BIO: Henry SEPP, Beaver County, PA Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Judy Banja & Joe Patterson Copyright 2005. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/beaver.html http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/beaver/bios/bbios.htm Index for this bio book. _________________________________________________________________ BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES. This Volume Contains Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Beaver County, Pennsylvania. Buffalo, N.Y., Chicago, Ill.: Biographical Publishing Company, 1899, pp. 173-175. _________________________________________________________________ HENRY SEPP, whose wholesale liquor establishment is the largest and best in Western Pennsylvania, is located in Beaver Falls where he is numbered among the foremost business men. He is a son of Bernard and Martha (Hahn) Sepp, and was born in Hessen, Germany, May 27, 1849. Mr. Sepp's portrait accompanies this sketch. The grandfather of Henry Sepp was Henry C. Sepp, a prosperous farmer living in Germany, whose father was a man of education and a surveyor by profession. The instru- 174 BOOK OF BlOGRAPHIES ments by which the latter earned a livelihood are treasured heirlooms of the family. Bernard Sepp, the father of the gentleman whose name heads these lines, followed an agricultural life, owning and working a fine farm of sixty-six acres, and making a specialty of cattle raising and dairying. He married Martha Hahn, who was born and schooled in Germany, and they had five children: Conrad, a baker of Braddock; Anna M., who died in infancy; Henry, the subject of this personal history; Lizzie A. (Eppel), whose husband is a butcher at Braddock; Mary (Marx) of Chippewa township; and Adam C., deceased. Henry Sepp received his schooling in Hessen, Germany, spending his youth on the farm. When sixteen years of age, in 1865, he came to America, locating in Allegheny, Pa., where he learned the trade of an axe polisher, accepting a position with Joseph Graff, doing work by contract. The fact that this is the only firm for which he worked in this country, - continuing with him for twenty-six years, - speaks volumes for the steadiness and perseverance of Mr. Sepp. When the concern was removed to Beaver Falls, in 1871, he accompanied it and continued in its employ until he went into the liquor business at the corner of Fifteenth street and Fourth avenue, renting a building for that purpose. He remained in that store for four years, when he erected his present building, which he has since occupied. He has one of the most complete stores and bottling plants in Western Pennsylvania, it being large and roomy, and equipped with the most approved machinery. The bottling and washing are done by machinery, which is driven by a gas engine, and the capacity is 200 dozen bottles per day. Next to these rooms is the large cooling room, for keeping the liquor in condition for use at all times, the plans for this room being devised by our subject. It is double-walled, and filled with paper. Next to this is the sale room, in which he has a large line of expensive liquors, including rare old wines of ancient vintage, both domestic and imported. Across the yard is another store room, a wagon shed, and stables. In fact his facilities for this line of business are unexcelled, and the business has grown to such proportions that he finds it necessary to keep three delivery wagons going at all times. Three men are employed in the bottling department, and the cooler has a capacity of two carloads. He has an extensive line of goods for medicinal purposes, in which his trade is very large. Although a man of the greatest enterprise, his honesty and conscientiousness are unquestioned, and he has refused to give credit in all cases in which he thinks it will encourage debt and shiftlessness. Mr. Sepp was joined in the bonds of wedlock with Elizabeth Theis, who was born in Hessen, Germany, and they reared nine children: Henry, Jr.; Elizabeth, who died at the age of five years; Mary (Roy); William, who is assisting his father; Bertha; Lena; Katie, an accomplished musician; Eddie, who died at the age of five years; and Edna. The four youngest children are students, and contemplate entering college. In political affilia- BEAVER COUNTY 175 tions, Mr. Sepp is a strong Republican, whilst in religious faith and fellowship, he is a member of the German Lutheran church. Fraternally, he is a member and past master of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, past chancellor of the Knights of Pythias, and a member of the German Druids. Henry Sepp, Jr., the oldest child born to his parents, was born in Beaver county, June 22, 1871, and received his mental instruction in the public schools. He then learned the trade of a glass maker and followed that until his twenty-first year, when, after completing a course in Rand's Business College, he engaged as bookkeeper for his father. He has continued in that capacity up to the present time, and is a man of tried business qualities. When he was but thirteen years old, he began studying music, taking lessons on the violin; he is now an accomplished musician and the leader of Sepp's orchestra, one of the most favorably known musical organizations in this section of Pennsylvania. Mr. Sepp was united in marriage with Clara Stauffer, who was born in Canada and moved with her parents to "Brownstone," Michigan, where she attended school. She later moved to Beaver Falls, Pa., where she was married to the son of Henry Sepp. Henry Sepp, Jr., is an aggressive Republican, and although he has often been urged to accept office in the borough, he has uniformly declined. Religiously, he is a Lutheran. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias; Nonpareil, A. C.; and the Beaver Falls Turnverein. The residence he now occupies is a two-story frame building, adjoining his father's home, which he bought in February, 1897.