending the public school. In the year 1900 he was brought to the United States by his mother, the family joining the hus- band and father in Easton, Pennsylvania. His father was then engaged in commissary contracting, and for some years the boy was his father's assistant, acting as his bookkeeper. He gained a good knowledge of business methods while with his father, and when the commissary contracting business came to an end, Isidore, the son, was well qualified to conduct business for himself. Isidore Mineo began business under his own name in 1907, at his present location, South Third street, Easton, and for the past eleven years has suc- cessfully conducted a wholesale and retail grocery business. He has won reputable standing as a merchant, reliable and upright, and as a citizen he has been found with the best element of his party. He is a member of Society Sons of Italy, and of the secret societies, Loyal Order of Moose and Fraternal Order of Eagles. He is a Republican in politics, and a member of St. Anthony Roman Catholic Church. He is popular with his own countrymen, and respected by all who know him.


Mr. Mineo married, in Easton, Pennsylvania, December 10, 19II, Jose- phine Vitale, born in Santo Stefano, Sicily, Italy, March 13, 1895, and they are the parents of four children: Charles, Bridget, Thomas, deceased; and Sadie. Mrs. Mineo was but two years of age when she came to America with her parents, Gaetano and Sadie Vitale. She was educated in the public schools of Easton, and is one of a family of eight children : Josephine, Mary, Charles, John, Emily, Mamie, Frank and Anthony.




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