Grist for the Mill A bimonthly Publication of the Freeport Area Historical Society - April/May, 2008
			MEETINGS Warmer weather should be here (we can only hope) and so we plan to resume meeting at the Mill beginning with the April Meeting. April 10 and May 8 are our next dates – see you at the Mill at 7 p.m. 1958-2008 The Freeport High School Class of 1958 will hold its 50 th reunion this year – quite a milestone. And they have chosen to celebrate in a very sharing way. Members of the class have been very generous and they will award two scholarships to Freeport Area seniors. . They are the first class to do so and are encouraging other classes to do this and make it a tradition. Class of 1959 – will you take the challenge? Start working on it now!! SEITZ SAGA Even newcomers to the Freeport area may be aware of the family name of Seitz. Some residents today live in the Seitz Apartments at the corner of Market and Fourth Streets. The Seitz family became entrepreneurs who practiced diversification decades before such business activities were common. Frederick Augustus Seitz was born in Pittsburgh on October 27, 1849. He lost his parents at a young age and was brought to Freeport by his uncle, Godfrey Kneist. Frederick grew up in Freeport, attended the public schools and worked during vacations with his uncle in the old Fullerton Woolen Mill. He also worked at the Woolen Mill in Kittanning for some time and then went to Philadelphia where he learned the trade of Baker and Confectioner. Before he returned to Freeport in June of 1871, he married Katherine Walsh. When he arrived back in town, with a capital of $300, he began business in an old frame building. He worked hard in the bakery and store and the business prospered. Frederick had a reputation for honesty and square dealing and his word was as good as his bond. To be sure there were some tough times – a fire two years after he began destroyed the bakery and its contents, but he struggled on and paid his bills promptly. He bought the property where he lived after renting for 20 years and as business improved he became interested in other matters. He became one of the promoters and principal stockholders of the Enterprise Natural Gas Company. Not only did he help himself, but he was always ready to help a neighbor in need and no appeal for public or private benefit was left unanswered. In about 1899 he bought the old United Presbyterian Church (now known as the Seitz Apartments). He also bought the lots on High Street between Fourth and Third. That had been a pond or swampy area and he filled it in and built 14 houses that he rented at a reasonable rate. A tenant was interested in buying the property he rented and a price was agreed upon, but the tenant said he could not meet that commitment for a year. Mr. Seitz said he would keep it for him. A short time later another hopeful buyer offered a thousand dollars more than the price given to the tenant. He was urged to take it because he did not have an agreement in writing with the tenant. “Yes” said Mr. Seitz, “but my word is worth more than a thousand dollars.” And the tenant got the house at the quoted price. Another time he filled an order from a Saltsburg church for 4 gallons of ice cream for a festival. He took it to the train station and arranged for it to go on the 4 o'clock train. At 5 he received a telegram that the ice cream had not arrived. He went to the station immediately and found the freezer on the platform – the agent forgot to put it on the train. Instantly he went to the Supervisor, H. N. Miller, and asked what it would cost to run a railcar up to Saltsburg. He was told it couldn't be done for less than $25. Quick as a wink he said, “Here is the money, get out the car.” Thirty minutes later the ice cream was delivered. Although he himself was not much of a churchman until late in life, there wasn't a church in town that had not received his contributions. He passed away on Friday, October 17, 1924, of heart trouble and all the business establishments in town closed the following Monday for an hour during his funeral. His son Harry A. was born in 1877 in Freeport and was a student at W. U. P. (now the University of Pittsburgh) graduating from the dental school there in 1899. He was a member of their football team in 1897 – 1899. He practiced dentistry in Patton, a small town in Cambria County for just three years before returning to Freeport due to some health problems. Back in his hometown he joined his father and brother, Fred, in the family grocery and bakery business. Harry was ambitious and wanted to do more and bigger things. Seitz ice cream, the first made commercially in Freeport, was for many years known far and wide for its high quality. It helped put Freeport on the map. The making of ice cream called for ice, so an ice-manufacturing unit was installed in the basement. Within a short time the first ice made in Freeport was being delivered to Freeport homes. Since it was necessary to have wagons, why not use them to also haul express and freight? And so the business expanded in that direction. The Seitz family had the first electric generating plant in Freeport and the first auto truck. The electric plant was considered to be so complicated that a trained man was brought to Freeport to operate it. Show business was another diversification. The United Presbyterian Church previously mentioned was converted into an opera house. Vaudeville acts were presented. Movies were the next logical step. And from time to time these entertainments were suspended so the room could be used as a basketball floor. The Freeport High School team played there until the new school building (the current Junior High) on Fourth Street was completed in 1924. The various enterprises operated at the same time and none were discontinued until they became unprofitable. Nearly all the expansion took place in the lifetime of Harry Seitz. Late in his life he built a modern motion picture theater across the street from what we now call the Seitz Apartments. He operated this until just a few months before his death. It became known as the Ritz Theater and was next owned by John Wiseman. It was later torn down and the lot remains empty. Harry made it a practice to keep a light burning in his store every night. At that time it was the custom to darken a store at closing time. He thought that it attracted crowds and was therefore good for business. He was very active in community and church affairs, being on the Playground Commission, a faithful member of St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Scoutmaster of the church Boy Scout Troop #33, and a member of the Holy Name Society. He was also a member of the local F.O.E. lodge. Harry and his wife, Edna, had one daughter, Katherine who taught in the local public schools, and four sons, F.A., Harry (also a teacher in Freeport), Robert, and Howard. Harry passed away December 12, 1931, at just 54 years from diabetes, heart troubles, a stroke and complications. He gamely fought against his poor health and continued in the grocery business until his death. At the time of his passing it was said that the town had never had a more progressive, energetic, and community-minded citizen than Harry A. Seitz. Freeport was infinitely poorer by his passing. Editor's Note: Joanne Seitz of Beaver Falls supplied sources for this article and they appear to have been previously printed in the Valley Daily News and the Freeport Journal and perhaps other newspapers of years gone by. She is married to one of Harry's grandchildren. Most of the Seitz family now lives in Houston, Texas.