USA > Pennsylvania > Schuylkill County > Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania; genealogy-family history-biography; containing historical sketches of old families and of representative and prominent citizens, past and present, Volume I > Part 73
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County Medical Society ; of the Lower Schuylkill County Society; has been deputy coroner of the county for the last sixteen years; is president of the Auburn Board of Health ; and formerly served as pension examiner for Schuyl- kill county, under appointment by President Cleveland. Dr. Gueldin of Minersville was one of his fellow members on the board. With all these varied duties of a strictly professional character, Dr. Robinhold's energies have also sought other channels, and he has won recognition for business ability of the highest order. He is vice president of the First National Bank of Auburn, member of the Board of Trade, and has been president of the borough school board for the last nineteen years, doing effective work in every connection. His cooperation and support are solicited in every good cause, and never with- held when he feels that the welfare of the community is at stake. Fraternally he belongs to the Elks lodge at Pottsville and to Page Lodge, F. & A. M., of Schuylkill Haven.
Dr. Robinhold married Bertha Schickrau, daughter of Augustus Schickrau, of Schuylkill county, and they have two children : Guy A., who graduated from the Pottsville high school in 1914, is now a student at Jefferson Medical Col- lege; Madeline is attending school at Auburn.
JOHN J. MOORE, M. D., of Pottsville, one of the younger medical prac- titioners of Schuylkill county, is a native of that city and member of a family of Irish extraction which has been settled in the county for many years.
James Moore, his great-grandfather, lived and died in County Meath, Ire- land, where he was a large landowner and engaged in agricultural pursuits. His children were James and Peter, the former of whom died in Ireland.
Peter Moore, the Doctor's grandfather, was born in County Meath, and was twenty-four years old when he came to America. Landing at New York City, he proceeded thence to Reading, Pa., and continued on to Schuylkill county, settling at Port Carbon, where he had a newspaper agency for many years. At one time he was also engaged in the grocery business. His death occurred at Port Carbon in 1874, when he was sixty-two years old, and he is buried there. By his marriage to Catherine Keen, a native of Lancaster county, Pa., he had four children who grew to maturity, namely : Margaret, Joseph, Peter T. and Lawrence. The mother lived to the age of eighty, dying in 1890.
Peter T. Moore, father of Dr. John J. Moore, was born at Port Carbon, and he was about eight years old when he began working, first carrying papers for his father. Later he was employed on the Schuylkill canal for a number of years, by the Philadelphia & Reading Railway Company, and also at the mines. In 1878 he engaged in the sewing machine business, which he still con- tinues, having built up a large trade by close attention to his work and careful consideration for his patrons. His place of business is at No. 110 North Second street, Pottsville. Mr. Moore was married in 1876 to Catherine Quinn, daughter of John and Catherine (McDoual) Quinn, and their family consists of four children, Catherine, John J., Peter T. (living at Charleroi, Pa.) and Florence (at home).
John J. Moore was born Jan. 25, 1882, and received his literary education in Pottsville, graduating from the high school in 1900. He then entered the Medico-Chirurgical College in Philadelphia, where he took a full course, graduating in 1905, and on June 1, 1905, entered the Medico-Chirurgical hos- pital, in the same city, as an interne, remaining there until Oct. 1, 1906. He first began practice on his own responsibility in Jefferson county, Pa., where he
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was located for one ycar as physician and surgeon for the Panther Run Coal & Coke Company. Returning to Pottsville at the close of his experience there, he opened an office, and in the several years of his practice here has acquired an exceptionally good patronage, his devotion to his work meeting with the reward it deserves. The various endeavors made by the profession to promote the general welfare and interest the public in questions of health have in him a hearty coworker. He is a member of the American Tuberculosis Society, of the Schuylkill County Medical Society, of the State and National Associations, of the Pottsville Medical Club, which he has served as secretary and treasurer, and he is on the staff of the Pottsville hospital. Socially he holds membership in the Schuylkill County Motor Club and B. P. O. Elks Lodge, No. 207, at Pottsville. In religion he is a Roman Catholic, belonging to St. Peter's Church. By his active participation in the various interests of the borough and surround- ing territory Dr. Moore is becoming known as one of the most public-spirited citizens of his section, having done valuable work not only in his professional capacity, but wherever else opportunity is offered.
In 1907 Dr. Moore married Elizabeth Dure Sharp, daughter of Thomas Sharp, of Wilmington, Delaware.
WILLIAM H. GERBER, of Orwigsburg, bears a name well respected in the business circles of that place, and of old standing in Schuylkill county, he being a member of the fifth generation here. He is a descendant of Henry Gerber, a native of Germany, who was among the pioneers in southern Schuyl- kill county, locating in West Penn township, where he continued to reside to the end of his life.
John Gerber, son of Henry, also lived in West Penn township, where he was born. By trade he was a cooper, but farming was his principal business, and he was so engaged in East Brunswick township, where he settled. He died there in 1851, at the age of fifty-six years, and is buried at the old town of McKeansburg. He married Sarah Schaeffer, and they became the parents of nine children, eight sons and one daughter, namely : David, John, Nathan, Ben- jamin, Joshua, Henry, Samuel, James (or Phanas) and Sarah. The daughter married Israel Yost, formerly a creamery proprietor of East Brunswick town- ship, near New Ringgold.
Benjamin Gerber, son of John, was born in East Brunswick township, and spent all of his life in that section. He lived to a great age, dying Jan. 21, 1914, in his ninetieth year, at Mahanoy City, this county. He had the following family : William, Manden, George, Cordelia, Isabella, Adeline, Anetta and Mary.
Manden Gerber, son of Benjamin, was born in East Brunswick township. Schuylkill county, and has been associated with the milling and grain trade practically all his life. He learned the business of miller at the Moyer mill in West Brunswick township, later conducting the well known Kimmel mill at Orwigsburg, and is now selling grain and feed by the carload lot. His home is at Orwigsburg. To his marriage with Mary Gearhart, daughter of William Gearhart, has been born a family of five children: Annie, deceased, who was the wife of William Fister, `of Philadelphia; William H. ; Frank C., a prom- inent business man of Orwigsburg, engaged in the shoe business; Charles M .. who resides in Philadelphia ; and one child that died in infancy.
William H. Gerber was born Dec. 15. 1875, and attended public school in Orwigsburg and West Brunswick township. During his young manhood he
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engaged in agricultural work, which he continued to follow for eighteen years, after which he spent six years at Philadelphia, employed in the Baldwin loco- motive shops. Returning to Orwigsburg, he took a position in a shoe factory, which he held for nine months, at the end of that period, in company with his brother F. C., buying out the milling business of A. W. Shick, at Orwigsburg, who conducted the well known Kimmel mill, one of the early gristmills of this section. F. C. Gerber retired from the firm in September, 1913. Mr. Gerber does a general milling business, and has not only retained the substantial patron- age which this mill has always enjoyed, but has increased it by his up-to-date methods and judicious handling of trade. In his management of the establish- ment he has shown the possession of capability and enterprise characteristic of his family, and he ranks deservedly among the most respected citizens of the borough. Socially he is a member of the Independent Americans.
Mr. Gerber married Elizabeth Will, daughter of W. O. Will, of New Ringgold, Schuylkill county. They have no children.
CHARLES C. BORBACH is now living retired at Pottsville, where he settled in 1895 and spent the closing years of his business career as a hotel- keeper. A German by birth, he remained in his native land until he had reached manhood, and since coming to America has made his home in Schuyl- kill county, Pa. He met with substantial success and is now enjoying the leisure to which his thrift and diligence of former days entitle him.
Adam Borbach, the father of Charles C. Borbach, was a farmer in Germany and lived and died in that country. He had the following children : Adam died in Switzerland and is buried there; John owns the old family homestead at Huppert, Germany, and is engaged in farming there; Charles C. is third in the family ; George and Jacob are also engaged in farming at Huppert ; Adolph is teaching in a public school at Biebrich on the Rhine; Emma is the wife of George Schipp and resides at Biebrich; Philip is extensively engaged in the manufacture of furniture, having a fine plant at Meilen, Switzerland.
Charles C. Borbach was born Jan. 24, 1855, in Prussia, had the thorough training and education customary there, and was engaged in farm work until he came to this country, in the year 1886. Landing at New York City, he continued on to Pennsylvania without delay, settling first at Tower City, in Schuylkill county, where he was employed for a year in the mines. Remov- ing thence to Cumbola, he was at that location until 1895, when he settled in Pottsville and engaged in the hotel business at the corner of East Market and Railroad streets, conducting the "Sterling House." After doing business at that site for about five years he moved in 1900 to No. 6 South Centre street, where he was in the same line until his retirement in 1908. That year he built and occupied the fine home at No. 550 East Norwegian street where he and his family have since lived. He married Emma Trachte, a native of Schuylkill county, and they have one son living, George W., the second of their children, who is engaged as a clerk in Pottsville and lives with his parents. There were two other children : George W., who died when sixteen months old ; and William A., who died when six months old. Mr. and Mrs. Borbach are members of the German Lutheran Church. He votes independently, supporting the men and principles which best meet his ideas. In 1912 he and his wife took a trip abroad, visiting his old home in Germany and also traveling elsewhere in that country as well as in Switzerland.
WILLIAM TRACHTE, father of Mrs. Borbach, was born Dec. 2, 1834, in
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Welleringhausen, in Waldeck, Germany, and came to America in 1865. He had learned the trade of cabinetmaker, and when he settled at Pottsville found work as a carpenter, being also employed thus at New Philadelphia, this county, build- ing breakers. Subsequently he kept hotel at Cumbola, this county, on his own account, giving up this business Feb. 7, 1906. Besides he carried on a team- ing business, which he continued until 1912. He is now living retired, making his home with his daughter Mrs. Borbach. His wife, Annetta (Brene), a native of Usslen, Waldeck, Germany, died Nov. 28, 1911, and is buried in the Odd Fellows cemetery at Pottsville. Four daughters were born to Mr. and Mrs. Trachte: Annetta married George Bickert; Henrietta, who died when twenty-two years old, was the wife of Christian Schultz; Emma, Mrs. Borbach ; Caroline died in infancy.
FATHER JOSEPH GAZDZIK, of Minersville, has been stationed there since Feb. 7, 1912, and has been laboring faithfully for the upbuilding of his parish. He is a native of Poland, born Jan. 7, 1882, at Rymanow, son of Paul Gazdzik. His father is also of Polish birth. He taught school in his native country, also serving as clerk of the courts in his home county in Poland, came to America twenty-eight years ago, and is now living at Philadelphia, Pa., employed as a mechanic.
Joseph Gazdzik, after five years of preparatory education, spent eight years in the Sanok high school and college, later attending the Lwow University of Law. Then he continued his studies in the Krakow University of Law and had four years of theology in Przemysl. Coming to America, where he arrived Aug. 12, 1907 ( following his father to this country), he spent one year in the Overbrook Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, Pa., and was ordained the 27th of May, 1908. During the next five years preceding his coming to Minersville, he was first assistant rector of St. Laurentius Polish Church at Berks and Memphis streets, in Philadelphia, this service covering two and a half years. Then he was located as rector in Phoenixville, Pa .; rector of St. Ladislaus Polish Church in Philadelphia, Hunting Park and Germantown, Pa., until his transfer to Minersville. His work here has been characterized by the utmost fidelity to his duties, for which his early training eminently qualified him.
ALBERT A. UNGER is a prominent official of Porter township, Schuylkill county, having served his community in several positions of trust, and has been active in other associations, evidencing a degree of ability and public spirit which has made him a desirable representative of his fellow men on numerous occasions.
Mr. Unger was born in Porter township, Schuylkill county, March 24, 1879, son of Simon Unger, and grandson of Adam Unger. His education was obtained in the public schools of his native township, and after graduating from the township schools he became a clerk for his brother Henry, in a general store at Reiner City, Porter township. After three years' work there he took a position at the Lincoln mines, doing laboring work for the first two years, and then for five years following mining. Having acted as fire boss at the East Brookside colliery for thirteen months, he passed the foreman's examina- tion, and received a certificate of competency as foreman. On Jan. 1, 1909, he became transcribing clerk in the recorder's office of Schuylkill county, at Pottsville, and has filled that position continuously since. Meantime, in 1907. he was appointed a justice of the peace for Porter township, was elected to the
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office in 1908, for a full term of five years, and in 1913 was reelected for a six-year term. He has also served as register assessor of his township. Mr. Unger has given faithful attention to the details of his public responsibilities, and his fellow citizens have not been slow to recognize the prompt and intelligent manner in which he has handled their affairs. In 1907 he established a fire insurance agency in Porter township, with which he has been very suc- cessful. He is a Republican on political issues.
While engaged at mine work Mr. Unger became a member of the Mine Workers of America, and served as one of the delegates to the convention at Indianapolis. He is a member of the P. O. S. of A .; a prominent worker in the Jr. O. U. A. M., having served seventeen years as recording secretary of the local council, for six years as deputy State counselor from his district, and in 1914 was appointed county deputy for all councils in Schuylkill county ; he also belongs to the Odd Fellows Lodge at Tower City, this county, and to the Knights of Malta, at Pottsville. Mr. Unger belongs to the Evangelical Church, and has been especially active in the work of the Sunday school, being a teacher and valued adviser ; he is at present district president of the Tower City Sunday School District.
Mr. Unger married Annie Seiler, daughter of Emanuel Seiler, of Porter township, and they have three children, Eva, Vesta and Norman.
JEREMIAH F. BAST, of Schuylkill Haven, founder of the business now conducted under the name of J. F. Bast & Sons, Incorporated, and still associated therewith as the treasurer of the company, was one of the pioneer mill owners in Schuylkill county. This industry is now an important source of prosperity in the county, and Mr. Bast has been one of the leading figures in its development. His progressive disposition, his ready comprehension and his ability to put his ideas into execution have resulted in the building up of a trade which brings the establishment of J. F. Bast & Sons to a position among the valuable manufacturing concerns of the borough and vicinity. They also have a branch mill at Cressona, this county, which is under the charge of one of Mr. Bast's sons.
The Bast family has been established in Pennsylvania from early days, Jacob Bast, the great-grandfather of Jeremiah F. Bast, having been a pioneer settler in Maxatawny township, Berks county, where he lived and died. He was of Jewish origin. His family consisted of twelve sons and one daughter, of whom Gideon became a resident of Schuylkill Haven, where he was a well known citizen.
Jacob Bast, the grandfather of Jeremiah F. Bast, was born in Maxatawny township, and was a farmer by occupation. He and his wife, whose maiden name was Boyer, died at Hamburg, Berks county. Their children were: William, Henry and Isabella (who married John Levan).
Henry Bast, father of Jeremiah F. Bast, was born Sept. 24, 1820, at Macedonia, Berks county, and died May 18, 1892, at Pottsville, Pa. He learned the trade of carpenter, and for some time lived at Hamburg, Berks county, building the present station of the Philadelphia & Reading Company at West Hamburg. Coming to Schuylkill county in 1851, he lived at dif- ferent locations in the southern section for a number of years, part of the time on a farm near Schuylkill Haven. There he remained until 1879, meantime continuing to follow carpentering and contracting also, and then moved to Pottsville. Work at his trade had become too arduous for one
Lee. Bart
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of his years, so he opened a notion and grocery store on Laurel street, in Pottsville, and carried it on until his death. He is buried in the Union cemetery at Schuylkill Haven. Mr. Bast served in the Union army through- out the Civil war. He married Esther Focht, who was born July 22, 1822, and died Jan. 31, 1890. Their family consisted of seven children, four sons and three daughters. Mr. Bast was a Democrat originally, but his sympathy with the objects of the Prohibition party led him to change his politics in his later years. He was a consistent member of the Evangelical Church.
Jeremiah F. Bast was born Oct. 13, 1841, at Rockland, Berks Co., Pa. His education was rather limited, his opportunities being confined to such as the subscription schools of the day offered. When seventeen years old he began to learn the trade of carpenter with his father, and he continued to follow that calling for twenty-eight years, part of the time as foreman in the employ of the Philadelphia & Reading Company. Meantime he had also started a dairy business, in order to provide occupation for his growing sons, and carried it on successfully for a period of cleven years. In 1889 he commenced the business which has since been the chief interest of his family. That year he built a small mill at Schuylkill Haven, equipping it with the most up-to-date machinery for the manufacture of cotton, woolen, worsted and silk goods. But the business gradually resolved itself into the manufacture of knit goods only, the product being ladics' cotton underwear. As it began to prosper Mr. Bast used the profits to add to its equipment and enlarge the accommodations and facilities, and the business expanded as the trade demanded, until it is now one of the largest of its kind in the county, considerably over one hundred employees being steadily engaged in the various branches of the work. For a number of years the establishment had been known as the Royal Knitting Mills. On May 12, 1911, the business was incorporated with the present officers : S. I. Bast, president; W. M. Bast, vice president; T. F. Bast, secretary ; J. F. Bast, treasurer. Since this organization was effected the company has been known as J. F. Bast & Sons, Incorporated. To Jeremiah F. Bast, the father, belongs the greater share of the credit for the substantial basis on which the business has been placed. His courage in undertaking this business and his faith in its possibilities are well shown by the fact that he was the first knitting mill owner in Schuylkill county, and the second between this location and Philadelphia, the first having been at Kutztown, in Berks county. The ability Mr. Bast displayed from the beginning in the conduct of his mill has been recognized in business circles, and he has the confidence of all with whom he has been associated in any way. As his interests widened he took on new responsibilities, being one of the organizers of the First National Bank of Schuylkill Haven, of which he was an original director, still continuing to serve as a member of that board. Other local enterprises have had his influence and support, which are always felt. He has contributed towards the erection of several churches, and has been a prominent member of the Evangelical Church at Schuylkill Haven, giving generously to its support and serving the congregation in various capacities, having held the offices of steward, trustee and treasurer. His interest in the public schools led him to accept the position of school director, in which he has given efficient service, and has also been a member of the borough council. On political questions he is a Republican. Everything affecting Vol. I-32
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the general good has his hearty sympathy, and he well deserves his reputa- tion as one of the most valuable citizens of the borough.
On Jan. 1, 1863, Mr. Bast married Susanna Krommes, daughter of David and Lovina Krommes, and to their union was born one daughter, the mother and child both dying in 1864. On June 6, 1865, Mr. Bast married Sarah Reber, daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth (Reed) Reber, and to this mar- riage were born seven sons, as follows: (1) Walter Milton, born Oct. 20, 1866, now vice president of the firm of J. F. Bast & Sons, has been connected with the business since 1908, previous to which time, from 1886, he was in the employ of the Reading Railroad Company. He is still a member of Pottsville Division, No. 90, B. L. E., is a member and past master of Page Lodge, No. 207, F. & A. M., and belongs to Mountain City Chapter, No. 196, R. A. M., of Pottsville, as well as Carroll Lodge, No. 120, I. O. O. F. For nine years he served as a member of the borough council. He married Emily K. Schwenk, and they had a family of six children: Joseph, who was drowned in the Schuylkill river when eleven years old (his body was never found) : Earle; Sarah; Marion; John, deceased; and Charles. (2) Harry Edward, born March 29, 1869, died at the age of forty-two years. He married Emma Shellenberger, of Auburn, Pa., and their family con- sisted of six children: Ralph; Lloyd, who was drowned at the same time as his cousin Joseph; Esther; Harry; Jeremiah, and Florence. (3) Samuel
Irwin, born Feb. 21, 1871, now president of J. F. Bast & Sons, married Jennie Coldren, and their children are, Lester, Hazel, May, Harold, Ethyle and Christena. Mr. Bast has been a member of the school board for fourteen years, and is at present filling a six-year term on that body. He is a promi- nent member of the First M. E. Church, of which he has been a trustee, and for six years served as treasurer of the Sunday school. He is the chief of Liberty Hose Company, No. 4, of Schuylkill Haven, a member of the Jr. O. U. A. M., of the Royal Arcanum and of the I. O. H. (4) Oliver Oscar, born Oct. 12, 1873, is mentioned below. (5) George Albert, born Sept. 6, 1877, died when two years old. (6) Thomas Franklin, born Feb. 14, 1879, now engaged as a merchant at Schuylkill Haven, is secretary of J. F. Bast & Sons. By his first wife, Irene Snyder, who died Feb. 2, 1914. he has two children, Paul and Donald. For his second wife he married Minnie Scholl. (7) Homer J., born April 5, 1885, acts as assistant to his brother Samuel. He married Viola Kauffman, and their children are Grace and Carl. The mother of this family died Aug. 10, 1896. In March, 1897. Mr. Bast married Mrs. Rebecca Boyer, of Schuylkill Haven, who died April 14, 1903. On Nov. 4, 1903, he married Alice May Boyer, of Philadelphia, daughter of Louis and Catherine (Krause) Boyer, and granddaughter of Phillip Boyer, an early settler of Schuylkill Haven, who built and conducted the "Cross-Keys" hotel, now known as the "Columbia" hotel.
It was as the result of the activities of the Bast brothers and Harry Shoemaker, and through their devoted efforts, that Liberty Hose Company, No. 4, acquired its fine quarters. The building was erected at a cost of four thousand dollars. They organized the company in 1909, and it now has a membership of about sixty-five.
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