History of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, 1887



Laedlein Family - JOHN FREDERICK LAEDLEIN Biography

Throughout Lycoming county the name of John Frederick Laedlein, mayor of Williamsport, is synonymous with the best interests of good government. Mr. Laedlein is a representative of the German element which from a very early date has been a power in Pennsylvania.

Michael and Elizabeth (Ambrose) Laedlein were the parents of the following children: 1. Charles, who married Christiana Finkbeiner, and has five children. 2. John Frederick, mentioned at length hereinafter. 3. Frederick A. 4. Elizabeth, who became the wife of Jacob Mahl, and has ten children. Mrs. Laedlein died February 22, 1852, and Mr. Laedlein subsequently married Magdalena Rohe, by whom he was the father of the following children: 1. Sophia, who has two children. 2. Edward R., who has three children. 3. Louis S., who. has one child, and 4, Harry, who has four children.

John Frederick Laedlein, second child of Michael and Elizabeth (Ambrose) Laedlein, was born: in New York City, where he attended the public schools and then learned the cabinetmaker's trade. He was subsequently employed by the quartermaster's department of the government service in the line of manufacture, at Portsmouth, Virginia, and at Fortress Monroe. Mr. Laedlein possessed a keen appreciation of the value of education, and devoted the money which he earned while in the service of the government to obtaining for himself facilities for mental culture. He entered the Eastman Business College of Poughkeepsie (New York) and there fitted himself for work of a higher order and for the improvement of larger opportunities. He then went to Philadelphia, where he obtained a position as bookkeeper for the firm of Brodhead & Kaub, wholesale jobbers of boots and shoes. At the end of three years he went to Williamsport, where he was employed as traveling salesman by Kimble, Barton & Lowe, manufacturers of lumbermen's axes. After remaining for some time in this position he formed a partnership with S. W. Kimble, of the former firm, under the name of S. W. Kimble & Company. They engaged in business as wholesale dealers in paints, oils and glass, and established a successful trade.

After a time Mr. Laedlein retired from mercantile business, and was employed by Levi L. Tate and became associate editor of the "Williamsport Sun." After two, and a half years' experience as a journalist he resigned his position and engaged in the job printing business in partnership with Cyrus and Lewis Heller, under the firm name of Heller, Laedlein & Company. The connection was maintained for six years, and in 1878 Mr. Laedlein engaged in the real estate business. To this, in 1880, he added both fire and life insurance, and is now at the head of one of the largest establishments of the kind in the city. He is president of the Brandon Park Commission, and holds the offices of secretary and treasurer in the Wildwood Cemetery Company.

Mr. Laedlein has always been an active, public-spirited citizen, and in politics adheres to the Democratic party. In February, 1902, he was elected mayor of Williamsport for a term of three years. It was a noteworthy tribute to Mr. Laedlein's character, as showing the confidence reposed in him by his fellow-citizens, that members of both parties united in placing him in his present office. His administration has been such as to commend itself to the approval of all good citizens.

Mr. Laedlein is a worthy member of the Masonic fraternity and is noted for his zealous and consistent practice of the distinctive virtues of the craft. He belongs to all the Masonic bodies and is now a thirtythird degree Mason. He is president of the Masonic Temple Association and it was largely through his efforts that the present magnificent building of the order was erected. He is also a member of Irem Temple, of Wilkesbarre, Mystic Shrine.

Mr. Laedlein married Mary A. Hall, and they are the parents of a son and a daughter : William F., who married Mary Helen Blint, and has one child, Elizabeth; and Charlotte E., who is the wife of Frank E. Cheston and the mother of one child, Mary Alice.


Source: Genealogical and Personal History of Lycoming County, John W. Jordan, Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1906.








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