BAUER
BAUER. . For the last several years the name of Bauer in Kittanning has been associated with one of the most prosperous borough industries, the Wickboro Mirror Company when established having been composed mainly of members of this family, and all its officers have been Bauers since the formation of the present organization , in 1901. There are few enterprises in Kittanning or anywhere in Armstrong county which show better development. The business ability and principles of the owners entitle them to a place among the most valuable factors in the local industrial situation, and all the representatives of the family here have been creditable citizens. They are of German extraction. Conrad Bauer, their grandfather, was born in Germany and passed all his life in that country, dying at the age of fifty-three years. He was a silver miner, working in mines which were opened in 1785 and are still running. He was one of five brothers. He married Susanna Linweaver, who like himself passed all her life in Germany, and died in 1855, when her son Christian was twelve years old. They had the following children: Victor, who took the old homestead in Germany and was drowned in the river Lahn; Henry, who was the first of the family to come to America; Christian Jacob; Louisa, who is deceased; Margaret, who lives in Germany; Christina, born in 1841, who died from injuries received by falling on an icy sidewalk in Pittsburgh, in February, 1908, when aged sixty-seven years; and Susanna.Henry Bauer, second son of Conrad Bauer, was born Jan. 7, 1837, in Laurenberg, which is on the river Rhine, in the province of Nassau. He came to the United States in 1864, and settled in Armstrong county, Pa., for a time, working as a miner at Pine Creek Furnace. He died May 25, 1897, in Kittanning. His wife, Rosina Morman, died May 21, 1890, aged forty years, eleven months, five days. She was born in Germany. They were married in Kittanning, Pa. They had the following children: John, who is president of the Wickboro Mirror Company and is also engaged in the insurance business at Vandergrift, Pa.; Henry; Christian; Catherine, who married Turney B. Richardson, of Wickboro, and has had children, Mildred (born Feb.. 16, 1902), Ruth (born Aug. 10, 1903), Thelma (born March 17, 1905, deceased), Dorothy (born Feb. 19, 1907), Velma (born Oct. 22, 1908), and Merl Christian (born June 19, 1911); Louisa, who married William Semmens, of Wickboro, and has children, Robert (born June 6, 1909), and Clifford (born Jan. 6, 1911).
John Bauer, son of Henry and Rosina (Mormon) Bauer, was born Sept. 17, 1874, in Fairmont City, Clarion Co., Pa. In 1891, he came to Kittanning, Pa., and worked at the pottery trade. In 1897, he started to work as agent for the Prudential Life Insurance Company at Kittanning, in 1899 was promoted to the office of assistant superintendent of that company, and was transferred to New Kensington, Pa., from there back to Kittanning, and then to Vandergrift. Resigning his position as assistant superintendent of the Prudential Insurance Company at Vandergrift in the year 1903, he came back to Kittanning, Pa., joining his brothers Henry and Christian in the mirror business, becoming president of the Wickboro Mirror Company. He was the representative and bookkeeper of the Wickboro Mirror Company up to April 30, 1909, when he resigned his position with that company in order to accept a position as agent for the Prudential Insurance Company at Kittanning, but still retains his stock in the Wickboro Mirror Company. Working as agent up to 1912, he was then promoted again to the office of assistance superintendent of the Prudential Insurance Company, but transferred to Vandergrift, Pa., where he is still at present time, April, 1914. Mr. Bauer has taken considerable interest in the public affairs of Wickboro, has served three years as member of the borough council, resigning from this office on account of moving to Vandergrift, in August, 1912, and he has done his share toward the promotion of the general welfare. In political connection he is a Republican. On March 6, 1893, Mr. Bauer married Cora Irene Campbell, who was born in North Buffalo, June 21, 1874, daughter of Alexander Finley and Mary E. (Claypoole) Campbell. They have a family of eight children: Grace Irene, born April 7, 1894; Leona May, born Jan. 22, 1897; Thomas, born May 30, 1899 (died July 8, 1899); Alonza Alfred, born July 21, 1900; Marie C., born June 6, 1903; Evelin M., born March 27, 1906; Imogene R., born Nov. 8, 1909; and Eunice M., born July 16, 1912.
Henry Bauer, son of Henry and Rosina (Mormon) Bauer, was born April 4, 1876, in Clarion county, Pa. His first work was at coal mining at Fairmount City, Clarion county. In 1891, he came to Kittanning and worked at the pottery trade. In 1898, he was assistant superintendent of the Prudential Life Insurance Company at Kittanning, being thus engaged until he and his brother Christian organized the Wickboro Mirror Company in company with Mr. Wolford. He has been treasurer of that company since the reorganization, un 1902, and by his judicious management and devotion to its interests, and the application of his practical ideas, has contributed materially to the steady growth of its business. Mr. Bauer has taken considerable interest in the public affairs of Wickboro, has served two terms as tax collector (first from 1901 to 1902, when he resigned, in 1909 being re-elected to serve five years), and served on year as member of the borough council. He has done his share toward the promotion of the general welfare. In political connection he is a Republican. He is a member and office of St. Luke's Reformed Church, being one of the elders.
In 1901, Mr. Bauer married Fannie O. Hooks, who was born in Franklin township, Armstrong county, Feb. 29, 1876, daughter of James and Margaret (Gibson) Hooks. They have a family of four children: Henry Paul, born Dec. 25, 1902; Ralph Hooks, born June 24, 1904; Mary Elizabeth, born May 12, 1911; and Fred Le Roy, born Nov. 8, 1912. They live at No. 903 Orr avenue
Christian Bauer, son of Henry and Rosina (Mormon) Bauer, was born April 13, 1880, in Fairmount City, Clarion Co., Pa., where he attended school until November, 1891, when he came to Kittanning. At the age of fourteen he entered the employ of the Wickboro China Company as an apprentice, remaining with that concern until 1898, when he became engaged at the Crystal Mirror Works, being there for the next three years. He then acted as agent of the Prudential Life Insurance Company for six months, in 1901 organizing the Wickboro Mirror Company, to which he has since given his principal attention. He started this establishment in association with his brother Henry and a Mr. Wolford, and they began business in a small building in the Wickboro district of Kittanning, employing but three men. In 1902, Mr. Wolford's interests were purchased by the Bauers and the company was reorganized and capitalized at $30,000. At this time the older brother, John Bauer, and William F. Bauer, cousin of John, Christian and Henry, entered the firm, John Bauer becoming president, and the other officers being as follows: William F. Bauer, vice president; Henry Bauer, treasurer; and Christian Bauer, secretary. The business has shown steady progress. The plant has been enlarged to meet the increasing demands of the trade, and is now splendidly equipped, and the volume of business has grown so that fifteen men are constantly employed. The establishment is therefore a public benefit to the town, affording as it does regular employment to a number of men and support to their families. Personally the brothers are all citizens of the highest standing.
On June 11, 1900, Christian O. Bauer was married to Nettie May Clark, who was born April 10, 1883, at Kittanning, daughter of Robert B. and Katharine Susanna (Ream) Clark, of New Kensington, Pa. They have had four children, born as follows: Clarence Robert, March 22, 1901; Verna Rosina, June 3, 1904; Kenneth Christian, Dec. 9, 1907; Katharine May, Aug, 10, 1913. Mr. Bauer is a prominent member of St. Luke's Reformed Church, in which he serves as deacon. On political questions he is a Republican. His home is at 426 Highland avenue.
Christian Jacob Bauer, son of Conrad and Susanna (Linweaver) Bauer, was born Sept. 6, 1843, in Laurenburg, Nassau, Germany, and there passed his early life. He served three years in the army. He was married in Germany when twenty-six years old to Sophia Smith, and three weeks later set sail with his bride for America, joining his brother Henry, who was then working as a miner at Pine Creek Furnace, Armstrong Co., Pa. There Christian Jacob Bauer found work also, being for six years with John Painter, after which he moved to Red Bank Furnace, where he was employed for one year. Thence he removed to Fairmount City, Clarion county, where he established a home, building a house in which he lived for many years and where his children were reared. While living at Fairmount City, Mr. Bauer followed mining. The family home was there for a period of thirty-five years and there Mrs. Bauer died in 1896, at the age of fifty. She was the mother of the following children: Charles, who lives in the Isle of Man, Great Britain; William F., vice president of the Wickboro Mirror Company, born Aug. 19, 1880, who is a prominent worker in the Republican party, acting as committeeman for Wickboro, and is well known fraternally as a member of the Odd Fellow and Eagles at Kittanning; Susanna, unmarried, who lived with her father; Christina, Mrs. Ed. Beck; and Anna, Mrs. Herbert Moore.
Mr. Bauer continued to reside at Fairmount City for sixteen years after the death of his wife, his daughter Susanna keeping house for him, and in 1911 they came to Kittanning, where most of his children are located. After leaving the place which had been his home for so many years his heart turned to the Fatherland, and wishing to see once more the scenes of his birth and early life he set out with his daughter Susanna for the Old World. They went first to the Isle of Man, England, where his son Charles (who like his father had settled far from his early home) resides, and there was an affectionate meeting between the long separated members of the family. After a two months' sojourn there the travelers proceeded to Germany by way of Belgium, going to the old home in Nassau, Germany, where Mr. Bauer's sister Margaret lives. There he celebrated the sixty-eighth anniversary of his birth, practically the whole town of Laurenburg uniting to do him honor. The village schoolmaster and his pupils formed a choir to give him greeting in song, and Mr. Bauer acknowledged his appreciation of the good will shown on all sides in a speech in praise of his home across the sea. The occasion was highly enjoyable, and its memory will long live in the minds and hearts of those who were present. Mr. Bauer and his daughter spent a month at his old home, and then returned to American as they had gone out, by way of the Isle of Man, where they spent another month with Charles Bauer.
Since his return Mr. Bauer has acted as night watchman at the plant of the Kittanning Plate Glass Company. He and his family belong to St. Luke's Reformed Church, which has many Bauers in its membership. Mr. Bauer, his daughter and son William F., reside at No. 420 Fair street.
Source: Pages 627-629, Armstrong County, Pa., Her People, Past and Present, J.H. Beers & Co., 1914
Transcribed September 2001 by Lynn Beatty for the Armstrong County Beers Project
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