COLUMBIA AXD MONTOUR COUNTIES port and (second) Emma Roberta; Susanna married Hiram Croop and (second) H arry G ro zicr; t o fay cite married a M iss Winters and M arietta B ro w n; M ary married Wilson W o lfe; Frederick married M a ry; Jonathan married a M e ars: O livia married Joseph M athers; Franklin died young. H A R R Y S T R K N E R, recc^iize<l as one of the leading building contractors o f Blooms burg and vicinity* is a member of the fourth generation in his fam ily to engage in that busi ness in Columbia county. Abraham Sterner* his great-great-grand father* w as o f (krm an extraction. A t one time he Iive<l in the W yoming valley 5n Penn sylvania. but the Indians* who were friendly tow ards him. warned him to leave, and he moved to Lehigh county* Pa.* where the rest o f his life w as |>assed. He was the father o f .braham, ( ic o ^ c (who died at .Allen tow n) and .Nicholas (w ho dic<l at .Allentown). Abniham Sterner, son o f Abraham* w*as born in 1789 in tohtgh county* and came chcnce to Columbia county. A fte r a short st*iy he moved to Luzerne county* this State* where he cleared land in what is now NescofK ck. Returning to Columbia county he settle<l at Espytown. where he engaged in boat building. H e had learned the canicntcr':^ trade* and he subsequently followed it at IBoomsbu rg* Columbia county. The rcm ainder o f his life w as s|icnt in Colum bia county, and he died at Bloomsburg when past eighty years old* in 1870. He w as interred in the old Methodist burial ground. H is w ife’s maiden name w as Sci]ilc* and they ha«l children as follow s: Catherine lived to be over one hundred years o ld; l.^dia l>ecame Mrs. K ctner; Susan married Nathan K in le y; M ary died in Columbia coun ty: Solomon died in M ic h in n; John S . w as the grandfather o f H arry Sterner. John S. Sterner w as liom in 18 14 . and died in 1894. Like his father he learned the trade o f carpenter, and he followed brickmaking and farming in addition to contracting. In the Latter connection he became well known a s one of the most important men in his line* and he erected all the best buildings put up in Bloom sbu^ in his day* being engagc<l in business there from 1837 until his retirement. A ll the best residences* the first norntal school* the Exchange hotel ancl many other structures o f note were o f his construction, and he ac quired a high reputation as a skilled mechanic and conscientious builder. H e lived retired some time before his death* which occurred
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when he was past eighty.He is buried in Rosemont cemetery.H is wife* Juda (T ru m p ), also o f Columbia county, w*as bom in i8 ]0, and died in 1896. T hey had the following fa m ily : William H .; Jam es C .; George ^, bom .April 2, 1846, who died in Bloomsburg (he w*as a prominent citizen of Columbia county, having ser*cd six years as register and recorder and three years as county com m issioner); Emma, who married Thomas G o rey; and (C arles, a carpenter, who is liv ing in Bloomsburg. W illiam E . Sterner, faibcr o f H arry Sterner, w as bom Nov. 7, 1840* in Orange township, Columbia county, and learned the caqicnter's trade under the direction o f his father, >vho w as a most competent instructor. He lias followed it for many years in Blooms burg* also engaging in contracting. For some time he was in the brick manufacturing business, turning out over one million bricl^ a season at his ]>lant and supplying a large de mand in Bloomsburg and vicinity. H e has been one of the active business men of the place* o f which he is one of the old residents, and he erected his fine home there at the com er o f West and F ifth streets, in 1887, From Fcbniar>‘, 1864, until a fte r the close n f the Civil w ar Mr. Sterner w as in the Union service, toing a mcmtor of Company B, 103d Kigiment* Pennsylvania X'olunteer Infantry, o f which he w as second lieutenant, ilc rc tum cd home in July* 1865. M r. Sterner married D clibh Fowler* and they have four children: Ella* w ife o f Elwood Christm an: Mattie* w ife o f to fa y e tte Lefflcr; Fannie, w ife o f H. P. Sm ith; and H arry. H arry Sterner* son o f William E . Sterner, was bom Dec. 17* at Bloomsburg, and received his education in the public schools and in the Bloomsburg State Nonnal School. F o r five years* from 1887 to 1892, he w as at Mechanicsburg, Cumtorlaiul Co., Pa., learn ing the business o f making horse collars, after which he went to I'hiladelphta. remaining in that city until i8<)5. Returning to Blooms burg. he ma<ie only a short stay* going to Hlmira* N. V.* w'hcre he was located until 1897. in which year he came Kack to Bloomsburg and c n g a g ^ in carpenter work with lus father. In 1903 he began contracting and building on his own account* and after two years thus engaged became employed at the carpenter’s trade 011 the Tustin mansion and Si-icnce Hall* of the State Nonnal School. In 190R he formc<l a fiarlncrship with Afr. Gcrsingcr, un der the name o f Gcrsingcr & Sterner* hut this association lias been dissolve*] and Mr.
