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 89
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Godfrey Bontone Zulick, the third son, and the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Baltimore, June 22, 1802. He taught school during his young manhood, and later entered the employ of the Philadelphia & Read- ing Railway Company. He was one of the company's first Morse operators, and continued in its service forty years. He died at Orwigsburg Feb. 22, 1886, and is buried in St. John's Reformed cemetery at that place. On Sept. 8. 1833, he married Sybilla Mayer, daughter of Philip Mayer, one of the pioneer Reformed ministers of Schuylkill county. She was born at Orwigsburg Feb. 2, 1814, and died there Oct. 9, 1873, the mother of nine children, born as fol- lows: James M., born Aug. 17, 1834 (deceased) ; John M., born March 12, 1836 (deceased) ; Anna, born Sept. 1, 1838 (deceased) ; Amanda L., born July 23, 1841, living at Reading, Pa .; Thomas H. B., born July 18, 1844 (deceased) ; Mary R., born Dec. 10, 1846, living at Schuylkill Haven, Pa .; Sybilla, born April 24. 1849 (died in infancy) ; George F., born March 27, 1852 (deceased) ; and Henry M., born Sept. 30, 1855, living in Orwigsburg.
Thomas H. B. Zulick was born at Orwigsburg and reared there. In 1862. when but eighteen years of age, he enlisted for the Union service, serving three enlistments in the Civil war: In the 129th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, the 197th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and the 39th Pennsylvania Militia. During his young manhood he was employed in the Land Office of the Phila-
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delphia & Reading Coal & Iron Company at Pottsville, under the late Mr. Frank Carter. In 1873 he left that employment to engage in the manufacture of infants' turned shoes, being one of the pioneers to venture into this business at Orwigsburg, where he made the beginnings of the highly successful estab- lishment now carried on by his sons. His death occurred July 12, 1914, near the close of his seventieth year, and he is buried in the Evangelical cemetery at Orwigsburg. Fraternally, he was a past master of Schuylkill Lodge, No. 138, F. & A. M., and a charter member of Camp No. 86, P. O. S. of A., and its first secretary. He married Fanny Louise Shoener, daughter of George and Mary (Super) Shoener, and granddaughter of John and Catherine (Hesser) Shoener; Catherine Hesser was a daughter of Frederick Hesser, a Revolutionary soldier, who settled in Schuylkill county, and who subsequently became its second sheriff, serving in 1814, and succeeding William Green, who was elected in 1811. Mrs. Fanny Louise Zulick continues to reside in Orwigs- burg. To her marriage with Mr. Zulick were born seven children: John S., born July 1, 1872, married Elizabeth Albright Dec. 28, 1892; Jennie M., born Sept. 15, 1874, is the wife of H. B. Haeseler, and they reside in Orwigsburg ; Mary Louise, born Oct. 25, 1877, married Penrose W. M. Pressel, and they reside at Warren, Pa., where Mr. Pressel is Principal of the High School ; Lin B., born Oct. 19, 1879, married Margaret M. Diefenderfer, and is engaged with his brother John S. in the shoe business; Dr. Howell S., born June 1, 1882, married Marguerite Patton, of Philadelphia (he is on the staff of the Medico- Chirurgical Hospital, from which college he graduated; he also practices his profession in Philadelphia) ; Dr. J. Donald Zulick, born Sept. 7, 1883, grad- uated from the Medico-Chirurgical College, and is at present associated with the well known Dr. Pfahler, Roentgenologist of the Medico-Chirurgical Hos- pital; Fanny Adele, born Nov. 16, 1887, is residing at home.
The business of J. S. Zulick & Co. was founded in 1893, succeeding the firm of Shoener & Co., and was a partnership, composed of John S., Thomas B., and Harry M. Zulick. They manufactured infants', children's and misses' turn and Mckay shoes, and were successful from the start. Harry M. later with- drew from the firm to engage in the same business in Schuylkill Haven, and his interest was purchased by the remaining partners. In 1902 Lin B., the brother of John S., was admitted into the firm, and this partnership continued until July, 1914, when the father, Thomas B. Zulick, died. In 1903, finding the plant at the corner of Center Square and Liberty street too small for their rapidly expanding business, and an opportunity being afforded to purchase the Folmer factory at the corner of Warren and Tammany streets, they bought the plant and its contents, and have continued there; the original plant, how- ever, has been extended and remodeled, and now consists of the main building. two stories and basement, 45 by 100 feet, with a wing, constructed of brick, two stories, 36 feet square. The plant has a capacity of 1,500 pairs per day, and the present production is 1,200 pairs per day, which will be augmented to the capacity of the plant during 1916. Slowly, but surely, the quality of the output has steadily improved, and the character of the line bettered ; and to-day the product of this factory is well and favorably known from Pennsylvania to the Pacific coast, and throughout the Southwest, in which territory almost the entire output is sold. In 1915 they ventured into the export field, with results quite beyond their expectations, and this new business gives abundant promise of greater expansion. Less than one per cent of the entire output is sold to
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the wholesale trade, the business coming direct from the retailer, through twelve traveling representatives, who cover their respective territories twice a year.
CONRAD K. HOCK, president of the Sailor Planing Mill and Lumber Company and otherwise identified with business interests in Pottsville, par- ticularly in real estate development, has a record of success in the different ventures he has undertaken which gives assurance that he will carry out any enterprise which he takes in hand. Mr. Hock was born at Pottsville Sept. 4, 1865, and is a son of the late Conrad Hock, in his day one of the leading business men of the borough.
Conrad Hock, Sr., was born May 14, 1826, at Dorheim by Friedburg, in Hesse, Germany. He received his schooling in his native country, but his education was mostly self acquired, and as he was a man of studious and thoughtful disposition, a careful reader all his life, he became exceptionally well informed. Coming to the United States in 1853, he was soon settled at Pottsville, Schuylkill Co., Pa., and became a prominent resident of that place. For twelve years after settling here he was employed at the rolling mill, first as an iron cutter and later as accountant. Meantime, by thrift, he had accumu- lated enough to build a dwelling house for his family, and though it was unpre- tentious, and he afterwards prospered beyond his early ambitions, he never forgot the pleasure he took in owning his own home. In 1865 he began busi- ness for himself, erecting limekilns at Pottsville and Cressona, and the business so prospered from the very beginning that its expansion and steady success during the years he continued his association with it were a source of genuine pride and satisfaction to him. When he retired, in 1884, his sons George, John and William took his interest and continued lime burning, having two kilns in constant operation in Cressona. The storage house and salesrooms are located at Pottsville. Mr. Hock did not withdraw entirely from business, however, and for a number of years, until his death, was president of The Sailor Plan- ing Mill & Lumber Company, of Pottsville, one of the foremost concerns of the kind in this section.
The ability and acumen he displayed in business were equally plain in all of his other relations in life. Various activities in the locality had his interest and support. He was one of the organizing members of the German Reformed Church at Pottsville and served the congregation as elder and deacon for more than thirty years, and though he zealously supported his own church was liberal in his attitude towards the policies of others. He was not ambitious for public office, although he held local positions of trust, serving one two-years term as member of the borough council and for nine years as a member of the school board, filling both positions to the eminent satisfaction of all concerned. His political faith was that of the Democratic party, but in local affairs he was independent. He was a prominent Odd Fellow, a past grand of Hayden Lodge, No. 44, and he was also a member and officer of Walhalla Lodge, A. D. O. H. His death occurred June 24, 1906, after a very brief illness, at the family home on North Second street, and was regarded as a loss to the community as well as to his immediate family.
Mr. Hock's first marriage took place in Germany on Aug. 29 (or 20), 1850, to Maria K. Apple, who was like himself a native of Hesse, Germany. born in Friehlingen. They became the parents of six children, all sons, born in Potts- ville, viz .: William, born Aug. 8. 1854, is now a resident of Cressona ; George, born April 2, 1858, was engaged in the lime business at Pottsville and died in
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1910 at the age of fifty-two years; John, born Dec. 26, 1860, is a resident of Pottsville, engaged in the coffee roasting and malt business ; Henry, born Nov. 3. 1862, is engaged in the butchering business at Roanoke, Va .; Conrad K. is mentioned below; Louis, born Sept. 5. 1867, is a resident of Pottsville. The mother of this family died July 23, 1883, and is buried in the I. O. O. F. cemetery at Pottsville, where Mr. Hock is also interred.
Conrad K. Hock received a public school education at Pottsville. His first employment was with the Thompson Hardware Company, with whom he remained about a year as clerk. Afterwards for about ten years he was in the office of the Evening Chronicle at Pottsville, and having formed a desire to learn the printing business, while in that connection, served an apprenticeship as typesetter. He was engaged at that trade for about six years. He has ever since been associated with the planing mill and lumber business, which is now one of his principal interests. It was established originally by Charles Lord, the firm afterwards becoming Weed & Sailor, and a number of years ago it was incorporated as The Sailor Planing Mill & Lumber Company. Conrad K. Hock became manager and subsequently secretary and treasurer. After the death of Mr. Sailor Conrad Hock, father of Conrad K. Hock, became presi- dent, acting as such until his death, since when Conrad K. Hock has been at the head of the business. The present plant is located on the old site of the Haywood rolling mill, the first of this kind in Schuylkill county. The Sailor Planing Mill & Lumber Company is extensively engaged in the manufacture of all kinds of mill work and lumber, and also does a large business in paints, builders' supplies and similar hardware. It has a distinct place in the business life of the city, being one of the oldest established industrial institutions there and one which has contributed its full share to the prosperity of this section. Under Mr. Hock's direction it has continued to expand along modern lines, but he has also found time, as opportunity offered, to engage in other activities. He is a member of the firm known as the Pottsville Land & Improvement Com- pany, whose officers are J. W. Fleet, president; S. B. Edwards, secretary; Conrad K. Hock, treasurer. Having purchased a tract of about fifty acres in the northeastern part of the city in an ideal location, they are improving it in accordance with the most up-to-date ideas, grading streets and laying substan- tial pavements, and at the present writing they have about one hundred and fifty dwelling houses upon the property. Mr. Hock is also president of the Mar-Lin Land Company, which has a tract of 150 acres in Norwegian town- ship, about one and a half miles from Pottsville and one mile from Minersville, formerly known as the Thomas Shellenberger farm. They propose to develop this land and establish a town there, having built nearly one hundred dwellings, the location being highly desirable. Mr. Hock's associates in this company are T. H. Coombe and George Franklin Brumm. His achievements in all the other undertakings he has attempted are sufficient to warrant the belief that he will carry these projects also to successful completion. Mr. Hock is also the president of the Schuylkill Haven Land & Improvement Company, who are developing the Fairmount addition to Schuylkill Haven, having a plot near the heart of the town containing over six hundred choice building lots, more than two hundred of which have already been sold. In this venture he is associated with James L. Channell, secretary ; and George M. Paxson, treasurer. Since 1910 Mr. Hock has been a director of the Merchants' National Bank of Potts- ville, one of the leading financial institutions of the borough. He also has various social connections, being a member of the Sphinx Club and of the Odd
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Fellows and the Masonic fraternities; he belongs to Pulaski Lodge, No. 216, F. & A. M .; Mountain City Chapter, No. 196, R. A. M .; Constantine Com- mandery, No. 41, K. T., and Rajah Temple, Mystic Shrine ; also holds men- bership in Lily of the Valley Lodge, 1. O. O. F .; and his religious connection is with the Trinity Reformed Church.
On Dec. 5, 1893, Mr. Hock married Helena Snyder, daughter of Frederick and Catherine Snyder, of Minersville, Pa. Five children have been born to them, namely: Kathryn, born June 28, 1894, has graduated from the Potts- ville high school and also from The Baldwin School, Bryn Mawr, Pa .; Robert was born July 29, 1896; Helen, Nov. 13, 1898; Norman, May 4, 1900; Isabelle, Dec. 16, 1906.
WILLIAM F. KNECHT, of Tower City, is a newspaper man of long standing there, and by virtue of his public-spirited support of all good enter- prises has established himself thoroughly in the favor of the best element all over his part of Schuylkill county. He has also been prominent in business associations, upholding the reputation of the family for ability in the handling of important affairs and trustworthiness in any capacity.
Mr. Knecht is of German extraction, his parents, Charles and Pauline (Eisensteck) Knecht, having been born in Germany. They came to the United States in early life. He was born Oct. 23, 1865, at Pottsville, Schuylkill Co., Pa., and had but limited educational privileges, owing his advancement in life to earnest application to whatever opportunities for study came his way. He was quite young when the family settled at Tower City, and he began work at the breaker of the Brookside colliery, continuing to do mine work for a number of years, as fireman and in various other positions. During President Cleve- land's first administration his father was appointed postmaster at Tower City, and the son became first assistant, as such taking full charge of the office in his father's term. Following his services there he conducted a bakery for several years, until he turned to his present line, on March 26, 1898, establishing the West Schuylkill Herald, of which he has ever since been the editor and pro- prietor. Its reliable news columns and timely editorials have given it well deserved prestige among the residents of Tower City and the adjoining terri- tory in Schuylkill county. Mr. Knecht's intelligent judgment in local matters makes his opinions authoritative, and his strong personality and progressive disposition bid fair to leave a permanent impression in the shaping of events in his borough and vicinity. When the Tower City National Bank was organ- ized, in 1902, he was one of the men who took an active part in its establish- ment, has been one of the board of directors ever since, and in 1912 was made vice president of the institution. He has also held several public offices of trust, the duties of which he has discharged with characteristic fidelity and conscientiousness. Since 1913 he has been a member of the Tower City school board, having been elected for a five-year term. Politically he is a Republican. Fraternally he holds membership in the Odd Fellows and Masons, belonging to Tower Lodge, No. 755. I. O. O. F., and to Swatara Lodge, No. 267. F. & A. M.
On June 25, 1887, Mr. Knecht was married to Alice Klinger, daughter of William and Maria (Kaufman) Klinger, of Tower City, and they have become the parents of seven children: Roy S., who studied at the Keystone State Normal School, Kutztown, Pa., and is now engaged in teaching in Oklahoma;
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William K., a graduate of the Keystone State Normal, also teaching in Okla- homa; Gilbert; Mildred; Merle; Louise, and Karl.
CHARLES L. HILLANBRAND, of Frackville, former proprietor of the "Hotel Hillanbrand," had a varied experience as a hotelkeeper in that com- munity, having followed the business there for over a quarter of a century, from 1887. He built and opened the establishment mentioned in 1898, and operated it most of the time until recently, commanding a profitable patronage.
Mr. Hillanbrand is of German descent, his father, Francis Hillanbrand, having been born in Hessen-Darmstadt, Germany, in 1819. After attending school near the home place he followed farming until he was nearly thirty years of age, at which time he emigrated to the United States. Here he located at Pottsville, Schuylkill Co., Pa., and became an engineer at the Bull's Head colliery, where he worked for five years. His next position was at the Potts colliery, at Wolf Creek, near Minersville, Schuylkill county, where he worked for sixteen years, or until 1870. Then he moved to Ashland, this county, and worked at the Tunnel colliery, for two years, coming to Mahanoy Plane in 1872, and working as engineer there up to 1893, until a couple of months prior to his death. In 1848 he married Magdalena Zernhart, of Pottsville, and they had children as follows: Anthony is now a foreman for the Phila- delphia Rapid Transit Company; Frank died at the age of forty-eight years, at Manayunk, Pa .; Magdalena married Killian Huth; Charles L. is next in the family : Louisa, widow of John Walsh, lives at Frackville; Mary, widow of John Dietrich, lives at Frackville; George died in infancy ; Joseph, unmar- ried, lives at Frackville.
Charles L. Hillanbrand was born in Minersville, Schuylkill Co., Pa., Nov. 19, 1860. He attended the public schools there and also at Ashland and Mahanoy Plane. During the summer months of his early teens he worked in the mines, at the Lawrence colliery, Mahanoy Plane, and after he reached the age of sixteen he worked there the whole year round, continuing mining until 1887, when he embarked in the hotel business at Frackville. He opened the "National House," which he kept for two years, after which he had the "American House" for three years. In 1893 he opened the "Westminster Hotel" and carried it on until 1898, when he built and opened the "Hotel Hillanbrand." Except for a brief period, 1906-1909, he was principally occu- pied with its management until a short time ago, and his good business methods, and ability to make guests comfortable, drew a steady patronage to the house. Recently he has given up the hotel and turned his attention to other business. He is looked upon as a citizen of reliable character, belongs to St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church at Frackville, and is a member in good standing of Lodge No. 811, Loyal Order of Moose, of Shenandoah, this county. In politics he is a Democrat.
On June 25, 1882, Mr. Hillanbrand married Barbara Keihn, of Frack- ville, daughter of Anthony and Mary Keihn, of Frackville. To this union have been born the following children: Stella married John Mona, of Frack- ville, and has three children, Barbara, Joseph and Charles; Louisa married Richard Fennessy, of Frackville; Mary married Steve Wagner, of Frack- ville, and has one child, Helen.
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