BIOGRAPHICAL p357

Payer, Stephen F.^{1, 2, 3}, proprietor of the largest and most modern general store⁴ in McAdoo,¹⁶ was born on July 26, 1867, in Austro-Hungary. He is one of the six surviving children of Joseph and Elizabeth (Krautkremmer) Payer,¹³ the others being Anna, now Mrs. Joseph Paumer, a resident of Century, Fla.; Joseph, Jr.,⁵ living in McAdoo, and Wendele,⁶ formerly a member of the Hungarian Army, who holds a position in the service of the government of his native land. His eldest sister, Elizabeth⁷ married schoolteacher Stepan Janos Schmidt and remains in Europe. Another sister, Maria Anna,⁸ wife of organist George Julius Gyomber, maintains residences in Audenreid and Humenne (Homonna), Hungary. The subject of this sketch attended the government schools of the county of Saros,⁹ Austro-Hungary, until he was fifteen years of age, and then came to the United States, locating first in McAdoo, in 1882.

His first employment was as a slate-picker¹⁰ in the No. 4 breaker¹¹ of the Lehigh & Wilkes Barre Coal Company, and while there he learned to speak the English language. When he had mastered it sufficiently he accepted a position as clerk in the store of Joseph Matej, of Hazleton, with whom he remained nine months, leaving to accept a similar position in the employ of Michael McGarrity, also of Hazleton. This kept him employed for two years, after which he went to Bayonne, NJ., and for the following five months he worked in a lumber yard and for the Standard Oil Company. On his return to Hazleton, in 1887, he again found employment with Mr. McGarrity, but after nine months left him to go to Passaic, NJ., to learn the trade of weaver in the woolen mills of that place. This, however, he was compelled to abandon because of poor health, and he started to learn the carpenter’s trade. This was in 1888, in which year he returned to Hazleton to become an employe of Williams & Fertig. Upon leaving this firm he entered the employ of Mr. McGarrity for the third time. In July 1, 1889, he came to McAdoo^Endnote4 and opened a branch store for Martin & Nemeth.^Endnote6 He had charge of the store for two

p358 SCHUYLKILL COUNTY

years, and then in September, 1891, he engaged in business in his own name, as a dealer in boots and shoes and men’s furnishings. In February, 1904, he added a grocery department, so that today his store is one of the most complete as well as one of the largest general merchandise stores in Schuylkill county.^Endnote1 Besides his mercantile business, he holds the agency for several foreign steamship lines and for foreign money orders, and is the McAdoo representative of the Springfield (Mass.) Fire & Marine Insurance Company. He also holds a commission as notary public, and in 1903 was made justice of the peace, which office he still retains. In politics he is a stalwart believer in the principles and tenets of the Democratic Party, and when McAdoo first became a borough he was for four years one of its councilmen. In Oct. 7, 1888, Mr. Payer was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Fuchs¹², the ceremony occurring at Hazleton. The children^Endnote2 of this union are nine in number — Oscar,^Endnote5 Felix, Adolph, Olga, Stephen F., Jr., Cornell, Gizella, Alfred and Ida — all of whom are living except Alfred, and Cornell, who died at sea.^Endnote3 Mrs. Payer’s father and mother were Stephen and Elizabeth (Kurtz) Fuchs,¹⁴ who came to this country from Hungary, although the family is of German origin. The Payers are communicants of the Slavisch Roman Catholic Church.¹⁵ Mr. Payer is a member of the National Slavonian Society, the First Slavonian Catholic Union, and the Knights of Columbus. He is an excellent type of progressive, enterprising citizen, and is one of the most public-spirited and respected men of the community.

Note 1: He soon added two more General Stores, one in Tamaqua, PA, the other in Pottsville, PA.

Note 2: See their pictures on the Family Tree site.

Note 3: A last son, Harold Stephen was born in 1906. His name was either skipped by the reporter or entered too late for the printer. Harold became a physician in Bethlehem, PA. The infant Cornelius was buried in Hamburg, Germany.

Note 4: Kline Twp. Census of 1890. See 'Payer' and 'Pyer'

Note 5: Oscar L Payer married Emily Faye Good, of Pottsville, PA. She was the daughter of Uriah Good, a Pottsville carpenter and a sergeant in the 85th Indiana Regiment in the US Civil War. See selected pages from his wartime diaries: 1, and 2.

Note6: Martin and Nemeth, Ibid. Bradsby, History of Luzerne County, Pa., by H.C. Bradsby, 1893:
JOHN NEMETH, of the firm of Martin & Nemeth, general merchants and foreign exchange brokers, Hazleton, was born in November, 1861, at Garaduna, Hungaria. He was educated in his native land, and at the age of nineteen came to America, landing in New York in January, 1881. He immediately proceeded to Hazleton and engaged in picking slate, which occupation he followed about one year, when he engaged as clerk for Simon Miller, in whose employ he remained five years. At this time he and Mr. Martin formed a partnership, where they have since continued to do business; besides their general mercantile trade they also are engaged in foreign exchange. Upon his arrival in the United States, Mr. Nemeth's wealth amounted to thirty-four cents. He is now worth about seven thousand dollars, which property he has accumulated in five years. Mr. Nemeth was united in marriage in 1889, with Miss Helen Deutsch of his native town. They have two children, viz.: John, Jr., and Ida. This gentleman is a member of the National Slavonic Society, and in politics is very liberal, although in national issues he is a firm Democrat.

[Ed. ... Nemeth plays a role at several points in Michael Novak's book, "The Guns of Lattimer", an historical account of the Lattimer Massacre.]