Source: Pennsylvania, A History, George P. Donehoo, (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1926), p. 22
Surnames: Fritch, Palsgrove, Schwartz, Matthias, Weida, Dry, Bortz, Bauer, Applegate, Seip
As a partner in the firm founded by his father, T. D. Fritch & Sons, as well as being the organizer of the Fritch Coal Company, Harry J. Fritch of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, holds an important place in the industrial world. Back of his business experience he has a splendid education obtained in the public and State schools as well as in college; and several years of extensive travel in the Middle Western and Western states of the Union have given him a breadth of outlook on the conditions that exist in the industrial world that have stood him in good stead in his present day occupations.
(I) Mr. Fritch is a descendant of an old American ancestry, tracing back to the progenitor of the family in America, Johannes Fritch, who had settled in Longswamp Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania. He was born June 14, 1744, in Hesse, Darmstadt, Germany, and emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1764. He married in 1769, Maria Palsgrove of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania and they were the parents of five children; 1. John, born in 1771. 2. Elizabeth, born in 1772. 3. Jacob, born in 1779. 4. John Henry, born in 1781. 5. John George, of whom further.
(II) John George Fritch, youngest son of Johannes and Maria (Palsgrove) Fritch, was born October 10, 1786 on the old homestead in "Long-a-thal" or Long Valley, and there he was reared and learned the trade of miller in his father's grist mill, and this faction he followed for many years. The later years of his life he lived in retirement at Kutztown, where he died in 1862. He married (first) Nancy Schwartz; (second) Mrs. Dinah Matthias, a widow, nee Weida. Children of first marriage were; Nathan, of whom further; George, John, Levi, Anna, Henrietta. By the second marriage there was one son, Allen who resided in Kutztown.
(III) Nathan Fritch, eldest son of John George and Nancy (Schwartz) Fritch, was born on the homestead, September 10, 1806. He also became a miller, and conducted the old Fritch mill for many years. After living in retirement for some time, he died in June, 1883. He married Mary Dry, daughter of Jonathan Dry, and they were the parents of nine children, among them the third son, Trion D., of whom further, and Jonas D.
(IV) Trion D. Fritch, third child and son of Nathan and Mary (Dry) Fritch, was born in Longswamp Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania, October 9, 1844. He learned the trade of miller with his father and followed it all his life. He operated Fritch's mill in Longswamp Township until his removal to Norristown, Pennsylvania, where he and his brother Jonas D., conducted what is now the "Stritzinger Mill" and earlier known as the Hubener Mill. They conducted this mill for four years, and then removed to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in 1889; here Trion D. formed a partnership with his brother, under the firm name of D. D. Fritch and Company, and they built up a large milling business. Two years later the name wa changed to Fritch & Egner by the withdrawal of D. D. and N. D. Fritch, and the firm was conducted under that name until 1904, when it was changed to T. D. Fritch & Sons. In 1886-87, when this property was bought and the mill started, they carried besides flour, feed, hay and grain, and at the time of the entrance of the sons into the concern, in 1904, they were turning out an average of one hundred and fifty barrels of flour a day. Trion D. Fritch was active in the business up until 1908. He was one of the organizers and a large stockholder of the Bethlehem Trust Company, and served it as a director until his death, June 7, 1914, when he was succeeded by his son F. Nathan, as a director on the board. He was an active member of the Lutheran Church, and served in all of its various offices.
Trion D. Fritch married Adeline Bortz, and they were the parents of the following children: 1. Peter, deceased. 2. Charles, deceased. 3. F. Nathan. 4. Harry J., of whom further. 5. Walter M. 6. Ella, who married Rev. V. J. Bauer of Bethlehem; and five others who died in infancy.
(V) Harry J. Fritch, son of Trion D. and Adeline (Bortz) Fritch, was born in Longswamp Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania, October 5, 1883, and removed to Bethlehem in 1889. He received his education in the public schools and high school of Bethlehem; the Keystone State Normal School, and Muhlenberg College, and on the completion of his studies he traveled extensively for three years in Mexico and the West and Middle Western states of the Union. In the spring of 1904, he became associated with his father and his brothers in the father's business, when the firm's name was changed to T. D. Fritch & Sons. Since that time, two additions have been built to the mill, and the capacity increased from one hundred and fifty to two hundred and fifty barrels of flour per diem, the mills being kept running day and night. The firm manufactures a high grade of spring patent flour, "Fritch's Best", "Fancy B. B." and also the famous "Diamond Rye Flour". The concern employs a number of people and its industry is an important one in the vicinity. The original mill property was erected in 1886, and an elevator added in 1892, and again in 1908 the second addition was built. The plant is a four-story building, 50 x 120 feet in dimensions. A jobbing department known as the T. D. Fritch's Sons was inaugurated in 1917; but as far back as 1904, a coal and wood business was added to the firm's activities, under the name of the Lehigh Coal Company. In 1918 this organization's name was changed to the Fritch Coal Company. Mr. Fritch organizing this by combining the following companies; the Lehigh Coal Company, Starr Coal Company, Repsher Coal Company, of the South Side of Bethlehem. The active members of the firm today are Harry J. Fritch, F. Nathan Fritch, Walter M. Fritch, and V. J. Bauer.
Mr Fritch is a director of the First National Bank of Bethlehem, vice-president of the Bethlehem Building and Loan Association, and is active in the civic and fraternal life of his community. He holds membership in Bethlehem Lodge, No. 283, Free and Accepted Masons; Ezra Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Bethlehem Council, Royal and Select Masters; Caldwell Consistory of Bloomsburg, in which he holds the thirty-second degree, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite; and he became a member of Rajah Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine of Reading, Pennsylvania, but is now a member of Lu Lu Temple of Philadelphia; Alphaiota Chapter of the Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity of Muhlenberg College; and he is closely identified with Alpha Rho Chapter of Lehigh University. He also belongs to Lodge No. 191, Benevolent and Protective order of Elks, and his clubs are the Bethlehem and Philadelphia Art. He is a Republican in politics, and in his religious connection he is a member of Salem Lutheran Church of which he has been a trustee since 1908.
Harry J. Fritch married, October 12, 1908, Winifred M. Applegate, of Bethlehem, daughter of W. M. and Ella (Seip) Applegate, natives of Nazareth. Pennsylvania, who located in Bethlehem about 1880, and he engaged extensively in the tobacco business, and also was an extensive real estate promoter. He passed away July 1, 1915. Mrs. Applegate if still living and resides with her daughter, Mrs. Harry J. Fritch.
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