BIO: Daniel N. SLEP, Blair County, PA

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Donehoo, George P., Editor-in-Chief.  Pennsylvania, A History, 
Vol. 3, Biography.  New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., Inc., 
1926, page 10. 
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  DANIEL N. SLEP - A great legacy of honor, responsibility, leadership and 
power passed into the keeping of Daniel N. Slep, publisher and owner of the 
"Altoona Mirror," when his father, Harry Slep, passed into eternity on June 
16, 1922.
  Harry Slep was one of the men of masterful ability who came to this country 
from Germany in the late forties.  He was born in Hesse Cassel, Germany, 
October 24, 1836, the son of Louis and Frederika Slep.  He always recalled 
the family discussions of migration in America in his early children, but he 
was ten years old when the discussions turned to action.  The family embarked 
on board a small sailing vessel at Bremen, in August, 1846, and battled the 
sea for fourteen weeks before the little craft made Baltimore with every mast 
gone in the heavy seas she encountered.  A big Conestoga wagon was engaged to 
carry the family to Mechanicsburg, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, where an 
uncle lived.  There the family separated, but Harry Slep remained with the 
uncle.  He studied in his spare time, and aspired to be a printer.  George 
Bergher, who became State Printer, was conducting the "Vaderlands Waechter" 
in Harrisburg, and he employed young Slep as an apprentice for six years.  At 
sixteen the apt youngster had made such progress that Mr. Bergher made him 
foreman of the English and German job office.  At eighteen his apprenticeship 
ended, and he looked about for a printing business of his own.  His first 
venture, the old "Gazette" published in Mechanicsburg, proved unprofitable, 
and he returned to Mr. Bergher who had become the publisher of the 
"Harrisburg Telegraph."  He became make-up man of the "Legislative Record."  
In the early sixties he left Mr. Bergher and worked as a foreman printer in 
Harrisburg, Philadelphia and Williamsport, returning again to Harrisburg.
  He came to Altoona in March, 1871, as foreman in the "Altoona Sun" job 
office conducted by D. M. Moore.  He dreamed of one day owning his own print 
shop and the first step toward its realization was taken on October 21, 1872, 
when he opened a job plant and called it the Mirror Printing House.  It led 
to the establishment of the "Evening Mirror" on June 13, 1874.  In 1877 Mr. 
Slep became sole owner, but his health broke under the strain of a railroad 
strike and he was obliged to sell the business.  It did not succeed under a 
succession of owners.  It was bought in 1879 by E. B. Haines who changed the 
name of the "Mirror" to "The Call," and moved it to Harrisburg.  Mr. Slep 
recovered his health, and founded the "Volksfuehrer," a weekly, the first 
German newspaper printed in Altoona, which appeared March 28, 1878.  In 1881 
he sold it to its present owners.
  The job business of Mr. Slep had prospered and he built a newspaper 
building at No. 1012 Eleventh street.  There the "Mirror" was revived, June 
16, 1888, and called the "Altoona Mirror."  The firm of H. and W. H. Slep was 
formed on July 4, 1890, the junior member being a son of the founder.  A 
three story building was erected in 1892, and the first linotype machines 
used in Central Pennsylvania were introduced.  The first issue wholly set by 
linotypes appeared, June 13, 1896.  The "Mirror" moved into a larger brick 
building in March, 1900.  Ground was broken for a still larger plant on July 
12, 1911, and the first paper issued from its new home on April 1, 1912.  In 
1919-1920 the annex was built and dedicated on June 14, 1920, forty-six six 
years and a day after the first publication of the "Mirror."  William H. Slep 
died in 1906, causing a severe blow to his father's hopes and affections.  
His second son, also active in the business, died on January 7, 1921, and on 
November 17, 1921, his stepson, J. G. Humes, general manager of the Mirror 
Printing Company, died.  Mrs. Alice Hagerty, a daughter, preceded them by 
several years.  There remained, when Mr. Slep himself, died in 1922, his 
wife, Anna C. Slep, Daniel N. Slep, his son (of whom further), and two 
daughters, Cordelia, wife of A. J. Holtzinger, of Altoona; and Mame, the wife 
of S. Arthur Coffey, of Harrisburg, twenty-four grandchildren and fourteen 
great-grandchildren.  Eight grandsons acted as pall bearers at his funeral.
  Daniel N. Slep was born in Altoona, Pennsylvania, October 20, 1872.  He was 
educated in the public and high schools.  He became associated with the 
Mirror Printing Company on completing his schooling, and has been president 
since 1922.  He is a director of the Lions Club, a member of the Altoona 
Boosters, and of the Chamber of Commerce.  He is a member of the Juniata 
Boosters' Association, the American Publishers' Association, the Typothetae 
Association, the United States Chamber of Commerce, and the Pennsylvania 
Dailies Association.  The family attends the Presbyterian church.
  Mr. Slep has carried into business the precepts of his father, and the 
newspaper he publishes continues to embody the highest ideals of justice and 
cleanliness.  He is deeply interested in every cause to advance the welfare 
of the community, charitable without ostentation.  The father was deeply 
religious by nature and abhorred vulgarity and profanity, traits which he 
handed down to his offspring of three generations.  
  Mr. Slep married, in 1897, Elda Pearl Potter, born in Altoona, and living.  
They are the parents of four children, James G., who served in the United 
States Army during the World War; Daniel R., since dead; Eugene G., and 
Philip P.